Hey, friends, and welcome back to Faithfield Woman.

This is your host, Kristen.

Today we are diving into what are those small steps that you can take to create a life you love to begin again when you maybe feel like you've lost yourself along the way of life, that you are on autopilot and you know there's more and you want more.

So this is your wake up call.

This is the conversation we're going to have about how we, we can change our lives and step into everything that God has for us and wants for us in our lives.

All right, so whether you are a woman like me in midlife or whether you're someone a little bit younger or you're past midlife, this conversation applies to all of us because so often we get stuck in patterns and thoughts that we have to live our lives a certain way.

We, whether it's because it's what our parents modeled for us, whether it's because we have been given definitions of what a successful life looks like or what a life of a Christian woman should look like or whatever it might be.

But so often we are following a path that isn't aligned with what's most in our soul, what we most feel aligned with for what we're designed for, and also for what we truly want, what really matters to us, not what we were told should matter to us.

And so I want to share with you a little bit about what Mark Batterson says in Chase the Lion.

And I know I share what he says, you know, on occasion on the show because he just, he just has a way of saying things.

All right, so here's what he says related to this topic of today.

He says most of us spend our lives running away from the things we're afraid of.

We forfeit our dreams on the altar of fear or we chase after the wrong thing.

We're so busy climbing the ladder of success that we fail to realize it's leaning against the wrong wall.

And he says at the end of our lives, our greatest regrets will be the God ordained opportunities we left on the table, the God given passions we didn't pursue and the God sized dreams we didn't go after because we let fear dictate our decisions.

And I would add to that.

It's not just fear that we let dictate our decisions so often.

It's that we get busy serving our families.

We get busy serving our communities.

We set aside the things that maybe as a young adult or a teen or you know, someone into our 20s, we set things aside that we had an interest in or we were passionate about or maybe that we started to pursue.

I think so many of us thought we couldn't have it.

Both of those things or all the things, right?

Like maybe we paused careers or maybe we didn't even like the career we were in to have a family or we went on a certain path because it's what our parents did, or we knew that it would be a stable career path or the money would be good or whatever it might be.

And so I don't think it's just fear, right, or chasing up the wrong wall.

I think it's that sometimes we thought we had to put something on hold or even set aside an identity of something that was important to us.

And I'm here to tell you that God actually designed us with these passions, these interests, these desires, these longing in these dreams because he has called us to use these things in the world.

And obviously I'm not saying there's never desires that aren't aligned with what I'm talking about, but I think you know what I mean.

I'm talking about the desires of your heart that deep down you know are tied to your gifts, your talents, the things you're curious about, right?

So that's what I'm talking about.

I'm not talking about desires to do things that you know, don't align with who we are at, you know, as a Christian woman.

Okay?

So he also, Mark Batterson also goes on to say most people believe God is real, but few people actually live like it.

The result is a widening gap between their theology and the reality.

They allow their circumstances to get between them and God instead of letting God get between them and their circumstances.

And he goes on to say, when everything's said and done, God isn't going to say well said, well thought or well planned.

There is one measuring stick.

Stick well done, good and faithful servant.

And he explains, faithfulness is not holding down the fort.

Faithfulness is chasing 500 pound lions.

And he said there is a brand of religiosity.

I'm sure I said that wrong.

That seems satisfied with breaking even.

Don't do this, don't do that and you'll be okay.

The problem with that is this.

You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right.

Breaking even is breaking bad.

God has called us to play offense with our lives.

Those who simply run away from what's wrong will never amount to more than half.

Christians, the only way to tap your God given potential to fulfill your God ordained destiny is to chase 500 pound lions.

Let's break that down because I'm going to be honest, I think for a lot of us this is not something we've heard before, especially as women, for sure.

Obviously there's so many women that are part of our communities, women that might be listening this, that we are doing things in the world, right?

Whether that's that we're serving in our church, we're going on mission trips where we're speaking to people or we're writing books, or we are bringing women together, right, For Bible study or community, or we're just raising up our families.

Those are all good and important things.

But what he's talking about is if the only thing we did was read our Bible, but we never step outside our own door, especially if our kids aren't there, right?

Like in other words, then we have missed the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world.

In other words, we can be faithful and pray, we can be faithful and read God's word and those are good and important things.

But we're called to do more than that.

And that is what he's talking about and I love it.

Because what he's saying is we have a role to play and that role to play is in the world, it's of the world.

He goes on then to say, God's dream for your life is so much bigger, so much better than breaking even.

If you focus on not making mistakes, you won't make a difference.

You don't overcome sin by focusing on not sinning.

You need a dream that is bigger and better than the temptations you're trying to overcome.

You need a dream that doesn't allow you to become spiritually sidetracked.

A dream that demands your utmost for his highest and the last thing he says that I wanted to share with you.

And then I'm going to give you a couple journal prompts or questions that you can ask yourself.

But he says, oops, let me move this.

When we lack the guts to go after 500 pound lions, we rob God of the glory he deserves.

By definition, a God sized dream will be beyond your ability, beyond your resources.

Unless God does it, it can't be done.

Amen to that.

And that is precisely how God gets the glory.

He does things we can't do, so we can't take credit for them.

God honors big dreams because big dreams honor God.

And he just says, destiny is not a mystery.

Destiny is a decision.

A difficult decision, a daring decision, counterintuitive decision.

You fulfill your destiny one opportunity at a time.

Of course those Opportunities often come disguised as 500 pound problems.

Landing in a pit with a lion on a snowy day qualifies as a bad day, a bad break.

But Ben Andiah didn't see it as bad luck.

He saw it as a big break.

If you're looking for an excuse, you'll always find one.

If you're looking for an opportunity, you'll always find one.

Lion chasers have an eye for opportunity.

There are amazing opportunities all around us, I'm sorry, all around us all the time.

But you have to see them to seize them.

Then you need two o' clock in the morning courage to taste them.

And I think he would also say, he says it somewhere else in the book.

It's going to take us God's resources and other people to make these God sized dreams happen.

I've definitely interviewed plenty of people on this podcast that have stepped into God sized dreams, you know, and he's calling us to do the same.

Ours might look different than the next person, ours might look different than our friends, but we have to have the courage to step into those, right?

And it doesn't start on day one.

He's not asking us to do this huge thing often it's just having one bit of obedience.

Mark Patterson talks about before they had bought one of their properties up in dc.

They own quite a few properties now, the church, you know, the group.

And, and he said that he had found a book about the old property or he had found a stub of some sort.

I forget what it was.

But the point is, is he didn't know he was going to get that, that house, but he felt this prompting and so he purchased something that later would help them actually get it or would know more information about it.

So sometimes it's just those small acts of faith and then showing God that you are taking a step forward.

It might be a really small step.

I've shared this with you before, but I bought my microphone years before I started this faith podcast.

I started another podcast prior to this one that still, I still do as well.

And I actually want to address the feeling or the sentiment that I hear sometimes which is that we might feel selfish for wanting more or less or that we should feel selfish for wanting more.

But what we're talking about is not wanting more materialistic things.

And I don't think that that's bad as long as they're.

For instance, at some point I would like to move, you know, onto the water and it would be a different house.

It's not necessarily that I want a Bigger house.

But I want a house that can fit all my family as my kids get older.

And if they have, you know, they're bringing people with them or if they have families or, you know, that would have an extra part of the house that we could have separate, we could have people come there, you know, parents, things like that.

And so that's not selfish, right?

Like I have a real reason and I have a real heart reason for wanting that property.

I want our kids to want to come hang out with us, right?

I want to be able to have people there.

And maybe, you know, if it's a separate lockout unit, we can also invite people there to take a break, to take a rest that might not otherwise fit that in, right?

People we know or people we know that know them, stuff like that.

So, you know, I think the thing is, is we're not being selfish for wanting maybe a different career one day or maybe you love doing certain things, but I think that's put on your heart so that you can use it to serve people.

You can bless people with the thing you love doing.

And when we do the thing that we're, they're good at, right?

And that comes to us maybe easier than for some people often that may allow us to just have the life we want, but have life we want.

I'm really talking about that we can feel good in our lives, right?

And I don't mean that that means there's nothing hard that happens.

I'm just talking about feeling at peace, feeling joy, feeling contented, not feeling like we're hustling for the wrong reasons.

And I think there's a difference, right?

That whole thing that Mark Batterson said about putting our ladder on the wrong building or on the wrong path or chasing completely the wrong thing versus when we get lined up with what God's will is for us and what's in our heart already, right?

That's been put there.

Things come and seem easier because we are in accordance with his plan for our life.

And you know, so I just want to point that out because I think there is definitely many different messages, right, in different Christian circles or different denominations that talk about different types of theology.

And so I, I just want to be clear, right?

This is not like talking about prosperity theology or not.

This is just saying think we are called to step into these, these God given desires that we have these longings and then to go after these God sized dreams that God put on our heart.

We'll know when they line up with God, right?

We're not Talking about you're saying you want to make $50 million just to make $50 million, right.

Like there has to be a reason behind the things.

And most of us just want a life that feels right.

Right.

We're not after a certain number or something like that.

Okay, so how do we make small shifts, just find ourselves again to start stepping into the things that move us, the things that we're interested in and moving towards these God sized dreams.

How do we do that?

Well, we start shifting, right.

One what we're paying attention to and we start paying attention to the things that we are interested in, what we're curious about, the things that pull at our heartstring or make us happy doing it.

Right.

Those are the things we need to pay attention to.

So I want you to write down these questions.

The first is what are, write down what are three moments in my life that I felt most alive or excited?

Right?

In other words, what were the things you were doing that you just, you delighted in doing them, you enjoyed doing them.

And yes, I get it, we could all put vacation sitting on the beach.

But that's not, that's not really what I'm talking about.

Right?

Like when you felt energized, you felt good about the thing you are doing.

So maybe you are making dinner for people that you love, maybe you were drawing, right.

So in other words, it's when we're were doing, it's I'm talking about in something you were doing, right.

Maybe it's singing, you know, whatever it might be.

So write down three moments in your life where you felt most alive and connected to something you're able to do or you enjoy doing and then what made you feel that way?

You know, what was it about those, those moments or doing those things that made you feel that way?

The next is write down what are the God given desires and longings that have been put on your heart.

Think about it.

Maybe you're not sure or maybe you're sure but you've never written it down or spoke it out loud.

Well, sister, now is the time.

Let's do it.

Let's be honest about what they are.

We might not be anywhere near those things, but unless we are clear on what they are, we're not going to move towards them.

The next is write down what are the God sized dreams that you feel God putting on your heart in this season, right?

Those dreams could change, your desires could change, right?

Because let's say that you raised a family and now your kids are older.

Well now you may have More time, right, to devote towards going after some of your passions, going after some of these things that God's put on your heart.

And so our seasons will change the work we do, they will change what's put on our heart, I think for at least some of us.

So write that down.

And then the last thing that I want you to write down is what is holding me back from taking a step in the direction towards doing more with a passion that I have or an interest.

And what is holding me back from doing one small or moving one small step towards a dream that I have right for the work I'm supposed to do or where I'm supposed to be or who I'm supposed to be doing it with.

Write that down.

Because is it fear that's holding you back?

Is it the unknown?

Is it that you feel like you've been in a holding pattern but maybe it's getting close, that it's not?

Do you feel like you don't clearly know, you know the direction or like a feeling, but you really don't know what the dream is at this point?

So write those things down.

And I will tell you another thing that Mark Batterson says is get around other people with a God sized dream.

In other words, what I would tell you is two things.

We need community so much, but we don't just need our church community and our close friends, we absolutely need close friends and other people of faith around us.

But I can tell you this, not all of those circles are where you may be or where you're going.

And so sometimes you have to find other people that are stepping into their God sized dreams, that aren't sitting on the sideline, that aren't playing it safe and sometimes it's hard to meet those people right away.

Although there's a lot of online groups, I obviously have a community and I'm trying to build that community to be more connected through group coaching and then online community.

But you need other people to cheer you on, you need other people to help support you, to hear what your dream is, to hear what you're stepping into.

Because that type of encouragement is like nothing else.

I promise you.

I have a couple people in my life like that and it literally is so helpful.

Yes.

You know, praying on it and listening to what God is trying to tell you, all of those things are important.

But sometimes just hearing another human being say to you like, yes, oh my gosh, everyone knows but you that you're so good at this thing and we've been waiting for you just to Go do the thing, right, like sell the bread or start the, you know, the little farm stand or gosh, whatever it is, right?

Like write the book, write down your recipes, whatever it is.

But like, sometimes we just need to hear the words because I'm telling you, it is truly music for our souls and we need that.

And so if you're not getting that in your life right now, I've been there.

I've been there many times actually, where I feel alone in the journey I'm on.

And when I say alone, I don't mean that.

I don't know other people doing other things, right, like podcasting.

But it's different when you find a couple people that are helping cheer you on and you checking in with each other and you're supporting each other to take steps towards these dreams makes all the difference.

And so I would just encourage you, keep looking for your community that can help you do that.

And maybe today isn't that day where you're going to step into the first part of your God sized dream.

Or maybe you're already on your way in doing what God's calling you to do, some big plan, wherever you're at on it.

The point is we can always use other people and community around us to help us because we're going to need, as Mark Batterson said, we're going to need God's resources and we're going to need people.

We cannot do it on our own.

And I'm going to be honest with you, it's scary.

I know that because I get scared too of trying to do more than I think I can do.

Let's be honest, we try to meter it back, like, oh, okay, I'll do the podcast, but I'm just going to do what's in my strength, right?

In other words, how much do we hold God back, including myself?

Because we only want to go as far as we feel comfortable.

Like we're afraid sometimes to take the hit and try to knock it out of the park.

And I feel that too.

But my job is to get the people around me that are going to help me, even though it seems scary to do it, to take the bigger swing, to try to swing further and to keep stepping as the doors or the things open.

And so I just wanted to come on, encourage you today because this summer it's going to be all about how do we wake ourselves up to these things that are in our heart.

They're put there by God and he wants us to, to show up, right?

Because the more we do to give him glory, he will get glory.

In other words, the smaller we play, we aren't going to shine the light as brightly, you know.

And so we're being called to do more wherever we're at and however we personally are called to do it right, that's going to look different for everybody.

But we are all being called right to to have a wake up call and just step out in faith and do more of what God is asking and he's designed us to do.

The last thing I want to mention is, if you haven't already, head on over to my website and grab my Reignite youe Passion workbook because it really helps you start tapping into some of these things.

And listen, I cannot wait because later this summer I am actually launching two things.

I'm launching a Reignite your passion Express yourself group coaching program.

You guys, it's going to be so powerful, but it's really going to be us coming together for six weeks, supporting each other, sharing what's going on.

And we're going to step through this stuff together.

We're going to become the women that God wants us to be by learning how to express ourselves and stop repressing and suppressing what it is that's on our heart and what we're being called to do.

So you'll get more information about that on the podcast and also in my email newsletters.

The other thing I'm launching, I'm so excited.

I've been trying to do this for two years.

I am launching the Joy Camp 30 Day Path to More Joy Play and Wonder.

And you guys, it's going to be 30 days.

There'll be quick hits where you're just going to get a little snippet of how you can step into more joy in your day, how you can start shifting your perspective and how you can start feeling like a kid again in your own life.

Because I had been capping my joy, maybe you've been doing that too.

I've done an Instagram reel about it and then it's on my I talk about it in my newsletter today.

But friends, if you want more joy in your life, let me know.

Come sign up for my newsletter because I'll be sharing how you can be part of that.

I would love for you to join us.

And so if either of those of interest to you, make sure you go to kristenfitch.com and sign up for my newsletter because you'll get all the details.

Until next week.

I hope you have a beautiful and blessed day in sending all my love to you.

Thanks again for listening to the show and if you enjoyed today's episode, we would love it if you could take a minute to leave a rating and review on Apple podcast because it helps our show get discovered by more people.