Last week, we discovered what's in our basket — our loaves and fishes — the unique gifts, passions, time, and experiences God has already entrusted to us.
This week, we're exploring what to do with that basket. Before God can multiply what we have, we have to look up and let go — surrendering control, fear, and comparison so we can step into the vision He has for our next chapter.
We'll talk about why giving ourselves permission to desire is such a key step in discernment, how God speaks through those desires, and a practical way to get clarity on your goals by creating a To-Be List— a vision of who you want to be as His beloved daughter.
💡 In this episode, we:
📖 Reflect on Matthew 14:19 and what it means to look up and give thanks before the miracle
💭 Talk about why it's so hard to truly let go and trust God's plan over our preferences
🌱 Explore how God often speaks through the desires on our hearts
📝 Create a "Being List" — so our to-do lists flow from who we are called to be
🙏 Pray for clarity on what dreams God is inviting us to surrender and step into
📣 Ready to put it into practice?
✏️ Journal your "Being List" — write out who you desire to be as a beloved daughter of God
📥 Download the free Middle Motherhood Planner
💌 Share this episode with a friend who's navigating a season of transition
Let's lift our eyes to the One who gave us our loaves and fishes in the first place… and trust Him to shape, bless, and multiply them in ways we can't yet imagine. 💛
Join The Nourished to Bloom Community: www.community.karatrochta.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/karatrochta
The Nourished to Bloom Podcast Show Notes: www.podcast.karatrochta.com/shownotes
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So last week we talked about what's in your basket, right?
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Those loaves and fishes, that image that we have, that is our
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time, our gifts, our passions, and our life experiences
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that God has already placed in our hands to use.
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And this week we're going to talk about what exactly we do with that basket.
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Because before God can multiply what we have, we have to
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really learn how to look up and let go. Learning how
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to surrender control, let go of the fear in comparison,
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and really open ourselves to the vision he has for us in this
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next chapter of our motherhood journey. That's what we
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are diving into in this week's episode of the Nourish to Bloom
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podcast. I hope you stick around and join me. Grab your coffee, maybe
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a notebook and let's get started.
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Welcome to the Nourish to Bloom podcast where your faith meets your
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health. I'm your host, Kara Trochta, a registered dietitian and
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certified Catholic coach, and I'm here to help you cultivate a deeper connection
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with your body, your spirit, and the nourishment that sustains them
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both. In a world filled with noise and
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confusion about food, health and body image, this podcast
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offers truth and healing from a Christ centered perspective.
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Together, we'll untangle the deep roots of diet culture and and discover
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what it means to truly care for ourselves through joyful
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nourishment of mind, body and soul. We're here to dive into
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the transformative power of intuitive eating coupled with the rich teachings of our
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Christian faith. With every episode, I'll be cheering you on,
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offering insights, inspiration and practical tools to help
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you heal your relationship with food and embrace the beauty
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of your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit with
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confidence and courage that can only be found in Christ.
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Join me as we journey together towards a more holistic approach to wellness,
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one that honors the wisdom of your body as God's creation,
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the teachings of our faith, and the unique purpose you're called to
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fulfill. You were made to bloom,
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to come into full beauty and health in order to bear good fruit
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for the Lord with your life. So if you're ready to nourish your body,
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feed your soul and bloom into the best version of yourself, then
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you're in the right place. And I'm so happy you're here.
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Welcome to Nourish to Bloom, where every day is a sacred
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invitation to thrive. Hey there. Welcome back to
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the Nourish to Bloom podcast and our next
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part of our writing, our next chapter in Middle
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Motherhood series. So happy to be spending some time here with You.
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This week we have officially kicked off our school
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year here in our house. And you know, it just brings
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on another, another season, another chapter, right?
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I don't know if you ever feel this way, but maybe it's because I was
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in school for so long and then having kids, I feel like
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I live my life in semesters. I don't know if that's something that you feel
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too, but it's like, it's like six months at a time. I can
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focus on something or do something. And this time of year is always
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a time where I get this like renewed sense of energy,
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maybe kind of like, okay, what am I going to tackle next? Like
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this renewed sense of like ready to set a new goal,
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ready to do something maybe different or exciting or pursue something.
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And then we all know that for most of us, that happens again in
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January, right? So that's why I feel like sometimes we can live in these
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like six month cycles. But if you're like
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me, you've had moments where maybe you have really
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wanted to pursue something. You have wanted to
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set a goal, you want to really
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take that next step and you want to hand it over to
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God, but then you also just want to keep one hand tightly on
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it, right? You're like, okay, I'm excited about this, but I don't really know how
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I go about doing this. Or we want to invite God into it, but like,
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we still want to be able to chart our own path.
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And I think we cling to this control, we cling to this
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idea of maybe wanting to chart our own path because we
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might get afraid that God's plan doesn't
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line up or match up with our preferences, right?
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So maybe I want this or you want to pursue this, but we're not really
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sure that's part of God's plan. Or maybe we get stuck in
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comparing our journey to someone else's journey and then we start
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to wonder if we're behind or if there's too
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many people doing this thing, right? And then I think a big
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one, because I know I feel this a lot, is we don't want to feel
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foolish if we try and fail.
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I think that's a big one that keeps so many of us held back from
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really letting go and,
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and, and really letting maybe these
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desires, these dreams, these goals that we have on our heart, especially in, in
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this, this season of motherhood. We, we don'.
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We don't pursue them. But here's the truth, y'. All, like, if we
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hold on to these things too tightly, if they Just stay
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that dream or that desire. It can really
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prevent God from multiplying what he's given us.
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I want you to stop and think about that. Right? Because if we keep it
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within ourselves and we don't actually offer it over to him, if we don't actually,
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you know, pursue this, then we don't give him the
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opportunity to be God, to do what he
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does and multiply this. Right. Let's go back and let's look at Matthew
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14:19 from last week because
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we've really. We're breaking this Scripture down week by
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week and seeing how all the pieces of the Scripture
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can really help us with writing this next chapter
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in middle motherhood or through whatever trans transition you're
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going through in life and how each part of this
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script kind of reveals itself and gives us clues
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on how we. How we discern what's next, how we
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set goals for next, what's next, how we take action.
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And so let's just recap what Matthew 14:19
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says. Taking the five loaves and the two fish
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and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.
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So what we're focusing on here this week is that Jesus didn't just glance
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at the bread. He looked up to heaven
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and in doing so, acknowledged the source of that
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provision. And he gave thanks
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before the miracle even happened. And then he broke it
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open so it could be shared.
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And that's exactly what we are called to do in this,
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this chapter, in this next chapter where we have maybe these
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dreams or these desires and these goals. We're to look
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up and acknowledge that God is the source of our
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provision. And we thank him for these opportunities, for these
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desires, for these dreams and goals. And then
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we, we break it open, we share it with others,
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we use it to love and serve. Because looking up
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is that act of trust, and then letting go is that act of
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faith. And this whole discernment
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process, this whole understanding of what's next
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for you starts with that surrender.
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And surrender isn't about, like, giving up and like, washing your hands of
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it and saying, here, Lord, you. You take it all. But it's about giving, like
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giving this over. It's about. It's like an offering, right?
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We, we can see through the Old Testament, all the times that
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sacrifices that, you know, different things
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are brought to the altar as, As a sacrifice, as. As an
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offering. And we know that through
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Jesus and, and his salvation, victory,
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and through the Eucharist, that every time we go to Mass, the exact same thing
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is happening. We bring these gifts to the altar. And it's at
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the altar that these gifts are transformed. And we can do the same
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thing with our goals and our dreams and our desires.
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And so surrender isn't about, you know, saying, I'm, you know,
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lord, this is all in your hands, but it's really about just giving it over
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to say, here's what I'm bringing. Here's the gift that I'm bringing. Here's what I'm
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offering. Here's the dream, the desire, the gift, the talent that I'm
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offering. And now, Lord, you transform that you
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change it. So it's really saying,
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like, lord, I want this to work out
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your way. It's like, lord, let your will be done. Right?
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But I think so many of us get stuck on this really kind of first
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piece of just this permission to desire.
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I think sometimes we feel so guilty for having dreams or
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desires or goals. But y', all, before our loaves and
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fishes, those gifts and talents can really be multiplied. We really have
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to give ourselves permission to actually, you know,
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see what's in our basket and acknowledge the. The
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desires that are connected to these gifts. Right?
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Our. Our. Our gifts and our desires are not accidental. They're
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usually connected. And in John,
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chapter one, verse 38, when he is
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with the women at the. At the tomb,
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Jesus asked, what do you seek? And I think it's such a
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powerful thing because he can ask us the same thing.
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And it's not, what should you seek?
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Keyword being should. It's not
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what is the right thing to seek, or what does everybody else think you should
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be seeking? But it's what do you seek?
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It's this very deeply personal connection
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that he has with us to uncover the desires
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that he has uniquely placed on each one of our hearts.
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Because the truth is that God often speaks to us through
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these desires, right? And. And
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the more we try to ignore them, a lot of times the stronger they become.
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How many of you have tried to say, okay, I really want to do
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this, but you come up with a thousand different excuses, but there's just still this,
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like, little pull, and it gets stronger and stronger and stronger. But
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a lot of times we avoid these desires because we think that they
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aren't holy enough or noble enough. They seem too
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worldly, too materialistic, or we fear what others
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will think if we admit these desires or these dreams,
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or we've learned to judge ourselves by what we want instead of seeing desire
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as really a place of where God could be speaking
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to us. So when we bring our desires,
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these dreams, these goals, to him, just like offering our loaves and
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fishes, he. He can bless them, he
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refines them, he transforms them, he multiplies them. So even if it
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is maybe something that seems worldly or materialistic, in
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just offering it to him, he can make that holy, and he's
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going to do so for his purposes. So even
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if your desire feels maybe small or ordinary,
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trust in the fact that God can shape this into something good.
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And so something I want to help you do, to help you maybe like, give
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yourself this permission to desire again, to dream again, to maybe
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draw out some of these dreams and these desires, is something
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that we do in my middle motherhood, mentorship. And it's a tool
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that I help clients use to align
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their desires with God's vision. And that's really what I like
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to call your to be list,
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right? And so your to be list is not about, like, the
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things that you want or the things that you need to do, but it's a
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really deep digging deep into the desires that you have of who you
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want to be as a beloved daughter of God.
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Because when we know who we want to become when we
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are, you know, really focusing on our
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character, our attitude, our spiritual
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disposition, you know, the
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state of our heart, that the all of these things,
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it allows our goals and our to do list to naturally
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flow from that, right? So if we're focused on who we
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want to be as a beloved daughter of God, a lot of these times,
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these, these desires and these dreams and these goals start
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to reveal how this all is
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connected. And then that shapes the action that we're
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supposed to take. So as you create this to be
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list, some things I want you to think about are, what are some
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character traits you want to embody?
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What are some words that would describe how you want
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to show up in your spiritual relationships,
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in your marriage, in your motherhood,
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in your friendships? Who are you
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with that desire achieved? Who are you being with that desire achieved in each
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one of those areas of your life? What is the
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spiritual fruit you want to cultivate? What
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fruit are you bearing when you are
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embodying being a beloved daughter
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of God? Who is she? Who are you
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when you really embody that? And then what's
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the posture of your heart toward God and others?
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So some examples might be, I want to be a woman who seeks
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God's voice before making decisions,
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Or I want to be present,
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intentional, unhurried, with my
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family and my friends.
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I use my gifts without fear,
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right? And so when you can really form this to be list,
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it can help you hold your daily choices up to it, and then
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you can ask yourself, is this thing I'm doing, is this
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thing I'm saying yes to? Is this dream or this desire helping
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me to live as the woman that I am called to be?
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Because I think a lot of times we give into the to do because
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that seems like it's the good or right thing
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to do. But that might not actually be
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something that's helping you live as the woman that God is calling you
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to be. So I just want you to stop and
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work on this going forward this next week, right?
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Really hone in on your to be list. Maybe there's
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certain images that come to mind. Maybe there's certain saints that you want
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to emulate or certain women that you know that
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they possess these particular character traits that you would like to
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embody and really create this to be
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list. Write these words down and let that be
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your guide to help you really define
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and start to refine these dreams and these desires that you
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have. And see how leaning into that dream or
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that desire through. Through the lens of your to be list connects those
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things with the Lord and shows you and reveals to you
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what the goal is and the action that you're supposed to take.
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Because remember, looking up means that you're acknowledging God as the
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Source. And then letting go means that you're trusting him
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more than depending on
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yourself, right? And so I invite you,
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if you are in this season of middle motherhood, if you are in a
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season of transition and these are things that you are are
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wanting to work on, maybe you have the thoughts of I'm feeling
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stuck, or I don't think I know what I want to do,
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or I have ideas, but I'm not sure what is right.
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Or maybe you're fearful of the steps that are required to figure out
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what's next. Or maybe you
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feel like it seems hard to dream again and you worry about wasting
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time, or you're fearful to
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pursue things because you don't want to miss out, or you don't
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want your kids or your family to suffer. All of those things I
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just said are things that came
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exactly from women who are in the same phase
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of motherhood that you are in. These are
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all words that are from women who took advantage of
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that life audit session to gain clarity,
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to really seek some
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guidance on how. What, like the steps and
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how to go about this discernment process.
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So I encourage you to book that
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free session. You can find the link for that at the in
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the show notes for this episode and then don't forget about that
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freebie all about your guidebook to writing your next
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chapter. Grab those two resources and really
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be able to take these things that we're talking about in this
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Middle Motherhood series of the podcast and be able to start
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moving forward with them. Put some actual concrete,
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practical things in place. Y', all. If you can't
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tell, this is one of my favorite favorite things to work on with women is
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really helping them discover their unique gifts and talents,
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discover who God has called them to be, to
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really dig deep into their dreams and their
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desires in this next phase of their life and
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then this whole discernment process and help them take action.
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So if you are interested in all in this middle motherhood
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mentorship, then the first thing that you need to do is bulk that
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free session. So go to the Show
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Notes, click on the link and book your free session and I
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guarantee you that you will walk away with some really
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practical next steps and some clarity on
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what the Lord is really calling you to in this next chapter.
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Thanks so much for spending this time with me this week.
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Remember, beauty held is a seed, beauty shared is the
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flower. Y', all. It is your time to
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bloom. Have a beautiful and blessed week and I'll see you right back
00:19:00
here as we continue on our series and we're going to get a little
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more into the nitty gritty of like, goal setting with
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God and what that exactly looks like. So can't wait to join
00:19:11
you again next week and we'll talk soon. Bye.