The Puzzle Is Real

The Family Band

• Matt & Melissa Pisani • Season 1 • Episode 31

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The family band is back on the road! Not the Partridge's but the PISANI'S! Join them on this episode discussing their heart for outreach and  how they are teaching their children  to love, encourage and serve others. 



@puzzleisreal
@missjean21
@mateopisani



www.mattandmelissapisani.com

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the puzzle real podcast, where we will be discussing faith, family, and relationships hosted by Matt and Melissa Pisani. This is the puzzle real podcast. When you know, you know,

Speaker 2:

Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode, other episode, and this is just kind of a lighthearted catch up. Let you know what we've been up to episode where you all know, or some of you might not know that we have a nonprofit called clean slate living, where we get to go into public schools or detention centers, jails, and we get to give the message of self-worth and, um, just kind of speak life into these students or these young adults. And we had the opportunity to be in person. This is the first time we've been able to get in front of students since 2019, since before the pandemic and our friend's journey and Lindsey Henderson who live in Pennsylvania had invited us to come to their school district out there. And we got to present to elementary schools and to the high school. And we brought the kids. We brought Nala, we took a road trip from South Carolina. Yep. Nine hours in the car with a dog, two children

Speaker 3:

<laugh> family band<laugh>

Speaker 2:

And it was great. The kids were, the kids were such troopers. And, um, although they did, they were a little sick right before we left. So that was questionable. But then they ended up being okay, by the time we got there, which was good, but, um, they love staying in a hotel. They think it's fun. So we got to Pennsylvania, we did some elementary schools. We got to read the Nala, the bulldog book and the kids absolutely love Nala. And the fact that they not only love the story, they got to meet the star of the story, which is Nala. Yeah. So it was just really cool to be able to have her there and for the kids to connect. And they felt like they were so special cuz we're like we met Nala.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. This book is such a, a beautiful testimony to finding our purpose and our value at a young age. And the kids just really connected with it, understood it. They knew what it was about. They knew that Nala looked and acted different and that was okay. And we just really wanted to bless these elementary schools, especially after everything that people have endured with the pandemic. And just being able to go back into a school was really amazing. So thank you for everyone that entrusts us to go and shout out journey and Lindsay Henderson for putting it together and just all the people that allowed us to share this vision. And yeah, we just wanted to encourage you guys too, that, you know, these are our, our leaps of faith, you know, drive in nine hours to Pennsylvania with your two and four year old and your five year old bulldog in a pickup truck and just saying, Hey, we're gonna do what God's wants to do. Um, deeply rewarding tiresome, but so much fun. And we highly recommend if you get a chance to get out there and share, uh, your, your lives with others and just serve others, whatever that may mean to you, uh, go for it. Maybe it's not speaking at a school, but it's something like that where you say, Hey, we're going on a trip. We're gonna go bless people. So it's so cool. We wanted to give you guys that update cause I'm sure some of you might have seen posts on Instagram and just also kind of give you a deeper look into how we try to do life with our family and incorporate our kids. And we've said it before that our marriage and our children is our first ministry and everything else is an extension of that. And clean slate living is one of those things, you know, puzzle is real, is another one of those things. And obviously now the bulldog, the book is another one of those things and we just love getting to use all these giftings to glorify God. So hopefully even in this episode, it'll give you some smiles and some joy, I will say this Hershey park glorious. We didn't get to go to Hershey itself because we decided just to go to the chocolate world. And Melissa could tell you a little bit more about that, but that was a, a fun time of making chocolate bars and, um, watching the science of how they create these amazing treasures.

Speaker 2:

The kids were in their glory. They were like chocolate, chocolate.<laugh> it was really cute. But one thing I did wanna mention too, is we also presented at the high school and we did all grade levels. We actually did eighth grade through 12th grade cuz the eighth graders got to come to see, you know, it was kind of the introduction and kind of setting the tone for them for the school year, for next year, for them being freshmen to say, Hey, we're all gonna start with a clean slate. We're gonna treat each other with respect. And we kind of we're that message that they wanted us to bring into their school and to create a culture of just acceptance and also just love towards one another. So that was really cool. And um, the point I was gonna make is that when we were doing church on our front lawn, which we did, when all the churches shut down in New York, we decided to open up our front lawn and we hosted church music wor you know, worship, prayer, testimonies. It was incredible. And that time like Matt was saying, our kids have always been involved, which is so important to us, for them to see what this is not just us being on a stage. This is us living our life in our community and serving others. So when we were doing the presentation at the high school, I was backstage with mercy and Malachi and Matt was on stage speaking, or I think he was wrapping at that point. And mercy goes, mommy, this is like church on the lawn. And I was like, wow, like she totally gets it. You know, even though we're not saying the name Jesus in public schools, like we're still giving that same message and we're still sharing the love of Christ in schools. So I just thought that was so sweet that our four year old just understood what we were doing.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Yeah. And I also wanted to connect and underline that journey Henderson, who I was shouting out was the, and is the local youth pastor of that community. So how cool is this? We went into a public school, five of them, including the elementary schools, right. And we talked over 2,500 students at least. And in almost every instance, we were able to acknowledge that journey. Henderson was our friend and the reason we were there and the reason that's so important to the message of clean sight living is that we were bridging the students directly to someone that could tell them about Jesus. We were literally saying, Hey, this is the guy who brought us in. He's the reason we're here. And it was so cool to see that the church was literally like a block from the high school mm-hmm<affirmative>. So it was within the community, in the neighborhood. So for all of you out there that are just excited about missions and outreach, you know, this is like a big win-win when you're doing ministry is like, can you really find the right bridge for people to go deeper after you leave? And right. That's really what we were going after. So that was amazing. And last but not least, you know, we were on social media and uh, a friend and brother that used to go to our same home church in New York, Smithtown tabernacle had relocated to Pennsylvania and he had written me a message. His name is Andrew. And, uh, Andrew, if you listening, what's up buddy? He, um, he said, Matt, I was at a party recently and I heard that you were in Palm, Myra doing the school assembly. And I heard it went really well and, and, and I'm paraphrasing, but it was just so cool to see that there was feedback being given to someone that knew us and knew what we were about and was able to then share with me that, you know, he heard some good feedback. So it's just so like, you don't always get that. Obviously sometimes get negative feedback, but we were just happy to hear that people were, um, still talking about the message of rewrite tomorrow, still talking about the message of worthy. So never minimize how God will use you in these settings. If some of you have been on these types of journeys and you don't always see the fruit, you know, sometimes you don't, sometimes you do, but keep walking in obedience. I know for us the nine hour car ride living out of a hotel with our dog and our kids and just lack of sleep, all those things, um, yeah, those are fleshly things that can hit us. But man, what happens in a supernatural when we walk in faith in obedience, we won't see that till eternity, which is really cool.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So we were just very grateful for the opportunity and to just be in front of students again, to connect with them and to look people in the face. Um, it was just, it was really amazing. And then also for our kids to be a part of it, now that they're a little bit older, cuz last time we were in a school was, you know, almost three years ago. Yeah. So mercy was little, but now Malachi, you know, we all go on stage after and introduce ourselves and we show them our kids and let them know that we're married and that we have a family and the kids always go crazy every time they see mercy and Malachi. So it was really sweet to, uh, be able to do that this time now with the little one.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. And uh, I know we don't put our kids on social media very rarely, but we see maybe the back of their heads mm-hmm<affirmative> but there was one priceless video of Malachi just laying across the stage on his back.<laugh> watching kids walk in from an elementary school. It was like the final school, I think. Right. The last one, I don't think so. And he was just like done. He's like, I don't care. Yeah. He's just laying there watching kids come in, not phased living his best life. And you know, it was just such an amazing thing again, for them to, to really be involved. Mm-hmm<affirmative> so I also encourage all the parents out there, like if you're doing some type of volunteer work or, or serving in some capacity to the community, you know, get your kids involved. Yeah. Let them, let them be a part of that and, and make sure that it's integrated into your life because you just don't know what they're gonna pick up from that mm-hmm<affirmative> like someday they might be the one, you know, leading that team to go do a, uh, cleanup at someone's house or leading, you know, the soup kitchen or, or doing an assembly program to reach people. You just, you never know. So we are just really honored that we are, uh, being able to be used this way. But we also thank all of you for supporting this podcast. And we hope that this episode just gives you some inspiration and maybe even just a reminder of maybe something that you've been thinking about doing to bless and to minister to others.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So we thank you guys as always for listening, share with a friend, tag us on social media, send us a message on something, maybe a topic that you want us to cover. We're always looking to talk about new subjects that we haven't covered before. So we would love to hear your feedback and we hope you guys have a good week and we'll see you soon.

Speaker 1:

Hey guys, thanks so much for listening to the puzzle is real podcast. Please subscribe today and share with the friend. See you soon.