The Devoted Dreamers Podcast

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What does rest look like for you? Is it collapsing into bed after a long day? Or vegging out on the couch with Netflix? This episode will help you think about restorative rest and why you need it to pursue your dream.

I’ve been asking myself the above questions for the last several weeks in the midst of our multi-household transition to a new home, wrapping up homeschool, and trying to balance fun and purpose in our summer schedule.

Some recent wisdom from outside voices has caused me to re-think how I work and rest, what hustle culture does to our dream, and what God’s Word has to say about how and when we rest. I don’t have this all figured out but I’m learning and testing new strategies while paying attention to how I actually feel at the end of a long work week.

What I’ve realized is, there has to be a better way to work and rest.

Here are the three most significant takeaways I share about how I’m trying to think and act differently regarding rest:

1. We do better work and have more creative ideas when we are not totally sleep or rest deprived.
2. Rest is intended to fuel our good work, not serve as a reward.
3. Therefore, the temptation to give in to hustle culture instead of resting before we need it is actually a threat to our dream.

Loved this conversation? Have a thought you want to share? Come on over to the Facebook group to share your thoughts on this episode or ask a question that you wished we had covered.

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The story of how Sarah Maddack discovered her God-shaped dream illustrates the value of keeping things simple and paying attention to what flows naturally out of the gifts, talents, and experiences God has given you. Sarah didn’t know the path He would take her on; none of us do. But she was willing to take risks and try new things, to stand out from the crowd, and to trust that God is so much bigger than any of the insecurities she may have felt in the beginning, before she became a TikTok sensation.

I love Sarah’s encouragement to not take yourself so seriously probably because I so easily fall into that trap. If you do too, find a comfortable space to listen to my conversation with Sarah and then give yourself space at the end to pray and contemplate what dreaming with this kind of freedom might look like on you!

A few of my favorite takeaways from this conversation:

1. Her dad’s advice on the five things to consider in finding your purpose.

1. The value of trying new things (even if they seem scary) primarily because God can use anything! For Sarah, it was a slug on her rug! 

1. And why you need to stop second-guessing yourself or overthinking the next steps in your dream.

Loved this interview? Come on over to the Facebook group to share your thoughts on this episode.

MORE ABOUT SARAH:

Sarah Maddack is a "wholesome rapper" with over a million followers on TikTok that she gained after she filmed herself rapping to a slug on her rug in April 2020. She's based in Nashville, Tennessee, where she spends her days making silly songs and videos to help the world stop taking itself so seriously. She has her own business she calls "Gift Rapping" where she creates personalized 30 second raps and videos for others for birthdays, anniversaries, or just because. Her dream is to one day have a hit as big as "What Does the Fox Say" or to become the female Weird Al Yankovic. 

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Katie Bulmer is host of the Truth for Your Twenties Podcast, a speaker to over 50 colleges nationwide, and passionate about helping sorority women understand their worth and unlock their world-changing power. The heart behind her God-shaped dream is to be who she needed when she was a young woman looking for happiness in the arms of boys, Bacardi, and attempts to be beautiful.  

This is Katie’s third appearance on the Devoted Dreamers Podcast. If you want to hear what she had to say about figuring out her dream, listen to episode 55. If you want to hear how she pivoted her public speaking business (with great success) during the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, listen to episode 176.

Katie has been diligently building relationships with 20-somethings via speaking engagements, her podcast and social media for the last several years. When a 30-second video she created on TikTok went viral in early 2021, she was blindsided by what happened next. This short conversation is all about the unexpected reactions she got to that video, how she dealt with criticism from strangers, and what she learned as a result.

My big takeaway from this one is the reminder from Katie about how we are to keep our eyes on the prize and stay focused on what really matters, even in the face of adversity and especially after you achieve something you’ve been working towards for a long time.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to go viral, this is the episode for you!

Looking for the show notes? You’ll find them right here: https://www.merrittonsa.com/podcast/201

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Celebrating milestones is something I want to get better at, and Devoted Dreamers has had some big ones in the past month:

• The podcast turned five on June 1st
• We hit 200,000 downloads at the end of May
• And this is episode 200!

Thanks for being here to celebrate with me!

I am honored to be interviewed by my friend and past guest Tabitha Bigbee-Highland, founder of Every Day Faith, whose mission is to support women in establishing and growing their Daily Word Habit in order to recognize and obey the voice of their Creator.

Tabitha and I met through a mutual online friend a few years ago. I was drawn to her playful spirit and her love for ballet (because of a budding ballerina in my life) and most especially her manner of encouraging women to be in God’s Word on a daily basis without it being about checking it off your list. If you want to hear more about that, you can listen to my interview with Tabitha in 2019 called Learning to Listen to God Through His Word.

Whether or not you submitted a question for this interview through my Facebook group, you’re gonna love this one if:

• You’ve ever wanted more of the backstory of Devoted Dreamers,
• You enjoy hearing about how others face the challenges that come when you pursue a dream, or
• You just love random facts about people (if that’s you, be sure to stick around for the speed round towards the end!)

Loved this conversation?

Come on over to the Facebook group to share your thoughts on this episode or ask a question that you wished we had covered.

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License: CC BY 3.0

Theme music by Reaktor Productions.

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Sometimes God’s timing does not make sense in our limited perspective.

Katy McCown always knew she was called to write but she didn’t expect God to give the green light when she was eight months pregnant with her sixth child. Today she is president of She Laughs Ministries, a writer for Proverbs 31 Ministries, and a national speaker.

Through all life’s uncertainties and surprises, Katy has learned some things about “living sure” even when the future is not.

I hear so many listeners say they don’t have time to pursue their dream. But the reality is that we all have the same amount of time in each day. The question is, how will you choose to use the limited time you have been given, not to do every single thing but to be intentional with the one thing God has given you to do today?

Or maybe you are the dreamer who is questioning whether you’ve heard God wrong because your dream isn’t turning out the way you imagined it would.

Or rejection has been so much a part of your story, that it hurts to the core of your being,

If any of this sounds familiar, you’ll want to listen as Katy and I talk about: 

1. What it looks like to have significant demands upon your time and still be faithful to your dream day after day.
2. How tempting it is to take things into your own hands when you don’t see the fruit of your labors in the timing you expect (and what to do instead).
3. And finally, what happens when you let rejection draw you into deeper trust in the Lord and how he uses it for your good and his glory.

Loved this interview? Come on over to the Facebook group to share your thoughts on this episode.

MORE ABOUT KATY:

You might also enjoy Katy’s podcast called Best Day Ever for the woman who wants her life to matter but doesn’t know how to do it alone. Katy meets you in the details of your ordinary, everyday life and reminds you of your extraordinary purpose.

Katy and her husband Luke, a former NFL quarterback, are raising their six children in Northeast Texas.

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Welcome to Season 9 of The Devoted Dreamers Podcast!!

This bonus episode is a little meatier than some of the season intros I’ve done in the past. As our family is getting ready to make some big changes, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting and that includes looking back at how far I’ve come with my dream in the last several years.

Yesterday I was my five-year anniversary of launching this podcast, and people always ask me what I’ve learned from the nearly 200 conversations I’ve had with other dreamers about their experience pursuing the dream God has put on their heart.

In this episode I'm sharing my three top takeaways from five years of talking with Christian women dreamers as they fight back fear to start business, launch a nonprofit, write a book, pursue a speaking career, wait on God, test out new ideas, fight the lies, battle comparison and imposter syndrome, and come out on the other side trusting God more because they’ve learned to lean on Him in the process of chasing their dreams.

If you’re new here, this is a great place to start listening so you can get a feel of what being a devoted dreamer is all about.

You'll also learn about how Dream Coaching can support you on your journey. If you would like to book a Discovery Call to learn more, sign up here.

Next week I’ll be back with another interview. This time I'm talking with Katy McCown, president of She Laughs Ministries, a writer for Proverbs 31 Ministries, and a national speaker. Through all life’s uncertainties and surprises, Katy has learned some things about “living sure” even when the future is not, and you won’t want to miss this conversation if you have ever struggled with rejection or wondered about God’s timing.

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Although she is the author of seven books, Dr. Heather Thompson Day has faced rejection after rejection in her dream of becoming a best-selling author.

Her newest book It’s Not Your Turn is the story of how God has used repeated rejections to shape her character over the years and to help her realize that who she is when she’s not in the spotlight is far more important than who she will be when she is.

Heather’s winsome stories of rebounding from the disappointments she has experienced remind us that our walk with God on this earth is a journey of growth and sanctification rather than a destination to be achieved.

Listen in as Heather talks about: 

• Living her life as if whatever she’s doing right now is the most important thing.
  
  
• Focusing not on earning acceptance and love by what we can accomplish but rather by how we love others.
  
  
• And finally, you absolutely must listen for what her friend said that changed Heather’s perspective on how she lives her life, how she walks into a room, and her belief that God put you right where you are for a reason.

Loved this interview? Come on over to the Facebook group to share your thoughts on this episode. 

MORE ABOUT HEATHER:

Dr. Heather Thompson Day is an interdenominational speaker and contributor for Religion News Service, Newsweek and the Barna Group. Her writing has been featured on the Today Show and the National Communication Association. She has been interviewed by BBC Radio Live. She believes her calling is to stand in the gaps of our churches for young people. She is the author of 7 books, including It’s Not Your Turn and Confessions of a Christian Wife.

Heather is an Associate Professor of Communication at Colorado Christian University. She is passionate about supporting women, and runs an online community called I’m That Wife which has nearly 200k followers.

Heather resides in Denver, Colorado, with her husband, Pastor Seth Day, and their three children, London, Hudson, and Sawyer Day.

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A kind gesture by a friend inspired Heather Oncken’s dream to motivate and encourage people to be more intentional in their friendships.

She knew she was supposed to do something with this inspiration. She just didn’t know what. As she continued to pray for clarity, God prompted her to simply pay attention and be faithful to the needs He placed in front of her.

Today she shares the hope that in all our relationships we have an opportunity to change someone’s day, someone’s week, and even someone’s life through our small, intentional gestures of love.

Even though Heather feels unqualified to be an entrepreneur and a podcaster, she is trusting God with the dream He has given her to inspire and motivate intentional friendships. Building an app with a friend she knew through her small group and recently launching Connecting in the Chaos Podcast, Heather is learning to recognize the signs that she’s trying to do it all on her own strength and course correct as soon as she sees it.

Listen in as she shares about: 

• The importance of paying attention and being faithful in the little things,
• How promptings from the Lord come more often than we realize, likely because we aren’t trained to listen for them, and
• God’s mercy in not revealing all the little steps along the way toward your dream because you’d probably quit.

Loved this interview? Come on over to the Facebook group to share your thoughts on this episode. Heather is in the group too if you want to connect with her there.

MORE ABOUT HEATHER:

Heather Oncken is a Jesus-loving Midwestern girl, married to Riley and mother of four daughters ages 4 to 13. She’s an unlikely entrepreneur, a brand-new podcaster, and a labor and delivery nurse. She is passionate about seeing women grow in their friendships and experience the life-giving joy of deep, soul-refreshing relationships. She enjoys spending one-on-one time with friends and extended family, reading, trips to Target alone, and watching a good movie. While traveling to the beach or Disney with family is a joy, her favorite place to be is home.

Heather is a 2 on the Enneagram and a classic introvert. 

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HEADS UP: If you have children, grab some earbuds for this episode as it discusses some topics that you may not want your little ones to hear.

Kat Harris has a vision for all women to know their beauty, identity, and value. It was born out of the years she spent asking difficult questions as a single Christian woman who is saving sex for marriage, her wrestling with narratives she grew up with in the church and how they conflict with the world she lives in today. Writing a book, especially on the topic of sex, was the dream she never knew she had. It has revealed all her insecurities and yet grown her confidence in a God who gives us space to ask difficult questions and explore our dreams.

Even if you are married, don’t skip over this interview!

My conversation with Kat Harris is going to make you think deeply about our culture, sexuality, and the messages we as women absorb about our value, beauty, identity, and sexuality.

Kat has spent the last several years wrestling with these topics and even questioning whether she’s the woman for the job of writing about them. Her courage to run after a dream she didn’t know she had, when it opens her up to so much criticism and speculation, offers us an opportunity to examine our own strength and desire to run after something that might make us feel vulnerable too.  

Give it a listen for some key takeaways, like: 

• The importance of dealing with our own wounds and disappointments first before thinking we can “save” other people,
• What can happen when we aren’t regularly taking our thoughts captive as Scripture talks about,
• And that it’s in the desert, in our questions and doubts, that God meets us and walks toward us.

Loved this interview? Come on over to the Facebook group to share your thoughts on this episode.

MORE ABOUT KAT:

Kat Harris is a Brooklyn-based educator, podcaster, and her first book Sexless in the City will be in print Spring of 2021. She loves God, a good Beyoncé dance party, and is a Ranch dressing connoisseur. 

Her vision is for women to know their beauty, identity and value. She is Co-Founder of the online publication The Refined Woman, and host of The Refined Collective Podcast. She has also been a full-time photographer for the last decade with her work featured in: Vanity Fair, GQ, Forbes, People, Who What Wear, US Weekly, Glamour UK, and more.

She believes in the power of story, that done is better than perfect, quality triumphs quantity, and that the journey truly is the destination.

The vehicles for her message are her podcast, online courses, Bible studies, live workshops and events, and speaking at conferences. It has become a bigger passion in her life then she ever could have imagined.

Grab a copy of Kat’s new book: Sexless in the City: A Sometimes Sassy, Sometimes Painful, Always Honest Look at Dating, Desire, and Sex available on April 20, 2021

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Do you feel ready, like really ready, for big things to happen with your dream?

Maybe you’re weighing the pros and cons of hiring a coach who could help you leap over the hurdles in your way. Or investing in a course that’ll provide resources you lack and a supportive community to push you out of your comfort zone. Or there’s that program with the built-in accountability that will finally fill in your knowledge gaps and motivate you to get going on the road to your dream.

If you have debated any choice that would require a financial investment as you launch your dream (show of hands: who’s researching 501(c)3 status right now?) I want you to hit pause on those plans for a moment and take a listen to this episode about the three commitments you need to put at the top of your list FIRST!

You’ve undoubtedly heard how important it is to first put on your oxygen mask before helping your child or the person next to you on the plane. Because if you can’t breathe, you’re not going to be able to help someone else who needs it!

It’s the same with your dream.

God has given you a vision for investing in others, serving a community, filling a need—whatever it is, but if you run headlong into the dream without tidying up your own house first or without properly ordering the position of your heart, mind, and spirit, then the road ahead will be harder than it needs to be. And you’ll likely end up spending unnecessarily on “solutions” that weren’t meant to solve the issues of the heart.

Listen in for the three commitments you need to make (or at the very least start praying about and making progress toward them) before you get super serious about investing in your dream.

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I’d love to hear your feedback on this episode. Join me in the Devoted Dreamers Facebook group to chat about it, or if you listen and decide you’re well on your way in these three areas and you’re ready to consider dream coaching, sign up for a no-obligation Discovery Call here.

RELATED EPISODES YOU MAY ENJOY:

I mentioned some other episodes you may want to check out next:

• Ep. #124 with Tabitha Bigbee: Learning to Listen to God Through His Word
• Ep. #115 with Christa Hutchins: Four Opportunities You’ll Find on the Way to Your Dream
• Ep. #179 with Toni Hebel: A New Way of Understanding Forgiveness That Will Set You Free

And some solo episodes from 2019:

• Ep. #107 – You are a Daughter of the Most High King
• Ep. #110 – You Have Great Value and Worth
• Ep. #113 – You Were Created for a Reason
• Ep. #116 – Two Simple Reasons Your Dream is Not About You
• Ep. #119 – How to Stop Fear from Stealing Your Dream
• Ep. #122 – Obstacles to Finding Your Identity in Christ
• Ep. #126 – How to Refocus Your Identity on Christ

CHECK OUT THE SHOW NOTES: https://www.merrittonsa.com/podcast/195

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
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Ad music by Komiku.