creating space for your calling
this is where it gets real--and why so many women stop here.
Happy Monday.
I mean, if I had sent this yesterday. Which I wanted to. Or I thought I did.
Then I realized I was having a feeling. Like a strong, visceral one.
It felt like exposure.
Revealing.
Vulnerable.
And that’s when I knew: we are on to something here.
Because I rarely think twice about posting, or even telling all and sharing all the stories and realities and raw moments from my own life.
I’ve been doing that since I started my first blog, oh, 30+ years ago.
But this felt different.
Because this isn’t just a small group of homeschooling moms, church volunteer leaders or prayer partners. This felt like …the whole internet.
And people can be mean. We know they can.
Maybe Substack isn’t as risky as other social media platforms—but sharing your vision in ANY setting, ANY circle, especially with an untested audience, can cause even the bravest among us to wobble a little.
I’ve learned in these 30+ years as a writer and leader that when I start getting close to an edge—a threshold I’ve never crossed before—I notice some things.
Second-guessing.
Small acts of sabotage or distraction.
Silly excuses for not writing or showing up or standing firm.
It’s like my brain stops working—like a stubborn dog who refuses to take another step.
Maybe this doesn’t happen to you, but hey, I’m just being real here.
The thing that is next for me, the edge I’m nearing, the one my brain keeps trying to get me to back away from is stepping deeper into the core of why I’m here: To lift women into the roles, spaces and leadership they are destined by God to occupy.
There are other parts and pieces to that, but I’ll save those for another day.
This is enough, honestly.
Because my heart still wonders if this is real, true, ready.
My nervous system still sends messages like: go back. stay safe. not now.
Yet there is another voice.
The one saying: it’s time for your leadership circle to gather. THIS is the thing. The one that feels too big. Too exposed. Too important to ignore.
And I know so many women feel the same way.
They’ve been carrying their own calling.
Nearing their own edges.
Stopping short and pulling back when it starts to feel too vulnerable, exposed or real.
Wondering if it’s too late.
If they missed their window.
If all the false starts, delays and disappointments somehow mean it can’t still happen now.
But here’s what I’m sensing in this tender moment…
God is asking us to go first.
For me to go first.
To do the scary shit.
To take the running leap.
To stand at the edge without backing away.
To be the one who shows others it’s possible.
This next season is where it gets real for many of us.
Because eventually we face the truth:
it’s not about adding more, doing more or becoming more.
It’s about releasing the things standing in the way.
Fear.
Doubt.
Insecurity.
Discouragement.
Isolation.
Busyness.
Brokenness.
Not believing in ourselves—or our calling.
Assumptions.
Limitations.
Old doctrines and old narratives that no longer fit who we are becoming.
That is truly the heart of what I feel called to do. For me and for you.
This is our season to step into the places God has been preparing us for. To stop waiting around and start taking seriously the dreams, ideas and vision that refuse to leave us alone.
And that’s what we’re going to do here.
We’re going to create space for our callings.
Space to stop shrinking.
Space to stop second-guessing.
Space to tell the truth about what we want, what we carry and who we are becoming.
Space to trust what’s inside of you and build a life and body of work that actually feels aligned with who you are.
If you’ve been craving a smaller, wiser, more honest room full of women who truly get it…message me. Or just stay tuned.
Willing to go first…together,
Sue