The Sacred Invitation: Discovering Purpose in Your Unfinished Story

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to The Invitation
• 3:41 Navigating Change and Seeking Clarity
• 6:28 My Faith Journey and Transformation
• 7:51 A Year of Pivotal Career Change
• 10:31 Walking by Faith, Not Sight
• 12:48 Finding Gratitude in the Messy Middle
• 15:49 Closing Prayer and Encouragement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:32

Hey friend, welcome back to the Laundrom Diaries. This is Angela McKay, and today's episode is called the Invitation, because I believe God is inviting you and me into something deeper, right here in this messy metal. Maybe you're folding towels, driving in a carpool line, or you're hiding out in your pantry for just a few minutes of peace. As a busy mom, I get it, friend. But wherever you're at, there's one thing I know for sure is that many women, just like you and I, feel stuck in the in-between. I just want you to know that you're not alone and wherever you're at or where you think you should be, it's okay. You're not where you're at because maybe life's challenging right now and you feel stuck and you know that you were made for more, but you know that there's more to come and you're just not sure how to get there. Well, we're in that space together, friend, and I call this space right there really holy ground. Now I know the messy middle has been really a season. That's been quite a year for me and I know, if you follow me on social media or we're friends or you're part of my circle, you've seen and even walked some of this with me, and today I really felt like called to unpack this because as I talk to so many women, especially they're they're right there with me, but maybe they're not in business, maybe it's just motherhood, or maybe it's within their marriage it doesn't matter for sure what it is but there's a little bit of a messy, misunderstood space in our life where we just feel that unsettlement and maybe feel a little stuck. So if that speaks to you, I just can't wait for you to sit here with me right now in this episode so that we can really kind of unpack this, have some real girl talk and start to understand that you're one, you're not alone and that it's okay. It's a season and it's a season we all go through.

Speaker 1: 3:32

Now I think clarity is so important when you're starting something new or trying to navigate change. If you're a new mom, I think back, you know, 29 years ago my oldest just turned 29, to being a new mom and you know the understanding that how messy that season was, because you didn't know what to expect and I just was waiting for some clarity as to how to navigate motherhood. Or if you think back to when you got married my husband and I just celebrated 20 years and you know you think back to what you started and expectations. And then life gets hard and marriage can get hard, too, with raising kids. Marriage can get hard too, with raising kids changing goals Like it's it's not always a honeymoon, right and so there's also spaces of clarity and understanding and navigating through marriage and then business.

Speaker 1: 4:24

As an entrepreneur of gosh, 25 plus years, let me tell you, friend, there is definitely navigation and clarity. That has to happen, and what I found as an entrepreneur and as a business coach is that as you move your goals and that that goes in a different path, as you evolve and you grow and you change, you have multiple seasons of messy and the middle spaces, because you know it's a new season, it's a new experience, but the one I really want to talk about today is about faith, too. Now, faith for me is everything because gosh in 2018, I really gave my life to Christ and I really found myself in a space where I needed Christ so deeply in my life and it's forever changed me. I went from a religious gal to a faith-filled woman, and now I really work to put faith into everything and the foundation of my business. It's rooted in my marriage and my parenting and decisions that I make, and let me tell you, when I was new in faith, it was a little intimidating. It felt very messy. I didn't know everything. I didn't know what I didn't know, but what I came to understand was, with clarity and understanding, faith started to make sense. And, most importantly, when my faith started to become clear, everything else started to work cohesively too. Isn't it amazing how God does that?

Speaker 1: 5:56

And so I want you to think for a minute, like you know what it is that might have you feeling like you're in the messy middle right now. What is it that you're going through? What season do you feel like? You might feel a little stuck or unsure, or that you're there, but you've not yet arrived. Friend, I know we all have that. And today I'm going to speak a little stuck or unsure, or that you're there, but you've not yet arrived. Friend, I know we all have that.

Speaker 1: 6:16

And today I'm going to speak a little bit candidly on something that I've been recently going through. You know, over the past year, I made a pivot in my career change. I left a company that I helped launch. It was literally part of my identity, and when I decided to leave that business a year ago, almost to the day like it was like May of last year is when I broke from that company and decided it no longer was aligning with where I was going and I didn't really know what was going to happen next.

Speaker 1: 6:52

I didn't have all of that clarity so it felt very messy and because of that, you know, the last year has kind of felt kind of messy, and sometimes that's okay because we have to kind of trust God, no matter what season we're in or how organized or how on it feels and aligned. But we also have to understand that God's with us when it's not and he's teaching us something. And I want to really like today, share transparently if you're going through that, because it's okay to not know always what you have to do. You don't need to understand and have it all planned out, but it's so important to be obedient in what God has called you to do. And I think, through those steps and those hard moments, personally I really felt God saying, like you know, it's not about what you want, angie, it's about what I have for you.

Speaker 1: 7:52

And when I felt the Lord telling me that I started to release the stress of the mess, I started to not get so stressed in the messy middle. But understand, it was happening for me and it was happening from God, and when I started to embrace that, I started to get the clarity that gets the clearing and gets you out of the mess. And I say that because sometimes we're so bogged down by what we see or what we think, or our timing, and we want our breakthrough and our big moments and we have this idea in our head of what it's supposed to be like. And when it doesn't happen, that's when it feels messy. But I think what I've learned over the past years, when it felt the most messy is when I didn't have my eye on God, when I didn't trust the Lord and His lead, and when I really felt called to follow him boldly, without plan, without certainty, knowing the only thing certain was that he was going to lead me. It just didn't feel as a messy friend.

Speaker 1: 9:06

And so I encourage you to like have this as an invitation, an invitation to start to step in, maybe walk with your faith and not by sight, in your messy middle. I think like God's always inviting us to do that, and in fact it's when we understand that's the way we are supposed to walk through our life, no matter if you're a mother or in a marriage, or in a business or in your faith. When you walk by faith and not by our sight, you're going to get a very clear calling as to what it is you're supposed to do. And so you know. I think like we need to stay rooted in in the messy middle, and what helped me the most when I was there or when sometimes I feel like days of my week might be messy, like I might have a messy Tuesday, but Wednesday feels a little bit more clear, I will tell you this, friend there's no tool more clear than to help guide me, than scripture. I get stay rooted in scripture.

Speaker 1: 10:11

I practice gratitude and being really present in my life, understanding like, hey, this is, this is okay to to be stressed about the bills, but thank you Lord, I have the bills and therefore I have the things that are causing the bills, like the car payment or the heating bill or the mortgage right. Like that shift of perspective and gratitude has really helped me personally over the last year when life could feel very overwhelming, and I just look kind of for that. That sacred and the ordinary, like God is working every moment of every day for us and it's when we seek that and we look for that so that we can glorify him, we change our perspective in our life and how we live it. By him we change our perspective in our life and how we live it and for me personally, it was like an encouragement to kind of like slow down and to take time to look and really thank God for what he is doing. Thank God that you had that family dinner tonight, you know, and he provided. Thank God you had that car to get you to work today, even if you were in a traffic jam. Thank God you had that car to get you to work today, even if you were in a traffic jam. Thank God you have that business that might be stressful right now, but it's able to provide.

Speaker 1: 11:28

I feel like when we start to change the filter from our messy middle to clarity on God and His sight and faith, I believe that is where we start to change how we live our life.

Speaker 1: 11:40

And ultimately, friend, I understand that like life is going to be hard, life is going to have messes, but when you understand that you're not walking alone or in it alone and that the Lord is with you, I guarantee you you're going to get through that mess and he's going to take and lead you to where he has called for you.

Speaker 1: 12:00

And so I just I felt like you know, that was really important for for me to share today. I'm in a season right now where faith is my foundation and everything, especially especially as a, as a mother, a wife and an entrepreneur those pillars that are pretty big in my life and I put prayer in my day, and so I felt like the Lord was saying hey, it's time to pick up the laundry room diaries, it's time to dial into some conversations that others are feeling too. You're feeling alone, and I want you to know, friend, if this message finds you today, it's so that God's reminding you that you're not alone and that it's okay to feel a little of the mess, but have sight on him and know that he is with you. And so, in closing, I just want to lead you with this prayer. I think it's so important to really put prayer into your life daily, and it's something that's really changed how I live and show up. And so I want to share this prayer with you as we kind of close out this episode, and I hope that it does something for you and encourages you to start putting prayer into your day or, if you're an entrepreneur, in your daily method of operation or your DMO and as a parent, into your family foundation. So let's go ahead and pray together, friend Lord, for every woman listening, meet her in the middle, remind her that she is not stuck, she's being shaped, help her walk in obedience, even without the full map, and help her trust that you go before her, behind her and beside her.

Speaker 1: 13:41

Amen, guys, I just hope that this episode has touched you in a way that's gotten you excited again about what lies ahead, and I hope it encourages you, if you're having a day that you feel a little messy, to look a little bit differently through the rest of the lens of today, with gratitude and just being present in what God is doing for you. And, most importantly, I hope it encourages you to keep showing up here at the Laundromat Diaries, where we can kind of walk through the messes of life, the ins and outs of motherhood and business and, most importantly, how to walk in faith, as we do both. Thanks again for hanging out with me today in the Laundrom Diaries. If this episode spoke to you, share it with a friend who might also be reminded. And hey, let's keep walking it out together. Until next time, keep shining.