Episode 8 – Why I'm Bringing This Back (In a New Form)

After a season away, Mom Is Ministry is back — but not in the way you might expect.

In this relaunch episode, I get honest about why the video side of the show became more discouraging than intentional, and why I made the decision to bring Mom Is Ministry back as an audio-only, weekly podcast instead. This is a conversation about simplifying without quitting, letting go of a "should" to make room for what's actually sustainable, and trusting that fewer moving parts doesn't mean a smaller calling.

In this episode: – Why the show paused, and what changed – The decision behind going podcast-only, every Sunday night – What's ahead this season: solo teaching episodes now, with guest interviews from other Christian moms starting in a few weeks – An encouragement for the mom listening who's carrying too much right now

Scripture referenced: Ecclesiastes 3:1

Connect with Mom Is Ministry: Instagram: @MOMisMinistry

Email list: substack.com/@momisministry

If this episode encouraged you, a rating or review helps another mom find the show — thank you for listening, and for walking through this new season with us.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey mama, welcome to Mom is Ministry, the podcast where motherhood meets calling. I'm Mercedes, and every week we talk real life, real faith, and what it means to raise kids while following Jesus. Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

All right, I want to get right into it. Full-blown transparency. So last time I sat down to record, I almost didn't. Well, the time before that, obviously I actually didn't. Which is oddly enough, a bit of why we're here today. Um I want to have an honest conversation on why I almost didn't come back to this, but also the reason why I have and how I needed to simplify things. Um, so pretty much I'm in a new season, but it's not a new mission. I just had to pause, but now I'm back and a little different. So I want to get a little bit more. If you are new here, I welcome you. Thank you for taking the time to join and also let you know this is the first episode of the relaunch. I I guess I can call it that. But it's not the new first episode overall. So please go back and catch up on the previous episode so you can get to know me a little bit better and what mom is ministry is all about. Um, but so that you know a little bit, mom is ministry is my way of giving encouragement to other moms out there and a bit of discipleship for myself as well. I like to emphasize that, you know, motherhood is our ministry. It is definitely a calling that God gives us. But motherhood is not just about surviving, it's not just roughening out and getting through it, it's about living in a calling that God has given you and learn to not only appreciate it, but find the beauty in it and the ups and downs and all that comes with it. You can find the beauty and find and see where God is really with you every step of the way. So that's what we are here for. So as you all know, I started the podcast and the YouTube and all the things, and honestly, it just became too much. Well, the video portion of it at least. It was a lot for me. It was the setup, it was the recording, the finding the finding the time to be able to adequately adequately record the editing, the trying to make everything look right, just to bring it all together, it honestly felt way too performative for me. It just was not my heart in it and my what I had to say and that part of it was definitely from the heart, but just the whole putting it together in that aspect, it just felt way too performative. And for me, it felt like what was set out to be um ministry, it felt like content creation. And that is absolutely not what I wanted at all. That is not the heart of this, that is not what I set out to do, and that is not part of what God told me to do. So, and that's part of it. Like, you know, God told me to do one thing, and I did it not the way he told me to do, but neither here or there. So I just had to sit down, honestly, and have a little bit of conversation with myself and to with Holy Spirit, obviously, and just talk a little bit through it. And I prayed and I was just thinking, you know, this is something that's still on my heart. I feel like I'm not in alignment by no longer doing this. So what is it that I need to do? And then I had to ask the question to myself, like, if nobody ever saw my face again, would I still want to do this? Would I still want to encourage moms? Would I still want to give my outlook on it, give the encouragement that I have, the insight that I might have, and also get it from other moms? And the answer was, of course. Of course I also want to do it. That's that's what I set out to do. So that's when I just knew that the message, the message of itself mattered more than the medium. You know, like what has to be said here and what has to be done here, it matters more than it looking good, than it's appearing some sort of way. So I came back with this first episode here because I just wanted to be honest instead of just quietly, quietly disappearing like I kind of did, and then just reappearing like nothing never happened. Because I know that it doesn't just happen to me. I know there are plenty of you out there who may be in a season where you're deciding of what you should also let go of. You're deciding what is too much, what are you set to carry, and what are you not set to carry? So that brought me to the decision that I made. So I made a decision to be audio only, basically. Um still going to be the same podcast, but it's just going to be in the podcast only, no video, just me and a mic. That's it. That's all I'm going to do, keeping it simple, keeping it sustainable. So this gives me an opportunity to record more freely and more frequently, you know. Um, like right now, I'm literally, I'm literally in bed, and my baby girl is in bed next to me, snoring a little bit. But I am in bed right now recording this episode, and it's what works, you know, it it what works for me and what works for a lot of people. And that's why I just feel like I am so much more aligned now, and I'm so excited about doing this more so than I was before. Because honestly, when I first started, I dreaded recording those episodes. I dreaded every single one. I just felt something on me. Like I just, it was a this, not, I don't want to say it was the same because I really wanted to do it. Like what I was saying and what I was, my message I was getting out there, I felt like it was something that I really wanted to do. But just the recording the video part of it, oh brother, I just did not like it. I did not like it. Cause it just wasn't me. It didn't feel authentic to me, you know? And not saying that I'll never do a video or anything like that or be on video or anything like that. I'm not against that, but just um on a consistent basis, that just what that's not what I was meant to do, I don't believe. I just I just honestly truly believe that. And now it's even sitting here getting through this episode, I feel like I am just much more aligned with what God wants me to do and what my mission should have been in the first place, to be honest. So um, yeah, that's a little bit about that. I'm just going to be podcast only, um, where I'll be recording more frequently, and then I'm going to be released releasing episodes every week. So, like I said, being audio only gives me the freedom to record more freely. So I will be able to be consistent and releasing new episodes, and I'm going to do that on Sunday nights. So it could be your Sunday window or your morning get up, but I will be there regardless every Sunday nights when I'm releasing episodes on all platforms that I am on. And I will still be giving interviews with other great moms who stories that we all love to hear and who have some great, great insight on things. I will still be doing that and give their so I would hear their stories on their motherhood and their faith journey and all of those things. But in the meantime, you'll just have me for a little bit. Um, I want to get reacquainted and you know, get my voice back out there and just discuss some things one-on-one with me and you guys and just assess some things directly and just get um get back out there and just continue on. Pick up where I left off. You know, I know I jokingly call this a relaunch, but it's not a relaunch really. It's just picking up where I dropped off before and continuing on the mission that I was given. So I just want to keep things simple and sustainable. That is the that's the word of the day, sustainable is I believe is keep simple and sustainable. So here's what's stand the exact same though. Um basically it's going to be the same mission, the same heart for the show, my same commitment to being honest and to be as authentic as possible and to get my true heart in everything I do. Um, because like I said before a long time ago, is that I don't like just throwing episodes together. I like to do topics that I'm led to do. Um I like to pray around it and also just figure out what's on my heart for that time to go ahead and to release to everybody else and things that I think are relatable that other moms can connect with. So I'm going to continue to do that. But also, like I said, with the audio-only portion, it gives me the freedom to be able to record a lot more and sometimes even batch episodes that I can get them out there to you guys. So the only thing that's going to be different is that it's going to be on Sunday nights and I'll be in your ears, and there will be no camera in between us. So I'd just rather faithfully create one simple episode every week. Just be consistent and faithful in doing that each and every week than constantly trying to chase something that it simply wasn't working and just didn't feel aligned with what I wanted to do. So, you know, seasons change. And speaking of seasons changing brought me to Ecclesiastes 3 and 1, where the Bible says, for everything, there is a season. And for everything, there certainly is a season. And I think the pause was necessary a little bit because life lifed a little bit. And um that time did give me more clarity, a little more wisdom as well on things, and I'm feeling I'm feeling more in the groove with doing this. And, you know, obedience sometimes looks different. You know, I was doing what I felt God told me to do, but not necessarily how. You know, it wasn't working because I overcomplicated what the mission was. You know, I made it hard. He told me to, God told me that I needed to get my voice out there to mothers, that motherhood was my calling and my ministry, and that it is for so many others, and that I needed to get my voice out there to relate, to give encouragement, and to receive encouragement and create a little bit of a community for mothers who are going on their faith journey as well, and also in their and feel that their motherhood is their calling. And I made it complicated. I made it complicated. I, I, I, it was not working because I wasn't working it right. That's exactly what it was. So I had to kind of sit back and, you know, it's kind of I had to give myself a little bit of encouragement, honestly, um, and realize that simplifying things doesn't mean you failed. You know, being faithful is simply just showing up, doing what you're supposed to do, being who God told you to be. That's remaining faithful. So, you know, we have to always remember that God wants us to be faithful and obedient, but he does not want us to impress people. That is not what he calls us to do. He does not call us to impress people or to do what we think we should do or do what we feel looks good or is on trend. That's not what he calls us to do. So, you know, as we wrap up a little bit, um, I like to leave with something to think about. So I know, like I said, people out there relate to this because, you know, what are some things that you're carrying that God never told you to carry? Or what are expectations that you could lay down that he did not put on you as well? And what would your faithfulness look like if it was more simple? That's that's one right there because I have simplified a lot of things in my life and it's made me being faithful so much easier. So if guy's asking you to simplify something right now, you know, it could be something in your schedule, a commitment that you didn't need to commit to, an expectation that you've put on yourself that no one else did. I don't want you to feel like it's a failure. I want you to think that it might be God's wisdom coming upon you and asking you to maybe just have a little bit of a shift, you know? So over the next few weeks, we're gonna talk about a few different things. We're gonna talk about who you are as a mom and who you are also underneath the title of mom. What to do with mom guilt, which we all go through and we've talked about that before, but we're gonna talk about a little bit more and with a little different outlook on it as well. And then actually how to make devotion time with your kids, which is something I'm really kind of excited about because I have, I think I have finally, finally got a hold on my devotion time. It's not perfect by any means, but it has been consistent. And ever since I have been intentional about that, that has really made a shift as well for me. Just making sure that I have, you know, get my devotional time in and that my daughter gets her devotional time in. It's kind of a group effort. So we'll get into that a little bit as well. I'll tell you a little bit more about it. And then also starting in a few weeks, I will be speaking with other Christian moms who will be telling their faith stories, their journeys in the motherhood. And I am very, very, very excited to get back into that because we had some great, great conversations. So, as you all know, I always like to end with a little bit of prayer on every episode. So let's pray. Father God, I pray that whoever needs to hear this finds just a little bit of encouragement in this today. Lord, I pray that every single mom listening finds the courage to let go of whatever God did not ask them to carry. May they find wisdom in going forward in their true mission, and may they be able to steward their calling well and also to wait well and to rest in what you have for them. I pray peace and protection over everyone until we meet again. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen. So, if this encouraged you in any way, I want you to hit that follow button, please, so that next Sunday's episode is there waiting for you. No searching or anything. I'm gonna pop up in your podcast. And also don't forget to follow on Instagram and Facebook and now Substack. I will release and I will be releasing Substacks each and every week, maybe a little bit out more often than uh once a week, but they're all under the same tag, Mama's ministry, and all that information will be in the episode. So until then, I pray that you remain encouraged and remember that this calling you're living out in the ordinary, and it can be exhausting, but it is really sacred, and it is really your ministry. Until next time, talk to you soon.