June 15, 2023 • 29 mins
What if there was a way to navigate through life's challenges with grace and conviction? Join us as we explore the concept of alignment and purpose, and how tapping into grace can guide us through even the toughest of challenges. Using the analogy of a rip current, we reveal how trusting the flow of life can lead to incredible transformations.
Ebony and Carri dive deeper into the importance of conviction in remaining aligned to our purpose, and the grace that accompanies it. In moments of frustration, fatigue, and doubt, learn how to press forward with a convicted heart. Discover how to overcome resistance and tap into your inner knowing to remind you of your purpose and authority to move forward. Don't miss this inspiring conversation about the power of grace in our daily lives!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Grace Among Us, the podcast where we
unearth the many faces andplaces of grace and share
stories of the power of grace inour human lives.
Our desire is that this willinspire you to see grace in your
own life and share it withothers.
Good afternoon.
Ebony Gilbert (00:21):
Carri Richard, pleasure to be here with you
today to talk about grace onceagain, our absolute favorite
topic.
My name is Ebony Gilbert and Iam a corporate America employee
who really just needs a littlebit more out of life.
(00:42):
So I do this in my spare timeand it fills my cup, Carri who
are you?
Carri Richard (00:49):
Hello, Ebony Gilbert.
I am Carri Richard.
I am doing one of my mostfavorite things in the world too
being here and speaking aboutgrace.
I am a mindset coach and I helppeople make space and enjoy the
ride and full disclosure.
(01:12):
Part of that has to do withgrace, most often.
So, yeah, I'm excited to behere.
Let's see the question.
Oh, here's the question.
You ready?
Ebony Gilbert (01:27):
I'm ready, let's get it.
Carri Richard (01:29):
So there's a lot of talk in the world about
alignment, like getting intoalignment, finding your purpose
and being in the flow, And Iwanted to ask you what does that
(01:53):
have to do with grace?
Ebony Gilbert (02:00):
Finding your flow , being in the flow, finding
your purpose.
We have this thing at work.
When we say it, often it kindof recalibrates conversations
when they go left and we ask areyou leading with purpose?
And I'll be honest with you andI'm going somewhere with this.
it typically comes up when wefeel like it's a hard decision.
(02:26):
It's not easy when we don'tfeel like we're in the flow.
And if I had to put my graceglasses on, I think it really
translates a little bit to, "are you leading with grace?
Is there grace in yourleadership?
And I think when you're in theflow and things are moving in a
(02:51):
very literal sense, you're in it.
So if I'm in the flow, I'm fromthe beach And if you're in a
rip current, you're not creatingit, you can't stop it, you
can't even fight it, you can gowith it.
So if the flow, if the currentis the assignment, is the
(03:19):
purpose and you go with it,you're in it.
the grace is going to carry youbecause it's already moving.
It's already moving.
So when I think of you know, wesay what does this have to do
with grace?
If you're in the flow, you'reoperating in the grace for today
(03:41):
and then tomorrow and the nextday and the whole.
finding your purpose is knowingwhen to begin that flow,
knowing when to move with it,even if it feels like something
you should resist.
And my mind is very linearright now, but I feel like my
(04:01):
words are not.
are you going with me?
Are you there with me?
Are we all the same?
Carri Richard (04:08):
I am going with you.
It's.
you know that rip current, likeif you fight it or try to do it
all yourself, it literally islife or death.
It is, it can be right, and so,I think it's a great analogy
And the travel that you do inthat rip current is not under
(04:31):
your own power.
In fact, you have to let go andtrust that all you need is
there.
It's there.
Get out of it.
Right And when it's ready torelease it will, yeah, and where
you're going, like thedirection you're traveling in,
(04:52):
you really don't have a dog inthe fight on it, you don't.
Ebony Gilbert (04:57):
So if you want to live, you want to survive,
you've got to go with it, you'vegot to be in that flow.
Carri Richard (05:05):
Yeah, that current.
Ebony Gilbert (05:06):
Yeah, i think that current is the purpose.
Agreed.
Carri Richard (05:12):
And it's.
There's a sense of ownership,of, like personal responsibility
.
So if I'm caught in that ripcurrent, i have to accept that
I'm in a rip current.
I have to accept I do not, icannot do this myself, like if I
don't own that it's usually tomy detriment.
Ebony Gilbert (05:36):
Now let me ask you the owning it.
Does that happen immediately?
Cause if you're in that ripcurrent and I've never been
fully immersed in the ripcurrent, but I've definitely had
one right around my ankles andyour immediate inclination is to
pull, oh no, it's just fight itfor me So do you immediately
(06:01):
know that it's a rip current?
when it happens, do youimmediately know?
this is the flow, this is it.
Carri Richard (06:07):
It's happening.
I don't think I would neveranswer yes totally all the time,
because that is not true.
I am going to reflect that themore I know that that's a
(06:32):
possibility, that if I'm let mesay it this way yeah, i'll fight
it, because usually I'll fightit because I don't know what the
outcome is going to be.
I feel like I'm out of myelement.
It's new and it's scary, likeI'm doubting myself.
I'm doubting whatever it is.
That's my fight, that's theresistance, and I also have the
(06:56):
blessing of enough experiencethat if I keep pushing and it
keeps getting harder, like if Iwas in a rip current, i would
start drowning.
Then I know I'm I am notinviting grace and then I know I
have a choice today.
(07:17):
I need to let go.
Like this is no bueno, it'slike go and let God.
Exactly, exactly.
Ebony Gilbert (07:28):
So when the flow, the current, is the assignment,
and you don't know, and youdon't know all those things you
just listed out on the outcome,i don't know this, i don't know
that.
But I do know that if I fightthis based on past experiences,
(07:53):
it doesn't fare well for me.
Carri Richard (07:56):
Exactly, Yeah, Most things in life that I want
to fight are bigger than me, Andso I need help.
I need something bigger than meto help, And I'm I'm learning.
(08:17):
You know we're talking aboutalignment here because it's a
lot of people talk about itthese days.
It's an accessible idea beingaligned, being aligned to your
purpose, Like you said.
Leading with purpose, Like whenyou get in a meeting and
everybody's on the same page.
(08:37):
That's usually when things move.
If you have everybody allscattered around until you get
on the same page, but somebody'sgot to bring you to that page.
Right, It's that authority thatyou know.
Alignment We had a little chatbefore this It's like assignment
(08:58):
in the world of grace.
Ebony Gilbert (09:03):
I love it.
So I got a lot of wordsalignment, assignment, the
authority that comes with beingon assignment and being aligned.
Yeah, i like alliteration, itmakes me excited.
So, assignment, alignment givesyou authority.
God's grace covers you.
(09:26):
You said something that sparkeda thought for me.
You said most things I'mfighting are bigger than me,
right, and that's when you needthe grace, that's when you need
some alignment within yourassignment and the authority.
So, David, David, small guy, youknow, little boy, teenage boy,
(09:49):
in the Bible There's a giant,there's a fight that's bigger
than him, much bigger than him,but he's on assignment.
He's on assignment And, yes,god given authority to carry out
this assignment.
So, within this assignment,there's authority, but there's a
(10:12):
misalignment of what?
his seemingly small tool.
There's a misalignment.
He has a slingshot And there'sa giant And his tool does not
align with the size of the fight, right?
So then the other G word showsup.
You can use one or two here BigG, little G shows up And
(10:35):
suddenly his authority isrealized Because even though his
tools seemed inadequate, itwasn't big enough for the fight.
Grace made it bigger andprovided an extra layer of
authority.
So when I think of when yousaid that it kind of brought to
my mind all the times where I,as well, has felt like you know,
(10:58):
this is I'm doing what I'mpretty sure I'm supposed to be
doing here.
I know I'm on assignment, butthis is so much bigger than the
tools I have in my backpackright now.
And then my guy shows up withthe grace And now I'm realizing
my authority, now I'm in theflow.
Carri Richard (11:20):
You're owning it, right, i'm owning it.
Ebony Gilbert (11:26):
Oh, you said that .
Oh, man, the fight is bigger.
The fight is bigger.
And if you didn't take a momentto really just stop and say man
, am I stuck?
Sky, did he hear?
Am I really on assignment?
Does this align with thepurpose of why I'm put on this
planet?
You know what?
Carri Richard (11:46):
And if you go ahead, when you're saying that
one of the best things when I'min that place, when you say, am
I on assignment?
The tool I use, the thing I saymost often is for me it's like
all right, god, open or shutthis door, and being willing for
(12:09):
that door to shut, because ifI'm not on assignment, i want to
know.
I Want to know yep, and I'mwilling to let it all go, and
I'll tell you what.
Ebony Gilbert (12:20):
That second part mmm, we can't skate past that.
It was easy to ask for help.
It's a whole different thingwhen you say help me, and when
you help me, i'm going tosurrender.
Carri Richard (12:34):
Yeah.
Ebony Gilbert (12:35):
Yeah.
Carri Richard (12:36):
Yeah, but you had the perfect analogy to start
with.
I actually.
Yeah, people die.
This is life or death.
Yeah, the rip riptide doesn'tis.
It doesn't work well, and thisis the same stuff.
Ebony Gilbert (12:56):
All right, it's good.
Carri Richard (12:59):
I you know this this may be a little tangent,
but it keeps coming up.
So I used to, when I was inhigh-tech, i had a team in India
who had never met yet and, ohmy gosh, they were awesome,
awesome people and I was in thein the US.
(13:20):
We - a lot of time in thetechnical world, there would be
team leads, right, so we wouldhave the Responsibility without
the authority.
It's like they don't want tomake you a manager or give you
that title, and there's aculture here where You you kind
of have authority, like with theteam lead, even though on paper
(13:44):
you don't right, it works.
It works in high-techfunctional in this in this
country.
Well, so I what I found in WhereI was in India, that that it's
all about title mm-hmm.
So it was really interestingthe conversation To have and say
(14:10):
, look, this title is important,this authority is important,
because without having thisauthority or assignment It's not
gonna work.
It's just not gonna work.
And it was amazing Nothingunderneath changed, a title
changed and everything shifted.
Ebony Gilbert (15:03):
Me neither I have a slingshot.
Carri Richard (15:08):
I.
don't even know if I have aslingshot :)
Ebony Gilbert (15:12):
Maybe your pebble and put it in my slingshot will
be alright.
You know cuz.
Listen here the slingshot.
Carri Richard (15:18):
Right on paper doesn't make sense, right?
This little kid with aslingshot against a giant on
paper?
that that does not make sense.
But he was on assignment.
So the question to peoplelistening to this is are you on
assignment?
Ebony Gilbert (15:39):
Are you on assignment?
Are you on assignment Forlittle guy David?
that was one of his earlyassignments.
He went on to be appointed king.
He had an appointment, anotherassignment, and the assignments
grew and they got bigger andthey got bigger.
If you know anything about mybuddy David, he has some issues.
(16:01):
He wasn't perfect.
His tool belt wasn't perfecteither, but his assignments and
his authority and hisappointments continued to grow.
That was just one.
So are you on assignment?
If you are, give it your all,become a good steward of it.
(16:23):
stay in the flow, because thenext one's going to be a little
bit bigger.
Carri Richard (16:28):
Be encouraged that you're being equipped with
everything you need today, Threeweeks from now.
that's the other hang up.
I want it all right now to makesure that I can do the whole
assignment.
I don't know that it works thatway.
Ebony Gilbert (16:45):
You're equipped for today's assignment.
Carri Richard (16:48):
Yes, some call it daily bread.
Ebony Gilbert (16:56):
There's a pot.
Carri Richard (16:57):
Yes.
So if you're on an assignment,be encouraged that you're always
given precisely what you needat the time.
Ebony Gilbert (17:07):
Mm-hmm, then move in that authority.
Take some authority.
Give yourself the title.
What's the title?
What's the title you want tocall yourself?
I'm a child of God.
My father's a king.
He rules the universe.
What title?
How do you encourage yourselfwith the title that comes along
(17:31):
with this assignment?
It's not corporate Americacorporation director.
blah, blah, blah.
That's not it.
That's some set of authorityfor different reasons.
Sometimes there's alignment,sometimes there's not, but what
is this title that gives you theauthority to walk in this
(17:54):
purpose and to leave the purposeand to walk in the flow and to
have alignment and to not fightthe current?
Yeah, i like your example a lot.
Carri Richard (18:08):
What does it feel like to be on assignment and in
alignment with authority onthat assignment?
Ebony.
Ebony Gilbert (18:15):
I love it.
Can you say it again threetimes fast?
What does it feel like?
What does it feel like?
It's decisive, it's verydecisive.
I know, when there's somethingthat I'm supposed to be doing,
even when I get the resistanceor it feels hard instead of me
(18:39):
feeling like I was going to giveup.
It's not worth it I becomefrustrated Because I'm like why
are we wasting time with thesebarriers?
I still must go for it.
I've got to keep going.
So I'm decisively moving in thedirection I'm supposed to be
going, but I'm really frustratedthat I got to pause and take
(18:59):
breaks and do whatever needs tobe done.
But my mind is still made up.
My mind is made up.
It's a made up mind for me, andI'm not talking about something
that I rationalized and did aRACI chart on and project
managed.
I'm talking about my heart isconvicted.
This is where I'm supposed tobe, this is where I'm supposed
(19:19):
to be going And God's going toprotect it.
And it doesn't matter what yousay, what you do, what I say,
what I do, what I feel, becausemy feelings can be tricky,
they're pretty fickle, but I'vegot a convicted heart.
So it's not always warm andfuzzy here.
Sometimes it's an immenseamount of frustration, but I'm
(19:42):
still decisive about it.
My mind is made up.
I don't have that certainty ifI'm not on assignment.
Carri Richard (19:52):
I hear that.
Ebony Gilbert (19:53):
I hear that I can't even generate it.
It doesn't come from me.
Yeah, I'm going to.
What was I?
devil's advocate, You can'tfake it.
Carri Richard (20:02):
I play that role all the time.
Ebony Gilbert (20:03):
Yeah, That's me.
What do you mean?
Glass is half full or halfempty.
My glass has mud in it.
You know like I had to go on tocome up with every possible
scenario that can make this gowrong.
Carri Richard (20:22):
It's not on assignment If I'm not on
assignment I got you.
Yeah, that's my naturalinclination.
That's like pushing a boulderup a mountain.
Ebony Gilbert (20:32):
When I'm on assignment, those thoughts don't
even enter into my mind.
I see them And I'm like, oh,but no, i have authority here
And I could speak to themountain and it will move.
That does not work when there'smisalignment between the
assignment and what I'm doing.
So for me, that's my triggerpoint.
(20:54):
That's when I know like, oh,and it's not based on an
emotional response to what'shappening in the moment, does
that make sense?
I'll give you an example.
I'll give you an example.
I feel like this podcast is anassignment for me.
(21:16):
I feel strongly about that.
Let me not miss words.
I know that This, i know This.
I believe It does not stop mefrom having a day, on a Thursday
at 345, when my computer stopsworking.
I'm tired, i'm frustrated, thelong-term materials don't work.
(21:39):
I'm like, ah, tomorrow I'mstill going to have the feelings
of frustration, i'm still goingto have the feelings of fatigue
, i'm still going to have thefeelings of maybe not today, but
my mind is made up.
This is where I'm supposed tobe.
It doesn't matter how tired Iam, it doesn't matter what's
(22:00):
going on.
God's going to make a way.
We're going to get on here.
We're going to talk.
He's going to speak through usAnd someone's going to be
reached.
I believe that.
So, regardless of my feelingswhich are, you know, let the
wind blow, they'll changetomorrow My heart is convicted
(22:22):
There's a line that between mypurpose and what we're doing for
30 minutes, Does that makesense?
Carri Richard (22:31):
It does make sense And I agree.
I love that.
You said, like all along theway, that resistance and the
feeling and the oh gosh really,and the you know all that stuff,
you're right, those but butthere's also for me.
There's also, when you talkabout it like I know this is, i
know this, that feeling, likethere is a feeling for me And
(22:57):
sometimes I forget it which iswhere I get in all the
resistance.
But like when we get on hereand start talking, i I know,
like it's annoying, like myheart rests, like there's space,
like my shoulders come down,like uh, there's something
buoying me up.
That is not me.
Ebony Gilbert (23:19):
Right And suddenly my slingshot of energy,
my heart, my body becomes anarch And I'm ready And I'm
equipped.
Yeah, and I didn't see itbefore the moment, i couldn't
feel it.
So when my feelings fail me, irely on my knowing, and my
knowing says hey, remindyourself of why you're doing
(23:41):
this, remind yourself of whotold you to do this, who gave
you this authority?
Carri Richard (23:47):
Now, walk in it, speak in it, and I'm going to
swim to shore.
I'm going to swim to shore.
That's the putting feet on it,because when I forget, when I
get far away, when I'm inresistance, when I'm deciding
that I'm going to swim to shore,i've had enough of this
floating about even though it'sworking.
(24:08):
I'm going to swim to shoreUntil I, until I let go again,
until I put feet on my faith AndI'm going to swim to shore.
I'm going to swim to shore.
Ebony Gilbert (24:22):
Until I let go again.
Carri Richard (24:25):
Because when I'm in resistance.
Ebony Gilbert (24:27):
I can't.
I can't swim back to shore AndI'm going to swim to shore.
You can forget, but it comesright back once I get moving
again.
You have to remind your souland remind your feelings That
this really does make sense.
Carri Richard (24:47):
Yeah, in a hurry, i see something shiny and.
Ebony Gilbert (24:50):
I want it I want it now.
Carri Richard (24:52):
I'm gonna get there faster Yeah.
Ebony Gilbert (24:58):
That's good, that's good.
Carri Richard (25:03):
So, so yeah, it's the encouragement that if you
have something that's going onright now whoever's listening to
this and And, and you're justIt seems really hard, you know
ask for the door to be shut oropen, and if the door stays open
(25:26):
, you're probably on assignment.
You're on assignment and beencouraged that all you need to
take the next step is here.
Ebony Gilbert (25:40):
Absolutely.
God's grace will guide youthrough.
Carri Richard (25:46):
Guided steps.
Ebony Gilbert (25:48):
Guided steps.
It'll take you to the nextpoint, you know.
One last thought I'm alwaysfascinated by these like message
and a bottle things you know,and these events that happen in
Japan and stuff watching them onthe shore of the West Coast of
the United States.
You know, when I'm thinking ofa current, I'm thinking about a
(26:08):
flow, i'm thinking you don'tknow where you're going to land.
You don't know where God's aboutto wash you, what shore he's
about to wash you up on.
You thought that shore you sawand you knew, but the shiny
thing was attractive.
You don't know where he's aboutto land you.
He's taking you someplaceyou've never seen before,
something you've neverexperienced before.
a whole different continent ofexperiences.
(26:29):
if you just stay in the flow,let them take you there.
Carri Richard (26:34):
Yeah.
Ebony Gilbert (26:35):
It'll take you there.
Carri Richard (26:36):
It's always better.
You know, we.
I've been talking about theconversation of like answered
prayers never come in thepackaging that we think it will.
And I heard a different take onthat Is I would have known what
(26:59):
to pray for if I had had theview as broad as God.
Say it again, i would haveknown how to pray for something,
what to pray for If my vision,if my view, was as vast as God's
.
So I don't even know.
you know so to the point oflike we have no idea what shore
(27:22):
we're going to wash up on.
we're not supposed to.
In fact, we can't.
Ebony Gilbert (27:28):
Would you need to pray if you already knew?
Carri Richard (27:32):
My gosh Hey so.
Ebony Gilbert (27:38):
Yeah, i don't.
I don't listen.
That is never.
I don't want to know what God'sgoing to do next.
Sometimes today is overwhelming.
You know, spare me, i don't.
I don't need to see all thesteps, but I know there's air.
Yeah, i know there's air.
All right, kerry, close thisout.
Carri Richard (28:02):
You're so good, you're like I just did Ebony,
you, i'm going to le t you tohave the final words today.
Ebony Gilbert (28:13):
Alignment, assignment, authority,
purposeful.
Let the purpose give you peace.
Yeah, let God give you thegrace.
Allow him to guide you steps.
There's grace and in guidedsteps.
There's authority on assignment.
There's alignment with purposewhen you're on assignment.
All these little catchphrasesthat we're going to put in
(28:35):
hashtags Alignment, assignment,authority, grace, god, peace,
purpose.
Now mix it all together andtell us what you think There you
go.
Carri Richard (28:45):
I love it! Al right Ebony.
Grace out.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Thank you so much for joining us.
If you enjoyed this episode,please let us know.
We love to hear from you andshare it with a friend.
Also, please be sure tosubscribe so you're notified
when a new episode is posted.
We hope you're leaving withanother pointer to grace, a new
perspective that will light itup in your own life.
Until next time, be well, bebold, be kind to yourself and be
(29:15):
on the lookout.
Welcome to Grace Among Us, the podcast where we
unearth the many faces andplaces of grace and share
stories of the power of grace inour human lives.
Our desire is that this willinspire you to see grace in your
own life and share it withothers.
Good afternoon.
Ebony Gilbert (00:21):
Carri Richard, pleasure to be here with you
today to talk about grace onceagain, our absolute favorite
topic.
My name is Ebony Gilbert and Iam a corporate America employee
who really just needs a littlebit more out of life.
(00:42):
So I do this in my spare timeand it fills my cup, Carri who
are you?
Carri Richard (00:49):
Hello, Ebony Gilbert.
I am Carri Richard.
I am doing one of my mostfavorite things in the world too
being here and speaking aboutgrace.
I am a mindset coach and I helppeople make space and enjoy the
ride and full disclosure.
(01:12):
Part of that has to do withgrace, most often.
So, yeah, I'm excited to behere.
Let's see the question.
Oh, here's the question.
You ready?
Ebony Gilbert (01:27):
I'm ready, let's get it.
Carri Richard (01:29):
So there's a lot of talk in the world about
alignment, like getting intoalignment, finding your purpose
and being in the flow, And Iwanted to ask you what does that
(01:53):
have to do with grace?
Ebony Gilbert (02:00):
Finding your flow , being in the flow, finding
your purpose.
We have this thing at work.
When we say it, often it kindof recalibrates conversations
when they go left and we ask areyou leading with purpose?
And I'll be honest with you andI'm going somewhere with this.
it typically comes up when wefeel like it's a hard decision.
(02:26):
It's not easy when we don'tfeel like we're in the flow.
And if I had to put my graceglasses on, I think it really
translates a little bit to, "are you leading with grace?
Is there grace in yourleadership?
And I think when you're in theflow and things are moving in a
(02:51):
very literal sense, you're in it.
So if I'm in the flow, I'm fromthe beach And if you're in a
rip current, you're not creatingit, you can't stop it, you
can't even fight it, you can gowith it.
So if the flow, if the currentis the assignment, is the
(03:19):
purpose and you go with it,you're in it.
the grace is going to carry youbecause it's already moving.
It's already moving.
So when I think of you know, wesay what does this have to do
with grace?
If you're in the flow, you'reoperating in the grace for today
(03:41):
and then tomorrow and the nextday and the whole.
finding your purpose is knowingwhen to begin that flow,
knowing when to move with it,even if it feels like something
you should resist.
And my mind is very linearright now, but I feel like my
(04:01):
words are not.
are you going with me?
Are you there with me?
Are we all the same?
Carri Richard (04:08):
I am going with you.
It's.
you know that rip current, likeif you fight it or try to do it
all yourself, it literally islife or death.
It is, it can be right, and so,I think it's a great analogy
And the travel that you do inthat rip current is not under
(04:31):
your own power.
In fact, you have to let go andtrust that all you need is
there.
It's there.
Get out of it.
Right And when it's ready torelease it will, yeah, and where
you're going, like thedirection you're traveling in,
(04:52):
you really don't have a dog inthe fight on it, you don't.
Ebony Gilbert (04:57):
So if you want to live, you want to survive,
you've got to go with it, you'vegot to be in that flow.
Carri Richard (05:05):
Yeah, that current.
Ebony Gilbert (05:06):
Yeah, i think that current is the purpose.
Agreed.
Carri Richard (05:12):
And it's.
There's a sense of ownership,of, like personal responsibility
.
So if I'm caught in that ripcurrent, i have to accept that
I'm in a rip current.
I have to accept I do not, icannot do this myself, like if I
don't own that it's usually tomy detriment.
Ebony Gilbert (05:36):
Now let me ask you the owning it.
Does that happen immediately?
Cause if you're in that ripcurrent and I've never been
fully immersed in the ripcurrent, but I've definitely had
one right around my ankles andyour immediate inclination is to
pull, oh no, it's just fight itfor me So do you immediately
(06:01):
know that it's a rip current?
when it happens, do youimmediately know?
this is the flow, this is it.
Carri Richard (06:07):
It's happening.
I don't think I would neveranswer yes totally all the time,
because that is not true.
I am going to reflect that themore I know that that's a
(06:32):
possibility, that if I'm let mesay it this way yeah, i'll fight
it, because usually I'll fightit because I don't know what the
outcome is going to be.
I feel like I'm out of myelement.
It's new and it's scary, likeI'm doubting myself.
I'm doubting whatever it is.
That's my fight, that's theresistance, and I also have the
(06:56):
blessing of enough experiencethat if I keep pushing and it
keeps getting harder, like if Iwas in a rip current, i would
start drowning.
Then I know I'm I am notinviting grace and then I know I
have a choice today.
(07:17):
I need to let go.
Like this is no bueno, it'slike go and let God.
Exactly, exactly.
Ebony Gilbert (07:28):
So when the flow, the current, is the assignment,
and you don't know, and youdon't know all those things you
just listed out on the outcome,i don't know this, i don't know
that.
But I do know that if I fightthis based on past experiences,
(07:53):
it doesn't fare well for me.
Carri Richard (07:56):
Exactly, Yeah, Most things in life that I want
to fight are bigger than me, Andso I need help.
I need something bigger than meto help, And I'm I'm learning.
(08:17):
You know we're talking aboutalignment here because it's a
lot of people talk about itthese days.
It's an accessible idea beingaligned, being aligned to your
purpose, Like you said.
Leading with purpose, Like whenyou get in a meeting and
everybody's on the same page.
(08:37):
That's usually when things move.
If you have everybody allscattered around until you get
on the same page, but somebody'sgot to bring you to that page.
Right, It's that authority thatyou know.
Alignment We had a little chatbefore this It's like assignment
(08:58):
in the world of grace.
Ebony Gilbert (09:03):
I love it.
So I got a lot of wordsalignment, assignment, the
authority that comes with beingon assignment and being aligned.
Yeah, i like alliteration, itmakes me excited.
So, assignment, alignment givesyou authority.
God's grace covers you.
(09:26):
You said something that sparkeda thought for me.
You said most things I'mfighting are bigger than me,
right, and that's when you needthe grace, that's when you need
some alignment within yourassignment and the authority.
So, David, David, small guy, youknow, little boy, teenage boy,
(09:49):
in the Bible There's a giant,there's a fight that's bigger
than him, much bigger than him,but he's on assignment.
He's on assignment And, yes,god given authority to carry out
this assignment.
So, within this assignment,there's authority, but there's a
(10:12):
misalignment of what?
his seemingly small tool.
There's a misalignment.
He has a slingshot And there'sa giant And his tool does not
align with the size of the fight, right?
So then the other G word showsup.
You can use one or two here BigG, little G shows up And
(10:35):
suddenly his authority isrealized Because even though his
tools seemed inadequate, itwasn't big enough for the fight.
Grace made it bigger andprovided an extra layer of
authority.
So when I think of when yousaid that it kind of brought to
my mind all the times where I,as well, has felt like you know,
(10:58):
this is I'm doing what I'mpretty sure I'm supposed to be
doing here.
I know I'm on assignment, butthis is so much bigger than the
tools I have in my backpackright now.
And then my guy shows up withthe grace And now I'm realizing
my authority, now I'm in theflow.
Carri Richard (11:20):
You're owning it, right, i'm owning it.
Ebony Gilbert (11:26):
Oh, you said that .
Oh, man, the fight is bigger.
The fight is bigger.
And if you didn't take a momentto really just stop and say man
, am I stuck?
Sky, did he hear?
Am I really on assignment?
Does this align with thepurpose of why I'm put on this
planet?
You know what?
Carri Richard (11:46):
And if you go ahead, when you're saying that
one of the best things when I'min that place, when you say, am
I on assignment?
The tool I use, the thing I saymost often is for me it's like
all right, god, open or shutthis door, and being willing for
(12:09):
that door to shut, because ifI'm not on assignment, i want to
know.
I Want to know yep, and I'mwilling to let it all go, and
I'll tell you what.
Ebony Gilbert (12:20):
That second part mmm, we can't skate past that.
It was easy to ask for help.
It's a whole different thingwhen you say help me, and when
you help me, i'm going tosurrender.
Carri Richard (12:34):
Yeah.
Ebony Gilbert (12:35):
Yeah.
Carri Richard (12:36):
Yeah, but you had the perfect analogy to start
with.
I actually.
Yeah, people die.
This is life or death.
Yeah, the rip riptide doesn'tis.
It doesn't work well, and thisis the same stuff.
Ebony Gilbert (12:56):
All right, it's good.
Carri Richard (12:59):
I you know this this may be a little tangent,
but it keeps coming up.
So I used to, when I was inhigh-tech, i had a team in India
who had never met yet and, ohmy gosh, they were awesome,
awesome people and I was in thein the US.
(13:20):
We - a lot of time in thetechnical world, there would be
team leads, right, so we wouldhave the Responsibility without
the authority.
It's like they don't want tomake you a manager or give you
that title, and there's aculture here where You you kind
of have authority, like with theteam lead, even though on paper
(13:44):
you don't right, it works.
It works in high-techfunctional in this in this
country.
Well, so I what I found in WhereI was in India, that that it's
all about title mm-hmm.
So it was really interestingthe conversation To have and say
(14:10):
, look, this title is important,this authority is important,
because without having thisauthority or assignment It's not
gonna work.
It's just not gonna work.
And it was amazing Nothingunderneath changed, a title
changed and everything shifted.
Ebony Gilbert (15:03):
Me neither I have a slingshot.
Carri Richard (15:08):
I.
don't even know if I have aslingshot :)
Ebony Gilbert (15:12):
Maybe your pebble and put it in my slingshot will
be alright.
You know cuz.
Listen here the slingshot.
Carri Richard (15:18):
Right on paper doesn't make sense, right?
This little kid with aslingshot against a giant on
paper?
that that does not make sense.
But he was on assignment.
So the question to peoplelistening to this is are you on
assignment?
Ebony Gilbert (15:39):
Are you on assignment?
Are you on assignment Forlittle guy David?
that was one of his earlyassignments.
He went on to be appointed king.
He had an appointment, anotherassignment, and the assignments
grew and they got bigger andthey got bigger.
If you know anything about mybuddy David, he has some issues.
(16:01):
He wasn't perfect.
His tool belt wasn't perfecteither, but his assignments and
his authority and hisappointments continued to grow.
That was just one.
So are you on assignment?
If you are, give it your all,become a good steward of it.
(16:23):
stay in the flow, because thenext one's going to be a little
bit bigger.
Carri Richard (16:28):
Be encouraged that you're being equipped with
everything you need today, Threeweeks from now.
that's the other hang up.
I want it all right now to makesure that I can do the whole
assignment.
I don't know that it works thatway.
Ebony Gilbert (16:45):
You're equipped for today's assignment.
Carri Richard (16:48):
Yes, some call it daily bread.
Ebony Gilbert (16:56):
There's a pot.
Carri Richard (16:57):
Yes.
So if you're on an assignment,be encouraged that you're always
given precisely what you needat the time.
Ebony Gilbert (17:07):
Mm-hmm, then move in that authority.
Take some authority.
Give yourself the title.
What's the title?
What's the title you want tocall yourself?
I'm a child of God.
My father's a king.
He rules the universe.
What title?
How do you encourage yourselfwith the title that comes along
(17:31):
with this assignment?
It's not corporate Americacorporation director.
blah, blah, blah.
That's not it.
That's some set of authorityfor different reasons.
Sometimes there's alignment,sometimes there's not, but what
is this title that gives you theauthority to walk in this
(17:54):
purpose and to leave the purposeand to walk in the flow and to
have alignment and to not fightthe current?
Yeah, i like your example a lot.
Carri Richard (18:08):
What does it feel like to be on assignment and in
alignment with authority onthat assignment?
Ebony.
Ebony Gilbert (18:15):
I love it.
Can you say it again threetimes fast?
What does it feel like?
What does it feel like?
It's decisive, it's verydecisive.
I know, when there's somethingthat I'm supposed to be doing,
even when I get the resistanceor it feels hard instead of me
(18:39):
feeling like I was going to giveup.
It's not worth it I becomefrustrated Because I'm like why
are we wasting time with thesebarriers?
I still must go for it.
I've got to keep going.
So I'm decisively moving in thedirection I'm supposed to be
going, but I'm really frustratedthat I got to pause and take
(18:59):
breaks and do whatever needs tobe done.
But my mind is still made up.
My mind is made up.
It's a made up mind for me, andI'm not talking about something
that I rationalized and did aRACI chart on and project
managed.
I'm talking about my heart isconvicted.
This is where I'm supposed tobe, this is where I'm supposed
(19:19):
to be going And God's going toprotect it.
And it doesn't matter what yousay, what you do, what I say,
what I do, what I feel, becausemy feelings can be tricky,
they're pretty fickle, but I'vegot a convicted heart.
So it's not always warm andfuzzy here.
Sometimes it's an immenseamount of frustration, but I'm
(19:42):
still decisive about it.
My mind is made up.
I don't have that certainty ifI'm not on assignment.
Carri Richard (19:52):
I hear that.
Ebony Gilbert (19:53):
I hear that I can't even generate it.
It doesn't come from me.
Yeah, I'm going to.
What was I?
devil's advocate, You can'tfake it.
Carri Richard (20:02):
I play that role all the time.
Ebony Gilbert (20:03):
Yeah, That's me.
What do you mean?
Glass is half full or halfempty.
My glass has mud in it.
You know like I had to go on tocome up with every possible
scenario that can make this gowrong.
Carri Richard (20:22):
It's not on assignment If I'm not on
assignment I got you.
Yeah, that's my naturalinclination.
That's like pushing a boulderup a mountain.
Ebony Gilbert (20:32):
When I'm on assignment, those thoughts don't
even enter into my mind.
I see them And I'm like, oh,but no, i have authority here
And I could speak to themountain and it will move.
That does not work when there'smisalignment between the
assignment and what I'm doing.
So for me, that's my triggerpoint.
(20:54):
That's when I know like, oh,and it's not based on an
emotional response to what'shappening in the moment, does
that make sense?
I'll give you an example.
I'll give you an example.
I feel like this podcast is anassignment for me.
(21:16):
I feel strongly about that.
Let me not miss words.
I know that This, i know This.
I believe It does not stop mefrom having a day, on a Thursday
at 345, when my computer stopsworking.
I'm tired, i'm frustrated, thelong-term materials don't work.
(21:39):
I'm like, ah, tomorrow I'mstill going to have the feelings
of frustration, i'm still goingto have the feelings of fatigue
, i'm still going to have thefeelings of maybe not today, but
my mind is made up.
This is where I'm supposed tobe.
It doesn't matter how tired Iam, it doesn't matter what's
(22:00):
going on.
God's going to make a way.
We're going to get on here.
We're going to talk.
He's going to speak through usAnd someone's going to be
reached.
I believe that.
So, regardless of my feelingswhich are, you know, let the
wind blow, they'll changetomorrow My heart is convicted
(22:22):
There's a line that between mypurpose and what we're doing for
30 minutes, Does that makesense?
Carri Richard (22:31):
It does make sense And I agree.
I love that.
You said, like all along theway, that resistance and the
feeling and the oh gosh really,and the you know all that stuff,
you're right, those but butthere's also for me.
There's also, when you talkabout it like I know this is, i
know this, that feeling, likethere is a feeling for me And
(22:57):
sometimes I forget it which iswhere I get in all the
resistance.
But like when we get on hereand start talking, i I know,
like it's annoying, like myheart rests, like there's space,
like my shoulders come down,like uh, there's something
buoying me up.
That is not me.
Ebony Gilbert (23:19):
Right And suddenly my slingshot of energy,
my heart, my body becomes anarch And I'm ready And I'm
equipped.
Yeah, and I didn't see itbefore the moment, i couldn't
feel it.
So when my feelings fail me, irely on my knowing, and my
knowing says hey, remindyourself of why you're doing
(23:41):
this, remind yourself of whotold you to do this, who gave
you this authority?
Carri Richard (23:47):
Now, walk in it, speak in it, and I'm going to
swim to shore.
I'm going to swim to shore.
That's the putting feet on it,because when I forget, when I
get far away, when I'm inresistance, when I'm deciding
that I'm going to swim to shore,i've had enough of this
floating about even though it'sworking.
(24:08):
I'm going to swim to shoreUntil I, until I let go again,
until I put feet on my faith AndI'm going to swim to shore.
I'm going to swim to shore.
Ebony Gilbert (24:22):
Until I let go again.
Carri Richard (24:25):
Because when I'm in resistance.
Ebony Gilbert (24:27):
I can't.
I can't swim back to shore AndI'm going to swim to shore.
You can forget, but it comesright back once I get moving
again.
You have to remind your souland remind your feelings That
this really does make sense.
Carri Richard (24:47):
Yeah, in a hurry, i see something shiny and.
Ebony Gilbert (24:50):
I want it I want it now.
Carri Richard (24:52):
I'm gonna get there faster Yeah.
Ebony Gilbert (24:58):
That's good, that's good.
Carri Richard (25:03):
So, so yeah, it's the encouragement that if you
have something that's going onright now whoever's listening to
this and And, and you're justIt seems really hard, you know
ask for the door to be shut oropen, and if the door stays open
(25:26):
, you're probably on assignment.
You're on assignment and beencouraged that all you need to
take the next step is here.
Ebony Gilbert (25:40):
Absolutely.
God's grace will guide youthrough.
Carri Richard (25:46):
Guided steps.
Ebony Gilbert (25:48):
Guided steps.
It'll take you to the nextpoint, you know.
One last thought I'm alwaysfascinated by these like message
and a bottle things you know,and these events that happen in
Japan and stuff watching them onthe shore of the West Coast of
the United States.
You know, when I'm thinking ofa current, I'm thinking about a
(26:08):
flow, i'm thinking you don'tknow where you're going to land.
You don't know where God's aboutto wash you, what shore he's
about to wash you up on.
You thought that shore you sawand you knew, but the shiny
thing was attractive.
You don't know where he's aboutto land you.
He's taking you someplaceyou've never seen before,
something you've neverexperienced before.
a whole different continent ofexperiences.
(26:29):
if you just stay in the flow,let them take you there.
Carri Richard (26:34):
Yeah.
Ebony Gilbert (26:35):
It'll take you there.
Carri Richard (26:36):
It's always better.
You know, we.
I've been talking about theconversation of like answered
prayers never come in thepackaging that we think it will.
And I heard a different take onthat Is I would have known what
(26:59):
to pray for if I had had theview as broad as God.
Say it again, i would haveknown how to pray for something,
what to pray for If my vision,if my view, was as vast as God's
.
So I don't even know.
you know so to the point oflike we have no idea what shore
(27:22):
we're going to wash up on.
we're not supposed to.
In fact, we can't.
Ebony Gilbert (27:28):
Would you need to pray if you already knew?
Carri Richard (27:32):
My gosh Hey so.
Ebony Gilbert (27:38):
Yeah, i don't.
I don't listen.
That is never.
I don't want to know what God'sgoing to do next.
Sometimes today is overwhelming.
You know, spare me, i don't.
I don't need to see all thesteps, but I know there's air.
Yeah, i know there's air.
All right, kerry, close thisout.
Carri Richard (28:02):
You're so good, you're like I just did Ebony,
you, i'm going to le t you tohave the final words today.
Ebony Gilbert (28:13):
Alignment, assignment, authority,
purposeful.
Let the purpose give you peace.
Yeah, let God give you thegrace.
Allow him to guide you steps.
There's grace and in guidedsteps.
There's authority on assignment.
There's alignment with purposewhen you're on assignment.
All these little catchphrasesthat we're going to put in
(28:35):
hashtags Alignment, assignment,authority, grace, god, peace,
purpose.
Now mix it all together andtell us what you think There you
go.
Carri Richard (28:45):
I love it! Al right Ebony.
Grace out.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Thank you so much for joining us.
If you enjoyed this episode,please let us know.
We love to hear from you andshare it with a friend.
Also, please be sure tosubscribe so you're notified
when a new episode is posted.
We hope you're leaving withanother pointer to grace, a new
perspective that will light itup in your own life.
Until next time, be well, bebold, be kind to yourself and be
(29:15):
on the lookout.
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