In His Circle
Welcome to In His Circle, a podcast born from heartfelt "driveway chats" between two friends, now dedicated to empowering women through faith. Together, we'll explore the joy and tranquility of being in God's hands, while fostering a loving circle of friends who support each other on their spiritual journeys. Tune in as we navigate the essence of walking in faith, and invite you to join our circle, finding comfort and guidance in the divine embrace. Join host Tiffany Windsor and her special guests for conversations about how to grow and thrive in God's circle. Want to connect with us? Learn more at http://www.inhiscircle.com
In His Circle
You Are Powerful: Finding Strength and Serenity in Faith-Filled Living | Ep 14
Have you ever found yourself lost in the endless cycle of people-pleasing, only to realize you've been neglecting the one person that matters most – you? Our latest episode takes you on a journey of self-discovery with Mary, a former people-pleaser and empath who shares her inspiring transformation. We're peeling back the layers of self-betrayal and discussing how embracing our God-given strength can reshape our lives. Through stories of personal growth and faith, you'll learn the art of self-support and the importance of striking a balance in relationships. This heartfelt conversation is a reminder that fulfillment and peace are within reach when we find our footing in faith.
We also take a step back to appreciate the peace that comes from life's simpler aspects. In a world that moves at breakneck speed, we delve into the joys of reconnecting with faith, family, and the comforts of home. From the soothing rhythms of prayer to the warmth of the kitchen, we explore how these elemental practices can offer solace and purpose. We'll share a prayer together, a moment of collective reflection on the beauty of a life lived with intention and presence. Whether you're seeking tranquility or looking to reinforce your connection with your community, this episode serves as an invitation to rediscover the profound joy in the basics that tether us to what truly matters.
You can find all our episode information at https://www.inhiscircle.com and join us on Instagram and Facebook. You can also watch our podcast episodes on YouTube - Please join our community!
Welcome to In His Hands podcast from women for women. We're here to help you find peace in knowing you are in God's hands. Our goal is sharing the Word of God in simple conversations. We're here to help you thrive every day. And now, here are your hosts.
Tiffany Windsor:Good morning. I'm Tiffany Windsor and I'm Mary Koenig. And Mary, today I want to talk about. You are powerful, and this is everyone who is listening to today's podcast. I am speaking to you. You are powerful. Do you want to talk about what that means to you? I know earlier I was talking about my vision of it, but I'm going to go ahead and let you go and I'm going to just fill in some gaps and just see what the Lord wants me to say today.
Mary Koning:Okay, but I really would love to hear the list of words, because words are so powerful and how you're speaking them over us that I would like for you to just whatever comes to mind.
Tiffany Windsor:Okay, because I know you started writing words down earlier and I don't always remember what the Lord's telling me. But, dear sisters, you are love, you are strength, you are grace, and when you let all of that come to you through God, that is true power, that is not false power, that is not power that's coming through fear and misinformation. When you stand in God's power Mary and I have talked about this before it's such a different feeling of not having to use our own energy and muster up our own strength. There is this amazing strength that the Lord gives you through a physical feeling, gives you in the words that you speak. I just want to see, mary, if we can figure out how to articulate that to all of our beautiful sisters who are listening today.
Mary Koning:And thank you for that Felt like a blessing that I accept and I am coming from a place of recovering people pleaser and an empath. We like the word empath because it sounds kinder, but it basically is lying. I was lying to myself and not presenting who I truly was in an effort to make the other, whoever that might be happy, giving away pieces of myself in order to please the other person and ending up in a situation where they never could possibly ever be pleased by anything I could offer, because that empty space can only be filled with Jesus. So if you're there, I know what that feels like and the way out is through Jesus, the way, the truth and the life.
Mary Koning:And when I don't speak in my God given strength, I am empty and weary and tired and my voice gets strident and screeching. I believe lies and I don't stand in my strength that I know the truth and I've spoken the truth and I just stand and wait. In that I start to see people's uncomfortability and try to make them comfortable and that's the old me and the new me is a new creation and the Lord talks about that. I love that. We're all a new creation in Christ and it was more of a becoming, and it took a long time. I arrived all at one time. It was a really long journey and that journey was through the Valley of the Shadow and I feel like I'm just coming out the other side, which is the hope I want to offer you, that there's joy and there's light and we will all get there, and we're trying to be wise women holding hands, offering you wisdom to try and help you through some of these valleys.
Tiffany Windsor:Mary, I thank you so much for speaking your heart's truth today because we've had this discussion. I've been independent for a very long time and sometimes I forget about the tools that I have learned over the years that just come to me. A second nature now, and one of the things I wrote down that you talked about, which is probably in our God's toolbox is being comfortable in the uncomfortable. You have to reach this moment of not being the people-pleaser, not caring what you think others may be thinking of you, that they may or may not be thinking of you. We create this dialogue in our head of thinking well, I have to act a certain way and I have to do this, and I need to do that when the other person may not even be thinking about you or concerned about you, and we become so concerned about them but we don't love ourselves first. So we're giving away our God-given power in that moment of trying to please others that could care less.
Mary Koning:It's so true it's self-betrayal. I betray myself in order to live someone high. They're not even asking me to do that, but my body knows and my soul knows I'm betraying myself. And that was a tough one is to know that I have my own back, and that's a wise woman called Natalie Hoffman. She's like if nobody else has your back, I have my own back, and I've started to tell myself that in the mirror and it's really made a difference, because I'm my best when I'm for me first, and I can only do that through the strength of Christ.
Mary Koning:And I love what you said about independent, being independent and how dependent I was on other people's happiness or unhappiness with me. That made my day or it crushed my day. There's too much of God's work for us to do for us to be crushed by someone else's bad day or fact that they haven't done the hard work to go from immaturity to maturity and done the hard work to become emotionally intelligent and sit with our thoughts and process them, and to not take them out on others but to take them to the one who knows what to do with them, which is.
Tiffany Windsor:Jesus, what brings to mind for me when you talk about this is I'm very much a giver, I am very much a person who tries to be a mediator, and I think those are really great qualities for anyone to have.
Tiffany Windsor:But when the other person or people don't meet you halfway, that's a mistake that I have definitely repeated in the past, and I can be honest and say that I still do where I give more than the other person does, and that doesn't serve either of us. And so in those moments, I need to be certain that I'm listening to what the Lord is asking me to say or do, rather than me stepping in and allowing them to stay in their dysfunction. Today at church, pastor was talking about lifesavers and rather than tossing them that safety net they're not going to grow in that moment and that's where I have to really fine-tune and figure out is it me speaking or is it the Lord speaking so that it will help them grow, as opposed to just throwing out this momentary lifesaver to get them through this moment where they're not going to grow?
Mary Koning:It's discernment, isn't it being discerning? And a wise woman knows to pray before she speaks, which, oh, I have my hand up. I'm guilty of that. So, so much. But I'm learning and I'm growing and I like that God is telling us the road we've traveled is wisdom to share. Those hard lessons were not for nothing.
Mary Koning:And we're learning and growing too, every single day of our lives, and that has helped me just embrace that, knowing I'm not done and it's okay to make mistakes and I will probably make mistakes every single day of my life and to just get over that, get over the humiliation and roll with it. I like to roll with it, and humiliation is such a lie as well. Who's humiliated? Well, me. But then we go back to what your wisdom was Nobody cares, just me. So that has really helped me. And have a sense of humor. That's helped me too.
Tiffany Windsor:That's good. A sense of humor is really needed, because we do need to laugh at our seriousness. Sometimes I can be so serious and I do want to be more playful and joyous and, mary, I say we need to get out and play more.
Mary Koning:That sounds like fun. And when did we stop having fun? When did we make life such a slog and so much work?
Tiffany Windsor:I honestly believe that that's the enemy who's brainwashing us into believing there's a certain way that we need to live if we need to be serious about how we make a living, and that is not the truth. And there's a lot more women that I am seeing on social media who are definitely getting this message, who are understanding about getting back to the basics in their relationship with God, in their relationship with their husband, in their raising their children, and I am so hopeful.
Mary Koning:I love that back to basics Because it is really simple if we keep it simple and you know that saying kiss, keep it simple stupid. God really wants us to live a simple life, but we're being bombarded by everything and you and I have talked about my issue with scrolling that if I just need a little downtime I go to scrolling. But that's not downtime. That is actually a physical attack on my piece that I'm inviting that I need to just full on, stop and capture that time back and do something simple, like something with my hands, or go for a walk or make something I love to cook and I feel so peaceful when I cook and I think that's a blessing from God.
Tiffany Windsor:Here's an experience that comes to mind that I had with you recently, mary, where you were making jam and I had the opportunity to sit across from you at the kitchen counter and watching you go through all of these steps and we had conversation as we do whenever we get together, we start chatting and to watch you stir and to see the power in the moment of you in your creation and us talking about some very important topics, and it was a very moving moment for me and I thank you for that.
Mary Koning:That was so beyond lovely, because I've made a lot of jam over the years, but never with someone. So thank you for sharing that with me. Heavenly Father, we come before you trusting and knowing that you are here with us, that you are delighted with us, that we seek you, as it says in Psalm 34, verse 4, we seek the Lord, and you answered us and you delivered us from all our fears, and our fears sometimes keep us from trusting that your plan is good. But we trust you. I ask that you are present with all of our circle sisters. Jesus' name, amen.
