Episode Seventy: The Byte - Rev. Kimberly Scott

Rev. Kimberly is a force to be reckoned with! To hear her tell it, she's been called to God from the start! Her journey, from "Revival Child" to Reverend, is full of miracles... one right after the other, leading her to her call.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 70 of Bite-Sized Blessings. I'm going to apologize for my audio. The wind gusts here have only increased during the day. It's a really bad sign for the wildfires raging in our state. And so the sounds you hear in the background are actually things being thrown around outside. Right now, I'd love to ask for your prayers and best wishes that the wildfires are brought under control. And that more lives, Livelihoods, And animals are no longer under threat. For this episode, I got to speak to Reverend Kimberly Scott, Who describes herself as fun-loving, A singer, Motivational speaker, And a cradle Methodist from Biloxi, Mississippi. She is a force to be reckoned with. One of the themes of her life has been her voice. Whether it was singing in church as a child, And then as she grew older, Or whether she's using it to motivate people, She's good at it. And that makes me a little envious. On previous podcasts, I've talked about how much I hate being up in front of people. I'm very much someone who likes to stand to the side and watch things happen. But Reverend Kimberly is not afraid. She uses her voice in powerful ways to speak for those in her community, For those who are marginalized, For those that are suffering injustice. And I think when you hear this interview and you hear her speak, You'll understand her strength and power. So now, Episode 70 of Bite-Sized Blessings. I'm sitting in my counseling office in walks this six foot two Mexican Tongan young lady. And I'm like, Athlete. I'm a coach. I coach volleyball and I coach basketball, You know, And I coach softball. I knew she would be a good athlete for our school. And she was a senior. And I was like, Oh, This is amazing. I look at her transcript and I say, Oh, This is not amazing. She has 12 credits. She needs twenty two and a half by the end of the year to graduate. We have a six period day and you get one credit per class. So that meant she was going to fall short by six credits unless I found another way for her to do things. So I said to her, Andrea, You cannot play basketball this year, But if you do everything I ask you to do, I will find a school that will take you and allow you to play basketball your freshman year. She comes in my office the final day of her senior year and she sits down and she says, Coach, We need to talk. I'm like, What, Andrea? What did you do? Did you fail in your finals? What did you do? Because we had issues all throughout the year. I was always on it. Right. No, Coach, I passed everything. I'm good. I'm going to graduate. I'm so excited. But I know I can talk to you about you. I'm like, About what? She says, Why are you here? I said, Why am I where she's just such a great counselor. You do so much for this school. You're a great coach, But they don't appreciate you. I think God is somewhere else. You're supposed to be. My wife took it upon herself to kind of help me with my grieving and dealing with all that molestation stuff. She told me she woke me up one morning because I had been staying at home because I was just grieving. I was just grief-stricken between, You know, Having to share the story with my mom about what my brother had done and, You know, And just still with my grief. So she woke me up and she says, Hey, Babe, I know you've had a rough week, But get up. Let's go. Let's go down to the courthouse and let's become domestic partners. Right. We're in Nevada. Marriage was not legal yet, But we could get, So she asked me to become a domestic partner. The night of our wedding, You know, You have people who sign, You know, Your picture, Right, With the frame. And one of the kids, My nephew, Who I know now, He wrote on the middle, Right across our faces, I will miss you. This is February 11th of 2012. Sophia and I were looking at you and said, Where are we going? We didn't plan on going anywhere. Well, That weekend, My best friend, My woman who was a male, Was there, And he had let me know that he was now in Northwest Kansas coaching wrestling. And now he had a, They were opening up a new women's and men's basketball program. Rewind back to the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year. I'm sitting in my counseling office, In walks this six foot two Mexican Tongan young lady. And I'm like, Athlete, I'm a coach. I coach volleyball and I coach basketball, You know, And I coach softball. I knew she would be a good athlete for our school. And she was a senior. And I was like, Oh, This is amazing. I look at her transcript and I say, Oh, This is not amazing. She has 12 credits. She needs twenty two and a half by the end of the year to graduate. We have a six period day and you get one credit per class. So that meant she was going to fall short by six credits unless I found another way for her to do things. So I said to her, Andrea, You cannot play basketball this year, But if you do everything I ask you to do, I will find a school that will take you and allow you to play basketball your freshman year. Wedding happens. Tori tells me this about him having opportunities for athletes. She's one of the one of about six kids from my high school at that time that I sin that I plan on sending to him to Northwest Kansas Technical Institute. She comes in my office the final day of her senior year and she sits down and she says, Coach, We need to talk. I'm like, What, Andrea? What do you do? Did you fail in your finals? What did you do? Because we had issues all throughout the year. I was always on it. Right now, Coach. I passed everything. I'm good. I'm going to graduate. I'm so excited. But I know I can talk to you about you. I'm like, About what? She says, Why are you here? I said, Why am I where she's just such a great counselor. You do so much for this school. You're a great coach, But they don't appreciate you. I think God has somewhere else you're supposed to be. Of all of my years coaching and counseling, That was my absolute worst year. And I was really feeling like, Do I want to do this anymore? And I was also wrestling with this call thing and like, What is that supposed to look like? I had begun researching schools and and I was like, But I'm gay and maybe I'll do a program about human sexuality and religion and all these things. At that moment, When she walked, She walked into my office, I closed the door and I cried and I said, OK, God, What is it that you want me to do? Those things like there's God was messing in my life the entire time. So that's you see, Seeing the miracle, Wonder, Work and power of God in this season where I've had so many challenges coming upon me that came by way of a very toxic marriage challenge that threatened my my credentialing. You know, I could have been defrocked in the season and it hasn't happened. And when I recall these stories, It reminds me of why it didn't happen the way I feared it would, Because I still believe that God has his hand placed on me and there is still lots of work God has in store for me to do. And although the season has been a very hard and weary season, I can look back over my life and just see even in the messiness, God is God is in the midst. You. Thank you for listening to Episode 70 of Bite Sized Blessings, Where I got to interview the indomitable Reverend Kimberly Scott. It was such a pleasure to talk with her, And I'm so very grateful that she took the time to speak with me. We've been trying to set up an interview for a few months, And finally, We both had the space and time in our lives. I need to thank the musicians who created the music for this episode, Music L. Files, Tim Kulik, Frank Schroeder and Sasha End. For complete attribution, Please see the Bite Sized Blessings website at bite-sized-blessings. Com. On the website, You'll find links to other artists, Change makers, Books and music I think will lift and inspire you. Thank you for listening. And here's my one request. Actually, I'm going to make it to please, Please rate and review the podcast wherever you find it. Ratings and reviews are so important and help others find us. My second request. You already know, Be like Reverend Kimberly. Be strong and confident in your voice. Use it to make the world better, To lift others up and in general, To make the earth a little shinier. Most of us, Including crows, Love shiny things, And I'm sure if we all work at it, We'll eventually get there.