Podcast — Merritt Onsa | Christian Life Coach for Women

Grab 17 quick wins to move your dream forward! Click here to start today.

Author

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137 || Why are You Hiding Your Dream? || Kat Armstrong

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Kat Armstrong didn’t set out to become an author. Rather, she wrote her first book in order to steward a message about the Greatest Commandment: how we, as women, might love the Lord with all our heart and soul as well as with our mind and strength. Kat doesn’t hold back from sharing about the rejection of her first book proposal, her grief at the loss of her father, and how she has shifted her mindset from numbers of followers and sales to considering how her work could help people.

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133 || How to Center Your Life on What Matters || Tonya Dalton

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Productivity expert, writer, speaker, and owner of inkWELL Press Tonya Dalton shares her vision for helping women center their lives not on doing more but on doing what’s most important. Tonya teaches us that having clarity on your dream doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy to pursue and how facing challenges helps grow your dependence on Jesus. You will grow in confidence as you hear her story about not giving up and the choices she made when she had no idea what she was doing.

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123 || How to be Faithful in the Dream You Didn't Want || Alia Joy

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God’s power is made perfect in weakness. We know the Bible verse, but most of us would rather run from weakness than embrace it. Alia Joy might have, at one time, said the same. She never expected to write a book about weakness, nor did she expect to wrestle with mental illness, but this journey has put her on a path to be a voice for the hurting, the broken, and the lonely. Her new book Glorious Weakness is meeting people in their place of need and giving them hope that they are not alone.

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120 || How to Pursue Your Dream Without a Road Map || Heather Boersma

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Heather Boersma’s dream wasn’t on her radar two decades ago, but it has been a journey of learning, listening to God, faltering, and then remembering to trust Him again. What she shares about intimacy with Christ will open your eyes, again, to the significance of resting and trusting in Jesus. You’ll hear the best reason NOT to measure success via your results, the importance of our mindset, and the power of agreeing with the truth God speaks over you through His word and not the lies of the enemy.

112 || Because Fear Will Try to Steal Your Dream || Julie Watson

Author and coach Julie Watson reminds us that God calls us into places where we feel incompetent or are just too full of fear to move forward (think of Moses). But He meets us in our “gaps,” and He grows us when we say “yes” despite our objections to the challenges we face. Julie reveals the surprising truth about the training, education, or preparation needed to pursue your dream. Finally, she asks a poignant question that helps us think about what we really want for our life and our dream.

111 || How to Find Remarkable Beauty in Ordinary Dreams || Ashley Hales

Ashley Hales teaches us the importance of pressing in to the greater story of the gospel because of its impact on our lives and relationships; she also reminds us of our identity in Christ. You’ll discover the value of instituting small disciplines in your life like finding a verse to meditate on or a way to move your body each day; and she talks about why she wrote her first book, Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much (IVP), even though she never planned to write a book.  

091 || On Remembering to Include God in Your Plans || Teresa Swanstrom Anderson

In this episode, blogger/author Teresa Swanstom Anderson shares how she went from not wanting children in her 20s to having a house full of kids today. She reminds us that God put each one of us here, in this time and place, for a purpose. You’ll learn about her struggle through a season of waiting for God to reveal His plan for her life and how she figured out the direction she was going wasn’t it. She also teaches us what happens when we forget that closed doors can be an answer to prayer for doors to be opened.

085 || How God's Word Can Breathe Life into Your Dream || Heather Holleman

In this interview, Heather Holleman reminds us that we can be deceived into thinking there’s life in the dream, instead of finding life in the Dream Maker. She shares the incredible power and joy we can find in living for the praise of God’s glory, and she reveals her daily practice of confessing the sin of self-exaltation. Finally, she talks about how the Lord may bring us through a season of preparation before we really see our dream come to fruition and what we can do in the meantime.

084 || How to Align Your Dream with God's Dream for You || Elizabeth Grace Saunders

Author and time management expert, Elizabeth Saunders, talks in this episode about the value of owning and sharing your truth, even if some people might not like it. She shares her dream of helping others connect with divine time management principles and draw closer to God as well as revealing how God used her dream to convict and change her heart. She also explains how we can trust God with our time and the choices we make about how we use what He’s given us. 

083 || Why We Should Cease Striving and Learn to Rest || Kasey Shuler

Author Kasey Shuler talks about paying attention to what brings us joy to find the keys to our God-shaped dream. She reminds us that our dreaming begins with resting in the Lord and that this “rest” isn’t necessarily about sleep. Our souls also need rest and the place we find that is in Him. When we let go of our striving and focus on Him, we’ll learn to rest in Him and trust Him for the outcome.

082 || Letting God Lead Your Dreams || Sarah Beth Marr

Author Sarah Beth Marr talks about her experience of dreaming with God and her process of writing her book of the same name. She offers perspective on dreams that unfold slowly. She encourages us to look for the “little jewels of direction” and “divine sparks” from God to help us uncover our dreams. She also shares about where our feelings of restless might come from as well as how you can dream with grace, take the pressure off and just make a dent in the dream you feel like God’s given you.

078 || Fitting Your Dream into An Already Busy Life || Tiffany Bluhm

In this interview, author and Bible study teacher Tiffany Bluhm helps us dump the mom-guilt that can come with trying to balance dreaming, raising kids, and caring for a home and a husband. Instead she talks about making the most of our time, asking for help when we need it, and how not to miss out on the dream God’s put on your heart—even if you feel too busy to pursue it. Her advice to the dreamer, near the end of our conversation, about finding someone who’s already doing your dream was priceless.

076 || Believing God's Faithfulness Above Your Self-Doubt || Dorcas Cheng-Tozun

In this interview, Dorcas Cheng-Tozun reminds us a that just because the path is difficult, or we cannot see the fruit of our work, or that we feel stuck and alone in this moment, that doesn’t mean God’s not with us or we’re not following the right dream. She also shares about the value of knowing yourself and learning to accept and embrace who God made you. She reminds us about keeping the Sabbath and that no matter your calling, you need breaks from work, technology, and the day-to-day demands. And finally, she suggests that if you’re feeling stuck it might just be God inviting you into deeper communion with Him.

All this and more including how to stay married to (and in love with) your entrepreneur spouse and their family’s rules about date nights, cell phone breaks and family time make this a don’t-miss episode of the podcast!

066 || Proof that God is in the Details || Jeannie Blackmer

In this interview, Jeannie Blackmer talks about how her dream to write complemented her desire to work from home once she had young children. She shares some of the early baby steps that helped get her feet wet in the writing/publishing world, and what you need to know if you want to self-publish a book, like she did with her newest book, Talking to Jesus.

065 || How Heartbreak Brought Her Dream to Life || Lisa Whittle

Jesus is everything. This is the heart, the passion and the leadership approach of author and speaker, Lisa Whittle. Lisa is the author of 6 books including her 2 latest: Put Your Warrior Boots On: Walking Jesus Strong Once and For All, and 5 Word Prayers, a 40-day devotional. She is a sought-out Bible teacher for her wit and bold, bottom line approach. Wife of 22 years, mom of 3, lover of laughter, good food, interior design and The Bible, Lisa is a grateful work in progress. She would have never dreamed up this particular life, and yet she living proof that the life God has for us is always the one we really want in the end.

064 || Taking Your Dream One Step at a Time || Trillia Newbell

Trillia Newbell is the author of Enjoy: Finding the Freedom to Delight Daily in God's Good Gifts (2016), Fear and Faith: Finding the Peace Your Heart Craves (2015), United: Captured by God's Vision for Diversity (2014) and a children’s book, God’s Very Good Idea: A True Story of God’s Delightfully Different Family (September, 2017). Her writings on issues of faith, family, and diversity have been published in the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Desiring God, Christianity Today, Relevant Magazine, The Gospel Coalition, and more. She is currently Director of Community Outreach for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention.

063 || How to Not Miss the Dream || Alisa Keeton

Alisa is a wholehearted lover of God who uses fitness as her tool to spread the Gospel message. She is the founder of Revelation Wellness – a non-profit ministry that trains fitness instructors and teaches fitness enthusiasts as well as the author of The Wellness Revelation – an 8-week journey to losing what weighs you down so you can love God, yourself and others.

062 || Surviving the Wilderness Years || Sharon Hodde Miller

Sharon blogs at SheWorships.com. She loves writing about Jesus for the women in his church. In addition to writing, she’s a speaker, pastor’s wife and mom of two boys (and another baby on the way) and she hails from North Carolina. She recently completed her PhD at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. You’ve likely read her writing if you spend much time at Christianity Today’s blog for women–Her.meneutics. Her writing has also been featured in Christianity Today’s print magazine, Relevant, (in)courage, Propel, Gifted for Leadership, LifeWay’s Collegiate magazine, and The Gospel Project blog. Sharon’s first book, Free of Me: Why Life Is Better When It’s Not About You, just launched this week and she’s back on the show to share more about the book and what she learned along the way.

061 || Finding the Hope You Need When You Doubt Yourself || Darcy Wiley

Darcy Wiley is a writer who digs to find the transforming work of God in unexpected places. She is co-writer of the book “The Yes Effect: Accepting God’s Invitation to Transform the World Around You” (with Moody Publishers) in partnership with Luis Bush, the missions strategist who originated the 10/40 Window Movement. She is an explorer at heart. As a youth, she traveled to observe movements of God and serve on mission in various regions of the world. Nowadays, her primary mission is to raise her kids to be curious and compassionate citizens of the world. Her writing casts light on beauty and brokenness and helps readers cultivate deep, vibrant relationships with God and others.