Love Where You Are with Somer Colbert

In today’s episode Somer and Ann discuss courage as we enter a new year full of uncertainity when it comes to our economy, politics, and the culture war. Ann gigves us seven practical tips for courage, examples of courageous people from the Bible, and reminds us that sometimes God calls us to something even if we "aren't ready."

Scripture reference: 2nd Timothy 1:7

Notable moments:

-God does not give us a spirit of fear.

-God carries us through life's hardships and traumas.

-Living in fear can be comfortable if it's all you've ever known.

Thanks for coming to the Love Where You Are podcast! Just for stopping by, here is your FREE downloadable resource from Somer, “The 2023 Proverbs 31 Woman.”

You can connect with Somer through her Facebook & Instagram!

Ann White is passionate about creating resources to help women build their relationship with God. It drives her to create such things as the first female-voiced audio Bible. The female voice is important to her mission, which has reached behind bars as well as in church pews. “One thing in working with at-risk women, it’s important to use gender-specific treatment. You don’t put a woman who may have been traumatized by a man with a male counselor or a male-voiced program.” "Courage for Life" is only the beginning as Ann works with Tyndale House Publishers on a “Women’s Study Bible.” “We should be sharing God and his word, teaching other people, and inspiring life change. Everyone needs a daily dose of God-given Courage For Life!” says Ann.

Thank you for being here today. Now, let’s dive into the conversation!

Love Where You Are is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. To find practical and spiritual advice to help you grow into the parent you want to be visit http://www.ChristianParenting.org

Welcome to the Love Where You Are podcast! Just for stopping by, here is your FREE downloadable resource from Somer, "The 2023 Proverbs 31 Woman."

You can connect with Somer through her Facebook & Instagram!

In this episode, she is joined with today's guest, Brooke McGlothlin.

Brooke is the Founder of Million Praying Moms, Host of the Million Praying Moms podcast, and author of six books, three of which hit the ECPA bestseller list. Brooke recently released Everyday Prayers for Peace, and Praying Mom: Making Prayer the First and Best Response to Motherhood which speak to the power of a life partnered with God in prayer and they sparked this conversation.

Somer and Brooke discuss the need for patience and God’s grace in our parenting, how God uses our motherhood journeys to mature us, and how prayer shouldn’t be a last resort but our first response in moments of crisis...

Thank you for being here today. Now, let's dive into the conversation!

Love Where You Are is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. To find practical and spiritual advice to help you grow into the parent you want to be visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Jen was a healthy mom with a loving family and a thriving career teaching others about the importance of health and then she received a diagnosis that would change her life and her ministry forever.

Join me for this powerful discussion with writer, speaker and coach, Jen Roland as she shares her story of chronic pain, how she learned to shift her mindset and the impact of sharing her struggles with the world in this, part of 1 of our conversation titled, There is Purpose in the Pain.

Jen's upcoming workshops:

July 15th Workshop (at 3 pm & 8 pm EST): Identifying Spheres of Personal Control & Surrendering the Rest
Link for more information and to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtc-Gtpj4sHtY61TjL14iMU0o-yvwoJMKI
July 29th Workshop (at 8 pm EST): Natural Methods for Pain Management
Link for more information and to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtdOuhpzsiE9QF9UfcpFcBwYvgkrzo3pmq

For Somer's latest FREE teaching bundle, go to somercolbert.com/resources and be sure to connect on Facebook in the Ahavah Community Group and on Instagram @somercolbert

SHOW NOTES:

Even though I felt loved, I still felt alone

To think ahead just fuels anxiety

It’s definitely been a lesson in just taking thoughts captive and really focusing on what’s true, pure and praiseworthy and really focusing on God’s promises instead of the ‘what-if’s’ that may never materialize

Don’t grieve losses that haven’t yet happened

Surrender the things that I couldn’t control and that’s where God’s strength really came through

Knowing that God was with me, He was for me and THIS was His plan and He was going to use it for good and opening my eyes to see His provision in the midst of it

Our dysfunction does not define us, it is just a part of our story

If you really want to impress someone you talk about your successes, but if you really want to impact and connect with them you talk about where you are struggling or where your weaknesses are.

It’s our shared brokenness that actually really bonds us together and also unites us with God

Knowing the end of the story makes it possible to have strength and perseverance in the midst of the hardest parts of it because we know where its going and we can trust that He is going to use it for good.

God has something for us on every single page of our story

Are you going to allow adversity to chisel and shape you into the image of Christ or are you going to flee from it?

Pain isn’t the stronghold - the way you’re thinking about pain is the stronghold.

Pain wasn’t something I could control but my thoughts were.

I was blaming the pain when it was my mindset that needed the shift

Sometimes we can get so caught up in our identity as mothers that we forget that we are first children of our Heavenly Father. No matter their age, we carry the weight of our children's happiness, safety and success which can oftentimes lead us into a place of fear and ultimately, weariness.

Join me as I speak with author, Shay Sizer Mason, as she shares the story of her own battle with fear, how she learned to release control and ultimately rediscover her identity in Christ.

We will discuss the different ways we can respond to fear, how to find strength to persevere through the most difficult of situations and why it is important to find our identity in Christ alone plus Shay's new book release, Rest for the Weary: Finding Freedom from Fear in the Heart of the Father.

Grab your copy of Shay's new book wherever books are sold or visit her website: shaysmason.com Connect with Shay on Facebook @shay.mason and Instagram @shaysmason

Check out my latest FREE resource at somercolbert.com/resources and connect with me on Facebook in the Ahavah Community Group and on Instagram @somercolbert

SHOW NOTES:

When fear comes in and we don’t trust God to take control and we try to control everything ourselves, it goes into a very ugly place.

Fear is a silent struggle. Do not struggle alone anymore!

We end up being more hurtful to our kids and not caring for them in the way that we really want to and not being the mom we really want to be because we are so overwhelmed with our fear.

If I had known that there really was a place where I could rest, that my heart could find rest back when I was struggling with this I think I would have responded to a lot of things differently. And there is this sense of grief, like “Lord, if I’d only known” but He’s so good and He redeems all of those things and He restores what’s been lost.

I loved my son so fiercely that I was too fierce

God has our children in His hands and we are stewards but we’re not the ultimate say so, you know, God still directs their paths

We can’t punish ourselves for not knowing what we didn’t know but we still do

God doesn’t make mistakes when He gives us children - those children are meant for us despite our shortcomings, despite our failures, despite our mess ups.

I took an unhealthy heart desire and I transferred that into my parenting and thought, now I have to be the best parent, and that is not a good way to parent. It didn’t take me long until I hit that wall where I’m like, I don’t know who I am, I don’t know what I’m doing, I’m not worth anything to anyone. I really had an identity crisis.

It’s a good thing to get to an identity crisis because that’s where the Lord can start to come in and speak into some of those lies.

I knew in my head that He loved me, I knew a lot of scripture, I crammed a lot of scripture into my head and I was waiting for it to drop to my heart.

What we all really need is to allow our Heavenly Father to come in and provide the things that we lack. The comfort, the nurture, the things that allow us to know that we’re safe. To know that we’re loved. That we are precious daughters of a Father who loves us more than anything. It’s that heart understanding of the depth of that love that really brings the healing.

Ask God: Lord, where does my heart need to be touched?

We want to do all the things and be all the things that our children need. We also struggle with the busy demands of life and a deep desire to sit at the feet of our Savior. Do we have to give up one for the other? What does it look like to balance our time with the Lord while also meeting the daily needs of those most precious to us? How can we serve Jesus through the way we love our kids? Join me and be encouraged as I discuss these questions and more with blogger, speaker and Author of "Draw Near", Monika Kirkland!

Links from today's conversation:

To find out more about Monika's Soul Detox, head to monikakirkland.com/free-resources

Connect with Monika on Instagram @monikakirkland

To get Somer's Self Care teaching bundle, head to somercolbert.com/resources

Connect with Somer on Instagram @somercolbert or @somercolbertwriter on Facebook!

SHOW NOTES:

Inviting God into my mothering journey

We don’t just meet God on Sunday morning - He’s with us all throughout our week in every moment. He is with you in the preschool drop off line, He is with you when you are folding laundry, He is with you when you’re doing dishes.

Partnership with the Lord in all those little moments

Take a moment to just ground yourself in the presence of the Lord and invite Him in to whatever it is that you are doing

Pause and take a moment to thank God for the ways He has brought you through

It’s not about anything we do, it’s about what has been done for us - we get to rest in the grace and the love of Jesus

We don’t have to strive, we don’t have to earn, we don’t have to wear busyness like a badge of honor - we get to just rest in God’s presence

It is so easy to compare our season to someone else’s season

If you are in a season where you just have to clear everything off your plate, rest and remain and steward your family and steward motherhood - I challenge you to not compare to other people who are in a different season - that’s just where the enemy loves to attack - he has you looking at what everyone else is doing and feeling like you don’t measure up

The truth is, I am not enough on my own, I am only enough by His grace and His power

Simple is sustainable

I was making it about the doing instead of about the resting in His presence

If you’re not taking care of your soul, you are going to be spiritually malnourished

What are those simple ways that you can simply nourish your soul

Let’s do our best to model for our kids what it looks like to be present with whoever you are with

Look at your child and partner with the Holy Spirit and ask Him - who did you make them to be? And then call that out and affirm it and speak it over their life because our words have so much power.

Speak life into your children

A little goes a long way. You don’t need to be too ambitious to where it’s not sustainable.

Life happens and we are weak vessels at times and we have to give ourselves grace and balance - if time with our kids becomes something that we think is just "one more thing" that we have to do at the end of the day then it just loses the heart behind it.