What if the life you're grieving isn't actually the life God was preparing you for?

In this episode, I'm joined by professional organizer and author Melinda Grace for an honest conversation about waiting, surrender, motherhood, calling, and learning to embrace a slower pace.

Melinda shares how God used seasons of burnout, anxiety, and unmet expectations to reshape not only her career but also her identity. What began as a dream of becoming an actress eventually became a passion for helping women create peaceful, grace-filled homes—and discovering that sometimes God's greatest gifts arrive disguised as detours.

We also talk about:

• Why God often develops our character before our calling

• Letting go of timelines and expectations

• How clutter can affect our peace

• The importance of slowing down in a culture that celebrates hustle

• Waiting well in a world of instant answers and AI

• Creating space to hear God's voice again

Whether you're waiting for healing, purpose, marriage, motherhood, clarity, or simply your next step, this conversation is a reminder that God isn't wasting your waiting. He's forming you.

Connect with Melinda:

Website: melindagrace.com

Book: Grace-Filled Organization & Audio Book 

Instagram: @melindagraceorganizing

Freebie: Refresh Your Kitchen with My Top 10 Organizing Hacks for Kitchens 

If this episode encouraged you, would you leave a review, share it with a friend, or send it to someone who's walking through an in-between season?

You can also join me over on Substack for weekly encouragement and deeper reflections about following Jesus in the waiting.

Have you ever felt frustrated because it seems like God is taking longer than expected to move your life forward?

In this episode of the Not Just Waiting Podcast, I'm joined by author, speaker, and mentor Desiree Taylor for a conversation about the seasons when God seems more focused on shaping our character than advancing our calling.

Together, we talk about learning to live from being with Jesus instead of constantly doing for Him, releasing timelines and expectations, and discovering the beauty hidden in the middle of the process. Desiree shares honestly about an eight-year season of pruning, grief, caregiving, and growth—and how God used it to deepen her dependence on Him and prepare her for what's next.

If you've ever wrestled with impatience, comparison, perfectionism, or the feeling that your life is moving slower than everyone else's, this conversation will remind you that God is still working—even when you can't see the fruit yet.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The difference between being with Jesus and simply doing things for Him• Releasing timelines, expectations, and the illusion of control• Finding purpose in long seasons of waiting and pruning• How perfectionism and people-pleasing keep us from living freely• Learning to enjoy the process instead of rushing to the outcome• Why every season of life is preparing us for eternity

Connect with Desiree:

Website: arenewedcreation.com

Book: Created to Relate: Living Beyond Religion

Substack: A Renewed Creation

Free Resource: Download the Comparison Audit—a simple worksheet to help you identify the timelines you've been measuring yourself against and refocus on God's timing.

If this episode encouraged you, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend who needs hope in the waiting.

Have you ever wondered if God is doing more in your waiting than you can see?

In this episode of the Not Just Waiting Podcast, I sit down with author, speaker, and coach Cassandra Crawley Mayo for a conversation about trust, purpose, and the ways God forms us through life's unexpected detours.

Cassandra shares powerful stories from her own journey—from navigating career challenges as the first African American woman in leadership roles, to learning how to trust God with major decisions, to experiencing a moment with God that forever changed her faith.

Together, we talk about what it means to release control, stop comparing ourselves to others, and become the women God created us to be.

If you're in a season where you're asking, "God, what are You doing?" this conversation will encourage you to keep trusting Him—even when you can't yet see the outcome.

In This Episode:

• Why trust is often the lesson God keeps teaching us

• Learning to wait for God's direction instead of forcing our own

• A powerful story of God showing up in a moment of deep doubt

• How comparison can keep us from becoming who we're meant to be

• What it means to actively and passively wait on God

• Finding purpose through hardship and unexpected seasons

• Why your past doesn't have to define your future

• How to rise beyond the limits you've placed on yourself

Connect with Cassandra:📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassandracrawleymayo

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassandra_crawleymayo/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandracrawley/

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cassandracrawleymayo

🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cassandracrawleymayo 

Resources Mentioned:

Is Your Way In Your Way? by Cassandra Crawley Mayo

What do you do when the story you believed God was writing doesn't unfold the way you expected?

In this tender and honest conversation, I'm joined by my most requested guest, Victoria Fortuna. Together, we talk about long seasons of waiting, unanswered prayers, grief, adoption, surrendering expectations, and learning to trust God when life looks nothing like we imagined.

Victoria shares pieces of her story—from an eight-year adoption journey and heartbreaking loss to the unexpected ways God has shaped her character in seasons that felt invisible and uncelebrated. Through it all, she offers a powerful reminder that God's goodness is not dependent on our timelines and that even unfinished stories can be filled with hope.

If you've ever wondered where God is in the waiting, struggled with unmet expectations, or felt caught between joy and grief, this conversation will meet you there.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What God forms in us during long seasons of waiting

• The difference between pursuing God's gifts and pursuing His presence

• Learning to hold both joy and grief at the same time

• Trusting God's goodness when prayers seem unanswered

• How loss reshapes our understanding of restoration

• Why your story isn't over yet

• Finding freedom in the phrase "to be continued"

Connect with Victoria:

Instagram: @victoriarosefortuna

Substack: victoriafortuna.substack.com

Free Resource:

Feeling behind in life? Download my free Comparison Audit worksheet and discover whose timeline you've been measuring yourself against.

This conversation with Kate Massey felt like sitting across the table from a friend and talking honestly about fear, obedience, waiting seasons, and the ways God forms us long before anyone sees the fruit of it.

Kate shares about her journey from resisting the worship team to stepping into speaking opportunities, how God used uncomfortable seasons to build her confidence and character, and why bold faith often looks much more ordinary than we expect.

We also talk about:

• why fear keeps so many of us stuck

• how God develops our character before advancing our calling

• the danger of forcing timelines God never asked us to force

• what Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Noah, and Moses teach us about waiting

• how asking someone “Can I pray for you?” can change more than we realize

• learning to trust God when His timing doesn’t make sense

• why understanding your identity in Christ changes everything

If you’re in an in-between season wondering what God is doing, this episode is for you.

Connect with Kate:

Instagram: @katemasseywrites

Website: KateMassey.org

Kate’s books:

• Purpose and the Pain

• Purpose and the Waiting (coming soon)

What happens when God removes the very thing you thought defined you?

In this week’s episode of the Not Just Waiting Podcast, I sat down with author, former teacher, and publisher Dawn Stephens for one of the most honest and hope-filled conversations about identity, purpose, and becoming that I’ve had in a long time.

Through the beautiful metaphor of pottery and children’s books, Dawn shares how God walked her through seasons of being filled, emptied, pruned, stretched, and rebuilt. From teaching to running a school, becoming an author, experiencing burnout, and stepping into publishing, Dawn reminds us that God never wastes a season — even the ones that feel hidden or confusing.

We talked about:

• Why we often tie our identity to what we “hold”

• The danger of defining ourselves by roles, titles, or productivity

• What it means to become a “fruit pot”

• How waiting seasons prepare us for what’s next

• Why God sometimes allows cracks instead of fixing them

• Burnout, striving, and learning to rest

• How God uses every season of your story

This conversation felt like sitting down with a friend who gently reminds you that becoming takes time — and that God is still forming something beautiful in the in-between.

If you’ve ever felt emptied, overlooked, behind, or unsure of who you are in this season, I think this episode will deeply encourage you.

Connect with Dawn:

• Website: dawnstephensbooks.com

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DawnStephensBooks/ 

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dawnstephensbooks/

• Twitter: https://x.com/dawnstephens https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnstephens/

• Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dawn_stephens_books

• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/DawnStephensBooks/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DawnStephensBooks  

Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who needs encouragement in their waiting season.

This week on the Not Just Waiting Podcast, I sat down with author, former nurse, counselor, and storyteller Nancy L. Jasin Ensley for one of the most honest and unexpectedly funny conversations we’ve had this season.

Nancy shares what God has been teaching her in the “winter season” of life — from slowing down and learning patience to forgiving the people who hurt her and discovering that God still had purpose for her long after retirement.

We talked about:

• why waiting is still active

• how journaling can help you process what God is doing

• the connection between fear, control, and worthiness

• the surprising ways God shapes our character

• why patience, forgiveness, and humility matter so much

• how God often uses the things we didn’t plan for

• what it means to truly listen instead of just hear

Nancy’s stories about nursing, counseling women from her home, ghostwriting memoirs, and navigating disappointment reminded me that becoming rarely happens in big, glamorous moments. Most of the time, it happens slowly. Quietly. In ordinary faithfulness.

If you’re in a season where life feels slower than you expected, or different than what you planned, I think this conversation will encourage you deeply.

You can connect with Nancy and explore her books here: www.nancyjasinensley.com

Do you ever feel like God gave you a calling, and then nothing happened?

Like you said yes, stepped out in obedience, and somehow ended up in a season that feels slow, hidden, or confusing?

In this episode of Not Just Waiting, I’m joined by Pat Domangue, Bible teacher and author, and we’re talking about what it really looks like to become who God has called you to be—especially when it takes longer than you expected.

Because the truth is… Waiting doesn’t mean God forgot. It usually means He’s forming something deeper than you can see.

Pat shares her story of being called into ministry in 2002—and how what she thought would unfold quickly actually took decades of refining, stretching, and surrender. We talk about confidence, identity in Christ, releasing expectations, and why God often works in cycles, not straight lines.

We also unpack a powerful picture: how a potter lets clay sit and harden before it goes into the fire—because if it doesn’t, it will literally fall apart.

If you’re in a season where things feel delayed, unclear, or like they’re not moving the way you thought they would…this conversation is for you.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What God is forming in you in unseen seasons

• How to walk confidently in your calling (even when it feels slow)

• Why waiting seasons are necessary for spiritual growth

• Letting go of timelines, expectations, and “what you thought it would look like”

• The truth about ministry, identity, and not fitting into a box

• How God uses repeated seasons to refine your character

• Why you haven’t missed it—and God isn’t late

Connect with Pat:

Website: onfire-ministries.org

Facebook: On Fire Ministries with Pat Domangue

Instagram:  @patdomangue 

Get the Comparison Audit here!

This conversation felt like sitting across from someone who has walked with God for a long time—the kind of wisdom that doesn’t shout, but settles deep.

This week on Not Just Waiting, I’m joined by Constance Hastings, and we talk about what it really looks like to become who God is calling you to be… especially when it doesn’t look anything like you planned.

We talk about:

• What happens when God reroutes your life (again and again)

• The tension between calling and character

• Seasons where it feels like you’ve been “left behind”

• Why waiting is never actually passive

• And how God often speaks… in the most ordinary moments

There’s a moment in this conversation where everything clicks—where the ordinary things we dismiss (doing dishes, vacuuming, daily rhythms) suddenly feel sacred again.

If you’ve been wondering if you’re doing enough… If you feel like you’re in-between what was and what’s next… If you’re tired of waiting for something big while living something small…

This episode is for you.

Connect with Constance:

• Website + blog: ConstanceHastings.com

• Book: The Trouble with Jesus: Considerations Before You Walk Away

• Substack: https://jesustrouble.substack.com

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTroublewithJesus 

 If this episode encouraged you, share it with a friend or send it to someone who’s in a waiting season too. And don’t forget—you’re not just waiting.

In this episode, I’m joined by Jessica DeYoung—speaker, podcaster, and founder of Made Whole—for a conversation that feels like a deep breath in the middle of a striving world.

We talk about what it actually looks like to live in the in-between; not as a season of stagnation, but as a season of becoming.

If you’ve ever felt the tension between wanting to move forward and sensing God asking you to slow down, this conversation is for you.

Jessica shares honestly about the ways God has been stripping things back in her life—expectations, timelines, productivity—and inviting her into a deeper kind of trust. One that doesn’t rush ahead or try to control the outcome, but learns to listen, rest, and respond in obedience.

We also talk about:

• Why “being present instead of productive” is harder than it sounds

• The difference between active waiting and passive waiting

• How God refines our character in seasons that feel hidden

• Letting go of the life you thought you’d have to receive the one God is giving you

• Why you don’t need to know the outcome to be obedient

This episode is a reminder that God is far more interested in who you’re becoming than what you’re producing.

And even here—in the unseen, uncomfortable, in-between—He is working.

You are not behind. You are not forgotten. You are becoming.

Connect with Jessica: Listen to her podcast Perspectives into Practice + explore more at her website: www.perspectivesintopractice.com

Instagram: @JessDeYoung

Facebook: Jess DeYoung

If this episode encouraged you: Share it with a friend & tag me so I can say thank you. 🤍