The Influence Network

Hey, everyone! I’m so excited to continue our awesome discussion of the Influence Network book club for Make it Happen by Lara Casey. If you’ve also been reading the book and interacting on the forums with us, I hope you’ve been enjoying the dialogue as much as I have. Lara’s words have set a new fire in my heart for what God has called me to in this one life I’ve been given, and I have a renewed motivation to make sure I’m living my purpose and potential every day.

I am going to be over on the Make It Happen forum today so we can all discuss Part 2: Take the Leap. Many of my personal thoughts and notes are shared in this post, but I’m excited to continue our conversation in the InfluenceNet forums. Please head over there after reading to engage with our community on this section of the book.

Part 2 of Lara’s book was a breath of fresh air for this season of life I’m in with our family. To get a little personal, I’ll share where we’re at right now: We recently decided to take our children out of preschool for a season and have me homeschool them. This was not something we were excited to jump into, to be quite honest. I didn’t even want to tell my husband I felt like that’s what God was telling me to do – because, I didn’t want to do it. Preschool was my daily 2.5 hours of freedom from my 3-kid circus. That freedom was something I longed for and looked forward to since before they were even in school.  But, over the course of their fall semester, I knew the Holy Spirit was telling me to take them out and have them home with me. So, out of obedience, we did just that. And it’s been hard. Hard, because it wasn’t in my plans for the year. Hard, because I have no alone time. Hard, because I see myself constantly having to lean on God to help me get through my day, keep my temper, give more grace to my kids, practice patience, and give up my desires to pursue my purpose in this season. Hard is good, though, right? Because, it shows us how much we need Him.

And, you know what makes it less hard? When we finally gather some courage to let go of our fears, take that leap of faith, and trust in His promise. Trust that, because of my obedience to God, everything is going to be okay. Because, He is good, His plans are better than mine, and He is molding me into something greater, because I’ve given Him my heart. All I need to do is continue to seek His presence in everything I do, big and small, and He will continue to be faithful.

Below are some of my favorite quotes from Lara:

• “When you are down to nothing, God is up to something” – p.67
• “When it comes to our faith, we must choose trust over feelings.” – p.70
• “You will learn more from your failures than you will from any of your successes.” – p.86
• “God doesn’t care about the mistakes you’ve made in the past. He wants your heart.” – p.93
• “Focus on what matters and forget the rest.” – p.99

Will you join me in the forums today to talk more about Part 2 of Make it Happen? Here’s what I’d love to talk more about:

• What leaps of faith are you considering right now? Refer to p.88
• What needs thoughtful unraveling in your life? Refer to p.98
• What can you let go of in your life to make time for what really matters? Refer to p.99

You can purchase Make It Happen by Lara Casey here. To join in on the discussion in the forums, you’ll need to join the Influence Network! What are you waiting for? Ten dollars a month gets you our monthly member download, one free class per month, access to our forums + community groups, a discount to our yearly conference, and these amazing occasional free books!

Join me over on the forums today!

In this episode, Jacey talks with Jessica Turner of The Mom Creative about her newly released book, The Fringe Hours: Making Time For You. They talk about escaping the pressure of “doing it all,” letting go of guilt and comparison, how to use small pockets of time for doing what you love, and how self care varies in different seasons.

Listen to the episode using the player below, in iTunes, or with you favorite podcast app. If you’re enjoying our show, please rate and review it in iTunes. Thanks, friends!

In this episode, you’ll hear:

– what “fringe hours” are, and how to find yours.

– why it’s important (and not self indulgent!) to take time for yourself.

– how to overcome obstacles that many women face when it comes to self care

– where most of the pressure to do more comes from

– why The Fringe Hours is not a book about doing more, but about being more.

Connect with Jessica on her blog, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest

Jacey is your host for this episode, and you can connect with her on Instagram, Twitter, or her blog.

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Hey, y’all! Erin Carroll here! I’m so excited to kick off the discussion of the Influence Network book club for Make it Happen by Lara Casey. This book has touched my heart and with every single word I read, I am spurred on to dig deep, do some hard heart work, and lean in to what matters most.

I am going to be over on the Make It Happen forum today so we can all discuss Part 1: Surrender Your Fear together.

Some of my personal thoughts and notes are listed here and I’ll be diving more into that in the forums. The image below is like a brain dump of some of what I’ve been sorting through as I’ve been reading Make It Happen. I’m excited about what God is teaching me and want to discuss that with all of you that are reading along with us.

Part 1 was really good for me. Sometimes it’s hard for me to really put words to what my fears are, but when I really think about it, the fear is loss of control. I fear success because I fear that I’ll be trapped in an endless cycle of over-commitment and time away from my family. And that my time will be beyond my control. And loss of control is equal to failure for me.

But Lara’s words rang true for me when she said that God is in control so I don’t have to be.

Will you join me in the forums today to talk more about this first section? Specifically, I’d love to talk more about the following…

Chasing perfect makes me believe that ____________. 

I am afraid of __________ because of ___________. 

I am scared of losing __________ if fear becomes reality.

What is God saying to you about your next step in creating a life of purpose? 

Just a few reminders… You can purchase Make It Happen by Lara Casey here. To join in on the discussion in the forums, you’ll need to join the Influence Network! What are you waiting for? Ten dollars a month gets you our monthly member download, one free class per month, access to our forums + community groups, a discount to our yearly conference, and these amazing occasional free books!

Join me over on the forums today!