Faith to Take the Leap with Rachel G. Scott

If you are going to do anything great in your life, I can guarantee you, guarantee, that you're going to have to at some point take a leap. You're going to have to take a flight of faith, do something that feels a little uncomfortable, that you're unsure about whether or not you can land on your feet. And if you have the chutzpah to take the risk to move off of a place that's comfortable and into a place that's uncomfortable so you can experience new territory. If you have ever been on the verge of taking a leap, and whether you took it and succeeded or didn't take it and wished you had, or maybe you're teetering right now on the precipice, I want you to know that in your life, everyone has to take a risk of some kind. It could be a risk and a leap to love, because there is no real love without taking the risk to love, you know. It could be the leap to another career or the leap to another city, another town, another church, maybe new habits, new book. It doesn't matter. New child, new friends. When you want to live, you want to have a good life that's not rote status quo and redundant, new is going to be taking some leaps sometimes. And we serve a God who wants you to depend on him. You want to know how he's going to ensure that you depend on him every now and again? He's going to entice you to take a leap. So I'm talking to the leap girl today. Her name is Rachel G. Scott, and she's about so much more than taking Taking a Leap. She's a Bible study teacher. She is a YouTuber. She's an amazingly gifted young woman, but she wrote a book and it's called Taking the Five Leaps. If you want to know what are the kinds of leaps to take, how you get ready for them, how you prepare for them, and how you follow the path once God leads you down that road, you want to make sure you get this. But because you may not know who Rachel is, or you may want to hear a little bit more about this concept of leap taking, I have her as a guest on my podcast today. Rachel Scott is joining and I can't wait for you to meet her. So ready to hear it? Here it go. Hey, y'all. Rachel is with me today. Rachel Scott is her name specifically. She has been with me on the podcast before. She is a delight. But more than being a delight, this girl is a go-getter, like for real. I have had the opportunity to connect with her not only on the podcast previously. We were— we found ourselves at a National Religious Broadcasters conference, NRB. One year and caught up a little bit. And, um, I just see her making moves, doing all the things. Here's what I need you to know. She is not only writing about in her latest book what it takes, what it looks like, what you need to do in order to take the leap in your life. She is living that truth out in her own life as she's constantly seeking God for what he would have her to do. And this is one of these women who, if it could be found on Google, if she could ask somebody a question, if it's on a library shelf somewhere, she's going to figure out how to do it. So she is a living, walking, take the leap lesson herself. She loves God. She loves teaching his word. You can find her on YouTube, on Instagram, and all the places. But today she is joining me on the Sister Circle Podcast. And I'm glad to have you, Rachel.

I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me.

So this is the first time that you have published with a publisher. Is that correct?

That is correct, yes.

Moodie. But this is not your first time publishing.

No.

So you've self-published before. Right. What made you decide to go that route with this message? What was different?

So I did a book back in, like, 2018 that I self-published. And I actually self-published it thinking that this is going to be what I do with this whole book. But then I felt led to do a conference. And when I put the conference out there and I created this book, I felt like, you know, I was supposed to only release it to the people that were attending the conference. And I'm like, well, why would that be? This message is so powerful. And literally, I heard God say, you are going to traditionally publish your next book. Now, to me, this was crazy because I didn't have any of the resources or the people or the know-how. I had been— I mean, that was probably like my 4th or 5th self-published book. It was so far from my mind to traditionally publish. But after that, I remember being really resistant to the idea because of the process of traditionally publishing, having to get an agent and writing a proposal. And I thought, by the time I write a whole proposal, I could have written the book. Like, this— like, why do I need to do all the extra things? But I, like, leaned into that some. And when I did, I remember The day that I said yes, like, okay, God, this is what you want me to do. This was probably like 2 years later. I'm like, this is what you want me to do. This is what I'll do. I don't know what I'm doing. The next morning, someone that I know, his name is Jordan, he released this product called How to Land an Agent Without a Platform. And I don't think he has a product anymore, but I was like, this is for me. Because remember, it's the next, like, the next day. Like, okay, this is for me. So I instantly— I probably was one of his first sales because I knew it. I instantly downloaded it. I took took the whole course, and by the end of the course, I was like, I really cannot do this. Like, he just gave me too much information. Now I really feel overwhelmed. So a week later, I end up meeting with a friend, and we were talking about some other things, and I was like, you know, she asked me like, what do you feel like God is telling you to do? And I said, I feel like he's telling me to write a proposal, but I just can't. It's going to be too much. I downloaded this course, it was a lot for me to do. I just feel overwhelmed. And essentially, she was like, oh, it doesn't take that much. Here you go, let me walk you through the whole process. And she did. And that became the first proposal, because I had to write a second one, the first book proposal that I submitted. So I really did it out of obedience to God and knowing that I heard his voice and saying, your next book is going to be traditionally published. Soft launch this book because the next one is going to be traditionally published.

So you've done this process, and it is a different process. Um, the benefits are increased distribution channels. The benefit is you may have a few more eyes. You got to do your part, do a little bit more. It's— I don't know that it's more work. Maybe it's just committed work. Like, I told you I would do this work versus I do what I can when I feel like I need to. But this is into the world. And it is different, of course, than what you talked about before, because what you were talking about before was family life and blended family and all that. And so this takes a different direction. Now, you've got a podcast. You're on YouTube. Constantly encouraging. What is the hope? I want to start with the end in mind. What is the hope that you have for the person who picks this book up to read it?

Yeah, I love that question because I, I would say that it's twofold. The first thing is that they know that they're called to live a leaping lifestyle, and they'll understand what that means once they open up the book. But essentially, we're all, as followers of Christ, called to live a leaping lifestyle. Then the other thing that they understand, that there is more than one way to take a leap of faith. Like it's not just walk away from everything. There's more than one way. And as they dig into, to the book and the other resources, they can find out what way is God telling them to do it.

Because, you know, everybody's not supposed to just jump out there and quit their job tomorrow, right?

I know, like, because when we think about leap, that's it.

I gotta leave. I gotta go where I'm at.

I'm not—

I'm no longer supposed to be here. There is an immediate change, and it's major, and the risk is really high. But I would love for you to maybe give us a taste. If it's not a big leap, if I'm not quitting my job, if I'm not leaving my home state, if I'm not, you know, moving across the country, you know, or overseas, if it's not this major thing, what other kinds of leaps are there?

Yeah, well, those are two of them. So I call those the shepherd, which is based off of Abraham, and then we have The Fisherman, which is based off of Peter. But there's also Paul, and he did the Tentmaker's Leap. And his was that he, um, you know, he built tents at the same time while he was doing ministry, but it still required his time, it still required his energy. So like, for someone who wants to write a book or start a business or ministry but they're still working full-time, that's still considered a leap because you're still invested emotionally into that. And there's still going to be some hesitation because now your funds are helping to build that specific ministry or business or write that book or whatever it may be. So there's still some risk that's involved in it. And then so we have the builder's leap on top of that. So the 5 leaps are the fisherman, the tentmaker, the builder, the shepherd, and the trailblazer. Now the, the builder's leap is, is based on the story of Nehemiah, and it is because he temporarily leaves his role as a cupbearer and he returns back. So there are times, and this is a big one, when the leap is not permanent. When God may say, hey, I need you to leave to, to homeschool, or, you know, to take care of a loved one, but they're going to go back into a career, go back into a job, but in their minds it's like, this is permanent, this is— what am I going to do after this, you know? And then we have the Trailblazer, which that's essentially— we get to see Jesus model that for us. And that's when you've done all of the leaps, every single one of them, and you're really called to disciple other people and what it looks like to live a leaping lifestyle and to know that God is faithful. He will take care of you. He will provide. He would do all the necessary things to be that encouragement to the next person.

That's so good. Now, I mean, every book, the wonderful part of it is that if it's a good one, you probably have let this messaging marinate in you for a little bit. And it comes out of something. Where does this concept of taking leaps come from in your life?

In my life— my life.

The whole thing.

The whole thing. And, you know, and really, for, for most of my life, I felt like there was only one way, just like everyone else. Like, I'm with everyone else that felt like I had to walk away. So I have walked away from multiple things because I thought that that's what I was supposed to do. I didn't understand that I could build at the same time as I would— as the time I was working. So I think about when I left my career as a teacher. I wanted to be a teacher my whole life. I was like, this is the job for me. And I'm still a teacher. I just teach differently, but I'm— and not in the classroom, but I'm still a teacher. So I left my job as a teacher. I was terrified. I was kind of frustrated because that's something I had always wanted to do, and I finally was right where I wanted to be. But I knew that God was telling us at this time to work on the blended family ministry. And my husband actually left before then. And so I'm like, this doesn't make sense. Why do we both need to do that? Why do we both need to step away from this? Like, what's the plan here? You know? But essentially what I saw him do was my husband was a builder, so he went back into his career while I was called to be a fisherman. And the ministry was birthed out of that season. The books were birthed out of that season. You know, the podcast, the— all the stuff, all the stuff that I'm doing was birthed out of that season. But I was terrified. I mean, we went through some financial struggles. I started the book off by talking about that. Like, it was hard. It was definitely hard. But I look back and I'm like, had I known more, it wouldn't have had to be. Because when I look at the leapers, there was provision for each of them prior to them taking the leap. And, you know, I want to encourage people that there is provision prior to— you got to just pay attention to how God is doing it.

Yeah, he, he's really good to provide, but A lot of times, sometimes you can't— I, I think sometimes you— everybody can see it. It's just like, what are you waiting on? It's right there. But oftentimes it's like, you know, that still small voice. It's like a whisper. It's like a, a small repetition. It's like something you can't shake. And it's— and if you look, you know, it's like, uh, Hagar, uh, when the Bible talks about her and she was sent away from the camp, you know, Sarah's like, get out, we don't— I don't want you around. And it says, you know, she looked up and then she saw the water. And it's like, it's there sometimes, but you have to look. You have to look to see it. And, uh, you have to make the time to do that. Okay. So I am curious, your husband was with you in the ministry for blended families. You said he's gone back because that was one of my questions was going to be, so kind of what is his role now in this newfound space? So he's done that. And so he's gone back to his career workspace. So here you are doing all of this.

Yeah.

What is his involvement in your current leap? Is it just— is he cheerleading you from the side? Is he reading manuscripts? Is he giving you feedback on the website? What does that support look like for you right now?

You know, it's funny, our joke is that he did not read my manuscript. I don't even know if he's read the book yet. I'm like, you're in the book. Like, you signed something to have permission. You just— yeah, hopefully I said good stuff about you, but Aside from that, he does all my branding. Um, he does all my websites, anything that you see between him and, you know, my assistant. But a big chunk of it is he does all of my branding stuff. He does a lot of my videoing. He does my podcast editing. He does all of that. So he is just a 10 out of 10. He is tech support.

He does—

I don't know that he likes it 100% because he can do it though. He can. And I'm like, listen, I mean, God knew. He knew that I was going to need you, you were going to need me. It works out perfectly.

I know that there are, there are these dynamics, you know, when you're building, and you are very much so a builder yourself. Um, and, you know, just having watched and even now looking deeper to see where God is leading you, but building can be frustrating because you are also learning to use tools as you build. You are learning a lot of lessons through trial and error. And people don't like that part of the leap. You know, I want to leap and then be where I'm supposed to be and move into— you know, but a lot of times, that leap comes with a lot of learning. And so just where you are right now and where God is guiding you, what have you learned? What lessons have you learned that have been some hard lessons but you couldn't be where you are doing what you do without them. You wouldn't have been able to make the leap or wouldn't have the benefits of the leap that you've taken without these lessons. And kind of what have you learned that's like in your back pocket? And then what right now are you like, I know right now I'm in the middle of something God is asking me to do, and it's hard, and I don't want to do it, or it's been difficult to learn it. So back pocket victory speech. And current situation?

Yeah, I would say my back pocket is, um, slow down. You know, I have a lot of things that I want to do. I'm just super gifted, and I know that, you know, and I know that it's for such a time as this. But sometimes I put the cart before the horse. I move too fast, and I don't give ideas and things enough time to simmer. I don't linger enough to get the full instructions for everything, and I'm just ready to go. And so, um, what I have learned is to slow down, that everything doesn't have to be immediate. This new idea, this new thing may not be for today, it may be for next year, but it's in the— in my mind so that I can start paying attention to signs along the way. What I'm learning—

hold on, hold on, hold on. Okay, okay, I'm gonna interrupt you. So slow down, what does that look like? I mean, we can all say all day long, we should slow down. We need to be present. We got to be mindful. We got to practice mindfulness. You need to stop and smell the roses. We have sayings for these things. But for you, what does that mean you're doing to slow down? How are you— how do you even notice when you're not? What are the signs that you're— moving at a speed that is not the right speed? And what do you practically do? What does slowing down look like in your life if I had a— an eye in a window and could see?

Yeah, so I would say overwhelmed. That's my immediate indicator. Like, I have trained myself to know when I feel overwhelmed, and then I go back and say, why am I feeling overwhelmed? Like, what is causing me to feel this way? So for me, slowing down is getting help, which I've recently done. But also, I, I kind of— I, I force myself to not move when I'm not supposed to. And what I mean by that is, like, for example, I have my time with God scheduled. And before, I used to kind of— I used to try to make that time, but now it's on my calendar. I schedule it, it's on my calendar. I plan everything else around that time. Now, the days when I have a lot to do, I still make myself slow down and I spend that time with God. Like, that is slowing down for me. Yes, you have these things to do, but that time with God is so important. And so I always say that time with God is time you'll never regret spending. There's other things I'll do and I'm like, why did I do that? But when it comes to time with God, you will never regret spending that time. Never once in my life have I felt that way. So I have to remind myself of that. And then the other thing that I do is I let ideas simmer. So I have some things that I really want to do, but by the time I sit on it for 2 or 3 weeks, it gives me time to process all the things involved in it that didn't come to my mind that first time when the idea came up. And I'm like, do I really want to do that now that I've processed through all the extra steps? I'll call it the onion layers. The onion layers of me saying yes, you know, me committing to that. It's not just like, this is a good idea. The unpacking it. So what I have found about myself is after 2 to 3 weeks, I have unpacked it in the car in my mind. I've unpacked it in conversation. I've unpacked it, you know, with my husband as he's like asking me questions that sometimes I get irritated with because I'm like, I don't know. But that's part of the unpacking for me so that I can—

like, let me dream. Let me make stuff up. Right.

And then I'll go back, and a lot of times I'm like, yeah, I don't think I want to do that right now. Or I'll say, in, you know, the next quarter, I'll do that. So I'll move things out. I try to plan by quarters, and I'll move things out to the next quarter. It's a good idea, but not for right now. So that's what slowing down really looks like for me.

Okay, so what are you learning right now in the leaps that you're taking right now? What are the lessons that you're learning that you're like, oh, Yes.

I got to believe what I wrote about. I got to believe every single word. I have— I can't just talk about stuff or else I'm a hypocrite, right? If I'm just saying things that I don't believe anymore or that when I'm in that very situation, I'm not even pulling on the wisdom that I'm sharing with other people, that's the lesson I'm learning right now. I can't just talk. I have to believe it. I have to live it out. I have to have it stamped on my heart just like I'm encouraging everyone else to have it stamped on theirs.

Give me an example.

Trust. Like, right now, what? Trust in God. Like, it's funny, I start off the book talking about finances and, and challenges with my finances. I'm in that right now where I'm like, okay, like, I recently shut down my brand agency, which, you know, was a big part of the—

I didn't have that up on my screen. I didn't have the brand agency.

You don't need to, it's gone.

Wait, hold on. So you had— you owned a branding agency?

Yes.

For other people. You were helping other people brand their stuff.

Right. So I did brand coaching. I had a brand agency. Listen, I got too many gifts. I got to use these, OK, before I can make it happen. So— and I shut it down because I kept getting pulled away from what I really felt my mission was in serving people. So it was good, but it was pulling me away. So I shut that down. And now I'm, like, back at ground zero trying to figure out what does it look— not trying to, but having to trust God. And he's definitely showing up. But it is that walk that I felt I had already done. I'm like, oh, I know how to trust God. I've had to do this multiple times in my life. OK, now I'm like, go back to when he was faithful. Go back to when he was faithful. His, his— look at his faithfulness, just like you talk about in the book. So I feel like God is really calling me on the carpet, like, okay, is— are you going to talk about this and not believe it yourself? Are you going to talk about this and not believe it? So that's what I'm doing right now.

So is the leap for you currently— and I mean, you know, we're going to have multiple, multiple opportunities to leap in our lives. But do you feel like the leap right now is most currently connected to just continuing to build out your own personal brand as a teacher of the word and, um, a builder of faith for people, for women? For who— is that where you're putting all your eggs in the basket, pruning other things and focusing on that? Is that a part of that?

Yeah, definitely. I feel like, um, just continuing to encourage, but also I have this this draw and this, um, desire to really help new believers, like people who— they are— they don't know where to go for solid teaching. Uh, they're, they're not necessarily churched, and it's just my heart has just been so drawn to them. And I feel like I can, I can have those conversations with them and they're open to it. I've been discipling people even now, so it's a new territory for me because I grew up in the church and I felt like Well, I don't know necessarily what to say or how to say it. But over the years, God's been using certain people in my life that I've been discipling to show me, like, you're equipped for this call. Like, you really are. You just don't realize it.

Normally, when you find that you've leaped in your life, and whether you felt it to the core of your being and couldn't wait to do it, and just knew it would be okay, or whether you were shaking in your boots as you took the steps forward. Do you find that you move in your knowledge of your equipping typically, or does God have to show you the equipping he knew you had after you take the leap?

He has to show me. He definitely has to show me. I, I typically know a little bit of the equipment or the skill sets But, um, what he'll show me is how much I've already been doing this and how he's already been preparing me for this all along the way. I just didn't call it that. Like, I was just thinking, this is what people do. Like, there are certain things that we do and we think everyone does it, so we don't identify it as this is a part of the call on my life. So that's, that's what it was for me, is this just what people do? Doesn't everybody start podcasts? Doesn't everybody know how to speak in a microphone? Doesn't everybody know how to write? Like And, and God is like, no, but I've been preparing you for this so you could step into that. That, that's the beautiful thing about the nature of God is that although he stretches us, he doesn't stretch us beyond our capacity or what he knows that we can do. We just have to line it— line up with his will and see ourselves the way that God sees us. And when we do, we can step into so many things.

You know, I think When you were talking about planning, that was one of my questions. Uh, on page 28, uh, you have a section called Prepare, Plan, uh, and Execute. And you know, at the end of this you say, understanding how one small change preparation before the planning works in real time will make all the difference as we begin to learn about making leaps. Um, in the kingdom, instead of planning first, God starts off our journey by preparing us. Often, I think we can get stuck in a loop of preparing and planning. There are people who are struggling to take the leap in their lives because all the ducks have to be in a row before they'll do anything. And they have so equated that planning with being godly. Like, God wouldn't want me to be out here in these streets, just doing stuff if I don't, if I haven't planned it all the way out. And that planning actually turns into procrastination where they never actually are doing the thing that God called them to do. The other end of that is that you are not adequately planning, that you are not taking the 2 to 3 weeks as you mentioned. And so you're jumping into things way too fast without processing them. And somewhere in the middle, you have sometimes you should plan and sometimes you have to move. I was listening, um, you know, doomsday scrolling on Instagram. And I ran across something that it was just, I don't even know who it was, but he said they did a study and basically the high performers or the top 1%ers or whatever he called, he said they have one common characteristic and it's that they respond, that they're quick to respond, that they are going to text, send the text back, that they're going to answer the email. And that has to do with being willing to take a leap when you make— in building things, sometimes the people who capitalize on opportunities are the ones who didn't think about it. You know what I'm saying? Something happened and they just jumped online. For me, 2020 was like that when I jumped online with video because I didn't want to do video. Like you didn't want to be on video, avoiding video. And I had done all of the work to kind of get the tech together. I had practiced a little bit. And I was thinking about it because YouTube is the next frontier, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then COVID hits, and I'm like, well, I guess I could just go live on Monday. You know, it's like I have all this equipment. I've been avoiding it. I guess I could just try it and see what happens.

Right.

And then, you know, here we are later, 4 years on YouTube. And— but that was a knee-jerk decision. I'm saying all this to ask you, how do I plan without spending too much time on the planning? And how do I move to take advantage of opportunities that God is giving me without being too reckless or thoughtless about, about that move? How do I know when to let this simmer or when to move ahead? How do I know the difference? You are invited to join me at the Sister Circle Retreat 2024. It'll be held October 9th through the 13th in upstate New York. And I would love for you to come by yourself, with a friend, or with a group of girls. It doesn't matter.. But I want us to get together to talk about what it means to live a life you love and how you build that life brick by brick. If you want to know more information, simply go to thesisterscircle.com/retreat. I'd love to see you there.

There's a couple of things that come to mind. I would say the first thing is don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. So one thing that 2020 taught me was that lesson. There were things that I was like, I'm going to do this tomorrow. I'm going to do this tomorrow. And then everything got shut down. And then tomorrow didn't happen until 3, 4 years later. And I was like, I need to not do that, you know, because in my mind we always have that. So if it's something that you've been putting off for a really, really long time, then today is your day. Like, it is time to move. And then also understanding that God won't give us the next set of instructions until we're obedient to the last. So if we want to continue to grow in God and to hear his voice and to move and to progress, we have to listen to those last set of instructions and actually do it. You know, I think about seasons in my life where I had to make some hard decisions, and there were things that he told me to do and I didn't want to because it was going to be hard, it was going to be uncomfortable, but it was necessary for what he did later in my life. And that leads me to my next point, is we don't see the full picture of what he wants to do. What tends to happen is we have this idea in our mind, I'm gonna do this and this is going to create this, this equals that. But not in, not in God's economy. This plus this minus this added this multiplied by that, square it, don't forget to square it, square it with the pi, like it's going to equal what God wants to do. And so we really have to remove our own understanding. Like, we cannot live by our own understanding. But continue to acknowledge him in everything. And then he directs the path. So when I look at it, and I say, this is a part of whatever it is that he wants to do. No one could have told me 7 years that I was going to be doing this right now. All I was doing was writing. I was just being obedient to the last thing. OK, Rachel, write. All right, this is what writing looks like for me. This is all I know to do. I didn't know that I was going to be writing a book. I didn't know that I would be having these conversations. The leaps were not even on my mind. I didn't even know that existed. That came by way of me doing the next thing and then doing the next thing and then doing the next thing.

Yeah.

So I think we have to remove our own understanding and our own outcomes and just do what God says to do. Like, that's it.

Well, on that note, I know when you start out talking about The Leaping Lifestyle, like, the first chapter is From Calling to Vision. Um, both of those are big words. Calling, I think, is overestimated I think we are all called, but we have made calling look like I'm on a stage, I have a ministry, I own a business, I've made a million dollars, I've, you know, whatever. And vision, we're all made differently. And God gives us vision, a vision for saving the lost, a vision for taking care of our homes or being a good wife to our husbands or mother to our children, a vision for maximizing our gifting. But people get stuck on those two if they think Everybody's supposed to have a vision to create something versus inserting themselves faithfully in the vision that God has provided or following along with someone else's vision, supporting someone else's vision. And then calling, again, looks like I know my calling. I can tell you what it is. And so, well, let me ask you this question. Are we all supposed to take leaps?

My answer is yes.

OK.

I believe that we all are, yes.

So dumb down for me— and maybe that's not the best way to say it. Maybe make it more regular, make it like for the layperson. If calling and vision, we have associated that with big calling, big vision, change the world, people know my name, I started this organization, I have this amazing YouTube channel, you know, I have a million followers on social media, I, you know, I have a title behind my name. If that's what we've made it mean, and if everybody's supposed to have calling or vision, and we've made it mean that, but it means so much more than that. What is calling? Define calling. Define vision. If I'm not leading, if it's not about me, and if my name isn't on the billboard, what is calling? What is vision?

Yeah, I would say that both of them are what. So the calling is what is God telling me to do? What is he telling you to do? And then the vision is what is God showing me? So let's just bring it to family. Like, if we think about family, they— we should have— we understand that our families have different callings. Like, I'm noticing more and more that there is like this entrepreneurial— not surprisingly, this entrepreneurial—

because you're in the family and your husband is hyping you up and setting you up.

Exactly right. So all the kids are doing something along that line. One person is a baker, one is doing clothes, one is selling candy at school. I'm like, hey, whatever. But at the same time, what is God showing me about that? What is, what is the vision that I have for my family? Or what is the vision God has for my family? How will he use that for the kingdom? So when we think about it, the number one thing is it really comes down to purpose. And I define purpose as we, we all have the same purpose. It is, um, to bring people into the kingdom of God. God wants no one to perish. He doesn't want anyone to perish. So if we all have the same purpose And God is saying, now what am I telling you to do to help fulfill that? Once I tell you, then I show you. That's the vision. I tell you, then I show you. And then your assignment is, how are you going to do that? How are you going to help fulfill that purpose? So now you— I've told you, I've shown you, and now it's that, that doing it part, like actually going out and doing the work.

So if, if I am at home with my 4-year-old, my 2-year-old, and a newborn. I, I'm sleep deprived, and, um, we're eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches again for dinner. Calling and vision— what is that? What does that look like for me if that's where I am?

Yeah, um, I think about when I was homeschooling my younger two, and I was looking at One of them specifically, I knew that she was the kind of person, kind of like me, that was going to be able to build relationships and have connections. She was outgoing. So for me, in that season, I wanted to help preserve that about her. I wanted to make sure that nothing stripped that out of her because that was going to be essential to who she was later. So in that season, it's really more protection. It is protecting what we see on our kids' lives. And that's important. Because later in life, they'll be able to go back to those moments and say, mommy protected me from feeling rejected because now I know that I'm accepted in Christ. So I'm not going to feel rejected later in life. And when I do, I can go back to the truth that I'm accepted in Christ. So every season when they're— I mean, I have young to older, and I, and I feel that in each of their lives and in every season, there has been an assignment that I've been called to as their mother to ensure that they become who God has called them to be. And we never know who we're raising, you know, we— whether their, their, their role is big or it seems small, but it's all significant in the kingdom.

You know, it's, it's when you said it's the what, you know, what are you calling to me, what is the vision that you have? Again, I think even with the example that you were just giving about protecting your family, would you agree that asking God for his calling and vision for where you are is just as important as asking God for the calling and vision for where you want to go.

Absolutely, absolutely. Because where you are right now matters. It's— it is that— that for most of us, it's that preparation season. It's the season that we want to get out of quickly, but it's the season we'll likely be in the longest. Like, really, it is a season that we will be in oftentimes the longest, and we're always preparing for the next thing, but we have to be content with where we're at. And I believe from that place of contentment, God can do so many other things in our lives to equip us for the, the vision and the calling and the assignment and all the other things. But it's that place of contentment that it starts with.

So one of the things that will mess with your contentment, and one of the things that will mess with your leap— you could be happily moving around, moving along, doing all the things, asking God to give you, grant you calling give you a clear purpose, you know, grant his vision for where you want to go, where you currently are. You could be doing all the things, you could be on fire. And, um, one of the things that'll mess up your contentment is interruptions, because you, you're content to do it the way you want to do it. And I know you talked about letting go of your preconceived ideas. You're even content to do it for the length of time you think it will take you. And then, you know, life has interruptions. I, I'm curious, I know that a little over a year ago you said your house was crashed into. I'd love for you to talk about that. And I'm just curious, how did that upset the apple cart? What were you doing that you had to stop doing because now you had to focus on all the things that went into addressing that? So who crashed into, or what crashed into your house, and how did that affect your pace?

Well, let me tell you a little bit about what went on before then that I didn't put in the book, OK? That was the cherry on top. So the— after I signed, um, with Moody's, the next month my husband had to have a surgery, my daughter had to have a surgery. We went through the whole COVID thing. When you have a big household, getting rid of that takes an extra long time. And like, stuff was happening with our car. So when the— when the car crashed into my house, that was the moment I'm like, what? Like, this— you ever have so many things back to back, you just kind of start to laugh, like Yes.

How's this gonna happen? What is happening here?

What am I doing? Okay, this must— I must really be a threat to the kingdom of darkness, or I mean, this is supposed to stop everything I'm doing. And I remember, um, I was walking into the house. It was like cold and snowy, which we get a lot of that out here in Ohio, which I don't enjoy. And I was like, this is going to be a good day, you know. All the kids were, were off to school. My husband had to work at, at the office that day, so I'm like a day in the house quiet by myself. So I'm getting ready to head back to my office area, and all of a sudden, I hear this boom. I'm like, something just caught on fire, like something in the house. So I look out of the kitchen window, and I see smoke. So I'm like, oh my goodness. I'm thinking the furnace blew up or something, you know, along the way that would cause smoke. So I run outside. I grab everything, and I run outside. And there is a car. In the— in my house. It's a smaller vehicle, and they're inside of like the— the— we have a two-story, the second story of the house. And I'm shocked. I'm just— I couldn't believe it. Now let me say this, about 6 months before then, a car had crashed into a house down the street. So I'm like— and it was still just a random thing that happened. And the thing about our yard is there's a lot of land before you actually get to the house. So it wasn't a super snow— there was snow, but it wasn't like snowing. It wasn't slushy. It wasn't any of those things. So I now am in this position where I'm like, what do I do? I'm like, do I go check on this person? Are they alive? What am I about to see? That's honestly what I was thinking. Like, is this person alive? What do I do? The logical thing is call 911. But the first person I called was my husband.

And then I hung up.

I'm like, someone crashed into the house.

And I hung up.

He's like, what? Now let me also say, he had just started his job. He had just started this new role. And so he'd only been there like— this was his first week. And this happened.

So he's like, do you need me to come? Because if you don't need me to come, I just—

if you don't need me, I'm just getting started. So then I call, you know, and all the people come in. But I think by that time, I just was— I didn't know what to think, you know. I'm— I, I know I'm supposed to be getting ready to write this book. And I'm— I do YouVersion, so I had some YouVersion stuff coming up too. And I remember doing some of my recordings with rubble all around in the house, setting up a camera in the midst of this chaos everywhere, but I'm getting this thing done that I've committed to doing, right? But, um, I feel like in that season and in that time, God was showing me that everything doesn't have to be perfect for you to move in what I called you to do. Like, things could be completely— it's good— outside of what you normally— the conditions that you had in your mind. But if you are truly committed to my will and what I've asked you to do, you're going to do it regardless. So I was writing that book at Airbnbs and hotels, in the car, at the library, sitting outside in the car, however I could get the book written. That's every condition besides at the beach with my legs propped up. Like any other condition.

So do you have a rhythm that works for the things that you feel like God is asking you to do right now? Are you still working on developing the rhythm?

Both. So parts of my day I have a rhythm to, other parts of my day I don't, and I'm still trying to develop. My— the earlier part of my day when the kids are at school, I have a rhythm to that. Once they get home, I'm mommy. I'm not mommy that does podcasts or has written a book or any of that stuff. I'm just mommy. So that's the part of my day that I'm trying to develop a stronger rhythm to.

Okay, okay. So when things interrupt you now, do you feel like you fairly easily can get back on track?

Yes. I have people that I talk to to help me process.

What are these? I have people that are these friend people? Are these like fellow writer, producer people? Who are your people?

My husband.

Okay.

Uh, I also have a counselor that I talk to.

Okay.

And that's definitely been helpful because that becomes my place where I can share and move on, you know. And then, um, I would say friends, friends that I have. And they're not a ton of them, you know, but I do have some close friends that I talk to that help me navigate some challenges that would cause me to mess with, mess with my day, mess with what I'm trying to get done in the day. I have to have those safe spaces.

Okay, because I think, you know, again, thinking about this idea of taking leaps, I, I think we are good starters. And it doesn't matter if, if you're, you know, when people are working out— years ago I had this guy who would do training And he would talk about red fiber, white fiber muscles. And one of them, I think it's red is your fast one and white is your slow. And if you're a red fiber person, you're a sprinter. And if you're a white fiber person, you're a marathoner. But no matter what we're talking about, red or white, you can start out hot to trot and running 60, 70, 90 miles an hour, or you can start out maintaining a pace. There becomes a point where we all get interrupted, we get tired, and we want to peter out. Right now, as we're talking, I'm sure that people are thinking, you know, because we usually have at least one thing in our life that we can think about that we haven't done that we know we should have done. Like, we're like, I can't believe I haven't done that yet. I remember when God told me to do it, you know. I've— it's been— I've been writing it down in my to-do list every week and just moving it forward. We, we, you know, we have something in our mind that we know we're supposed to do, and whether we're a quick start or a slow start, there's interruption.. And the struggle is to get back on, especially when taking the leap was hard in the first place. And so what counsel would you give? I mean, you mentioned you talk to people. What counsel would you give for kind of the things that would buttress you, that would support you if you've taken a leap and felt fallen off and you, or you're tired of starting and stopping over and over again? What are the things that can keep us on track? When life happens?

Yeah, I mean, I think about just enduring to the end, and the end looks different for, for everyone. But oftentimes when we get to that point where we've been doing this and doing this and now we're getting exhausted, we're not seeing the results, we haven't made it to the end. That's our emotions speaking. That doesn't mean that it's supposed to be over at that point. That just means we have to press differently. We have to see, see the end result differently. We have to lean into what God is speaking about that situation. I think about even with this book, you know, the book writing process is like 2, 3 years. So by the time the book comes out, I'm like, okay, I've talked about it. You know, the book is done. Now, can I go to the next thing? And my husband just had to remind me. He's like, Rachel, people are just getting to hear about this, number one. But number two, you don't want to move on to something else and you haven't fully accomplished what God told you to do in this. Has it reached everyone that it needs to reach? Has it gone to all the places it needs to go to? If it hasn't, you still have work to do. So you got to, you know, gird back up and get yourself out there, you know. So I think oftentimes what happens is we've been doing something for so long, in our minds, it's been a long time, and we're tired. We're ready to go to the next thing. And sometimes that's an indication that it's time to move on. But other times, we have to assess everything and say, is this still being fruitful? Is this still producing something that's a blessing to other people? Is this still the beginning of something that is not ready to take off yet, but in, in a couple years it'll be ready? We just got to endure, you know. That endurance is, is hard, but it's a necessary part of, of running the race.

So I hear you say that having people around to support you and the leap that God has given you to take is important. I'm also hearing you say that you got to keep the vision in mind, that sticking with it over the long haul, or whatever the haul is that God has asked you to do, is a part of that supportive mechanism. Is there anything else? Because I think so many people, we have so much rah, rah, rah out here. You know what I'm saying? It's like—

Yeah.

You know, the get your purpose and God is going to answer your prayer because all these things and people get excited. We get excited at New Year's Eve service. We get excited on, you know, at the beginning of the year, we write new resolutions. We get excited when our birthday rolls around. We get excited, you know, when we get a new position, when we start a new school, we get excited. And then we reach the point where we start petering out and we had enough of our red or white fiber to make that first leap. And to start the race. And then when we get tired or we fall off, not only are we struggling because we know we quit or slowed down to a degree we shouldn't have, then we start feeling guilty. And then we, you know, then procrastinate. I read something yesterday that said you can be addicted to procrastination. You know, just the, you just are used to postponing. It's just what you do. And so is there anything else you would say to that person who leaked?

They leaked.

They've talked to their people. Their people know. I got people in my life that are like, so when are you going to finish your book? When are you going to go back to piano lessons? They're in my life. I know what the finish line is. I know that there are some regrets I don't want to have. But for the person who is sitting in there, I know, I know, I know. Is there anything else you would say to them about re-engaging with the thing that God called them to do?

That right there, what you said at the end is key. God called you to do. Oftentimes we get exhausted and tired because we're doing something he didn't call us to do.

Wow.

We, we did it because we felt like we were supposed to do that. I remember when I got my master's— a master's is a great thing, it is— but the season I was in, God didn't tell me to do that. And I remember struggling in that season. And I'm like, Lord, why is this happening? And he's like, I never told you to do that. You did that because you felt like the next thing you were supposed to do was get a master's, but I never told you. And it's funny, even to this day— not funny, but it is funny. It's not funny when you look at the, the debt that came out of it. But I don't even use the skills from that degree. It was like, like, I use it to smidget, but it's a lot of stuff I could have learned on YouTube. I could have went to YouTube for free. But I look at that, but I know I did that because Rachel felt like that's what I was supposed to do. That was what I was supposed to do next. And so what I would say to that person is, if you're feeling overwhelmed or you're trying to do all these things, what did God tell you to do right now? That's what we have to get used to hearing, God's voice and what he says. Because when he calls us to it, the next thing that happens He brings people alongside us that can partner with the vision because it's never for us to do all on our own. It's just not. He brings people alongside so that overwhelm, so that stress— he doesn't want us to be anxious. He says not to be anxious. So if I'm feeling anxious about everything and I'm feeling worried and overwhelmed, that's an indication that there's something that I'm doing that may not be in the will of God. And I've been in those seasons and I've had to lay things down, just like the brand agency. Yeah, I had to lay that down. I was getting anxious, overwhelmed, stressed. I had to lay it down.

So good. You know, I know that towards the back of the book, the last section, you're talking about the path to leaping, and you mentioned the importance of prayer and some other things. But there's, in chapter 12, you talk about the posture of preparation. And I know we talked a little bit about preparation and how sometimes God aligns seasons of preparation that we didn't even know we were being prepared, just being faithful to do what he told us to do. And then later we see how he's using all of that or, um, allows us to engage with that. Um, you say, uh, here, no matter what God is using to accomplish his will, a posture of preparation is always accompanied by a posture of rest. So I know you talked about rest being important for you, slowing down, being a part of that, but can you talk a little bit more about this posture of preparation? Like, what does it mean? Like, if I want to make sure Like, life is not moving at the clip I want it to. Or I have a vision, I don't know how I'm going to get there. Or I have no vision, and I hope God one day shows me what in the world I'm supposed to do with my life. I was talking to my son the other day. I have two boys in college, and one of them is just kind of discouraged because he really doesn't know what he wants to do. And I'm standing outside like, it don't matter. Get a degree. Because it's about the process. It's not about the degree. And most of the people you and I know are not doing what they got their degrees in, right?

Yeah.

And so I'm standing outside of his process, and I'm saying, your investment in the future that God has for you is for you to just be faithful, learn everything you can in these classes, take advantage of these opportunities. But for him, on the inside looking out, what's the point of me taking these classes? I don't even know if this is what I want to do. And I think so many people, that's where they are in preparation. Because they only can see what they can see from the inside out. And you and I can look and say, oh, but we can see, you know, what God is doing in your life, or we may be able to even speak life into your situation. For someone who's inside, they're not outside looking in it, they're inside, and their preparation season, they don't want to be in it. It's taking too long. They don't see how this connects with anything that is meaningful. What would you say to them about them having the right posture? While they're in that season so that God does have something to work with later.

Yeah, the posture of preparation in itself is just contentment, like learning to be content in every season, knowing that nothing is wasted. Every season that we walk through, God is going to use that in a conversation, or as we are encouraging someone, or to prepare us for the next thing. And so I mentioned rest in that Because for me, rest is knowing that I don't have to do all the work. I don't have to do it all. I can rest and be reassured that even though God— I'm the vessel that God's using, I'm not ultimately the only person that's involved in this. God, the Holy Spirit, is doing the, the heavy lifting. So the— but the proper— the process, um, of preparation and the posture of preparation in itself is being content and knowing that I'm moving at God's pace. I'm moving at the pace that he wants things to be done. I don't want to move ahead of him. Okay. I don't want to move behind him. I want to move with him. And that's the posture that we want to have.

So good. Uh, my last question for you is, you, you know, you talked about one of the ways that we know we're moving at God's pace and in the direction that he wants to go is because he'll bring other people along. Part of the reason why we can rest is because You don't have to do it all by yourself. And there are some seasons where it's very simple for me, Rachel, to see that God is in it. Because without me really doing a whole lot, it's just moving. And then there are some seasons where the door is not open. Nobody's opening it for me. But I have such a deep conviction that I'm supposed to open this door, and I'm being obedient by opening the door. Some seasons, you're— you look at the path, the yellow brick road being laid out for you, and then some seasons you lay the bricks.

Yeah.

Um, how do you know when God is coming alongside you in a season where you don't have the affirmation or the support or the open doors, when you do have to send in a proposal to multiple publishing houses to get the book deal, or when you do have to, you know, create content so people know that you speak, or when you do have to ask questions about how to get a business deal, how to get a leasing space, but no one's giving it to you. I will tell you this. There's a lady who is in Dallas. Her name is, uh, Donna, and she owns a— or runs a nonprofit for, uh, unwed mothers. And a part of her story is the first time that God told her that she was supposed to not just bring diapers, but she was supposed to house women. She's like, well, how am I supposed to do that? I'm a single parent. Where am I going to put them? And then the next day, the pastor of her church came and said, listen, I got— we've got this house. We bought it. We're not going to use it. I really want to put it to work in the community. Do you know of anybody who could use— they have to fix it up, but they can have the house. Well, of course, if God, you know, if God tells you the day before, I want you to house unwed mothers, and then the next day somebody gives you a house, of course. But sometimes God don't give you the house, you know what I'm saying?

Right.

It's not that. In the seasons where the yellow bricks are not being laid for you, and in order for it to move forward, you have to lay the brick, how do you make sure that you're in God's will? And I know you talked about timing and waiting, but in my life, sometimes waiting, it— the only thing that happens is that nothing happens. That I just continue to feel compelled. Is that what it looks like for you? How do you know when you're supposed to lay the bricks?

Yeah, I would say what you just said, you continue to feel compelled. But the other thing that we have to be very careful of is we do see those highlight moments. We do see the moments where she gets the house, they get the book, they get this, they get that. And we assume that they didn't have those bricklaying seasons. We assume that they didn't have those seasons where they didn't— they were looking for the house, they were looking for this, But what, what we need to realize is that we have to steward. This is where that preparation, that posture is that we're stewarding those other seasons the same way we'll steward the season when we do get that. And so it's built— God is— he— to whom much is given, much is required. He is constantly growing our faith. But we also want to realize that in those other seasons where our dream hasn't been fulfilled yet,— and we might be seeing people all around us, and their dreams are getting fulfilled. We are still in the process. And if we honor those seasons well, if we honor the steps that it takes, when we get there, then God is glorified. That's ultimately what it's about. He wants to make sure that he can be glorified in the story. If we're making everything happen, he doesn't get the glory. We get the glory. So in those seasons, for me, once I get my emotions together— because we're human, right? So at first, I'm like, Lord, what is happening here? Once I get my emotions together and, you know, I just, I surrender that, I realize like this had to happen this way. I can look back at moments and say, that's why that didn't happen then. That's exactly why that didn't happen then. Because had that happened, then this would have happened, this would have happened, and it would have completely ruined the plan that God had. So when we know that God, we— it does go back to his timing. When we know that his timing is perfect and his will is perfect, then we can say, okay, in this season, I'm still, um, I'm still being a server instead of the main cook. I'm still having to learn how to serve, because as the main cook, I still got to know how to serve.

Yeah.

So I would add, I would encourage them to consider what is God cultivating in this season that's still going to be necessary when you get to that, that highlight moment.

So good, y'all. Taking the 5 leaps. Not only is Rachel living the leap and sharing about it, but she details this in a way that not only you will— see, I think we just want to know, you know, what am I supposed to do next? But it's bigger than that. It's bigger than that. It's you understanding calling. It's you understanding vision. It's you understanding purpose and the setup that God wants to have for you to move in the next season and for you to see different kinds of leaps. And so what I love about this book is you As you mentioned earlier, you walk them through what it looks like for different people in the Bible, and there's different kinds. You were talking about Paul. I didn't even say it out loud, but I was thinking the side hustle, Lee. You do it on the side while you're doing other things. And then the path, and you talked about posture and the importance of prayer and really connecting with God so you're not thinking your own thoughts, but you truly are trusting in the Lord with all your heart and leaning not to your own understanding. That can't happen. If you don't have the right posture and you're not making prayer such an important part. So thank you for writing this and thank you for living it, even though I know it's hard. For the person who's listening that is on the edge of their seat and after this conversation they're like, okay, I'm supposed to, I'm supposed to engage, I'm supposed to, I'm supposed to do the thing. They're encouraged to remember what God told them last. What are the parting words that you would leave for them if their, if their soul is itching?

Yeah, I would just remind them that God can do more with your willingness than he could ever do with your worthiness. So knowing that, step into what he has, obey him, but know that it's an adventure with God, and we're going to be leaping until we get to the other side of eternity. So let's just get used to it.

So good. Thanks for being with me, Rachel.

Thank you so much for having me.

Listen, after listening to this, I hope you were practically helped to know that you can move forward? And if you're feeling nervous, we all feel nervous. If you're feeling scared, we all feel scared. If you got a little bit of anxiety, it comes with the territory. How will you move on to greater and better things? Honestly, how will you move on to God's dreams for you if you're not willing to step out on faith? So here's the deal. I want to make sure that you're not only encouraged today, but that you are practically tooled And I want you to go to Rachel's website. It is rachelgscott.com. And right on her website, you can take a 5 Leaps quiz. It's free, but it will tell you what kind of style you need to leap. Sometimes it is bold. You just leave one thing, go to the other. Sometimes you do one thing while you continue to do something else. There's all kinds of different ways to move forward in God's plan for you. And if you wanna know what that might be for you, Take the quiz and listen, I know that you've been blessed by this conversation and I know that you've been challenged. My right now challenge for you though, is to ask yourself, has God been inviting me to take a leap that I've been unwilling to take? Has he been guiding me, directing me, propelling me from the inside out to do something different? And I've been rejecting or running away, cuz sometimes we run away from the next thing he's calling me towards. If that's you, I'd love to know. I'd love for you to tell me in the comments, where are you feeling like you're supposed to take a leap? Have you been willing to surrender? Have you been running? Have you been afraid? And based on this conversation, what will you do today? I hope this conversation blessed you, and I look forward to seeing you next week.

Wow!