Perspectives Into Practice | Walk with God

Have you ever looked at someone else's life and thought, "If they would just listen to me, things would be so much better"?

Maybe it's your child. Maybe it's someone you love deeply. Or maybe it's someone you don't even know very well, but you've already made up your mind about the decisions they're making.

And then God reminds you that their walk with Him isn't yours to manage.

In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, I sit down with my new friend Wendy to talk about what God has been teaching her about judgment, grace, letting go of control, and trusting Him with the people around us.

Wendy shares a recent experience at a conference where she found herself questioning why a particular speaker had been invited. She already had opinions about him based on things he'd said in the past, and she wasn't exactly excited to hear what he had to say.

But as she sat there, God began asking her some questions of His own.

And one of them was simple: Do you trust Me?

What happened next challenged Wendy to recognize that people can grow, change, learn, and become more like Jesus, even when we aren't there to witness the process.
God reminded her of something He's been teaching her for a while now:
Eyes on your own paper, my dear.

Because sometimes we're so busy watching what someone else is doing that we miss what God is trying to do in us.And this gets even harder when the person we're watching is someone we love.

Wendy and I talk about what this looks like as mothers, especially as our children grow into adulthood and begin making decisions about their own faith.
We can teach them, encourage them, pray for them, and love them with everything we have. But we cannot walk their relationship with Jesus for them.
And trying to take responsibility for something that belongs to God can actually make it harder for us to love them well.

One of the things I appreciate about Wendy's perspective is that she isn't talking about giving up on people or pretending their choices don't matter.
She's learning to extend grace while still holding on to truth.
She's learning when to speak and when to be quiet.

And she's learning that trusting God with someone else's life doesn't mean loving them any less.

Trusting God with the people we love

Recognizing when we've already judged someone before listening

Letting God challenge our assumptions about other people

Extending grace while still holding on to biblical truth

Remembering that people can grow, change, and learn

Why we need to keep our eyes on our own walk with Jesus

What John 21 teaches us about following Jesus instead of comparing ourselves to others

Letting go of control as our children become adults

Trusting God with adult children who aren't walking with Him

Recognizing what belongs to us and what belongs to God

Learning when to speak and when to hold our tongues

Loving someone without taking responsibility for their spiritual journey

Creating a safe place for our children to come back to

Praying for people without trying to control the outcome

Asking God to help us see the hearts of the people around us

Leading with curiosity, love, and grace instead of judgment

Why Christian community matters when we're navigating difficult relationships

Trusting that God's love for our children is greater than our own

One of the Scriptures Wendy brings us back to is John 21, where Peter asks Jesus about another disciple.

And Jesus essentially reminds him that his responsibility is to follow Him.
Not to manage someone else's calling.
Not to figure out someone else's future.
Just to follow Jesus.
And I think that's a reminder so many of us need.

Friend, maybe there's someone in your life right now that you've been carrying so tightly because you love them and you're afraid of what might happen if you let go.

You can love them deeply without being responsible for their entire journey.
You can pray for them without trying to control the answer.
You can care about the choices they're making and still trust that God is capable of meeting them in places you cannot reach.

God's love for them is greater than yours, and He's not asking you to take His place.

Maybe today is an invitation to put their paper back down, turn your attention toward your own, and ask God:

What are You doing in me right now?

You can learn more about Wendy Terry and connect with her at www.tcjhop.org.

And if you're looking for a place to share what God is doing in your life right now, I'd love to invite you into The Story Haven. It's our free community where Christian women share the real, right-now stories of what God is doing, encourage one another, and build genuine relationships as we walk out our faith together.

Join us at TheStoryHaven.net or find The Story Haven in the App Store or Google Play.

If God is doing something in your life right now that you feel called to share, I'd love to hear from you. You don't need a platform, a ministry, or a perfectly wrapped-up testimony. Visit PerspectivesIntoPractice.com to learn more about becoming a guest on the podcast.

Have you ever prayed for something for so long that you started wondering when God was going to answer?

Maybe you've been believing for healing. Maybe you're walking through something painful that hasn't changed, no matter how much you've prayed. You know God is faithful, but today is still hard.
And sometimes you're just tired.

In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, I sit down with my new friend Ena to talk about what it looks like to trust God when healing hasn't come and you're still living in the middle of the story.

Ena has spent years navigating chronic pain, spinal stenosis, surgeries, and physical limitations that have changed what she's able to do in everyday life. She describes this season as one where her body has grown weaker, but her spirit has grown stronger. And she's honest about how difficult that can be.

There are days when her pain is overwhelming, when the things she wants to accomplish and the things her body will allow are completely different. There are moments of frustration, tears, and wondering why she's still going through this.

But Ena is learning something important about her relationship with God.
She doesn't have to measure God's presence by how she feels physically.

We talk about the tension between believing God for healing and being honest about the pain you're experiencing today. Because having faith doesn't mean pretending that something doesn't hurt. It doesn't mean you never get frustrated.

And it certainly doesn't mean you have to have a perfectly polished testimony before you can talk about God's goodness.
Ena shares how she's learning to return to God again and again, even when she doesn't have the words for a long prayer.

Sometimes it's simply, "Lord, help me.", remembering what He's already brought her through, it's choosing to praise Him in the middle of a difficult day, and sometimes it's learning that spending your best ten minutes with God can be more meaningful than trying to meet an expectation of what your time with Him is supposed to look like.

One of my favorite parts of our conversation is how Ena talks about God as her Father. Not someone she only approaches when she needs something, but someone she genuinely wants to spend time with.
Even while she's waiting, while she's hurting, and when she doesn't know what tomorrow will bring.

Trusting God when healing hasn't come

Living with chronic pain while holding on to faith

Believing God for healing when circumstances haven't changed

Being honest with God about pain, frustration, and disappointment

Why struggling doesn't mean you're failing at faith

Recognizing God's presence in the middle of suffering

Remembering God's faithfulness during difficult seasons

Finding spiritual strength when your body feels weak

Returning to Scripture when life feels overwhelming

Building a genuine relationship with God instead of checking religious boxes

Why your best ten minutes with God matter

Praying simple, honest prayers when you don't have the words

Talking to God throughout your ordinary day

Learning to trust God as a loving Father

Seeking God's presence instead of only seeking an answer

Choosing gratitude and praise during difficult circumstances

Listening for God's guidance and taking the next step

Continuing to trust God through unanswered prayers

Returning to God again and again, even when you've struggled

Friend, maybe you're living in your own messy middle right now.
You've prayed. You've believed. You've trusted.
And the circumstances still haven't changed.
I want you to hear something from this conversation.
You don't have to wait until the pain is gone to recognize that God is with you.

You don't need the perfect prayer. You don't need to pretend everything is okay. And you don't have to figure out why everything is happening before you come to Him.
Maybe today your prayer really is as simple as:
"Lord, help me. Show me. Direct me."
And then you keep coming back.
Because the same God who will be with you on the other side is already with you right here in the middle.

You can learn more about Ena and connect with her at EnaRush.com.

If you're looking for a place to share what God is doing while you're still living your story, I'd love to invite you into The Story Haven. It's our free community for Christian women to share the real, right-now stories of what God is doing, encourage one another, and build genuine relationships as we walk out our faith together.

Join us at TheStoryHaven.net or find The Story Haven in the App Store or Google Play.

And if God is doing something in your life right now that you feel called to share, I'd love to hear from you. You don't need a platform, a ministry, or a perfectly wrapped-up testimony. Visit PerspectivesIntoPractice.com to learn more about becoming a guest on the podcast.

There's a difference between knowing about God and actually learning to walk with Him.

You can know the language of faith. You can go to church, listen to sermons, believe in Jesus, and know what you're supposed to do, while still feeling like you're trying to perform Christianity correctly.

My new friend Amanda describes herself as a “baby Christian,” even though Jesus has been part of her story for most of her life.

At 51, something shifted.
Amanda describes it as moving from being a believer to becoming a disciple.

In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, Amanda and I talk about what changed when she stopped trying to come to Jesus the way she thought she was supposed to and started learning how to build an honest, personal relationship with Him.

For years, Amanda relied heavily on other people to help her understand Scripture and tell her what it meant for her life. But as she began learning how to read and study the Bible for herself, pray differently, pause, listen, and seek God's direction, her relationship with Him began to change.

She started realizing that she could bring her questions directly to God.
She could search Scripture.
She could pray for clarity.
She could wait when an answer didn't come immediately.
And she could make decisions with greater confidence because she was learning to recognize God's voice and bring everything back to His Word.

We also talk about Amanda discovering later in life that she is neurodivergent and how understanding the way her brain works helped her stop trying to experience faith exactly like everyone else.

Her relationship with Jesus didn't need to look exactly like someone else's.Neither does yours.
Amanda uses a picture I love: let God drive the boat.

That sounds great when the water is calm. It's a little harder when God changes direction, life doesn't look the way we expected, or we're making a decision and can't see where He's taking us.

But Amanda is learning that she doesn't have to grab the wheel every time the direction changes.
She can trust the One driving.

The difference between knowing about God and walking with Him

Moving from simply believing to actively following Jesus

Building a personal relationship with Jesus

Learning to read and understand Scripture for yourself

Taking questions back to God's Word

Praying, pausing, and listening for God's direction

Waiting when God doesn't immediately give you an answer

Using outside resources without replacing Scripture

Recognizing God's voice in everyday life

Making decisions with biblical confidence

Learning how God created you instead of trying to copy someone else's faith

Amanda's experience discovering neurodivergence later in life

Finding Christian community that supports how you're wired

Becoming a doer of the Word instead of only hearing it

Trusting God when He changes the direction of your life

Seeing fruit begin to grow from a deeper relationship with Jesus

Finding God in ordinary moments

Continuing to seek Jesus even when it takes longer than you expected

One thing Amanda says at the end of our conversation really sums this up:

Don't give up.

If you've spent years believing in God but still feel like you're searching for the kind of relationship with Jesus other people talk about, keep seeking Him.
You don't have to perform your way into a relationship with Jesus.
Open His Word. Talk to Him. Ask questions. Pause. Listen. Find other believers who can walk alongside you, and keep coming back to Him.

Maybe today isn't about adding one more thing you're supposed to do as a Christian.
Maybe it's simply turning toward Jesus and asking:
What does following You look like for me today?
Then pay attention.

He may meet you in His Word, in prayer, through another believer, or in one of those ordinary moments you might normally overlook.

You can learn more about Amanda and connect with her at RegenerationRecovery.org

And if you're looking for a place to share what God is doing in your life while He's still writing the story, I'd love to invite you into The Story Haven. It's a free community where Christian women share the real, right-now stories of what God is doing, encourage one another, and build genuine relationships as we walk out our faith together. Join us at TheStoryHaven.net or search The Story Haven on your mobile device.

If God is doing something in your life right now that you feel called to share, I'd love to hear from you too. Visit PerspectivesIntoPractice.com to learn more about becoming a guest on the podcast.

What do you do when you know God is leading you, but you still have no idea what comes next?

That messy middle can be hard. You know He's working. You know He's faithful. But you still want the timeline, the details, and maybe even the whole picture before you're willing to relax.

In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, I sit down with my new friend Dara to talk about what it looks like to trust God while the story is still unfolding.
Dara is walking through a season where some of the things she's prayed about are beginning to take shape, especially in the areas of career and business, but she still doesn't know exactly how everything is going to come together.

And if you're anything like us, that can be uncomfortable.

We talk about impatience, wanting God to move faster, and learning to stop forcing clarity He hasn't given yet. Dara shares how God has been teaching her to fully rest in His Word, not just glance at it and move on, but truly rest in who He is and remember that He handled the last season, He can handle this one too.

That kind of rest changes something.
It takes away some of the pressure to make everything happen right now.

We also talk about comparison and how easy it is to look at someone else's life and think they are further ahead, more successful, or somehow getting answers faster than we are. Dara shares how God has been reminding her that we are not meant to live in a hierarchy of comparison. We are connected to one another, but we are each walking the path God has given us.

And sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is pause.
Pause long enough to hear Him.
Pause long enough to evaluate what we're carrying.
Pause long enough to ask whether we're moving with God or just moving because we're afraid to stop.

Trusting God when you don't know what comes next

Living faithfully in the messy middle

Resting in God's Word instead of forcing clarity

Trusting God's timing in career and business decisions

Letting go of impatience and anxiety

Remembering God's faithfulness from previous seasons

Building rhythms of prayer and Scripture into everyday life

Learning to recognize God's guidance one step at a time

Trusting God as a good Father

Comparing ourselves to others and staying in our own lane

Why community matters when we're trying to discern what God is doing

Taking a pause before life forces us to stop

Using self-assessment to realign with God's will

Letting God lead an unfinished story

Friend, maybe you're in the middle of your own unfinished story right now.

You don't have all the answers.
You don't know how it's going to work out.
And maybe God isn't asking you to figure out the entire plan.
Maybe He's simply asking you to pause, notice where He is, trust who He is, and take the next step He puts in front of you.

Take a moment and ask yourself where you're rushing, where you're comparing, where you're exhausted, and where God may be asking you to slow down and come back into alignment with Him.

You can learn more about Dara and connect with her at 12CupsofGrace.com.

And if you're looking for a place to share what God is doing while you're still living the story, come join us inside The Story Haven. It's a free community where we share the real, right-now stories of what God is doing, encourage one another, and build genuine relationships as we walk it out together. Join us at TheStoryHaven.net or search The Story Haven in the App Store or Google Play.

If God is doing something in your life right now that you feel called to share, I'd love to hear from you. Visit PerspectivesIntoPractice.com to learn more about becoming a guest.

What happens when you're tired of persevering?

Not when you've stopped believing in God. Not when you've decided to walk away. But when you've prayed, trusted, kept going, and finally find yourself saying, “Lord, I know You're with me, but I'm weary.”

My new friend Lara knows that kind of weariness deeply.
She has spent the last eight years living with a rare neurological illness that has left her mostly bedridden. During that time, she has experienced the loss of her health and career, and then the devastating loss of her husband after only a year of marriage. And this isn't a conversation from the other side of a perfectly wrapped-up testimony.
Lara is still living it.

In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, Lara and I talk honestly about what it looks like to continue trusting God when the suffering hasn't ended, the healing hasn't come, and you're simply tired of persevering.
Lara shares about a morning when she finally told God, “I am so weary. I cannot do this anymore.” Later that same day, she opened her devotional and found Galatians 6:9: “Let us not grow weary...”

It was one of many moments when God met her personally in the middle of her suffering and reminded her that He heard her. But Lara is also honest about the times when an answer didn't come.

We talk about wrestling with God, asking why, grieving what has been lost, and learning that being weary doesn't mean you've failed at faith.

Sometimes perseverance doesn't look like charging forward.
Sometimes it looks like staying close to Jesus when you don't understand what He's doing.

Lara shares how God has been teaching her to surrender the life she expected, release things that had become too important to her identity, receive His strength when she has none of her own, and trust that suffering is not wasted in His hands.

We also talk about something that can feel almost impossible when you're hurting: joy and grief existing at the same time.
Biblical joy doesn't require us to pretend something isn't painful. We can grieve deeply and still ask the Holy Spirit to give us a joy that doesn't depend on our circumstances.

What to do when you're tired of persevering

Bringing your weariness honestly before God

Trusting God when chronic illness doesn't go away

Wrestling with God when healing hasn't come

Persevering through prolonged suffering

Depending on God's strength instead of our own

What 2 Corinthians 12:9 taught Lara about weakness and God's strength

Surrendering the life you thought you would have

Finding identity beyond productivity, achievement, career, and relationships

Allowing God to refine us through difficult seasons

Trusting that God can use suffering even when we cannot understand why

Developing an eternal perspective in the middle of present suffering

Making room for both grief and joy

The difference between rejoicing in difficult circumstances and being thankful that suffering happened

Asking the Holy Spirit for joy when you cannot create it yourself

Trusting God when you're still in the middle of the story

Remembering that weariness is not the same thing as failing at faith

Friend, maybe you're tired too.

Maybe you've been asking God the same question for years. Maybe you've watched someone else receive the answer you've desperately wanted. Maybe you're grieving a life you thought would look completely different.

You don't have to hide that from Him.
You can tell God you're tired.
You can grieve.
You can wrestle.

And you can keep coming back to Him, even when perseverance looks less like moving forward and more like simply staying close. Lara's story is still being written, but her life is a powerful reminder that we don't have to wait until everything is resolved before we talk about God's faithfulness in the middle.

You can learn more about Lara and connect with her at LaraSilverman.com.

If God has been teaching you something in the middle of your own unfinished story, I'd love to hear from you. You don't need a platform, a ministry, or a perfectly wrapped-up testimony. Visit PerspectivesIntoPractice.com to learn more about becoming a guest.

And if you'd like to continue having conversations like this with other Christian women, come join us inside The Story Haven. It's completely free and a place for honest stories, real faith, and genuine community. You can find us at TheStoryHaven.net or search The Story Haven in the App Store or Google Play.

Have you ever looked at your circumstances and thought, “I should not have this much peace right now”?

Life can be genuinely hard. We can walk through wilderness seasons where circumstances haven't changed, answers haven't come, and we don't necessarily feel joyful.

But joy doesn't have to depend on life going well.

In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, I sit down with my friend Trisha to talk about what God has been teaching her about finding joy and peace in Him while walking through a difficult season.

Trisha shares how God has reminded her through Deuteronomy 2 that He knows when we're walking through the wilderness. He hasn't forgotten us there. Looking back at her own season, she can see that even when life was incredibly difficult, God was with her, carrying her and providing what she needed.

One Scripture became especially important to her: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

That joy didn't mean everything suddenly became easy. It wasn't pretending she wasn't hurting or forcing herself to be happy. It meant learning to draw her strength from God when she didn't have enough of her own.

We talk about the difference between happiness and the kind of joy that comes from God, and some of the simple practices that have helped Trisha keep returning to Him.

Sometimes it's noticing the rain she prayed for. Sometimes it's sitting still long enough to feel the wind or hear the birds. Sometimes it's writing down three things she's grateful for, laughing when life has become too serious, or staying in God's Word longer instead of giving up because she didn't immediately hear from Him.

There is so much beauty around us that we can miss when we're moving too quickly.

And sometimes finding God in a wilderness season begins by slowing down enough to notice that He has been there all along.

Finding joy when your circumstances haven't changed

The difference between happiness and joy in God

Trusting God through a wilderness season

What Deuteronomy 2 teaches us about God's presence in the wilderness

Finding strength in the joy of the Lord

Recognizing God's provision when life is difficult

Slowing down enough to notice what God is doing

Finding God in simple, ordinary moments

Sitting with God instead of rushing through time with Him

Persevering in Scripture when you don't immediately hear from God

Choosing gratitude in difficult seasons

Using laughter and gratitude to shift your perspective

Being honest with God when you don't feel joyful

Seeking God instead of trying to create joy in your own strength

Friend, if you're walking through a wilderness season right now, you don't have to pretend that it isn't hard.

You don't have to manufacture joy or make yourself feel something you don't.

Go to God honestly. Tell Him where you are. Sit with Him. Stay awhile. Look around. Look back. Pay attention to the small ways He's caring for you that may be easy to miss when you're focused on everything that hasn't changed yet.

Your circumstances don't have to be perfect for you to experience the goodness of God.

And if you've been craving a place to walk through seasons like this with other Christian women who are learning to notice God, share what He's doing, and practice their faith in real life, I'd love to invite you into The Story Haven. It's a free community built around honest stories, real faith, and genuine connection. Come find your people at TheStoryHaven.net.

And if God is doing something in your life right now that you feel called to share, I'd love to hear your story. Visit PerspectivesIntoPractice.com to learn more about becoming a guest on the podcast.

Have you ever felt God asking you to do something when you had absolutely no idea how it was going to work?
That was Wholeness in the Wilderness for me.

Nine months before seven women gathered together on the Southern Oregon Coast, God gave me the name for this retreat while I was walking through the redwoods and coming out of my own wilderness season.

I was excited. I was ready. And then God asked me to wait. Months later, when He finally said go, I quickly realized how many pieces I couldn't see. I had no budget. No house. No registrations. I didn't know where the provision would come from or exactly who God was bringing.

But I knew He had asked me to do it.

In this solo episode of Perspectives Into Practice, I'm finally taking you behind the scenes of the nine months leading up to our first Wholeness in the Wilderness retreat and sharing the trail of God's fingerprints I can see now that I'm on the other side of it.

And friend, there were fingerprints everywhere.

God provided through people, businesses, flowers, coffee, gift bags, pizza, unexpected conversations, financial gifts, registrations, referrals, and connections I never could have orchestrated myself.

He even provided the house less than a week before the retreat.

One of the biggest things God taught me through all of this was that I had been praying for provision while already deciding what His provision was supposed to look like.

I thought provision meant money.

God showed me it could look like so much more.

There were moments when I worried. I questioned. I cried. There were moments when I wondered if I had heard Him correctly and whether this thing I had said yes to was actually going to happen.

But one step at a time, God kept asking me for another yes.

And He kept providing the next piece.

How Wholeness in the Wilderness began during my own wilderness season

What Scripture taught me about God's purpose in the wilderness

Why God asked me to wait months before beginning the retreat

What obedience looked like when I couldn't see the whole plan

How I moved forward with zero budget and zero registrations

What God taught me when the provision I prayed for looked completely different than I expected

The unexpected people and businesses God used to provide

How a simple Facebook post about flowers led to women, relationships, and beautiful retreat experiences

The story of finding the retreat house less than a week before everyone arrived

The little dollar bill God winks that kept reminding me He would provide

Why spiritual preparation mattered just as much as preparing the physical retreat

What I can see about God's faithfulness now that I couldn't see while I was living it

Why you don't need God's whole plan to give Him your next yes

Here's what I want you to practice after listening.

Before you spend all your energy trying to figure out what's next, look back.

Who has God brought into your life? What seemingly random conversations have happened? What doors closed? Which unexpected ones opened? Where has provision already come from? What Scriptures keep coming back to you? Is it possible you've been waiting for God to answer a prayer one way while He's already answering it differently?

Write those things down and ask Him:

God, is there a thread I've been too close to see?

Because sometimes when we're living in the middle of the story, all we see are a bunch of unrelated moments.
Then we look back and realize there was a trail.
God was moving the whole time.

I can look back at our marriage and see His provision. I can look back at Oregon and see His provision. And now, as I prepare for the next Wholeness in the Wilderness retreat in Texas, I can trust His provision again. Not because I know how this story ends, but because I know the One who's writing it.

And every Wholeness in the Wilderness retreat will be different because every group of women, every location, every season, and what God is doing will be different. I don't want to recreate Oregon somewhere else. I want to leave room for God to do what He wants to do with the women He brings together in that particular place and time.

If God has been writing a story in your life, I'd love to hear it. Visit PerspectivesIntoPractice.com to learn more about becoming a guest on the podcast.

And come find your people inside The Story Haven. It's our free community for honest stories, real faith, and genuine community. You don't have to have everything figured out before you show up. You just have to come. Join us at TheStoryHaven.net or search The Story Haven in the App Store or Google Play.

And if you've been wondering when the next retreat is coming, keep paying attention. Wholeness in the Wilderness is headed to Texas in January 2027.

What if the thing God wants to change isn't something anyone else can see?
We can be serving, encouraging, praying, helping others, and faithfully showing up. From the outside, everything we're doing may look good.
But God sees beneath the surface.
He knows when part of us wants to be noticed. When we hope someone recognizes what we've done. When we're serving Him, but if we're honest, we're also enjoying the praise that comes along with it.

In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, my friend Sharon is back, and we're talking about something God has been revealing and refining in her own heart: her motives.

Proverbs 16:2 says, “All a person's ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.”

That's an uncomfortable verse when we actually allow it to examine us.
Sharon vulnerably shares how God has been showing her that we can do good things for mixed reasons. We can genuinely want to serve God and love people while also wanting the heart on the text, the thank you, the recognition, or the reassurance that someone noticed.

The goal isn't to become obsessed with getting every motive perfectly right. It's to be willing to bring what's actually in our hearts before God and allow Him to refine us.

We talk about confession, repentance, and why simply saying, “Lord, forgive me for my sins,” can sometimes allow us to avoid getting specific about what's really happening within us. When God reveals sin, Scripture doesn't only call us to recognize it and ask for forgiveness. He calls us to repent, turn away from it, and turn back toward Him.

That doesn't mean we'll never struggle with that sin again. It means we're willing to say, “Lord, I don't want to keep holding onto this. Help me turn from it and walk differently.”

Sharon also shares how God has used her intentional prayer life to reveal some of these motives. With more than 100 people on her prayer list, she has developed a rhythm of praying Scripture over others, texting prayers, following up, and keeping track of what people have asked her to pray about.

It's a beautiful practice of loving people well, but it's also become another place where God continues asking her: Who are you doing this for?

And maybe that's a question all of us need to ask from time to time.

One of my favorite reminders Sharon gives us in this conversation is simple:

Don't hurry.

Don't hurry through your prayers. Don't hurry through your time with God. And especially, don't hurry through examining your heart.

Psalm 51 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”

But if we're going to ask Him to create a clean heart in us, we also have to be willing to let Him show us what's there.

Friend, if God has gently been bringing something to the surface in your own heart, you don't have to clean it up before you come to Him. Bring it to Him first. Name it. Be honest about it. Repent when He's revealing sin, and allow Him to continue transforming you from the inside out.

If God is teaching you something in your life right now, changing your perspective, or meeting you in an ordinary season, I'd love to hear about it. You don't need a big platform or a perfectly polished story to be a guest on Perspectives Into Practice. Visit PerspectivesIntoPractice.com to learn more.

And if you're looking for a place to connect with other Christian women beyond the podcast, come join us inside The Story Haven. It's a free online community where we grow in our faith, encourage one another, share what God is doing in our lives, and walk it out together. Visit TheStoryHaven.net or search The Story Haven in the App Store or Google Play.

If this episode encouraged you, share it with a friend who might need this reminder too.

Have you ever reached the end of the day completely exhausted, not just physically, but emotionally too?

Sometimes we carry so much that we don’t even realize how heavy it has become. Expectations, responsibilities, unanswered prayers, our families, our futures, and the pressure to somehow hold everything together.
But what if some of that weight was never ours to carry in the first place?

In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, I sit down with my new friend Jenna for an honest conversation about surrender, trusting God with the outcome, and learning to take the next faithful step instead of trying to figure out the entire staircase.

Jesus gives us such a beautiful invitation in Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
He doesn’t tell us to try harder. He doesn’t ask us to become strong enough to carry everything ourselves. He invites us to come closer.

Jenna shares what this has looked like in her own life as a homeschooling mom of two boys while also navigating an ongoing rare medical diagnosis and treatment. In the middle of carrying her family, her health, and the things she believes God has placed on her heart, she realized she had started striving to make everything happen instead of surrendering the outcome to Him.

We talk about the difference between faithfully doing what God has asked us to do and trying to control what happens next. Sometimes obedience really is just taking one step, then staying there with God until He shows us the next one.

And because we’re all about putting our perspectives into practice around here, Jenna shares some really practical ways to stop our thoughts from spiraling and begin training our minds to return to God first.

What does God’s Word actually say about what you’re facing? What if you read that Scripture out loud, wrote it down, put it on your phone, or connected it to something you already do every day?
It doesn’t have to become one more giant thing on your to-do list. Start small. Easy plus one.

Friend, slowing down doesn’t mean you’re falling behind.

Maybe today you don’t need to push harder, solve the whole problem, or figure out what happens ten steps from now. Maybe the invitation is simply to ask:
Jesus, what have You actually asked me to carry, and what do I need to trust You enough to release?
Then take the next faithful step with Him.

If God has been writing a story in your life that could encourage someone else, I’d love to hear it. Visit PerspectivesIntoPractice.com to learn more about becoming a guest on the podcast.

And if you’re looking for a place to grow in your faith alongside other Christian women, come join us inside The Story Haven. It’s a free online community where women encourage one another, grow in God’s Word, share what God is doing in their lives, and walk through life together. You can join us at TheStoryHaven.net.

If this episode encouraged you, share it with a friend who might need the reminder that she wasn’t meant to carry it all either.

Have you ever had your day, your year, or even your life planned out, only to have everything change?

I think most of us would admit that interruptions can be frustrating. We like knowing what’s coming. We like having a plan. And if we’re really honest, sometimes we like being in control.

But what if some of the interruptions we’re trying so hard to avoid are actually invitations from God?

In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, I sit down with my friend Dawn for a beautiful conversation about learning to trust God when life doesn’t go according to our plans, and how God has taught her to see interruptions as opportunities for growth instead of something she needs to fight against.

After years of moving, unexpected changes, difficult seasons, and trying to hold everything together herself, Dawn reached a point where she realized she couldn’t control what was happening around her. What began as a desperate moment became a shift in the way she approached her entire relationship with God.

Instead of turning to Him only when something went wrong, she began waking up each day and asking Him to lead it.

And slowly, her perspective began to change.

We talk about what it looks like to wait on God instead of worrying, to pause instead of immediately trying to fix everything, and to trust that an interruption might actually be God redirecting our steps.

Dawn also shares four things God has been teaching her in this season: waiting on Him, leaning into interruptions, remaining willing to grow no matter our age, and taking our thoughts captive when our feelings don’t line up with what Scripture says is true.

One of the things I love most about this conversation is Dawn’s reminder that transformation with God doesn’t always happen overnight. Sometimes it looks much more like a tree growing. Little by little, season after season, God changes the way we see Him, ourselves, and the circumstances around us.

If your plans have changed, something unexpected has interrupted the life you thought you were going to have, or you’re simply tired of trying to control everything around you, I pray this conversation encourages you to loosen your grip and ask a different question:

God, what are You trying to show me here?

Friend, sometimes the biggest shift isn’t in our circumstances. It’s in the way we see them.

The interruption may still be inconvenient. The plan may still change. We may still have questions we don’t have answers for. But when we begin our days asking God to lead instead of asking Him to bless the plans we’ve already made, we make room for Him to redirect us.

And sometimes that redirection is exactly where the growth happens.

If God has been writing a story in your life that could encourage another woman, I’d love to hear it. Visit PerspectivesIntoPractice.com to learn more about becoming a guest on the podcast.

And if you’re looking for a place to continue growing in your faith alongside other Christian women, I’d love to invite you into The Story Haven. It’s a free online community where we encourage one another, grow in God’s Word, share what He’s doing in our everyday lives, and walk through life together. Join us at TheStoryHaven.net.

If this episode encouraged you, share it with a friend whose plans may look a little different than she expected right now.