What’s your relationship like with your mom? Blythe Daniel and her mom wrote a book together to support restoration and healing in mother/daughter relationships. Theirs is one of the many resources Blythe has shepherded onto bookshelves around the world in fulfilling her mission as a literary evangelist. Part of pursuing this dream for Blythe has been remembering God’s faithfulness and His limitless nature; her story reminds us that this is true for His role in our dreams as well.
192 || Feeling Too Broken to Dream? Embrace Your Story & Trust God's Plan || Yolanda King
Do wounds from your past threaten your confidence or progress toward your God-shaped dream? Do you have trouble believing that God sees you and knows your needs? Yolanda King shares her story of childhood abuse and neglect that could have kept her stuck in fear and seeking approval from others. But God had a different plan. Today she’s helping other women overcome obstacles and trauma to create a life and career they love.
191 || Are You Tired of Feeling Like Your Work Doesn't Matter? || Michaela O’Donnell
What does it look like to pursue meaningful work in a changing world? Michaela O’Donnell helps people do just that through her programs, writing, and teaching on issues of vocation, work, and leadership. In this episode we talk about recalibrating expectations regarding the pace of change, what to do when your dreams don’t happen right away, and how to look for breadcrumbs of God's providence along the way.
190 || [Solo] A Beginner's Guide for How to be a Great Podcast Guest || Merritt Onsa
Have you ever considered being a podcast guest? You’re probably not surprised to hear that there are 1.75 million podcasts in the world (according to Podcast Insights) and that number is growing daily! This episode will teach you how to pitch yourself, the techy details you need to know, and how to prepare to be the best podcast guest you can be so you can share your dream with a wider audience.
189 || Making a Daily Decision to Surrender Your Dreams to God || Shelley Tyson
Shelley Tyson is passionate about seeing women fall in love with Jesus, live lives of wild abandon for Him, and pursue building homes and businesses that reflect Him for generations to come. She is a homeschool mom of four, wife to Bryan, and resides in Atlanta, GA, where she enjoys long talks with her husband, a strong cup of coffee, and playing the piano in her free time. She runs a skincare business and recently launched an online membership community.
188 || Mama, You Have Permission to Pursue Your Dreams || Amanda Bennett
Motherhood can be all-consuming, especially if you’re in that stage of caring for small children. Amanda Bennett of the Gotcha Mama Podcast shares about her difficult transition as a first-time mom and how that experience motivated her dream of supporting new moms who may be struggling alone like she was. Her message is one of grace and freedom in Christ as well as resisting the temptation to make everything perfect before you begin to pursue your dream.
187 || Are You Suffering? How to Trust God Even in Your Pain || Ashley Opliger
**Trigger Warning** When you are hurting, it can be difficult to believe that God would use your pain for good. In early 2014, Ashley Opliger was struggling with her faith, worrying about her unborn child, and wondering why she was not seeing answers to her constant prayers. Ultimately, her baby girl, Bridget, was stillborn at 24 weeks gestation.
186 || [Solo] 3 Strategies to Help You Shift from Busy to Purposeful || Merritt Onsa
Did 2020 reveal some hard truths about your life? Did slowing down (because you had to) reveal the true cost of busyness in your life? Or on your family? This solo episode is about the change you can affect when you shift from busy to purposeful in how you live and how you pursue your dreams. These three simple shifts in your thoughts and actions will simplify day-to-day life and make a real difference in how you feel about your responsibilities.
185 || Don't Shrink Back from God's Dream for Your Life || Stephanie Hodges
Stephanie Hodges wishes she hadn’t waited so long to boldly share her message of holistic health—body and soul, not just spirit—as a godly pursuit. Her book, The Daniel Fast Journey, is about the transformative experience of fasting for spiritual and physical health. This episode not only offers a primer for those who have been curious about fasting but also shares Stephanie’s journey of not shrinking back from the dream God had placed on her heart for His people.
184 || God is Good Even When You Don't Understand His Ways || Ellie Sanazaro
God’s plans are often different from our plans. This was true for Ellie Sanazaro when her world was forever changed after her daughter was born without the chromosomal disorder doctors had told her to expect. God used this event to change Ellie's heart and lead her down the path of adopting a baby with Down syndrome. Ellie is now passionate about spreading the message that EVERY child is an Image Bearer.
183 || Why You Need to Give Yourself Permission to Fail || Hannah Brencher
Failure is where we grow and learn; it shapes our future decisions and is a reminder of the choices we want to make differently next time. Few people wish to experience failure but attempting to avoid it means missing out on essential opportunities for growth that only come from taking risks, getting it wrong, and picking yourself up to learn and try anew. This week, Hannah Brencher shares a message of hope-filled reminders to keep seeking light in the darkest places of our lives, even amid failure.
182 || [Solo] Staying True to the Woman God Made You to Be || Merritt Onsa
Even if you have a good understanding of your security in Christ, there are plenty of things in the world vying for your attention and affection. In this solo episode I share the four identity mistakes we make as we pursue a God-shaped dream and how to turn them around for your good and God’s glory. You’ll learn how to counteract comparison, how to properly value your gifts and then how to use your gifts to live out God’s purpose for your life.
181 || Healing and Hope Breakthrough After an Abusive Relationship || Chystal Gaunt
Out of the darkness in her own past, Chystal Gaunt began sharing her story of domestic abuse and launched a nonprofit organization to love and serve women who have experienced the same. Her story is one of God providing for her dream repeatedly as she continues to follow His lead. Even though she went through a season of overwhelm and burnout, God provided a new vision and paved the way for each baby step along the way.
180 || [Solo] Planning Your Dream While Doing Your Dream || Merritt Onsa
If you have allowed your need to plan keep you from taking steps toward your dream, this episode offers a bit of perspective on how to get started right now, even if you don’t have it all figured out. Because God designed you with a purpose that is certain and known to him, you don’t need to have it all planned out before you begin. He already knows! So take the leap and try new things, even if it means opening yourself up to mistakes, and then, take time to reflect and innovate.
179 || A New Way of Understanding Forgiveness That Will Set You Free || Toni Hebel
You often hear about dreams that were birthed out of someone’s deepest struggles, and Toni Hebel’s God-shaped dream is no different. Hers is a story of significant hurt and yet God has used it for good. He has called Toni and her husband, Bruce, into ministry teaching people how and why we must forgive even the deepest wounds all because of the blood that was already paid on the cross through Jesus Christ.
178 || Faithfulness is the Way to Freedom and Joy in Christ || Caroline Cobb
Caroline Cobb is a mom and a wife who has a passion to tell the stories of scripture through singing and songwriting. When she started writing her own songs, it was just a hobby; but a challenge from her husband and a looming thirtieth birthday turned her passion project into a profession. Her newest album A Seed, A Sunrise explores the longing of Advent, the joy of Christmas, and the anticipation of Jesus’s return, and builds on previous storytelling albums highlighting the message of scripture.
177 || [Solo] How I Knew My Dream & Clues to Uncover Yours || Merritt Onsa
It can be difficult to discern exactly what your dream is, especially if you are a multi-passionate woman with lots of other responsibilities. If you’re here, I’m guessing you already believe that God has something for you. I can’t give you a precise roadmap to find it, but I can tell you what the path looked like for me, relate to you in your uncertainty, and remind you to look for the breadcrumbs God is leaving for you along the way.
176 || [Pivot Session] Listening to the Cues That Will Help You Pivot || Katie Bulmer
Katie Bulmer is host of the Truth for Your Twenties Podcast, a speaker to over 30 colleges nationwide and passionate about helping sorority women unlock their world-changing power. The heart behind her dream is to be who she needed when she was a young woman looking for happiness in the arms of boys, Bacardi, and attempts to be beautiful.
175 || When God Takes Your Dream in a Direction You Never Imagined || Courtney Wong Davis
Courtney Wong Davis is a coach for executives and organizational leaders looking for creative solutions to complex challenges. Her first book, Leading Small Groups that Thrive, utilizes learning from social science research to help equip small group leaders in facilitating individual spiritual growth. This episode is grounded in the gospel and focused on how we can best steward the gifts God has given us, while releasing us from the temptation to do everything on our own strength.
174 || [Solo] A Call for Christian Women to be Part of the Solution || Merritt Onsa
This message is for the passionate, ambitious Christian woman wondering what role she can play in helping to heal the brokenness of our world, highlighted so vividly by the 2020 U.S. presidential election. It’s my challenge to you to pay attention to what’s driving you, seek healing for yourself first, and then rise up and carry the light of Jesus into our hurting and broken world. This is a message that is true no matter who won the election and regardless of when you’re listening to this.