Ep. 61 | ... and you're building something

Maybe you're like me and you're building something.

In this episode I share my journey of  the things that I have been building, emphasizing the importance of being spirit-led, the cost of discipleship, and the need for commitment and accountability. We talk about the significance of prioritizing a relationship with God, assessing progress in personal growth, and the grace needed to navigate setbacks. I hope that you'll be encouraged to build with purpose and focus, with the goal of hearing 'well done, my good and faithful servant.'

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Transcript

You're listening to Maybe You're Like Me, the transparent musings of a God girl chasing after her purpose. Maybe You're Like Me is a podcast for dreamers and doers who take life's lessons and level up to look more like Christ. We'll connect through super relatable stories, growing pains, and aha moments that most of us share, just not always out loud. I'm your host, Alicia Watson, creative entrepreneur, playwright, author, wife, mother, daughter of the king, and so much more. And I can't help.

But to think that maybe you're like me.

Hey, beautiful people. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Maybe You're Like Me with Alicia Watson. It's me, Alicia Watson. And I am glad to be back with you this week. It's been a week. The sun is finally shining. The snow is melting. Things have been going pretty well. I've been very busy, but that is not the reason why I missed my episode on Monday. I had time to do it, but it was not going according to plan.

When I release these episodes, I want them to be spirit led. I want to be used directly to speak to who God wants me to speak to, just telling them what they need to hear, not what I think they want to hear, not what I think is going to do well, not what I think will make me sound good. Like I really, it's not my podcast. I never wanted to start this podcast. It is an assignment. So I want to treat it as such. My plan here has always been to be a vessel.

use for His glory, not just speaking from my knowledge and the things that I've studied or the things that I've known and not just picking a topic that might get shared and saved. But that's what Monday's episode would have been because I had not spent time in prayer. I had not spent time in devotion and I hadn't spent a lot of time in the Word to even hear what I should be talking about. We were watching church. We didn't go to church because it was freezing cold and I had an attitude even and I fell asleep on the sermon.

I was not in any position to share, to minister, to be used. So I didn't drop an episode on Monday. And if that makes me look flaky or whatever, that's great. I took the L because I would rather take that L than say something on here that God didn't intend for me to say or not say the thing that he wants me to say to impact the people that he wants me to impact through this episode. So I didn't drop it.

And I have been so proud of myself for being consistent and I'm still proud of myself, even in this inconsistency, even after Missing Monday because of the heart behind it. Because I needed to take the time to connect with the Lord, to be strengthened by the Lord, to be given the thing that I needed to say today so that I could continue to build the show that not only I want to build, but that he wants me to build. And that goes for all of my creative endeavors. I'm building a lot of things and what I got

through my time in connecting with the Lord is what it takes for me to build anything that he's telling me to build. So maybe you're like me and you're building something. I'm building a lot of things. Some tangible, some intangible. I'm building a relationship with God. I'm building a relationship with myself. I'm building a marriage. I'm building my children. I'm building a business or two. I'm building my creative skills and friendships, familial relationships, a home.

Not a new home, but building the home that I have. I'm building a life and I'm building a legacy. And y'all, the world is set up in such a way that either you don't finish the task or you don't finish well. That's what I'm learning. So I'm holding myself accountable while I'm building. And I think God is too. And what I received that I think is for you and for me is that we're building something. Complete it.

Of course, this goes back to the idea of hearing, well done, one of my themes for the season. Well done, my good and faithful servant. You know, that's my goal. It really is. But when you're building something, what does that even mean? Well, that statement comes from a parable of the talents in Matthew 25, 14 through 26. And I think I'll read it here. This is the NLT. And it says, again, the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by a story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money

to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last, dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master's money. After a long time, their master returned from his trip and caught

them to give an account of how they used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest and I have earned five more. The master was full of praise. Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount. So now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together. The servant who I received two bags of silver came forward and said, Master, you gave me two

bags of silver to invest and I have earned two more." The master said, well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount. Now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together. Then the servant with a one bag of silver came and said, master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn't plant and gathering crops you didn't cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money. So I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.

But the master replied, you wicked and lazy servant. If you knew I harvested crops I didn't plant and gathered crops I didn't cultivate, why didn't you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it. What this tells me is that God has an expectation of a return on what he has given us. Everything that we do needs to be intentional and aimed at producing fruit, providing a harvest, multiplying what we have been given so that when we stand before him, recounting our good work, we can hear, well done. That's.

what we're building towards. Building is a process. It doesn't happen overnight. It happens step by step with vision and intention, with faith, with hope, with action. It starts by counting the cost. Luke 14, 25 through 43 says, a large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, if you want to be my disciple, you must by comparison.

hate everyone else, your father and your mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there's enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money.

and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, there's a person who started a building and couldn't afford to finish it. Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him. And if he can't, he will send a delegation to discuss turns of peace while the enemy is far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

The cost of following Jesus is giving up everything you own, everything that you deem is yours, everything that you feel you're entitled to. To follow Jesus, you have to give it up. That's the price you pay. Does that mean he wants us to be broke? No, no. It means he wants us to be willing. We should be willing to be broke. We should be willing to forsake everything and everyone, including ourselves for the Lord.

That is the trust and the faith we should have and work from as we are building. What tripped me up this week is one, I didn't spend enough time in my word and with the Lord to have any materials to build with. Yep, I got distracted by scrolling on my phone and binging Bridgerton and talking to my friends and the motherly activities I had to do or just laying back and relaxing. I prioritize client projects instead of preparing my heart and mind to serve.

This is a tricky one because it feels like it's a responsible thing to do, but realistically I wasted God's time, not theirs. And if by wasting time, I only have a limited amount of time to do something, the something I should choose should not be my client projects, even though they're paying me, even though, you know, I would just have to risk missing the deadline because I need to spend the time with the Lord to even get filled up enough to do the work that I do for them. But it serves my ego to please them.

Nevertheless, I should not be more afraid of upsetting them than I am of upsetting God, of neglecting them than I am of neglecting God. The same goes with my phone conversations. Sometimes my phone needs to be on D &D. Do not disturb because I am going to answer when my people call. I'm gonna talk on the phone for hours with my favorites. We're gonna chit chat because that's how I feel loved and connected and that's how I make others feel loved and connected.

But when I am spiritually depleted, that's what I need to prioritize, that loving connection with the Lord. That way I can focus on lending a listening ear and I can offer sound counsel because of the spirit that's strong and loud within me. Because I know the kind of advice I give when I am full of the spirit and when I'm not. And I don't want to lead anybody astray or influence them to make destructive decisions.

I don't want to speak out the side of my neck and say something that is not endorsed by the Lord and be responsible for anybody's anything downfall, breakups, bad decisions. don't want to be responsible. again, building relationships are good, but building my relationship with the Lord is better because building my relationship with the Lord is the cornerstone and it's the foundation of everything I'm building.

So when I spend time with him first, and when I constantly check in, he gives me the vision. He gives me the blueprints. He gives me the plan for everything I'm responsible for. The things I said I am building when I started this episode, all those things, all those relationships, all those people, myself. It's my responsibility then to steward my resources, those resources of time, of skill set, of focus, actions, to steward those accordingly.

That's the cost. So as I move forward, giving myself grace and locking back in, here are some things that I'm keeping in mind. And maybe they'll help you too.

When I start out to build anything, I'm going to start to ask myself some questions like, can I commit to sticking to the plan? Commitment is the cost. I can't give up when it gets hard. I have to find a way to get the project on track with the vision. Like, I had a conversation with my daughter where humbly I asked her what I was doing wrong because we were having some disconnects.

and I didn't want to just jump to blaming her. She was feeling the ways. She wasn't communicating it. And I wanted to know why. I asked her and I listened. I fought my defensiveness. I fought my need to explain myself. I heard her. I learned from her. I honored her voice. And that came at a cost to my ego. It came at a cost to my effort because I just knew I had been intentional her whole life.

And yet I somehow missed the mark, but by viewing her as God's daughter first, and also myself as God's daughter first, even before being a mother, I was reminded that we are both loved, we're both accepted, and we're both not rejected. So I could set my ego aside and just have that conversation. I could accept that I am not perfect. I'm not perfect as a person, a woman, a mother, a wife, nothing. I'm always open to growth. I'm always open to feedback.

Do I have to agree with it? Not quite, but your experience of me could be different than my intended experience that I'm trying to put out because people's experiences shape their perceptions. And that was the case with my daughter. Even though I was trying to do one thing, it still was ineffectual. And had I not asked, I would never have known that.

I feel blessed to be able to grow in truth instead of holding on to an idea of what I thought was working while she silently resented me. That's not the daughter I'm building. That's not the young woman I'm building. I want her to speak up. I want her to feel loved. I want her to be strong and be clear. want to hear her use her voice and not just set her emotions aside. I want her to feel empowered and know that she is important. First,

all those things through God and then all those things through me or her father and everybody else in the world.

I want her to have that perspective before she goes out and then let people prove her wrong. You know, I'm her caretaker. And how can she be multiplied? How can she be fruitful if I cut away key parts of her personality and her emotions to make myself feel better or worthy? That's not being a good mother. It's just, again, like feeding my ego. So I set motherhood aside to build her, right?

Giving up my needs as a mother and hearing our truth has actually built me up and it's strengthened our relationship, which is something that I'm building. That's the plan. How do I stick to the plan? Setting aside my ego, had to do that a lot. But how would I even know to do that? Except for this next part, which is having checkpoints and goals. When you're building something, you have to have checkpoints and goals. Like, are you assessing your progress? Are you on track? How do you?

Stay on track or what can you do to get back on track after you've made your assessments? And another thing, do I have the patience to stick with it, with what I'm building and to see it to completion? It's uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable being uncomfortable. And everyone wants a quick fix. I'm included, but good things take time. Don't cut corners, don't skip steps, don't cheapen your results. Have some checks and balances.

Like, I love watching those little inspector videos, like home inspector videos online. And I like watching them go through all this like new construction, everything looking beautiful. But because of their expert eyes, they could point out where things were done wrong. You learn so much about what not to do if you want things to function well. It just reminds you to be careful who you're listening to, who you're trusting, who you're partnering with, even who you're paying to do work for you.

And that applies to so many different situations. Is this the right teacher for your kid? Do you really need to invest in a hundred different softwares to run your business? This influencer is selling you something with false results, proven by good editing. It reminds you to use your discernment. It forces you to rely on God to show you what you can't see. He's like the home inspector. He's like the expert. Like, Elia, this looks good on the outside. Look at these finishes. It all looks fresh and new. It's what you think you want, but you don't want these problems.

The sink comes on, but the water's running behind the closet door. Like all the things that you don't see hidden, he can reveal. That's your expert, with your expert knowledge and the skill set to help you to see your way ahead and why you're building patiently. And how do you bounce back when things go wrong? That's another question. If it's your fault, give yourself grace, return to the plan. If it's someone else's fault, give them grace and yourself grace and return to the plan.

That doesn't mean sidestep accountability. There are consequences, but don't get stuck there. For me, I'm still going to release this podcast episode and get right back on track. But returning to the plan for me means being even more intentional about staying locked in with praying before scrolling, getting my workout in the morning before scrolling, because that helps my mental health too. Getting my devotion in before scrolling.

and being intentional about like drinking water and eating nutrition meals throughout the day and so on and so forth. I keep in mind that this world and all its pleasures are designed to distract me from what I'm building. And that means I have to fight back with all of my might, with all my attention and with all my intention by staying focused and taking action. I need to fill my time up with the things that I actually want that will be fruitful

that would be helpful for future Alicia too. That means staying disciplined even when I'm not in the mood. And that will allow me to see what I'm eventually come to life. So practically, what can I do to remain focused and to stay on track? So for me, I know if I listen to sermons and faith-based videos, most of the day, my mind is full of spiritual ideas.

It's full of creativity. Like I want to have those conversations that I'm listening to. I want to talk back to them. I want to add to those conversations. I want to share my point of view. I feel encouraged sometimes. I feel convicted at other times. I'm inspired to dig deeper and learn more. I'm not emotionally unregulated. Like scrolling and listening to different kinds of podcasts that aren't faith-based and that are aimed at

discussing the culture and society and things that are going on, like my political podcast or any of those things, helps me to be informed, but if I'm not in the full spiritual frame of mind, it will mess with my mental health. It will make me feel sad and hopeless and down-dragging and frustrated and upset and stuck. And I don't want to feel those ways and I'm not productive when I feel like that. So what I have to do is first,

have fill myself with what I want to come out. I also have to know what distracts me right now, and it's a mix between time management and attitude management. So I have to keep my mindset in check. I gotta let things roll off my back. I can't hold grudges. I can't worry about people and how they perceive me. I can't perceive people and judge them either. I can't spend time trying to decipher relationships. Like, all of that stuff is pointless, it's fruitless, it's time consuming, and again, not what.

I want for future, Alicia. Instead, I hope for the future that I want to see and I keep moving towards it. I have to keep in mind what encourages me and reminds me of my mission that's going back to remembering what my why is, remembering my vision for the things that I'm building. My ultimate why again is to hear well done. I want to be good soil. I want for the word to take root in my heart so I can continue to help build his kingdom because everything else is temporary.

The world and all its concerns are passing away.

And our hearts break for the troubles of this world, the suffering that people endure. But that's all the more reason why we continue to build the things that we're building and build his kingdom. That's all the more reason to stay connected, to be an extension of his hands and feet, his heart towards those people. And it doesn't just mean like sunshine and rainbows either, if that's to act on their behalf, if that's to make moves on their behalf, like whatever it is that you have been called to build, build that thing, but don't be distracted.

trying to build what everybody else is building or what they're telling you to build or being a part of things that aren't what you should be focused on. That's more for me than for you, but if it's for you, take it. Nothing that I'm saying means to ignore what's going on. And I never mean that. Like if you ever listen to this podcast and you think that's what I'm saying, just bury your head in sand. That's never what I'm saying. On the contrary, I want to get feedback on the part that we are to play and then get coaching from the Lord.

on how we're to play it. Like you don't join a sports team and get coaching one time. When you're at practice, your coach is there watching, observing, correcting, guiding, instructing, fixing your form, giving you warmups, giving you drills, leading you in this direction, putting you where you need to go, putting you in the position you need to be in, telling you how to play, telling you what plays to run, and then letting you run them. That's how we build successfully.

Build disciples through truth, through love and compassion. Build yourself, everything you're building, through truth, love and compassion. Build and multiply so that you can hear, well done my good and faithful servant. Give God a return on investment. Well, that's all I have for you today. If you're like me, leave a review on your favorite platform. I'd love to hear from you. If you know someone who's like us, then share this episode with them. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you have a grace and love filled week. Keep building folks. K? Bye!