Welcome Home with Monique

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You see me good morning. This is Monique Buchanan, the host of the welcome home with Monique show. And on this show, I talk all things real estate. Listen, I want to thank you for tuning in. Merry Christmas, Las Vegas. This is Monique Buchanan, the host of the welcome home with Monique show. And of course, I'm super excited as Christmas Eve you guys, I hope you guys are enjoying your families. Just you know, taking it all in and just soaking up all that love from your family. And listen, I've got my family on the show today. So that's why I'm super excited because we're going to share with you what Christmas means for our family. But before I do that, I have to give a shout out to my little sister. She's a Christmas Eve baby. God bless her. It must be tough to have birthdays, you know during the season when people always forget your birthday, right? Well, hey, little sis I didn't forget. I love you, Jackie. She's in Seattle. And happy birthday to you. And then my best friend Becky coins. She's out here. Her birthday is three days after Christmas. So happy birthday, Becky. I love you so much girl. So real quick, let me go ahead and introduce you to my beautiful children. My blessing from the Lord. All of my babies. I've got my three girls and my son my one and only strapping son who does not like to. He's like she likes my big my big sister. His big sister said he's an introvert. So he's just agree to just say hello at least boogie. Can you please say hi. Merry Christmas, everybody. Merry Christmas. Okay, got a little closer. All right. Well, that was merry Christmas for my son Henry. Then I've have Sanaya she's my eldest daughter. Sanaya. Hello. Hello. Hello, everybody. Sasha pool you want to say hi, that's Sasha. You want to say Merry Christmas. All right. And then we've got of course my Malia you want to say Merry Christmas Lili?

Unknown Speaker 2:17
Nay Christmas, y'all.

Unknown Speaker 2:18
That's my Leah. Okay, guys. So we're gonna jump into the show, it's gonna be all things Christmas, what that means for me and my family. What it means for us we are I don't know, if you're just tuning in, you've never heard me before. This show is normally a real estate show. I am in Los Las Vegas Real tour. But I'm also a believer in Jesus Christ. And so as my family. So that is why we are super excited about Christmas Eve. And we're going to share what that means for us. So we're gonna start with my eldest daughter Sanaya. What does Christmas actually mean for you?

Unknown Speaker 2:51
To me, Christmas is a season to really be present. You know, a lot of times, especially in our hyper productive type of society, we're always busy with our work or we're busy with the you know, the monotonous day to day things. But during this time, it's, it's really a time to be present, you know, with yourself with your, with your loved ones. I also feel like it's a time to, you know, reach out to people that you haven't talked to in a while, man, those relationships. And it's just a season to give love and to get loving, and let yourself receive it as well. So Christmas is definitely a time for me and my family to be present and grateful for what we have. And just to know, you know, if you're not in a space right now, where, you know, things aren't going your how you would like, or, you know, how you would hope for Yeah, that will get better. And I think it's just a good time to, to come to that realization.

Unknown Speaker 3:53
That's good. That's really good. And you know, a lot of people you know, there, there's a lot of pressure, I think, for some people during Christmas, and I like what you said is like, listen, it's gonna work out, you know what I mean? Be optimistic. It's a brand new year, I don't care how far down you are. When you're that far down, guess what, the only way is up. So remember that and don't let yourself sink into, you know, something to where, you know, so because there they say there's a lot of like suicides and unfortunately things like that that happened during the season. So I just I'm glad that you brought that up and, and that you just have to hold on to the fact that hey, there's no nowhere but up and that God loves you. You know what I mean? I don't care what happens in your life. He loves you no matter what, no matter what is an unconditional love. And he does love you. So if you are struggling right now, please hear me when I say the Lord loves you. And he has open arms is willing to bring you right into his loving arms. If you'll just look his way. So just keep that in mind. God forbid you're not having a great Christmas. I didn't want to get on a you know a sad note but that's just The reality of Christmas. A lot of people are not in a good space. So I'm glad that you brought that up. By the way my, my daughter is she went to school to be a psychiatrist. It kind of showed right then but no, I appreciate that. That was very good. Malia What does Christmas mean for you

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to give in, like, wish that you are actually in a home and having a roof over you, and not on the streets like other people and things that other people don't have a to do? And you should be thankful for what you have and we should be celebrating God's birthday and giving and not receiving?

Unknown Speaker 5:35
Well, you can receive but we just have to, we have to remember what the the whole point of Christmas is. Right? Is that? Yeah, that's what you mean. Okay. So, Sasha, What does Christmas mean for you, honey?

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It doesn't matter about the present. Oh.

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But you had a long list of You're so cute. And you guys, she's missing two teeth. That's my five year old. She's missing two teeth at the bottom. And she's smiling so big right now you guys should see it. Malia What do you think about presents? That issue? Is it about the presents? Now? I want them right?

Unknown Speaker 6:12
Yeah, we do. But we all should know that. They're just not all about presents. Like if you don't get presents for Christmas, we shouldn't just be sad. It's all about like being with their family and members.

Unknown Speaker 6:21
That's good. I like that. But I know you guys will be pretty. Looking at me crazy if those presents aren't under there. Tomorrow morning.

Unknown Speaker 6:28
Yes, maybe that will have.

Unknown Speaker 6:31
Well, I love your honesty. Okay, guys. So listen, you you guys are always telling me stories out of the Bible. So do you want to share one of the stories that you saw? Should you just raise your hand really big? Do you have something you want to share with all the listeners, mommies listeners? Okay, share it, share your story from the Bible.

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So David Elias killed the giant.

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David killed the giant honey. So what does that teach us? That teaches us that we should never never be afraid, right? That's good. I love that. How about us Malia? Do you have a story

Unknown Speaker 7:06
about John the Baptizer. So he didn't care what people say you will always be on God's side. And so he spelled it out the word. And so the king does still like they didn't want him to worship those people. So he stood up and say that he's that we should worship the only God in our city and no other God made up God. Because people just got like a rock and made it said that was God and just shaped it with human hands. And people said that, that's going to be God. And it was never God. So I should, I hope you all understand that. You might see a rock and you might shape into like a person looking like a god or anything. It's it's not. It's not real. It's just a rock shape with nails.

Unknown Speaker 7:53
It's good. And you know what, like I said, you guys, for me and my house, we serve the Lord. I'll never shy away from sharing that. And let me tell you something when I was little my children's age, now Malia is nine. Sasha is five. And when I was very little, I was blessed enough to have somebody invite me to church when I was about Malia's age eight years old. And that was the first time that I dedicated my life to the Lord. And I just thank God for that. That other kid that invited me to church, I went to something called a wanna Awana is amazing. You guys is here in the city. It's basically like a girl scout and Boy Scouts for Christian children. And it teaches you the word of the Bible. And I was able to, you know, say scripture, you know, I had to learn these things. The Scripture by heart, and that's how I would learn metals. They want me ever tell you that that I went to a wanna?

Unknown Speaker 8:44
Yes, I did when we were like at this little fun party. Oh, the

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church for Halloween. That's right. So I did go there. And that did teach me what my were but one of the main tools that we use today to teach our children the Word of God is super book. I've got to put that out there you guys besides my amazing church, Living Word Church, which is awesome. You guys, if you're looking for a church home, it's a great church home. They have service 1030 On Sundays, on Tuesdays, they have Bible study is on 976 hassle, just so you know that but back to that. They have an amazing children's program there. But super book is free. They have YouTube videos for free. Right guys? Sasha you like to play the Super Book games, right? They teach you about the Bible. Yeah. Why do you like to play those games? Because it's fun. They're fun. And do you learn anything about Jesus Christ? Maybe a little bit. Yeah. So what about you? Sanaya so my oldest daughter. She has a real walk as well. She she's got a mini a testimony. You guys. When she was young, she played basketball. Actually. She had a full ride scholarship. Do you want to share your testimony about how God got you into that? You know, into college, you know? I mean, do you want to share that testimony with everybody?

Unknown Speaker 10:03
Yeah, so I had a rough route coming out of high school, I went to four different high schools, three different states. And if you're in the sports world, moving around a lot isn't necessarily ideal for getting recruited. So at 18, I had actually moved to North Carolina by myself, was going through a prep school ended up not having the greatest time out there went through a lot of trials and tribulations. And, you know, that was rough for, you know, just a young kid, at a whole different state, not by any type of family didn't really have any support, really, unless it was just over a phone call with my mom, or, you know, my family members. But yeah, and ended up leaving that situation, not getting any of the scholarships or not getting any of the looks that I wanted to. And I had to move back home, I was very unsure of myself, you know, my whole dream my whole life was to go to college at the time and have it paid for. And so the fact that that wasn't happening for me, and I had to move back home, and I had my little Smashburger job, like, it just wasn't ideal. So I was definitely in a season of being sad, being confused, being angry, honestly, thinking that this was the route that I was supposed to be on and, and thinking like, this is what God wanted for me. And when the results weren't there, I started to have a lot of doubts. I started to, you know, doubt myself doubt God doubt his vision for my life. And one day, I remember coming out from one of my shifts that Smashburger and I had gotten a text from a coach that was trying to recruit me out of college at the time, she was a community college coach, and I knew that I had D one talent, so I decided to, you know, not go that route. But she had reached out to me and she had let me know that she had gotten a new position at a private Catholic University, it was Division Two, and she wanted me to be her first signee. So I ended up getting my full ride scholarship to play basketball at St. Martin's University, which is a very prestigious and expensive school to go to. So that was a blessing in itself. And after playing two years there, I actually decided to quit basketball, and leave behind my full ride, which to my family members, and everybody else. I thought I was crazy for doing that. Because it's not easy to get a full ride scholarship. Did your mom think you were crazy? Oh, no, my mom, never. My mom always supported me with all my my venture. What

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did I tell you? I said, Did

Unknown Speaker 12:39
you? Yeah, that's, that's one thing my mom has always told me. Like, no matter if things sound crazy to other people. It's always a you know, if God put on your heart, even if she doesn't agree with it, she'll say like, if Oh, God, put it on your heart. And that's what you're supposed to do then do it. And so I had moved to Atlanta, and I just got to, you know, a regular waitressing job, got accepted to Clark University, and I was ready to just be a regular student, take out the athlete and really just focus on my academics. And at the time, I guess I didn't realize how expensive it was going to be to

Unknown Speaker 13:12
let me tell you, yeah, we were down in Atlanta, though you think are you think our rents Hi, my goodness, we were going around trying to find a apartment and it was just so expensive.

Unknown Speaker 13:22
Yeah, everything was expensive. Tuition on top of that, and I wasn't used to paying anything for tuition because I was you know, I mean, athletically, yeah, athletics takes care of all that. So again, I found myself in this place where I was confused like it I felt like you led me here, that why am I here? Like, just you know, in that in that place are many of us have have been before, you know, when you when you can't see the light, you don't understand why things aren't working out. But you felt called to this certain place for some reason. So after after going through that, I ended up calling my old coach and asked her probing the transfer portal, I ended up getting 10 Plus full ride scholarship opportunities. I went on my visit so

Unknown Speaker 14:05
they know the transfer polar but basically, they told her, you've got to completely cut ties with that previous school, the college, the St. Martin's university, so that when she cut ties completely, it's almost like a press release, hey, Sanaya is basically like a free agent, everybody. So that's what it what it means when she says a transfer portal. So that just put the alert out to all the current coaches that hey, Sanaya Simpson, is now a free agent. And so that's when everybody started jumping into her email. And now mind you, she had said, No, I'm not gonna play basketball anymore. But when all these people came through in the email,

Unknown Speaker 14:38
yeah, it was wild. I was actually working as a waitress again in Atlanta and I had one on my break. And I had just had like an overload of emails. And as I was looking through them, it was all like, hey, we want you to come visit our school. We want you to come here and they were like we have a full ride opportunity. And so to be able and I ended up committed committing recommitting to Valdosta State and finishing out my two years there. So to be able to get to full ride scholarships was nothing, you know, but God. And I had went back to play basketball. And when I got to federal state, I actually ended up blowing out my knee. And in that process, I, I mean, it's just, it's kind of like a roller coaster, you know, you never know what's gonna happen. But you know, where God leads you is where you're supposed to be. And at times, it could seem like, you know, things are dark and confusing. And I would say, like, I'm gonna, I'm in the season now again, and I'm, I'm here in Seattle. And that's Seattle. I'm sorry. I just recently, just, I recently just moved here from Seattle. So yeah, I'm here in Las Vegas, you know, I'm 24. I have my degree. But I'm not sure next steps for whatever reason, I felt like I'm supposed to be here in the season. And this is probably the most uncomfortable I've been in a long time, things haven't really worked out as I expected them to be coming here. And so right now, even just saying this testimony is, is kind of giving me the motivation, to, you know, keep my head up and know that God has something better in store for me, and there's a reason why I'm here. And everything is, you know, a reason and a season and it's all in God's timing. And you just have to trust that, you know, even though you can't see the big picture right now that you're exactly where you're supposed to be at.

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And when something that she left out kind of was Remember guys, right, she left ball, but let's let me just say this part. Her whole thing was she didn't want to play basketball anymore. Remember that when she left St. Martin's? So the thing that happened was COVID hit, she blew her knee out. So she actually ended up how much at Ball? Dalsa? Did you actually end up playing?

Unknown Speaker 16:50
I was Yeah. So yeah, the crazy part. I'm glad you brought that up. So the crazy part about it is yeah, I didn't want to play basketball, I thought it would it was turning more into a job, I kind of lost my passion with it. But I felt like I had to go back in order to finish college because I didn't have the finances to get an apartment and pay for all these things. So I had to use basketball as a vehicle again, to finish out my two years, and I literally only played probably like three games when I got to Valdosta State and then I ended up blowing out my knee and preseason. And I didn't play the rest of the year. So that in my, in my eyes, you know, it worked out for me because I didn't necessarily want to play anyway. But I was doing it to pay for, you know, my schooling. But I also got to, you know, be there for my teammates still be in that realm, but not have to physically exert myself in that manner. So I ended up going through a lot of healing that year, physically, spiritually, mentally, I got to focus on my academics more, I got to start to you know, find out different things that I enjoyed, like painting and reading and poetry and stuff like that. And then my senior year hit, and that's when COVID hit. And we had the opportunity to either opt out and still receive our full ride scholarship, no penalty, or stay in play. And I decided to opt out. Because you know, not only was I still recovering from my knee, I also had to take 22 credits my senior year, and it just wasn't conducive to do that and play basketball a full season with my knee. So yeah, it's just it's crazy how God works, you know, and I know it's cliche to say like, God works in mysterious ways, but he really does. And my testimony is on you over because after I graduated, I was supposed to go to I got accepted into Howard University, their social work program, that didn't end up working out. So I ended up moving back home, which is definitely I always told my mom like, I've never moved back home. Like I'm good. I was always I always prided myself on being independent, and you know, doing my own thing. So the fact that I had to move back home after college when I said that I would never do that was daunting to me. And so I was again in another season of okay, bag waitressing again, like a bag, trying to figure it out. And I ended up getting, I was very confused, very lost, didn't have a job. I was flying everywhere. And you know, as a lot of people know is it's not easy to get a job at a college degree or not. It's very difficult. So I remember going up to Mount Charleston for the night and camping out praying to God crying in my car. And as soon as I literally drove down from the mountain, I got a call from an old mentor of mine saying, hey, like we have a new director position. That'd be that's opening up like I would love for you to come and like interview for it. I think it'd be great. And somebody that just graduated college I don't have any real work experience to be offered a director position in Seattle that paid great that had full benefits like that was nothing but God. And I remember before even getting that call, I had told my mom I told her told my friends at the time. I was like, hey, like I'm moving to Seattle at the end of this month. Like I don't know how it's gonna happen but I gotta put it on my heart like I'm telling like and then once it hit like a I want to hear like second third week of, I think, not march, September. I was like, oh my god, like I've been told everybody that this is what we're doing. And you haven't made any moves yet. Like, I haven't heard anything like, like, I feel like God has some comedy to him when it comes to stuff like that. So I'm freaking out. And literally, literally, I would say, like, the third week of September, towards the end of the month, when I said I was going to leave, I ended up getting approved for an apartment that had one month free of rent. So it ended up working out, I ended up getting my job and moving out to Seattle. And everything just fell into place perfectly. So yeah, that's another testimony.

Unknown Speaker 20:43
Testimony up we could go on and on and on. Really? Yeah. You know, so when people tell me, you know, we don't really know that God's real well, yeah, I know. He's real. I know for sure. He's real, just like my husband's real. Because I have a relationship with Him. Because He has come through so many times that I've been at my lowest, he showed me his face. And like you said, I know it was nothing but God. And watching you go through, like everything that you went through, watching all your testimonies. It's been amazing. He just is a constant reminder that he definitely is real. So yeah, my daughter has many testimony. She's got the favor of God on her. You guys know that? I've always been open to share my testimony as well. And I'll share it again. Um, but before I do that, I want to bring my little ones in again. Do you guys you guys have a testimony about grandpa, right? For all of you guys that don't know, I lost my mother. We lost grandma, grandma Sheila. So we lost her. This last February. So this is our first Christmas without grandma. Right? But we're being strong, right? Because grandma would want us to be strong. Right? Right. So what did you guys pray for? For Papa? Because my father's so my parents were together. 50 years. In my little ones. I'm telling you guys, our little prayer warriors. What were you guys praying for for Papa? Because he's been taking it so hard. What was your prayer? You want to tell them since he had been

Unknown Speaker 22:07
struggling about living without grandma having a first Christmas? Well, grandma, we prayed for him every day and every night for him. And then when he came back from Seattle, he felt so much better. And he was and I seen a big smile on his face. And that was that was made. That's what made me happy.

Unknown Speaker 22:27
So he's doing better. What was your prayer? What were we praying? We were praying about,

Unknown Speaker 22:31
we can he'll pop his heart. And He will know that she's still there. But he just can't see here though, right? In his heart, and he might see her in dreams and might make him sad, but at least you get to see her still not forget who she was. And we're lucky that we got to know God very early age.

Unknown Speaker 22:52
So that when you have a hard time, you know who to call on, right? Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 22:56
And sometimes light can come into darkness can come to light, he leads you to the right direction.

Unknown Speaker 23:04
That's good. I love that honey. Because one thing about my mill Malia, she will be proud. She prays for her friends at school. And I love that. And Sasha. Sasha is my little prayer warrior too. She's being shy today.

Unknown Speaker 23:16
And I had this friend I used to have when, in kindergarten, I had this bully that I did not like at all, she relied a lot on me. I did not like I couldn't stand it. Then my mom said, Just pray to her and see what happened. And now I'm in fourth grade. I still see her as we know, we talk and we are where we're have friends. Oh, that's good.

Unknown Speaker 23:39
So your prayers. So you prayed for her. And now you guys are doing better? That's really good. I love that. Okay, so I'm gonna go ahead and just share my testimony. Like, I'm going to start making this a thing that I always do, because somebody out there needs to hear this. They need to hear my testimony. God did not give me this platform. And by the way, that's exactly who gave me this platform. And I want to thank K, u and v. And all my listeners for voting this show. Welcome home with Monique real estate show. The number one show talk show on K UMB. So thank you guys for voting for me. Whoo. That's nothing but God, he gets all the glory. But real quick, so I'm gonna just like, share my testimony as fast as I can because we're down to five minutes. So you guys before I got into real estate, I was in the casino industry. I was very blessed. I was a single mother son. I was my only child at that time. And I was able to provide for her very well through you know, working in the casino industry. So anyways, after so many years, I got married, I had Malia I hadn't had Sasha yet. I just kept hearing God asking me to or telling me that it was time that my season was over in that in that field, okay. And I thought well, is this God or is this the devil? Because I made really good money to be honest with you guys. I made six figures even in the casino industry. And I was so scared to walk away from that because I did have Sanaya at a young age, I was not able to complete college. So I was able to make six figures without, you know, a degree. And I thought, My goodness, what Lord, what am I going to do? I'm accustomed to, you know, a certain lifestyle. So long story short, I thought, Man, I'm so scared to do this, and I can't do this. But I went ahead and I trusted the Lord, you guys, I took that leap of faith. And I tell you what, I'm so thankful that I trusted him. He gave me a promise in my heart and told me, Don't worry, I want you to go into real estate. And so that is why I'm you hear me every week, you guys on Saturday, God led me to real estate. I quit my job. They couldn't believe it. Because I'd been there 15 years, they were taking bets that I wouldn't quit because I was top seniority. And it takes years to get there. But like I said, I trusted the Lord. Do you know what happened? I walked in that Monday told him I'm quitting. I quit. My girlfriend. Two days later called me told me that she was going to pay for my real estate school. She did that you guys, she went to school with me. In fact, it's Becky. Her the one that I gave a shout out Becky, it's her. Her she paid for my real estate school. She went with me to real estate school. She ended up not getting her real estate license, but I did are truly feel like God did that. To make sure that I actually win, make sure and hold me accountable. So that was almost eight years ago, you guys and has been nothing but a blessing sense. So there's somebody that's listening, that has, you know, God's been, you know, on them about doing something and I just want to share that you guys. I was so scared to walk away from not only that position, but you guys I was a cocktail waitress at the time, I'll just tell you I was a cocktail waitress. And they were never going to hire me back. Because at this time, I'm almost 40 years old. They want to hire my daughter, the 24 year old you know what I mean? So I knew once I left that job, there was no getting it back. But I took that leap of faith. I've never looked back. God has been blessing me ever since I haven't helped an assistant through the grace of God. Over 100 families get into homes, many of them, the majority of them wouldn't zero down, zero out of their pockets. And first time homebuyers. Uh, yes, I've helped the luxury buyer. I've helped, you know, investors, I've got plenty of those as well that I assist. But because of God, he has opened this platform up for me. And I just thank him, I thank him. So I just want to make sure if there's anybody out there that hears my voice, heard my daughter's testimony, heard my testimony. Just know that fear is not of the Lord, you guys. Fear is something that you know, just it holds you back from moving in the direction that you're supposed to move in. So do it afraid? If you're scared? That's fine. Do it afraid and trust the Lord. He's going to be? He's gonna bless you. So do you guys want to lead me out in prayer to Malia? Do you want to say a prayer for everybody listening for Christmas and maybe the unfortunate people that we want to, you know, make sure that we pray for them? Oh, I'll just let you do your prayer, baby. Go ahead.

Unknown Speaker 27:56
Yes, sure. Thank you. Go ahead. Thank you love his beautiful day you give us and we're still here alive. We thank you for the ones that are passed away. Now with you in heaven. We pray that we still know them at a young age and all the people in the hospital that can't see the light and play anymore, that you will heal them. And we love you so much. And we will respect your birthday will will not think that gifts and things like that. Just Christmas stuff. The devil made all of that we don't care about that. We just care about you and your birthday and thank you for dying on our sins. And all the people that are having trouble that we pray that your life will get a little better and God will bless you lead you to light and and we hope that you and your family have a blessed blessed Christmas. Thank you all

Unknown Speaker 28:48
Yes, very good. I need I told y'all that's a little prayer. Where are you? You want to say Merry Christmas to everybody and say Happy Happy New Years. Hey, Christmas Happy New Years. All right, so she poo. Okay, so now you want to see Merry Christmas.

Unknown Speaker 29:05
Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays everybody. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 29:07
so merry Christmas. You guys. We pray that you for my family to yours. Merry Christmas and God bless and thank you for all your support throughout the year. Thank you for listening. This is Monique Buchanan. My license number is S 1788 46 and I am part of EXP Realty Tune in next week.

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