Janell Rottier is the executive director of a nonprofit called ANew Ministries. In this episode, she shares this idea that you're more than a mom -- you're a person created with a purpose. She will also talk about how she ‘accidentally’ found herself in ministry work, and what motivated and inspired her to help teen moms.

Connect with Anew on Instagram, Facebook, or their website or Janell on Instagram.

Janell's favorite gadget is Clorox wipes!

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This is a transcript of the This Mom Knows Podcast - Episode - 66

Jennifer Uren
Janelle Rottier is a ball of energy and someone I'm excited to introduce you to. In fact, her Instagram profile is @fullofenergy87. Janelle has one husband, two goats, three cats, four kids, and sadly, five chickens that didn't make it. She accidentally found herself in ministry work and she's the executive director of a nonprofit called a New Ministries. She loves Jesus loves people and dreams of enjoying the momentary pleasure of eating chocolate, without our hips getting too attached to those moments of pleasure. Welcome Janelle, I'm so glad you're here.

Janell Rottier
Oh my goodness, I am so excited to be here. I have been looking forward to this.

Jennifer Uren
I am so glad, I'm so glad. Well, we're gonna get into the details of what you do shortly. But before we do, why don't you just tell me? What do you enjoy doing that you don't always have time to do?

Janell Rottier
Oh, I would say so. We are from the exhilarating yet boring state of Indiana. And so anytime that I can just get outside with my kids might like my whole family, not a kid or two kids, but like, actually all four of them at the same time. And we're doing something outside. I just I don't know, I just I love those moments. I just think that there is beauty in the simplicity. I think that we get so caught up sometimes in creating big moments and big memories that we forget. And this, I'm just speaking to my own heart, because that's I'm a full-fledged Enneagram seven. And so that's one of our struggles, is living in the moment and in the moments of simplicity and motherhood has taught me a lot of things. So that is one of them that it's not always these like big things that we're looking for but it's the everyday ordinary, lovely things that ended up to be the memories that memories we're creating. Anyway, so anytime I see my family and the simplicity of it, I just especially this time of year. Oh...

Jennifer Uren
I know. We're recording this in November, but it's going to be in the 70s this week.

Janell Rottier
Yeah, it's actually 73 degrees today. My kids were joking because they are still wearing shorts.

Jennifer Uren
It's amazing.

Janell Rottier
To school. Yeah, I love it so much.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah,

Janell Rottier
So much,

Jennifer Uren
Which probably means we're in for a very cold winter.

Janell Rottier
I know I've actually been thinking about that too much. Oh, I'm or a long one. Yeah. Like, I feel like the fall has been beautiful. Yeah. And it'd be November in the 70s. And anyways, and now I just feel like, Oh, we're gonna be going into like, March.

Jennifer Uren
I know. Well, you've had lots of opportunities, hopefully to get out and enjoy that great weather. And be out there with your kids.

Janell Rottier
Yeah.

Jennifer Uren
Well, today, we're gonna talk about what you know, and that's cultivating purpose as a mom. And so I want to start by telling people how we met and what it was that you said that piqued my interest. So a few weeks ago, I was sitting in a small coffee shop. And my husband and I, we both worked from home. So we were there doing our work. And you were there meeting with a colleague meeting making some valuable connections. And we were literally next to each other our tables were right there. And so as I heard you talk, I heard you mentioned an organization that I was very familiar with. And then I heard you say to this other woman, "One of the reasons that I'm doing this now while my kids are at home is so that when they're grown and off to college, I will still have meaningful purpose." And I think there's so much wisdom in this. And in fact, one of the things that we talk about around here is this idea that you're more than a mom, you're a person with a purpose. So tell me more about what brought you to this point of embracing this idea of purpose. And then you know, pursuing doing something with it.

Janell Rottier
Oh, my goodness. So I always feel in a sense, just when somebody asks for like, your advice, in your opinion on something, it's really hard for me, I always, I want to be confident enough to know that I'm a child of God, but not arrogant enough to think that I know at all. And sometimes that's a really hard line. And so, man, I just hope that when I speak and as we talk today that there is just a humbleness of lessons learned and a lot of life yet to live though as well, right? And so, when I, for this, this purposeful thing for me was a big deal, because I'll be honest, like, even if you were to ask me in high school, like what do you want to be? Are you going to college for something I'd be like, I really want to be a mom. Like I really want to be a mom. And I was able to be a mom and they kept coming. And we had four like five and a half, six years. And it was just like okay, like Yeah, like, this is what I want to do and gotta love. We guess we literally just got this puppy. So I apologize in the back. We'll just got him. I think we have had two to three weeks. Yeah. And sadly already in love. Because we just watched him watch her get comfortable with that. And so when it when I finally had kids, it was like, This is so great and nothing that I thought it was going to be.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah.

Janell Rottier
They're like really cute, but they never go away. Like they're there all the time. Like even the peeing. They want to follow you.

Jennifer Uren
Yes, it's constant.

Janell Rottier
Constant. I'm gonna be honest, I found myself kind of and it's one of those things where it's not like, you're like, wow, that little piece of me got taken away. Or this little piece like it's all of a sudden, I feel like it's, you look down and you're like, is this who I am? Like, I clean dirty diapers, and I pick up toys. And I'm stopping arguments. And I'm trying to like, you know, look like I have myself together when I'm in public with all these children. And I have more kids in the car than I do groceries. And you're just like, you're just trying to navigate all this. And I just got to a point where I was like, I need something that is I'm going to be honest, not centered around my children. The things that I say a lot to myself is I want my children to be a part of my life. But I don't want them to be my life. And what I mean by that too, is I think that we can take motherhood especially because it is and can be all-consuming. But that then becomes an idol.

Jennifer Uren
Yes.

Janell Rottier
And I am again, discernments, man, that's a hard one, right? Like walking that line between my children are a huge part of my life. And I want them to know that they are loved, that they are safe, that and that life is fun. Like it's meant to be lived. And it's meant to be fun them I want to walk that and teach that with them. I walked that line, but man, like, it's so easy to be all the things all the time for them because they'll take it.

Jennifer Uren
They will they will. And I think it is a, I've said this before that by modeling to our kids, nurturing and stewarding who we are. The gifts God's given us, that's actually a really good thing for them to see because otherwise, they get this model of, oh, I'm going to grow up and if I'm a mom, it's going to suck the life out of me. So do I really want that? And so I think I think there's, I mean, I think it's good motherhood to model this for our kids.

Janell Rottier
When I just I don't want my kids growing up to thinking that they are the center of the world.

Jennifer Uren
Right.

Janell Rottier
Right. And so

Jennifer Uren
Cause they are not, ask any teacher?

Janell Rottier
Well, and I want them to be a part of giving back to the world too. And I think in order to give back, you have to learn selflessness.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah.

Janell Rottier
And because even giving back can be incredibly selfless, like like selfish, right?

Jennifer Uren
Right.

Janell Rottier
And the fact of you know, I mean, that was a journey of ministry for me too. That I got into in that but just alerting that yeah, no, I have to have the right idea and concept around what I'm doing. What is the purpose run what I'm doing right? So like, what is the purpose around motherhood? What is the purpose of serving in ministry? What is the purpose of my marriage? And how can I make sure that all those purposes align with Jesus and His Word, and what he has for my life? And not just constantly what I want to do when I want to do it? And because then I'm modeling that to my kids, too. And oh,

Jennifer Uren
Yes, yes, yes. There's a lot. I mean, this could be its own book right there, you know, just on purpose.

Janell Rottier
Yeah.

Jennifer Uren
So well, this idea of cultivating purpose, as mom I think is particularly poignant, because the nonprofit that you had works with teen moms. And in those years, I imagined that this is a group of moms who really need help seeing purpose in both their situation and in who they are as moms. So why don't you give us a brief overview of Anew, who it serves and how you do it.

Janell Rottier
Oh, man, I'm going to be honest, the one key word I picked up on there Jenn was brief. If you have to hold up like that, okay, it's enough now. We do have my full permission. These girls are my part of my heart and soul. And I mean that literally, I as I joked in my bio, I, I never meant to get into ministry. I just wanted to love teen Moms. And that came from years of sitting down with them in a room and to the moment they first find out, they're pregnant to all the way walking alongside of them as they are, you know, having a child and then raising the child. And I found myself in a position where I was counting down literally hours, like, Okay, after naptime, they'll wake up around three o'clock. And then I have about two hours to two and a half hours in there, and then and then my husband's gonna come home. And then it's going to be like, okay, like, I'm gonna have a fractured hands. And I can't tell you what or why I was not a teen mom, my mom was not a teen mom, I had no connection to teen moms, honestly, in any way, shape, or form. I always say I am the example of that God doesn't have to create a huge story in you in order to make a difference in someone else's life. So like, I don't have this huge story of redemption. I grew up in a Christian home. I, my parents, I like still really like them. They're like, really great people. And I married this guy that I met not too far out of high school. And like, I really liked him like he's a really great guy. And together, we have four kids. And so I mean, there's bumps, and there's things along the road that you're like, Oh, that was hard. That was a rough time or season, but nothing that like this huge, like, climatic moment where you're like, oh, that's where I found Jesus. I just, I always knew him. And I always knew that he knew me. And it was a relationship that developed over time. And, and because of that, I can't say that like, yeah, like I can, I can't relate to teen moms. And God had to teach me that I am not called to relate to them. I'm called to love them. And so I didn't need to have this great story to love them. And it wasn't that hard. And anyways, and so I'm sitting in my room one day and are in my kitchen, literally, I can put put myself back there. And I was like, Oh, it's okay, to two and a half hours, you know, and he'll be home and I can I can get this break. And I felt like the Holy Spirit was almost like tapped me on the shoulder like, what about those that don't get a break? What about those that don't have a countdown, and who they weren't at that time, I was volunteering in a very numerous ways in pro life ministry. And I just was like, oh, like, it just hit me like, Yeah, I'm counting down until he gets home. And there are young women all over right now that have nothing to count down to except like bedtime. Like it's just them. And I was just kind of convicted in that moment. So I went searching for what, what there was, and I came across a ministry that I ran that was kind of like a support group for young moms. And I ran that search for about six years. And then I came to soon realize, again, that I knew nothing and they needed a lot more than just a two hour social hour. And don't get me wrong, there was a I could tell stories about the way that the Holy Spirit changed and convicted. And I don't just mean the moms, I mean, like us and volunteer to do in the way that they use those moms, to show us the love that Jesus has for the oppressed and the poor and the afflicted. And there is there's a reason that time and time and time again, that is mentioned not only in the Gospel, through Jesus's words, but even through the Israelites. And the way in from the way that they left on got execute, or oh my goodness, the way that they had left Israel and became slaves, like it was like all it's it is woven throughout the entire Bible in so many ways. And I was just, I feel like our God is a God of grace so much. And I always say that the reasons I got into ministry is because of God's grace, because I was just really, so it's Matthew, I want to say I love him. Um, I could be wrong on that. But it's toward the beginning there. And it was toward the end of the chapter. And it says that Jesus walked back into his hometown, preach the Word, and everyone looked at him and is like, like, isn't it just the carpenter son? Like, who is he? And that is what I felt like. I just feel like man, I who am I like to even think and I had to make a lot of I made a lot of mistakes in those years. And a lot of things that I wish that I I don't know, I don't know. I don't know if I wish I could have taken them back because God had a lot of lessons and

Jennifer Uren
Use them.

Janell Rottier
Yeah, I needed them and he used them but ran I ran that ministry for a while and realized it needed more. And so I looked to see what was and couldn't, couldn't necessarily find exactly what I was looking for in the terms of that. But I, it led me to start a nonprofit. Eventually, I got into a ministry called team of choices, which is a phenomenal ministry that works with up to seven moms at a time. They're paired with a mentor, and they have to work on goals, and they have to attend weekly life skill workshops. And, and be held accountable to the goals are setting, they have to either be working toward full time employment and or in school. If they're doing all of those, then we will work and helping them overcome whatever obstacle it is that stands in front of them, for most of our moms is the weekly cost of daycare. And so we cover that cost. And I just saw the change that that ministry was literally doing in the hearts and the lives of the moms. And I was like I want more of them. So I started a nonprofit to do that. And so we currently have a TMC that's going on right now in Cedar Lake, Indiana, we have two more that are opening. And alongside of that, I wanted to build a ministry that encompasses that builds a bridge between the young mom in your community, to the doors of her local church.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah, well, that's a good segue. Because I was gonna say you are a huge proponent that relationships are the foundations of change. And so I mean, you just mentioned one with the local church. So what kind of relationships do you help foster for these moms? And how do you do it?

Janell Rottier
Oh, again, I the type of relationships I have to foster is, is nothing big, you know, it's not a relationships, if anything, they take time. And time is an investment. And so are we, that's how I look and view ministry as an investment, an investment in lives, but also in resources and our time. And so what one of my goals, vision, like hearts on is to see the local church be known as the place for hope for restoration for healing. And I've come to see that a lot of moms had a hard time walking through the doors of a church, because they don't always, they can always put to words, their emotions and feelings. But there is a lot of on unnamed shame, medicine in life, and they carry it really heavy. And so for them to take that and walk through the doors of a church is hard. It's really, really hard for them. And so we had create work, I'm trying to create programs that make that walk across the bridge for her to her local church a little bit easier. And for the local church to walk to her to write, like,

Jennifer Uren
Yeah.

Janell Rottier
like, let's go to her. These are the same moms that we stood there. And we said, you can do this and like, you know, and there's, there's help for you out there. And okay, so let's do that help. Let's do that. That community that we told her was there and available for her.

Jennifer Uren
And let's make it easy for her to find and connect.

Janell Rottier
Yes, right. And make it natural.

Jennifer Uren
Yes.

Janell Rottier
Make it built on love. Not on like a big flashy sign. But just, it's really simple. And so we started making these boxes called fully flourishing boxes. And it groups and churches and Bible studies and families can get together and it's just packing a little white box. And it's filling it with me to baby things like socks and teething toys, and a little spoon. And then inside as well is a handwritten card from somebody like you or like me, and it just says you got this or do this or know that there is an entire community that is praying for you. And then whoever wrote that card, we just put love and then their first name, and we put it in that box with her. And on the lid of that box when she opens it up right inside the lid is an invitation for her to come to one of our mom mixers. These are events held every other Wednesday at various locations. Every third fourth one I like to throw it at church. Just because again, trying to break those walls that show up even not not even knowingly a lot of times they build them up unknowingly. But just kind of start to be that presence and that consistent, that consistency in her life. And be that source of a help of an example of a healthy relationship and love like our God is a God of love. Let's show Her that love by the way that we walk alongside of her in a decision that we had asked her to make and, and just just do that just love, just love her well, and so these moments where she can just come in and it's, it's kind of like my old days when I used to run them on social club, I'm kind of doing that a little bit again, trying to get these moms through the doors of a church and into a community.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah, because though now, as opposed to before, now you've got a next step. So now you've got that next place for them to go.

Janell Rottier
Yeah. And so we want to lead her from the time that she first finds out that she's pregnant or just gave birth. That's where these boxes are currently going. They're in hospitals, and prenatal departments and all kinds of things. And then it goes from there to hopefully inviting her to a mom mixer. And then as a mom mixer if she needs the additional help putting her into a Teen Mother Choices program. And then from that Teen Mother Choices program, you know, yeah, dreams and visions I have beyond that. But right now, that is where the good Lord has me and I'm super, super excited to embark on again and unknown and see how many ways he can humble me along the way.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah, well, and what I love about this is, you know, you and I live in a state where in the wake of Roe V Wade being overturned, abortion is not that same legal option that it has been and so that feels hopeless to a lot of women. And so that to me, that make ministry of Anew even more vital, because in that hopelessness and helplessness, you know, we've got to step up and show them that there is hope, and there is help. And I think that's one of the biggest disservices from the pro life movement is that it gives this impression that the sole focus is on whether a baby is born, but it is so so much more than that. And you're doing some of that, but can you talk a little bit more about how, beyond those first months when the baby's cute, and you can see the need? How do you continue to be practical in being in living a pro life, you know, model to these to these people that have made the choice to have a baby?

Janell Rottier
Again, it's really sometimes I feel like even as Christians we overcomplicate things that are that Jesus has evidently said over and over again, is it's not that complicated. It really is showing her love, like so we have mentors that come into the Teen Mother Choices program, and even volunteers that would come for a mom mixer or be irregular, to just build a relationship with these moms, that's all you need to do is build a relationship. And I always say, Listen, she might tell you some stories. And she might tell you some really hard things, and you are going to be like I have I don't know what to say that. I don't know how to engage that like and I said, and you don't need to. You don't need to, you know, my one of my best and favorite responses when she tells me something that I that is really hard, really hard to take in really hard to listen to a story that is beyond anything that I've ever experienced or heard. And it's going wow, I really can't relate to that. I have not had a similar story to that. But can you would you mind if we just stopped right here and prayed for that, because I'm the one that can relate. And he wants to hear about it. And so let's just tell him, like, Let's just tell him. And so we just thought we just pray. And it's that simple. Nobody is showing up for her consistently and constantly in her life. She has not been modeled, they have modeled a healthy view of relationships. And so the church in and of itself, guys, that's what we are gonna work community, we're relationships, God is a relationship. That's how much they value to him. He's the father, he's the son, and he's the Holy Spirit all in one. Relationships are the essence of who our Triune God is. And he could have saved the world in numerous ways. But he chose a relationship in the way to change the world. And that will forever be profoundly impactful in my life, because because of that relationship that God came and, and sent his son down to walk alongside of me to walk with me. It literally, it saved me. And so all we have to do is show up for these moms. And not just like, not just that sounds really simple because it really is.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah,

Janell Rottier
Nobody is and so if as a church, we can start to be known for what we stand for, rather than what we stand against. And we stand for love and we stand for life. And it's not I always say one of the because they was like where do you find your mind? Um, that and like one of the comments that they usually come at the point in life, where like you would said, babies are so cute, aren't they? They're so cute. And there's so mobile. You can carry them like physically, like on a backpack. You can carry them. And then you have a stroller. Once they start to get to a point, though, where they are themselves mobile, and then they start talking back to you.

Jennifer Uren
Yes, when they become people.

Janell Rottier
All of a sudden, they're not so cute anymore. And it's also everybody loves to everyone loves to hold the baby.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah,

Janell Rottier
But not everyone's in a room, like, itching at you to hold a screaming toddler.

Jennifer Uren
Right.

Janell Rottier
And so that's where a lot of times we've come to find out usually around that one, one and a half. When that baby that childhoods one, one and a half. And so she's looking for connection, she's looking for purpose. She's looking for friendship. That's who we are. We are friendship, we are purpose, we are connection. And so it's again, it's not creating this big huge deal. It's, it's in the simplicity of the everyday life and walking alongside of her with it, as she's raising that child right now yesterday to keep that child. Now let's help her to raise it so that she is given a foundation of dignity of a life that she has now worked for, and can provide for her child. Like, what, what a beautiful testimony of God's redemptive grace?

Jennifer Uren
Yes. So when it comes to your family, and leading this ministry, what has been the hardest thing for you to keep in balance between the two?

Janell Rottier
Yeah, everything. I were going to kind of go down this path a little bit. And be honest, this is where it comes in. Like I don't, I don't know, I don't have it all together. And I never want to pretend like I do, I can tell you that I want my children to see their mom go after something that she's passionate about. And I want them to walk that path with me. But because of that, I can't attend every field trip. And because of that, I have to take Saturdays and clean the house. Or, you know, like I don't I don't have as much I again, I want my children to be a part of my life. But I also don't want to make them my life and make them that idol of purpose for me. And so men I, I think it's a beautiful thing, to be able to show my children, that our God is a God of love. And I think it's beautiful that I get to show our children that Jesus loves the young mom, who just loves the oppress and the orphan and the afflicted of our culture, and our communities, right? He doesn't just love the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. But he is there for that young mom that can't afford her rent next month and doesn't know where and has maybe made some choices, that it was hard, difficult. But that doesn't mean that she's was less than. And so being able to live that out, not by just the words I say but by the people that we have the privilege to welcome to our doors here in our home. My kids I think is really huge. But man, I'll be honest, there are days and weeks where I think I think I'm crazy to try to do all this, but at the same time, I have seen so much beauty not just in ministry, there's so much beauty in ministry, but kids and the way that they see people and the way that they engage the world around them. And I really want I really look at that as a gift from God through the through some of these hard days and times. So I know that's probably not the pretty bow answer because I just don't have one then

Jennifer Uren
I know, but you know, you also, you open to that beautifully what the greatest joy has been has the part of that. And what I love this that you said I can't attend every field trip but you didn't say I can't attend field trips and I think that's a really healthy thing to learn that we have, everything we do is a choice and so we have to choose and that's just made me think that some of these young moms maybe have more than one child and they may not have someone to watch the baby so that they can go on the field trip with the school-aged child. And it's just a simple way to step in and help but no I love that answer because we are in such a consumption world and we want to do it all and it is literally impossible, we have to make choices, we have to make choices all the time and when our kids can see that these are purposeful choices and they are not or you know selfishly motivated though sometimes you're like these are not the field trip I want to go on so I will pass, but when they can see that we make choices and they can be like you said they walk it with you, you know they can be part of it. I mean It is as simple as where you can you can buy lunch one day this week, here's the menu which day do you wanna choose you know they've got buy end but it's not everything right? And so I do I love that answer because it will then the fact that you are making choices and sacrifices but there's a joy and they are learning so much more beyond the four walls of your house.

Janell Rottier
Right. And I, one of the things I have learned, through the years here of trying to juggle it all, is I'll just straight up ask my kids, hey, I have this going on tonight, or I have this going on today. But I also know that you have this going on? And is this important to you? Is this something that you want me to be at because if it is I'll move heaven and earth. And that's putting that in, in my I want my kids to recognize in their life too, that you have to make choices and decisions, right? Like you just said, and so I'm I'm going to be available if you need me to be available. I feel like that's just one simple thing. But I have I asked my daughter, she has something going on tonight. And I was like Do you would you like you know, mom or dad there? Because I you know, your brother has practice, right? That smack dab middle of that. And your sister has a test that I know we have to study for it, you know, so? And she says, yeah, and she literally said, and I said, you know, like girl, like, you know, I will move heaven and earth if you really want me there. But but sometimes we have to make those decisions. And she just said she says, yeah, it's actually this is one of those things where it's like, Yeah, Mom, I really do want you there or they are there. And she's just because it's really kind of embarrassing to not have a parent show up. I appreciate that. Okay, thank you. And I feel like that helps her to recognize, like, the emotion of embarrassment that, like if we could recognize a name or emotions more in life, like, Oh, this is what I'm feeling. And this is why I'm feeling it. There's so much clarity to that, right. And so I want her to be able to recognize that walk, like walk it through together, let's walk through it, talk it through. But there's other times to where she had a, she had a scrimmage last week and for basketball against all these different schools and asked her the same question. And she was like, No, I don't really need you there. And I don't really care if you come then I'm not.

Jennifer Uren
Right. But it also it gives her that ability to, to voice it. But it also helps her understand you know that it is an investment. And so she's got to choose wisely, which are the ones that need to be invested in, and it's not everything and so it gives a good perspective on you know, importance, what is important, what isn't important. So I love that you're doing that.

Janell Rottier
Yeah, I again, it's, I feel like a lot of parenting is trial and error,

Jennifer Uren
Right!

Janell Rottier
And our oldest is a girl and so I always tell him like I'm sorry, like, You're already big. And so we're gonna learn together. But by the time we get to your youngest sister, like, we're gonna nail it, right?

Jennifer Uren
Yeah, we just tell our kids the first pancake never turns out and

Janell Rottier
Oh, I like that too.

Jennifer Uren
Oh, my goodness, this has been so so fun. So, as we wrap up, I have a fun question that I this is a question for me because I'm a gadget girl. So I always ask people what is your favorite time saving gadget system, time saving gadget system or tool? So what would it be for you?

Janell Rottier
So my favorite little thing and this this is gonna be not profound in any way shape or form? That's fine. A lot of times I think in life, it's the permission like I'm going to give myself permission in this season to use this. Even though it might not make the most sense. It just makes me feel better. Clorox wipes like to know how much easier it is to grab one of those and wipe the mess up off the counter or wipe down the doors of my you know fridge or even like I am known to take those and wipe my floor where I'm standing until they dry out just right look, I have a clean space. Yeah. Like it's not by any means for fun, but I just I gave myself permission to do that rather than you know, get out spray, spray it down, get out the rag what a rag and then wipe it all, like, always gross to me. I have to say,

Jennifer Uren
Yeah, well, and those are all barriers because you're like, Yeah, later, I'll do it later she removed all the barriers. So you have a clean kitchen.

Janell Rottier
I'm thinking and I just feel like Ma'am, you have a clean kitchen. You have a clean life.

Jennifer Uren
Yes.

Janell Rottier
And so I give myself permission to use and buy Clorox wipes. The ball like, that is amazing. But those things can clean. They can dust, they can clean floors, they can clean countertops and your appliances, to clean my clothes. I would I wouldn't do that.

Jennifer Uren
You would do that too? She's gonna start throwing them in the wash next. And

Janell Rottier
Right? I just, they were so most I useful. I love them so much.That is fabulous.

Jennifer Uren
And that is a first I have never had someone give me that answer. So I love that.

Janell Rottier
Again, it's really more of that permission to use them.

Jennifer Uren
Yep. Yeah,

Janell Rottier
That is the probably like this profane thing of like, someone's like, well, I didn't know that existed? No, we all know that it existed.

Jennifer Uren
But you know, permission is so important. I talked to a mom one time and she's like, I know I shouldn't hire a housekeeper because it's, it's wasteful. And I said you work full time. And you have three children three and under. That's not wasteful. That's like, just like, Oh, thank you. I'm hiring her tomorrow. She just needed someone to say, this is not a frivolity. This is a

Janell Rottier
I'm a big fan of seasons too. Because you do it in this season doesn't mean you're can continue it for all seasons, right? There'll be a season where I can clean my house.

Jennifer Uren
Yep. It's not this season,

Janell Rottier
The season, you know, I can I can make a really pretty like, you know, 12 foot by 12 foot space behind me look nice because I do clean. Right?

Jennifer Uren
Yes.

Janell Rottier
But let me tell you like,

Jennifer Uren
I know,

Janell Rottier
tell you a story. And again, God's grace, like God's grace, I always said I was the world's best mom. And then I had kids. You know, like, you think you're gonna like, be all these things and do all these things. And then you just realize, like, No, I'm only able to be where I am because of God's grace.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah,

Janell Rottier
And I really don't know anything. But I do know how to love and I know how to give and accept it. And right now in this season, that's what I'm going to be for my kids.

Jennifer Uren
I love it.

Janell Rottier
Yep. And accept love. Because that's where we're at. I can't give you an immaculate house. And I cannot give you you know, an all star five star vacation every you know, spring break, but this is the season we're in Sunday. I get there but maybe, maybe not. I don't know. Like, where we're at. And I'm okay with that. It's again that permission to be okay, where I'm at, like,

Jennifer Uren
Yes,

Janell Rottier
I have that in Christ. Oh, my God is not a God of guilt and shame. So anytime that I know that I'm feeling guilt and shame, it's not from him.

Jennifer Uren
So your Clorox wipes are wipes of love.

Janell Rottier
So my clorox wipes is God's way of saying, Janelle I love you.

Jennifer Uren
That's fabulous. That's fabulous. Well, Janelle, this is

Janell Rottier
Oh, this is so fun. I just want you to know.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah. Thank you.

Janell Rottier
This is super fun.

Jennifer Uren
Just for fun. Yeah.

Janell Rottier
I mean this on my calendar. Like "Podcast" 9 am like I was so excited. Someone gives me your microphone and a permission to talk if you're gonna do you have from Jesus. So? Thank you for having me Jenn.

Jennifer Uren
Yes. Well, thanks for being here. So how can people connect with you and A New?

Janell Rottier
Oh, great question. So, again, we have you know, all the fun things. So A New ministry A N E W. It's on so we have Facebook, New Ministry that or Facebook is at a new ministry. We have Instagram @anewministry and we also have our website anewministry.org. Ron, yeah, all those all the socials, all those fun things, and you can find us there and we have connect tabs. And yeah, I'd love to connect you in from hosting a packing party for fully flourishing boxes to volunteer to just be a regular at our Mom Mixers that meet twice a month and just getting to know a young mom and your community to maybe even having a church that would love to host the team of the CHOICES program or just I would love to host one of our mom mixers. I would love to plug you in. And if anything, you know if you just want to call we can talk. You know, like I love that too. God gave us all gifts and talking to sure one of mine, so

Jennifer Uren
I love it. I love it. Well, thanks Janelle. This has been fabulous.

Janell Rottier
Oh, thank you so much, Jenn. Have a great day.

Thanks.