Hi, my friends. Welcome to week four of Launch Your Big Dream.
This week we're going to dive into courageously taking action.
Okay, so courageously taking action. First, we're going to start by talking about dreaming big but
starting small, then breakthrough resistance, co-creating with God, and embracing an adventure
mindset. You know, for the last six months, God has been talking to me about possessing our
promised land and birthing dreams, like this process of like breaking through the resistance
and going after that which God has promised us, whether in dreams or blessings for our family,
you know, health and well-being, prosperity. And he's been leading me to the story of Joshua and
I keep reading it over and over again, just having this truth like sink into my heart and spirit.
And I love this verse from Joshua 1.9 that says, Have I not commanded you, be strong and of good
courage, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
And so often when we pursue big dreams or we go after our promised land, you know, we can feel
afraid. There can be those walls of Jericho, you know, the walls of resistance that occur
and we just feel discouraged. Like there can be a delay sometimes in seeing the fulfillment of
words God has given to us. And it just makes us, you know, are we stepping out? Are we doing the
wrong thing? We start to worry or doubt God. And I love this promise that God says that He will be
with us, you know, wherever we go, like every step of the way God is with us. And so when we think
about this idea of dreaming big with God, but starting small, you see, I have this tendency
to be like a go big, go home type person. You know, if you're going to do something,
oh, it has to be like at 110%. And I've done this a lot of my career and a lot of my life
where it's like, oh, I'm going to like stay up all night to get something done. Or I'm going to host
a dinner party and I'm going to have like five different kinds of barbecue meat, not just one
or three different appetizers. Like I love to just do things in an abundance way. And that's part of,
I think, you know, who I am, but then also like overflowing that characteristic of God.
And yet sometimes we can get burnt out and try to do too much too fast. It's this idea of like
trying to birth a teenager. I mean, man, having birthed two children, that isn't even possible,
right? Like to be able to, you know, birth, you know, small babies can be painful, let alone,
you know, teenagers. And I have a 14 year old and an 11 year old. So, I mean, they're like my height,
right? And I laugh because so often that's what we do with our dreams. We compare ourselves to
somebody who has been doing a dream for 10 years, 20 years. And we see their website or we see the
books that they've launched. We see the level that they're operating at. And they have behind the
scenes, you know, tons of staff and all this financial resources and backing. And this is the
20th iteration of their dream that we are watching unfold before us. And yet we're trying to compete
or compare ourselves to them. You see, it's not our power that makes it happen. It's God's.
Ephesians 3.20, this is, you know, one of my life verses for so long. It's also a family
verse of ours. And I love the passion translation of this verse. It says, never doubt God's mighty
power to work in you. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most
unbelievable dream and exceed your wildest imagination. He, God, will outdo them all for
his miraculous power constantly energizes you. And, you know, last year, like he was talking to
me about the dream that he gave Mary, like his dream to save mankind. And he chose to work through,
you know, this young girl, Mary, to birth his son. And even though, you know, he had the most
amazing dream to save mankind and think about, you know, his vision board. You know, he had all
of our pictures on this ginormous vision board in heaven. And yet his solution to do this was
this long range plan of all these generations of speaking out that he was going to be sending the
Messiah and generation after generation of a generation of preparing the way. And then what
does he do? He like births a little baby in a seemingly small town in the middle of like nowhere
with very little fanfare. I mean, yes, angels, okay. And shepherds. But like overall, there was
no major marketing ploy for this small dream that got launched. And yet, and then it took 30 years
for Jesus to mature. Like here's the perfect sinless son of God. And it still took 30 years
to mature. And then he stepped into his ministry and, you know, fulfilled this dream that got
have that still continue on, you know, thousands of years and thousands of years later.
So how much more do we need to start small and not discount the power that God can do
in the middle of our dream? And so I ask, like, what is in your hand? I love the story of the
feeding of the 5,000, you know, the little boy who brought his loaves and fish to Jesus and he
multiplied it. And, you know, they were able to feed, you know, all these people and do a miracle.
And when I was little, our church, you know, had a harvest party, you know, during October,
and I dressed up as a little boy with, you know, the loaves and fish. And I won the competition
for best dressed, you know, me as a little, you know, handing my little fish to Jesus.
And that story has always stuck with me about, like, we have something tangible in our hands.
And you look back at the other miracles in the Bible and, you know, the story of the widow,
you know, with Elisha, and she had the oil, and that was like all she had. And, you know,
God multiplied it, she was able to pay off her creditors, or the other widow, you know, where
she had oil and flour, and they're able to make provision and multiply the bread, or the story
of the water into wine, like all they had was water, and God, Jesus just did the most amazing
miracle, multiplied it into wine at a wedding, and it exceeded expectations, Ephesians 3.20,
was the best wine they had ever had. And so I asked, like, what is in your hand? And that goes
to the next point that God can multiply it. Like, don't discount small beginnings, you know, you
think of an oak tree that starts off as a little seed, or, you know, all of the children that we
have, or the blessings that God gives to us that can start small, but he is able to multiply them.
If we ask, you know, we pray boldly in prayer, we believe, and God is able to do it.
And then this idea of God math. I mean, again, you know, I left my CFO role last year, but I love
math, you know, I love playing in Excel, I love looking at numbers, and I love this idea of God
math. You see, zero times a million is zero, and my son was going through his math facts and doing
this, and I think that's probably around the time that this came into play, when it was like zero
times, you know, all these different numbers, it's still zero. And so zero times a million,
zero, but one, just one times a million equals a million. So all God needs is our one percent,
our one thing, and he can do the rest. He can multiply it. He can take your, you know,
one sentence and multiply it into a book. He can take your one idea and multiply it, you know,
into a ministry or a business. He can take your one encounter and multiply it to a speaking
engagement. He can take your one thing and just do, exceed your expectations and do marvelous
things with it to be a blessing to others and to fulfill your dream and his purpose on this earth.
But the key is to start, you know, I love, again, going back to Joshua, where he had to take action.
They had to cross over the Jordan. They had to start taking steps, and God promised them wherever
your foot lands, like, you're going to possess this part of your promised land. Like, they had
to walk it out step by step to, you know, achieve the promises of God. And then be courageous. You
know, there's a definition of courageous that says it's the willingness to act in obedience
to God's call and purpose, relying on his strength and guidance. You know, another definition of
courageous is the ability to do something that frightens you, the strength to carry on in spite
of danger or difficulty. And I don't know about you, but going after your dreams, I mean, that is
scary. Like, it is scary to be in uncharted water. For me, I just left the 20-something career in
finance and accounting, you know, working for big companies that had lots of finances and provision
and benefits. And I boldly stepped into my dream of being able to start my own company to empower
women, you know, to go after their dreams and also to have more time for my family. You know, that is
uncharted water for me. And I'm sure like you, like, you're going after something that God has
called you to do, and it requires courage. So going back to this idea of dream big and start small,
you know, again, I love math and formulas. And when you think of investing and you think of, like, your
401k or investments, you know, it's something small that starts to the compound interest effect.
And the same thing with God. Your small step times His miraculous power equals amazing results. But you
don't see it always at the beginning. You know, at the beginning, it just looks like a little tiny
increase. You think of maybe your followers on social media where you start with zero, and then
you get 10, and then you get 20, and then you get 100. But at some point, there's this tipping point
to where, you know, as it starts to multiply, you just start to see amazing
results or maybe it's same with like weight loss. Like I've been on this weight loss journey
and for me, you know, at the beginning, it's, I didn't feel like I was losing much. It was like
a pound every, sorry, I'm turning my phone down, a pound every few, you know, weeks. It just felt
small and all of a sudden, you know, about three or four months in, like I started to see the results
and so far I've lost almost 30 pounds of my goal that I'm going after with God and it's amazing,
but it didn't feel amazing for the first four or five months and I was definitely tempted to give
up because it just felt hard and yet with God, nothing is impossible. Okay, the second key is,
you know, breaking through resistance. So you think about, again, the story of Joshua. So here
they go into their promised land. He promised them that they would have rest, that all their
ways would be successful and he'd bring them prosperity and yet here they meet this walls of
Jericho and Stephen Pressfield has a book called War of Art, not a Christian book, but it's a really
good book, and he has this quote that resistance is directly proportioned to love, meaning if you
feel massive resistance, the good news is it means there's tremendous love there too. If you didn't
love the thing or the project that's terrifying you, you wouldn't feel anything. In other words,
resistance can often be a compass or a barometer that you're headed in the right direction.
See, the enemy doesn't mind if we're super busy, we go after these big goals in life. He doesn't
want us to pursue our purpose and dreams and destiny in God. He doesn't want us to possess
our promised land and so he will either stand in front of us or, you know, create, have us partner
with our own internal critic and judge and lies and fear to prevent us from taking action or, and
we'll talk about this in the co-creating cycle with God, he'll push us too fast. You know, he either
wants to trip us forward or trip us by pushing us too fast and so we have to understand that the
feeling that you have of resistance is both internal and external. In other words, internally,
you might feel the fear of and fill in the blank. For me, it's like the fear of failure,
the fear of not being enough, the fear of like being known and seen and heard. Like I am an
interesting mix of like an extrovert to a small, you know, group of people that I feel safe with,
but in terms of like strangers and crowds and people I don't know, I get very introverted and
so as God's calling me to like speak bold and to kind of relaunch this dream and to start putting
more content out, you know, I have a fear of like what if I get rejected? What if people don't want
to, you know, listen to my content or what, what, what? Like we have all these excuses that we make
with God and God says don't, right? Like trust him. Don't look at the obstacle in front of us.
Well, resistance can also feel like procrastination and I'm guilty of this. Like, oh, I make up
excuses of why I can't get something done or it feels too overwhelming and we talked about this
in week three that one way to overcome, overcome resistance is to have really small action steps
so that there's less resistance and this idea of a plane. Every time I take off in an airplane,
I think of resistance because, you know, that as that plane is taking off and the drag against the
plane and the wind, you know, it creates that tension and then you break through the clouds,
you know, you come through the resistance and the sun is shining, even if it started off cloudy
down below, the sun is shining, you're at the 30,000 feet, you can see clearly, you know,
the kind of chaos, confusion starts to lift, you know, as you're pursuing your dream and then it's
kind of this, you know, flight, you make the progress and you land at your destination. Like
that is what it is like to pursuing your dream, that at the beginning you have all this clarity
and then, you know, you start to take action and you're hit with this like wall of chaos,
confusion, resistance and, you know, you just feel this like physical but also internal.
Resistance is the wall of fear that stands between you and your dream, like ouch, right? Like how
often have we like had our face stuck against a wall and, you know, sometimes like for me,
whenever I feel that, I can want to run and hide or I want to escape or medicate or I don't want
to have to face it or push through it, but I want to encourage you today that choose courage to move
through. So God, again, gave me this analogy of walls being similar to staircases. In other words,
you know, as you take action and you mature in your faith or you go after dreams and even if
this might be the fourth or fifth iteration of your dream, you're actually at like a new stair
level and each time you go after, you know, kind of a breakthrough with God, it starts over again.
So using this analogy on the right before we get into the, you know, kind of how did
how to do this breakthrough, is this idea of like when you're standing on the like outer ring,
like you've had your breakthrough, you can again, as you break through those clouds of the plane,
you can see the sun, you can hear God, you have clarity, you know your dream, like you just have
this confidence and courage and love and like the, you know, the sky is shining, like everything's
amazing, and then God's like, oh, I want you to take this big bold step again and, you know,
or take small action in doing this bold dream, and so you climb to the next level, and as you
start to like progress into that corner, all of a sudden it's just like this feeling of almost
being cut off from God, like I know you're not, right, we just talked about that in Joshua,
that he is always with us, and his word promises that nothing can separate us from him, however,
as you start to like face this resistance, it can be a block even from your ability to hear clearly
like God's direction and, you know, that intimacy and union you have with him, and yet you have to
just move forward in obedience, and you know, I love the verses that talk about perfect love casts
out fear, but sometimes we have to just believe that, you know, God is there, and he's directing
us and take these obedient steps, even if we can't see and hear, and again, it's this idea of like
confidence that the sun is shining and gonna give us light, even if it's totally, you know,
cloudy outside, like you don't doubt that the sun is still there, so don't doubt that God is still
there guiding you and directing your steps, even when it feels kind of this wall of resistance.
Okay, so Joshua, you know, has this, you know, wall of Jericho, and then what happens? The angel
of the Lord shows up, and he's like, are you with us or against us? Like I definitely want to be on
your side, right? Jesus, like the incarnate Jesus, like shows up to Joshua, and Jericho was a symbol
of resistance against God's promises and the Israelites' inheritance, like it was just this
symbol that like, ah, like, you know, like we're gonna prevent you, even though you're in the
promised land and you've gone through the wilderness and the Jordan, like we're gonna just be this
thing that just, again, like, you know, makes you feel defeated, and so what does Joshua do? Well, first
he looks up at this, you know, angel, Jesus, and he's like, I'm gonna like worship you, right, like
take off your shoes, the ground is holy, like he takes time with Jesus, and then he prays, and he
listens, and then there's direction, right? Like he goes like, you know, go around Jericho and have the
Ark of the Covenant, and for seven days, like six days, walk around, and then on day seven, like walk
around it seven times and shout. Well, sometimes what God tells you to do doesn't make sense,
you know, they're like, you can't use your worldly natural strategy or ideas or look at what everyone
else is doing and just copy them, like God has a unique strategy that oftentimes is like, what are
you having me do, God? It doesn't always make sense, because he is testing your faith and your willingness
to be obedient, and as you do this, as you courageously take action, and you're not worried
what other people are thinking, I mean, like the Israelites walking around Jericho must have been
like, oh my goodness, like they're wondering what we're doing, right? But they just kept being
obedient, and then they believed, right? They showed up the next day, and the next day, and the next day,
like they believed in their breakthrough that was God, the victor, the breaker, right? That's one of
God's names is that he is the breaker, the breaker of bars, like, you know, Jesus came to set the
captives free, like that is part of who God is, and through his miraculous power, he can bring
breakthrough in your life, and then what happens? So they go, the walls come down, right? They go,
you know, slay and kill all the people, and then there's gold, and silver, and provision, like
inside this wall of resistance was all the resources, and all the precision, you know, that
they needed for this next phase of like taking territory, and God just provided, and so oftentimes
the middle of your resistance are gifts, and blessings, and inheritance, and promises, like the
very thing that you're waiting on God for is embedded in the thing that you fear the most.
Will Smith has this quote that says, God places the best things in life on the other side of fear,
and so I want to embolden you today. If you're feeling resistance towards pursuing your dream,
or possessing your promised land, stop, look up, ask Jesus, you know, what is his plan, and then boldly,
courageously take that action, and believe that he can bring the breakthrough, and then when that
breakthrough happens, I mean, go, and possess it, and take it, and receive your blessings.
Okay, co-creating with God. So I love physics. That was my favorite subject in high school,
quantum physics. I love it. Like I love all things of like, you know, seeing, and believing,
and the power of
thoughts and words. And there's this book called Awaken the Sleeper written by Dr. Nick Castellano.
And I actually was able to coach with him back when I lived in Texas. This is maybe like
eight or so years ago before his book came out. And I just had, like, he awakened my, like, mind
to, first of all, CliftonStrengths and, you know, helped me identify, like, my personal mission
statement and, you know, being able to know, like, who I was and how God created me. But he also
talked to me about, like, co-creating my day with God, co-creating our dreams. And he has this quote
that says, we must create through the Holy Spirit and bring the kingdom of God to our lives, families,
church, and world. And what I love about his book is he takes the idea of law of attraction and law
of creation, and he completely supports it through science and the Bible. I mean, the entire book is
full of Bible verses that talk about quantum physics, quantum leaps, like your ability to
believe in what prayer truly does in the unseen realm. And so I encourage you to read that book.
So as we think first about, again, going back to the story of Joshua, we have to start by connecting
to the creator of the universe. Like, it says we are made in God's image. Like, we are creators
because God is the creator. And so creating our futures, creating our days with God, like,
creating the dream that God has for us is so key in actually being able to achieve it.
But you have to do so from a place of positivity. You know, God gave me this quote a few years ago,
you know, as I was producing things, and it was like, creativity flows where positivity grows.
In other words, like, you cannot feel stress and pressure and anxiety and frustration and think
that you're going to produce something of the kingdom. Like, yes, there can be walls of resistance
that you need to push through. But before you are, like, taking time to create with God, you need to
get into a place of, like, gratitude, of positivity, you know, get things going with your right brain,
like, do something fun, like, really get to a place of receiving and believing with Him.
And then ask, like, then, you know, take the time to write or create or work on the thing
that He's called you to do. Like, be careful that you're not partnering, like, to the world's,
you know, way of doing things, which is like, you know, just have traction and set a 90-day goal
and have grit. And while there's truth to those things, like, God is not a God of hurry, and you
need to flow with the Holy Spirit. And so that brings me to the next point, which is flow, not
force. And this is something that, wow, like, God has been teaching me the last few years is to
understand the difference between His invitation to create and to achieve with Him, which is like,
riding this wave. And the second, like, I feel like He's stopping, or like, there's not being
this guidance. Like, I can tell the difference when I'm trying to force something. And even in
creating this course, like, there are days where, you know, I'll get, like, the two points, and it's
just, like, this download from heaven, and it all is clear, and I get the workbooks. And then point
three, I feel like, oh, well, I could, you know, figure out a way to, like, come up with some solid
points based on experience or books I've read. And I can just tell the difference when I'm trying
to force completion versus I'm flowing with the creation of the Holy Spirit. And so I stop,
right? I walk away from it. I turn it off, shut down my computer. I'll go, you know, do something,
go for a walk, or just go about. And there can be times where it's an hour later, or it's days later.
And oftentimes, it's because God is wanting me to meet Him in this particular subject or this
particular point and dive into it. Like, He's trying to do something within me. Like, He's
trying to, you know, get me to do the exercises and ask Him and co-create with Him. And so I want
to encourage you to tell in your own self, are you flowing with God, or are you trying to force
things to happen? And then have fun. I mean, God, like, be a child. Like, have fun. Like, it's not
about the destination of achieving your dream. Like, the gift, honestly, is the journey. It's
the creating part. Like, when you get to the end of, like, oh, I arrived, you know, at some point,
some milestone, you're going to look back and be like, wow, like, I, you know, don't want to miss,
like, the whole fun part of the journey. And then again, going back to the book, and you can read it
if you're wanting to, you know, co-creating your day. Like, wake up with intentionality.
Like, call your day. Like, God gave us the power of our words to decree and to pray, you know, just
like Him. Like, He said, light be. Well, are you doing that to your day? Are you saying, like,
today, today is going to be a day of health, and today is going to be a day of great connecting
with my family, and today is going to be a day filled with productivity that's, you know,
multiplied by the enemy, and time is going to serve me today. Like, are you decreeing and
declaring your day with God and creating with intentions? Or are you at the mercy of circumstances
and events, and, you know, do you feel like, oh, I never have enough time, and my, you know, my
schedule gets hijacked, and there's so many direction, you know, distractions? Well,
Are you waking up with God in the morning, having time with him, hearing with him?
You know, Jesus did the will of God and, you know, brought the heaven to earth
because he was willing every morning and throughout the day to like hear what
the father was saying and then go do that.
And so I encourage you to do that as well.
And then again, the creative flow cycle.
So God gave me this a few years ago as like how to flow, like thinking of like,
you know, riding a wave or being in the ocean or in a wave pool.
My kids love going to like Kalahari and all those different indoor water
parks where they have wave pools.
And I always think of this, like, you know, if you resist the
wave, it's going to crash over you.
I lived in Hawaii, you know, this out in the ocean is something I've grown up a
lot of my life being near the beach.
And, you know, if you kind of ride the wave and jump up with the wave, you
know, obviously you're not going to get kind of pummeled and crushed by it.
But if you just like resist it, obviously it's going to be more difficult.
And so the first key, the first phase of your creative flow cycle
with the Holy Spirit is to rest.
You know, it's a place of rest.
And so often that's counterintuitive to trying to pursue big
dreams or to take action.
You know, it's like just push through and keep going.
Right.
But rest, like God is a God of peace and rest.
And so rest is when you just take intentional time, whether again, it's in
the morning, you're so busy not to spend time with God, you know, the more you
have, the more time you should be spending with him.
And so whether it's a Sabbath, you know, every week I encourage that, whether,
you know, it's, you know, an hour a day or however much time you're spending,
like take time to rest because it's in the rest where the rejuvenation comes,
where your spirit gets filled back up in God and where he gives you the new
ideas, clarity, direction, energy, and wisdom.
Like rest is where we receive from him.
Think of it like you're on a road trip and you have to fill up, right.
You have to fill up your gas.
You have to eat.
Like this is spiritual, you know, feeding of your soul and then rise.
Like again, the airplane taking off, like you're rising with this
weave and you have to break through the resistance.
Like this is when you're going to turn resistance into resilience by taking
courageous action and trusting God.
And so again, you start to have that multiplication, you know, things
start making progress, like you rise and then you reach, you know, reach some goal.
And I think this, you know, sometimes my flow cycle with God can be throughout
the day, like I can get to all these points within a given day, it can be
weeks where I'm kind of in a stage of rising and then I reach something in a
week or two and then have to release it.
You know, it's all depending on this cycle that you're doing with the Holy Spirit.
Well, when you're in the reach phase, you're making progress until you reach
this goal that God has given to you.
And it's His deadline or His what finish looks like.
We talked about that, not yours.
Like ask God what it looks like to reach.
And then the most important part of reach after that is to release it.
Okay.
So this is hard, right?
Like we do something from God and we want like, Oh, I want everyone to love this
course that I made or this book that I just published or to see my little puppy
that I just adopted, or I lost weight.
Like I want people to celebrate, like we care about the outcome.
And yet friend, the outcome is God's like, He is the one who helps us
bear fruit to make wealth.
Like the Bible is full of like, you obey, God provides, like you act in obedience.
Right.
Like, and He's the one who does the rest of it.
And so release the outcome, release the timing, release the provision,
release the results to God.
Like just do your part, which is being obedient and taking action, being
intentional with rest and then let Him do it.
And when you think of this, it falls into a similar cadence of the seasons, right?
Rest can be a season of like winter and it can feel dark sometimes where we're
not like, you know, especially if you're a high achiever.
I mean, believe me, I love like climbing and going and like going after big stuff.
And it is hard for me just to be and to rest and to feel unproductive.
And maybe it's taking time to go on vacation or playing games with
your kids or going for walks.
Like, oh, but rest is warfare.
Like when you get that idea that rest is like intentionality and it's
productivity because rest is so vital to this journey, but you don't
have spring without winter.
Like you don't have these beautiful, you know, flowers and buds and part
of the creative creation cycle without having the season of winter and dormancy.
And then you have summer, right?
The reach part where things are shining.
The sky is blue.
You know, it's warm out.
You see all these, like the gardens are being pretty, you know, all of
these produce and watermelons, and it's this amazing sense of.
like abundance and, you know, joy.
And then there's the fall, the release,
where the leaves are falling, where you're letting go,
where you're giving to God,
where you're laying things down, you know,
but even in the release stage, you know,
there's the reaping, you know, the sowing and reaping,
like it's the harvest, the thankfulness,
the Thanksgiving period of being grateful
for what God has provided.
And then you do it again.
And so just encourage you like with God
to go about these different steps.
Okay, my friends.
Well, I am excited to share with you again, you know,
part of this life-changing just thing
that God has done in my life.
So, you know, going after my dreams with God
would just be challenging.
Like back, you know, in Texas and, you know,
seven, eight years ago,
when I would pursue dreams with God,
it just felt so difficult.
Like I just felt this pressure and this anxiety
that like I was gonna fail God.
And honestly, I'm a big science,
like fantasy book, like nerd.
And I think it's because my mom read Chronicles of Narnia
when I was in her womb.
And so I just came out with like,
I love like everything like fantasy books
and, you know, Lord of the Rings, right?
I thought, you know, pursuing your dreams with God
was like Frodo, like you have this ring
and, you know, you have to bring it to Mordor.
And if you don't,
like the whole world is gonna like explode.
And, you know, there's like dire consequences
to you not fulfilling your dream.
And so I always kind of felt this like huge amount
of stress and anxiety and pressure
and going after God dreams.
And as a result, I didn't see the progress
and I didn't find joy in the journey.
Well, at the end of 2021,
I went on a girls trip vacation for my birthday weekend
with two of my friends from church.
And it was seriously in a series of unfortunate events.
Like we were driving up to Michigan,
it's beautiful weather out in October,
you know, the leaves, I had high hopes for this trip.
I mean, it'd been like the first time away from work
and family I'd had in a lot of years.
And five minutes from the Airbnb,
we get a flat tire.
And I'm like, are you kidding me?
Like we're kind of stranded in the middle of nowhere,
flat tire, and thankfully God provides someone
to help us change it.
Well, it starts to rain and we get to the Airbnb
and we are locked out of this stinking Airbnb
for over an hour because the batteries
on the actual like lock were dead.
And so they couldn't just give us a new code.
And we'd already brought like tons of stuff up there.
And so we had to like stay there for an hour,
standing on the porch,
like waiting for them to come and fix it.
And I'm getting frustrated, like at this part,
I'm like, seriously, God, like this is frustrating.
And the next day we have to go get the tire changed
and they had to like buy it from some other place.
And it's like an all day event to get this tire changed.
And that was the day that we were supposed to go
into the Traverse City neighboring towns
and go shopping and out to dinner
and have fun, celebrate my birthday.
And instead we're stuck in this little teeny town.
Well, in the middle of the town, as we're walking around,
we come across this National Trout Memorial.
Now I'm not a big fan of fish or fishing,
but somehow seeing this ginormous trout
in the middle of nowhere near Bear Creek Lake
just had me start laughing.
That like, there's this hidden gem,
like, oh, I discovered the National Trout Memorial,
like destination, right?
And it was in that moment that God started talking to me
about this being an adventure
and to just stop and change my mindset
that the good and the bad were all part of the journey
and to look for hidden gems.
And good thing, like I shifted my mindset
because later that afternoon,
as we were driving out of the little town,
we got pulled over by cops for speeding
because we didn't see the sign.
And so we decided to just stay in the Airbnb
the rest of the weekend.
And then as we were driving home,
we stopped at Olive Garden
and we had pumpkin cheesecake, was my all-time favorite,
and we celebrated my birthday.
And when I got home from this trip,
God just gave me this download of like,
our journey of pursuing our dreams
is meant to be like a girl's trip.
And here's some of the mindsets
that have been shifting in me since this trip.
One, we talked about it,
be courageous, open to possibilities and explore.
See the both ups and downs as part of the journey
to find the hidden gems in the difficulties,
following your guide and trusting the process to God,
embracing the unexpected and going with the flow,
that life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.
The importance of taking time to refuel, rest,
and having fun, we just talked about that.
And remembering that the journey to pursuing your dream
is better with friends.
And so with this, he gave me this 12-step
or this 12-week kind of roadmap of achieving our dreams.
And I wanna share it with you.
And in fact, I'm taking this
and creating a course out of it or a challenge out of it,
you know, and there'll be more information
about that in the future.
But this is kind of the steps
that God has talked into me about.
And some of this is content we've already gone over,
kind of a Cliff Notes version.
of this adventure, but it starts at number one
with your starting place, which is your identity in God,
your value and worth, like you have to know who you are
to know where you're going.
Number two is plan your trip.
Like what is your dream destination?
What is this dream that God is giving you?
Number three is map your path.
We talked about that, but making sure that you are locked in
on the milestones and the steps to get there.
And then number four is pack your bags.
For me, again, being a certified CliftonStrengths coach,
I love this stuff.
Like what are your strengths that God has given you?
What are your talents, you know, your passions?
Like what is it that you're gonna bring
into this dream vacation with God
to be able to achieve your dreams?
And then number five is inviting your friends.
We are not meant to do this dream together.
Like the dream that you have, like it is so lonely,
you know, pursuing dreams alone.
And again, going back to the story of Joshua,
they were able to possess their promised land
and take territory because they did it together.
And there was even times where there was a tribe
that wanted to stay on one side of the Jordan.
He said, no, like you are not gonna rest
until you come with us, we defeat the enemies,
and then you can go back and stay there.
And they divided up the different parts
of the promised land for their tribes and territories.
And the same thing, like God might have you partner
with people, mentors, you know, coaches,
or just friends as you pursue your dream.
And you might go, you know, together for a season
and then split off and like do your own thing.
But like the journey for achieving your dreams
is best with friends.
Number six, set your compass.
Okay, you gotta lock into the Holy Spirit GPS
and know where you're headed
because there will be detours, there will be roadblocks.
And you're gonna need to know how to course correct
and get back on the path that God has for you.
And then we just talked about this in week four,
but start your adventure.
I mean, be willing to like get in there, get going
and start taking action and then watch out for roadblocks.
Well, we talked about one of the big roadblocks,
which was resistance, but there's gonna be other roadblocks
that pop up along the way.
It can be like imposter syndrome and insecurity,
and it can be comparison or financial roadblocks.
Like some roadblocks are gonna just show up
at multiple stages of your journey
and you have to be aware of it and know how to overcome it.
And then following your guide, like follow Jesus, listen.
Like, what is he telling you?
Like, he is with you in this journey.
And so make sure that you are following him.
Number 10, refill your tank.
I mean, like find out where those coffee shops are,
like go get your coffee, go fill your tank up,
go take time to rest, listen to the fun music,
like take time to have fun with friends.
Like this is not, again, that Lord of the Rings,
like have to do it at all costs
and the world's gonna explode.
Like the whole part of pursuing our dreams
is about relationship, building faith
and having fun with God.
And then that goes to number 11, enjoying your journey.
I mean, again, like the ups and downs, like embrace it.
Like look at it like a rollercoaster ride,
like the twists and the turns
and the I don't know where I am right now, God.
Like that is all part of the gift of this.
So just have fun and then have some birthday cake
and celebrate your wins or whatever it is
that you wanna do, like celebrate small progress,
celebrate the victories,
celebrate like what God is doing in your life
and give it forward, like be generous.
When you are having progress on your dream,
like this is an opportunity to empower other people's dreams
to sow into them, to help them.
Like if you've reached a milestone,
like tell other people like how you did it
or how to give back.
Like this is an opportunity for you to empower others
so that they too can pursue their dreams.
Okay, so courageously taking action book list.
Again, I love everything, I love books.
I'm always reading, besides my Bible,
like I go after like just these nuggets,
these hidden gems like we talked about in books that I read.
And one of the things that I've been really doing this year
is prayer and fasting.
Like that is an amazing way
to bring breakthrough in your life.
Not again that it forces God to act,
but it empowers the Holy Spirit to be able to work in you
and through you and then just shows your concentration
or consecration unto God in this new season.
And so a book that I recommend is the Jericho Fast
by Rhonda Dale Dial.
Like she has this book, it's a seven day book.
It's a thin little book you can get on Amazon.
And it kind of breaks down the story of the Jericho
by each of the seven days
and kind of how you can position yourself with God
in a time of fasting.
Another book is the Joshua Generation.
Again, I've been reading this the last few years
from Brian Simmons and the Passion Translation,
all about the characteristics of Joshua.
Breakthrough is a great book of like decrees
and prophetic words and prayers around this idea of...
through in different areas of your life by Sean Boltz,
The War and Art that I mentioned by Steven Pressfield,
Effortless, I wanted to bring this back again.
It was on last week's list,
but as you're starting to take action,
that book kind of encompassed both weeks.
It also started with like making plans,
but it's really good to reread some of those sections
on taking action.
And then Awaken the Sleeper,
you know, we talked about co-creating your day with Christ
and God and the Holy Spirit,
and, you know, being able to attract the things
that he has for you.
So the exercises this week,
I am excited for these exercises.
They are powerful.
I mean, I have gone through them
and gotten like amazing revelation
and just breakthrough in my own life.
So I really encourage you to take time
to do these exercises.
On the just start small exercise,
you're gonna ask God, like, what is the one thing?
Like, what is my loaves and fish?
What do you wanna multiply?
For the breakthrough on resistance,
it's like, what is the wall sitting in front of me?
What provision or blessings do you have
on the other side of me?
And what do we wanna do to like overcome this resistance
and asking God to do it?
And then co-creating with God,
like this is those four parts of the flow cycle.
And how do you actually put this practically into your life
from rest, rise, reach and release?
Okay, my friend, I wanna pray for you before we go,
but I am so excited that we've gotten to week four.
Thank you for watching.
I really appreciate you being part of this journey with me.
I hope that you feel empowered to pursue your dreams
with God and to take action.
And so in the name of Jesus, Lord,
I just pray breakthrough for my friends right now.
God, that the dreams that you have for their life
would start to see fruit and to take courageous action.
God, that there would just be breakthrough
against resistance and fear that there would come clarity,
that there would come courage,
that limitations would be removed in the name of Jesus.
God, I pray that you would multiply the gifts
and the talents and the strengths and the ideas
and the things that they have, Lord,
that they wanna use to bless others.
God, I just thank you so much for my new friends
and God that you would bless them,
that you would do abundantly, exceedingly,
above all that they could ask.
Lord, that the power of your spirit would fill them
and that they would go boldly into their promised land
and possess the land that you have promised to them
and generations to come.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Bye, my friends.