A little over a year ago I was learning how to create a podcast and I was deep in the process of finding the perfect name to describe what my show would be about. I knew I wanted it to be about pointing my listeners back to the Word to find answers and not relying on their own judgment for answers in life. It felt important to find just the right name.
I poured through the Bible and devotions, wracking my brain for the perfect title. I was thrilled when I found it! It was buried in Psalm 19 starting at verse 7. You probably don’t know it off the top of your head and that’s ok, I’m not sure I’d ever focused on it before myself. Over this last year, however, that verse, and more importantly the phrase, Reviving Your Soul, became a part of me. I will share the whole scripture with you at the end of this post.
For forty-nine episodes now, I’ve shared my innermost thoughts, my darkest secrets, and my greatest desires with you in Reviving Your Soul. In the process, my soul literally has been revived in a way I could never have imagined possible. The pressure to share a message with the world felt like a blessing and a burden at the same time. It has been a labor of love and one that has brought me so much joy and so much peace.
As you can imagine, I didn’t grow up longing to be a podcaster. In fact, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I’d ever even heard of the term, much less actually listened to one. But, as He often does, God planted a seed in my heart when I stumbled across a podcast by one of my favorite coaches, Sara Anna Powers. I loved her messages and found her to be so inspiring. Even then I don’t remember ever thinking to start my own podcast was something I should try.
But then, a few short months later, I found another amazing coach and podcaster, Mia Davies (she goes by Mia Rene now). She, too, is an incredible online business leader, but it was her discipleship that really drew me in. Her straightforward way of calling online professionals to Christ was powerful and compelling. When she offered a course on how to launch a podcast, I figured I had nothing to lose and much to gain. A few short months later I was creating my own show and searching for that perfect name.
I’ll be the first to admit the show hasn’t been perfect. I’ve felt very inferior to those ladies who made it seem so easy. They could talk for an hour at a time, seemingly without notes, never stumbling or stuttering. How intimidating was that! But then I learned that I needn’t compare myself to them, in fact, I needn’t compare myself with anyone else in any area of my business or life. But that’s a topic for another episode.
In time, I found I had an aptitude for the writing, the recording, and the editing of the show. I honestly fell in love with the process bit by little bit although some weeks I’ve questioned my sanity for starting such a commitment. I mean, really, who am I to think anyone would listen? But listen you did. In fact, as of this recording, there have been nearly 2,700 downloads of the 50 episodes recorded to date.
I want to thank those of you who listen regularly, and I want to give a special shout out to those of you who have listened to every show. You have witnessed each agonizing step along the way as I took a step, then another. After a short time, I’d change directions and then changed again. But that’s how life is, isn’t it? We rarely know the end of a journey when we begin it. And honestly, if we always chose a well-known path, life can get a little boring, can’t it?
Trust me, this path has been anything but boring for me. In fact, I was just starting to feel a little comfortable with it all. But you know, as it so often happens, someone else looks at your situation and they can see clearly what you can’t? Well, that’s what happened to me. I was explaining to my coach how I work with professionals who are haunted by the knowing they were created for more and how I was going to use my podcast to share it with people and the first words out of his mouth were, “you need to change the name of your podcast.”
I think my body visibly shuddered. I may have even rolled my eyes, which had to have come across as, being disrespectful to this man I had the utmost respect for. But seriously, he couldn’t have known what he was saying. Sure, it’s easy to say change the name, but work involved in making a change like that seemed daunting. Besides, I loved Reviving Your Soul!
But, then, I couldn’t let the idea go. It was all I could think of. So that night before I went to sleep, I looked up the name he had suggested. It took about 10 seconds to find that someone already had a podcast with that name. That settled it. No name change in my future! But the thought wouldn’t go away. Truly, it began to haunt me. I’d wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it.
Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, it came to me. Longing for More. It was perfect! It describes that sense so many of us have that something is missing. That God has called us to more and until we find our “More,” we won’t be satisfied. It felt like I had found the missing puzzle piece. I immediately searched for a podcast with that name. None. The missing piece locked into place. There was no turning back at that point.
That’s how it happens. God uses someone or something to plant a seed for what He wants us to do, and then He lets us simmer in it. If we don’t act right away, he’ll come at it a different way until we get the hint as to the direction he wants us to go. It’s usually somewhere just outside our comfort zone and will require a stretch. But it isn’t going to be something that is so hard that it stresses us out completely (unless you are prone to that and if that’s the case, we need to talk!).
We can ignore it. We can convince ourselves we misunderstood. We can even run the other way. But eventually, we will recognize that it is the step we are being called to take. If we do, we find joy. If we don’t we feel anxious and out of sorts. And it will haunt us. In fact, we’ll try to fill that want or need with a million little things to avoid the one thing, but it never works.
Much like me trying to find my path. I’ve struggled. I’d started and stopped a half a dozen times, but until I found that coach who held up the mirror for me to see what was inside of me longing to come out, I wasn’t going to get it right. I wasn’t going to find the life that God created me for. Truly, since that big discovery, all the rest of the pieces have been coming together like clockwork.
Want to know the best part? Not one of those false starts, not one of those “failures” along the way went unused. Just like at the conclusion of the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, when it says, “Let nothing be wasted,” (John 6:12) God has used every single moment of uncertainty and frustration to help me build the program where I can help my clients step into their More. As a result, I get to help the people I work with skip much of the pain I went through. They quickly get clarity so I can help them learn their strengths, find what inspires them, learn to trust their instinct and get over all the things that are holding them back from the life their soul is longing for. And I can’t wait to share this amazing gift with all of you.
So next week, I launch Longing for More. You’ll see a new cover for my podcast, but the rest will remain the same. I’ll still share my heart. I’ll still invite others who have found that thing their soul is longing for to join me and have them share their story. And most importantly, I’ll still share my favorite scriptures.
Which brings me to my earlier promise. Here are the verses that inspired it all:
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight to life.
Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true, each one is fair.
They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.
They are a warning to those who hear them; there is great reward for those who obey them.
Psalm 19:7-11
So what great reward has God laid on your heart? What is your soul longing for? Are you ready to Discover Your More? If so, let’s visit. I would love to help you create a sense of clarity about what is missing in your life and identify the most powerful actions that will move you toward the “More” you desire.
I have a limited number of spots available over the next week, so get your’s scheduled now so you can complete the consultation with the excitement of knowing EXACTLY what to do next to create the life your soul is longing for!
Thank you for stopping by and I’ll see you next week in Longing for More if I don’t talk to you before then!
