Faith. I would be nothing with out. One of my favorite songs is “Have a Little Faith in Me.” And two of my favorite Bible versus contain the word FAITH.
He Replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'move from here to here,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20 Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones. Luke 6:10
This podcast episode is all about having faith, and the amazing signs I had when I decided to just have a little faith! The events in this podcast are truly what keeps me going!
Podcast Transcript
Welcome back to the Something Better, My Darling podcast. I am here to help women find their purpose without compromising their values, and ultimately reaching their full potential. Whether you are struggling with self worth, confidence, or lack of taking action, this is for you! I am so excited you are here! I can’t wait to get to know you!
Today I want to talk about Faith! I could probably have about 50 episodes on faith, but this one is about how faith impacted me and how just a mustard seed of faith can really make a huge difference. Here is the deal. I was raised in a Christian home, going to church every Sunday, believing in God and doing what was right, most of the time. In the first episode you heard me talk about being nice to fault, which means at times I did not do what was right, but did what someone else wanted me to do. At any point throughout my first 40 years if someone were to have asked if I was a Christian, I would have said, ‘yes,’ because I was by all outside looking in. But, again I had not fully surrendered my all to God. I was really good at giving him parts of my life – one at a time. Here God, you can have my job today. Here God, you can have my family today. Here God, now I need help with finances, but it was never…Take it all God! And even though I tried, I had this unrealistic fear that he was going to try to send me and the kids overseas to be missionaries, which I knew wasn’t going to work since I am divorced and there is no way their dad would let that happen. But you know what? That is NOT what God wanted me to do! He just wanted me to trust him…completely! He wanted me to help you! He wanted me to talk about my experiences and how they’ve hurt and shaped me to be the best person to help you get through the same junk I did!
I didn’t have faith, not really. Not the faith in God, or the faith in myself to do anything more than what I was doing. I had so much doubt and fear that it cloudy and overtook my faith. But I also know now, that it had to take me 40 years to get here, or I couldn’t have all of these experiences. I have two Bible verses so far that talk about having faith the size of a mustard seed, and another versus that says, if you don’t have faith in the small things, you won’t have faith in the big things. AHHHh!! So true. I want to tell you a couple of quick stories about how after i surrendered God showed me how amazingly cool He is! How amazing He is. How funny He is! I don’t know….not word can truly describe the sheer amount of awe I have for God. Okay…to the stories! First, growing up as a christian I had heard about tithing which is where you give 10 percent of your income back to God. I had never tithed. Not when I was married and in a comfortable income level and definitely not as a single mom. However, tithing had been on my heart. You could call it another nudge. It was after I read Luke 16:10 which I mentioned earlier that says “Unless you are faithful in the small matters, you won’t be faithful in the large ones,” that this hit me like a bolt of lightning. I was NOT being faithful in the small matters…even though I actually consider tithing a big matter. Anyway, I knew what I had to do. So, I set up automatic withdrawal to tithe to the two churches I attend. Whew. Then I prayed. The next week or maybe it was the following week I went to South Dakota for a dear friend Teri’s wedding. I had made 400 cake pops for her reception and our close group of friends — college girls – since we all met at college helped her with the wedding and reception. Sunday she gave us all cards with checks inside of them. My check, just happened to be for the exact amount of my tithe…which is NOT a traditional amount. I asked my friend why she picked that amount since it wasn’t a normal amount. She said she didn’t know, but she just knew what it needed to be. GOOOOOOOSEEEE BUMPS!!! God, you are so cool!!
But, even before this….two other things happened. I live almost exactly 4 hours from my friend who was getting married, so on the drive I was listening to music and podcasts. My current binge is “the school of greatness” by lewis Howes. If you have not listened…you need too! In this particular episode he was interviewing several people but at the end he was talking with Gabby Bernstien – she also had a podcast called Dear Gabby! Anyway, she was talking about asking for signs and how her sign is a cardinal. As I was driving I started thinking…I can’t just ask God for any sign…there are so many options, so of course asking for a specific thing makes sense. I couldn’t decide so I picked two. LOL. A number 1-1-4 and a butterfly. As I was driving to SD I was very new to my business idea and nudge and I wanted to make sure I was on the right path and that I had not lost my mind. I also asked for a sign about this guy I knew I would see and who had been in the back of my mind since I first met him…nearly a year ago at this point. So I did as recommended and thanked God for giving me clarity on my path and showing me a butterfly or 1-1-4. And really I didn’t think much of it the rest of the drive.
The next day my college roommate, Kim, and I were going to a local gym to work out before the wedding. It also happens I needed to text that guy I couldn’t shake to get into the gym. Convenient…huh? Anyway, as we were walking to the gym Kim noticed a funny bar. Its name was the cock-a-too. I’m not joking. As I looked up I could NOT believe what I saw. That gentleman’s club was next door to Hotel 1-1-4! I had to look twice, actually three times to make sure the numbers were MY numbers!! It was literally a sign on a building! I still smile in amazement when I think about it!! I was like, Okay, God. You got it! I’m in!! Remember, this was BEFORE the tithing check. This was number one.
Number Two. After the wedding and reception Teri and TJ had a get together with friends at their new home. I was talking to a lady there I had never met before. We were talking about an old childhood game. Silly stuff. I could not remember how the song to the game went, so after texting my aunt and uncle because I knew they would remember, I went to track down this lady to show her the hilarious video my aunt and uncle had sent me with them singing the song. She was standing by the couples old record player and holding an album cover. Before I could say anything, she said to me, “how neat is this album cover…it is a butter fly.” STOP IT!!! It is a what??? It is a butter fly. It was the Barbara Striesand album Butterfly which has a stick of butter with a fly on it. I seriously could NOT believe this!! Both of my signs in one day!!! My heart was beating out of my chest! God, you are so cool!!
Within 48 hours God had shown me both of my signs and replaced a tithe. This is not a coincidence. Everything is from God, lives by his power, and is for Him. Not some things. Everything. What a feeling to know that a little faith, a little surrendering is all it took! Mustard seed faith!! This all happened the weekend of April 3 and today, as I record this is ia May 2. One month later. Like I’ve said before, when you are on HIs path and doing what you are designed to do. NOTHING can stop you. And…as for that guy…because I know you are all wondering about him. Yeah…he is my boyfriend now. And he is simply the best. One of the Good Ones as Gabby Barret would say. Have a little faith and be who you were designed to be!
Maybe you are ready to take this journey and start taking massive action to reach your potential or you could be trying to decide. Either way, I am so excited to have you here! My soul is on fire to help you! If you’d like to join me on a journey, visit somethingbettermydarling.com and click on ‘give me 40 days!’ to sign up for a summer of fall journey! Connect with me on Instagram at something better my darling, or if you’d like to see me and my kiddos and fur baby, you can find me at mandi lanae! This is Something Better, My Darling. Thank you for listening, you’ll hear from me again! Bye!
Something Better, My Darling 