June 27, 2025 • 24 mins
Have you ever looked around and wondered, "Is this really it?"
In this episode of Faith Fueled Woman, we’re talking about what it means to wake up in midlife and realize you’ve lost touch with your passion—and how to start finding it again in small, meaningful ways. Whether you've felt stuck in routine, unsure of what’s next, or like you’ve been living everyone else’s expectations, you’re not alone.
We’ll reflect on powerful ideas from Mark Batterson, talk about the fear that keeps so many women playing small, and share simple but bold steps to help you reconnect with the dreams and desires God placed in your heart.
Because it’s not too late—and you’re not too far off track—to build a life that feels like you again.
If you’re ready to trade inner criticism for clarity, and overwhelm for lasting peace, this episode is for you. And if you'd like to jump start shifting your thoughts and experiencing more joy go grab my free Rewire Your Mind Guide to help you get started. Rewire Your Mind Guide
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!
What to feel more energized in midlife? Grab my 5 Day Energy Reset Jump Start Guide here.
Ready to work with Kristin to make a shift in your life? Click here to get started.
Takeaways
- Passion doesn’t always come back in a big moment—it often starts with one small yes.
- Midlife is a powerful season to reawaken to the life God has been nudging you toward.
- You don’t have to burn everything down to start again—just begin with what lights you up.
- Fear and comfort zones will always try to keep you from stepping out—but your faith is bigger.
- Community and encouragement make the difference when you're reigniting your dreams.
- God planted those desires in you for a reason—and it’s time to stop putting them on hold.
Christian women 40+, finding your passion again, midlife transformation, small steps to a fulfilling life, reignite your purpose, God-given dreams, Mark Batterson quotes, Christian podcast for women, waking up in midlife, purpose-driven life for women, Christian identity in midlife. how to start over in your 40s or 50s, overcoming fear with faith, living with intention and faith, realigning with God's purpose, midlife personal growth, stepping into your calling, journaling for self-discovery
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hey, friends, and welcome backto Faithfield Woman.
This is your host, Kristen.
Today we are diving into whatare those small steps that you can
take to create a life you loveto begin again when you maybe feel
like you've lost yourselfalong the way of life, that you are
on autopilot and you knowthere's more and you want more.
(00:22):
So this is your wake up call.
This is the conversation we'regoing to have about how we, we can
change our lives and step intoeverything that God has for us and
wants for us in our lives.
All right, so whether you area woman like me in midlife or whether
you're someone a little bityounger or you're past midlife, this
conversation applies to all ofus because so often we get stuck
(00:47):
in patterns and thoughts thatwe have to live our lives a certain
way.
We, whether it's because it'swhat our parents modeled for us,
whether it's because we havebeen given definitions of what a
successful life looks like orwhat a life of a Christian woman
should look like or whateverit might be.
But so often we are followinga path that isn't aligned with what's
(01:14):
most in our soul, what we mostfeel aligned with for what we're
designed for, and also forwhat we truly want, what really matters
to us, not what we were toldshould matter to us.
And so I want to share withyou a little bit about what Mark
Batterson says in Chase the Lion.
And I know I share what hesays, you know, on occasion on the
(01:35):
show because he just, he justhas a way of saying things.
All right, so here's what hesays related to this topic of today.
He says most of us spend ourlives running away from the things
we're afraid of.
We forfeit our dreams on thealtar of fear or we chase after the
wrong thing.
We're so busy climbing theladder of success that we fail to
(01:55):
realize it's leaning againstthe wrong wall.
And he says at the end of ourlives, our greatest regrets will
be the God ordainedopportunities we left on the table,
the God given passions wedidn't pursue and the God sized dreams
we didn't go after because welet fear dictate our decisions.
And I would add to that.
It's not just fear that we letdictate our decisions so often.
(02:17):
It's that we get busy servingour families.
We get busy serving our communities.
We set aside the things thatmaybe as a young adult or a teen
or you know, someone into our20s, we set things aside that we
had an interest in or we werepassionate about or maybe that we
(02:38):
started to pursue.
I think so many of us thoughtwe couldn't have it.
Both of those things or allthe things, right?
Like maybe we paused careersor maybe we didn't even like the
career we were in to have afamily or we went on a certain path
because it's what our parentsdid, or we knew that it would be
(02:58):
a stable career path or themoney would be good or whatever it
might be.
And so I don't think it's justfear, right, or chasing up the wrong
wall.
I think it's that sometimes wethought we had to put something on
hold or even set aside anidentity of something that was important
to us.
And I'm here to tell you thatGod actually designed us with these
(03:22):
passions, these interests,these desires, these longing in these
dreams because he has calledus to use these things in the world.
And obviously I'm not sayingthere's never desires that aren't
aligned with what I'm talkingabout, but I think you know what
I mean.
I'm talking about the desiresof your heart that deep down you
(03:44):
know are tied to your gifts,your talents, the things you're curious
about, right?
So that's what I'm talking about.
I'm not talking about desiresto do things that you know, don't
align with who we are at, youknow, as a Christian woman.
Okay?
So he also, Mark Battersonalso goes on to say most people believe
(04:06):
God is real, but few peopleactually live like it.
The result is a widening gapbetween their theology and the reality.
They allow their circumstancesto get between them and God instead
of letting God get betweenthem and their circumstances.
And he goes on to say, wheneverything's said and done, God isn't
going to say well said, wellthought or well planned.
(04:27):
There is one measuring stick.
Stick well done, good andfaithful servant.
And he explains, faithfulnessis not holding down the fort.
Faithfulness is chasing 500pound lions.
And he said there is a brandof religiosity.
I'm sure I said that wrong.
That seems satisfied withbreaking even.
(04:48):
Don't do this, don't do thatand you'll be okay.
The problem with that is this.
You can do nothing wrong andstill do nothing right.
Breaking even is breaking bad.
God has called us to playoffense with our lives.
Those who simply run away fromwhat's wrong will never amount to
more than half.
Christians, the only way totap your God given potential to fulfill
your God ordained destiny isto chase 500 pound lions.
(05:12):
Let's break that down becauseI'm going to be honest, I think for
a lot of us this is notsomething we've heard before, especially
as women, for sure.
Obviously there's so manywomen that are part of our communities,
women that might be listeningthis, that we are doing things in
the world, right?
Whether that's that we'reserving in our church, we're going
(05:33):
on mission trips where we'respeaking to people or we're writing
books, or we are bringingwomen together, right, For Bible
study or community, or we'rejust raising up our families.
Those are all good andimportant things.
But what he's talking about isif the only thing we did was read
(05:53):
our Bible, but we never stepoutside our own door, especially
if our kids aren't there, right?
Like in other words, then wehave missed the opportunity to be
the hands and feet of Christin the world.
In other words, we can befaithful and pray, we can be faithful
and read God's word and thoseare good and important things.
(06:17):
But we're called to do morethan that.
And that is what he's talkingabout and I love it.
Because what he's saying is wehave a role to play and that role
to play is in the world, it'sof the world.
He goes on then to say, God'sdream for your life is so much bigger,
so much better than breaking even.
If you focus on not makingmistakes, you won't make a difference.
(06:39):
You don't overcome sin byfocusing on not sinning.
You need a dream that isbigger and better than the temptations
you're trying to overcome.
You need a dream that doesn'tallow you to become spiritually sidetracked.
A dream that demands yourutmost for his highest and the last
thing he says that I wanted toshare with you.
And then I'm going to give youa couple journal prompts or questions
(07:02):
that you can ask yourself.
But he says, oops, let me move this.
When we lack the guts to goafter 500 pound lions, we rob God
of the glory he deserves.
By definition, a God sizeddream will be beyond your ability,
beyond your resources.
Unless God does it, it can'tbe done.
(07:23):
Amen to that.
And that is precisely how Godgets the glory.
He does things we can't do, sowe can't take credit for them.
God honors big dreams becausebig dreams honor God.
And he just says, destiny isnot a mystery.
Destiny is a decision.
(07:43):
A difficult decision, a daringdecision, counterintuitive decision.
You fulfill your destiny oneopportunity at a time.
Of course those Opportunitiesoften come disguised as 500 pound
problems.
Landing in a pit with a lionon a snowy day qualifies as a bad
day, a bad break.
But Ben Andiah didn't see itas bad luck.
(08:04):
He saw it as a big break.
If you're looking for anexcuse, you'll always find one.
If you're looking for anopportunity, you'll always find one.
Lion chasers have an eye for opportunity.
There are amazingopportunities all around us, I'm
sorry, all around us all the time.
But you have to see them toseize them.
Then you need two o' clock inthe morning courage to taste them.
(08:28):
And I think he would also say,he says it somewhere else in the
book.
It's going to take us God'sresources and other people to make
these God sized dreams happen.
I've definitely interviewedplenty of people on this podcast
that have stepped into Godsized dreams, you know, and he's
(08:49):
calling us to do the same.
Ours might look different thanthe next person, ours might look
different than our friends,but we have to have the courage to
step into those, right?
And it doesn't start on day one.
He's not asking us to do thishuge thing often it's just having
one bit of obedience.
(09:11):
Mark Patterson talks aboutbefore they had bought one of their
properties up in dc.
They own quite a fewproperties now, the church, you know,
the group.
And, and he said that he hadfound a book about the old property
or he had found a stub of some sort.
I forget what it was.
But the point is, is he didn'tknow he was going to get that, that
(09:33):
house, but he felt thisprompting and so he purchased something
that later would help themactually get it or would know more
information about it.
So sometimes it's just thosesmall acts of faith and then showing
God that you are taking a step forward.
It might be a really small step.
I've shared this with youbefore, but I bought my microphone
(09:54):
years before I started thisfaith podcast.
I started another podcastprior to this one that still, I still
do as well.
And I actually want to addressthe feeling or the sentiment that
I hear sometimes which is thatwe might feel selfish for wanting
(10:14):
more or less or that we shouldfeel selfish for wanting more.
But what we're talking aboutis not wanting more materialistic
things.
And I don't think that that'sbad as long as they're.
For instance, at some point Iwould like to move, you know, onto
the water and it would be adifferent house.
It's not necessarily that Iwant a Bigger house.
(10:36):
But I want a house that canfit all my family as my kids get
older.
And if they have, you know,they're bringing people with them
or if they have families or,you know, that would have an extra
part of the house that wecould have separate, we could have
people come there, you know,parents, things like that.
And so that's not selfish, right?
(10:57):
Like I have a real reason andI have a real heart reason for wanting
that property.
I want our kids to want tocome hang out with us, right?
I want to be able to havepeople there.
And maybe, you know, if it's aseparate lockout unit, we can also
invite people there to take abreak, to take a rest that might
not otherwise fit that in, right?
(11:19):
People we know or people weknow that know them, stuff like that.
So, you know, I think thething is, is we're not being selfish
for wanting maybe a differentcareer one day or maybe you love
doing certain things, but Ithink that's put on your heart so
that you can use it to serve people.
You can bless people with thething you love doing.
(11:42):
And when we do the thing thatwe're, they're good at, right?
And that comes to us maybeeasier than for some people often
that may allow us to just havethe life we want, but have life we
want.
I'm really talking about thatwe can feel good in our lives, right?
(12:02):
And I don't mean that thatmeans there's nothing hard that happens.
I'm just talking about feelingat peace, feeling joy, feeling contented,
not feeling like we'rehustling for the wrong reasons.
And I think there's adifference, right?
That whole thing that MarkBatterson said about putting our
ladder on the wrong buildingor on the wrong path or chasing completely
(12:27):
the wrong thing versus when weget lined up with what God's will
is for us and what's in ourheart already, right?
That's been put there.
Things come and seem easierbecause we are in accordance with
his plan for our life.
And you know, so I just wantto point that out because I think
there is definitely manydifferent messages, right, in different
(12:52):
Christian circles or differentdenominations that talk about different
types of theology.
And so I, I just want to beclear, right?
This is not like talking aboutprosperity theology or not.
This is just saying think weare called to step into these, these
(13:13):
God given desires that we havethese longings and then to go after
these God sized dreams thatGod put on our heart.
We'll know when they line upwith God, right?
We're not Talking about you'resaying you want to make $50 million
just to make $50 million, right.
Like there has to be a reasonbehind the things.
(13:35):
And most of us just want alife that feels right.
Right.
We're not after a certainnumber or something like that.
Okay, so how do we make smallshifts, just find ourselves again
to start stepping into thethings that move us, the things that
(13:57):
we're interested in and movingtowards these God sized dreams.
How do we do that?
Well, we start shifting, right.
One what we're payingattention to and we start paying
attention to the things thatwe are interested in, what we're
curious about, the things thatpull at our heartstring or make us
happy doing it.
Right.
Those are the things we needto pay attention to.
(14:18):
So I want you to write downthese questions.
The first is what are, writedown what are three moments in my
life that I felt most alive or excited?
Right?
In other words, what were thethings you were doing that you just,
you delighted in doing them,you enjoyed doing them.
And yes, I get it, we couldall put vacation sitting on the beach.
(14:41):
But that's not, that's notreally what I'm talking about.
Right?
Like when you felt energized,you felt good about the thing you
are doing.
So maybe you are making dinnerfor people that you love, maybe you
were drawing, right.
So in other words, it's whenwe're were doing, it's I'm talking
about in something you weredoing, right.
Maybe it's singing, you know,whatever it might be.
(15:02):
So write down three moments inyour life where you felt most alive
and connected to somethingyou're able to do or you enjoy doing
and then what made you feelthat way?
You know, what was it aboutthose, those moments or doing those
things that made you feel that way?
The next is write down whatare the God given desires and longings
(15:25):
that have been put on your heart.
Think about it.
Maybe you're not sure or maybeyou're sure but you've never written
it down or spoke it out loud.
Well, sister, now is the time.
Let's do it.
Let's be honest about whatthey are.
We might not be anywhere nearthose things, but unless we are clear
on what they are, we're notgoing to move towards them.
(15:47):
The next is write down whatare the God sized dreams that you
feel God putting on your heartin this season, right?
Those dreams could change,your desires could change, right?
Because let's say that youraised a family and now your kids
are older.
Well now you may have Moretime, right, to devote towards going
(16:07):
after some of your passions,going after some of these things
that God's put on your heart.
And so our seasons will changethe work we do, they will change
what's put on our heart, Ithink for at least some of us.
So write that down.
And then the last thing that Iwant you to write down is what is
(16:29):
holding me back from taking astep in the direction towards doing
more with a passion that Ihave or an interest.
And what is holding me backfrom doing one small or moving one
small step towards a dreamthat I have right for the work I'm
(16:51):
supposed to do or where I'msupposed to be or who I'm supposed
to be doing it with.
Write that down.
Because is it fear that'sholding you back?
Is it the unknown?
Is it that you feel likeyou've been in a holding pattern
but maybe it's getting close,that it's not?
Do you feel like you don'tclearly know, you know the direction
(17:12):
or like a feeling, but youreally don't know what the dream
is at this point?
So write those things down.
And I will tell you anotherthing that Mark Batterson says is
get around other people with aGod sized dream.
In other words, what I wouldtell you is two things.
We need community so much, butwe don't just need our church community
(17:33):
and our close friends, weabsolutely need close friends and
other people of faith around us.
But I can tell you this, notall of those circles are where you
may be or where you're going.
And so sometimes you have tofind other people that are stepping
into their God sized dreams,that aren't sitting on the sideline,
(17:57):
that aren't playing it safeand sometimes it's hard to meet those
people right away.
Although there's a lot ofonline groups, I obviously have a
community and I'm trying tobuild that community to be more connected
through group coaching andthen online community.
But you need other people tocheer you on, you need other people
(18:18):
to help support you, to hearwhat your dream is, to hear what
you're stepping into.
Because that type ofencouragement is like nothing else.
I promise you.
I have a couple people in mylife like that and it literally is
so helpful.
Yes.
You know, praying on it andlistening to what God is trying to
(18:39):
tell you, all of those thingsare important.
But sometimes just hearinganother human being say to you like,
yes, oh my gosh, everyoneknows but you that you're so good
at this thing and we've beenwaiting for you just to Go do the
thing, right, like sell thebread or start the, you know, the
little farm stand or gosh,whatever it is, right?
(19:00):
Like write the book, writedown your recipes, whatever it is.
But like, sometimes we justneed to hear the words because I'm
telling you, it is truly musicfor our souls and we need that.
And so if you're not gettingthat in your life right now, I've
been there.
I've been there many timesactually, where I feel alone in the
(19:22):
journey I'm on.
And when I say alone, I don'tmean that.
I don't know other peopledoing other things, right, like podcasting.
But it's different when youfind a couple people that are helping
cheer you on and you checkingin with each other and you're supporting
each other to take stepstowards these dreams makes all the
(19:44):
difference.
And so I would just encourageyou, keep looking for your community
that can help you do that.
And maybe today isn't that daywhere you're going to step into the
first part of your God sized dream.
Or maybe you're already onyour way in doing what God's calling
you to do, some big plan,wherever you're at on it.
(20:05):
The point is we can always useother people and community around
us to help us because we'regoing to need, as Mark Batterson
said, we're going to needGod's resources and we're going to
need people.
We cannot do it on our own.
And I'm going to be honestwith you, it's scary.
I know that because I getscared too of trying to do more than
I think I can do.
(20:27):
Let's be honest, we try tometer it back, like, oh, okay, I'll
do the podcast, but I'm justgoing to do what's in my strength,
right?
In other words, how much do wehold God back, including myself?
Because we only want to go asfar as we feel comfortable.
Like we're afraid sometimes totake the hit and try to knock it
(20:49):
out of the park.
And I feel that too.
But my job is to get thepeople around me that are going to
help me, even though it seemsscary to do it, to take the bigger
swing, to try to swing furtherand to keep stepping as the doors
(21:10):
or the things open.
And so I just wanted to comeon, encourage you today because this
summer it's going to be allabout how do we wake ourselves up
to these things that are inour heart.
They're put there by God andhe wants us to, to show up, right?
Because the more we do to givehim glory, he will get glory.
(21:35):
In other words, the smaller weplay, we aren't going to shine the
light as brightly, you know.
And so we're being called todo more wherever we're at and however
we personally are called to doit right, that's going to look different
for everybody.
But we are all being calledright to to have a wake up call and
(21:56):
just step out in faith and domore of what God is asking and he's
designed us to do.
The last thing I want tomention is, if you haven't already,
head on over to my website andgrab my Reignite youe Passion workbook
because it really helps youstart tapping into some of these
things.
And listen, I cannot waitbecause later this summer I am actually
(22:20):
launching two things.
I'm launching a Reignite yourpassion Express yourself group coaching
program.
You guys, it's going to be sopowerful, but it's really going to
be us coming together for sixweeks, supporting each other, sharing
what's going on.
And we're going to stepthrough this stuff together.
We're going to become thewomen that God wants us to be by
(22:43):
learning how to expressourselves and stop repressing and
suppressing what it is that'son our heart and what we're being
called to do.
So you'll get more informationabout that on the podcast and also
in my email newsletters.
The other thing I'm launching,I'm so excited.
I've been trying to do thisfor two years.
I am launching the Joy Camp 30Day Path to More Joy Play and Wonder.
(23:09):
And you guys, it's going to be30 days.
There'll be quick hits whereyou're just going to get a little
snippet of how you can stepinto more joy in your day, how you
can start shifting yourperspective and how you can start
feeling like a kid again inyour own life.
Because I had been capping myjoy, maybe you've been doing that
(23:31):
too.
I've done an Instagram reelabout it and then it's on my I talk
about it in my newsletter today.
But friends, if you want morejoy in your life, let me know.
Come sign up for my newsletterbecause I'll be sharing how you can
be part of that.
I would love for you to join us.
And so if either of those ofinterest to you, make sure you go
to kristenfitch.com and signup for my newsletter because you'll
(23:52):
get all the details.
Until next week.
I hope you have a beautifuland blessed day in sending all my
love to you.
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 helps our show
get discovered by more people.
Hey, friends, and welcome backto Faithfield Woman.
This is your host, Kristen.
Today we are diving into whatare those small steps that you can
take to create a life you loveto begin again when you maybe feel
like you've lost yourselfalong the way of life, that you are
on autopilot and you knowthere's more and you want more.
(00:22):
So this is your wake up call.
This is the conversation we'regoing to have about how we, we can
change our lives and step intoeverything that God has for us and
wants for us in our lives.
All right, so whether you area woman like me in midlife or whether
you're someone a little bityounger or you're past midlife, this
conversation applies to all ofus because so often we get stuck
(00:47):
in patterns and thoughts thatwe have to live our lives a certain
way.
We, whether it's because it'swhat our parents modeled for us,
whether it's because we havebeen given definitions of what a
successful life looks like orwhat a life of a Christian woman
should look like or whateverit might be.
But so often we are followinga path that isn't aligned with what's
(01:14):
most in our soul, what we mostfeel aligned with for what we're
designed for, and also forwhat we truly want, what really matters
to us, not what we were toldshould matter to us.
And so I want to share withyou a little bit about what Mark
Batterson says in Chase the Lion.
And I know I share what hesays, you know, on occasion on the
(01:35):
show because he just, he justhas a way of saying things.
All right, so here's what hesays related to this topic of today.
He says most of us spend ourlives running away from the things
we're afraid of.
We forfeit our dreams on thealtar of fear or we chase after the
wrong thing.
We're so busy climbing theladder of success that we fail to
(01:55):
realize it's leaning againstthe wrong wall.
And he says at the end of ourlives, our greatest regrets will
be the God ordainedopportunities we left on the table,
the God given passions wedidn't pursue and the God sized dreams
we didn't go after because welet fear dictate our decisions.
And I would add to that.
It's not just fear that we letdictate our decisions so often.
(02:17):
It's that we get busy servingour families.
We get busy serving our communities.
We set aside the things thatmaybe as a young adult or a teen
or you know, someone into our20s, we set things aside that we
had an interest in or we werepassionate about or maybe that we
(02:38):
started to pursue.
I think so many of us thoughtwe couldn't have it.
Both of those things or allthe things, right?
Like maybe we paused careersor maybe we didn't even like the
career we were in to have afamily or we went on a certain path
because it's what our parentsdid, or we knew that it would be
(02:58):
a stable career path or themoney would be good or whatever it
might be.
And so I don't think it's justfear, right, or chasing up the wrong
wall.
I think it's that sometimes wethought we had to put something on
hold or even set aside anidentity of something that was important
to us.
And I'm here to tell you thatGod actually designed us with these
(03:22):
passions, these interests,these desires, these longing in these
dreams because he has calledus to use these things in the world.
And obviously I'm not sayingthere's never desires that aren't
aligned with what I'm talkingabout, but I think you know what
I mean.
I'm talking about the desiresof your heart that deep down you
(03:44):
know are tied to your gifts,your talents, the things you're curious
about, right?
So that's what I'm talking about.
I'm not talking about desiresto do things that you know, don't
align with who we are at, youknow, as a Christian woman.
Okay?
So he also, Mark Battersonalso goes on to say most people believe
(04:06):
God is real, but few peopleactually live like it.
The result is a widening gapbetween their theology and the reality.
They allow their circumstancesto get between them and God instead
of letting God get betweenthem and their circumstances.
And he goes on to say, wheneverything's said and done, God isn't
going to say well said, wellthought or well planned.
(04:27):
There is one measuring stick.
Stick well done, good andfaithful servant.
And he explains, faithfulnessis not holding down the fort.
Faithfulness is chasing 500pound lions.
And he said there is a brandof religiosity.
I'm sure I said that wrong.
That seems satisfied withbreaking even.
(04:48):
Don't do this, don't do thatand you'll be okay.
The problem with that is this.
You can do nothing wrong andstill do nothing right.
Breaking even is breaking bad.
God has called us to playoffense with our lives.
Those who simply run away fromwhat's wrong will never amount to
more than half.
Christians, the only way totap your God given potential to fulfill
your God ordained destiny isto chase 500 pound lions.
(05:12):
Let's break that down becauseI'm going to be honest, I think for
a lot of us this is notsomething we've heard before, especially
as women, for sure.
Obviously there's so manywomen that are part of our communities,
women that might be listeningthis, that we are doing things in
the world, right?
Whether that's that we'reserving in our church, we're going
(05:33):
on mission trips where we'respeaking to people or we're writing
books, or we are bringingwomen together, right, For Bible
study or community, or we'rejust raising up our families.
Those are all good andimportant things.
But what he's talking about isif the only thing we did was read
(05:53):
our Bible, but we never stepoutside our own door, especially
if our kids aren't there, right?
Like in other words, then wehave missed the opportunity to be
the hands and feet of Christin the world.
In other words, we can befaithful and pray, we can be faithful
and read God's word and thoseare good and important things.
(06:17):
But we're called to do morethan that.
And that is what he's talkingabout and I love it.
Because what he's saying is wehave a role to play and that role
to play is in the world, it'sof the world.
He goes on then to say, God'sdream for your life is so much bigger,
so much better than breaking even.
If you focus on not makingmistakes, you won't make a difference.
(06:39):
You don't overcome sin byfocusing on not sinning.
You need a dream that isbigger and better than the temptations
you're trying to overcome.
You need a dream that doesn'tallow you to become spiritually sidetracked.
A dream that demands yourutmost for his highest and the last
thing he says that I wanted toshare with you.
And then I'm going to give youa couple journal prompts or questions
(07:02):
that you can ask yourself.
But he says, oops, let me move this.
When we lack the guts to goafter 500 pound lions, we rob God
of the glory he deserves.
By definition, a God sizeddream will be beyond your ability,
beyond your resources.
Unless God does it, it can'tbe done.
(07:23):
Amen to that.
And that is precisely how Godgets the glory.
He does things we can't do, sowe can't take credit for them.
God honors big dreams becausebig dreams honor God.
And he just says, destiny isnot a mystery.
Destiny is a decision.
(07:43):
A difficult decision, a daringdecision, counterintuitive decision.
You fulfill your destiny oneopportunity at a time.
Of course those Opportunitiesoften come disguised as 500 pound
problems.
Landing in a pit with a lionon a snowy day qualifies as a bad
day, a bad break.
But Ben Andiah didn't see itas bad luck.
(08:04):
He saw it as a big break.
If you're looking for anexcuse, you'll always find one.
If you're looking for anopportunity, you'll always find one.
Lion chasers have an eye for opportunity.
There are amazingopportunities all around us, I'm
sorry, all around us all the time.
But you have to see them toseize them.
Then you need two o' clock inthe morning courage to taste them.
(08:28):
And I think he would also say,he says it somewhere else in the
book.
It's going to take us God'sresources and other people to make
these God sized dreams happen.
I've definitely interviewedplenty of people on this podcast
that have stepped into Godsized dreams, you know, and he's
(08:49):
calling us to do the same.
Ours might look different thanthe next person, ours might look
different than our friends,but we have to have the courage to
step into those, right?
And it doesn't start on day one.
He's not asking us to do thishuge thing often it's just having
one bit of obedience.
(09:11):
Mark Patterson talks aboutbefore they had bought one of their
properties up in dc.
They own quite a fewproperties now, the church, you know,
the group.
And, and he said that he hadfound a book about the old property
or he had found a stub of some sort.
I forget what it was.
But the point is, is he didn'tknow he was going to get that, that
(09:33):
house, but he felt thisprompting and so he purchased something
that later would help themactually get it or would know more
information about it.
So sometimes it's just thosesmall acts of faith and then showing
God that you are taking a step forward.
It might be a really small step.
I've shared this with youbefore, but I bought my microphone
(09:54):
years before I started thisfaith podcast.
I started another podcastprior to this one that still, I still
do as well.
And I actually want to addressthe feeling or the sentiment that
I hear sometimes which is thatwe might feel selfish for wanting
(10:14):
more or less or that we shouldfeel selfish for wanting more.
But what we're talking aboutis not wanting more materialistic
things.
And I don't think that that'sbad as long as they're.
For instance, at some point Iwould like to move, you know, onto
the water and it would be adifferent house.
It's not necessarily that Iwant a Bigger house.
(10:36):
But I want a house that canfit all my family as my kids get
older.
And if they have, you know,they're bringing people with them
or if they have families or,you know, that would have an extra
part of the house that wecould have separate, we could have
people come there, you know,parents, things like that.
And so that's not selfish, right?
(10:57):
Like I have a real reason andI have a real heart reason for wanting
that property.
I want our kids to want tocome hang out with us, right?
I want to be able to havepeople there.
And maybe, you know, if it's aseparate lockout unit, we can also
invite people there to take abreak, to take a rest that might
not otherwise fit that in, right?
(11:19):
People we know or people weknow that know them, stuff like that.
So, you know, I think thething is, is we're not being selfish
for wanting maybe a differentcareer one day or maybe you love
doing certain things, but Ithink that's put on your heart so
that you can use it to serve people.
You can bless people with thething you love doing.
(11:42):
And when we do the thing thatwe're, they're good at, right?
And that comes to us maybeeasier than for some people often
that may allow us to just havethe life we want, but have life we
want.
I'm really talking about thatwe can feel good in our lives, right?
(12:02):
And I don't mean that thatmeans there's nothing hard that happens.
I'm just talking about feelingat peace, feeling joy, feeling contented,
not feeling like we'rehustling for the wrong reasons.
And I think there's adifference, right?
That whole thing that MarkBatterson said about putting our
ladder on the wrong buildingor on the wrong path or chasing completely
(12:27):
the wrong thing versus when weget lined up with what God's will
is for us and what's in ourheart already, right?
That's been put there.
Things come and seem easierbecause we are in accordance with
his plan for our life.
And you know, so I just wantto point that out because I think
there is definitely manydifferent messages, right, in different
(12:52):
Christian circles or differentdenominations that talk about different
types of theology.
And so I, I just want to beclear, right?
This is not like talking aboutprosperity theology or not.
This is just saying think weare called to step into these, these
(13:13):
God given desires that we havethese longings and then to go after
these God sized dreams thatGod put on our heart.
We'll know when they line upwith God, right?
We're not Talking about you'resaying you want to make $50 million
just to make $50 million, right.
Like there has to be a reasonbehind the things.
(13:35):
And most of us just want alife that feels right.
Right.
We're not after a certainnumber or something like that.
Okay, so how do we make smallshifts, just find ourselves again
to start stepping into thethings that move us, the things that
(13:57):
we're interested in and movingtowards these God sized dreams.
How do we do that?
Well, we start shifting, right.
One what we're payingattention to and we start paying
attention to the things thatwe are interested in, what we're
curious about, the things thatpull at our heartstring or make us
happy doing it.
Right.
Those are the things we needto pay attention to.
(14:18):
So I want you to write downthese questions.
The first is what are, writedown what are three moments in my
life that I felt most alive or excited?
Right?
In other words, what were thethings you were doing that you just,
you delighted in doing them,you enjoyed doing them.
And yes, I get it, we couldall put vacation sitting on the beach.
(14:41):
But that's not, that's notreally what I'm talking about.
Right?
Like when you felt energized,you felt good about the thing you
are doing.
So maybe you are making dinnerfor people that you love, maybe you
were drawing, right.
So in other words, it's whenwe're were doing, it's I'm talking
about in something you weredoing, right.
Maybe it's singing, you know,whatever it might be.
(15:02):
So write down three moments inyour life where you felt most alive
and connected to somethingyou're able to do or you enjoy doing
and then what made you feelthat way?
You know, what was it aboutthose, those moments or doing those
things that made you feel that way?
The next is write down whatare the God given desires and longings
(15:25):
that have been put on your heart.
Think about it.
Maybe you're not sure or maybeyou're sure but you've never written
it down or spoke it out loud.
Well, sister, now is the time.
Let's do it.
Let's be honest about whatthey are.
We might not be anywhere nearthose things, but unless we are clear
on what they are, we're notgoing to move towards them.
(15:47):
The next is write down whatare the God sized dreams that you
feel God putting on your heartin this season, right?
Those dreams could change,your desires could change, right?
Because let's say that youraised a family and now your kids
are older.
Well now you may have Moretime, right, to devote towards going
(16:07):
after some of your passions,going after some of these things
that God's put on your heart.
And so our seasons will changethe work we do, they will change
what's put on our heart, Ithink for at least some of us.
So write that down.
And then the last thing that Iwant you to write down is what is
(16:29):
holding me back from taking astep in the direction towards doing
more with a passion that Ihave or an interest.
And what is holding me backfrom doing one small or moving one
small step towards a dreamthat I have right for the work I'm
(16:51):
supposed to do or where I'msupposed to be or who I'm supposed
to be doing it with.
Write that down.
Because is it fear that'sholding you back?
Is it the unknown?
Is it that you feel likeyou've been in a holding pattern
but maybe it's getting close,that it's not?
Do you feel like you don'tclearly know, you know the direction
(17:12):
or like a feeling, but youreally don't know what the dream
is at this point?
So write those things down.
And I will tell you anotherthing that Mark Batterson says is
get around other people with aGod sized dream.
In other words, what I wouldtell you is two things.
We need community so much, butwe don't just need our church community
(17:33):
and our close friends, weabsolutely need close friends and
other people of faith around us.
But I can tell you this, notall of those circles are where you
may be or where you're going.
And so sometimes you have tofind other people that are stepping
into their God sized dreams,that aren't sitting on the sideline,
(17:57):
that aren't playing it safeand sometimes it's hard to meet those
people right away.
Although there's a lot ofonline groups, I obviously have a
community and I'm trying tobuild that community to be more connected
through group coaching andthen online community.
But you need other people tocheer you on, you need other people
(18:18):
to help support you, to hearwhat your dream is, to hear what
you're stepping into.
Because that type ofencouragement is like nothing else.
I promise you.
I have a couple people in mylife like that and it literally is
so helpful.
Yes.
You know, praying on it andlistening to what God is trying to
(18:39):
tell you, all of those thingsare important.
But sometimes just hearinganother human being say to you like,
yes, oh my gosh, everyoneknows but you that you're so good
at this thing and we've beenwaiting for you just to Go do the
thing, right, like sell thebread or start the, you know, the
little farm stand or gosh,whatever it is, right?
(19:00):
Like write the book, writedown your recipes, whatever it is.
But like, sometimes we justneed to hear the words because I'm
telling you, it is truly musicfor our souls and we need that.
And so if you're not gettingthat in your life right now, I've
been there.
I've been there many timesactually, where I feel alone in the
(19:22):
journey I'm on.
And when I say alone, I don'tmean that.
I don't know other peopledoing other things, right, like podcasting.
But it's different when youfind a couple people that are helping
cheer you on and you checkingin with each other and you're supporting
each other to take stepstowards these dreams makes all the
(19:44):
difference.
And so I would just encourageyou, keep looking for your community
that can help you do that.
And maybe today isn't that daywhere you're going to step into the
first part of your God sized dream.
Or maybe you're already onyour way in doing what God's calling
you to do, some big plan,wherever you're at on it.
(20:05):
The point is we can always useother people and community around
us to help us because we'regoing to need, as Mark Batterson
said, we're going to needGod's resources and we're going to
need people.
We cannot do it on our own.
And I'm going to be honestwith you, it's scary.
I know that because I getscared too of trying to do more than
I think I can do.
(20:27):
Let's be honest, we try tometer it back, like, oh, okay, I'll
do the podcast, but I'm justgoing to do what's in my strength,
right?
In other words, how much do wehold God back, including myself?
Because we only want to go asfar as we feel comfortable.
Like we're afraid sometimes totake the hit and try to knock it
(20:49):
out of the park.
And I feel that too.
But my job is to get thepeople around me that are going to
help me, even though it seemsscary to do it, to take the bigger
swing, to try to swing furtherand to keep stepping as the doors
(21:10):
or the things open.
And so I just wanted to comeon, encourage you today because this
summer it's going to be allabout how do we wake ourselves up
to these things that are inour heart.
They're put there by God andhe wants us to, to show up, right?
Because the more we do to givehim glory, he will get glory.
(21:35):
In other words, the smaller weplay, we aren't going to shine the
light as brightly, you know.
And so we're being called todo more wherever we're at and however
we personally are called to doit right, that's going to look different
for everybody.
But we are all being calledright to to have a wake up call and
(21:56):
just step out in faith and domore of what God is asking and he's
designed us to do.
The last thing I want tomention is, if you haven't already,
head on over to my website andgrab my Reignite youe Passion workbook
because it really helps youstart tapping into some of these
things.
And listen, I cannot waitbecause later this summer I am actually
(22:20):
launching two things.
I'm launching a Reignite yourpassion Express yourself group coaching
program.
You guys, it's going to be sopowerful, but it's really going to
be us coming together for sixweeks, supporting each other, sharing
what's going on.
And we're going to stepthrough this stuff together.
We're going to become thewomen that God wants us to be by
(22:43):
learning how to expressourselves and stop repressing and
suppressing what it is that'son our heart and what we're being
called to do.
So you'll get more informationabout that on the podcast and also
in my email newsletters.
The other thing I'm launching,I'm so excited.
I've been trying to do thisfor two years.
I am launching the Joy Camp 30Day Path to More Joy Play and Wonder.
(23:09):
And you guys, it's going to be30 days.
There'll be quick hits whereyou're just going to get a little
snippet of how you can stepinto more joy in your day, how you
can start shifting yourperspective and how you can start
feeling like a kid again inyour own life.
Because I had been capping myjoy, maybe you've been doing that
(23:31):
too.
I've done an Instagram reelabout it and then it's on my I talk
about it in my newsletter today.
But friends, if you want morejoy in your life, let me know.
Come sign up for my newsletterbecause I'll be sharing how you can
be part of that.
I would love for you to join us.
And so if either of those ofinterest to you, make sure you go
to kristenfitch.com and signup for my newsletter because you'll
(23:52):
get all the details.
Until next week.
I hope you have a beautifuland blessed day in sending all my
love to you.
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 helps our show
get discovered by more people.
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