October 26, 2023 • 27 mins
In this episode, special guest Erica Young shares her story of how she overcame addiction, depression, anxiety, rejection, and so much more. Listen to how God made her over again!
Erica Young is a Christian Coach and founder of She’s Graced, LLC. In addition, Erica is a transformative speaker, prayer warrior, author, and kingdom influencer. Erica transforms the lives of women by impacting the way that women pursue their relationship with God through digital courses, digital products, spiritual challenges, prayer, bible study, and live teaching series. Erica also works diligently to help women identify and walk boldly in their kingdom assignment.
Erica Young is a Christian Coach and founder of She’s Graced, LLC. In addition, Erica is a transformative speaker, prayer warrior, author, and kingdom influencer. Erica transforms the lives of women by impacting the way that women pursue their relationship with God through digital courses, digital products, spiritual challenges, prayer, bible study, and live teaching series. Erica also works diligently to help women identify and walk boldly in their kingdom assignment.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:53):
Hello and welcome to all beautiful soulsout there. You're listening to the Restore
My Soul Podcast with Prince us Millon'syour favorite grief coach and emotional wellness specialist.
In this space, we will helpthose who struggle with grief and loss
and have real conversations about how toovercome it in every area of life through
our personal stories, practical information,and wisdom from Princess and her special guests.
(01:19):
We are here to educate, inspire, and empower you with the strategies
you need in your emotional healing journey. We do not offer medical advice,
but we believe that we can alllearn to heal by creating a mindset to
grow, pass our pain and pushtoward our purpose. Our goal is to
remind you that grief is a journeyand you do not have to walk it
(01:41):
alone. No matter what the painor loss is, you can be restored
and live fully in your purpose.But let's push through the pain together as
we share our stories of resilience inone episode at a time. Well,
Welcome in everybody, Welcome to anotherepisode of the Restore My Soul Podcast.
(02:04):
I'm so honored that you're here andyou're listening or you're watching, and this
is the place where we help youto push past your struggle with grief and
loss and have real conversations about howto overcome. So I am your host,
your favorite grief and emotional wellness coach, Princess Millons, and we're here
(02:25):
to educate and inspire you to beall that God has called you to be.
So we are here and we haveanother magnificent guest. We have a
special guest today and her name isErica Young, and she is a Christian
coach and founder of She's GRACELLC.And Erica is a transformation and empowerment speaker.
(02:51):
She's a prayer warrior, an author, and a Kingdom influencer. Right
and Erica she transforms the lives ofsoul so many women by impacting the way
that women pursue their relationship with Godthrough digital courses. She has digital products,
and she has spiritual challenges, prayer, Bible Study the Whole Work.
(03:15):
She has live teaching series, andshe also works diligently to help women identify
and walk boldly in their Kingdom assignment. So I want to welcome Erica Young
to the broadcast. Thank you somuch for being here. Hey, I'm
(03:37):
so excited to be here, soexcited we're excited to have you as well,
and so waiting and expectation of yousharing your story. I know we're
going to have a conversation today abouta lot of things that you have pushed
past and pushed through. And Godhas a birth something inside of you,
(03:59):
right and you have a burning testimonyof how God made you over so we
got to get right to it.I just want to ask you just tell
the people about you know, shareabout your story and how what what kind
of things that you had to comeup against, and how what you had,
(04:20):
what kind of traumas or struggles thatyou had in the past that you
had to push push past to becomethe woman of God that you are today.
Yeah. So, I honestly,before we got here today, I
started thinking about different things that Iwent through, and I started to think
(04:42):
that it actually began in childhood.You know, I really began going through
a little bit of depression, anxiety, and different things like that. I
was a child of divorce and Ireally struggled with the fact that my parents
weren't a unit. I often tellmy mom now, well not too often,
(05:05):
but I've told her recently. Iwas like, I actually used to
daydream about my dad coming back home. I used to think it would be
a reality for me. So asI was struggling with depression and anxiety due
to those things, I started beinga little bit more promiscuous. So I
started really getting into relationships and spacesthat I really had no business in.
(05:30):
I started when I got to collegeand kind of got on my own and
was free to do whatever. Istarted dibbling and dabbling in a little bit
of drugs, a little bit ofalcohol, and just anything to kind of
cope because what I didn't realize atthe time was that I was trying to
fill the void that only God couldfill, right Wow, trying to fill
that void in such a major way, and it almost seemed like I could
(05:54):
never do enough. Right I could. I could never get full enough.
I could never go out enough.I literally, I tell people all the
time, I was a recruiter forthe club. Okay, I was a
recruiter because I'm like, we allneed to experience this. But the craziness
of it all is that I,honestly, even though I was the one
(06:15):
asking everybody like, let's go outlet's go out, let's indulge in all
these things. I would be inthese places, in spaces and pray for
people. I would be in spacesand I would be in the car with
my friends, and I would havethem turned down the radio and I would
just start singing, because singing wasthe first gift that I ever knew that
I had. It was honestly theonly thing I thought I would ever do,
(06:36):
and I just I would start singing, and they would get so mad,
they would get so upset. Butthe Lord literally had me. When
I look back on it now,I've been in ministry. I've been in
ministry. I've been doing some ofthe God had called me to do.
But the enemy really had such ahold on me of trying to keep me
(07:00):
trapped in a place where I reallycouldn't walk in the true calling and anointing
that was upon my life. AndI really had to forgive, right,
Yeah, So I had to forgivemy father. I had to forgive,
not knowing if he would ever acknowledgea wrong, if he would ever apologize.
And I think that's really hard whenwe have to forgive people that we
feel like have maybe wronged us ina way. And we don't get an
(07:24):
apology back. So I began toforgive for myself when I got pregnant with
my son. I got pregnant withmy son after getting fired from my job
where I was a bartender full time. I was a bar manager, and
I didn't belong there in the firstplace, but I thought the world of
that job. So it was likeit crushed me to not real more.
(07:47):
I went into a downward spiral.I got deeper into depression, and I
went to this revival. On thefirst day, I didn't want to go.
The second day, I got saved. The third day, I took
a pregnancy test and found out Iwas having my son, and I said,
Lord, listen, I committed toyou. I said, I would
(08:09):
go your way. That's doing Lord. But what I didn't understand was that
God knew that if I were toget pregnant during that time, that I
would isolate right, that I wouldgo to myself. I would separate from
the people and the places and thethings that were really not helping me right.
And I literally zoned in and Ifocused in on my walk with God.
(08:31):
Wow, that is a powerful testimonyof those three days, right,
those three days it's powerful. Andyou know, I heard you talk about,
you know, trying to feel avoid, trying to feel that boid
that only God can feel. Right, But you know, when we are
(08:54):
blind, we're blinded to his presence, when we were blinded to the things
said he can do in our lives, right, we often try to feel
those voids, right, feel thoseempty spaces in our lives. So can
you just go back to that andkind of tell us what does feeling that
(09:16):
void? What did what did feelingthat void look like for you? What
kind of things that we have tolook out for to not fall into that
trap? So feeling the void forme really looked like over consuming things.
(09:37):
And that wasn't always like that wasn'talways like drugs and alcohol, but that
sometimes was things like TV or bingewatching, doing things of that nature.
It was anything that would kind ofkeep me off focused, right, keep
me distracted and not present and reallynot tuned into like what that I was
(09:58):
wasting away honestly, because sometimes whenyou fill your life with voids, you're
obviously you're not operating in purpose,you're not living life to your full potential.
So I would say, you know, feeling voids looks different for every
person. But when you begin toexamine yourself, you see that it's really
(10:18):
anything that you're doing in excess that'sproviding you with comfort that only God is
supposed to provide. Absolutely, absolutely, And I know a lot of us,
even myself, I'm resonating with alot of things that you're saying in
your story, because when we havegone through some trauma, when we have
(10:41):
gone through some pain in our past, we try to mask that pain with
certain things, whether it be alcoholand or sex, it doesn't matter,
it's going to be something to feelthat. But I never thought I never
thought of even the things that weconsume, like right, too much,
(11:01):
too much of this, too muchof that. Listen, sometimes you start
you start replacing it, because honestly, that's what happened to me was that,
yes, I let go of alot of other things, and for
a season everything was fine. Butmost recently the Lord was like letting the
hooks though he was like Starbucks,like he just kept showing me things that
(11:22):
like I wasn't going to be ableto indulge in on a daily basis because
I was over consuming, and theystarted becoming idol that is so powerful that
is so powerful. That's that's abig revelation right there, and I open
I know for a lot of peoplethat's gonna watch this episode. Right,
So, can you talk about alittle bit about being a mother being you
(11:46):
know, going into that motherhood ofyou know, after those three days and
you found out that you're not onlypregnant with the spirit, which but you
were pregnant naturally, right, tellus about how that that motherhood, how
motherhood panned out for you and howyou were able to raise your child.
(12:07):
Oh yeah, sure, So Iwill say that motherhood was the best thing
that could have ever happened to mebecause I believe that the Lord used it
to save me. Because I beforeI was a I was a believer.
I went to church, I sangin the choir every Sunday, even when
(12:28):
I lived raggedy. But when Igot pregnant with my son, I not
only had to separate from things,but I got focused. Right. So,
really, I always say that likebeing a mom really saved me,
and that on this journey of beinga mom, honestly, it's been life
(12:48):
changing. It's filled my heart withso much joy and so much love.
The Lord blessed me with a childthat like, I'm like, I don't
eed, I didn't even know that, like someone could have this much love
and joy inside. And I'm like, he came from me, and I
think a big portion of it.And then also being a mom has done
something to my faith because I'm notjust any type of mom. I'm a
(13:11):
mom to a child who's had alot of struggles. My son has struggled
to speak, he's been in severaltherapies, he's in, you know,
going to constant doctor's appointments and differentthings and searching, you know, for
what things will work. So beinga mom has caused me to have to
believe God to do the impossible,and that's been really the biggest thing,
(13:37):
because no one can tell me thatmy child won't be exactly who God is
called and anointed and ordained for himto be, because I prayed that prayer
over him, and I know thatanything that I ask in the name of
Jesus that it shall be done forme. I know that that allies with
the will of the Lord, soit has to happen. So I would
say the biggest thing is just thethe love and the faith that has grown,
(14:03):
and just it being the thing thatreally likes that God used to save
me. Oh wow, yeah,yeah, I can attest to that too.
Motherhood is something very special and sovery real. A lot of us
never thought. I know, forme, I never thought I would be
a mom. I never it wasn'teven thinking. I wasn't even even thinking
(14:24):
about being a mom, right asI know you weren't either, right.
But once once that baby start growing, and once you see that face and
you hold them for the first time, it's just no going back, and
it's the most rewarding thing in life. And it becomes our first ministry,
(14:45):
right, you know, it becomesour first ministry, the one that we
birth in this in the natural becomesour first ministry because we're called to our
family as well, right, andso, so talk about I know you're
doing a whole lot of things now. You know, you are a Christian
(15:05):
coach. You have all these digitalcourses and products, you have the things
that you're doing with the women,the prayer and the challenges, the Bible
studies, all of this, andso take us through how you came to
be this woman of God, tohave all of this and to rally around
(15:31):
the women that you serve today.Oh yeah, of course. So when
I was about I feel like everythingstems back to this little boy. When
I was about six months pregnant withmy son, the Lord told me he
placed on my heart to host awomen's empowerment brunch right of my heart,
have a women's empowerment brunch. Andat the time, I don't even know
(15:54):
if I thought that it was crazy. I was just like, this is
on my heart, I have todo it. I have to do it,
and think about the resources, howeverything was gonna work out. I
did it, and it was lifechanging. It. We called it to
Make Me Over Again Brunch because wewere believing, you know that that any
man in Christ that He has literallymade new, that the old has passed
(16:18):
away, and so that they wouldliterally be made over again. And I
just wanted to share what it happenedfor me with other women. I wanted
to impact their lives in that way. So I started out doing that.
A few years later, the Lordplaced on my heart to start a Facebook
group, and all of the thingsthat I honestly started when were just me
(16:38):
obeying God. God told me todo a thing. I'm like, Lord,
I don't know about this, likenobody might not show up, nobody
might not want to participate. Iremember starting the Facebook group and just kind
of like putting my phone away afterI did it, and I was just
like, all right, I'll goback and check it sometimes because nobody's gonna
want to come. And people signedup the first day and now we're at
(17:00):
over six hundred members, so obviouslysomebody wanted to be a part of it.
But again, like I said,it's just been a series of obeying
God, just saying yes to himconsistently, and each time He has just
been preparing and equipping and teaching mereally how to teach other women. Because
I started hosting the prayer call abouta month into us beginning the Facebook community
(17:26):
never prayed out loud before. Really, I had never prayed out loud before.
And I was like telling the Lordgave me a team about two weeks
in and I was telling them,I was like, yeah, the Lord
kind of placed on my heart tostart a prayer call. I was like,
I already got a conference call numberlined up and everything. I already
got a little little post to putout on Instagram. But I was like,
I don't know, and they werelike, I think you should do
(17:47):
that I don't know, right,I was very so at the beginning.
I really think I was learning kindof how to be sensitive to the promptings
of the Holy Spirit, like Ithink I I knew, but at the
same time, I wasn't always assure as I am now, and so
I was like, I don't know. And so we started it and it
(18:11):
has literally like I have we've beenin We're like probably almost three years in
now, so I would say,and then, honestly, I don't know.
I could go on honestly all dayabout just how God has like grown
the ministry, grown me. Again. It's all been about being obedient and
(18:33):
just saying yes to God, notlooking at what I don't what I think
I don't have, whether it's aphysical resource or what I think I may
not be gifted to do. Iremember doing when I started doing Bible study
about two months, and I'm like, I've never led Bible study before.
But God spent so much time preparingme. Right during the time where I
(18:55):
isolated from everything He was preparing me, I would take sermons and create Bible
studies out of them. I wouldbreak them down. I was consistently in
the Word every single day so hewas like, I prepared you in the
secret place. Yeah, And hedoes. He often prepares us, even
in our stories and our testimony,the things that we've gone through. He
(19:18):
uses all of it, right,He uses all of it to propel us
into what he has called us tobe. And we and really the only
thing that he is asking for isI yes. Right, He's only asking
for a yes and to be obedient. And we can see through your story
how you know you just had thatfaith. You just had the faith to
(19:44):
trust and believe that God would deliverand that he would do whatever he said
that he was going to do becausehe put it on your heart. And
I think a lot of times that'swhere we get tripped up a little bit.
That God would give us, youknow, something in our heart.
He'll give us an instruction to dothat seems impossible, right, but we
know that we're but with God thateverything is possible. Right. But we
(20:08):
kind of get that a little bitbecause we are afraid of what people will
say, how they will think,what they will do. We'll worry about
people not supporting, they won't showup. And all he wants is our
yes. All he wants is ouryes, and you are a classic example
of what God can do when wegive our yes. Yeah. So,
(20:34):
as we kind of end this out, I just want you to say one
last thing to the audience. Youknow, what would you then encourage the
mother or even the young person orwhatever. How would you then encourage them
(20:55):
to keep being motivated and keep beingencouraged and what God has caused them to
do and not to give up.Hm. So the biggest thing that I
could say would be that when Godplaces something on your heart, when he
(21:18):
gives you a vision, the scriptureis clear that the vision is for an
appointed time. It also says inGalatians six and nine to not grow weary
and well doing or induce these andyou'll reap if you faint. Note So,
I have really held on to thosescriptures because it's not that I've never
(21:38):
wanted to faint. It's not thatI've never wanted to throw in the towel
and give up. But I understandthat God showed me something, and that
when He shows me something, ithas to go forth, it has to
be accomplished. His words shall notreturn to him empty. So the biggest
thing would be to honestly stay inyour word and upon what God said,
(22:00):
stay in your prayer closet, seekingHim at every turn, getting the strategy
from him. Right, every singlemove that I've made, I've gotten the
strategy in prayer. Anything that didn'twork out, I didn't prayer about it.
I can attest to that as well. Okay, sometimes you know,
(22:22):
sometimes you work out of self,but honestly, to really just be in
that place where we're in our word, where we're praying, and where we're
actually believing, right to the youngperson and to the mother, especially to
mothers that maybe are single moms,that there's nothing that could have ever happened
to you, nothing that could havebeen attached to you, right, and
(22:45):
a prior season that can disqualify youfrom where God actually wants to take you.
They're actually qualified us. I'd said, if you don't actually go through
those things, if you don't gothrough those places in spaces, how will
you be able to testify to someoneelse? Absolutely? How will you be
able to share and resonate with themso that they will see Because if they
(23:10):
understand that God is not a respectorof persons, they'll be like, if
that happened for them, he cando that for me. Yes, So
just having that praying consistently for thefaith right that you will be able to
keep believing in what God said.Believing in what God said because people like
(23:32):
you said, people aren't going tosupport a lot of my family doesn't support
people that I know don't support.I'm completely okay just walking based off of
what God said. That's all Ineed. As soon as you get that
type of confidence in Him, youdon't need anybody else. When you see
people not supporting, when you hearthem saying something opposite, you're not even
(23:55):
worried about it. Anytime your mindsetshifts into a place where you're feeling fearful,
or you're doubting, or you're notbelieving that you can do it,
you instantly go into a place ofprayer and begin speaking the word of the
Lord over yourself. Absolutely. Sothat's what I would say, Yes,
(24:17):
we have to activate the measure offaith that God has given us. Now,
each of us have a measure offaith, but we got to activate
it right. We have to makesure that we do. And that was
such a beautiful testimony. Thank youso much for being here on this episode
of Restore my Soul podcast. Beforewe leave, I want you to tell
(24:40):
everybody how to connect with you,how to follow you, and all the
things. Okay, sure, SoI am on Facebook at Erica Renee Young.
I'm on Instagram TikTok as well asthread. It's a little niche,
but every once in a while I'mon there at Gracefully eric one word.
(25:06):
And then I am also on YouTubeand my YouTube channel is Gracefully Erica there
as well. And of course wehave our website which is www dot She's
dash grace dot com. Those arethe ways that you can reach out and
(25:26):
connect with me. All right,Well, you all make sure that you
reach out to Erica and participate inher programs. Again, thank you so
much for being here and sharing yourstory. I'm sure that it has blessed
and it will bless so many peoplethat will hear your story. And I
(25:49):
hope to see you again. Ihope so too. And thank you so
much for having me absolutely well,Thank you having ever. That was another
episode of Restore My Soul podcast.Thank you for joining this week. Be
sure to follow me on all socialmedia at Princess Milon's and my website at
(26:12):
Princessmilons dot com. You all rememberthat grief is a journey, but you
don't have to walk it alone,and just understand that we love you with
the love of the Lord. There'snothing that you can do about it,
and we'll see you in the nextepisode. Thank you for joining another episode
(26:33):
of Restore My Soul Podcast. Besure to listen and watch each week as
we continue the conversation on how tobounce back from the setback of grief and
loss and to become resilient so thatyou too can thrive in life. Don't
forget to like and subscribe so thatyou don't miss out on any new episodes,
and share this with as many peopleas possible so they can be encouraged
(26:56):
in their emotional wellness journey. Weinvite you to follow Princess Millains on all
social media platforms and on the websiteat Princessmilins dot com. Thank you for
listening and we'll see you in thenext episode of the Restore My Soul Podcast.
Hello and welcome to all beautiful soulsout there. You're listening to the Restore
My Soul Podcast with Prince us Millon'syour favorite grief coach and emotional wellness specialist.
In this space, we will helpthose who struggle with grief and loss
and have real conversations about how toovercome it in every area of life through
our personal stories, practical information,and wisdom from Princess and her special guests.
(01:19):
We are here to educate, inspire, and empower you with the strategies
you need in your emotional healing journey. We do not offer medical advice,
but we believe that we can alllearn to heal by creating a mindset to
grow, pass our pain and pushtoward our purpose. Our goal is to
remind you that grief is a journeyand you do not have to walk it
(01:41):
alone. No matter what the painor loss is, you can be restored
and live fully in your purpose.But let's push through the pain together as
we share our stories of resilience inone episode at a time. Well,
Welcome in everybody, Welcome to anotherepisode of the Restore My Soul Podcast.
(02:04):
I'm so honored that you're here andyou're listening or you're watching, and this
is the place where we help youto push past your struggle with grief and
loss and have real conversations about howto overcome. So I am your host,
your favorite grief and emotional wellness coach, Princess Millons, and we're here
(02:25):
to educate and inspire you to beall that God has called you to be.
So we are here and we haveanother magnificent guest. We have a
special guest today and her name isErica Young, and she is a Christian
coach and founder of She's GRACELLC.And Erica is a transformation and empowerment speaker.
(02:51):
She's a prayer warrior, an author, and a Kingdom influencer. Right
and Erica she transforms the lives ofsoul so many women by impacting the way
that women pursue their relationship with Godthrough digital courses. She has digital products,
and she has spiritual challenges, prayer, Bible Study the Whole Work.
(03:15):
She has live teaching series, andshe also works diligently to help women identify
and walk boldly in their Kingdom assignment. So I want to welcome Erica Young
to the broadcast. Thank you somuch for being here. Hey, I'm
(03:37):
so excited to be here, soexcited we're excited to have you as well,
and so waiting and expectation of yousharing your story. I know we're
going to have a conversation today abouta lot of things that you have pushed
past and pushed through. And Godhas a birth something inside of you,
(03:59):
right and you have a burning testimonyof how God made you over so we
got to get right to it.I just want to ask you just tell
the people about you know, shareabout your story and how what what kind
of things that you had to comeup against, and how what you had,
(04:20):
what kind of traumas or struggles thatyou had in the past that you
had to push push past to becomethe woman of God that you are today.
Yeah. So, I honestly,before we got here today, I
started thinking about different things that Iwent through, and I started to think
(04:42):
that it actually began in childhood.You know, I really began going through
a little bit of depression, anxiety, and different things like that. I
was a child of divorce and Ireally struggled with the fact that my parents
weren't a unit. I often tellmy mom now, well not too often,
(05:05):
but I've told her recently. Iwas like, I actually used to
daydream about my dad coming back home. I used to think it would be
a reality for me. So asI was struggling with depression and anxiety due
to those things, I started beinga little bit more promiscuous. So I
started really getting into relationships and spacesthat I really had no business in.
(05:30):
I started when I got to collegeand kind of got on my own and
was free to do whatever. Istarted dibbling and dabbling in a little bit
of drugs, a little bit ofalcohol, and just anything to kind of
cope because what I didn't realize atthe time was that I was trying to
fill the void that only God couldfill, right Wow, trying to fill
that void in such a major way, and it almost seemed like I could
(05:54):
never do enough. Right I could. I could never get full enough.
I could never go out enough.I literally, I tell people all the
time, I was a recruiter forthe club. Okay, I was a
recruiter because I'm like, we allneed to experience this. But the craziness
of it all is that I,honestly, even though I was the one
(06:15):
asking everybody like, let's go outlet's go out, let's indulge in all
these things. I would be inthese places, in spaces and pray for
people. I would be in spacesand I would be in the car with
my friends, and I would havethem turned down the radio and I would
just start singing, because singing wasthe first gift that I ever knew that
I had. It was honestly theonly thing I thought I would ever do,
(06:36):
and I just I would start singing, and they would get so mad,
they would get so upset. Butthe Lord literally had me. When
I look back on it now,I've been in ministry. I've been in
ministry. I've been doing some ofthe God had called me to do.
But the enemy really had such ahold on me of trying to keep me
(07:00):
trapped in a place where I reallycouldn't walk in the true calling and anointing
that was upon my life. AndI really had to forgive, right,
Yeah, So I had to forgivemy father. I had to forgive,
not knowing if he would ever acknowledgea wrong, if he would ever apologize.
And I think that's really hard whenwe have to forgive people that we
feel like have maybe wronged us ina way. And we don't get an
(07:24):
apology back. So I began toforgive for myself when I got pregnant with
my son. I got pregnant withmy son after getting fired from my job
where I was a bartender full time. I was a bar manager, and
I didn't belong there in the firstplace, but I thought the world of
that job. So it was likeit crushed me to not real more.
(07:47):
I went into a downward spiral.I got deeper into depression, and I
went to this revival. On thefirst day, I didn't want to go.
The second day, I got saved. The third day, I took
a pregnancy test and found out Iwas having my son, and I said,
Lord, listen, I committed toyou. I said, I would
(08:09):
go your way. That's doing Lord. But what I didn't understand was that
God knew that if I were toget pregnant during that time, that I
would isolate right, that I wouldgo to myself. I would separate from
the people and the places and thethings that were really not helping me right.
And I literally zoned in and Ifocused in on my walk with God.
(08:31):
Wow, that is a powerful testimonyof those three days, right,
those three days it's powerful. Andyou know, I heard you talk about,
you know, trying to feel avoid, trying to feel that boid
that only God can feel. Right, But you know, when we are
(08:54):
blind, we're blinded to his presence, when we were blinded to the things
said he can do in our lives, right, we often try to feel
those voids, right, feel thoseempty spaces in our lives. So can
you just go back to that andkind of tell us what does feeling that
(09:16):
void? What did what did feelingthat void look like for you? What
kind of things that we have tolook out for to not fall into that
trap? So feeling the void forme really looked like over consuming things.
(09:37):
And that wasn't always like that wasn'talways like drugs and alcohol, but that
sometimes was things like TV or bingewatching, doing things of that nature.
It was anything that would kind ofkeep me off focused, right, keep
me distracted and not present and reallynot tuned into like what that I was
(09:58):
wasting away honestly, because sometimes whenyou fill your life with voids, you're
obviously you're not operating in purpose,you're not living life to your full potential.
So I would say, you know, feeling voids looks different for every
person. But when you begin toexamine yourself, you see that it's really
(10:18):
anything that you're doing in excess that'sproviding you with comfort that only God is
supposed to provide. Absolutely, absolutely, And I know a lot of us,
even myself, I'm resonating with alot of things that you're saying in
your story, because when we havegone through some trauma, when we have
(10:41):
gone through some pain in our past, we try to mask that pain with
certain things, whether it be alcoholand or sex, it doesn't matter,
it's going to be something to feelthat. But I never thought I never
thought of even the things that weconsume, like right, too much,
(11:01):
too much of this, too muchof that. Listen, sometimes you start
you start replacing it, because honestly, that's what happened to me was that,
yes, I let go of alot of other things, and for
a season everything was fine. Butmost recently the Lord was like letting the
hooks though he was like Starbucks,like he just kept showing me things that
(11:22):
like I wasn't going to be ableto indulge in on a daily basis because
I was over consuming, and theystarted becoming idol that is so powerful that
is so powerful. That's that's abig revelation right there, and I open
I know for a lot of peoplethat's gonna watch this episode. Right,
So, can you talk about alittle bit about being a mother being you
(11:46):
know, going into that motherhood ofyou know, after those three days and
you found out that you're not onlypregnant with the spirit, which but you
were pregnant naturally, right, tellus about how that that motherhood, how
motherhood panned out for you and howyou were able to raise your child.
(12:07):
Oh yeah, sure, So Iwill say that motherhood was the best thing
that could have ever happened to mebecause I believe that the Lord used it
to save me. Because I beforeI was a I was a believer.
I went to church, I sangin the choir every Sunday, even when
(12:28):
I lived raggedy. But when Igot pregnant with my son, I not
only had to separate from things,but I got focused. Right. So,
really, I always say that likebeing a mom really saved me,
and that on this journey of beinga mom, honestly, it's been life
(12:48):
changing. It's filled my heart withso much joy and so much love.
The Lord blessed me with a childthat like, I'm like, I don't
eed, I didn't even know that, like someone could have this much love
and joy inside. And I'm like, he came from me, and I
think a big portion of it.And then also being a mom has done
something to my faith because I'm notjust any type of mom. I'm a
(13:11):
mom to a child who's had alot of struggles. My son has struggled
to speak, he's been in severaltherapies, he's in, you know,
going to constant doctor's appointments and differentthings and searching, you know, for
what things will work. So beinga mom has caused me to have to
believe God to do the impossible,and that's been really the biggest thing,
(13:37):
because no one can tell me thatmy child won't be exactly who God is
called and anointed and ordained for himto be, because I prayed that prayer
over him, and I know thatanything that I ask in the name of
Jesus that it shall be done forme. I know that that allies with
the will of the Lord, soit has to happen. So I would
say the biggest thing is just thethe love and the faith that has grown,
(14:03):
and just it being the thing thatreally likes that God used to save
me. Oh wow, yeah,yeah, I can attest to that too.
Motherhood is something very special and sovery real. A lot of us
never thought. I know, forme, I never thought I would be
a mom. I never it wasn'teven thinking. I wasn't even even thinking
(14:24):
about being a mom, right asI know you weren't either, right.
But once once that baby start growing, and once you see that face and
you hold them for the first time, it's just no going back, and
it's the most rewarding thing in life. And it becomes our first ministry,
(14:45):
right, you know, it becomesour first ministry, the one that we
birth in this in the natural becomesour first ministry because we're called to our
family as well, right, andso, so talk about I know you're
doing a whole lot of things now. You know, you are a Christian
(15:05):
coach. You have all these digitalcourses and products, you have the things
that you're doing with the women,the prayer and the challenges, the Bible
studies, all of this, andso take us through how you came to
be this woman of God, tohave all of this and to rally around
(15:31):
the women that you serve today.Oh yeah, of course. So when
I was about I feel like everythingstems back to this little boy. When
I was about six months pregnant withmy son, the Lord told me he
placed on my heart to host awomen's empowerment brunch right of my heart,
have a women's empowerment brunch. Andat the time, I don't even know
(15:54):
if I thought that it was crazy. I was just like, this is
on my heart, I have todo it. I have to do it,
and think about the resources, howeverything was gonna work out. I
did it, and it was lifechanging. It. We called it to
Make Me Over Again Brunch because wewere believing, you know that that any
man in Christ that He has literallymade new, that the old has passed
(16:18):
away, and so that they wouldliterally be made over again. And I
just wanted to share what it happenedfor me with other women. I wanted
to impact their lives in that way. So I started out doing that.
A few years later, the Lordplaced on my heart to start a Facebook
group, and all of the thingsthat I honestly started when were just me
(16:38):
obeying God. God told me todo a thing. I'm like, Lord,
I don't know about this, likenobody might not show up, nobody
might not want to participate. Iremember starting the Facebook group and just kind
of like putting my phone away afterI did it, and I was just
like, all right, I'll goback and check it sometimes because nobody's gonna
want to come. And people signedup the first day and now we're at
(17:00):
over six hundred members, so obviouslysomebody wanted to be a part of it.
But again, like I said,it's just been a series of obeying
God, just saying yes to himconsistently, and each time He has just
been preparing and equipping and teaching mereally how to teach other women. Because
I started hosting the prayer call abouta month into us beginning the Facebook community
(17:26):
never prayed out loud before. Really, I had never prayed out loud before.
And I was like telling the Lordgave me a team about two weeks
in and I was telling them,I was like, yeah, the Lord
kind of placed on my heart tostart a prayer call. I was like,
I already got a conference call numberlined up and everything. I already
got a little little post to putout on Instagram. But I was like,
I don't know, and they werelike, I think you should do
(17:47):
that I don't know, right,I was very so at the beginning.
I really think I was learning kindof how to be sensitive to the promptings
of the Holy Spirit, like Ithink I I knew, but at the
same time, I wasn't always assure as I am now, and so
I was like, I don't know. And so we started it and it
(18:11):
has literally like I have we've beenin We're like probably almost three years in
now, so I would say,and then, honestly, I don't know.
I could go on honestly all dayabout just how God has like grown
the ministry, grown me. Again. It's all been about being obedient and
(18:33):
just saying yes to God, notlooking at what I don't what I think
I don't have, whether it's aphysical resource or what I think I may
not be gifted to do. Iremember doing when I started doing Bible study
about two months, and I'm like, I've never led Bible study before.
But God spent so much time preparingme. Right during the time where I
(18:55):
isolated from everything He was preparing me, I would take sermons and create Bible
studies out of them. I wouldbreak them down. I was consistently in
the Word every single day so hewas like, I prepared you in the
secret place. Yeah, And hedoes. He often prepares us, even
in our stories and our testimony,the things that we've gone through. He
(19:18):
uses all of it, right,He uses all of it to propel us
into what he has called us tobe. And we and really the only
thing that he is asking for isI yes. Right, He's only asking
for a yes and to be obedient. And we can see through your story
how you know you just had thatfaith. You just had the faith to
(19:44):
trust and believe that God would deliverand that he would do whatever he said
that he was going to do becausehe put it on your heart. And
I think a lot of times that'swhere we get tripped up a little bit.
That God would give us, youknow, something in our heart.
He'll give us an instruction to dothat seems impossible, right, but we
know that we're but with God thateverything is possible. Right. But we
(20:08):
kind of get that a little bitbecause we are afraid of what people will
say, how they will think,what they will do. We'll worry about
people not supporting, they won't showup. And all he wants is our
yes. All he wants is ouryes, and you are a classic example
of what God can do when wegive our yes. Yeah. So,
(20:34):
as we kind of end this out, I just want you to say one
last thing to the audience. Youknow, what would you then encourage the
mother or even the young person orwhatever. How would you then encourage them
(20:55):
to keep being motivated and keep beingencouraged and what God has caused them to
do and not to give up.Hm. So the biggest thing that I
could say would be that when Godplaces something on your heart, when he
(21:18):
gives you a vision, the scriptureis clear that the vision is for an
appointed time. It also says inGalatians six and nine to not grow weary
and well doing or induce these andyou'll reap if you faint. Note So,
I have really held on to thosescriptures because it's not that I've never
(21:38):
wanted to faint. It's not thatI've never wanted to throw in the towel
and give up. But I understandthat God showed me something, and that
when He shows me something, ithas to go forth, it has to
be accomplished. His words shall notreturn to him empty. So the biggest
thing would be to honestly stay inyour word and upon what God said,
(22:00):
stay in your prayer closet, seekingHim at every turn, getting the strategy
from him. Right, every singlemove that I've made, I've gotten the
strategy in prayer. Anything that didn'twork out, I didn't prayer about it.
I can attest to that as well. Okay, sometimes you know,
(22:22):
sometimes you work out of self,but honestly, to really just be in
that place where we're in our word, where we're praying, and where we're
actually believing, right to the youngperson and to the mother, especially to
mothers that maybe are single moms,that there's nothing that could have ever happened
to you, nothing that could havebeen attached to you, right, and
(22:45):
a prior season that can disqualify youfrom where God actually wants to take you.
They're actually qualified us. I'd said, if you don't actually go through
those things, if you don't gothrough those places in spaces, how will
you be able to testify to someoneelse? Absolutely? How will you be
able to share and resonate with themso that they will see Because if they
(23:10):
understand that God is not a respectorof persons, they'll be like, if
that happened for them, he cando that for me. Yes, So
just having that praying consistently for thefaith right that you will be able to
keep believing in what God said.Believing in what God said because people like
(23:32):
you said, people aren't going tosupport a lot of my family doesn't support
people that I know don't support.I'm completely okay just walking based off of
what God said. That's all Ineed. As soon as you get that
type of confidence in Him, youdon't need anybody else. When you see
people not supporting, when you hearthem saying something opposite, you're not even
(23:55):
worried about it. Anytime your mindsetshifts into a place where you're feeling fearful,
or you're doubting, or you're notbelieving that you can do it,
you instantly go into a place ofprayer and begin speaking the word of the
Lord over yourself. Absolutely. Sothat's what I would say, Yes,
(24:17):
we have to activate the measure offaith that God has given us. Now,
each of us have a measure offaith, but we got to activate
it right. We have to makesure that we do. And that was
such a beautiful testimony. Thank youso much for being here on this episode
of Restore my Soul podcast. Beforewe leave, I want you to tell
(24:40):
everybody how to connect with you,how to follow you, and all the
things. Okay, sure, SoI am on Facebook at Erica Renee Young.
I'm on Instagram TikTok as well asthread. It's a little niche,
but every once in a while I'mon there at Gracefully eric one word.
(25:06):
And then I am also on YouTubeand my YouTube channel is Gracefully Erica there
as well. And of course wehave our website which is www dot She's
dash grace dot com. Those arethe ways that you can reach out and
(25:26):
connect with me. All right,Well, you all make sure that you
reach out to Erica and participate inher programs. Again, thank you so
much for being here and sharing yourstory. I'm sure that it has blessed
and it will bless so many peoplethat will hear your story. And I
(25:49):
hope to see you again. Ihope so too. And thank you so
much for having me absolutely well,Thank you having ever. That was another
episode of Restore My Soul podcast.Thank you for joining this week. Be
sure to follow me on all socialmedia at Princess Milon's and my website at
(26:12):
Princessmilons dot com. You all rememberthat grief is a journey, but you
don't have to walk it alone,and just understand that we love you with
the love of the Lord. There'snothing that you can do about it,
and we'll see you in the nextepisode. Thank you for joining another episode
(26:33):
of Restore My Soul Podcast. Besure to listen and watch each week as
we continue the conversation on how tobounce back from the setback of grief and
loss and to become resilient so thatyou too can thrive in life. Don't
forget to like and subscribe so thatyou don't miss out on any new episodes,
and share this with as many peopleas possible so they can be encouraged
(26:56):
in their emotional wellness journey. Weinvite you to follow Princess Millains on all
social media platforms and on the websiteat Princessmilins dot com. Thank you for
listening and we'll see you in thenext episode of the Restore My Soul Podcast.
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