Episode 18: Endurance: (In the Middle)-“The Grit Behind the Glory”

In this episode we discuss how we Endurance keeps us going and how we are: Built for the Middle! We can do hard things! Even if it requires us to slow our roll just a little! 

Change Chasers Challenge: (Write Down) “I am not giving up. I was made for this. God is with me, and I will run with endurance.”

#LetsGo #ChasingChange #Endurance #Grit #GotThis #Enough #Heart #Hope 

Faith in Action // Change in Motion

Transcript

0:12

Well, hey, hey, hey. Welcome back. Change Chasers. I am excited to be back with you guys for another episode. Obviously, as you know, we are all about chasing change on here. We are running after growth, we're running after purpose and just seeking to grow as we go. Right? And so we got another episode coming in hot just with helping us with the whole idea. My thoughts on this one with this topic of talking about endurance and the title of this episode, as you've probably read, was. The grit behind the glory. And while I've landed on that is just because I think that y'all, it gets exciting when we think about starting something new, right? And then it's also super mega awesome when we accomplish something new. Uh, we know that transformation and change and growth and all of the things, the to-do list, it takes time, right? And so I thought it would be a pretty awesome idea to just kind of just. Hold up just a second and man, just encourage you guys with talking about endurance and so thinking about what that looks like. And so we're gonna jump in and as we do, I'm still Mandy and I'm still having a blast trying to host this thing and hopefully bringing some joy to your ears, your heart, your mind, every time that you are so gracious to gift me with your time with tuning in, I've. Had fun learning how to do this whole process. And so if you're new and you've not been listening, then hey, welcome to the Change Tasters podcast. And if you have been coming in strong now for all of these episodes, then yo, thank you so much. I know that your yes to this has to be a no to something else, and so I hope that your yes will pay off as we talk about with today's episode. Again, like I was saying, endurance the GR behind the glory. Y'all, let's go ahead and be honest. Starting is exciting, right? I've kind of already alluded to that, but I think that starting something, we get like that, oh, this is gonna be awesome. Right? Who, how many hikers are in the house? Are you listening and you like to hike when you're like, okay, I'm gonna do a six mile hike today. And that first mile, it's super great. Mile three. Yeah, you're getting a little bit winded. Mile four. After you've saw the waterfall that you hoed in for, right? Then it's like, hmm, okay, well now what? Right. Well, if we keep walking the other two miles, then we gotta walk six miles back and so that turns into 12 miles. Right? And so just the whole idea, it's always more enjoyable to start something, and I think it's also really awesome and enjoyable and really rewarding when we finish something. But let's talk about the middle. Gimme an M, an I, A-D-D-L-E, right? The middle y'all. The grind. That's where most people will give up. But I'm gonna go ahead and say, not us, right? Because we're change chasers y'all. We are trying to do the next thing, right? Growing as we're going mentality. And so I wanna encourage you with embracing the mindset that I have is just, hey, even when the. The tough stuff come and it's the monotony and it's like, oh man. This is not necessarily like the fun part of the whatever, right? The whatever that your goal that you're trying to accomplish is that y'all, we can embrace the mindset that we are built for the middle. I think we're also built and made for more, but if we can embrace that mindset that we. We're built for the middle. And so thinking about that, I mean, that's development, right? That's how Endurance really does come along and help us to win the race, so to speak. I think that that's why it matters more than motivation when it comes to accomplishing our goals. So with that said, let's jump into Hot take number one, thinking about what exactly is endurance. Well, I think that endurance isn't about being the fastest. It's about being faithful day after day. It's choosing consistency over hype. It's also choosing obedience over comfort and the long term over the instant. Whether your goal might be to, I don't know. Y'all mean some of us listening, we wanna lose weight. Maybe some of you are wanting to write a book. Maybe you're just trying to get through nursing school or any kind of school. Any kind of college, right? You're just wanting to get that degree and get finished so that way you can get that great good paying job, right? Or maybe you're in the season of life where you're really doing all the hard work to try to rebuild after a painful divorce breakup, someone passing away like whatever it is that you're trying to rebuild after a painful season. I truly believe that endurance is the bridge between where you are and where you are going. I love the verse from Hebrews chapter 12, verse 11 that says, let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Y'all. God has set a race before us. God has set a race before you specifically, and I'm saying it like that because. I believe that you have your own race, so to speak, to run. We get to do things for the kingdom, right? It's not our sisters, it's not our brothers. It's not that person that you keep comparing yourself to on Instagram. It's yours, y'all. And I say this with love. I'm even telling myself all of these same things that I'm speaking into this microphone as well, that hopefully. Is a gift to your ears as you listen with nothing but love and motivation of thinking about that God has called us to run our race. So God has called you to run your race, so to speak, right? With endurance. But hear this with endurance, not perfection. Jumping into hot. Take number two, why endurance is hard, y'all, let's just be real for just a second. Endurance is hard. It's not always fun either, is it? So just thinking about some seasons last way longer than we want them to. And so thinking about whenever the hustle and the bustle and all of the stuff, all of the demands of life, man, it can be difficult, right. And so just going through and thinking about how do we keep on keeping on, how do we maintain endurance? And so I think that it's, it is actually more than a plan. I think that endurance requires heart. It requires an attitude of gratitude to say, Hey, I get to do this. I'm gonna get up, tighten my bootstraps, tennis shoes, whatever, and I'm gonna go and do this thing. Fill in the blank, whatever your thing is. And so just the encouragement of thinking about with you guys so that you know you're not alone. I think that there, there's multiple reasons, but I'm gonna talk about three reasons why I feel like maybe we will struggle some with endurance. Is that reason number one, y'all, we want faster results, don't we? We want results faster than growth happens. Reality though, change takes time. You don't get the fruit the same day that you plant the seed, right? Anybody out there gardening right now? And you know it takes time. You gotta plant the seed, you gotta cover it, you gotta fertilize, you gotta do all the things. You gotta make sure it gets watered and so then the fruit will grow. Or the vegetable or the whatever, right? I'm sure you're picking up what I'm putting down. Change takes time. Growth takes time. Point number two, we get tired, y'all. We get tired and we feel alone. That's why we struggle with endurance. Reality of it is, is that most people don't talk about the middle, right? All of the middle and all of that. I mean, again, like I said, I. The middle of our journey is not always easy, and so we will look at someone, the excitement from the beginning, and then also we see maybe the end result of the success. But y'all, it's that monotonous middle, and so most people don't talk about the middle of their journey, only the put four and the after. And so I think that that can make us feel tired. That can make us feel alone. And then number three with thinking about why do we struggle with endurance, is we get distracted and we get discouraged. I mean, I don't know about y'all, but some days I feel like just quitting. I mean, it's just like giving up. And you know, here lately, I'm like, if I could just sell my house and find something and be debt free and not have all this pressure, I mean, right. I mean, does anybody else ever go there and you just start thinking about. How can I alleviate some stress in my life? Because I get discouraged, right? I get a little overwhelmed sometimes. I mean, that's just real talk. I think that we all do. I think there's times that we can all feel like we're just like, Hmm, I'm not seeing a lot of progress, so I'm ready. I'm not just wanna be like, Hmm, lemme go ahead and just kind of tap out. Right. But we know that endurance is key. And so, that's part of why I'm doing this episode for us is, is that endurance when it steps in and it says Y'all, we just gotta keep going anyway. Right? So that's the encouragement to all of us, whatever it is that you're getting distracted by. Maybe you're getting discouraged, maybe you're feeling overwhelmed, maybe you're also like me and thinking, Hmm, gosh, if I could just be debt free, I feel like I could do so much more. For the kingdom and I could breathe better and sleep better. I mean, you know, all the things that, you know, we just get all caught up in thinking about. But in real talk, focusing on the encouragement of keeping you enduring. y'all we gotta keep going, right? We get to not a got to actually, I will say, but endurance, I think whispers what motivation never will. So sweet friends, even if it's slow. It's still progress. So enjoy the journey of, hey, you're still making progress, and whatever it is that you are living your life in order to try to accomplish. Like why are you listening to an episode about chasing change, right? Another one about the grip behind the glory and endurance and all of that. So hopefully you're gonna be encouraged with knowing that even if it's slow. It's still progress. Jumping in on hot take number three. I wanted to bring up some endurance in the Bible. There's so many different stories in scripture. I mean, y'all, the Bible is so full of so many endurance stories that had breakthroughs and so it's pretty awesome. But I'm just gonna settle on just kind of a few thinking about Joseph. Y'all, Joseph waited over a decade. But he went from pit to the palace, right? We know that Moses endeared 40 years in the wilderness before leading God's people out, man, 40 years. Whoa. Gosh, that's a long time. Right? And then we also know that our sweet Jesus endeared the cross because of the joy that was set before him. Endurance y'all in the kingdom isn't about grinding harder. It's about trusting deeper. And I say all this to you guys'cause this is where I'm at. Just in my own story of just seeking to trust the Lord more instead of grinding and going and doing and running my body in the ground and just being 90 to nothing all the time. I'm learning that I cannot continue to be all things for all people. And so maybe you need to hear that as well. Give yourself a little bit of grace and know that. Sometimes our best yes, is a no, and just standing firm on that. We're going to trust, deeper trust in Father God. I like how it says in Romans chapter four, verses three and four, from the NLT it says, we can rejoice to when we run into problems and trials for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character. So sweet friend. If maybe you're facing resistance, maybe you're feeling like there's so much pressure, the weight of the world is on your shoulder, so to speak. Or maybe you've just gotten a little off track, maybe you feel a little lackadaisical, or maybe you're just like, mm. You know, it's kinda like that cartoon character. Mm. Which way do I go, George? You know, just giving yourself a little bit of grace. Having the mindset of thinking that maybe you're not necessarily off track. Maybe you're just giving yourself time to breathe, and you know what? Maybe you're even getting stronger. That's a positive way to look at it, don't you think? All right, hitting you now with hot take number four, some practical ways to build endurance. And so thinking about how can we actually build this thing called endurance? And so with practicality. I've got four ideas that I think that have helped me and so I'm gonna share it with you. Just maybe four little things that'll help you to continue to be a change chaser. And so this is gonna kind of coincide with our C3 time hour change chaser challenge. So number one, micro goals. So with that, that's something that micro anything has became a hot word. I feel like they've got like. Little micro, this and that and all of the things, micro houses, and you'll just, if you kind of look it up a little bit, you'll kind of see it's trending right now on social media. But thinking about micro goals and why this, why I put this on here is'cause we need to break big goals down. So that then that way if we break'em down, that's how it stands. A chance to be a daily win. So I wanna encourage you find out what are your daily wins instead of getting so overwhelmed because you're trying to accomplish all of these big, long, awesome goals. I'm sure. Your momentum might not always stay on track if you are always trying to get to that very end result, so whatever your micro goals are, maybe you start micro goals on Monday. That's something that I do. I'll kind of work towards that on Sunday night. I'll be looking ahead for the week and I'm like, what are my Monday micro goals? So for you, whatever they are, then I would love to encourage you. Just being intentional about doing the little things like those small little goals, so that way it can produce daily wins. Number two, accountability. So with accountability, we've had this before on a change chaser challenge before. Tell a friend, right? Tell a friend, join a group. The reality of it is y'all, is that it's so much easier to chase change when we don't try to do it alone. Number three, rest with rhythm. Rest isn't quitting. Maybe you need to hear that. Rest is not quitting. It's refueling. So if you look at it that way, I think that's a good little positive twist. Given yourself permission to slow your role a little bit, you got micro goals instead of these big, huge, audacious, gotta get this done by this timeline, right? Thinking about resting with rhythm so that you can be refueled. Because the reality of it is, is y'all, we are, we're not good if we're not okay. And I've learned that from, I ran my body in the ground towards the end of 2024 and got pneumonia. It's the sickest I've ever been in my life, and it was a really tough time. And so now I'm just like, okay, I've gotta pivot a little bit and I cannot continue to do the same things that I've always done. Right. And I am giving myself permission as to what I'm telling you. Rest isn't laziness. And so sometimes you might just wanna stop and slow down and even think about, I'm gonna give you a visual. If you watch any type of road races with runners, y'all, a runner even slows down to hydrate, right? So they might be running 26 miles, but they'll still get something to drink. And so I'm gonna go ahead and say. Don't be afraid to pause when you need to. Maybe you need to rehydrate, so to speak, refuel so rest isn't laziness. And number four, I wanna encourage you to remember your why when it gets hard.'cause it will get hard. Unfortunately, some of us might even be in the middle of a, yeah. I need some reminders about how I can endure this, right? Reminding yourself though, why did you start? Why are you doing what you're doing, right? Why is this a goal? What is the end result that you seek and hope to be able to accomplish? And so speaking it out loud, praying over it, and giving yourself permission just to continue to allow yourself to be refueled, re-energized, and maybe even refocused on what it is that. You are looking ahead with excitement, with great expectation as a change chaser. Remember your why y'all. I think that endurance is fueled by vision. And so when you forget the vision, I do really think that it will hinder our fight a little bit, right? And so if we are wired as humans to do things for other people, maybe even more so than our own self. And so if that's you just continuing to think about. Whatever it is that you put out there into the world, how awesome and helpful that's gonna be. Even if it's for one person. And so just to encourage you with thinking on that is just to allow your endurance to be fueled. By your vision, like what is it that you see? What is it that you hope for? And then that way you can keep that vision in front of you and then that will help you to continue to make momentum. Even in the middle, right, the not so fun, the monotonous monotony, I guess I should say, of the middle. That way you don't stop and hot. Take number five. I wanna just kind of close out sweet friends in a different way than I normally do. I just really feel led just to continue to encourage you guys of knowing that even if you're not going as fast as you wanna go, maybe you're in a season of just not really feeling like, gosh, I'm not where I wanna be yet. I just wanna remind you though, you are still in the race. You're not disqualified. Even if you are tired, that's okay, right? Maybe you need to rest. Maybe you need to hear this. To have permission to just slow your roll. Take a little bit of time, regroup, right? And so just giving yourself the opportunity to hear these words of knowing that you are not forgotten. You're not forgotten because you've slowed down, or maybe you're doing what's best for you. I wanna encourage you in knowing that even if it's slow progress, hey sweet friend, it's still progress. And even if your progress is even just for you to stop and breathe a little bit and regroup and then recast your vision, how awesome is that? Then I wanna encourage you to do that. And so as I close out, I wanted to kind of share quickly with you guys that years ago I went to a women's retreat. It's a beautiful ministry. I'm actually a part of getting a serve at now, but every time a speaker would come in, they would come to the podium and anything that they would say that they intended for you to, a nugget that I guess I would say they wanted you to write down, they would say in their speech, this is a write down, so I'm going to say now. That this is a write down. I want you to just write this down. Put this wherever you're going to see it. Maybe it needs to be on a sticky note on your nightstand, or maybe it needs to be on your bathroom mirror or maybe just need to put a note in your phone. But I wanna encourage you as another part of the C3 time for this week, change chasers challenges to say, I am not giving up. I was made for this. God is with me. And I will run with endurance. Let's not give up y'all because we know that we are made for more. God is with us and we can and we will run with endurance. So whatever it is that you are in the middle of doing, whatever you're working on, whatever you're focused on accomplishing, I do sincerely hope that this episode encourages you to keep fighting the good fight and doing what you can as you keep persevering. In the middle, right in the M-I-D-D-L-E in the middle because y'all change, chasers are built for the middle. I truly believe that. And so my encouragement is that momentum will come. And so I just want you to continue to allow yourself to have some grace if you need to, whatever it is, like maybe like your little nugget that you're taking away from this episode, maybe you're gonna write that down. I just wanna encourage you of knowing that God sees you. He's proud of you. So am I. And that you got this. You can just keep on keeping on. So the way I wanna close out today is I just wanna pray a sweet prayer over you guys, just thinking about the importance of whatever it is that you're doing. We're, I think this is episode 18 now, and so just thinking about. The grip behind the glory and endurance of, guys, you, you, maybe you've started something new since you started listening to this, and so I just wanna pray a sweet prayer over you if you're not exactly where you wanna be, and maybe you're just still in the middle of seeking the Lord and growing, and also understand that there might be people listening that you don't have a personal relationship with the Lord. But I hope that you'll be so gracious to allow me just to pray over you. So with that said, let's pray. Please, Lord, I lift up every listener right now, especially the ones who feel tired, who feel stuck, or maybe even discouraged. I pray right now that you'll remind them that endurance isn't about being the strongest God. We know that it's about staying connected to you. I pray that you'll strengthen them for the middle. Fill them with faith for the finish. Father, God, you're so faithful and we're truly so grateful. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, well, I hope that wasn't. Too abrupt on that. Mix it up. Little button there with the drums. Sweet friends, that's it for today. I wanna say thanks for being a change chaser. Thanks for tuning in and listening. You are so gracious to give me with a gift of your time. I truly hope that this episode has reminded you that endurance isn't just about holding on. It's about becoming someone stronger, wiser, and more faithful in the process. So if this episode has spoken to you, then. I do ask, will you share it with a friend who is also in the grind or maybe even in. The middle and they need a little pick me up to remind them of that, Hey, they're not alone. And while you're sharing, if you'll go ahead and subscribe and leave a review, it'll help more people to be able to find this message and chase change alongside us. Until next time. Let's keep chasing change and living with purpose. You'll Bye sweet friends.