1/19/22
So, I’ve had an epiphany and I want to tell you about it. I am so blown away with the way God has used my broken story for His glory. I look back at starting this podcast and remember thinking that maybe something I’ve been through and something I’ve said might actually help someone struggling just like me. I thought that at the very least, this would be therapeutic for myself. Little did I know that the podcast would get almost eighteen thousand listens and downloads from people all over the world. Seriously, that blows me away. I’m so humbled by it. I have no idea how that even happened. I just know there were those of you who encouraged me to write a book. Thank you. The book didn’t happen, but this podcast did. So, thank you for the nudge and the encouragement. But then, out of the podcast, my Life Coaching business was born. People were contacting me from all over because of something I said that resonated with them. It’s true that pain and grief, fear, doubt and worry cross all socio-economic, gender, and age barriers. As humans, we all experience these. I guess in my willingness to be open and honest about my struggles, it helped people say, “Me too.”
So, back to the epiphany. Because I believe that God has been laying out His plan for my life - my “Another Beautiful Life” - He’s been rolling it out one step at a time. So, no doubt, it was His idea that Another Beautiful Life Coaching was born. It’s the next step in His plan. So, as I was talking with Him about how I’m to balance resting in Him - in that faith-rest life - how to balance that and also build my new business at the same time - to build something and to dream big - He gave me the biggest ah-ha. Yes, Another Beautiful Life Coaching is a business, but it’s also ministry. And He’s using it to tear down Satan’s kingdom on this earth and advance His. So, let me explain this. Because, sometimes I stop and think, “Why was this His next step for my life? Why would He want me to start this Life Coaching business? And how could my business possibly do any damage to Satan’s kingdom?”
Here it is: If a Christian woman is held back in life from being and doing all that God has created her to be and do, then the kingdom of God is impacted significantly. But as soon as she’s completely free to live fully, then she will step into God’s intended purpose to advance His kingdom. She will have the confidence to walk in her true calling, to love others completely without judgment or resentment or bitterness. She’ll have such peace and calm, even in the midst of chaos, such that other people will want what she has. She will be 100% whole and healed and free to be who she’s supposed to be without comparison, without fear, without confusion, without compromise, without doubting herself. 100% free! For God’s kingdom. Because, listen, a free woman, free of the guilt and shame and fear, free of the insecurities and anxieties; free to love and to be loved, free to be and think and say what she truly believes without fear of rejection - this woman is a warrior and can advance the Kingdom of God. Just imagine if more and more women get free, living like they’re meant to, just imagine the impact they could make!
So, I’m talking to you, my Christian sister, specifically. We have a purpose here. We have a task. We are needed - in our families, in the schools, in our communities. But the Adversary wants us rendered helpless and hopeless, and afraid and hiding. And he’ll use anything - anything like jealousy, or insecurity, or fear, or old wounds - to keep us from showing up.
And this is what it looks like. Wounds of the past keep us from being able to move forward; they keep us from being able to live free; they keep us from being all that God has created us to be. And, listen, that permeates every area of our lives: how we show up in our relationships with others, what we believe about our future, our faith, our trust in God, and even our Christian witness. Everything is affected by old wounds not healed.
In fact, I’ve found that our emotional life is more like an onion. There are layers upon layers upon layers of healing. In fact, when you address one thing, it usually brings up all kinds of other old things that have never been dealt with before. And sometimes those things have been hidden for many, many years.
As I’ve been peeling back my own layers, I realize that those things that have been hidden for so long affect the way I see the world, the way I relate to others, the way I live out my faith…or struggle to live out my faith. It formulates how I see myself, my value and worth and my purpose. It affects how I strive and try to achieve and create, all in efforts of validating my existence. Boy, I feel like I’ve talked about this to some degree or another throughout this entire podcast.
One Bible verse that has been constant from the beginning that I have had to keep coming back to, time and time again, to help keep me focused and on-track is Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” When I would start worrying about the future - like finances, or what I was supposed to do about my house, or what living alone might look like, or getting a job…all those things - this verse would bring me back to remembering what was primary in importance. If I would just set my sights on God and do what pleased Him, if I would make sure I was giving Him my time and attention first before all things, if I put seeking Him first, then all other things - all the things I’m concerned about, going after, the things I need - all other things would all fall into place. If I seek Him first.
But I’ve noticed when I’ve let the things of this world become first in my mind and my attention, then I find myself in fear. Fear begets feelings of being threatened in one or maybe even all areas of your life. When you feel threatened you tend to get nervous. Looking around you, wondering when the next shoe is going to drop, wondering when you’re going to get taken advantage of. And chronic nervousness is exacerbated as anxiety. Anxiety makes you hide from the world. And the crazy thing is, this all started because I wanted to make sure I would have a future I was happy with and excited about. But, now I can’t because anxiety and fear has got me stuck. And this is exactly what keeps me from being effective for the Kingdom of God. It keeps me from showing up wholly, keeps me from loving people rightly. It keeps me from being who God has created me to be and doing what He has purposed me to do. And that’s when the Adversary wins.
So, I see that putting my focus on those things that seemingly look innocent, or even important - like worrying about how things are going to be in the future - making that my focus gives me the opposite results that I actually want. I’m stuck. Off track. An ineffective vessel.
But when I seek God first - and I just mean, seeking Him in an intimate relationship through worship, prayer, reading the Word, and just walking with Him in my daily life - then all things that concern me will be taken care of. He will take care of it. And I can just settle in that faith-rest life. Psalm 138:8 says, “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me.” And the results are that I am now an effective tool for God to use for His purposes…and that’s always to advance His kingdom. This is what I want for myself.
But this is also what I want for all the other women out there that are feeling held back by wounds that are keeping them from being and doing all that God has created her to be and do. So that she will be 100% whole and healed and free so that she can be a warrior that advances the Kingdom of God just by stepping into who He created her to be. Yes, let’s just imagine, if more and more Christian women get free, what kind of impact they could make for the kingdom of God.
I’m tired of Satan winning so much and taking advantage of Christian women.
No more! I’m going to fight for their freedom. On a social media post recently, I joked that I break women out of prison. Well, I’m taking that seriously. They’re being wrongly imprisoned by the Adversary, and I’m not having it anymore. I’m coming in guns blazing, so to speak, and I’m breaking them out! For God’s glory and the advancement of His kingdom…and the destruction of Satan’s kingdom.
I can’t think of a more honorable reason to be invested in Another Beautiful Life Coaching. I’m on a mission. This is ministry. Let’s go!
Friend, if you’re not on my email list but would like to get reminders about the podcast episodes when they drop and you’d also like to get an occasional email with some pro life-tips I’m learning, jump over to my website triciazody.com and subscribe.
There you’ll also be able to find out more about Life Coaching and how to work with me. If you’re ready to be one of these whole, healed, and completely free Christian women, let’s do this! And I can even give you a guarantee. If you bring your faith, even as small as a mustard seed, to this work, I can guarantee that you, too, will get this freedom! Yeah, let’s do this!
