Jaz Unplugged - Choosing Obedience.. Even When It’s Scary

This week looks a little different — Jaz is taking the mic solo for a short, heart-level bonus episode. Between birthday celebrations, traveling out of state, and a full family schedule, life has been busy. But instead of disappearing for the week, Jaz felt God nudging her to show up in a quieter, simpler way… and to talk about what obedience really looks like in seasons where life is full.

In this mini episode, she shares how the Lord has been stretching her through dance, creativity, and everyday choices — and how surrender has quietly become her mantra. This isn’t about perfection, hustle, or “getting it right.” It’s about the courage to lean into what God asks of you, even when it doesn’t look big, loud, or impressive.

Because sometimes obedience looks like small steps, simple yeses, and trusting that God can work with whatever you offer Him — even on your busiest weeks.

If you’re in a season where life feels full, chaotic, or pulled in every direction… this one’s for you. 

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Transcript

Speaker: 0:03

Welcome back. This is who led US adults. And I'm here solo because it has been a week and I am having a little mini episode here because I wanna bring you along and just share with you some things that have been changing for me lately. This past week has been filled with travel. It's been filled with birthday celebrations and getting ready for all of those things and caring for a family of five and navigating this life as a family of five. So even though it's been a lot. I still have chosen to show up. I've still chosen to be obedient to God, and like I said, I wanna share what that has looked like because you might be in a season where you feel like you're being stretched too thin, so here I am showing up imperfectly. I am kind of spitballing a lot of this, but just sharing what I feel that God has put on my heart lately and how that can. Help you honestly, we know that adult life is so full. If you're in your thirties, I mean really any age, right? But. I'm in my thirties, so I'm talking to y'all In your thirties. Thirties with children. Adult life is chaotic, hectic, and if you don't have a good system in place, you can really feel like life is just running you over. You can wake up and you already feel like you're behind. I give it to the people who have very strict habits and they are disciplined. Because that is an area that I have to really work at, and I am not naturally good at having discipline, but yet I really thrive when I do discipline myself when it comes to waking up or having a set routine, when I don't have those things. Like I said, life is just running me over and I feel a lot more irritable and I feel overwhelmed and overstimulated. But when I start to. Develop routines and systems and when I know what to expect each day, things get a lot easier. And when life is full, how do you show up for yourself? How can you make sure that you are being intentional and also listening to what God is telling you to do? How can you fit in time with God? Because, you know, you're waking up, you're, you're taking your kids to school, you are planning meals, you're cleaning, and if you have a job, I'm very fortunate that I'm able to stay home with my kids now, but at one time I was working full-time. So when you have all of these things, plus you have an external job that you're going to. How are you able to navigate every single thing? Make time for your spouse in the evenings. Spend time as a family together. Make sure the house isn't, you know, completely look like a, a bomb. Went off and getting enough hours of sleep, working out, eating healthy meals, balanced meals, making sure that you're picky eaters are actually eating. Not having a complete meltdown because of another temper tantrum over something that you're like, what is happening? Why are you mad about the cup being the wrong color? Right? Um, all of these things that are going on in our day-to-day life and making sure that your prayer life is still there and that you're still intentional with that. One thing that I have noticed though, is that as long as I'm moving, God keeps meeting me there. He keeps meeting me in motion, so I'm gonna take it back very quickly to when I was pregnant with my third and it, my pregnancies are rough, very sick, and just I. I don't like not feeling like myself, and I'm just very miserable. The way that I got through it really was humor and just being honest with people. Like, I'm not having a good time with this pregnancy at all. Like, don't love being pregnant. Love the end result. 20 out of 10 would recommend, but the process of going through pregnancy is just not for me, and that's not everybody's story, but that's a different conversation for another time. I took that as an opportunity to rest and to really, just not overdo it. My body was doing a lot and I had to be okay with not, you know, being this go-getter, like on top of everything, you know, it was okay if so, things fell by the wayside. My husband really stepped up in those moments too. Pick up where I was, I guess, quote unquote slacking. Um, but again, I was growing a human, so I was giving myself a lot of grace there. And I had amazing husband who understood that as well. I knew what was coming and I knew I needed to prioritize nutrition and I needed to prioritize rest, and I didn't have to jump back into my pre-pregnancy lifestyle immediately and I could ease back into it. And I really, really slowed down. And when I tell you I had one, the, not one of the, literally of all three of my children in postpartum experiences, that was the best postpartum experience that I had. And I think a lot of that had to do with just being more intentional about that rest and knowing that I could come back to that movement and that productivity and that action down the line. And as I started to do that, God met me in that rest. But he also showed up when I started to take action. And when I started to, um, get back into dancing, into dance fitness, into fitness in general, working out, going to the gym. The creativity started to ignite and every single week, week after week, as I was showing up, slowly it, I got another idea and I got another idea, and I just started taking those ideas and acting on them again slowly, but still doing. And even though I didn't just jump right into the deep end, which I, sometimes you have to, but for me, in that season I didn't. And over the last. Well, my daughter is eight months now. Over the last eight months, I've just taken one foot in front of the other. Right now my life looks completely different. My key mantra over the last handful of months has been surrender, because that is what I have fully done, and I'm surrendering to God's will for my life to his plan, to his guidance and his control, and I'm letting go. Of the control and the expectations that I have for myself. And I am just being obedient. And when I tell you the freedom that comes along with that has been life changing. I, I'm not kidding. Let me take it back to dance. If you know me, you know that I love to dance, and if you don't know me now, you know I love dancing. I never danced formally as a child and growing up, I didn't start dancing until I was 18 years old. That's when I took my first dance class, and then after that, from 18 to now, I'm 33 years old. It's really just been on and off. So I took my first dance class with a friend of mine who is an amazing dancer, still is an amazing dancer, has her own dance studio. She taught me a routine and it was so much fun and I felt like, oh, I'm living out my childhood dream of dancing. Right? And I went through college, never did anything with it. Uh, didn't really take a class again until I graduated college. I believe it was just a. Uh, hip hop fitness class. I think it was Latin heat that I took and kind of like Zumba, and it really just started to spark something in me, this dance fitness style. Then right before I found out I was pregnant with my first, I took a, an adult ballet class. I was 23 years old and I took an adult ballet class and I just had the time of my life and then over the next handful of years I was taking classes here and there. Um, nothing crazy, but really I was focused in that dance fitness space. So I took dance fitness, just, you know, for a couple of years straight and had so much fun doing it. Some people recommended that I teach, but again, I was just afraid, just like I was when I was a little girl. When my mom asked me if I wanted to take dance classes, I was afraid and I said, no, I don't want to. You know, and same thing with teaching. When people were like, you would be a good dance fitness instructor, I was like, uh, I'm not sure. You know, I just like coming and I put that off for years. So now fast forward to when I'm in my thirties and I decide to jump in. So over the last handful of years, like I have been really just jumping into the dance fitness space, teaching and just getting better and taking that leap and putting myself out there. It was scary. It was really, really scary. But I felt that nudge, like I could not shake this love and this fire and this passion that I have when I'm dancing and when I am lead, especially when I'm like in the class leading other people and helping them to feel just encouraged in movement, man, like that really lights up my soul. I really just had to step into what God was calling me to do and like I said, it was scary and I was unsure of my own ability, but I surrendered. And a few years ago, I actually had my Yes year. My Yes year was saying yes to things that scared me. And I went down to Cincinnati and took a choreography class.'cause choreography is not my forte. Um, and I, but I wanted to get better in that area, so I took a choreography class for a month. Every Saturday I went down and did that, and it was outta my comfort zone. And shortly after that I actually started teaching and I was, um, able to teach dance fitness for the first time. And I started doing that, and then I got pregnant unexpectedly. But such a blessing and it put things on hold. So I had to kind of take a step back. I did teach up until 37 weeks pregnant, and it was hard and I was exhausted and oh my gosh, like that was not my favorite thing ever. Honestly, that movement helped me so much during my postpartum. And then when I came back, I came back really stronger than ever. I felt so good fast forward to last weekend, we were traveling and I was able to see that there was a studio that I follow on Instagram and there's a choreographer who's a very well-known choreographer. That teaches down in the area that we were traveling to. So I signed up for her beginner hip hop class. And that stretched me. That was scary, intimidating. I, like I said, choreography is not my, like, I'm not great at picking up choreography, but I've done it before and I wanted to continue to push myself because the more you do something, the better you get at it. And I heard this said before that when you're afraid of something, if you face your fear, it'll disappear. You get better when you mess up and when you are bad at something for at first, eventually you get better. It's just like riding a bike, like nobody just gets on a bike and is great. It takes time, it takes practice. So same thing with choreography. I just had to give myself that grace and just go in and be willing to. My favorite word, surrender. Just surrender to the process. And I messed up and I feel like it was just one more layer in my dance journey. Going back and looking at how that one, yes, to dance, to doing something that I love but was so afraid to do has opened up so many doors, has been incredible. It opened up doors for me to launch main character cardio, which is my dance fitness brand. And I'm just. Scared and so excited at the same time to be stepping out and doing something for myself. Teaching fitness in general, teaching cardio fitness and being able to use that as a way to honor the Lord, just courage in general to try new things. Developing a healthier relationship with myself and my identity, knowing who I am and whose I am. Having bolder steps towards, Hey Sister, so if you follow me on social media, if you see me on Instagram or TikTok, you probably have seen me do some Hey sister, and some Scripture Sunday things. It's just my way of taking you on this journey of. My faith, opening up my Bible and learning and growing as a Christian, and then also providing encouragement for women and for mothers, and creating a space for that. So with all the things that I have going on right now, personally and how I'm showing up consistently, I wanna encourage you. I wanna encourage you that if there is something that God is stirring on your heart. Don't ignore that. Even if it doesn't make sense, take a step towards it. You're gonna be so surprised at how God moves in your life. So what does that look like for you? It could look like. Creating space for prayer, for worship, carving out time for you to journal, finding those small pockets of time for you to do that. When I'm doing my dishes, I have worship music playing. I found a lo-fi Christian channel on Apple music that I play every single morning. Um, I use that when I'm putting my baby down for her nap. That is her. I don't play lullabies. I play lo-fi Christian songs, which is basically like instrumentals at a very low and slow and peaceful, melodic tune. I have a morning worship playlist, so every single morning I hit play and that's what I listen to every single day. Time for reading. I read things that feed my soul and I make sure that it's not my phone. I have struggled with this so much where the first thing that I grab is my phone and I'm just like the dopamine spikes first thing. As soon as you wake up, like that's not healthy. It is not good for us. It is not a good way to start the day at all. And so I have been able to switch that. By listening to music or just picking up a book. Like my routine now is, go make my coffee, make my kids breakfast, and then I will read a book while they're eating and it just sets the tone. Another thing that has helped me so much before I even stepped foot out of my bed every single day, I have been saying this little prayer, God get into my head before I do. And when I say that prayer, like at first it, I didn't feel like any there was any difference and now everything has changed. I am so much more patient. So much more patient with my kids, with my husband. Just more grateful. I have such a better outlook with people in general because let's be real, like when you go outside and you start interacting with the real world, you can be like, people are crazy. Like what? Like what is wrong with you? Common sense is not so common, right? And God did not evenly distribute that. But I have so much grace for people when I'm just asking God to get into my head. How can I look at this life more like Christ? That's my goal every single day. Another way that you can show up for yourself is to let obedience lead and not fear. So when you are feeling that stir like you wanna do something, but you feel fear kicking in, be obedient. Because I trust me, God is stirring that in you for a reason. So if you were just obedient to that man, you are gonna feel a thousand times better that you acted on that obedience. Take imperfect steps. Looking at all of these episodes that we have recorded so far, looking at dance fitness over the years and launching, you know, my main character, cardio, just everything that we have done so far. Look at this mini episode right now, like it's not perfect. There are so many things that I will do that I want to do better and that will come, but just showing up. Just getting something out there because you're not gonna learn by overanalyzing. You only learn by doing. Here's another big one, saying no with peace. No is a complete sentence. And you don't have to do something just because you're like, ah, I think that this is gonna. Make them happy even if it puts stress on you. No, I can't help you with that. No, I don't want to do that. No is a complete sentence and there's really not a reason that has to accompany no. Another point choosing slow growth over burnout Like you guys have seen in previous episodes, if you've watched'em, Ian and I spent some years in network marketing MLMs, and we were, we were hust. We were, you know, just nose to the ground, like, let's get it, we're going to be wealthy and retired and just like traveling the world, like we were so determined in our hustle and grind harder era. And what I've realized recently when I have really submitted and just given and surrendered to God and being obedient to what he wants. Is that this is a marathon. This is my life. Like I have no desire to stop working. Um, and whatever that work looks like, I'm leaving that up to God. And I'm just trusting him that when he gives me these bouts of creativity that. I will act on that and more will come and it'll be fruitful because I, he's trusting me, uh, with that responsibility. And I'm okay with the slow growth and learning and growing over time.'cause I think that's, that's kind of the point of this life. Right. And lastly, allowing your passions to evolve with motherhood. Not letting them die with it. When you become a mom, a lot of times you feel like you're just mom. And being mom is an amazing title. Like I tell my kids all the time, I love being your mom. What a blessing. What an honor. But I was also somebody before I became a mom, and I'm still somebody now. It has been a process learning about who she is, the things that she enjoys, and the passions that don't need to get put on the back burner, because being a mom doesn't put your dreams on hold. I'm bringing my kids along with me. I want them to see that I'm still going. I want them to see me teaching dance classes and starting a brand and doing things that scare me and get me outta my comfort zone. I want them to see that I wanna lead and show them that it's okay to do hard things. It's okay to do things that scare you, and let's be real. When it comes to showing up for yourself, people really get this confused. They think that showing up for yourself means bubble baths and solo dates, but sometimes it means discipline, quiet obedience. Or doing the thing that God told you to do, even when you're tired. This is part of why I feel called to create more content for women. Faith, identity, purpose, surrender, and the messy in between. Hey, sister has been growing in my heart This conversation is the heartbeat to it. There's gonna be more on that soon. if God is nudging you towards something, trust that nudge. Showing up for yourself isn't selfish. Stewardship. Your yes does not need to be big. It just needs to be obedient. I was so scared to say yes, and it was quiet and timid, but I'm so happy that I did. You don't have to have it all together to obey your life. Doesn't have to be perfectly aesthetic to obey. Sometimes surrender is simply doing the next right thing. One small, yes at a time. all right, so if this mini episode encouraged you, do me a favor. Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe. And leave a review. That would be really helpful because it helps more women to be able to find conversations like this and feel less alone. So thanks for listening, and tune in to Who Let Us Adult every Sunday. New episodes drop on YouTube, apple Podcasts and Spotify. So wherever you're listening. Thank you from your internet besties. Your other bestie is not here, but I am here. So from your internet bestie. Oh, this is so millennial. I, if you're listening to this, I'm doing the peace sign right now. Bye.