How can I understand who God made me to be when I feel like a bit of a contradiction?

You enjoy people, and you need quiet. You value responsibility, and you want freedom to do things your own way. You handle pressure well—but afterward, you may need more space to recover than anyone realizes.

One woman I coached described wanting to “reacquaint herself with herself.” As we explored her personality preferences and everyday experiences, she began questioning a version of herself she’d long assumed she was supposed to be: outgoing, tough-minded, and less sensitive.

Her words open up a conversation many thoughtful Christian women may recognize: How much of what I do reflects my preferences, what I’ve learned, or the expectations I’ve adapted to?

Adapting can help us grow. And paying attention to our experience can help us make wiser choices. Your ability to handle something is meaningful information. So is your experience of handling it.

We explore what that understanding could make possible in real life: writing for five minutes before an important conversation, making room to recharge, or asking for a little time before responding. We also consider what it could look like to value a tender heart while continuing to develop steadiness and boundaries.

You can begin with one detail you already know about yourself and give it a little room to matter.

Carry this into your week: What is one thing you already know about yourself that could shape a small choice this week?

You’ll also hear a brief welcome to the podcast’s new name, God-Given Gifts in Real Life, as we continue exploring how God made you and how to work with who you are.

If you’d like another set of thoughtful eyes on your own story, join me for a God-Given Gifts Chat. Bring a question, a pattern, or a moment when you felt most like yourself. Together, we’ll notice what may be easy to overlook and choose one small experiment that fits your actual life.

Explore a God-Given Gifts Chat: https://coffeechatsandyogamats.com/giftchat

You’ll walk away with:

✔ One part of your wiring named

✔ A clearer understanding of why it matters

✔ One real-life experiment to try next

If you’re ready to stop overlooking the clues already showing up in your life, let’s explore them together.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if you’ve gotten really good at protecting your energy…but somewhere along the way, you also cut out some of what makes you feel alive?

A woman I had the privilege of coaching lives with chronic illness, which means overstimulation can have very real physical consequences. She had wisely learned to build in buffers, avoid overstacking her schedule, and pay attention to what depleted her.

And then she realized:

“I’ve crafted a low-stimulation life so I wouldn’t end up physically incapacitated. But it’s also cut out joy.”

Oof.

Because honoring your capacity matters. Sometimes the wise, faithful choice really is doing less.

But what if capacity isn’t only about asking, What can I remove?

In this conversation, we explore what changes when we also start noticing what gives something back.

We talk about:

• why something requiring energy doesn’t automatically mean it’s draining
• how your God-given wiring can shape what replenishes or energizes you
• the difference between struggling with something and being deficient
• why joy, creativity, curiosity, beauty, and connection aren’t automatically frivolous
• one delightfully simple “what lights me up?” experiment you can try without turning it into another obligation

You’ll also hear what happened when this beloved created her own “dopamine menu: daily flavors of joy”—and the tiny moment with her daughter and a soon-to-be-demolished floor that still makes me smile.

You don’t need to overhaul your life.

Maybe we can simply get more curious about the woman who’s actually living it.

💭 A question to think on this week:

What have you dismissed as unnecessary because it doesn’t look productive—even though it consistently gives something meaningful back to you?

🎁 Want another set of eyes on your own patterns? I open just 3 God-Given Gifts Chats each month. We’ll start with your actual life and look together for clues about your wiring, strengths, capacity, and one life-giving next move you can experiment with.

Book your God-Given Gifts Chat →

Wondering what your God-given gifts actually are and how to honor them in the middle of real life (not just the highlight reel)? Let’s talk. 💬

The best place to start is a free God-Given Gifts Chat — an audio + text convo inside Voxer (no Zoom required, promise). We’ll:

• Check in on your current season

• Name 1 gift

• Brainstorm 1 simple next step you can take

No pressure. No pretending. Just a grace-filled space to help you get unstuck and move forward with a little more clarity and confidence.

✨Book your God-Given Gifts Chat — or just reply to any email from me with "I'm curious" and I’ll send you the details.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if you don’t need complete clarity before you begin?

Last week, I hit a pocket of deep discouragement and started questioning everything: Am I actually listening to God? Am I following His leading? Am I just trying to get His approval after the fact?

In the middle of all of that, an ordinary comment during our church connect group gave me language for what I’d been carrying: discouragement. No one was trying to solve it for me. Being in community simply helped me notice something I hadn’t been able to name on my own.

I still don’t have all the answers.

But I’ve been experimenting with something simple: showing up anyway.

Five quiet minutes. A verse. A sleeping toddler. A Connection Call that had to be rescheduled—and then no one attended live. 😆

And strangely, all of it kept pointing me toward the same thing:

Sometimes we learn by showing up, trying, paying attention, and adjusting.

That can be true in discernment.

And it can also be true with your God-given gifts.

In this episode, we explore:

• how to reduce the pressure to “figure it all out”
• why imperfect action can reveal useful information
• how to get more specific about strengths you may already be using
• what it looks like to experiment with a gift instead of proving it
• why 1 Peter 4:10 points us toward receiving, using, and stewarding what God has given us

What do you already know—and what is one small way you could use it more intentionally this week?

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:10; Psalm 139:1–10

Sometimes community doesn’t hand you an answer. It helps you hear your own story differently. If you can see some pieces of how God wired you but would value thoughtful reflection as you notice and name the patterns, that’s exactly the kind of space we’re creating inside the God-Given Gifts Circle.

We begin September 14, and registration closes Friday, September 11.

Save your spot in the God-Given Gifts Circle →

Wondering what your God-given gifts actually are and how to honor them in the middle of real life (not just the highlight reel)? Let’s talk. 💬

The best place to start is a free God-Given Gifts Chat — an audio + text convo inside Voxer (no Zoom required, promise). We’ll:

• Check in on your current season

• Name 1 gift

• Brainstorm 1 simple next step you can take

No pressure. No pretending. Just a grace-filled space to help you get unstuck and move forward with a little more clarity and confidence.

✨Book your God-Given Gifts Chat — or just reply to any email from me with "I'm curious" and I’ll send you the details.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.