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 Find show notes here: http://www.merrittonsa.com/podcast/269

Have you ever considered that there’s someone waiting for your dream to come alive?  

Several years ago, Yohonna Smith began to feel a “divine burden.” She sensed there was something new God was prompting her to do with her time and her desire to nurture friendships among women. Her kids were getting older. She had more time to dream. But what was it? 

She started by testing out ideas in her head, trying them on for size like a new hat. Although she was listening to a lot of podcasts, starting her own was not on her radar. 

In fact, she felt a lot of resistance and internal pushback when the idea first popped into her head. But there was a tipping point where she finally said yes to this new possibility that felt outside her comfort zone.   

In this episode you’ll learn: 

• How Yohonna’s dream started from her own personal desires for more girl-time in her life
• About the fears that held her back from beginning, and
• A powerful lesson of shifting from taking in information to becoming a contributor and spiritual mother to others. 

Yohonna is so easy to listen to – you are going to love her soothing voice – but even more, I pray that her story of surrender, obedience, and paying attention to God as He was nudging her into something more will be a sweet encouragement to you today!

 

Looking for some quick ideas to jump start momentum for your dream?

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
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What happens when your dream is sidelined by the realities of life in a broken world?  

Kimberly Phinney had a vision for her future as a writer with big hopes, dreams, and ideas she wanted to share with the world. Even as a child she had a sense that this would be her path. While on that journey life got in the way, fear stepped in, and she started playing small, keeping her artistry close to the chest. 

When her health took a turn for the worse it seemed all of her dreams might be lost. Suffering infertility, miscarriages, and stage 4 endometriosis, she also lost the ability to walk. She’s endured multiple surgeries, including one that almost took her life due to sepsis and post-surgical complications. 

We don’t ever seek out the pain, suffering, or weakness that ends up impacting our dreams so deeply. Even still, it finds us and presents us with an opportunity to respond in faith and trust for our heavenly Father, even while we’re still asking, “Why?”

Kimberly’s story isn’t over. It’s not tied up with a beautiful bow. She’s not fully recovered. But she’s fighting for her dream and the ways God might use her in it, despite and even because of her weakness. 

In this episode, you’ll learn: 

• Kimberly’s 3-step process for staying true to the dreams God has given you (her students rave about this year after year!)
• What God has taught her in her brokenness (and the breakthrough that awaits in such seasons)
• About letting go of anything that’s going to detract from God’s vision for you. 

 

Looking for some quick ideas to jump start momentum for your dream?

Grab a copy of my free Quick-Win Checklist with 17 super simple steps you can take one day at a time to get some traction for your God-shaped dream: Merrittonsa.com/quickwin

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Have you been searching for camaraderie and understanding as you pursue a God-shaped dream?

Have you noticed that the people you're closest to struggle to understand when you share about your God-shaped dream? Or maybe you’re just hoping they’ll celebrate that little milestone you just reached, but their reception is a bit too lukewarm for your liking.

I get it; that hurts a bit. But this episode is not about them. 

It’s about the two primary ingredients you must have in place if you’re expecting to make any noticeable progress toward your dream becoming a reality—no matter what other people think about you or the dream itself.

I’m sharing this today because it’s my birthday month and more than anything, the gift I want to give YOU is the confidence to take some action steps right now rather than waiting for the perfect time when you finally feel inspired, or when your dreams are actually understood by the people you love, or you have 100% certainty that this is what God would have you pursue.

None of those things are actually necessary (and they’re not even super easy to accomplish, and I’d guess that’s part of why you feel stuck right now). 

In this solo episode you’ll learn:

• Why soaking up inspiration from everyone else’s dreams online isn’t serving you in the way you think it is,
• What to do instead of expecting your friends and family members to “get” you and your excitement for this dream, and 
• Strategies to find time for your dream right now, even if you’re a busy mom, have a day job, or are caring for aging parents.

 

Have you heard of The Dreamer Lab?

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
Theme music by Reaktor Productions.
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Find show notes here. 

How do you discern God’s will for your life and then surrender it back to Him?

Emily Karc has a passion to minister to the hearts of hurting women. Originally, her vision was to become a writer and a speaker, maybe even the next Lysa Terkurst. But God was writing a different story for Emily, and that’s what today’s episode is all about!

Emily reached out to me in the fall about being a guest on the podcast. That timing didn’t work for me, so I told her we could circle back in January to discuss her dream. In that short time God expanded her vision and her heart to serve women who are victims of sex trafficking—something that wasn’t even on her radar just a few months prior.

We’ll talk about what that shift has been like for her and how her experience might shed some light for other dreamers. In addition, you’ll learn:  

• How surrendering our desires gives space for God to reveal even more of His heart for us and our dreams,
  
  
• What God has to teach us in our striving and how we can release the outcomes to Him, and
   
• The difference between creating with God rather than for God. 

Looking for some quick ideas to help jump start momentum for your dream?

Grab a copy of my free Quick-Win Checklist with 17 super simple steps you can take one day at a time to get some traction for your God-shaped dream. Find it here: Merrittonsa.com/quickwin

Sign up for Dream Believers. Just $49/month or $490 for the year (get 2 months free!) 

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
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Find show notes here.  

What if the decision you’ve been putting off could actually open up possibilities for your life and your dream that you haven’t even considered? 

Carol Willis launches into this conversation with a reminder of the changing nature of our dreams over time and life transitions. There’s a palpable tension between taking tangible steps towards a dream and the reality that our dreams will always be a work in progress. 

Following the death of her husband several years ago, it seemed prudent for Carol to maintain the security of full-time employment (and the benefits to go with it) rather than stepping out on her own to pursue a dream career.

However, Carol has found her way to that dream and she’s here today to share a few strands of the story about discovering purpose through a self-directed career that feels energizing and is drawing her toward wholeness in who God created her to be.

In this episode with Carol Willis, you’ll learn about:  

·         How a simple (even unspoken) prayer in faith can transform your

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Do you keep trying to make a decision about some aspect of your dream but just can't seem to choose?

Maybe the end goal feels too far out of reach so it’s difficult to define what your dream could look like right now. Or there are so many directions you could go to get started that all those possibilities are paralyzing.

It’s like going to the grocery store without a shopping list. When you can choose anything, it’s more difficult to decide on one thing. Having all the options available to you isn’t necessarily better than just having a few. If you could just narrow it down, you’ll put yourself in a better position to make decisions more quickly and get on with implementing them.

If only.

If decision-making stirs up fear and worries like “What if I make the wrong choice?” or “How can I know I’m walking in God’s plan for my life?” this episode will help you see your tendency to avoid making decisions. And it will help you see the three gifts that are available to you that will help you look at decision-making in a new way.

In this episode you will learn:

• The connection between a secure identity and your ability to make decisions,
• About the lie of indecision and how it’s keeping you stuck, and
• How to start asking better questions to narrow down the options you are considering.

Give it a listen, then sign up for my free workshop on March 24th to help you Get Out of Your Head & Find Momentum for Your Dream. <<>>

 

The Dreamer Lab doors are open! Are you ready to make some real progress on your dream? Join the Spring Cohort, kicking-off on April 3rd.

 

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
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If your time is limited, how can you make meaningful progress on your dream? 

It’s the age-old question: How do I find more time to do the things I want to do? 

I won’t give the pat answer, but I am going to help you see what’s possible if you could find two hours a week to devote to your God-shaped dream.

It’s not easy, but it is do-able.

Yes, even for you. 😊

Time probably feels like a huge limitation to pursuing your dream because you’re already committed in a lot of different places beyond your home and family. Maybe you’re also serving in your community, at your kids’ school, or at church. Maybe you work part-time or even full-time.

Whatever you have on your plate, I bet you are serving, giving, caring for others in so many ways that your life feels so full that there is little to no time when you could imagine really “going for it” with your dream. 

That’s why I address in this episode:

• The reasons time feels like such an enormous barrier,
• What Scripture says about our time and how we spend it, and
• How you can find little windows of time so you can say, “yes” to the dream God has given you.

I even attempt a ridiculous metaphor, just to see if it helps you remember the steps you can take to get there. You’ll have to let me know how that works out for you.

I know there are some real-life challenges you are facing right now. Some of those feel like roadblocks piled high in opposition to your dream. But they won’t always be the way they are right now, and I want you to have some creative ideas for taking the next steps when that time comes.

That's what I want you to walk away with after this episode!

Give it a listen, then sign up for my free workshop on March 20th to help you Get Out of Your Head & Find Mom

Sign up for Dream Believers. Just $49/month or $490 for the year (get 2 months free!) 

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
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Find the show notes here. 

Don’t miss my free workshop on March 20th to help you Get Out of Your Head & Find Momentum for Your Dream. Register Here

What’s the secret to finally feeling ready to start pursuing a dream? 

It is a humbling experience to be trusted with a God-shaped dream. It can feel overwhelming if you think too hard about what it means to be called by the King of the universe into something bigger than yourself.

Not to mention, there is no instruction manual (though I may have Google’d at least once to try to find one!), which means you’re often on your own to map it out and stumble your way through the fog that sets in once you start along this journey.

The alternative is to try and figure out how to begin by watching others who are doing similar things, which is fine until it isn’t. It can be incredibly overwhelming to compare your twinkle of a dream to someone else’s perfectly Instagramed manifestation of their dream seven years down the road from where you are now. It’s a no-win situation, and it doesn’t serve you or your dream.

That’s why this episode will help you:

• identify some of the barriers to feeling ready,
• show you where those barriers come from, and 
• then, once you see the source, I’ll show you how to make a plan to address them so you can get on with your dream.

Don’t miss my free workshop on March 20th to help you Get Out of Your Head & Find Momentum for Your Dream. Register Here

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How can your small and seemingly insignificant first steps really make any difference?

Brittany Ann began her writing and speaking career in the smallest of ways utilizing the resources and tools she already had—a little bit of time while her baby slept and a computer. It wasn’t much, but she used what she had (instead of focusing on what she lacked) to start writing. 

At first, she wrote articles she was sure nobody cared to read. But with each step she took and each article she wrote, despite not being able to see the end result of her dream, she made progress in the direction she wanted to go.

Doing so required a growing trust in God for what she could not see and a belief that her limited resources, lack of experience, and difficult financial circumstances did not disqualify her from the dream.

Today she’s a bestselling author and founder of a popular Christian-living website for busy moms.

In this episode with Brittany Ann, you’ll learn:  

• What can be gained by getting in the practice of trusting God without a safety net,
• To dispute the belief that you’re the only one who doesn’t have it all figured out, and
• What baking cookies with small children teaches us about God’s love.

To the woman who doesn’t feel ready to start Brittany Ann would encourage you to just start with what you already have. Don’t wait to have it all figured out. When you step into a God-shaped dream, the Lord will open the doors you need to have opened along the way.

Sign up for Dream Believers. Just $49/month or $490 for the year (get 2 months free!) 

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
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Find the show notes here.

Have you seen what’s happening at Asbury University? 

It’s been all over social media this week and elsewhere on the internet, if you know to look for it. Holy Spirit Revival is happening at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. Even secular news outlets are covering the event that’s been exponentially growing since “an ordinary chapel” gathering on Wednesday, February 8th. 

What is a revival? 

Maybe you have questions about this like I did earlier in the week when I saw Jennie Allen post about it in her Instagram Stories. I started to pay more attention when she said she was traveling to Kentucky on Sunday during the Super Bowl. 

On Thursday night, Jennie shared footage on IF:TV (also available on YouTube) of conversations they had at Asbury with some of the people who were there when a small group of students decided to linger to pray once the chapel service was over. 

It’s not just students anymore. People have traveled from all over the nation and the world to be a part of it. 

This episode is the result of what God showed me during my prayer and Word time this week when I began asking about revival and questioning its significance and wondering what, if anything, it had to teach me.

In this solo episode, I’m asking you to think along with me about:

• Being part of the body of Christ and what that means for those who aren’t physically present at Asbury,
• W here revival has already happened in your own life, and
• How Holy Spirit revival can and will impact how you see and go after a dream.

 

Sign up for Dream Believers. Just $49/month or $490 for the year (get 2 months free!) 

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
Theme music by Reaktor Productions.
Ad music by Komiku.