Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

Create Your Now® supports the purpose-driven mom and the purpose-driven entrepreneur with tools and strategies to become their best selves in areas of lifestyle, personal development & growth, mindset, business, spirituality, nutrition, fitness, parenting, relationships, marriage, motherhood, and everyday living. This DAILY podcast will empower and encourage you to rediscover, rejuvenate and renew who you are in mind, body, and spirit. Topics include healthy living, work-life balance, weight loss, exercise videos, overcoming adversity, burnout, inspiration, motivation, cooking and recipes, mind mapping, goal setting, marriage difficulties, Christian values and so much more. My Strength Is My Story® Series invites guests to share their hard life experiences where forgiveness, grace, and hope are the results. Life is better together. Real life. Real stories. Real transformations. Be blessed in your every day. Be Present. Be Incredible. Be YOU!!!

4184 Come and See 09/13/2026

4184 Come and See There are seasons in life when the darkness feels closer than it should. When the weight of what you're walking through presses in from every side and you start to wonder if the light you once felt so sure of is still there. Maybe it's grief. Maybe it's uncertainty. Maybe it's a weariness that has settled so deeply into your bones that you can't remember what rest feels like. Wherever you are right now, whatever shadow has crept into the edges of your story, do something simple and holy — come and see. Come and see that the light has not gone out. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #SweetSpirit #CreateYourNow #SoulfulSunday John 1:5 tells us, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Not that the darkness tried and failed once, long ago. Not that the darkness might lose someday. The darkness has not overcome it. Present tense. Ongoing. Undefeated. Right now, in the middle of whatever you are facing, the light is still shining. It has never stopped. But sometimes we have to reposition ourselves to see it. When you've been sitting in a dark room long enough, your eyes adjust. The darkness starts to feel normal. Comfortable, even. And when someone cracks the door and lets light pour in, your first instinct isn't relief — it's to squint. To turn away. To shield yourself from something that feels too bright, too exposing, too much. That's what the enemy counts on. Not that you'll reject the light outright, but that you'll get so accustomed to the dark that the light feels foreign. But God says, come and see. Come closer. Let your eyes adjust to this instead. The K.I.S.S. ~ Come and see! When Philip found Nathanael in John 1:46 and told him about Jesus, Nathanael was skeptical. His response was essentially, "Can anything good come from there?" And Philip didn't argue. He didn't debate. He simply said, "Come and see." That invitation changed everything. Not because Philip had all the answers, but because he knew that encountering Jesus firsthand would do what no argument ever could. That same invitation is for you today. You don't need to have it all figured out before you step toward the light. You don't need to clean yourself up, sort through your doubts, or muster some superhuman faith. You just need to come. Come tired. Come broken. Come skeptical if that's where you are. But come. Because here's what the darkness doesn't want you to know — it has no power over the light. None. Darkness is not the opposite of light in some evenly matched battle. Darkness is simply the absence of light. The moment light enters, darkness has to leave. It doesn't get a vote. It doesn't get to negotiate. It flees. Every single time. And the light that lives inside of you — the Spirit of the living God — is the same light that spoke the universe into existence. The same light that split the Red Sea and walked out of a sealed tomb. That light doesn't flicker because your circumstances are hard. It doesn't dim because your faith feels small. 2 Corinthians 4:6 says, "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ." The light isn't just around you. It is in you. Planted there by a God who knew you would face dark seasons and refused to let you walk through them alone. So stop staring at the darkness, sweet friend. Stop measuring its size, its depth, its reach. It wants your attention because your attention is the only power it has. Instead, turn your face toward the One who is the Light of the World. Let Him illuminate what the darkness has been trying to hide — that you are loved, that you are held, that your story is not over, and that the very best part is still being written by a God who makes all things new. Come and see. The light is shining. It always has been. And it always will be. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42854240

4183 Don't Let the Calendar Replace the Connection 09/12/2026

4183 Don't Let the Calendar Replace the Connection You married your best friend. You chose each other. And somewhere along the way, the life you're building together started pulling you apart — not because the love faded, but because everything else got louder. You're not fighting. You're not even frustrated with each other most days. You're just missing each other; sitting in the same house but living in different rhythms. And that quiet distance? It didn't happen because of one bad day. It happened one full week at a time. So when life crowds in on your marriage, don't let the calendar replace the connection. However, the biggest threat to most marriages isn't an affair. It isn't a blowout argument or even falling out of love. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #RelationshipBuilders #CreateYourNow #LoveAndMarriage It's the slow, quiet drift that happens when two people are so consumed with doing life that they forget to do life together. Busyness has a way of disguising itself as devotion. We tell ourselves we're doing all of this for the family — the carpools, the meal prep, the volunteering, the overtime — and we are. But if we're honest, sometimes we're so poured out for everyone else that the person who stood across from us and said "I do" gets whatever is left. And "whatever is left" is usually not much. It's not intentional. That's the sneaky part. Nobody wakes up and says, "I think I'll neglect my marriage today." It happens one overbooked week at a time. One missed dinner together. One more night of falling asleep before your head even hits the pillow. And then weeks turn into months, and months turn into seasons, and suddenly you're living as roommates managing a household instead of partners building a life. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 tells us, "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up." But here's the thing — you have to be close enough to catch each other. If you're both running in opposite directions all day, every day, who's there to help the other up when they stumble? Proximity matters. Not just physical proximity, but emotional and spiritual closeness. The kind that only comes from intentional time, even when time feels like the one thing you don't have. Please know that I'm not talking about neglecting your responsibilities. I'm not saying drop the ball on your commitments. What I'm saying is that your marriage is one of your commitments — and it deserves a spot on that calendar too. Not the leftovers. Not the margins. A real, protected, non-negotiable spot. The K.I.S.S. ~ Protect the spark in the busy season! What boundaries do you have to protect your marriage now? And remember, those boundaries aren't about keeping the bad stuff away. It's about putting each other first and making it a priority too. So how do we do that? How do we keep the spark alive when the schedule is screaming for every last ounce of our attention? 1. Schedule each other before you schedule everything else. This might sound unromantic, but hear me out. If date night isn't on the calendar, it doesn't exist. Sit down together — even for ten minutes — at the start of each week and block out time that belongs to the two of you. It doesn't have to be fancy. A walk after the kids are in bed. Coffee on the porch before the morning rush. Thirty minutes with phones put away. The point isn't perfection — it's priority. When your spouse sees that they made the calendar before the committee meeting did, that speaks volumes. 2. Replace one "how was your day" with one real question. We get into autopilot with our conversations. The same surface-level exchange every evening that checks a box but doesn't build a bridge. Challenge yourself to ask one question that goes deeper. "What's weighing on you right now?" "What made you smile today?" "Is there something I can take off your plate this week?" These small shifts in conversation create openings for the kind of intimacy that busyness tries to steal. You'd be amazed at what happens when your spouse feels genuinely seen and not just scheduled around. 3. Guard your "us" from the guilt of slowing down. This is the one nobody talks about. So many women — especially faith-driven, purpose-filled women — feel guilty for pausing. There's always more to do, more to give, more to serve. But pouring into your marriage is not selfish. It is stewardship. God gave you this covenant relationship, and tending to it is an act of obedience, not indulgence. Give yourself permission to say no to something good so you can say yes to something essential. Your marriage is essential. The calendar will always be full. There will always be another season of busy right around the bend. But your marriage doesn't have to be a casualty of a life well-lived. It can be the heartbeat of a life well-lived — if you protect it. The spark doesn't need a vacation or a grand gesture to stay lit. It needs your attention. Your presence. Your willingness to look at the person beside you and say, "You still matter more than all of this." So tonight, put the planner down. Close the laptop. Turn toward each other instead of turning in for the night. Because the most important thing on your calendar will never actually be on your calendar. It's the love that makes everything else worth doing. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42854235

4182 Listening Is Love 09/11/2026

4182 Listening Is Love It's not that unheard of to want to explain everything to your children. We carry decades of life behind us, and we think if we can just say the right thing at the right time, we can spare them the pain. But regardless of their age and stage of life, what they need is your presence. Not your lecture. Not your five-point plan. Your presence; listening is love. You don't have to have all the answers. You don't have to be the problem-solver every single time. What they need from you is ears to hear. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #ConfessionsOfAnUpsetMama #CreateYourNow #TodaysParent Proverbs 18:13 tells us, "To answer before listening — that is folly and shame." And yet how often do we jump in before they've even finished their sentence? Maybe you've been the mama who interrupts. The mama who hears the first three words and thinks she already knows the rest. The mama who turns a conversation into a coaching session nobody signed up for. And every time you do, you watch your child pull back just a little. Not because they don't love you, but because they don't feel heard. Your child doesn't need you to fix it. They need you to sit with them in it. When they come to you with something heavy, something confusing, something that doesn't even seem like a big deal to you but is their whole world right now — the most loving response isn't an answer. It's attention. James 1:19 says, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." Quick to listen. That means listening comes first. Before the advice, before the correction, before the "well, when I was your age" — we listen. Please hear your child. The K.I.S.S. ~ H.E.A.R. your child! How do you interact with your children typically now? So how do we get better at this? How do we shift from fixing mode to listening mode? H — HOLD space without filling it. When your child comes to you, resist the urge to immediately respond. Let there be silence. Let them gather their thoughts. Your quiet presence tells them, "You are safe here, and what you have to say matters." Hold the space open even when it feels uncomfortable. E — ENGAGE with eye contact and full attention. Put the phone down. Close the laptop. Turn your body toward them. These small physical shifts communicate something words never could — that they are your priority in this moment. Engagement is not passive; it is an intentional act of love. A — ACKNOWLEDGE their feelings before offering perspective. Before you say a single word of advice, name what you see. "That sounds really frustrating." "I can tell this matters to you." "That must have been hard." Acknowledgment doesn't mean agreement — it means you see them. And being seen is one of the deepest needs of the human heart. R — RESPOND with questions, not solutions. Instead of jumping to "here's what you should do," try "what do you think you want to do?" or "how did that make you feel?" Questions invite them deeper into their own process. They build critical thinking, confidence, and trust — and they keep the door open for more conversations to come. Mama, I know it's hard. Every part of you wants to jump in and shield them from the hurt. But some of the most powerful moments in your child's life will be the ones where you said nothing at all — and they felt everything. Your children are not looking for a perfect parent. They are looking for a present one. One who shows up, sits down, and says with everything in her, "I'm here. I'm listening. And I love you." "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42854225

4181 The Heat Is On 09/10/2026

4181 The Heat Is On There are moments in life when everything feels like it's pressing in — the deadlines, the demands, the weight of expectations, and the relentless pace that never seems to slow down. And right in the middle of all of it, you realize something: the heat is on. Not just the kind that comes from outside pressure, but the kind that rises from within, the fire that tells you it's time to move, to grow, to step into the fullness of who you are and who you are created to be. No matter what happens in your day, at some point you have to be willing to go the extra mile, play full out, and do whatever it takes. That's not a statement about perfection. That's a statement about posture — the way you show up when things get uncomfortable, uncertain, and yes, hot. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #Inspiration #CreateYourNow #DailyMotivation Because let's be honest, growth doesn't happen in the easy seasons. It happens when you're being refined, when you feel the pressure, and when you make the decision to keep going anyway. Think about gold for a moment. Gold doesn't become pure by sitting on a shelf. It goes through fire. The heat removes impurities and reveals what was always there—something strong, something beautiful, something of tremendous value. That's exactly what's happening in your life right now. The heat you feel isn't meant to destroy you. It's meant to refine you. Proverbs 17:3 reminds us, "The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart." He already knows what's inside of you. The fire is simply bringing it to the surface so you can see it too. You can do it, but you have to be willing to put in the work when no one is looking, stand for what matters to you with integrity, and learn how to take it to the next level. That means showing up in the quiet moments — the early mornings, the late nights, the behind-the-scenes hours where nobody is clapping and nobody is watching. That's where your character is built. That's where your faith is deepened. And that's where your next level is born. It's easy to perform when the lights are on, and the crowd is cheering. But what about when the room is empty? What about when you're tired, discouraged, and wondering if any of it even matters? That's when your "why" has to be bigger than your "I don't feel like it." That's when you dig your heels in and remind yourself that you are not doing this for applause. You're doing it because there is a calling on your life, and that calling doesn't take a day off just because you're having a hard one. The K.I.S.S. ~ The heat is on! Standing with integrity means you don't cut corners when nobody's checking. It means your yes is yes and your no is no. It means the woman people see in public is the same woman who exists behind closed doors. And when you live that way — when you let your actions match your words, and your faith match your feet — you create something that pressure can never crush. You create a life built on solid ground. Taking it to the next level doesn't always look like a giant leap. Sometimes it's one small, intentional step forward. Sometimes it's choosing discipline over distraction. Sometimes it's opening your Bible instead of scrolling your phone. Sometimes it's having the hard conversation instead of avoiding it. Every one of those choices adds up, and before you know it, you've moved mountains — not all at once, but one faithful step at a time. "One step at a time leads to miles of greatness." ~ Kristianne Wargo So yes, the heat is on. But you are made for this. You were not designed to melt under pressure. You were designed to be refined by it. Let the fire do its work. Let it burn away the doubt, the fear, the "I'm not good enough" lies that try to hold you back. What's left when the flames settle is the real you — bold, purposeful, and unstoppable. Yes, the heat may be on, but so is your greatness. Go create your now! "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42839595

4180 The Soil No One Talks About 09/09/2026

4180 The Soil No One Talks About People will tell you about the blooming, the breakthrough, and the moment they finally stepped into the calling God placed on their life, where everything clicks because He has been planning it all along. But nobody really talks about the soil no one talks about — the stuff underneath the surface that made the bloom possible in the first place. The seasons that felt more like a burial than planting. The prayers that seemed to bounce off the ceiling. The plans you laid out in good faith that God, in His gentle sovereignty, folded up and tucked away. And if you've been in one of those seasons — or maybe you're standing in one right now — you need to know that the ground is not wasted. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #WellspringWednesday #CreateYourNow #HealthAndWellness In the natural world, the richest soil on earth is made of broken-down things. Composted leaves. Fallen trees. Matter that once had shape and structure and purpose — until it didn't. Until it fell. Until it decomposed. And in that decomposition, something remarkable happened. The ground became fertile. It became soft. It became the kind of earth that could actually receive a seed and do something with it. Your life works the same way. The grief you carried when a relationship didn't survive. The disappointment that sat on your chest when a door closed you were sure God had opened. The quiet ache of a season that simply didn't turn out the way you asked Him for, not because He wasn't listening, but because He was building something you couldn't see from where you were standing. Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." All things. Not just the beautiful things. Not just the breakthrough things. The hard things. The composted things. The seasons that felt like they were falling apart. God was always working. I think about this sometimes when I look at the woman I'm becoming and try to trace the line back. And you know what I find? The steadiest, most rooted parts of who I am today didn't come from the easy seasons. They came from the ones I wouldn't wish on anyone. The ones where I had to surrender a dream I'd been holding so tightly my knuckles were white. The ones where I cried out, "God, I don't understand," and the only answer I got was, "Trust Me." And here's the thing about that kind of trust — it doesn't feel holy in the moment. It feels like loss. It feels like giving up. But surrender and giving up are not the same thing, and you need to hold that distinction close to your heart today. Giving up says, "There's nothing left." Surrender says, "I'm placing this in hands bigger than mine." One is an ending. The other is an offering. Isaiah 61:3 speaks of God giving us "a crown of beauty instead of ashes." It's the whole thing of "instead of." That means the ashes have to exist first. The burnt-down thing has to be acknowledged. You can't trade in what you refuse to name. So let it feed the ground. The K.I.S.S. ~ Let it feed the ground! All the stuff that you didn't think mattered actually does in the long run. And God is there putting all the puzzle pieces together. So here's a question for you today, my friend — what are you carrying that you haven't yet released into the soil? ACKNOWLEDGE one loss, disappointment, or surrendered expectation that you've been carrying without processing. Don't overdramatize it. Don't minimize it. Just name it — to yourself and to God. "This is what I carried. This is what it cost me." PRAY over it — not to get it back, but to release it into God's hands as soil for what's coming. You might say something like, "Lord, I don't fully understand why this season happened, but I trust that You waste nothing. Take this and make the ground ready." JOURNAL one sentence that begins with: "Because of that season, I now know..." Let that sentence surprise you. Let it show you what was composting beneath the surface all along — strength, wisdom, compassion, clarity — gifts that only grow in that kind of soil. The woman you are becoming is not in spite of those hard seasons. She is, in many ways, because of them. Not because the pain was good, but because God is good — and He knows exactly how to turn broken-down things into the richest ground your life has ever known. You are not buried beneath your burdens. You are planted. And the soil beneath you — every surrendered plan, every composted dream, every tear that watered ground you couldn't yet see — is doing exactly what it was meant to do. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42822900

4179 Set the Pace for Your Daily Race 09/08/2026

4179 Set the Pace for Your Daily Race Have you ever watched a tennis match and noticed the winner isn't always the one hitting the hardest? Sometimes it's the one who knows when to slow down, when to push forward, and when to reset between points. With the US Open in full swing right now, there's no better time to be reminded that the way we approach our daily lives mirrors what's happening on those courts in Flushing Meadows. It's time to set the pace for your daily race — not someone else's, not the world's, but the one God specifically designed for you. Tennis is a game of rhythm. Every elite player has a routine between points — a breath, a bounce of the ball, a moment of stillness before the next serve. That rhythm isn't random. It's intentional. It's how they stay grounded when the crowd is roaring, and the scoreboard isn't in their favor. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #Inspiration #CreateYourNow #DailyMotivation And your life works the same way. When you wake up each morning, you have a choice: let the chaos of the day dictate your tempo, or set your own pace before your feet even hit the floor. Proverbs 16:9 tells us, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." There's such beauty in that truth. You get to plan. You get to prepare. You get to set your pace. But it's God who directs the outcome. That takes the pressure off, doesn't it? You don't have to sprint through every hour trying to control every result. You just have to show up, stay in the rally, and trust that He's ordering your steps even when the match feels like it's slipping away. As I was watching the finals of Round 16, Swiatek vs. Zheng had a very interesting start to their match. Swiatek started out strong with Zheng falling behind to the point of 5 - 1 respectively. But it was a moment when Swiatek was serving for the match, and Zheng broke back, again and again and again. Soon, with games in totaling 6 in a row; Zheng took the first set. In a brief moment, the entire match shifted. What I love about watching competitors at this level is that they've learned something most of us are still wrestling with — you cannot win every single point. You're going to double-fault. You're going to send one wide. But the champions don't let one lost point become a lost game, and they don't let a lost set become a lost match. They reset. They breathe. They refocus. And then they step back up to the line. The K.I.S.S. ~ Set the pace for your daily race! How many of us lose one "point" in our day — a sharp word with our spouse, a missed deadline, a moment of impatience with our kids — and suddenly we've written the whole day off? We tell ourselves, "Well, today's ruined. I'll try again tomorrow." But that's not how pacing works. Pacing means you give yourself grace in the moment, recalibrate, and keep going. Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us that His mercies are new every morning — but I believe they're also new every moment. You don't have to wait for a new day to start fresh. You can start fresh right now, in this very breath. Setting your pace also means knowing what drains you and what fuels you. A tennis player knows exactly how to manage energy across a five-set match. She's not going to give everything she has in the first game and have nothing left for the third set. She's strategic. She conserves where she can so she can pour out where it matters most. Y our life needs that same wisdom. Not every email needs an immediate response. Not every invitation needs a yes. Not every battle needs your energy today. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is hold steady, stay in position, and wait for the right moment to swing. Paul understood this when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." He wasn't talking about beating everyone around you. He was talking about running with purpose, with discipline, with intention. Your daily race isn't against your neighbor or your coworker or that woman on social media whose life looks like a highlight reel. Your race is between you and the woman God is calling you to become. And you get to set the pace. So this week, as the US Open crowns its champions and the world watches athletes push themselves to the edge of what's possible, let it be a reminder. You are also in a match. Your court might be your kitchen table, your office desk, or the carpool lane — but it's yours. Own it. Set the rhythm. Breathe between the points. And trust that the God who placed you in this race has already equipped you to finish it well. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42804165

4178 Laboring For What Lasts 09/07/2026

4178 Laboring For What Lasts There's something beautifully ironic about Labor Day. It's the one day of the year when we're told to stop laboring — to set down the to-do list, fire up the grill, and just breathe. But as the burgers sizzle and the kids splash in the last pool days of summer, a quiet question has a way of surfacing: What am I really working for? Today, as we celebrate the gift of rest, let's talk about Laboring for What Lasts — and why the answer to that question shapes everything. Jesus said it plainly in Matthew 6:21 (NIV): "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #MindsetMonday#CreateYourNow #PersonalDevelopment That verse isn't just about money. It's about the whole of your life — your time, your energy, your love, your attention. Every single day, you are investing those resources somewhere. The question is: Where? Think about your average week. Where do the hours go? Where does your emotional energy land? Are you pouring into the things that grow your faith, strengthen your family, and build the kind of life God designed you to live? Or have the demands of the world slowly redirected your investment into things that feel urgent but aren't eternal? This isn't about guilt. This is about awareness. Because when you're aware, you can realign. And that's where Labor Day becomes more than just a holiday — it becomes an invitation. See, Labor Day was created to honor the dignity of work. And that's a beautiful thing. God Himself is a worker. He created the heavens and the earth, and then He rested. He modeled it for us — purposeful labor followed by intentional rest. Not hustle followed by collapse. Not striving followed by burnout. Purposeful labor. Intentional rest. There's a rhythm to it, and when we honor that rhythm, we position ourselves to hear from Him more clearly. The K.I.S.S. ~ Laboring for what lasts! So how does this holiday fit into the bigger picture of living the life God desires for you? It fits because it forces the pause. And in the pause, you get to ask the hard questions. Am I laboring for what lasts? Am I investing my treasure — my time, my love, my resources — in the places where God has called me? Or have I been so busy building that I forgot to check the blueprint? You get to choose how you show up in your life. So don't sit on the sidelines; get in the game of life. Conduct a Treasure Audit. Before this week ends, sit down with a pen and paper and honestly map out where your time and energy went over the past seven days. Not where you wish they went — where they actually went. Compare that map to the life God has called you to live. Where are the gaps? Where are the alignments? Awareness is the first step toward realignment. Establish One "Kingdom Priority" This Week. Choose one area — your marriage, your children, your health, your ministry, your community — and commit to investing in it with the same intention you bring to your job. Schedule it. Protect it. Treat it like the non-negotiable it is. When your calendar reflects your calling, your heart follows. Build Rest into Your Rhythm. Labor Day is one day. But God's design for rest isn't a once-a-year event — it's a weekly practice. Identify one consistent day or time block each week where you stop producing and start receiving. Rest isn't laziness. Rest is trust. It says, "God, I believe You are big enough to handle what I set down." Here's the beautiful thing about all of this — when you labor for what lasts, you don't end up exhausted. You end up fulfilled. There's a difference between being tired from running in circles and being tired from running your race. One leaves you empty. The other leaves you expectant, because you know that the work you're doing has a purpose far beyond what you can see. So this Labor Day, yes — enjoy the cookout. Soak up the laughter. Rest well and rest fully. But as you do, let that rest reset your compass. Let it remind you that the most important work you'll ever do isn't measured in promotions or paychecks. It's measured in faithfulness. It's measured in where your treasure lands. You were made for more than busy. You were made for purposeful. And the life God desires for you? It's waiting on the other side of that realignment. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42797765

4177 Notice God's Goodness 09/06/2026

4177 Notice God's Goodness There is a rhythm to our days that we rarely stop long enough to notice. We wake, we push, we strive, and we do it all over again. We wrap ourselves around careers, achievements, milestones, and ambitions so tightly that we forget whose we are and who we belong to. But what if this weekend, during this beautiful pause, it became the moment you chose to notice God's goodness? God did not create us to chase all the earthly things. He did not breathe life into us so we could spend every waking moment climbing ladders and collecting accolades. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #SweetSpirit #CreateYourNow #SoulfulSunday He created us because He wants a relationship with us, and He wants us to adopt that same desire — a longing for Him that outweighs every title, every trophy, and every milestone we could ever reach. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." His plans were never about the hustle. His plans have always been about the heart. Yet somehow, the strengths He gave us become weapons we use in battles He never intended. We find ourselves fighting with career colleagues, competing with classmates, measuring ourselves against siblings, keeping score with spouses, and even pushing back against the very parents who raised us — all so we can be better, do more, and attain whatever goals we have set our sights on. We take the gifts God placed in our hands and use them to grasp at things that were never meant to satisfy us. 1 John 2:15-17 speaks to this tension: "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them." That is not a warning meant to shame us. It is an invitation to redirect our gaze. The K.I.S.S. ~ Notice God's goodness! Think about the people in your life right now — the ones you have been competing with or comparing yourself to. What if they are not your opponents at all? What if they are part of the goodness God has placed around you? The colleague who challenges you may be sharpening you. The sibling who frustrates you may be teaching you patience. The spouse who sees things differently may be stretching your capacity to love. Proverbs 27:17 tells us, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." When we stop seeing others as obstacles and start seeing them as part of God's divine design, everything shifts. This holiday weekend, let us not only rest from work but rest from the striving. Let us take a breath deep enough to feel the peace that has been waiting for us all along. Psalm 46:10 whispers, "Be still, and know that I am God." Stillness is where we hear Him. Stillness is where we remember that we do not have to earn His love, fight for His attention, or prove our worth. He already decided we were worth everything. Rest is not laziness. Rest is worship. It is a declaration that we trust God enough to stop doing and simply start being — being present, being grateful, being aware of the goodness that surrounds us even in ordinary moments. The sunrise you almost missed. The laughter of someone you love. The fact that your lungs filled with air this morning without you having to think about it. That is His goodness. It has been there all along, waiting to be noticed. So as you move through this weekend, let your heart be a little softer and your grip on the world a little looser. You were not made for the race. You were made for the relationship. And when you slow down long enough to notice God's goodness, you will find that He has been noticing you all along. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42789080

4176 When Holding It All Together 09/05/2026

4176 When Holding It All Together There is a quiet kind of tired that has nothing to do with sleep. It's the exhaustion that settles into your bones when you've poured out every ounce of who you are for the people you love and you look around and wonder, "Who's pouring into me?" If you've ever felt that heaviness, if you've ever smiled through the day while silently breaking underneath, then you already understand what it means when holding it all together is pulling you apart. You are not alone in this. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #RelationshipBuilders #CreateYourNow #LoveAndMarriage So many spouses carry the invisible weight of a household. You're the one remembering the appointments, managing the emotions, keeping the peace, solving the problems, stretching the budget, loving hard, and praying harder. You do it because you love your family. You do it because it's who you are. But somewhere along the way, the giving became so constant that nobody thought to ask how you were doing. Including you. But being strong for everyone doesn't mean you don't need strength from someone. Needing support doesn't make you weak. It makes you human. God did not design marriage to be a one-person operation. He designed it as a partnership — two people walking side by side, lifting each other up, and leaning on each other when life gets heavy. Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 reminds us, "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up." That verse isn't just about having someone nearby. It's about having someone who sees you, notices the fall, and reaches down. So what happens when you're the one who always reaches down but nobody reaches for you? You start to shrink. Not physically, but emotionally. Spiritually. You stop sharing how you really feel because it seems like no one's listening. You stop asking for help because the answer has always been silence. And before you know it, you're living in the same house with the person you love, but you feel more alone than ever. If that's where you are today, know that your feelings are valid. Your exhaustion is real. And this is not what God intended for your marriage. And here's the beautiful part — awareness is the doorway to change. The fact that you recognize this pattern means you are already one step closer to something different. You don't have to stay stuck in the cycle of giving without receiving. You don't have to keep performing strength when your heart is begging for someone to simply say, "What do you need?" Sometimes the breakthrough starts not with your spouse changing, but with you giving yourself permission to be honest. Honest with God. Honest with yourself. And then honest with your spouse. The K.I.S.S. ~ Be honest! Sometimes it's easier to be the hero than it is to be honest. And if you're the hero, you hope that people see the honesty in your actions. But a lot of times, it's not seen. So what does it look like in real life? 1. Name what you need — out loud and without guilt. So often we expect our spouse to read our minds, and when they don't, we feel even more unseen. But unspoken expectations are premeditated resentments. Take time to identify exactly what kind of support you need. Is it emotional presence? Help with daily responsibilities? Words of encouragement? Then communicate that need clearly, without apology. You are not being needy. You are being honest. 2. Set one boundary that protects your peace. If you've been the person who says yes to everything, start by choosing one area where you create space for yourself. Maybe it's a quiet morning before the house wakes up. Maybe it's saying, "I need you to handle dinner tonight." A boundary is not a wall — it's a guardrail that keeps you from driving off the edge. And it gives your spouse the opportunity to step into a role they may not have realized was empty. 3. Pray for your marriage — and invite God into the conversation. Before you sit down with your spouse, sit down with God. Lay out your frustration, your hurt, and your hope. Ask Him to soften both hearts. Then, when you're ready, approach your spouse not from a place of accusation but from a place of love. "I love our family. I love you. And I need us to figure this out together." Colossians 3:13–14 calls us to bear with one another, forgive, and above all, put on love — the perfect bond of unity. Let love lead the conversation. This isn't about scorekeeping. It's not about proving who does more. It's about two people recognizing that a marriage only thrives when both people are being nourished. You cannot keep feeding everyone from a plate that no one is refilling. And you shouldn't have to. If your spouse is willing, let this be the beginning of a real conversation — not one born out of anger, but one born out of a desire for something better. Something closer. Something more like what God had in mind when He brought you together. And if today feels like the hardest day, hold on to this: God sees every load you carry. He counts every sacrifice you make. And He is not asking you to do it all alone. Matthew 11:28 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Let Him carry what your arms can no longer hold. You are worthy of rest. You are worthy of being noticed. You are worthy of being held up — not just by God, but by the person standing beside you. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42780385

4175 Nerves Mean You Care 09/04/2026

4175 Nerves Mean You Care Have you ever laid awake at night replaying a moment from your day — a sharp word, a missed cue, a decision you second-guessed the moment it left your mouth? If that knot in your stomach feels all too familiar, then you need to know that those nerves mean you care. And caring is not a weakness. It's the heartbeat of a mother who loves deeply and wants to show up well for her family. We live in a world that hands us an impossible checklist. The parenting books say one thing. The experts say another. Your family and in-laws have their opinions, your best friend has hers, the school sends home its expectations, and somewhere in the middle of all that noise, you're also trying to honor what the Bible says about raising children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #ConfessionsOfAnUpsetMama #CreateYourNow #TodaysParent Every direction you turn, somebody has a standard, and the unspoken message is the same: get it right, all of it, all the time. But here's the confession we need to sit with today — we can't. We cannot do everything right all the time. We are going to lose our patience at the dinner table. We are going to forget the permission slip. We are going to raise our voice when we meant to lower it, or stay silent when our kids needed us to speak up. And in those moments, the guilt creeps in fast. It sits heavy in our chest, and it whispers that we are failing. I need you to push back on that whisper. Making a mistake does not make you less than as a parent. It makes you human. And the very fact that you feel something — that twist in your gut, that ache behind your eyes — is proof that your heart is invested. A mother who doesn't care doesn't lose sleep. A mother who doesn't care doesn't wonder if she handled it the right way. The nerves, the worry, the replaying — those are not signs of failure. They are signs of a woman who takes her role seriously and wants to steward it with love. Romans 8:1 reminds us, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Paul was writing about his falling short and trying to live up to what God desires. But "therefore..." is the stop-the-presses moment reminding him that God is in control and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So when it comes to the burnt dinner, the raised voice, the moment you chose wrong — God does not stand over you with a scorecard. He stands beside you with grace, and He already knew you would need it. So what do you do with all of this? How do you handle the nerves? How do you stop letting the nerves eat you alive and start letting them point you toward growth? Let the nerves guide you, not define you. The K.I.S.S. ~ Let the nerves guide you! Those nerves mean you care deeply. And that's a good thing. And it's also a reminder that you're human. We need to remember that we're not invincible know-it-alls. What does it look like in real life? 1. Name what you're feeling and be grateful. The next time that pit forms in your stomach, pause before you spiral. Say it out loud: "I feel this because I care." Then thank God that He gave you a heart tender enough to feel conviction. That tenderness is a gift, not a punishment. Letting yourself acknowledge the feeling without attaching shame to it changes everything. 2. Replace the highlight reel with the real reel. Stop measuring your motherhood against someone else's curated version. The mom at school drop-off who looks like she has it together? She has her own 2 a.m. replays. Choose one woman in your life this week and have an honest conversation about a moment you didn't get right. Vulnerability breaks the cycle of isolation, and you will almost always find that she has her own confession waiting to come out. 3. Apologize and move forward — without setting up camp in the guilt. If you snapped, say you're sorry. If you missed something, own it. But then move. Guilt that leads to change is conviction, and that's holy. Guilt that leads to paralysis is condemnation, and that's not from God. Your kids don't need a perfect mom. They need a mom who shows them what it looks like to get back up, say "I'll try again," and mean it. Your nerves are not your enemy. They are the evidence that you are all in. "Every knot in your stomach is a love letter to the child you are fighting to raise well. You will not get it right every time, and that is okay — because perfection was never the assignment. Faithfulness is." ~ Kristianne Wargo And a faithful mama who feels deeply, does the best she can, owns her mistakes, and keeps showing up? And that speaks volumes. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42706390

4174 Break Back 09/03/2026

4174 Break Back Have you ever felt like life just keeps piling on? One thing after another, weight upon weight, until you're not sure how much more you can carry. Maybe it's a season at work that won't let up, a relationship that drains more than it gives, or a quiet accumulation of worries that nobody else can see. You bend. You bow. You accommodate. And somewhere in the middle of all that bending, you start to wonder if you'll ever stand tall again. It's not time to break down or break apart, but to break back into the wholeness God designed for you. There's a difference between being flexible and being fractured. Flexibility is a gift. It lets us adapt, extend grace, and weather storms without snapping. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #Inspiration #CreateYourNow #DailyMotivation But there comes a point where bending stops being resilience and starts becoming a slow surrender of who you are. You smile when you want to cry. You say yes when your soul is screaming for rest. You keep showing up for everyone else's story while the pages of your own sit blank and waiting. That's not strength; that's erosion. When you believe that breaking is the end and once the cracks appear, you're too damaged to be of any use, that's when Satan is celebrating, and others are, too. We all have our enemies. But God has never been intimidated by broken things. In fact, He has a long and beautiful history of doing His finest work right there in the shattered places. Psalm 34:18 reminds us, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." God doesn't stand at a distance when you fall apart. He draws closer. So what does it look like to break back? It starts with honesty. Real, raw, unglamorous honesty — first with yourself, then with God. It means admitting that the pace you've been keeping isn't sustainable. It means letting go of the guilt that tells you rest is laziness and boundaries are selfishness. It means looking in the mirror and saying, "I am not called to carry this alone," and actually meaning it. The K.I.S.S. ~ Break back! Breaking back also means reclaiming territory. Think about the pieces of yourself you've surrendered along the way — the joy you set aside because life got serious, the dreams you shelved because someone told you to be realistic, the confidence you handed over to a voice that never deserved that kind of power. Every one of those pieces still belongs to you. And the God who knows the number of hairs on your head certainly hasn't forgotten the desires He placed in your heart. Jeremiah 29:11 isn't just a verse for a graduation card. It's a living, breathing promise that His plans for you are rooted in hope and a future — not in exhaustion and survival mode. The break back doesn't happen all at once. It's not a single dramatic movie moment where the music swells and everything falls into place. It's a series of small, holy choices. It's the morning you decide to pray before you check your phone. It's the afternoon you say, "No, I can't take that on right now," without offering a five-minute explanation. It's the evening you put your hand on your own heart and whisper, "You're doing better than you think." Each of those choices is a fracture line running in the right direction — back toward wholeness, back toward purpose, back toward the woman God is still shaping you to be. Breaking back is not about revenge. It's not about proving something to the people or circumstances that bent you. It's about return. Returning to your center. Returning to your calling. Returning to the simple but powerful truth that you were created on purpose, for a purpose, and no amount of pressure can permanently rewrite that identity. As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:8–9, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." You may have been pressed, friend, but you have not been crushed. So wherever you are, whether you're mid-bend or already on the floor, know that this is not where your story ends. The very fact that you're still here, still reading, still reaching for something better tells me that the break back has already begun. Trust the process. Trust the One who holds you in it. And take that next step, even if it's small, even if it trembles, because... "One step at a time leads to miles of greatness." ~ Kristianne Wargo "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42706205

4173 What's Holding You in Place? 09/02/2026

4173 What's Holding You in Place? Nobody photographs the underground. We frame the flowers. We celebrate the blossoms. We hold our phones up to the blooming tree and post it for the world to see. But the roots? The tangled, soil-dark, unglamorous system beneath it all? No one even thinks to look down. And yet when the wind comes, when the ground shakes, when life throws something at you that you didn't see coming — it's worth asking one honest question: What's Holding You in Place? Every woman who has ever weathered a storm and stayed standing knows this truth deep in her bones: it wasn't the bloom that held her. It wasn't the pretty parts. It wasn't the version of herself she puts forward on Sunday morning or in a meeting or on her best day. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #Wellspring #HolisticLiving #HealthAndWellness It was the roots. The faith she'd been feeding when nobody was watching The convictions she'd been tending in the quiet The identity she'd anchored in something deeper than circumstance. Colossians 2:7 says it plainly: "Rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Notice the order. Rooted first. Built up second. Overflow comes last. We love the overflow — the fruit, the harvest, the visible evidence of God moving. But the overflow is a result. The root is the beginning. So what are your roots, really? They're the things that don't shift when your situation does. They're the values you hold when no one is clapping. They're the prayers you whisper in the dark when you can barely find the words. They're the pieces of your identity in Christ that remain true whether the world affirms them or ignores them completely. Your roots are your faith — not the performance of faith, but the private, practiced trust that God is who He says He is, even when your emotions haven't caught up yet. Your roots are your convictions — the quiet "I know who I am" that steadies you when the culture tries to hand you a different script. Your roots are the unseen investments — the years of showing up, of choosing obedience over convenience, of leaning into God's Word when the world offered something louder. And here's what makes this personal: loving your reflection means honoring the parts of you no one else can see. We spend so much energy curating what's visible. And that's not entirely wrong — presentation matters, stewardship matters. But if the root system (your foundation) is shallow, no amount of surface beauty will hold when the wind picks up. Jesus told us exactly this in Matthew 7:25 — the house that stood wasn't the one that looked the best. It was the one built on rock. The one with depth beneath it. As women, we can feel pressure to show fruit before we've had time to grow roots. To bloom on someone else's timeline. To measure ourselves by what's above ground — the career milestone, the family picture, the ministry results — while neglecting the underground work that makes all of it sustainable. But God is not in a rush with you. He is doing something beneath the surface, and it matters more than you know. Jeremiah 17:7–8 paints a picture worth sitting with: "But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." What jumped out at you? Did you catch it? The tree doesn't fear the heat. Not because it's stronger than the heat — but because its roots already found the water. It prepared in the unseen before the trial arrived in the open. That's the invitation today. Not to produce more. Not to perform better. But to go deeper. The K.I.S.S. ~ Honor the hidden! When you think about what your roots are made of, what jumps to the front of your mind? Another way to think about it is: What are you trying to hide from others? Or what mask are you wearing? But let's get back to the original question — what's actually holding you in place? What does it look like in real life to honor the hidden? Identify one root — a conviction, a value, a piece of your identity in Christ — that has held you steady when everything else shook. Name it. Don't gloss over it. Acknowledge the underground work God has already done in you. Invest in that root this week. If it's prayer, pray deeper. If it's a relationship that anchors your faith, show up more fully. If it's scripture, sit with it longer. Don't add something new — go deeper into what already holds you. Resist the urge to measure your growth by what's visible and instead ask yourself one question: "Am I deepening?" Growth doesn't always climb. Sometimes the most important growth pushes down. Here's what I want you to carry with you: the world will always celebrate the bloom. That's fine. Let it. But you and God know what's underneath, and that is where your staying power lives. The woman who stands through the storm isn't the one with the most impressive branches — she's the one whose roots found the rock and refused to let go. You don't have to prove your depth to anyone. You just have to tend it. Honor the hidden. Water what no one sees. And trust that what God grows in the dark will hold you in the light. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42581000

4172 Breathe Again 09/01/2026

4172 Breathe Again There comes a moment when you realize you've been holding your breath — not literally, maybe, but somewhere deep inside, you've been clenching. Holding it all together so tightly that you forgot what it felt like to simply exhale. If that's where you are today, I want you to hear two words that might change everything: Breathe Again. Not tomorrow. Not when the to-do list is done. Right now. Because you were never meant to run on empty and call it faithfulness. We get tangled up in what doesn't work. We keep pulling at the same stubborn knots — the relationships that drain us, the routines that stopped serving us three seasons ago, the expectations we never agreed to but somehow inherited. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #Inspiration #CreateYourNow #DailyMotivation And we pull and we pull until our hands are raw and our hearts are heavy, wondering why nothing is giving way. Meanwhile, we've spread ourselves across so many tables that there's barely a crumb of us left at our own. We're showing up for everyone, everywhere, all the time — and the exhaustion isn't just physical. It's the kind that settles into your bones, the kind that makes your own reflection feel like a stranger staring back at you. Your joy doesn't just vanish overnight. It fades. Slowly. Like a song whose volume someone keeps turning down one notch at a time until you can't quite hear the melody anymore. You remember there used to be music, but you can't seem to find where it went. Sweet friend, can I tell you something? That music isn't gone. It's just been drowned out by all the noise you were never supposed to carry. Isaiah 40:31 reminds us, "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Notice it doesn't say those who do more will be renewed. It says those who hope. Those who pause long enough to place their trust back where it belongs. Renewal doesn't come from grinding harder. It comes from surrendering the grind. There's a difference between perseverance and punishment. Perseverance says, I will keep going because God is leading me forward. Punishment says, I will keep going because stopping means I've failed. One is faith. The other is fear wearing a productivity mask. And too many of us have been living under that mask for far too long, calling burnout "dedication" and depletion "sacrifice." The K.I.S.S. ~ Breathe again! You are allowed to set things down. You are allowed to say, "Not right now." You are allowed to disappoint someone else in order to stop disappointing yourself. That's not selfishness — it's stewardship. You are the only vessel God gave you to carry out your purpose, and if that vessel is cracked and running dry, the assignment doesn't get fulfilled by sheer willpower alone. It gets fulfilled when you let the Potter restore what's been broken. Psalm 23:2-3 paints a picture we often rush past: "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul." He makes me lie down. Sometimes rest isn't a suggestion — it's a divine instruction. The quiet waters aren't a reward for finishing everything on the list. They're the prescription for a soul that has forgotten how to be still. So here's what I want you to do today. Take one thing off your plate. Just one. Not because you're weak, but because you're wise enough to know that you can't pour from a cup that has nothing left in it. Give yourself permission to breathe — to inhale grace and exhale the guilt that tells you rest is laziness. It isn't. Rest is revival. Rest is where strength is reborn. You haven't lost your fire. You've just been trying to keep everyone else's flames lit while yours was quietly flickering. Tend to your own flame today. Step back from the wind that keeps threatening to blow it out. Guard it. Feed it. Watch it grow again. You are not too far gone. You are not too tired to be restored. You are not disqualified because you hit a wall. Walls aren't the end of the road — they're invitations to look up instead of pushing forward in your own strength. And when you look up, you'll find that the One who called you has never once looked away. Breathe again! The world will keep spinning while you catch your breath. And when you step back in — rested, refueled, and realigned — you'll move with a grace and a power that hustle could never produce. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42580985

4171 Does the Wait Feel Long and Hard? 08/31/2026

4171 Does the Wait Feel Long and Hard? Have you ever found yourself standing in a season where everything feels paused, and no matter how hard you try to push forward, the next step just isn't clear? If you've been asking yourself, "Does the wait feel long and hard?" — you are not alone. We are all waiting for something. Whether it's direction for your next steps, something to shift in your marriage, your health to get well, or your heart to finally heal, you will find yourself wondering just how much longer this stretch is going to last. And in the middle of it, the silence can feel deafening. Waiting is one of those experiences that nobody signs up for, but every single one of us walks through. It's the space between the prayer and the answer, between the loss and the restoration, between planting and the harvest. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #MindsetMonday #CreateYourNow #PersonalDevelopment And if we're being real, it can feel like nothing is happening — even when God is doing some of His deepest work beneath the surface. The thing about waiting is that it doesn't come with a countdown clock. There's no timer on your phone telling you, "Three more weeks and this season shifts." So we sit, we wonder, and sometimes we wrestle. We wrestle with doubt. We wrestle with impatience. We wrestle with the temptation to just throw our hands up and say, "I'm done trying." But here's the truth that scripture reminds us of: "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31, NKJV). That word "wait" doesn't mean sitting still and doing nothing. It means to bind yourself together with expectation. It means you are actively tethered to the One who holds the outcome — even when the outcome hasn't arrived yet. So what do you do in the season of waiting, where direction needs to happen but inconsistency seems to be naturally the primary focus? What can you do today to impact tomorrow regardless of the outcome and results? The K.I.S.S. ~ Stand firm while you wait! We cannot control everything in life, even though we wish we could. But we can control where we anchor ourselves while the winds are blowing. Here are three things you can do right now so you don't lose your drive to keep going and you hold onto a mindset that refuses to quit. 1. Show up anyway. Even when you don't feel like it, even when the results aren't visible yet, keep showing up. Show up in your prayer life. Show up for the people around you. Show up for the purpose that's been placed inside of you. Galatians 6:9 says, "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Due season means it's coming. Your job is to still be standing when it arrives. 2. Focus on what you can do, not what you can't control. You may not be able to fix the relationship, heal the body, or open the door — but you can nurture your faith, protect your peace, and steward the day in front of you. Write the thing. Make the call. Take the walk. Do the next right thing, even if it's small. "One faithful step today builds the road you'll walk on tomorrow." ~ Kristianne Wargo 3. Speak life over the wait. The words you say in the waiting season matter more than you realize. Proverbs 18:21 tells us, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." Don't curse your season by calling it pointless. Speak purpose over it. Say out loud, "God is working. This wait is not wasted. I am becoming who I need to be for what's ahead." "What you declare over your life shapes how you experience the journey." ~ Kristianne Wargo Here's what I want you to hold onto today. The wait is not the end of the story — it's the setup. It's the behind-the-scenes work that God is doing to prepare you, to refine you, and to position you for something that requires this stretch of faith to receive. Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!" He doesn't just say it once. He says it twice — because He knows we need the reminder. You are not stuck. You are not forgotten. You are not behind. You are being built for what's next, and the fact that you are still here, still seeking, still pressing in — that is proof that you haven't quit. And you're not going to. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42580975

4170 Turn Prayer into a Daily Habit 08/30/2026

4170 Turn Prayer into a Daily Habit Let's be real for a second. When was the last time you prayed and it wasn't because something was falling apart? Most of us have that 911 prayer life down to an art. The doctor calls with unexpected results — we pray. The marriage hits a rough patch — we pray. A child makes a choice that sends our stomach to the floor — oh, we pray then. But what about Tuesday afternoon when the laundry is folded, dinner is in the oven, and life is just… fine? What about the season when nothing is broken, and nothing is burning? If we're honest, those are the moments when our prayer life quietly fades to the background. And that's exactly why it's time to turn prayer into a daily habit — not because crisis demands it, but because relationship does. Think about the people you're closest to. You don't only call your best friend when there's a disaster. You text her about the funny thing your kid said. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #SweetSpirit #CreateYourNow #SoulfulSunday You share the small wins. You sit together in the ordinary. That's what builds intimacy — not the emergencies, but the everyday. And God is asking for the same thing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says it plainly: "Pray without ceasing." Not pray without ceasing when life is hard. Not pray without ceasing until things settle down. Without ceasing. Period. He wants to hear from you on the mountaintop just as much as He wants to hear from you in the valley. So why do we struggle with this? Part of it is that we've been taught — maybe not with words, but by experience — that prayer is for the desperate moments. We treat it like a fire extinguisher behind glass. Break in case of emergency. But prayer was never meant to be reactive. It was meant to be relational. Jeremiah 33:3 is God literally extending an invitation: "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." That's not a hotline for emergencies. That's a Father saying, I have things I want to show you, things I want to tell you — but you have to show up for the conversation. And here's what we miss when we only pray in crisis mode: we miss His voice in the calm. We miss the guidance He wants to give before the storm even forms. We miss the closeness that comes from simply being in His presence when we don't need anything fixed. Psalm 5:3 paints this picture beautifully: "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up." There's something powerful about starting your day turned toward Him — not because the day has already gone sideways, but because you're choosing communion before the chaos even has a chance to begin. The K.I.S.S. ~ Turn prayer into a daily habit! Daily prayer doesn't have to look like an hour on your knees. It can be five minutes in your car before you walk into work. It can be a whispered thank-you while you're washing dishes. It can be a conversation on your morning walk where you simply say, "God, I'm here. What's on Your heart today?" The goal isn't perfection. The goal is presence. It's choosing to keep the line open, not just when you're crying, but when you're laughing. Not just when you're lost, but when you're found. Philippians 4:6 tells us, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." In everything. That word covers the mess and the mundane. It covers the off-season. It covers the day that feels like nothing special and the Saturday that's full of ordinary errands. Everything means your gratitude belongs in prayer just as much as your grief does. Your joy has a seat at that table too. The enemy would love nothing more than for you to believe prayer is only necessary when things go wrong. Because a woman who only prays in crisis is a woman who is always reacting. But a woman who prays daily? She's positioned. She's prepared. She's already connected to the Source before the need even arises. That's the difference between surviving and thriving — and it starts with a habit as simple as opening your mouth and talking to the One who already knows your name. So let today be the day you stop waiting for the 911 moment. Let today be the day you invite God into the ordinary — into the carpool line, the grocery run, the quiet evening on the couch. He's not just the God of your emergencies. He's the God of your everydays. And He's been waiting to hear from you. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42580970

4169 Love Doesn't Clock Out 08/29/2026

4169 Love Doesn't Clock Out Have you ever had one of those days where you've given everything you have — to your job, to the kids, to the house, to the never-ending list — and by the time you finally sit down next to your spouse, you've got nothing left? Maybe not even words. Just a sigh and a sinking into the couch cushion. In those moments, it can feel like love is something you just don't have the energy for. But here's what you must know: love doesn't clock out. It doesn't punch a time card and call it a day just because you're running on fumes. Love stays. Love chooses. And love finds a way, even when you're not sure you have anything left to give. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #RelationshipBuilders #CreateYourNow #LoveAndMarriage Marriage is beautiful, but it is not effortless. Nobody warns you about the kind of tired that seeps into your bones — not just physical exhaustion, but emotional, mental, and spiritual fatigue. The kind that makes you want to scroll your phone in silence instead of asking your husband how his day was. The kind that turns "I love you" into something you say out of habit instead of intention. But God didn't design marriage to only work when we're at our best. He designed it to reflect His love — a love that is patient, kind, and doesn't keep a record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:4–5). And the thing about God's love? It never runs out. It never says, "I'll get back to you in the morning." His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23), and that means we get a fresh supply of grace to pour into the people who matter most — starting with the one who shares our pillow. So what does it look like to love when you're tired? It looks small. And that's okay. It's the hand on the back as you pass each other in the kitchen. It's choosing not to snap when you're irritated. It's saying, "I don't have a lot right now, but what I have is yours." That kind of love might not feel grand, but it's the kind that builds something unshakeable. I think sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves to show up as we did in the dating season — full of energy, full of words, full of butterflies. But seasoned love is different. It's quieter. It's steadier. And honestly? It's deeper. It's the love that stays in the room when it would be easier to walk out. It's the love that says, "I'm not going anywhere," even when your eyes can barely stay open. And here's the beautiful part — when you both choose to stay checked in, even in small ways, something shifts. The K.I.S.S. ~ Stay checked in, not clocked out! You stop keeping score. You stop waiting for the other person to go first. You start to see each other again, not as the person who forgot to switch the laundry or left dishes in the sink, but as the one God gave you to walk this life with. 1. Create a Two-Minute Check-In. Before the day completely swallows you both, take just two minutes — that's it — to look at each other and ask one real question. Not "what's for dinner" — something like, "What's one thing weighing on you today?" Two minutes of presence can do more for your marriage than two hours of sitting in the same room distracted. 2. Choose One Small Act of Intention. When you're exhausted, grand gestures aren't realistic — and they don't need to be. Pick one small thing each day that says, "I see you." Pour their coffee. Send a text in the middle of the day that says, "I'm grateful for you." Leave a sticky note on the mirror. Love speaks loudest in the little things. 3. Pray Together Before You Sleep. It doesn't have to be long. It doesn't have to be eloquent. Even a simple, "Lord, thank You for another day together. Bless our home and our hearts," is enough. When you invite God into the space between you and your spouse, you're reminding yourselves — and each other — that this marriage is a covenant, not a contract. And covenants don't clock out. Listen, I know you're tired. I know some days it feels like you've already poured from a cup that was empty before breakfast. But love was never meant to run on your own strength. Philippians 4:13 reminds us, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." That includes loving well when you feel like you have nothing left. So tonight — or tomorrow morning — choose to stay checked in. Not perfectly. Not with some big dramatic gesture. Just with presence. Just with intention. Just with a willing heart that says, "I'm still here." Because love doesn't clock out. And neither do you. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42580945

4168 Your Child's Mountaintop in the Valley 08/28/2026

4168 Your Child's Mountaintop in the Valley We tell our kids something all the time without realizing it. We say, "You'll get there— one day," painting the picture of a summit: gleaming, golden, way up high, as if that's the only place where victory lives. But what if we've been pointing our children in the wrong direction? What if the moment we've been telling them to wait for is already happening right where they are? Your child's mountaintop in the valley doesn't happen at the top; it happens in the climb. School is back in session. Backpacks are loaded. Schedules are pinned to refrigerators. And your child is walking into a season full of unknowns — new teachers, new expectations, new social dynamics, and the quiet pressure to perform. Some of them are excited. Some are dragging their feet. And some are carrying things they haven't told you about yet. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #ConfessionsOfAnUpsetMama #CreateYourNow #TodaysParent Here's what I want you to hear as a parent: the valley is not a punishment. It's a classroom. We've been conditioned to think of valleys as something to survive and mountaintops as something to celebrate. But Scripture flips that. Psalm 23:4 says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Notice — God didn't say He'd airlift David out of the valley. He said He'd walk through it with him. The valley is where the presence of God becomes personal. Your child's valley might look like a subject that doesn't come easy. It might look like a friendship that fell apart over the summer. It might look like the anxiety of not knowing where they fit. And in those moments, they don't need you to fix it. They need you to sit in it with them — and remind them that the hard stuff isn't a sign they're failing. It's a sign they're growing. Think about every person in the Bible who did something extraordinary. Moses stuttered. David was the runt of his family. Esther was an orphan. Gideon was hiding in a winepress. Not one of them started on a mountaintop. They started in the low place — and God met them there. He didn't wait until they had it together. He came to them in the middle of the mess and said, "You're the one I'm going to use." That's the word for your child this season. They don't have to have it all figured out. They don't need straight A's to have a straight path. They need to know that the valley isn't the end of their story — it's the setting for their breakthrough. Romans 5:3-4 lays it out plainly: "We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Perseverance. Character. Hope. That's a mountaintop built from valley materials. That's the kind of strength no shortcut can manufacture. So what does this look like practically? How do we help our children find their footing when the ground feels uneven? We have to encourage them to keep climbing. The K.I.S.S. ~ Keep climbing! When you look at what you're doing now, how are you handling these tough moments? Being a mom is not an easy road. You'll have bumps and potholes along the way. But that doesn't mean you have failed. You get to help your child climb from where they are. So what does it look like in real life? 1. Name the valley out loud. Don't let your child struggle in silence. Create space for honest conversation — not to solve, but to see. Ask them what feels hard right now. Ask them what they wish you knew. When a child hears, "I see you, and what you're going through matters," that alone shifts the ground beneath them. You're not rescuing them from the valley. You're lighting a torch so they can see where they're walking. 2. Celebrate the climb, not just the summit. We are so quick to celebrate the A on the test, the win at the game, the award at the assembly. And those things deserve applause. But what about the night they studied when they didn't want to? The day they chose to sit with someone who was alone at lunch? The moment they tried again after getting it wrong? Celebrate the effort. Celebrate the character. When you honor the process, your child learns that growth doesn't need a trophy to be real. 3. Speak the peak over them before they reach it. Proverbs 18:21 tells us, "The tongue has the power of life and death." Your words plant seeds in your child's heart that will bloom long after this school year ends. Don't wait until they've made it to tell them they're capable. Speak it now. Speak it in the valley. Tell them, "You are brave. You are growing. God is not done with you." Because the mountaintop isn't a place — it's a perspective. And you get to shape the lens through which your child sees every season they walk through. Here's the beautiful thing about all of this — your child doesn't have to reach the top to experience the view. The view changes with every step upward. Every hard conversation they push through, every fear they face instead of run from, every morning they choose to show up even when they don't feel like it — that's altitude. That's elevation. That's the climb, a mountaintop moment disguised as an ordinary day. And Mama, the same is true for you. You're in the valley too sometimes — juggling schedules, carrying concerns, praying prayers that feel like they're bouncing off the ceiling. But you're climbing. And your kids are watching you do it. They're learning what it looks like to keep going when the path is steep. You are their first and most powerful example of what it means to find God in the low places and trust Him with the next step. "One step at a time leads to miles of greatness." ~ Kristianne Wargo Deuteronomy 31:8 promises, "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." God goes before your child into every classroom, every hallway, every hard moment. And He goes before you into every parenting decision that keeps you up at night. So let the valley be what it was always meant to be — not a dead end, but a doorway. Not a defeat, but a development. Your child's mountaintop isn't waiting for them somewhere in the distance. It's being built right now, one valley lesson at a time. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42481695

4167 Mark Your Words 08/27/2026

4167 Mark Your Words You've probably heard someone say it before — maybe a parent, maybe a mentor, maybe someone who just knew they were right and wanted you to remember it later. Mark my words. It's a phrase loaded with conviction, a verbal stake in the ground. But here's what I want you to sit with today: what if you turned that phrase inward? What if, instead of waiting for someone else to speak with that kind of certainty over your life, you learned to mark your words — the ones you speak, the ones you whisper to yourself when nobody else is listening, and the ones you let fall carelessly because you didn't think they mattered? Because your words matter. Every single one. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #Inspiration #CreateYourNow #DailyMotivation We live in a world that's noisy. Opinions fly at us from every direction, and somewhere in all that noise, we started treating our own voice like background music — always playing but rarely worth paying attention to. You'll catch yourself mid-sentence, backtracking. Well, I don't really know, but… or This probably sounds silly, but… You qualify. You shrink. You speak and then immediately un-speak, as if your words need permission from someone else before they're allowed to land. But here's the thing that might sting a little: other people are already taking you at your word. Your kids hear what you say and file it away. Your spouse builds expectations around what you commit to. Your coworkers, your friends, your community — they listen, and they remember. The question isn't whether your words carry weight. They do. The question is whether you believe they do. Proverbs tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue. That's the reality. And it doesn't just apply to what you say to others. It applies to what you say to yourself and about yourself. When you tell yourself you'll never get it together, you're marking those words. When you promise yourself you'll start and then don't, you're teaching yourself that your own voice isn't trustworthy. And slowly, quietly, you stop believing you're someone worth listening to — even though you are worthy to be heard. So how do you start marking your words on purpose? The K.I.S.S. ~ Mark your words! You begin by paying attention. Not with perfection — we're not aiming for a life where you never misspeak or never say something you regret. That's not real, and it's not grace. But you start noticing. You notice when you undercut yourself. You notice when you make a commitment and let it dissolve because it was only to yourself and nobody else was keeping score. You notice when the words you speak over your own life sound nothing like the words God speaks over you — words of hope, of purpose, of a future that isn't finished yet. And then you make a shift. You start speaking to yourself the way you'd speak to someone you love. You start following through on the small promises — the ones nobody sees — because those are the ones that rebuild trust between you and your own reflection. You stop apologizing for having an opinion. You stop waiting for someone else to validate what you already know in your gut to be true. Because when you mark your words — when you treat your own voice as something worth honoring — you're not being arrogant. You're being faithful. You're agreeing with the God who already said you are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that He knew the plans He had for you before you ever opened your mouth. Speaking with intention and integrity isn't pride. It's stewardship of the voice you've been given. So today, right now, I want you to take yourself at your own word. If you said you would, then do. If you believe it, then say it — out loud, without the apology, without the qualifier. Let your yes be yes. Let your no be no. Let your words be something you're proud to stand behind, not because you'll always get it right, but because you've decided that your voice deserves the same respect you so freely give to everyone else's. You are worth listening to. So start with listening to yourself. The next time you're tempted to brush off something you said or felt or believed, pause. Mark it. Write it down if you have to. Hold it up and look at it and ask yourself, Do I believe this enough to live it? Because the woman who marks her words is the woman who starts walking in the fullness of who she was created to be. And that journey — that beautiful, messy, always-worth-it journey — it starts right here, with the very next word you choose to speak. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42481675

4166 The Ground Beneath Your Feet 08/26/2026

4166 The Ground Beneath Your Feet Here you are, standing on ground you didn't choose, in a season you didn't plan, holding a life that looks nothing like the one you sketched out in your heart. And if we're going to talk about loving the reflection that stares back at you, then we have to start right here. Not with who you want to become, but with where you actually are. Because today, you get to be honest about the ground beneath your feet, the real ground, not the version you edited for your prayers or dressed up in your journal. You probably didn't close your eyes as a little girl and imagine yourself standing in the middle of a season that felt barren, stuck, or just plain hard. You pictured the meadow — the wide-open, sun-drenched, wildflower-covered meadow. You pictured the mountaintop. You pictured arrival. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #WellspringWednesday #CreateYourNow #HealthAndWellness But you cannot grow from ground you refuse to stand on. You can't bloom in a place you're constantly trying to escape. You can't put down roots when your feet are already halfway out the door. And you certainly can't love the reflection staring back at you in the mirror when you won't even acknowledge where she's standing. So many of us resist our own "here." We wake up every morning with a quiet protest running underneath everything we do. This isn't what I planned. This isn't what I prayed for. This isn't the life I was supposed to have by now. And that protest, the low hum of refusal, doesn't motivate us forward. It keeps us frozen. It keeps us bitter. It keeps us blind to every seed God is trying to plant right where we are. I've been there. I've stood on ground I didn't choose and spent more energy arguing with the soil than I ever spent learning from it. I've looked at my life and said, "God, are You sure?" as if the Creator of the universe accidentally dropped me in the wrong zip code of my story. He didn't. Psalm 139:16 tells us, "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." All the days. Not just the pretty ones. Not just the ones that photograph well. The hard days. The confusing days. The "I have no idea what I'm doing" days. They were written, too. And if God ordained the day, He also ordained the ground you'd be standing on when it arrived. That doesn't mean the ground is comfortable. It means it's purposeful. There's a difference. Think about a seed for a moment. A seed doesn't get to pick its soil. It doesn't fill out a preference form. It lands where it lands — and sometimes that's in rich, dark earth, and sometimes that's in a crack in the sidewalk. But the seed doesn't argue. It doesn't spend weeks lamenting the concrete around it. It just starts becoming what it was always meant to be, right there, in whatever ground received it. You and I could learn something from that seed. Because the ground beneath your feet — yes, that ground, the one that feels too hard, too dry, too nothing-like-what-you-expected — that ground is not your punishment. It's your starting place. And starting places are sacred, not because they're beautiful, but because they're honest. They tell the truth about where you are so that God can tell the truth about where He's taking you. But He can't take you anywhere if you won't first stand still. And I really think that's the part we miss. We're so busy running from "here" that we never actually arrive anywhere. We stay in this exhausting in-between — not fully present where we are, not able to get to where we want to be — and we wonder why we feel so tired all the time. We wonder why growth feels impossible. We wonder why the mirror feels like an enemy instead of a friend. It's because we skipped the first step. We skipped acceptance. Now, acceptance is not agreement. Accepting your ground doesn't mean you love every detail of your current season. It doesn't mean you stop praying for change or stop working toward something different. What it does mean is that you stop punishing yourself for being where you are. It means you stop treating your "here" like a failure and start treating it like a foundation. Because that's what it is. Every building that has ever stood — every cathedral, every skyscraper, every little house on the corner that's weathered a hundred storms — started with the ground. Not the dream. Not the blueprint. The ground. The builders had to assess it, accept it, and build according to what it could hold. They didn't curse the dirt. They worked with it. God is building something in you. But He's not building from your fantasy of where you should be. He's building from the reality of where you are. And until you let Him have that — until you hand Him the real coordinates of your life instead of the ones you wish were true — the building can't begin. Isaiah 43:19 says, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Did you get that? Streams in the wasteland. Not streams in the garden. Not streams in the place that already had everything it needed. Streams in the dry, cracked, barren ground that looked like nothing could ever come from it. That's where God does His most stunning work; that's where masterpieces are made — in the places we've already written off. Stand where you are! The K.I.S.S. ~ Stand where you are! So what does this look like practically? How do you stop fighting the ground and start standing on it? Name the season you're actually in — not the one you wish you were in — and say it out loud without apology. Stop performing a version of your life that isn't real. Say it plainly: "I'm in a season of waiting." "I'm in a season of rebuilding." "I'm in a season of not knowing." When you name it, you take away its power to shame you. You bring it into the light, and light is where growth begins. Thank God for one thing about your current ground, even if it's simply, "I'm still here." Gratitude doesn't ignore pain — it refuses to let pain have the last word. Find one thing, just one, about this season that you can bring to God with an open hand. Maybe it's the lesson you're learning. Maybe it's the people who've shown up. Maybe it's just the fact that you're still breathing and still believing. That's enough. Start there. Stop rehearsing the story of how you got here and start asking, "What can grow from here?" You've told yourself the backstory a thousand times. You know how you ended up on this ground. But replaying the route doesn't change the destination. It just keeps you stuck at the trailhead. Shift the question. Instead of "Why am I here?" try "What is here for me?" Instead of "How did this happen?" try "What can God do with this?" The answer might surprise you. The ground beneath your feet might not look like much right now. It might feel hard and unfamiliar and nothing like the life you drew in your heart. But some of the most beautiful things ever seen grew out of ground that nobody believed in. And that includes you and me. So plant your feet, not because the ground is perfect. But because God is — and He's already at work in it. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42481655

4165 Embrace True Accountability 08/25/2026

4165 Embrace True Accountability Nobody wakes up in the morning hoping someone will hold their feet to the fire. We don't naturally gravitate toward the hard conversations, the honest mirrors, or the questions that make us squirm a little. And yet, if you and I are serious about becoming who God created us to be, then it's time to embrace true accountability — not as a punishment or judgment, but as one of the greatest gifts we've been given. Think about your life for a second. Really think about it. Accountability has been woven into the fabric of your story since the very beginning. Your teachers held you accountable for your homework, your learning, your growth — even when you didn't feel like growing. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #Inspiration #CreateYourNow #DailyMotivation Your parents held you accountable for your choices, your words, your character. Your boss holds you accountable for showing up, doing the work, and following through. Your spouse, your friends, even strangers on the road who remind you that the speed limit exists for a reason — accountability is everywhere. It is not the exception in your life. It is the rule. And then there's God. The One who sees every hidden corner of your heart and still says, "I'm not going anywhere, but we need to talk about this." His accountability doesn't come with condemnation. It comes with love. It comes with purpose. He doesn't hold you accountable to crush you. He holds you accountable because He refuses to let you stay stuck when He's already prepared the next chapter of your life. So why do we resist it so much? Because somewhere along the way, we started confusing accountability with judgment. We hear "you need to do better" and we translate it into "you're not enough." But those are two very different sentences. One is an invitation to rise. The other is a lie meant to keep you sitting down. Accountability, real accountability, isn't someone standing over you with a clipboard and a frown. It's someone standing beside you saying, "I believe you can, and I'm not going to let you talk yourself out of it." The K.I.S.S. ~ Embrace true accountability! You cannot move to the next step until you complete the step you are on. Not the step behind you that you keep revisiting. Not the step three miles ahead that you keep daydreaming about. The present step. The one right underneath your feet. That's the one that matters right now. Accountability keeps your eyes on that step. It keeps you from drifting backward into regret or leaping forward into anxiety. It grounds you in the now, in the work, in the becoming to create your now. And understand, becoming takes time. It takes honesty. It takes people in your life who care enough to say, "Hey, how's that thing going that you said you were going to do?" Not to embarrass you. Not to shame you. But to remind you that your words and your actions are supposed to walk in the same direction. Proverbs 27:17 tells us that iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another. That sharpening doesn't always feel comfortable, but it always produces something stronger. Stop running from the people and the moments that call you higher. Stop viewing accountability through the lens of judgment and start seeing it for what it truly is — a lifeline. A compass. A holy nudge from a God who is far too invested in your future to let you sleepwalk through your present. Every time someone speaks truth into your life, every time the Holy Spirit tugs at your conscience, every time a circumstance forces you to face something you've been avoiding — that is accountability doing its sacred work. You were not designed to figure this out alone. You were not meant to wander through life unchecked, unchallenged, and unchanged. You were created for growth, and growth requires honesty — with yourself, with others, and with God. So instead of pulling away when accountability shows up at your door, open it wide. Invite it in. Let it sit at your table and do what it was always meant to do — move you forward. The step you're standing on right now? Complete it. Own it. Be accountable for it. And when you do, watch how the next one appears with more clarity than you ever expected. That's how it works. That's how God works. One faithful, accountable step at a time. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42481645

4164 Fresh Pages and Open Doors 08/24/2026

4164 Fresh Pages and Open Doors There's something about this time of year that makes your soul sit up a little straighter. Maybe it's the smell of new school supplies or the way the morning air starts to shift just enough to remind you that change is coming. Whether you've got kids heading back to the classroom or not, this season carries an unmistakable invitation — and if you're paying attention, you can feel it. Fresh pages and open doors aren't just for the backpack friends. They're for you. The one who's been running on last season's fumes and quietly wondering if it's okay to want something new. It's more than okay. It's time to create your now. Look at January. We treat January like the gold standard for fresh starts. We make resolutions, buy planners, and set alarms. And then by February, most of us have already made peace with the fact that the gym membership was aspirational at best. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #MindsetMonday #CreateYourNow #PersonalDevelopment But now it's August into September. These months don't come with that kind of pressure. It slips in like a grace note — a quiet reset that says, you don't have to have it all figured out, but you do need to be willing to turn the page. And that's the part that gets us: the turning of the page. Because turning the page means you can't keep rereading the same chapter. It means the disappointments of last season, the routines that stopped serving you, the version of yourself that played it safe because safe felt easier — all of it has to be released if you're going to pick up what's next. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." God built seasons into the rhythm of life because He never intended for you to stay in one place forever. The trees know when to let go of their leaves. The question is — do you? Here's what I've learned about new seasons: they don't ask you to be ready. They ask you to be willing. There's a difference. Ready means you've got the plan, the answers, and the contingency folder. Willing means you've got open hands and a heart that says, I don't know what's on the other side of this door, but I trust the One who opened it. And honestly, willing is where the Christ-centered miracles happen. Because when you stop needing to control the outcome, you finally create space for God to do what only He can do. Think about it. A brand-new notebook doesn't know what story is going to be written on its pages. It just shows up — blank, open, available. That's the posture God is inviting you into right now. Not perfection. Not a five-year strategic plan. Just presence. Just willingness. Just you, showing up with a heart that says, Write something beautiful here, Lord. And don't forget about those open doors for a minute, because I think we overcomplicate this. An open door doesn't always look like a massive career change or a cross-country move. Sometimes it looks like a new morning routine that finally puts God first instead of your phone. Sometimes it's the courage to introduce yourself to someone at church you've been avoiding eye contact with for six months. Sometimes the open door is simply a new way of thinking — letting go of the narrative that says you're too far behind, too old, too set in your ways, or too anything to begin again. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Renewing. Not recycling. Not repackaging. Brand new. "God is in the business of making things new, and that includes the way you see yourself, your season, and your possibilities." ~ Kristianne Wargo So if you want to walk through this season with fresh pages and open doors, embrace the sacred reset. The K.I.S.S. ~ Embrace the sacred reset! If you know this is your "new year," no matter what the calendar says, you must be willing to lay down the old and embrace the new. And that becomes your reset. 1. Release the old chapter with gratitude, not guilt. You don't have to trash last season to honor this one. Thank God for what that chapter taught you — even the hard parts — and then close it gently. Philippians 3:13–14 reminds us, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal." Pressing on doesn't mean pretending the past didn't happen. It means refusing to let it hold the pen for your next chapter. Today, choose one thing you've been carrying from a previous season — a grudge, a regret, a habit, a mindset — and hand it to God in prayer. Out loud. Let your own ears hear you release it. 2. Create one new rhythm that aligns with who you're becoming. Not who you were. Not who everyone expects you to be. Who God is shaping you into right now. Maybe that's a ten-minute morning devotional before the chaos starts. Maybe it's a weekly walk where you talk to God instead of scrolling through your phone. Maybe it's finally saying yes to that Bible study or that creative project you keep putting on the back burner. Pick one new rhythm — just one — and protect it like it matters. Because it does. The woman you're becoming on the other side of this season is being built by the small, faithful choices you make today. 3. Walk through one open door this week — even if your knees are shaking. Here's the truth nobody puts on a motivational poster: courage and fear show up to the same party. You don't wait for the fear to leave before you move. You move, and you let faith lead. Isaiah 43:19 says, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" God is already doing the new thing. He's not waiting for your permission. But He is waiting for your participation. So this week, walk through one door. Start one conversation. Begin one new habit. Take one step that the old you would have talked herself out of. Just one. That's all it takes to prove to yourself that you're not stuck — you're just getting started. The most beautiful thing about this season is that you don't have to fabricate the newness. God's already prepared it. He's already laid out the fresh pages. He's already opened the doors. Your only responsibility — your sacred, simple, world-changing job — is to show up and walk through. Not perfectly. Not with a color-coded plan and matching accessories. Just with a willing heart and feet that are ready to move. So as the backpacks get zipped and the schedules get set and the world shifts into its fall rhythm, let this be your moment too. Not because the calendar says so, but because your spirit knows. It's time for something new. And the God who makes all things new is already walking ahead of you, turning on the lights in every room you haven't entered yet. Pick up that pen. The page is fresh. The door is open. And you were made to create your now. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42481620

4163 The Prayer You're Afraid to Pray 08/23/2026

4163 The Prayer You're Afraid to Pray We all have moments when life stops asking politely and starts demanding. The diagnosis you did not see coming. The relationship that shifted overnight. The door that closed when you were sure — absolutely sure — it was the one God had opened. And in those moments, something inside you tightens. You grip harder. You plan faster. You try to engineer an outcome, because if you can just control one thing, maybe the rest will not fall apart. So there you sit with the prayer you're afraid to pray. Oh, the holy discomfort of surrender. But surrender is not what happens after you have run out of options. Surrender is what God invites you into while you still think you have plenty. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #SweetSpirit #CreateYourNow #SoulfulSunday Jesus modeled this in the garden of Gethsemane. Yet as the Son of God, fully divine, fully capable of calling down legions of angels, He knelt in the dirt with sweat like drops of blood falling from His face and prayed the prayer that changed everything. "Father, if You are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done" — Luke 22:42. Jesus asked for the cup to be removed. He was honest about what He wanted. And then He surrendered anyway. That is the part we skip over when we talk about trust. We act as though surrender means you were never afraid, that you smiled through the storm and floated above the pain. But Jesus did not float. He agonized. He wept. He asked. And then He yielded. That is the prayer you are afraid to pray. Not because you do not believe God is good. You do. Not because you do not trust His character. You do. You are afraid because saying "not my will, but Yours" means admitting that your plan — the one you have been building, protecting, white-knuckling — might not be His plan. And if it is not His plan, you have to let it go. That is what terrifies you. Not the surrender itself, but what comes after. The apostle Paul understood this tension intimately. He had a thorn in his flesh — Scripture does not tell us exactly what it was, and maybe that is on purpose, because whatever your thorn is, it fits. He pleaded with God three times to take it away. Three times. This was not a casual request. This was a man on his knees begging. And God's answer was not removal. It was revelation. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" — 2 Corinthians 12:9. And Paul responded, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me" — 2 Corinthians 12:9b. That is what surrender sounds like on the other side. It does not sound like defeat. It sounds like someone who found something stronger than their own strength. The K.I.S.S. ~ Pray! Maybe right now you are holding something so tightly that your hands and fingers ache. A timeline. A relationship. A version of your life that you were promised — or that you promised yourself. And God is not asking you to pretend it does not matter. He is asking you to open your hands and trust that what He places in them will be better than what you are clutching. Not easier. Not painless. Better. Because His definition of better has always been different from ours. His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts — Isaiah 55:9 reminds us of this, and it is both the most comforting and the most humbling truth in Scripture. Surrender does not mean you stop caring. It means you stop carrying what was never yours to hold alone. Peter wrote it plainly: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" — 1 Peter 5:6–7. Look at the order. Humble yourself first. Then cast. You cannot throw something to God while you are still standing in your own pride, insisting you can handle it. Humility comes before the release. The kneeling comes before the freedom. And if you're in a season of curveballs that keep coming and you are exhausted from dodging, God is not punishing you. He is not playing a cruel game of keep-away with your peace. Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." All things. Not some things. Not the convenient things. All things — including the ones that brought you to your knees. Especially those. The prayer you are afraid to pray is not a prayer of weakness. It is the most courageous act of faith. It is looking at God and saying, "I trust You more than I trust my own ability to figure this out." It is choosing — and it is a choice, every single time — to believe that the One who holds the stars in place can hold your broken pieces too. So pray it. Pray the prayer that makes your voice shake. Pray the prayer that feels like free-falling. Pray it with tears streaming down your face if that is what it takes, because on the other side of "not my will, but Yours" is a grace you cannot manufacture and a peace that passes all understanding. You were never meant to carry it all. Open your hands. Bow your head. And let the God who loves you — fiercely, tenderly, relentlessly — show you what He can do with a surrendered heart. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42481595

4162 Don't Match the Madness 08/22/2026

4162 Don't Match the Madness We are wired to want to be right. It's part of being human — this deep pull toward controlling our circumstances, defending our perspective, and standing firm on the hill we've chosen. And in most areas of life, that drive can serve us well. But marriage isn't like most areas of life. Marriage is two people, two histories, two sets of emotions, and two very real desires to be right, all living under the same roof and loving the same God. So what happens when those desires collide? Things get loud. Things get heated. And in that moment, you have a choice. You can rise to the chaos, or you can refuse to meet it where it lives. Please don't match the madness. Because the madness doesn't want resolution. It wants company. It wants you to raise your voice because your spouse raised theirs. It wants you to fire back with that thing you've been holding onto. It wants to pull you into a storm that neither of you started on purpose, but both of you are now fueling with everything you've got. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #RelationshipBuilders #CreateYourNow #LoveAndMarriage And what that madness produces is nothing that matters. It doesn't grow trust. It doesn't build intimacy. It doesn't bring clarity. What it does is bury the very things that need to come to the surface. The hurt beneath the anger The fear beneath the frustration The longing beneath the silence When we match the madness, we cover up what's real with what's reactive. We trade depth for volume. And the stuff that actually needs to be revealed and refined — the places where God is trying to do His deepest work in us and between us — stays buried under the rubble of words we didn't mean and tones we can't take back. Proverbs 15:1 tells us, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Notice it doesn't say a correct answer turns away wrath. It says a gentle one. You can be absolutely right in what you're saying and absolutely wrong in how you're saying it. Gentleness isn't weakness. It's warfare, the kind that fights for your marriage instead of against your spouse. So what does it look like, practically, to not match the madness? It looks like a pause before a response. It looks like lowering your voice when everything inside you wants to raise it. It looks like choosing the person over the point. James 1:19 reminds us to be "quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." That's one of the most intentional, powerful things you can do in the heat of a hard moment. When you choose not to match the madness, you aren't losing. You're leading. You're saying, This marriage matters more than this moment. You're creating space for the Holy Spirit to move in a room where pride was trying to take up all the oxygen. So the next time it gets a little crazy — and it will, because you're two imperfect people doing this beautifully imperfect thing together — ask yourself: Am I about to match the madness, or am I about to break the cycle? Choose the cycle-breaker every time. The K.I.S.S. ~ Break the cycle! You've got to choose to break the cycle every time. Being truly humble and kind will take you further in your marriage than matching the madness. 1. Pause before you respond. Take a breath. Count to five. Walk to another room for two minutes if you need to. Refuse to let your first reaction become your final word. "A pause isn't avoidance; it's wisdom wearing work boots. This gives your heart time to catch up with your mouth." ~ Kristianne Wargo 2. Speak to the person, not the problem. In the heat of a disagreement, shift your language from accusation to acknowledgment. Instead of "You always..." try "I feel..." Instead of proving your case, pursue your spouse. Remind them and yourself that you're on the same team, even when it doesn't feel like it. 3. Pray before you push. Before you push your point, pray. Even a silent, two-millisecond prayer — Lord, help me see my spouse the way You see them right now. That changes the temperature of the entire conversation. "Humility doesn't come from trying harder; it comes from surrendering faster." ~ Kristianne Wargo You don't have to win every argument to have a winning marriage. In fact, some of the strongest marriages are built by two people who consistently choose peace over proving a point. They choose each other! Don't match the madness. Match the love that brought you together in the first place, and let God handle the rest. Let Him grow you and stretch you, because you're better together. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42481590

4161 Make Time Before There's No Time 08/21/2026

4161 Make Time Before There's No Time There's a shift that happens every year around this time. You can feel it coming. The backpacks come out. The schedules start stacking. The buses start appearing in droves. And before you know it, the days that once stretched long and slow are suddenly chopped into thirty-minute increments between drop-offs and deadlines. If you're a parent, you know exactly what I'm talking about — all the more reason why you know it matters to make time before there's no time. Once school starts, calendars fill up fast. Between homework, activities, friends, and screens, meaningful conversations can easily get pushed aside. The noise of the schedule drowns out the quiet moments where trust actually gets built. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #ConfessionsOfAnUpsetMama #CreateYourNow #TodaysParent And the thing is, it doesn't happen all at once. It's gradual. One skipped dinner conversation becomes two. One "we'll talk later" becomes a habit. And slowly, without anyone meaning for it to happen, distance creeps into the space where closeness used to live. But it doesn't have to be that way. Right now, you have an opportunity. The season hasn't fully taken over yet. Your kids are still in transition, still adjusting, still open. This is the window. Not next month. Not after things "settle down," because if you've been a parent for more than five minutes, you know things don't ever settle down. They just shift into a different kind of busy. Proverbs 22:6 reminds us, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Training doesn't just happen in the big moments — the lectures, the lessons, the corrections. It happens in the ordinary. At the breakfast table. In the car on the way to practice. In the ten minutes before bed when you sit on the edge of the mattress and simply ask, "How are you really doing?" Those moments are the foundation. And foundations don't get poured in the middle of a storm. They get laid when the ground is still and the conditions are right. That's where you are right now. The ground is still. Don't waste it. I think about how easy it is to confuse presence with connection. You can be in the same room as your child and still be miles apart. You can drive them to every activity, attend every game, sign every permission slip — and still miss them. Because connection isn't about logistics. It's about locking eyes, leaning in, and letting your child know that who they are matters more to you than what they do. James 1:19 says, "Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." When you listen first — really listen, without fixing, without redirecting, without glancing at your phone — you're telling your child something words alone can never say. You're telling them they're worth your full attention. So what does it look like to start today? How do you take the opportunity to strengthen your connection and create a foundation of trust that will serve your family throughout the year? As you know, you've gotta make time before there's no time. The K.I.S.S. ~ Make time before there's no time! Think about how you've handled this in the past. Regardless of your kids' ages, how did you make sure that they knew they were a priority? 1. Start one daily conversation that has nothing to do with school. Ask your child about their dreams, their friendships, what made them laugh today. Get out of the information-gathering mode and into the knowing mode. You're not their manager. You're their parent. 2. Put your phone down for the first and last ten minutes. The first ten minutes after you see your child and the last ten minutes before they go to bed are sacred ground. Guard them. No scrolling. No multitasking. Just you, fully there. 3. Speak identity over them before the world speaks performance. Before the grades come in and the comparisons start, remind your child who they are — not what they produce. Tell them they are loved, they are seen, and they belong. Say it out loud. Say it often. Let it be the voice they hear above every other. You don't need a perfect plan. You don't need to overhaul your entire routine. You just need to begin. One conversation. One moment of undivided attention. One declaration of who your child is in your eyes and in God's. That's enough to start building something the busy season can't tear down. The calendar will fill up. The noise will come. But if you've already laid the foundation — if your child already knows they can come to you, that you see them, that you're not too busy for what matters most — then the chaos won't have the power to separate you. It'll just be noise. And your family will have something deeper than a schedule holding you together. Start today. Not tomorrow. Not when things slow down. Go and create your now. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42481560

4160 Stay Open 08/20/2026

4160 Stay Open It can be one of the hardest things we ever do — keeping our hands unclenched when everything in us wants a tighter grip. Staying open when life has taught us that open means vulnerable, and vulnerable means hurt. But here's what I've learned, and what I'm reminded of in every new season: the moment we close ourselves off is the moment we stop becoming who God created us to be. So today, I'm asking you to stay open — open to His leading, open to growth, and open to the beautiful, unexpected things He has waiting on the other side of our yes. We are creatures of self-protection. It's wired into us. When a relationship wounds us, we build a wall. When a dream falls apart, we stop dreaming. When a prayer seems to go unanswered, we quietly stop asking with the same boldness we once had. And none of that makes us bad people — it makes us human. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #Inspiration #CreateYourNow #DailyMotivation But God didn't design us to live behind walls. He designed us for gardens. Open spaces. Expansive places where roots can stretch deep, and branches can reach wide without apology. Proverbs 4:23 tells us, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." I think we sometimes misread that verse. We take "guard" and turn it into "barricade." We interpret protection as isolation. But guarding your heart doesn't mean shutting it down. It means being intentional about what you let in — and equally intentional about not letting fear be the gatekeeper. There's a world of difference between a guarded heart and a closed one. A guarded heart says, "I'm wise about where I walk." A closed heart says, "I'm not walking at all." Think about the seasons in your life when the most growth happened. I'd be willing to bet they didn't come during the comfortable, predictable stretches. They came in the seasons when you were stretched beyond what felt safe. When you said yes before you had the full plan. When you stepped into something knowing you didn't have it all figured out but trusting that the One who called you would be faithful to complete it. That's Philippians 1:6 in action — "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." He started it. He's not walking away from it. But He does ask us to stay open to how He finishes it, and that "how" rarely looks like what we expected. Staying open requires a particular kind of courage — the kind that doesn't demand answers before it moves. It's the courage of Abraham leaving Ur without a destination pinned on a map. It's the courage of Mary saying, "I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled," when nothing about the angel's announcement made earthly sense. These were not reckless people. They were surrendered people. And surrender is what staying open looks like when it puts on shoes and walks out the door. The K.I.S.S. ~ Stay open! I'll be honest with you — I've had seasons where I wanted to close the door on something God was clearly doing because it didn't fit my timeline or my comfort zone. Maybe you've been there too. Maybe you're there right now. You can feel Him nudging you toward a conversation you don't want to have, or a forgiveness you don't want to extend, or a new direction that feels too risky for this stage of life. And every fiber of your flesh is screaming, "Close the door. Lock it. Throw away the key." But the Spirit whispers something different. He whispers, Stay open. Staying open doesn't mean staying naive. It doesn't mean you ignore red flags or abandon discernment. It means you refuse to let yesterday's disappointment write the rules for tomorrow's possibilities. It means you hold your plans loosely enough that God can rearrange them without having to pry them out of your white-knuckled grip. As Corrie ten Boom once said, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." That's the whole thing, isn't it? We don't have to know the future. We just have to know Him. And when we know Him — when we really anchor ourselves in His character and His faithfulness — staying open stops feeling like a risk and starts feeling like the safest place we could possibly be. Because closed hands can't receive. Closed hearts can't be transformed. And a closed mind will walk right past the blessing God set in its path because it didn't come in the packaging we were looking for. So wherever you are today, I want to encourage you — stay open. Stay open to correction. Stay open to new mercies. Stay open to the relationships, the revelations, and the redirections that God is weaving into your story right now. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to be willing. And willingness, my friend, is the fertile ground where God does His very best work. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42481540

4159 The Woman in the Water 08/19/2026

4159 The Woman in the Water When was the last time you looked at yourself, really looked and didn't flinch? It's not the quick glance in the rearview mirror to check your lipstick or the passing reflection in a storefront window where you tug at your shirt and keep walking. It's the kind of looking that requires stillness. The kind of seeing that asks you to stay. Because you, my friend, are the woman in the water, and the only reason you can't see her clearly is because you won't stop stirring. We live stirred-up lives. We stir with busyness. We stir with worry. We stir with comparison, scrolling through someone else's highlight reel and wondering why our behind-the-scenes looks so different. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #WellspringWednesday #CreateYourNow #HealthAndWellness We stir with control — trying to manage every outcome, plan every step, guarantee every result. And the more we stir, the more distorted our reflection becomes. We look down into the water of our own lives, and we can't make out the woman looking back at us. She's blurry. She's broken into fragments. She doesn't look like anyone we recognize — and certainly not anyone we love unconditionally. But you see, the water isn't the problem. The woman isn't the problem. The stirring is. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God" — And I wonder if we've read that verse so many times that we've stopped hearing what it's actually asking of us. It's not a suggestion. It's not a gentle nudge toward a fifteen-minute quiet time. It's an invitation to lay down every anxious thing you're holding and trust that God is God and you are not. Being still isn't passive. It's one of the bravest things a woman can do — because stillness means you stop performing, stop managing, and stop running from whatever you're afraid you'll see if you actually look. And this is where becoming begins. I believe with everything in me that we are entering a season of becoming — a season where God is inviting us to go deeper than the surface, past the routines and the roles, past the titles and the to-do lists, all the way down to the roots. But before we can grow, before the budding and the blooming and the beautiful transformation that's ahead, we have to start here. Right here. At the water's edge. Willing to be still long enough to see who's actually looking back. Here's what I've learned about reflections — they don't lie, but they do require the right conditions. If you throw a stone into a lake, the ripples shatter the image. But if you wait — if you have the patience and the courage to let everything settle — the water becomes a mirror. Crystal clear. Every detail visible. That's what stillness does for us. It doesn't change who we are. It reveals who we are. And for a lot of us, that's exactly what we're afraid of. We're afraid that if we stop long enough to see ourselves clearly, we won't like what we find. We'll see the doubts we've been hiding. The insecurities we've been covering. The tiredness we've been pretending isn't bone-deep. We'll see the gap between who we are and who we thought we'd be by now. And so we keep stirring. Keep moving. Keep filling every quiet moment with noise because silence feels too honest. But here's what the enemy doesn't want you to know — the woman in the water is not your enemy. She is not your project. She is not a problem to be solved. She is a daughter of the Most High God, and she is right where she's supposed to be. Not perfect. Not finished. Not polished and presentable in every area. But planted. Present. Breathing. Held by a God who sees her clearly even when she won't look at herself. Isaiah 43:1 says, "I have called you by name; you are mine." Not you will be mine when you get it together. Not you are mine when you look the way you think you should. You are mine. Present tense. As you are. In this season. In this stillness. With this reflection. Did you ever think that when you refuse to see yourself the way God sees you — beloved, chosen, becoming — you're not being humble? You're disagreeing with Him. And I don't know about you, but I've spent too many years arguing with God about the value of His creation. So what does it look like to let the water settle? It looks like turning off the noise — not forever, but long enough to hear your own heartbeat again. It looks like sitting with the Lord without an agenda, without a prayer list, without a devotional plan, and simply asking, "Who am I right now?" Not who was I. Not who will I be. Who am I right now — in this season, in this skin, in this story? It looks like refusing to compare your chapter three to someone else's chapter twelve. It looks like releasing the one thing you've been gripping so tightly — the worry, the expectation, the "what if" — and watching the ripples finally, finally go still. It looks like becoming, one breath at a time. So be still and see. The K.I.S.S. ~ Be still and see! Be still so the water can settle, and then you can reflect. Set aside ten minutes this week with no phone, no task list, and no noise — just you and the Lord — and ask Him, "Who do You say I am right now?" Write down three truths about who you are today — not who you were, not who you hope to be — and read them aloud to yourself. Release one thing you've been stirring up — one worry, one comparison, one "should" — and let the water settle. My friend, we're beginning a journey: A season of becoming that will take us from the roots all the way to the bloom — through budding and stretching and opening and, yes, through the storms too. But it starts here. At the water's edge. With the courage to be still. I want you to know that the woman in the water is worth seeing. She is worth knowing. She is worth loving — not the future version of her, not the cleaned-up, figured-out, fully-arrived version. This version. The one listening to the words right now. The one who showed up even though she's tired. The one who's still here even though the season has been long. God is not waiting for you to become before He begins. He's already begun. And the first thing He's asking you to do is be still long enough to see it. Let the water settle. Look at her. She's more beautiful than you know. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42456795

4158 Knocked Down But Not Knocked Out 08/18/2026

4158 Knocked Down But Not Knocked Out Life has a way of catching you off guard. One minute you're standing tall, feeling like you've finally got your footing — and the next, something comes along and sweeps your feet right out from under you. Maybe it's a phone call you weren't expecting. A door that closed when you were sure it was about to open. A season that turned harder than anything you could have prepared for. And there you are. On the ground. Catching your breath. Wondering what just happened. Knocked down but not knocked out. A lot of us have been there more times than we'd like to admit. And if you're one who has that familiar ache in your chest, you are not done. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #Inspiration #CreateYourNow #DailyMotivation Knocked down? Maybe. But knocked out? Not even close. Often when we're flat on our backs staring at the ceiling — we forget that we were never promised a life without struggle. Jesus Himself said in John 16:33, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." He said you will. That means the hard stuff isn't a sign that something has gone wrong with your story. It's just part of the story. And the Author of that story is still writing. What I've learned — and what I'm still learning, if I'm being real — is that the moments that knock us down have a way of revealing what we're actually standing on. When everything around you shifts, when the circumstances you thought were stable suddenly aren't, you find out pretty quickly whether your foundation is built on things that can be shaken or on something that holds. If your foundation is rooted in Christ, it holds. Every single time. The K.I.S.S. ~ Knocked down but not knocked out! Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that getting back up is easy. It's not. Sometimes getting back up looks like dragging yourself out of bed and choosing to show up for the day even when every part of you wants to stay under the covers. Sometimes it looks like whispering a prayer through tears because that's all the strength you have. Sometimes it's just putting one foot in front of the other and trusting that God sees the step even when you can't see the staircase. But here's what I want you to notice — in every one of those moments, you're still moving. You're still choosing. And that matters more than you know. Because you can't control what happens around you. You can't control what other people do, what falls apart, what shifts without warning. But you can control how you respond. You can choose whether the thing that knocked you down gets to define you — or refine you. 2 Corinthians 4:8–9 puts it so beautifully — "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." There's a "but not" that follows every blow. And that "but not" is the grace of God holding you steady when your own strength has run out. So if today finds you on the ground, let me ask you this — what if this isn't the end of your story but the turning point? What if the very thing that knocked you down is the one thing that teaches you just how strong your God really is? What if getting back up — even slowly, even imperfectly — is exactly the kind of faith that moves mountains? You don't have to have it all together. You don't have to bounce back perfectly or pretend the hit didn't hurt. You just have to get back up. One breath. One prayer. One decision. "One step at a time leads to miles of greatness!" ~ Kristianne Wargo Because the woman who keeps getting back up? She's not the woman who never falls. She's the woman who knows Who's reaching down to pull her to her feet. So rise, my sweet friend. Dust yourself off. Steady your heart. And take the next step — even if it's shaky, even if it's small. You're not knocked out. You're being shaped. And everything ahead of you is still waiting for the woman you're becoming. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42456780

4157 What You Can't Control Doesn't Get the Final Say 08/17/2026

4157 What You Can't Control Doesn't Get the Final Say You already have what you need, right now to create your now. There is no reason to wait for tomorrow, nor when the circumstances shift, or when that one thing finally falls into place. And yet, there's this pull that creeps in and whispers, but what about that thing you can't fix or control? There you are, standing at the edge of a perfectly open door and still looking sideways at the wall beside it, wondering why it won't move. This happens more often than we like to admit. You know what's in front of you. You know the next step. But something uncontrollable grabs your attention, and suddenly the step feels impossible. Here's the thing: What you can't control doesn't get the final say. How many hours have you spent spinning over someone else's decision? Over a timeline that isn't yours to set? Over an outcome you were never designed to manufacture? That energy of yours was never meant to be poured into a bucket with no bottom. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #MindsetMonday #CreateYourNow #PersonalDevelopment Proverbs 4:25–26 says, "Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways." This is an invitation to stop looking sideways and start looking forward. Not because the sideways stuff doesn't exist, but because it does not get to lead. When you stop giving your energy to what you can't control, you suddenly realize how much you have for what you can. Your creativity comes back. Your clarity sharpens. Your peace returns. Not because the hard things disappeared, but because you stopped letting them sit in the driver's seat. God didn't design you to manage the universe. He designed you to walk faithfully in your lane — with purpose, with intention, and with everything you need already in your hands. Philippians 4:6–7 reminds us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." God guards. Not you. There is no reason for you to white-knuckle your way through the uncertainty. You get to hand it over and keep walking. This allows you to dig into your day! The K.I.S.S. ~ D.I.G. into your day! So let me ask you this — what would today look like if you stopped fighting what you can't control and started showing up fully for what you can? You gotta DIG a little! D — Decide today that distraction is not your assignment. Not every fire is yours to put out. Not every worry deserves a seat at your table. Choose consciously to show up for what's actually in front of you. I — Invest your time and heart in what aligns with your purpose, not your worry. Pour into the relationships, the work, the calling that God has already confirmed. That's where your energy belongs — not in the spin cycle of "what if." G — Guard your focus — the main event deserves your full attention. When the uncontrollable tries to steal the spotlight, redirect. Come back to center. Come back to what matters. Your purpose is too important to be buried under things that were never yours to carry. You were not made to be managed by your circumstances. You were made to move through them — with faith, with intention, and with your eyes fixed on the One who holds it all together. Let go and let God. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42449580

4156 The Secret of Being Content 08/16/2026

4156 The Secret of Being Content "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." ~ Philippians 4:12 Contentment didn't land in Paul's lap like some spiritual gift he unwrapped one morning. It was forged and tested, including shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonment, and hunger. He was refined through every season that could have, and maybe should have, shaken him loose from his faith. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #SweetSpirit #CreateYourNow #SoulfulSunday Paul learned contentment the way you and I learn most things worth knowing: through walking straight through the hard stuff and discovering what held him up when nothing else could. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to say you're content when the bills are paid, the kids are healthy, and your coffee is still hot? It rolls right off the tongue. I'm so blessed. I'm so grateful. Life is good. And it is. Life can be really, really good. Contentment was never meant to be a fair-weather word. So here's the question that deserves an honest answer today. Where is your contentment actually rooted? Because if it's anchored in your circumstances, it will shift every single time your circumstances do. And they will. That's not being pessimistic. The job changes. The relationship disappoints. The diagnosis surprises you. The plan you carefully built falls apart in ways you never imagined. And if contentment lives or dies by what's happening around you, then you're not content at all. You're just comfortable. And comfort is not the same thing. The K.I.S.S. ~ The secret of being content! Comfort says, everything is fine right now, so I'm fine. Contentment says, even if nothing around me is fine, something inside me still is. That "something" is not willpower. It's not positive thinking. It's not gritting your teeth and pretending the hard season doesn't hurt. Paul doesn't leave us guessing. He tells us exactly where contentment comes from in the very next breath — "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). That verse gets printed on bumper stickers and gym walls, but Paul wasn't talking about athletic performance or career goals. He was talking about surviving lack. About enduring suffering. About standing upright when everything in your life is telling you to crumble. Paul was saying, the reason I can be content in the worst of it is because my strength was never coming from my situation in the first place. It was coming from God Himself. That changes everything. When Christ is the source of your strength, your contentment doesn't depend on a paycheck or a promotion or a person showing up the way you need them to. It doesn't hinge on your health cooperating or your plans working out. It rests in the One who holds you steady no matter what the ground beneath you is doing. That is a freedom most people spend their whole lives chasing in all the wrong places. They chase it in more money, more approval, more control. But contentment was never hiding in more. It was always hiding in Who. It was always waiting in the quiet, Christ-anchored place inside your soul that says, I have everything I need because I have Him. Does that mean you stop working toward goals? No. Does it mean you pretend pain doesn't exist? Absolutely not. It means you stop letting the outcome define your peace. You stop handing your joy over to things that were never meant to carry it. You hold your plans with open hands and your faith with a tight grip — because one of those will always shift, and the other never will. Paul learned the secret. And the secret was never a strategy. It was a Savior. So today, wherever you are — whether the season is full or lean, whether you're celebrating or barely holding on — you can be content. Not because everything is okay, but because God holds everything, and He is holding you, too. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42441510

4155 Celebrate Your Spouse 08/15/2026

4155 Celebrate Your Spouse When was the last time you actually celebrated your spouse? Not on their birthday or your anniversary. Not some calendar-mandated holiday where Hallmark reminds you it's time to show up. This is a random, ordinary, nothing-special kind of day, when you look at the person doing life beside you and say, "I see you. And I'm grateful." Celebrate your spouse! Now, if you had to think about it, you're not alone. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . #RelationshipBuilders #CreateYourNow #LoveAndMarriage We love our spouses. Deeply. But a lot of times, the people closest to us become the easiest to overlook. Not because we stop caring — but because life gets loud. The kids need something. Work demands more. The house needs attention. Dinner needs to happen. And somewhere between the school pickup line and the last load of laundry, we forget that the person handing us the folded towels is also the person who chose us. And keeps choosing us. Every single day. We don't mean to take them for granted. But it happens — because life happens. So let's slow down and talk about this word: celebrate. We hear "celebrate" and we tend to think big. A party. A toast. A grand gesture. But the word itself simply means to acknowledge something with praise or attention. To honor. To make known. That shifts everything, doesn't it? Because celebration doesn't require a venue or a budget. It requires awareness. It requires you to pause long enough in the middle of the ordinary to recognize what — and who — is right in front of you. Proverbs 31:29 says, "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." And husbands, Ecclesiastes 4:9 reminds us, "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor." These aren't words reserved for special occasions. They are words for Tuesday night at the kitchen table. For Saturday morning over coffee. For right now. Celebration, in the context of marriage, is simply choosing to notice — out loud. So why don't we do it more often? Because it requires intentionality. And intentionality takes effort when you're running on fumes. But here's the quiet truth no one tells you: the marriages that thrive aren't the ones with the grandest gestures. They're the ones with the most consistent small ones. The ones where both people feel seen — not just on the highlight reel, but in the ordinary rhythm of life. So how do we get there? How do we move from accidentally overlooking to intentionally celebrating? The K.I.S.S. ~ Celebrate on purpose! How do you recognize your spouse now? What would it look like if you made celebrating your spouse a regular part of your life — not because something extraordinary happened, but because they are extraordinary to you? Here are three things you can start doing today to celebrate your spouse: 1. Speak it and be specific. It's one thing to say, "Thanks for everything you do." It's another to say, "I noticed you stayed up late to finish that project, and I want you to know it didn't go unnoticed." Specific words land differently. They tell your spouse, I was paying attention. You matter enough for me to notice the details. Don't wait for the perfect moment. The imperfect, chaotic moment is often the one that means the most. 2. Protect what you praise in private by honoring it in public. How you talk about your spouse when they're not in the room matters. How you talk about them when they are in the room matters even more. Celebrate them in front of your kids. Speak well of them to your friends. Let them overhear you saying something kind about them on the phone. Public honor is one of the most underused and most powerful ways to make your spouse feel valued. It doesn't have to be a speech. A simple, "I'm really grateful for him," or "She's an incredible mom," goes further than you think. So elevate your spouse. 3. Show up in their love language, not yours. This is where celebration gets personal. Maybe your spouse doesn't need words. Maybe they need your time. Your undivided, phone-down, eyes-on-them time. Maybe they need an act of service, the dishes done without being asked, the car filled up before Monday. Maybe it's a small, thoughtful gift that says, "I was thinking about you in the middle of my day." Celebrate them the way they receive love, not the way you prefer to give it. That's where real connection lives. Marriage is a gift. But gifts that go unacknowledged start to feel like obligations. And obligations feel heavy. "Don't let the weight of routine flatten the gratitude in your heart." ~ Kristianne Wargo Your spouse isn't perfect — and neither are you. But they're yours. And that is worth celebrating. You don't need a reason. You don't need a holiday. You just need to open your mouth, open your eyes, and let the person beside you know: I would choose you again. Start today. Start small. Start on purpose. Celebrate your spouse! "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!" 🔔 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the . - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. () 🙏 on Pray.com () 🎥 on YouTube () 🎧 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. 🎶 () ✍️ Instagram Twitter Facebook Cover Art by Photo by Music by - Overcomer Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. /episode/index/show/createyournow/id/42281565

Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo

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