In this soul-stirring episode of Faith Fueled Woman, we dive into what it really means to be available—not just physically, but emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. As Christian women, we're often pulled in many directions, serving family, friends, and church communities. But what if being truly present starts with honoring your own need for rest and renewal?
We explore how your availability can reflect Christ’s love, deepen your relationships, and create space for meaningful, faith-filled connection. Discover how setting healthy boundaries, prioritizing self-care, and intentionally showing up can transform both your life and the lives of those around you.
If you’ve ever asked, “How can I love like Jesus without burning out?”—this episode is for you.
🔑 Key Takeaways for Christian Women:
- Presence Over Performance – Learn why being emotionally and spiritually present often speaks louder than doing more.
- God Honors Your Rest – Discover biblical truths about rest and how self-care equips you to serve from overflow, not depletion.
- Your Availability is a Ministry – Understand how every conversation and act of presence can reflect the heart of Christ.
- Boundaries are Biblical – Get practical insight on how to say yes and no with grace, honoring both others and yourself.
- Ask Yourself This Question – “Am I creating space for God to use me by being truly available today?”
Book a 20 Minute Midlife Wellness Reset Inquiry Call with Kristin click here
Download My Free Joyful Living Devotional: https://kristinfitch.com/devotional
Ready to take your first step towards a more joyful, faith-filled life? Download our Reignite Your Passion Workbook and start living with purpose today!
Ready to work with Kristin to make a shift in your life? Click here to get started.
available to others, Christian women podcast, faith and purpose, spiritual growth, encouragement for women, being present in life, emotional well-being, self-care for moms, connecting with God, community engagement, listening skills, mindfulness techniques, resetting your life, finding joy in everyday life, building relationships, Christian mentorship, personal growth strategies, journaling for self-discovery, mental health awareness, women's wellness tips
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Today's going to be all aboutare we available to people in our
lives, really available.
And we're also going to talkabout do we also make time so that
we can reset so that we can berefreshed and reset?
Because I think we need tolook at both sides of that coin.
So today is all about divinginto that.
Hey.
Hey friends.
(00:21):
Welcome back to Faithfield Woman.
This is your host, Kristen,and I'm so glad you've joined me
today.
Hey friend, are you cravingdeeper faith, renewed purpose and
more joy in your everyday life?
Welcome to Faith Fueled Womanpodcast that helps Christian women
grow spiritually pursue God'scalling and embrace the abundant
life he has for you.
I'm Kristin, an encourager,mentor, entrepreneur, wife and mom,
(00:44):
here to uplift, equip andinspire you with faith filled conversations
and biblical wisdom.
Subscribe now so you nevermiss an episode and join our faith
fueled community for more encouragement.
Right, here we go.
Let's dive in.
So the first thing I want totalk about is how available are we
to people in our lives?
And for those of you that havebeen listening along to the podcast
(01:06):
for some time, I haveregularly shared quotes and then
also just little tidbits fromthe devotional by Bob Goff called
Catching Whimsy.
And his devotional for today,May 9th has really kind of clicked
with me again.
So I wanted to share somethingabout it because I think it's, it's
important and I think hebrings it up because he sees how
(01:30):
unavailable people are.
So let me, let me reverse andexplain that a little bit.
So most of us may be somewhatavailable to someone in our lives.
Our, if we're married, maybeour spouse, if we have kids, our
children, maybe a relative, aclose relative or two, or maybe a
close friend or something like that.
(01:51):
But many of us, I think, canclose off right?
We can run to safety, run toour homes, we can keep our noses
in our devices when we'rewaiting at the doctor's office or
in the checkout line becauseit's so easy to do that now.
(02:11):
But it begs the question, arewe available?
Are we available to the peoplearound us?
Are we available to peoplethat might be interested in working
with us or people in our communities?
Maybe they go to our kids,same schools, maybe they're, they're
on our kids sports teams,whoever it might be.
And honestly, are we actuallyavailable to the people in our lives,
(02:33):
like really available?
Are we present?
And I'm shares to Corinthians5:20 for today's devotional, which
is we Are therefore Christ'sambassadors, as though God were making
his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ'sbehalf, be reconciled to God.
Bob goes on to explain somedifferent roles that he has right
(02:57):
in the world.
But he also says, you know,while he's an ambassador to Uganda,
that's a whole other story.
But he explains that he justtries to be available to people and
that that's our job, right?
It's our job as Christians tobe Christ's ambassadors.
And he says as Christambassadors, we need to be available,
(03:18):
but we also need a message of safety.
We need to have a reputationfor being a safe person.
People can bring theirconcerns, questions and needs to.
Being a Christian ambassadordoesn't mean being the top dog.
That's that role belongs toJesus instead.
It means that we're availableand safe and offer protection.
But he basically, you know,explains that often on Wednesdays
(03:40):
he's at Disneyland inCalifornia on Tom Sawyer island,
and he is available for peopleto talk to him.
He also, for many books back,puts his cell phone number in the
back of his books.
I mean, this is a guy that'swritten lots of books.
This is a guy that a lot ofpeople know.
And I think to date he's had 2million, 2 million people call him.
(04:03):
Okay?
So it basically says, his booksays, Bob's passion is people.
He'd love to hear from you ifyou want to email him and then you
can also follow him on Instagram.
Here's his cell phone numberif you want to give him a call.
Folks, that level ofavailability is so over the top,
right?
Most of us can't imagine that.
(04:26):
But my question, right, mychallenge to each of us, including
myself, is what would it looklike if we made ourselves more available?
Like really present and reallyavailable to anyone that needed our
help, needed a listening ear,just needed somebody to encourage
(04:46):
them for a minute.
What would that look like?
How would that change people'slives around us?
And how would that change our life?
Imagine all the conversations,all the connections that Bob's made,
all the people that he's encouraged.
I think sometimes we get sostuck in our day to day lives with
(05:07):
our heads down that we forgetto look at people that can inspire
us, that can make us shift ourperspective and say, oh my gosh,
like I thought I wasavailable, but what if we really
sit on that for a minute andask ourselves, how available am I
when I'm walking to my car, doI put my head down?
(05:28):
Or when I see somebody I sortof know, do I Walk the other way.
When I am waiting in line, doI strike up a conversation with somebody
or do I just put my nose in my phone?
When I'm sitting at the dinnertable or on the sofa and my spouse
or my kid comes in, what am I doing?
And my present is my phone set down.
(05:51):
But I think many of us havedefined available as just doing what
we need to do, right?
Like, but maybe that's justthe tip of the iceberg.
What happens if we try more?
What happens if we tell peoplewe are available?
Call us, reach out, I'll meetyou for coffee anytime.
(06:11):
Of course.
Anytime, meaning when you'reable, right?
I mean, I'm not saying you candrop everything.
You know, obviously you have a job.
It might have set hours.
You may have to be atdifferent other, you know, events
or helping your family.
What I am saying is, how wouldour life change if we became Christ
ambassadors?
If we were available to people?
(06:33):
Like, really available to people?
And why am I talking aboutthis today?
And why should it matter toall of us?
I think it's because when weactually show up for people, like,
we show up for them in waysthat are holy, right?
In ways that is Christ in usshowing up in the world, everything
(06:56):
changes.
We feel better, we feel lighter.
The people around us feel sosupported, they feel encouraged,
they feel seen and heard.
It changes the world, right?
It is a ripple that happensthrough the world and it may just
make those people more openand more available to people in their
(07:17):
lives.
And so my first challenge fortoday is that how can we do one tangible
thing or maybe more tangiblethings to be more available to the
people around us?
For instance, I don't share myphone number everywhere online.
And I surely don't say topeople, hey, just reach out to me
(07:38):
anytime, you know, if you justwant encouragement.
Now, I do tell people they canDM me, right?
And things like that.
But could I take it further?
Did I check in with my friendsthat don't live nearby more often?
Would I be more encouraging tosome of the groups that I'm in online?
Would I show up fully presentand ready to be Christ ambassador?
(08:03):
Can I show up and actually beavailable to people and tell them
I'm available even when it'suncomfortable, even when I don't
know what they're going toask, even when it might be inconvenient?
Now, Bob might not answer hisphone 24 7.
I'm sure he has someboundaries around that, right?
(08:24):
Like he's not going to answerthe phone possibly in the Middle
of the night.
I do not know the answer to that.
But what I am saying is whenhe is available to take the call
or to return the call, he doesit, even though it takes time from
his, you know, all the otherprojects, all the other writing he
does, all the other workshopsthat he's doing, hit from his family
(08:47):
time because he sees beingavailable, being an ambassador to
Christ as one of the mostimportant things he does.
Ah, I just thought that wassuch good food for thought.
And I'd love to hear if that.
If you connected with that.
But I do want to shift also tohow are we finding time to reset
(09:09):
ourselves, to get refreshed ourselves.
And Mother's Day is Sunday.
Today's Friday.
And I just one wanted to sayhappy Mother's Day to all the moms
that are listening.
I hope you have just abeautiful and blessed day, whether
you're spending it byyourself, whether you're spending
it with maybe a spouse or somefriends, or maybe you're able to
spend it with your kids if youhave children.
(09:31):
But I just wanted to say happyMother's Day.
And I know for some people,Mother's Day can be a hard and bitter
day.
Maybe you've lost a child ormaybe you had a miscarriage or so
many other things.
Maybe you have a strainedrelationship with your own mom.
So just know that I'm sendingyou all the love, and I hope you
(09:52):
still can find beauty andgrace in this day that we celebrate
moms, right?
Because really, let's justcelebrate each other, you know, for
showing up and.
And loving each other and forbeing a collective that helps raise
up other people and helpsother people be seen and heard and.
And celebrate other people,whether it's today or a different
(10:14):
day.
Okay, so let's dive in.
I wanted to talk about thistoday because I find that women,
and also especially moms, canreally struggle to speak their desires,
to speak what they need toallow themselves to rest, to allow
(10:37):
themselves time to be refreshed.
But, and I've talked aboutthis on at least one or two episodes
before, there's real impact inus not doing that.
There's real consequences.
I just started reading thebook by Gabor Mate, or I think it's
Mate, or Matt called when thebody says no, I believe.
(11:02):
And it's about exploring thestress, stress disease connection.
And he is an MD basically.
I've heard.
I've seen stats from himbefore, but he says 80% of all autoimmune
diseases show up in women.
And the reason is we repressemotions, we repress feelings, we
(11:24):
repress our anger, we repressspeaking our truth.
And by anger, I obviouslydon't mean we should go around being
like, screaming at people and angry.
Like when we have something orboiling up inside of us, we.
We hold it in.
There's real impact.
And don't get me wrong, menand women both do this.
And a lot of us, it stems fromchildhood or early experiences or
(11:50):
patterns, right?
In relationships we've had inthe past where we are trying to find
a strategy to cope.
And then we, you know, sayeverything's fine, or we people,
please.
Or we act like we never.
That we're just the most chill people.
We never get upset.
We, you know, nothing bothers us.
(12:11):
What's.
What's happening is we arerepressing these things.
And so this is why I'm justtalking about this and talking about
today.
If we want to show up, beingfully present, if we want to show
up and be the bestambassadors, right, in our faith,
but also in our lives, if wewant to do our most creative work,
we want to be our most lovingselves, we got to start with loving
(12:35):
ourselves.
We have to start doing that bystarting to get clear on what we
need, what we want, what we feel.
Maybe something we've beenholding on to that we're afraid to
say, right?
We need to speak the wordsthat are stuck in our bodies.
(12:58):
I can tell you years ago, Iused to get.
The only time I would getsick, or.
I'm sorry, the only way Iwould get sick is I would get hoarse.
So I might get a littlecongested in my, you know, nasal
area, sinuses, but I would get horse.
So my throat area.
Well, it turns out often wherewe get sick in our body is tied to
(13:21):
our thoughts or what we'rerepressing or what we're holding,
what we're not speaking, right?
And it turns out that, yes, Ihave often probably held onto things
and not spoke them out loud, right?
Like in the.
It's fine, girl, or whateveryou want is fine.
(13:41):
But it was impacting me.
It literally was taking myvoice away because I wasn't speaking
up for myself.
Do you see what I'm saying?
And so I am going to just talkabout how can we.
How can we change this?
So obviously we can't.
We're not going to dig in deepinto this today, but I wanted to
(14:02):
just give you one strategy tostart working on this, okay?
So it.
You can either journal, sojust get a piece of paper and then
just write down you Know,like, what is it that keeps bubbling
to the surface right in my thoughts?
Or what is it that you feellike you're frustrated or angry with
(14:24):
someone still, it just keepscoming up for you.
Maybe not every day, but morethan you know, it's.
It won't go.
So you have some unforgiveness.
Maybe there's hurt in yourlife that happened, or you feel unseen,
maybe you feel unloved, maybeyou've never even admitted that from
something when you were youngthat happened.
(14:46):
Or maybe it was in yourmarriage, you, you, maybe your husband
was verbally hurtful, whateverit might be.
But just write down, like,what is it that you don't say out
loud because you're afraid tosay it?
Like, what is that?
And write it down.
Now here's the good news.
(15:06):
You do not have to keep thispiece of paper because I understand
it can be scary to writesomething down because what if someone
saw it?
What if you didn't wantsomeone to see it?
Well, guess what?
You can write it down and thenyou can rip it up, you can shred
it, or you can go burn it, sitaround the fire pit and burn that
paper.
Do you know how freeing thatis like to release those thoughts?
(15:29):
And so that's the first thingI'd say is journal.
Now if you don't want tojournal, that's not your thing and
you don't want to try that,then you can try doing what's called
a mental body scan.
And you can Google that andsearch for exactly how to do it.
But it's basically a stressrelieving technique.
But it also just helps you get.
(15:50):
Listen to your body to getmore in touch with your mind and
your body.
But you basically, you know,sit in a quiet spot and you close
your eyes and then youliterally think about, you know,
your mind and then your neck,your shoulders, right?
Your arms, your chest, your stomach.
Like, you go down slowlythrough each part, you know, pause
(16:11):
on it and think about whatyou're feeling.
Do you feel a discomfort somewhere?
Do you feel a tightness inyour stomach?
Are thoughts coming to youwhen you think about, you know, your
mind or your stomach?
Maybe it's your, your hands,whatever it might be, maybe it's
tightness.
You feel tightness on yourshoulders or your back.
(16:33):
Just always, you know, is justreally bothering you and you hold
on to that and then you allowyourself to see what is it you're
thinking, what are you feeling?
Is there discomfort?
Because it'll startpinpointing what's going on with
you.
Now, while that might be alittle different than writing down
thoughts in your head, it willstart to let you reconnect your mind
(16:56):
and your body together.
And that's the beginning steps.
It's for us to get back intouch with ourselves.
And some of you might bethinking, well, how does this tie
into living a life of faithand all of that?
Well, it really does, becauseif we want to show up and do our
best work, if we want to showup as Christians or anyone, we have
(17:17):
to be connected with ourselves.
How can we fully invite theHoly Spirit in?
How can we fully help otherpeople if we can't get clear on what
we need and make sure that we're.
We're getting.
We're fulfilling those needs, right?
If we don't feel loved or wedon't feel heard or we don't feel
(17:40):
safe, I mean, anything.
And it can be for minor waysthat we don't feel this, or it can
be from 30 years ago.
We still feel it deep in our bodies.
If we can't address that, howcan we ever help anyone else feel
those things?
And so, I mean, maybe we canat the surface level, but if we truly,
deeply want to do our bestwork, I think we have to start doing
(18:02):
the work on ourselves.
And so this is really just anintroduction into this.
I also wanted to share onelittle idea with you from someone
on Instagram that I follow,Orion Mitchell Brown.
And he's talking about.
He basically had a lot ofserious autoimmune diseases when
(18:26):
he was younger.
And he went to all thedoctors, he did all the things, and
he wasn't getting better, andhe was really having a lot of mental
and physical pain and problems.
But anyway, so he's now healed.
Him, gotten.
He's healed.
And a lot of it had to dowith, right, his feelings and his
thoughts, right?
And I think maybe faith, too.
(18:47):
But he has kind of like fivesteps of things to write down and
what to do and kind of how tokind of sit with those.
Those ideas.
But I just want to share withone with you today.
He.
He'll write down or say tohimself, I nourish my body with love
and intention.
And he will.
What he'll do is he'll get areally healthy meal, one really nice
(19:08):
meal a day at least.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, one that's just full.
Full of, like, beautifulvegetables and nourishing food.
And he makes sure he's presentfor that meal, right?
He sits there, he enjoys the meal.
He's not on his phone, thatsort of thing.
And he just lets himself know,like, I'm nourishing my body with
(19:29):
love and intention.
You can also do that and say,how am I going to nourish my body
with love and intention?
Are you going to take a walkoutside, really connect and see the
beauty in nature?
Are you going to sit outsideand just have 10 minutes of quiet
to reconnect with yourself, toconnect with God?
Like you just.
(19:49):
We need to start saying thesethings, we need to start making them
important and not staying in astate of constant stress or stress
response because our bodiescan't heal there.
Our bodies aren't.
We're really disconnected fromour bodies when we stay in that heightened
stress state.
And we want to change thatbecause we do not feel the fruit
(20:13):
of the spirit when we stay inthat high stress state, because how
can we feel more joy andpeace, calmness and all these things
when we're amped up, goingfrom thing to thing?
We never, we never allow ourbodies to reset.
And so it's so important.
And I hope that this Mother'sDay, whether you're a mom or not,
(20:36):
I hope that you'll take alittle time to have 10 minutes of
silence, sit quietly and meditate.
And by that I mean, like, justclear your mind of most thoughts
and let yourself think ofcalming, positive things.
Try the body scan orjournaling, you know, right before
(20:59):
you go to bed, or first thingin the morning, maybe on your lunch
break.
Just make this declarationthat you are going to start giving
yourself a little time everyday to reconnect, to reset, to get
with God.
And you'll find that your lifewill start changing because we are
(21:22):
not winning awards for doingthe most, and we're not going to
win awards for being the moststressed out or, or anxious or overbooked.
But we will find accoladeswhen we show up, present.
When we slow down, we reallyconnect with ourselves and we start
being the branch to otherpeople, when we start being the ambassadors
(21:46):
to other people, when we startbeing available to other people because
we're first available toourselves, everything is deeper,
right?
And we are here to do good, todo, to be kind, to help other people
fix things.
And God wants us to show up incommunity, and the only way we do
that is if we're whole and healthy.
(22:07):
And it doesn't mean we're notworks in progress.
We surely are, right?
But we start by showing up incommunity even more when we start
showing up for ourselves.
So on that note, I just wantto say happy Mother's day.
I hope you have a beautifulday and I will be back with you next
week.
(22:28):
I did want to let you know iftoday's episode connected with you
in some way.
I wanted to share that I amlooking to talk to women who want
to feel better in their days.
They want to feel moreenergized, they want to feel good,
they want to feel reconnectedwith theirselves.
I am starting to do 15 to 20minute calls and I really just want
(22:51):
to understand are you somebodythat wants more energy?
Do you feel like there's someof your habits that are just draining
you?
You want to feel more likeyourself again?
You want to feel more rested?
Maybe you just feel like youhave brain fog or that you just feel
worn down?
Well, I am working on awellness reset and so if this interests
(23:15):
you, check out my show notes.
There's a link to schedule aquick zoom call with me.
I really just want to find outfrom you firsthand what are your
biggest challenges right now?
What have you tried?
What isn't working?
And what would it mean if youcould shift your life in a way that
you felt better, you feltenergized, you felt ready to take
on whatever's next for you,your next season.
(23:39):
So if that's of interest toyou, click on the calendar link in
my show notes.
Also, if you haven't already,head over to my website and grab
my Reignite youe PassionWorkbook because it really helps
you start tapping into what isit you want?
What do you dream of?
What did you used to enjoydoing that maybe you've put on pause?
(24:00):
But if that's of interest toyou, head over to KristenFitch.com,
go to my Freebies page andgrab the Reignite youe Passion Workbook.
Thanks again for listening tothe show and if you enjoyed today's
episode, we would love it ifyou could take a minute to leave
a rating and review on ApplePodcast because it's helps our show
get discovered by more people.
Today's going to be all aboutare we available to people in our
lives, really available.
And we're also going to talkabout do we also make time so that
we can reset so that we can berefreshed and reset?
Because I think we need tolook at both sides of that coin.
So today is all about divinginto that.
Hey.
Hey friends.
(00:21):
Welcome back to Faithfield Woman.
This is your host, Kristen,and I'm so glad you've joined me
today.
Hey friend, are you cravingdeeper faith, renewed purpose and
more joy in your everyday life?
Welcome to Faith Fueled Womanpodcast that helps Christian women
grow spiritually pursue God'scalling and embrace the abundant
life he has for you.
I'm Kristin, an encourager,mentor, entrepreneur, wife and mom,
(00:44):
here to uplift, equip andinspire you with faith filled conversations
and biblical wisdom.
Subscribe now so you nevermiss an episode and join our faith
fueled community for more encouragement.
Right, here we go.
Let's dive in.
So the first thing I want totalk about is how available are we
to people in our lives?
And for those of you that havebeen listening along to the podcast
(01:06):
for some time, I haveregularly shared quotes and then
also just little tidbits fromthe devotional by Bob Goff called
Catching Whimsy.
And his devotional for today,May 9th has really kind of clicked
with me again.
So I wanted to share somethingabout it because I think it's, it's
important and I think hebrings it up because he sees how
(01:30):
unavailable people are.
So let me, let me reverse andexplain that a little bit.
So most of us may be somewhatavailable to someone in our lives.
Our, if we're married, maybeour spouse, if we have kids, our
children, maybe a relative, aclose relative or two, or maybe a
close friend or something like that.
(01:51):
But many of us, I think, canclose off right?
We can run to safety, run toour homes, we can keep our noses
in our devices when we'rewaiting at the doctor's office or
in the checkout line becauseit's so easy to do that now.
(02:11):
But it begs the question, arewe available?
Are we available to the peoplearound us?
Are we available to peoplethat might be interested in working
with us or people in our communities?
Maybe they go to our kids,same schools, maybe they're, they're
on our kids sports teams,whoever it might be.
And honestly, are we actuallyavailable to the people in our lives,
(02:33):
like really available?
Are we present?
And I'm shares to Corinthians5:20 for today's devotional, which
is we Are therefore Christ'sambassadors, as though God were making
his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ'sbehalf, be reconciled to God.
Bob goes on to explain somedifferent roles that he has right
(02:57):
in the world.
But he also says, you know,while he's an ambassador to Uganda,
that's a whole other story.
But he explains that he justtries to be available to people and
that that's our job, right?
It's our job as Christians tobe Christ's ambassadors.
And he says as Christambassadors, we need to be available,
(03:18):
but we also need a message of safety.
We need to have a reputationfor being a safe person.
People can bring theirconcerns, questions and needs to.
Being a Christian ambassadordoesn't mean being the top dog.
That's that role belongs toJesus instead.
It means that we're availableand safe and offer protection.
But he basically, you know,explains that often on Wednesdays
(03:40):
he's at Disneyland inCalifornia on Tom Sawyer island,
and he is available for peopleto talk to him.
He also, for many books back,puts his cell phone number in the
back of his books.
I mean, this is a guy that'swritten lots of books.
This is a guy that a lot ofpeople know.
And I think to date he's had 2million, 2 million people call him.
(04:03):
Okay?
So it basically says, his booksays, Bob's passion is people.
He'd love to hear from you ifyou want to email him and then you
can also follow him on Instagram.
Here's his cell phone numberif you want to give him a call.
Folks, that level ofavailability is so over the top,
right?
Most of us can't imagine that.
(04:26):
But my question, right, mychallenge to each of us, including
myself, is what would it looklike if we made ourselves more available?
Like really present and reallyavailable to anyone that needed our
help, needed a listening ear,just needed somebody to encourage
(04:46):
them for a minute.
What would that look like?
How would that change people'slives around us?
And how would that change our life?
Imagine all the conversations,all the connections that Bob's made,
all the people that he's encouraged.
I think sometimes we get sostuck in our day to day lives with
(05:07):
our heads down that we forgetto look at people that can inspire
us, that can make us shift ourperspective and say, oh my gosh,
like I thought I wasavailable, but what if we really
sit on that for a minute andask ourselves, how available am I
when I'm walking to my car, doI put my head down?
(05:28):
Or when I see somebody I sortof know, do I Walk the other way.
When I am waiting in line, doI strike up a conversation with somebody
or do I just put my nose in my phone?
When I'm sitting at the dinnertable or on the sofa and my spouse
or my kid comes in, what am I doing?
And my present is my phone set down.
(05:51):
But I think many of us havedefined available as just doing what
we need to do, right?
Like, but maybe that's justthe tip of the iceberg.
What happens if we try more?
What happens if we tell peoplewe are available?
Call us, reach out, I'll meetyou for coffee anytime.
(06:11):
Of course.
Anytime, meaning when you'reable, right?
I mean, I'm not saying you candrop everything.
You know, obviously you have a job.
It might have set hours.
You may have to be atdifferent other, you know, events
or helping your family.
What I am saying is, how wouldour life change if we became Christ
ambassadors?
If we were available to people?
(06:33):
Like, really available to people?
And why am I talking aboutthis today?
And why should it matter toall of us?
I think it's because when weactually show up for people, like,
we show up for them in waysthat are holy, right?
In ways that is Christ in usshowing up in the world, everything
(06:56):
changes.
We feel better, we feel lighter.
The people around us feel sosupported, they feel encouraged,
they feel seen and heard.
It changes the world, right?
It is a ripple that happensthrough the world and it may just
make those people more openand more available to people in their
(07:17):
lives.
And so my first challenge fortoday is that how can we do one tangible
thing or maybe more tangiblethings to be more available to the
people around us?
For instance, I don't share myphone number everywhere online.
And I surely don't say topeople, hey, just reach out to me
(07:38):
anytime, you know, if you justwant encouragement.
Now, I do tell people they canDM me, right?
And things like that.
But could I take it further?
Did I check in with my friendsthat don't live nearby more often?
Would I be more encouraging tosome of the groups that I'm in online?
Would I show up fully presentand ready to be Christ ambassador?
(08:03):
Can I show up and actually beavailable to people and tell them
I'm available even when it'suncomfortable, even when I don't
know what they're going toask, even when it might be inconvenient?
Now, Bob might not answer hisphone 24 7.
I'm sure he has someboundaries around that, right?
(08:24):
Like he's not going to answerthe phone possibly in the Middle
of the night.
I do not know the answer to that.
But what I am saying is whenhe is available to take the call
or to return the call, he doesit, even though it takes time from
his, you know, all the otherprojects, all the other writing he
does, all the other workshopsthat he's doing, hit from his family
(08:47):
time because he sees beingavailable, being an ambassador to
Christ as one of the mostimportant things he does.
Ah, I just thought that wassuch good food for thought.
And I'd love to hear if that.
If you connected with that.
But I do want to shift also tohow are we finding time to reset
(09:09):
ourselves, to get refreshed ourselves.
And Mother's Day is Sunday.
Today's Friday.
And I just one wanted to sayhappy Mother's Day to all the moms
that are listening.
I hope you have just abeautiful and blessed day, whether
you're spending it byyourself, whether you're spending
it with maybe a spouse or somefriends, or maybe you're able to
spend it with your kids if youhave children.
(09:31):
But I just wanted to say happyMother's Day.
And I know for some people,Mother's Day can be a hard and bitter
day.
Maybe you've lost a child ormaybe you had a miscarriage or so
many other things.
Maybe you have a strainedrelationship with your own mom.
So just know that I'm sendingyou all the love, and I hope you
(09:52):
still can find beauty andgrace in this day that we celebrate
moms, right?
Because really, let's justcelebrate each other, you know, for
showing up and.
And loving each other and forbeing a collective that helps raise
up other people and helpsother people be seen and heard and.
And celebrate other people,whether it's today or a different
(10:14):
day.
Okay, so let's dive in.
I wanted to talk about thistoday because I find that women,
and also especially moms, canreally struggle to speak their desires,
to speak what they need toallow themselves to rest, to allow
(10:37):
themselves time to be refreshed.
But, and I've talked aboutthis on at least one or two episodes
before, there's real impact inus not doing that.
There's real consequences.
I just started reading thebook by Gabor Mate, or I think it's
Mate, or Matt called when thebody says no, I believe.
(11:02):
And it's about exploring thestress, stress disease connection.
And he is an MD basically.
I've heard.
I've seen stats from himbefore, but he says 80% of all autoimmune
diseases show up in women.
And the reason is we repressemotions, we repress feelings, we
(11:24):
repress our anger, we repressspeaking our truth.
And by anger, I obviouslydon't mean we should go around being
like, screaming at people and angry.
Like when we have something orboiling up inside of us, we.
We hold it in.
There's real impact.
And don't get me wrong, menand women both do this.
And a lot of us, it stems fromchildhood or early experiences or
(11:50):
patterns, right?
In relationships we've had inthe past where we are trying to find
a strategy to cope.
And then we, you know, sayeverything's fine, or we people,
please.
Or we act like we never.
That we're just the most chill people.
We never get upset.
We, you know, nothing bothers us.
(12:11):
What's.
What's happening is we arerepressing these things.
And so this is why I'm justtalking about this and talking about
today.
If we want to show up, beingfully present, if we want to show
up and be the bestambassadors, right, in our faith,
but also in our lives, if wewant to do our most creative work,
we want to be our most lovingselves, we got to start with loving
(12:35):
ourselves.
We have to start doing that bystarting to get clear on what we
need, what we want, what we feel.
Maybe something we've beenholding on to that we're afraid to
say, right?
We need to speak the wordsthat are stuck in our bodies.
(12:58):
I can tell you years ago, Iused to get.
The only time I would getsick, or.
I'm sorry, the only way Iwould get sick is I would get hoarse.
So I might get a littlecongested in my, you know, nasal
area, sinuses, but I would get horse.
So my throat area.
Well, it turns out often wherewe get sick in our body is tied to
(13:21):
our thoughts or what we'rerepressing or what we're holding,
what we're not speaking, right?
And it turns out that, yes, Ihave often probably held onto things
and not spoke them out loud, right?
Like in the.
It's fine, girl, or whateveryou want is fine.
(13:41):
But it was impacting me.
It literally was taking myvoice away because I wasn't speaking
up for myself.
Do you see what I'm saying?
And so I am going to just talkabout how can we.
How can we change this?
So obviously we can't.
We're not going to dig in deepinto this today, but I wanted to
(14:02):
just give you one strategy tostart working on this, okay?
So it.
You can either journal, sojust get a piece of paper and then
just write down you Know,like, what is it that keeps bubbling
to the surface right in my thoughts?
Or what is it that you feellike you're frustrated or angry with
(14:24):
someone still, it just keepscoming up for you.
Maybe not every day, but morethan you know, it's.
It won't go.
So you have some unforgiveness.
Maybe there's hurt in yourlife that happened, or you feel unseen,
maybe you feel unloved, maybeyou've never even admitted that from
something when you were youngthat happened.
(14:46):
Or maybe it was in yourmarriage, you, you, maybe your husband
was verbally hurtful, whateverit might be.
But just write down, like,what is it that you don't say out
loud because you're afraid tosay it?
Like, what is that?
And write it down.
Now here's the good news.
(15:06):
You do not have to keep thispiece of paper because I understand
it can be scary to writesomething down because what if someone
saw it?
What if you didn't wantsomeone to see it?
Well, guess what?
You can write it down and thenyou can rip it up, you can shred
it, or you can go burn it, sitaround the fire pit and burn that
paper.
Do you know how freeing thatis like to release those thoughts?
(15:29):
And so that's the first thingI'd say is journal.
Now if you don't want tojournal, that's not your thing and
you don't want to try that,then you can try doing what's called
a mental body scan.
And you can Google that andsearch for exactly how to do it.
But it's basically a stressrelieving technique.
But it also just helps you get.
(15:50):
Listen to your body to getmore in touch with your mind and
your body.
But you basically, you know,sit in a quiet spot and you close
your eyes and then youliterally think about, you know,
your mind and then your neck,your shoulders, right?
Your arms, your chest, your stomach.
Like, you go down slowlythrough each part, you know, pause
(16:11):
on it and think about whatyou're feeling.
Do you feel a discomfort somewhere?
Do you feel a tightness inyour stomach?
Are thoughts coming to youwhen you think about, you know, your
mind or your stomach?
Maybe it's your, your hands,whatever it might be, maybe it's
tightness.
You feel tightness on yourshoulders or your back.
(16:33):
Just always, you know, is justreally bothering you and you hold
on to that and then you allowyourself to see what is it you're
thinking, what are you feeling?
Is there discomfort?
Because it'll startpinpointing what's going on with
you.
Now, while that might be alittle different than writing down
thoughts in your head, it willstart to let you reconnect your mind
(16:56):
and your body together.
And that's the beginning steps.
It's for us to get back intouch with ourselves.
And some of you might bethinking, well, how does this tie
into living a life of faithand all of that?
Well, it really does, becauseif we want to show up and do our
best work, if we want to showup as Christians or anyone, we have
(17:17):
to be connected with ourselves.
How can we fully invite theHoly Spirit in?
How can we fully help otherpeople if we can't get clear on what
we need and make sure that we're.
We're getting.
We're fulfilling those needs, right?
If we don't feel loved or wedon't feel heard or we don't feel
(17:40):
safe, I mean, anything.
And it can be for minor waysthat we don't feel this, or it can
be from 30 years ago.
We still feel it deep in our bodies.
If we can't address that, howcan we ever help anyone else feel
those things?
And so, I mean, maybe we canat the surface level, but if we truly,
deeply want to do our bestwork, I think we have to start doing
(18:02):
the work on ourselves.
And so this is really just anintroduction into this.
I also wanted to share onelittle idea with you from someone
on Instagram that I follow,Orion Mitchell Brown.
And he's talking about.
He basically had a lot ofserious autoimmune diseases when
(18:26):
he was younger.
And he went to all thedoctors, he did all the things, and
he wasn't getting better, andhe was really having a lot of mental
and physical pain and problems.
But anyway, so he's now healed.
Him, gotten.
He's healed.
And a lot of it had to dowith, right, his feelings and his
thoughts, right?
And I think maybe faith, too.
(18:47):
But he has kind of like fivesteps of things to write down and
what to do and kind of how tokind of sit with those.
Those ideas.
But I just want to share withone with you today.
He.
He'll write down or say tohimself, I nourish my body with love
and intention.
And he will.
What he'll do is he'll get areally healthy meal, one really nice
(19:08):
meal a day at least.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, one that's just full.
Full of, like, beautifulvegetables and nourishing food.
And he makes sure he's presentfor that meal, right?
He sits there, he enjoys the meal.
He's not on his phone, thatsort of thing.
And he just lets himself know,like, I'm nourishing my body with
(19:29):
love and intention.
You can also do that and say,how am I going to nourish my body
with love and intention?
Are you going to take a walkoutside, really connect and see the
beauty in nature?
Are you going to sit outsideand just have 10 minutes of quiet
to reconnect with yourself, toconnect with God?
Like you just.
(19:49):
We need to start saying thesethings, we need to start making them
important and not staying in astate of constant stress or stress
response because our bodiescan't heal there.
Our bodies aren't.
We're really disconnected fromour bodies when we stay in that heightened
stress state.
And we want to change thatbecause we do not feel the fruit
(20:13):
of the spirit when we stay inthat high stress state, because how
can we feel more joy andpeace, calmness and all these things
when we're amped up, goingfrom thing to thing?
We never, we never allow ourbodies to reset.
And so it's so important.
And I hope that this Mother'sDay, whether you're a mom or not,
(20:36):
I hope that you'll take alittle time to have 10 minutes of
silence, sit quietly and meditate.
And by that I mean, like, justclear your mind of most thoughts
and let yourself think ofcalming, positive things.
Try the body scan orjournaling, you know, right before
(20:59):
you go to bed, or first thingin the morning, maybe on your lunch
break.
Just make this declarationthat you are going to start giving
yourself a little time everyday to reconnect, to reset, to get
with God.
And you'll find that your lifewill start changing because we are
(21:22):
not winning awards for doingthe most, and we're not going to
win awards for being the moststressed out or, or anxious or overbooked.
But we will find accoladeswhen we show up, present.
When we slow down, we reallyconnect with ourselves and we start
being the branch to otherpeople, when we start being the ambassadors
(21:46):
to other people, when we startbeing available to other people because
we're first available toourselves, everything is deeper,
right?
And we are here to do good, todo, to be kind, to help other people
fix things.
And God wants us to show up incommunity, and the only way we do
that is if we're whole and healthy.
(22:07):
And it doesn't mean we're notworks in progress.
We surely are, right?
But we start by showing up incommunity even more when we start
showing up for ourselves.
So on that note, I just wantto say happy Mother's day.
I hope you have a beautifulday and I will be back with you next
week.
(22:28):
I did want to let you know iftoday's episode connected with you
in some way.
I wanted to share that I amlooking to talk to women who want
to feel better in their days.
They want to feel moreenergized, they want to feel good,
they want to feel reconnectedwith theirselves.
I am starting to do 15 to 20minute calls and I really just want
(22:51):
to understand are you somebodythat wants more energy?
Do you feel like there's someof your habits that are just draining
you?
You want to feel more likeyourself again?
You want to feel more rested?
Maybe you just feel like youhave brain fog or that you just feel
worn down?
Well, I am working on awellness reset and so if this interests
(23:15):
you, check out my show notes.
There's a link to schedule aquick zoom call with me.
I really just want to find outfrom you firsthand what are your
biggest challenges right now?
What have you tried?
What isn't working?
And what would it mean if youcould shift your life in a way that
you felt better, you feltenergized, you felt ready to take
on whatever's next for you,your next season.
(23:39):
So if that's of interest toyou, click on the calendar link in
my show notes.
Also, if you haven't already,head over to my website and grab
my Reignite youe PassionWorkbook because it really helps
you start tapping into what isit you want?
What do you dream of?
What did you used to enjoydoing that maybe you've put on pause?
(24:00):
But if that's of interest toyou, head over to KristenFitch.com,
go to my Freebies page andgrab the Reignite youe Passion Workbook.
Thanks again for listening tothe show and if you enjoyed today's
episode, we would love it ifyou could take a minute to leave
a rating and review on ApplePodcast because it's helps our show
get discovered by more people.
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