Season Nine — Podcast — Merritt Onsa | Christian Life Coach for Women

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Season Nine

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223 || The Best Way to Get Started When You Don’t Know Where to Begin || Rachel Baker

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Which do you struggle with most: starting on a dream or staying faithful through the messy middle? Along her journey Rachel Baker has questioned her lack of training, doubted her calling, and has been tempted to give up before reaching the finish line. Like many dreamers, she also went through a season of not knowing where to begin. In a beautiful turn of events (and a conversation with her husband), she realized that the starting line was just outside her own door. Maybe yours is there too!

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222 || How Resistance Can be a Clue That You Should Keep Pursuing Your Dream || Devin Clevenger

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Do you ever want to quit when it feels too hard to keep running after a dream? First, you are not alone. You also need to know that feeling resistance about some aspect of your God-shaped dream is not a reason to give up. Resistance may, in fact, be a nudge to keep going and keep trusting that God is with you, and He will carry you through it.

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221 || Is It Possible to Find Meaningful Work in Our Changing World? || Michaela O’Donnell

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The world of work has changed in the last decade. Yet the question remains: Is it possible to align work with a sense of calling while also navigating equally demanding personal roles and responsibilities? Michaela O’Donnell is no stranger to questions like these. Through starting her own company and listening to others, she has come to believe that we are all called to be part of God’s big redemptive work in this world.

220 || You Are Stronger Than You Think & God Can Use Your Pain for Good || Monica Kelsey

Monica Kelsey’s story of abandonment as a newborn powerfully illustrates how God can take our deepest pain and transform it into purpose. Today she is founder of the nonprofit Safe Haven Baby Boxes. She has made it her personal mission to do whatever it takes to save the lives of innocent babies. Her organization offers mothers in crisis an option to safely surrender their unharmed newborn to a hospital or fire station while remaining completely anonymous.

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219 || Finding Space to Dream as a Mom of Young Children || Merritt Onsa

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Although I wrote this talk for moms of young children, this episode is a reminder that God’s plans and timing have purpose no matter your life stage. If you feel disconnected from your dream, you’re not alone. Just because it’s not today doesn’t mean it’s not EVER. Instead, think of motherhood as an opportunity to use your strengths to keep those muscles strong. Finally, ask the Father to help you stay open to cultivating wonder, curiosity, and creativity through the power of the Holy Spirit!

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218 || What if God Writes an Unexpected Dream on Your Heart? || Cindy DeBoer

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Do you ever wonder if your God-shaped dream might be something He hasn’t yet revealed to you, or questioned why you feel blocked from God’s purpose for your life? Cindy DeBoer and her husband were 12 years into marriage when God put it on their hearts to examine if they were living out the faith they professed. What followed was a season of confession, questions, and a re-making of the life they thought they were called to.

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217 || How You Can Walk Boldly in the Purpose God Has Given You || Carla Arges

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God has given you a purpose that is uniquely yours, but the temptation to control the results can disrupt any meaningful progress because the dream belongs to God first and the outcomes rest on Him alone. If you are anxious, stressed out, or worried about the future, this episode is filled with the truth of Scripture and Carla’s calming presence to remind you of the value and importance of surrendering our God-shaped dreams to Him daily.

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216 || [Solo] Do You Feel Like You’re Not Making Progress on Your Dream? || Merritt Onsa

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Your dream feels so significant and all-consuming at times, but when you start to take steps, your progress feels more like a snail’s pace—or not at all. You encounter obstacles you didn’t anticipate. Certain tasks take longer than you imagined. Your capacity or availability to move the dream forward isn’t what you expected. Life has taken over, and it feels like you’re at a standstill with your dream. If this sound familiar, this is the episode for you.

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215 || How to Fine Tune Your Finances So You Can Dream Without Hesitation || Katie Jones

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Is your dream financially viable? What difference would it make if you weren’t worried about the expense involved? My guest today, Katie Jones, is a money coach with a passion to teach biblical financial principles so you can embrace the gifts God has given you, feel confident managing your money, and pursue your God-shaped dream without any hesitation.

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214 || Your Imposter Syndrome Breakthrough May be Just Around the Corner || Kelsey Joy Rinker

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Is fear of failure standing in the way of your freedom to pursue a dream? Does it feel like everyone else has a bigger following and is further along than you? If you’ve struggled with doubt, fear, comparison, or imposter syndrome and those bullies are keeping you from your God-shaped dream, I want you to hear in this episode that it IS possible to find freedom. In fact, your struggles may be an indicator that breakthrough is just around the corner.

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213 || How to Pursue Your Dream Even If You Feel Like an Imposter || Jamie Kirschner

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Do your dreams feel bigger than you? Has God revealed something that wasn’t what you expected? Jamie Kirschner’s God-shaped dream is one she never expected. She was planning for a future in missions work, but God had a different plan: serving teen girls as they navigate their faith and find their identity in Jesus. God took Jamie’s experience growing up without a support system and He’s using it so other teens don’t have to navigate that journey alone.

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212 || [Solo] How to Know If Imposter Syndrome Is the Reason You Are Stuck || Merritt Onsa

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How is imposter syndrome killing your dream (and your confidence)? If you are confused about what imposter syndrome is, whether you have it, or more importantly, how to get over it, this episode is full of hope that you can overcome imposter syndrome with God’s help. You’ll learn how to recognize imposter syndrome, how it impacts you, and why it’s so important to not let another day pass living under this attack on your identity.

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211 || What Is the Next Thing You Need to Hand Over to God? || Erica Wiggenhorn

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Are you weary of constantly striving? Have you tried everything to move your dream forward but find that no matter how hard you work it’s never enough?

Erica Wiggenhorn has been where you are. She has walked through the fire and been tempted in her journey to run after self-reliance, people pleasing and self-doubt. It’s the reason she is so passionate about seeing revival in God’s women in order that we might cease striving, choose to surrender, and receive the abundant life Jesus promises.

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210 || [Mini] Is This One Important Ingredient Lacking in Your Creative Work? || Megan Sjuts

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Do you ever feel like no one understands your passions? Like they just don’t get why you would pour so much of yourself into this dream? Megan Sjuts returns to the podcast this week to share what she’s learned about building community around your creative work and allowing God to push you out of your comfort zone to build and hone new skills within you.

209 || She’s Living a Dream That She Never Expected || Jamie Dodero

Have you ever wondered where God is when your life feels out of control, or your plan isn’t working out the way you thought it would? A sudden job loss because of the pandemic and a previously undetected heart defect in her newborn daughter shook Jamie Dodero to the core. But God used both to grow Jamie’s faith and fuel her dream to write a children’s prayer book.

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208 || [Solo] Learning How to Trust God Even When You Doubt Your Purpose || Merritt Onsa

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Have you ever looked at someone else living her dream and thought, “Wow! She’s so much further along than me” or questioned why dreaming a God-shaped dream is so difficult at times? This solo episode is about clearing away misconceptions you have about the path to a dream, how God uses our difficulties to remind us of our need for Him, and the three mistakes we want to avoid in understanding our part versus God’s part in pursuing our dream.

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207 || How to Support Our Friends in Their Dreams || Guest Appearance [Replay]

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In May 2021, I had the privilege of being a guest on the Connecting in the Chaos podcast; this episode is a replay of that conversation. Heather Oncken and I talked about how we can better support our friends in their dreams. Showing support can be as simple as asking how it's going with her dream or celebrating one of her big or small wins. We also talk about what to do if you are the friend pursuing a dream and it feels like nobody is supporting you.

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206 || [Mini] Have You Been Putting Off Making an Important Decision? || Jane Springer

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Have you ever struggled to fully commit to an aspect of your dream (or maybe even the whole dream)? Is making important decisions so difficult that you put it off or change your mind repeatedly? This mini episode is about how Jane Springer battled her fear of failure and finally made a commitment she’d been wavering on for years. Listen to learn about what changed her mindset from fear to freedom in order that her dream could flow.

205 || How We Partner With God to Fulfill His Purposes in the World || Julie Holmquist

Are you ever tempted to seek validation or affirmation from others? Julie Holmquist thought that she had rooted her identity deeply in Christ, but as soon as she started taking scary steps of faith toward a dream, she realized that she was looking to other people to give her what only He could. And that turned out to be a distraction from the true purpose He had put in her heart.

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204 || [Mini] 3 Easy Steps to Find Momentum & Direction for Your Dream || Lauren Stengele

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Are you guilty of overthinking? You’re trying to figure out every little detail of a project and you’re so bogged down that you can’t even get started. In this mini-interview I bring Lauren Stengele back to the show to share an experience that gives hope to the overthinker and three easy steps for ditching those thoughts in exchange for momentum and direction for your dream.

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