Hello, my darling, my beautiful, my assets of
the world. Sorry, I guess that's a bit weird,
but I just did a podcast and she said, we're
all an asset. So I just, I'm going to just mix
that in to the intro. as I welcome you, my powerful
everyday women of the world, to another Startup
Stories podcast where the ambitious everyday
woman is heard, held, and served in life, in
business, in the spirit, in faith, in every element
of your life. bringing you relatable stories
to keep you sane, grounded, and growing as you
expand yourself and deliver your purpose to the
world. And do we not ever have such a perfect
guest for this, you guys? Molly, Molly, I didn't
ask you how to help me pronounce your last name
before I hit record. Yeah, it's actually just
like you would say roots, like grass roots. Roots.
Perfect. Molly roots. and what a great last name
for like helping women embody or plant their
roots into their purpose and flourish from there.
So you guys, Molly, I don't know, showed up on
Facebook and sent me a message welcoming me to
her group and I just felt really compelled to
get to know her more and I am thrilled and honoured
to bring her into this space to share a message
with you about leading with purpose, living with
peace, fulfilling God's use for you, his desires,
his plans for you, and stepping out in your faith
as a leader in whatever element of your life
that you're called to do so, right? We all have
a different role to play and they all interlocked
together. And a lot of things that I liked about
Molly's platform is the structure, the intention,
the slowing down, the faith allowance and following,
like keeping your eyes on the Lord to walk in
his plans, and just also giving yourself grace
as a mom, as a business owner, as a this, as
a that. and finding out how to kind of hold yourself
organized enough so that you can do these things
without burning out, falling apart, right? Just
keeping your eye on the prize with some beautiful
support around you. So Molly and I had a chat
a little while ago. We're meeting again now,
you know, growing and nurturing this friendship,
which I'm very invested in Molly, never a one
and done. And I'm just really honored to host
you as a guest on a podcast. cast and have a
beautiful conversation with you today. Yeah,
I've just enjoyed our interaction so much Mia
and your warmth and just your beautiful spirit
is really just so attractive. So I'm excited
to get to know you better and to share with your
audience too. Yeah, thank you. Thanks. It's like,
you know, hearing that I'm going to do I did
it already I said thank you because we don't
always like to take compliments but you guys
part of my journey in this is really accepting
that that's the truth for me that that is part
of God's vision for me and what he wants and
if he loves me that much then why can't I love
myself that much too so you know like I really
appreciate those comments because okay sure my
insecure validate me inner self, but also, yeah,
it's safe to be seen this way and it's safe to
be that woman. It's safe to show up and, you
know, discover more of who I am and let her grow.
And I think that might be just a wonderful place
for us to start our conversation, Molly. You
know, you can share a bit of your background
and what you've gone through or chosen, intentionally
decided in order to become this version of yourself.
Yeah, that's so good. As I was kind of getting
ready for this and just thinking like what's
on my heart today, I really felt like I wanted
to talk about identity and even what it is to
go through an identity crisis because I feel
like we do change as women. You know, there's
different seasons. Sometimes maybe you're in
a season of singlehood or marriage or family.
And then as your children grow, there's just
a lot of changes. And with that, identity shifts
happen. And so part of my story is just going
through that identity shift when about five years
ago, we made an international move. Our family
did. My husband is from the country of South
Africa. and we had been living there for almost
a decade. And we moved right at the height of
COVID back to the US. And so with that came so
many changes. And in my own life, I had been
an entrepreneur. I had had this, you know, beautiful
business, but it was also something that was
kind of eating away at my quality of life because
my mental health was starting to suffer. I was
just attached to my phone all the time because
I had you know customers in different time zones
and so I would even check sometimes in the middle
of the night to make sure I could like I don't
know I just did I didn't have boundaries and
so I and then some things changed in my family
too where my youngest daughter who is a miracle
baby like she has the most amazing story and
she's really our biggest story um but her life
is complicated and she started to have some problems
that were, you know, kind of just popping out
that needed my attention. And so I long story
short, I felt I just didn't feel aligned with
my business anymore. But it was our bread and
butter. You know, it was how we were sustaining
ourselves. So I was like full of angst about
what would happen if I let go of it and really
had a long. time dealing with this with the Lord
and delayed my obedience to him when he was telling
me it was time to walk away I just I was like
oh god no let's let's have a plan let me decide
not you almighty how's this gonna work out and
so finally I I did I just ripped the band -aid
off and walked away and just entered a whole
season of change and transition that's lasted
quite a couple of years where God has helped
me to like sit down with him and realign what
this is all about, you know, that this isn't
just about, you know, measuring up to like comparing
myself to other people who maybe seem like they
have it more together, who are actually like
hitting these huge goals. I really just had to
divorce myself of a lot of the talk that I'd
been listening to in that journey as an entrepreneur
and even some things that were out of alignment
spiritually that I had gotten involved in I didn't
realize it at the time but when I took a step
back I was like that is not biblical you know
some things that I was believing and and doing
and practicing so the last like um three years
or so have been a process of re -establishing
my identity in the Lord that you know I'm not
to him, I'm not an entrepreneur first, you know,
I'm his child and he loves me and he just wants
me to be at rest in his presence and let him
take care of me. And then the ideas that come
in the business that was birthed from that has
been completely different. It's just been coming
from a place of rest and peace and no longer
with that anxiety of, you know, having to create
some kind of amazing feedback for the world to
see, you know, success, what success looks like.
Yeah, so there is the identity piece already
of letting go of what you believe for a while
the only way to run a business and to make that
money and provide and then to have to so uncomfortably
and obediently trust the Lord to walk you forward
into something else. And her Facebook group is
called Take Back Your Day. And I love that combination
of words of take back your day of be a good steward
of today's work as it connects to tomorrow next
week, years ahead, etc. And it sounds like in
this shift to there would have been a lot of
restoration happening, right? Like redefining
who Molly is, how is she going to show up and
where is she going to establish boundaries with
herself and set her priorities back into God's
divine order? Right. Yeah, that's exactly what
I actually use those words, the divine order
and what that looks like. And it's so easy to
say that you want to put God first. And we do,
we try to do that. But then next on the divine
order list is your family and then your work,
whether it's the ministry, whether it's a business,
it doesn't matter. And the temptation is for
us to flip those last two. And especially if
you're in the world like a Christian service
or something that you, you know, you're doing
for God. It's very easy to think, well, that
has to be my priority, you know, that my family
should, you know, just kind of, they're going
to have to sacrifice some things. And sometimes,
you know, there are things that we do, we work
hard, but our priorities have to be, you know,
our family, our marriage, our children, because
they're our first disciples. And those are the
things we're going to be accountable for before
him one day. And I just felt really I mean my
husband and I preach this it's something that
I think we we just need to remind each other
and other people of because the temptation is
very real to put work first and to put those
things and they kind of become idols very easily
the work is something we do the family is how
you show up as a in a state of being in a state
of integrity and moral character and alignment
to the Bible's teachings to take care of each
other and build that community and that, again,
togetherness, right? And I just want to outline
that because it's not indicating not to pursue
those things, but not to put them higher than
what really matters. Business will come and go.
Molly's already shown us that she's had a complete
change of work and where her business comes from.
And I love that you said God doesn't see me as
an entrepreneur first. He sees me as his child
first. This realignment of priorities and Molly,
maybe you can walk us through what it's been
like implementing them in your life and how now
things are sort of coming back around to still
provide and take care of you, but from a holier
place. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. One thing that
I that the lord talked to me about a long time
ago is making a covenant of peace with him and
what that means to me is to to just fight for
my peace that that's something that i'm not going
to walk out into the world or any direction until
i have it and it is it is a wrestling match sometimes
you know um i used to be really into the enneagram
and um as like an enneagram six was my type i
was kind of somewhat horrified to discover anxiety
was something that was very familiar to this
type. And so I had to really wrestle with that
and just, you know, ask the Lord and say, you
know, this is not my birthright. Like I am not
going to receive that, you know, that my inheritance
is anxiety. And so to walk that out meant to
really make a covenant of peace and say, okay,
I'm not going to live in that state of, you know,
stress or anxiety, but I'm going to live and
fight for my peace. And so then what that looked
like was very, it really involved some laying
down of like how I mentioned, you know, my business
and our paycheck and everything and walking away
from that and being okay with, you know, quote
unquote, just being a mom, which is such a fallacy
because moms are, it's one of the highest callings,
you know, that you can have and be obedient to
and say yes to. And so through that, just realizing
I needed time to heal my nervous system and to
be there for my child that had a lot of special
needs and was going through some medical problems
and things. And so, yeah, so that was a big part
of it is just laying it down. And I think the
principle there is, you know, when we lay things
down before the Lord and you let them die, it's
up to him if he's going to give it back again.
It's like what Abraham did with Isaac. And he
really had to be ready to like totally end it
and I think that's what God wants like he wants
everything he's not happy if we give most of
it and just kind of reserve a little bit and
so that was for me a big part of it is just laying
laying things down and even being okay with not
you know making an income or just taking care
of my home and homeschooling and these other
things I was doing and so then gradually You
know, I think God kept it alive in my spirit
and I have a lot of dreams or there's seasons
when I have a lot of dreams so he would give
me dreams to kind of remind me of Like this is
what you know, I've put in you This is something
that I want to see birthed and so I was able
to keep those things kind of going like okay
God it's not done like I'm not finished like
this isn't the end and so just being really patient
and allowing him to bring something to me and
I'm um very like open to the prophetic and so
i would get words from people sometimes you know
this or that or a scripture and just kind of
holding those things and writing them down and
praying over them and just trusting that this
will come to pass. You know in God's timing and
it's not going to be by might or by power But
it'll be by his spirit. And so there were quite
a couple of like false starts I would try something
and it just you know, my heart wasn't in it Something
would happen where I thought this really isn't
the environment that I want to be Spending my
time in and so there was some of that trial and
error and I made some big mistakes too and God's
grace was just there to Help me kind of get myself
out of some bad financial decisions, you know,
when I made an investment that I felt like wasn't
really in alignment with who I wanted to work
with. I had to get myself out of that and get
disentangled from a relationship that wasn't,
you know, didn't have peace at the foundation
of it. And so he was just very kind and gracious
to help me kind of figure it out as I went along.
And we want to have the whole roadmap. you know
like what's it all going to look like but in
reality he just shows us the next turn you know
he gives us that next step and so just learning
how to be patient and walk with God through different
business decisions and trying to birth different
things all that all sounds so like peaceful surrendered
right and what i love is you're holding yourself
accountable, you, the general you, and really
trying to listen deeper, really trying to look
at yourself as to where you're still trying to
create an outcome versus aligning yourself to
his will because that is the ultimate and he's
just always waiting for us to come. and follow
in step right it's us who are buzzing around
like flies on a fruit or something in in this
chaotic energy and in doing so then molly how
has your life softened and opened around that
you know like you're being shown mercy and you're
being shown um breadcrumbs all at the same time
to continue to move forward in a certain way,
which then must be shifting on your identity,
particularly with what you knew for a decade
of time and in a way of being. Yeah. You mentioned
in the beginning of our conversation, you know,
like how it was hard to receive compliments and
just like my own intrinsic need for validation
and things that come from the outside, you know,
that are maybe a title or a label or an accomplishment.
And, you know, those things are okay. But when
it becomes our identity, you know, and then maybe
you're not fulfilling those roles anymore or
reaching those benchmarks, it can be, you know,
really kind of earth shaking. And so just looking
at For me how to just be at rest and what God's
called me to do and be faithful I think faithfulness
is sometimes overlooked as a virtue and it's
just that simple, you know daily walking things
out being obedient to the last thing that God
said Being faithful even when you're not seeing
the fruit of it and knowing that we do plant
seeds in faith and that there will be a harvest
and working on mindset so for me it's been a
lot of, you know, what do I believe? And those
things, I think our beliefs are even more important
than our decisions. Because if we're making a
decision in doubt, you know, that's not going
to produce the kind of fruit that we want to
see in our lives. But if we're making those decisions
in faith, like even if it's maybe not the right
decision, or the best decision, the fruit of
that is going to be much different. And so looking
at what is my expectation? What do I believe
about things? Not making things mean more than
they should. In sales, like when somebody says
no, it's not a rejection of who I am. It's just
more about them and the unique place that they're
in. And so just reworking mindset has been really,
I've been working a lot on that. I'm going to
give an example. that something that happened
to me this week that I think will really put
this into the day -to -day context. So a friend
of mine was featured in a summit in a, they're
basically like a marketing platform community,
beautiful, robust, genuine, heart -centered,
but the journey that I went on to assess my fit,
I suppose, as a future summit speaker wasn't
exactly clear when it came to kind of making
a next step, right? So maybe I'm getting a bit
convoluted in talking. I applied to be a speaker
in a summit. I thought that's what I was doing.
But it turns out that becoming a speaker in that
summit means becoming a recipient of a coaching
program that leads for nine to 12 months. And
nowhere in that was clear. And here I was, moving
forward, you know, thinking that this was going
to be a good decision and that it would elevate
my visibility and etc. and be a nice and like
value compatible project. And then it comes forward
near the end of like a review interview, that
this is actually part of entering a coaching
program. So that sat with me in a few different
ways of like, did I not do my due diligence in
getting ready? Or was this sort of interestingly
marketed, right? And then to not attach meaning
to that, I had to kind of like, breathe, relax,
let go. It's not my value. It's not my worth.
It's not this. And then say, well, if God doesn't
want this, he's closed that door and trusting
that above everything else and letting that go.
And then I went back and I looked through again
some of the materials and I didn't see anywhere
in there any indications of this. I'm not questioning
their integrity. It's their strategy. It's their
whole um set up and everything. What it did for
me was what I feel like you're talking about
now of is this in true alignment and in true
like I guess the the fastest walk that I can
do in the Lord's will and plans for me or not
because we will take ourselves on detours and
then we'll say well why are you closing that
door I thought this was the door you wanted me
to go on and he's like no not really that was
you I'm over here and what that experience has
now showing me and he's reminding me because
I already know Less is more in my case. My visibility
is not going to come from being featured in somebody
else's coaching program as a summit speaker.
My visibility is going to come from these intimate,
really soul -led conversations and moments where
we're not just getting a message out and bragging
about how awesome we are. We're really imparting
wisdom for how to live your life in a godly way,
particularly in this conversation, to keep you
encouraged so that you can reduce those distractions
and you can stay more clear. More is not more.
More is just like empty calories, right? That
stick on your beautiful body of any age and weight,
ladies. You love that body. Love it hard. you
know hopefully we can see how this applies in
elements of our life and that it helps us to
appreciate when he's closing doors that we thought
for sure oh this must be the next thing because
it came with these signs or whatever it's adding
meaning it's adding meaning but in the end it
allowed me to reflect and go I love what they're
doing. I'd love to be a part of it, but I've
learned that I want to do something like that.
That's even more honest and earnest and lead
down that way. And I have no, you guys have no
idea what it's going to be. And that's okay.
Cause he's led me around the corner that you
were just talking about. Yeah. I found that things
don't happen the same way twice. in our lives
you know and maybe we're looking back at how
something went down before and trying to recreate
it or to make it happen again and it's it's going
to be different you know because the the important
part is the process we're in the being prepared
you know that we're always being prepared for
what's next and we go from glory to glory like
that's also a kingdom principle that things get
better in our lives and there's upgrades But
in order to be ready for that upgrade, we have
to go through some things. And we have to be
willing to go through that process and not just
take the easy way out. And we're always looking
for a shortcut or maybe this is it. But yeah,
we don't want to spend longer than necessary,
more time than necessary in that place of. the
wilderness, I call it, you know, that time of
preparation. But it has a purpose. It's important
to realize, you know, none of those experiences
are wasted at all. They're all going to become
part of our story of the next part of our lives
and the testimony that we can speak and use and
will encourage other people. You know, that's
the point of it is that we want to be able to
help people with the things that we've gone through.
So I think that's. a really important piece to
remember in the struggles and you know in the
trying to figure it out time that all of these
things will be used in some good way. Yeah and
letting letting that come through when you're
going through one of those things right accepting
it as part of a of a bigger puzzle and a bigger
revelation. leading to another glory. Molly,
you have such an eloquent way of speaking that
I want to give you more and more of the stage
in this episode. So not to be too interview style,
but what have you learned so far about your identity
in the works that God has put through you and
how he's shifted you into this new lifestyle,
I guess? That's a good question. You know, I
think some of it is just accepting who I am,
and I'm someone that fits in very well with people
who are not my own culture. And so that's been
something that has been hard to fit back in to
my home country. That's been a big identity crisis
for me, is to realize, like, why do I struggle
with people that are of the place where I'm from?
It should be easier. right? And it's actually
not. I grew up in a cross -cultural environment
on an Indian reservation. That was part of my
DNA as a young child. And I've always been drawn
to people from other cultures, other countries.
And my spiritual gift is missionary. And that's
just what I want to do. And so then to realize
God was sending me back to my own people, it's
been a really unusual process to figure out,
how do I relate to people? around here that I'm
so much alike and I'm always looking for that
one that's the foreigner or the someone that
and that and then coming to understand that's
a gift that he's given me. It's not just a weakness
or not just that I'm weird or socially awkward,
you know, as I feel most of the time that actually
he's made me that way to like seek out those
people that also feel like they don't maybe fit
in here and to be able to, you know, build a
friendship or just be a blessing to them in some
way. And so I guess looking to that place of
acceptance of who I am and the gifts he's given
me and not apologize for it, learning how to
deal with some unhealthy emotional habits or
things I've been just living with for a long
time about in relationships, how to handle those
better and doing some inner healing. that's been
a big part of this identity shift is just coming
to understand like maybe it's something you do
in your 40s, you know, you just like kind of
understand yourself better. And so I've been,
you know, working on that. And yeah, just more
self acceptance, I think, and just not self love
in a, in a funny way, but just be like, you know
what, I, this is who I am. And I, I, it might
not make sense to other people. They might not
like it. They might not Agree with the things
that I'm doing or following or pursuing or you
know The reason that I have for waking up in
the morning and that doesn't matter It doesn't
matter if they don't agree with it or don't see
the vision, you know, it's visionary women It's
like I've got something in me. That's just driving
me I can't you know, I can't turn this off and
realizing that's there on purpose You know whether
or not like I ever reach that particular goal
doesn't really matter because it's you know causing
me to take risks and you know take steps of faith
and courage follows faith it's just something
that comes and so you take that step maybe you're
full of fear um i know i usually am it's like
okay i'm gonna do it this is scary but then the
courage comes it's like oh okay i didn't die
you know it's like i can i can keep going so
it follows just like a shadow and it's going
to be there so that's something that you only
have it once you've taken that step and I talk
a lot about transition. I think that's a really,
it's just such a vulnerable time in our lives
when we're transitioning from one thing to the
next. And so what we need to have character quality
wise is to go through those transitions well
and end the previous season well. And then you've
got to have the faith to get through that. Like
if you're a picture, a trapeze artist, they have
to let go of that one trapeze before they can
grab onto the other. You can't hang onto them
both. That's right. You're going to get split
apart. In that transition, it's like a liminal
space. There's nothing to hold onto. You're just
there, and you're kind of suspended in midair.
And you're like, what's going to happen? And
then that's the life of faith is then we reach
out and we can grab hold of the new and, you
know, in Philippians, it talks about forgetting
what's behind and pressing on towards what lies
ahead. And so that's been kind of a life verse
of mine is like, OK, I'm going to let go of the
old and grab on to the new. And it's always hard,
you know, because we get very comfortable in
our space. And that's one of the enemies that
we have to fight is comfort. you know, because
we don't want things to, you know, be uncomfortable.
And it's just part of the human experience. And
so God is always, you know, facilitating that
growth out of our comfort zones to do things
and to grab hold of what's new. So, yeah, this
is, this is a really tangible way of describing
an evolving identity. for a certain period, like
when we're children, we're open and curious and
expressive and not judging each other, but it
starts young. My six year old, I'm seeing elements
already, and I'd say they've been a little bit
showing up for a year or so, so from age five.
And then as we get older, we're really responding
to how the... our perception of how the external
environment slash people are responding to us.
And then we start to shape our identity around
that. And then we kind of grow up and settle
into things that we've decided and stopped questioning,
challenging or changing. And to do this identity
shift requires a desire, hopefully. like a to
kind of get out of your own way. But it also
requires a deep vulnerability and willingness
to move into unknowns and to hold yourself through
some of that discomfort. And you can You know,
you can have elements of grief as you change.
But if you really want things to be different,
then you have to be different. And you have to
question, why have I decided this, that, and
the other thing about myself? What else could
be true? How did I feel earlier in life or how
will I want to feel in the future? And start
making some very easy shifts in your day to day.
One example for me has been bedtime with my daughter.
She does not go to bed early. Bless her sweet
little heart. And I just trust the Lord that
whatever. Okay, more time together every day.
Sounds good. not getting mad and just being steady
and present and redirecting her, you know, reminding
her why rest is important, that it's safe to
calm down, that this is how we go to sleep, is
by laying in her beds and closing her eyes. Whereas
even, I don't know, three plus months ago, I'd
lose my poop and just be like... And then, of
course, it wasn't mom guilt, it was... Why am
I choosing this? Why am I choosing to be so frustrated?
She is so little and delicate. And the other
part that this feeds into is if that's an identity
that I'm choosing, angry bedtime mom, where am
I applying that in other parts of my life to
myself and other loved ones or other people who
have been put into my path in order to receive
something from me, but I'm too caught up in my
own ego or false identity that I can't serve
it to them. and get it through. And in my line
of work, I see this all the time because people
come in highly upset, highly emotional, highly
fixated on a situation. And I choose to hold
that space for them and see if I can lead them
towards softening it. and that is a practice
that I do on myself and when I practice on others
it comes back into me too and and that's how
like I've been able to shift these bedtimes and
it's way better now and and it's still late but
it is peaceful and loving and if I can do that
with something so simple as um bedtime where
else can I Truly evolve and honor the Lord by
showing up better more whole and more What like
in order right to to deliver different outcomes
for other people Yeah, that's so good. Sometimes
we have to unlearn things. Yeah, and I have you
know, I have six children and so by the time
we you would think by the time you get to your
six got it figured out and I love that example
you shared of your child and our our last daughter
has a diagnosis called pathological demand avoidance
right and so I didn't know what that meant um
and it's still it's a mouthful to try to explain
so I probably won't dive into it but basically
what it looks like in my home is that demands
cause her to go into a state of fear and anxiety.
And so because of that fear, she can't comply
with anything and basic things, you know, very
basic. And like instructions of like bedtime
or can you please bring your cup to the sink?
I mean, just pick up your shoes or just very
simple things. And so I've, my husband and I
have had to relearn how to parent. And I just
love that. the analogy because I've learned how
to basically serve her is what it looks like
in real life is that I don't really demand anything
at this point in our lives. I've reduced demands
to just the bare bones to what we need to do
to function and our whole household the atmosphere
has shifted in such a significant way. So instead
of the volatility instead of the conflict instead
of you know the escalating tempers and voices
and things it's just it's much more calm and
I feel sometimes very um I've worked through
this but I felt very judged for quite a while
um just even by other parents by what we were
allowing our child to get away with and thinking
and sometimes even that you know Christian communities
can be the worst because we have high standards
you know we're doing things so differently than
I I didn't believe this was the right way to
parent. I mean, if I could have seen myself now
a few years ago, I would have been shocked. But
the fruit of it is more peace. There's more space
in her nervous system for us to speak truth and
to help train and teach her so that she can be
a functioning adult one day. And so it's been
unlearning years and years of things that we
did with our other children. that we're not producing
good fruit in her life. And so I think it's helped
me to see the world differently and also accept
other people and their, you know, their issues,
the things that they come with instead of feeling
like, oh, I have to change them. Or even as a
coach, you know, knowing that my role isn't to
like try to change anyone. It's just to help
them figure out how to ask the right questions.
maybe how to receive whatever is beautiful in
this season, instead of looking at it as something
to fight. And so kind of getting out of that
fight or flight mode in my own family has helped
me to help other people to see the things going
on in their lives as, you know, perhaps an invitation
to something greater instead of just, you know,
a stressful circumstance. So, yeah, it's really
good. To see it as as a bridge to something greater.
Because when you shift now, listening to you,
I know your heart is bigger. I know your capacity
is bigger, even though there would have been
some resistance to having to parent and change
your identity, your perceptions, your attachments
to how you were parenting and then have to bear
the societal questioning. to see you doing that
but by going first you give permission to others
and you normalize the levels of I love how you
said the levels of serving that people require
we're meeting them where they are and I don't
just mean in children I mean in everybody that
we interact with we can make it about us and
this is the kind of mom I am and this is how
it's going to go down or this is the kind of
employee I am etc. or we can really make it about
that other person and hold them in a much deeper
space that we also benefit from because it changes.
It's like very reciprocal change of who we are.
And yeah, Molly, in coaching, the coach should
be guiding you into yourself and not controlling
or directing, right? It's a revelation and an
opening up. of your own self while they help
you sort that out because it can be hard on your
own to to do that level of work and in our day
-to -day this is possible everywhere from how
you're going to choose to wash the dishes and
like this is God at work in my heart but I am
so joyful washing the dishes cleaning the house
folding the laundry I make a lot of jokes about
laundry in my house of four not eight. But how
lucky, how abundant, how like privileged to be
able to have these things. And that softens the
heart, which I think just makes us like gentler
people to one another, right? And when we do
that, it's, it's beyond like at work, I love
to say when I can crack them, crack their hearts,
I crack their hearts, I don't crack their bones,
guys, calm down. get this beautiful honor to
soften them and show them something that they
kind of wanted but didn't know how to get to
or were scared to get to. And that leads a greater
benefit that comes with me and I think continues
to reaffirm the identity that's still being created,
right? Like we might have an idea and maybe an
ego -driven idea of who we want to be, but if
we can get deeper than that. And I guess it's
a bit cliche, but like kind of really know who
we actually are. Then new harvests can bloom
out of that in a way that is far more natural
and Holy Spirit driven. Yeah. So tell us now
a bit about these changes and, you know, you've
put this all together now and you've come into
a new season of being able to harvest in your
life. And how are you using that now in service
of others, you know, like this beautiful face
group you've created coaching other women and
helping them, you know, take us into that part
of your world. Yeah, I think it's it's really
helping leaders, specifically, you know, Christian
women. And I have a view that I think we're all
called to leadership in some way, shape or form.
If you're a disciple of Christ, you should have
someone following you. Right. And so, you know,
sometimes it's in the settings of our homes.
Maybe it's in a ministry setting or a business
or your workplace. Everybody's, you know, audience
looks different, but helping women to Become
better leaders and so to do that you have to
lead yourself Well, yeah first and so a lot of
it is what we've been discussing about identity
about inner healing About processing events through
the right lens and looking at it is like well,
what was God doing in that season? and so learning
how to become healthy that way and also learning
how to recognize what your sovereign foundations
were like What were the things that God put in
place and your very beginnings? and how did those
help shape your life and so looking at life in
a series of kind of like stages and processes
that we walk through and then there's life maturing
which you know is kind of processing all these
events and all the things and you're trying things
out and we want to be used by God we want to
be good workers and good worker bees but often
what happens is that he's working in us. And
so that's really the depth of what's going on.
And then you get into other phases where you
are being more fruitful and producing, kind of
living your calling out. And what does that look
like? What is that season? And ultimately, we
want to get to convergence, where everything
that's happened in your life is coming to a head.
All the relationships, the experiences. You're
done doing the things. you're bad at, you know,
you can say no to those things that you're just
saying yes, because you feel like you have to.
And you're really doing the things that you were
created to do. And, you know, you can look at
someone like Billy Graham, for instance, that
was just he reached that point of convergence.
And a lot of leaders don't reach that point.
Most leaders plateau. and they stop growing and
they just kind of stay at that same level and
just kind of flatten out or tap out or there's
different red flags you know different landmines
that we step on and you see people all the time
that are falling you know getting into maybe
it's financial problems or moral failure sometimes
it's failure at home with their children and
those things take them out completely of leadership
and you don't ever hear from them again. And
so we have to learn how to avoid those pitfalls,
what they are, how to avoid them. How do you
continue growing as a leader, even when you've
reached some success? You know, what are the
things to have in place to continue to become
that person that Christ has called you to become?
And so I really help, you know, women to do this
and to look at their lives through this lens
and reach, you know, their goals in life without
sacrificing their family on that altar of ambition.
or ministry, whatever it is, to really look at
what success means to reward and ultimately to
figure out why we're doing the things that we're
doing. What is our philosophy of ministry, if
you could call it that? I know it's a mouthful,
but sometimes we're just on autopilot. I mean,
we just kind of do the same things habitually
every day. And if we don't stop and think about
why, or how if we're going to develop other people,
how are we doing that, you know, and putting
those down. And so you can kind of say like,
this is why I do the things I do. This is what
I believe about it. This is what God has taught
me. And so kind of having some framework to help
make decisions and help develop other people,
because that's the number one job of a Christian
leader is to develop people. So it's important
that we think about, you know, how we're doing
it and why we're doing it so that, you know,
we can leave a footprint here on this earth and
that our work doesn't just crumble, you know,
we want it to be able to stand. So yeah, so I
have a course that kind of walks women through
this process and it's always different for each
person and their situation and their circumstances,
what they're going through and through transition.
Transition is just a big part of our lives, you
know, we're always one thing that's for sure
and certain is that things will change, they're
not going to stay the same. So, you know, just
staying soft and pliable and adaptable and able
to, you know, not get bent out of shape that
way. And I again hear and see that trapeze example
that you gave and being willing to let go and
float for a moment before catching the next bar
and swinging into the what, you know, the next
step like that. I've heard it called the gap
as well, where you're you're in the gap of your
growth. And it can be the most vulnerable because
it can be so easy to just go back to what was,
right? And that is a beautiful space to encourage
somebody to stay in and move ahead from. It's
just like you have such a presence and such a
clear. understanding and messaging around your
work in the world, Molly. It's so beautiful to
sit here and pay witness to that and receive
from that. And I just want to thank you for sharing
that wisdom and this message around identity,
which leads us through our lives and into, you
know, other fulfillments that are waiting for
us. It's such like kind of the epicenter of it
all. Thank you Mia, I appreciate that. So you
guys, I'm gonna share all her links in the socials
for you and if you felt that pull, please go
and have a conversation with her, join her Facebook
group and spend some time in that. There's no
way you won't grow from being in her space. Well,
thank you for the conversation and the opportunity.
And I just love what you're doing. Just kind
of spotlighting the everyday woman. I think that's
just amazing. There's heroes all around us and
everyone has a story. So just giving, you know,
someone like me a platform to share that is really
such a special gift. Thank you.