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Graced to Lead
The Graced to Lead Podcast is an empowering space dedicated to women, designed to inspire, equip, and nurture their leadership abilities in every aspect of life. We are here to remind you of the extraordinary God-grace you possess to lead with confidence and Biblical wisdom, whether in your professional endeavors, at home, in your business, or within your ministry.
Join us weekly for a journey of personal growth and empowerment. Each episode and post is crafted to challenge and inspire you, providing insights and tools that propel you forward in your leadership path. Graced to Lead is more than a podcast; it's a call to embrace God's grace to lead, even if you feel unqualified. Here, we believe in your power to gracefully, boldly, and effectively lead God’s way!
What to expect: solo episodes, conversations with guests, and even a few giveaways.
Graced to Lead
S2/E9 - When God Says Shift + New Book! with Belinda Gaston
Have you ever felt the discomfort of divine redirection just when you've mastered your current assignment? That unsettling moment when God shifts your comfortable path toward something new?
This episode takes an unexpected turn as I share the journey behind my new book "Equipped by God. Graced to Lead.," only to find myself discussing the very process of transition that's happening in real-time. What began as a book announcement evolved into a vulnerable exploration of what happens when God redirects our paths mid-journey.
Leadership is full of these kind of "pivot" moments when we've established systems, gained confidence, and found our rhythm, only to feel called toward something unfamiliar. I share my personal experience with the fear, uncertainty, and resource concerns that accompany such transitions, while trying to at least offer practical wisdom for anyone experiencing similar shifts in their leadership journey.
Whether you're a business leader sensing a call to ministry, a corporate executive feeling pulled toward entrepreneurship, or a ministry leader receiving a refined message, this episode if for you.
Join me for this unscripted, heart-to-heart conversation about navigating transition while staying true to your divine assignment. Find my book "Equipped by God Graced to Lead" on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or BelindaGaston.com.
Mentioned During the Show:
Purchase Equipped By God. Graced to Lead Today!
Learn more about me! www.belindagaston.com
Please subscribe to our mailing list to stay connected and get updates! Thanks for listening to the Graced to Lead Podcast.
Hey, listen, this episode was supposed to be about my book. Yes, I have a new book, Equipped God to. Lead Graced to Lead., but as I began talking, god took me off my notes and I started talking about transition. I talked about what happens when you are comfortable doing what you're doing and God changes the direction of what you are doing and now you have to go in a different direction. So, if you are ready, let's get into it. Welcome to the Graced to Lead podcast. I'm Belinda Gaston, your host, and listen, today I have something exciting to share, and that is I am an author. Yes, I'm excited, I'm an author. I have my first book out now, called Equipped by God. Graced to Lead.. You can find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can also go
Belinda Gaston:The book really is about my journey that God has taken me through to this place of leadership. It's written for the woman who is leading or influencing in spaces that you feel like maybe you're not confident in, you're not qualified for, maybe you are unsure about some things and there's some things in your heart that might be hindering you from feeling like that you're equipped for the positions you're in. Perhaps there have been some things that's happened that made you distrust people or feel abandoned or feel like you had to put up a wall to protect yourself. I talk about all of this in the book and I start really with my story because, listen y'all, I wrote this book about four or five years ago now and I wrote it all in one day because I felt like, oh God wants me to write this book, I'm just going to get it done. And then the book just really sat. I had an editor, I sent that information to her and her publishing company and she said, hey, this is great, let's do it. And she began to ask me questions about the book that I just couldn't answer and it was simple questions.
Belinda Gaston:There were things that I wrote that were very surface initially, and this is just real talk. So if you're writing a book, you know this idea. Let me tell you, sometimes we don't go deep enough. So my book, if I'm honest with you and honest with myself, the first iteration of this book was full of just catchy cliches and like sayings and motivational talk. Right, it really was, until God took me on this process of going deeper, because I know that everybody can be an expert these days, right, everybody can just say I'm an expert in whatever. But I couldn't actually tell you hey, you know, you can be a better leader if you deal with your feelings of I don't know abandonment, if I hadn't walked through that process myself. And so questions like tell me more about this, or questions like this seems kind of surface. Why write this? What's behind all of this? Those are the questions that my editor asked me.
Belinda Gaston:That caused me to really go deeper, and so I had to pray like Lord. What is it that I'm supposed to be saying? Otherwise, I'm just, you know, giving you a motivational speech, which is fine, but I don't think that's what God wanted when he wanted me to write the book. And once I prayed about it and began to ask the question, then God took me through every single chapter and I was processed. And listen, that did not happen overnight.
Belinda Gaston:For the last three years, actually, I have been processed by God. I have been walking through the process of healing and realizing that things like me putting up a wall of protection for myself so I don't get hurt that actually impacts not just me as a person and the people around me, but how I lead Me being friendly but not open. That impacts how I lead. So I walked through the process. I dealt with some things that some things I didn't even know was there, but some things that I just really had to deal with. And listen, I am very transparent. I can't even believe I'm telling y'all my business. Oh my gosh, the first two chapters. I just reread it the other day in preparation for this episode and I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I told y'all all my business like this. But I put it out there because I believe that God is going to use this book to help others, to help someone out there, even if it's just one person, to lead better and understand that God is with them. And so that is the book Equipped by God Graced to Lead.
Belinda Gaston:Again, I'll put the links in the show notes. I would love for you to support me and purchase the book, but let me tell you let episode where I talked about you know. It's about equipping women to be Graced by God, whether you lead in the boardroom, you lead in your home, you lead in your business, you lead in ministry. I talked about all of that, and so I have been really consistent and very proud of myself for pushing forward. We've have over a thousand downloads now. That's more than what I ever thought.
Belinda Gaston:I really wasn't chasing a specific number or anything, I was just being obedient. But let me tell you, when you say that you're being obedient to something, isn't it like God to change up things as you go? And so lately God has been changing my message a little bit and I'm telling y'all it is uncomfortable. So remember I just said that you know how I started, but where God is taking me now is slightly different. I still am talking about women in leadership and influence positions who are Graced for those positions by God.
Belinda Gaston:I still believe in the fact that, as women who are believers, that we don't need to separate our faith walk from our leadership walk and our leadership journey. I wholeheartedly, now more than ever, understand that we are not meant to lead alone. There should be no leading in isolation, and we know that I think I've shared that in a previous episode that lots of women, when you get to particular positions, the higher you go, the more difficult it is to find community and why that's important. But now more than ever, god is putting in my heart this desire to make sure that women who are in positions of influence and leadership have everything that they need, are equipped in every way to walk their faith out in their positions because God has called us to walk literally affect the environment we're in, because he needs people to be light carriers in what is really can be a dark world. These assignments that you, these places you find yourself in whether you are a manager, a CEO, whether you are a business owner, whether you are in ministry, whether you are a business owner, whether you are in ministry, whether you're leading a ministry or a nonprofit organization, if you are an independent consultant and you are coming in as an expert, if you are leading in your family Because, listen, I understand it's like in my house I am a married woman, my husband is the head of our household, but I am responsible for influencing my family and leading in some spaces that God has placed me in within my home for my children, and so all of those positions that we find ourselves in, those are not by accident.
Belinda Gaston:God has uniquely chosen each of us for a specific task and we and you know, many of the messages of previous podcasts has said this, but I just feel that there's some, some women listening right now, who are in jobs, and you're like Lord, why am I here? These people are crazy. What is happening? Things are falling around me, and perhaps it's because God has placed you there, because you will be the one to influence and impact the space that you're in, and so what's been happening is my, what I thought I was going to be doing. As it relates to the Graced to Lead podcast and Graced to Lead in general, the company that I have is called. One of the companies is called the Graced to Lead Collective. That's what's related to this podcast.
Belinda Gaston:I do coaching, I do speaking, but all of the purpose has kind of shifted and y'all that's uncomfortable. And so if you are in a place right now where you're like I am doing what God told me to do, I'm feeling great about it, and then God's like yeah, I know I told you to do this thing over here, but now I need you to move and do this over here. Or now I need you to move and do this over here. Or now I need you to shift your message a little. Or now I need you to. You know, I know I told you to write that book, for instance, but now I need you to go speak over here to this group of people. Well, I know I told you to start that consulting business, but now I need you to go over here and I need you to work for this company right now. If you are in a place where you feel like you're being shifted midway, let me tell you first, you're not alone. And two, if you lean into the shift and are obedient, some amazing things can begin to happen. So let me talk. Let me give you an example using the book.
Belinda Gaston:So I was really excited to finally have this book out right, and I thought that what would happen is I would release the book and my platform would be really. You know, I say platform loosely, but what I would be talking about is a lot of the content in the book and what God is doing right now is completely different. And yes, I'm going to be talking about the content of the book and what God is doing right now is completely different. Yes, I'm going to be talking about the content of the book. The book is really the tenets of what I talk about on this podcast, but God is showing me now. There's a little bit more I have to do. There's some workshops I need to do, there's some devotions I need to do and, honestly, the talk about leadership is important, but I feel God calling me into a place of talking more about the faith walk in leadership, which is slightly different than what I, because, listen, you know it's unless you deal with stuff in your heart, and you can't deal with stuff in your heart unless you bring it to God and, hey, you might need therapy. When you start talking like that, that's not necessarily the feel good stuff, that's not necessarily the you can do it stuff, which is what I thought I was going to be the champion of Right.
Belinda Gaston:I am slowly realizing that God is calling me to have some more difficult, deeper conversations, and that is not at all why I got into this. I wanted to, you know, I wanted to say honestly I'm obedient and that was great. So I did it. But I also wanted to have some fun and I wanted to be like you know the podcast you come to and you can laugh a little bit, I mean, and I think that, because I know I sound crazy y'all the whole point is even, as I'm saying, as I'm talking to you right now, I had some notes and I am not on any of my notes right now, but listen, even as I'm talking to you, God is changing my conversation. He's changing what I'm saying and what I am trying to get at here is that it happens that way on your journey, on your walk, even in your careers. I know some people who started out. I work in the space of public health and I know that there's some people who started out saying you know, I am going to change the world by having this job and doing this work. And over the course of their careers they're now finding themselves shifting. Maybe some of them moved into technology. Maybe some of them are being called to lead nonprofit organizations and we were talking about public health but also becoming. Now I've seen some folks who are getting into the world of political activism, right and social activism.
Belinda Gaston:How do you handle the shift when you start doing what you know or what you believe God wants you to do, when you start leading well, when you start feeling confident about that thing, and then God shifts it? That's the question. How do you handle that? It can be difficult. So I'm going to talk a little bit about that and then I'm going to stop talking y'all, but let me just tell you, the first thing that you feel, at least for me, is fear and uncertainty.
Belinda Gaston:You finally have your systems together. Uncertainty. You finally have your systems together. You finally have a way of doing what God has asked you to do. You finally have that book written. You finally get that business plan and you're moving along in the business. You finally find your footing in your job. You kind of have navigated the space and you understand how things work. You finally have put up the system for your household and everything seems to be working well. And then God says, yeah, that's great. Now it's time to shift. We're going to do something else.
Belinda Gaston:Now what you feel initially is what? But I don't, I can't do that, I don't know how to do that. That's not what we agreed upon, that's not what you promised me, that's not what you said. And it becomes a scary thing because, quite frankly, the scariest part about obedience is submission to the unknown. You're submitting to like well, I don't know about this, but I'm going to go anyway. What? That's what it feels like and honestly it's easy to say, oh, I trust the Lord, but real talk, you're like for me. I'm going to talk about myself. Real talk is like, but for real Lord, like I me, I'm going to talk about myself. Real talk is like, but for real Lord, like I mean I trust you or whatever right, it's fear.
Belinda Gaston:And so what I am learning through this process for me is what's helping is acknowledging that. Acknowledging I don't know about this, I'm uncertain about this, I'm afraid, and because I have a community now and listen, if you don't have a community, go back and listen to that Leading in Isolation episode. You cannot I repeat, you cannot do this alone, because I have my advisory board, which I talk about in the book. I have my council of wisdom. I can go to them and say, listen, this is what I hear God saying and I'm scared, I'm uncomfortable, and in every instance when I've done that particularly now because this is happening in real time y'all I get a word of advice or wisdom that's rational and that sound that helps me understand that. Ok, all right, I can go in spite of my fear.
Belinda Gaston:Right, you know what else you feel besides that kind of fear and hesitation and unknown is you immediately begin to realize that you don't have the resources to do the other thing. So, like I've built a system for this podcast, I have the book written, I have my coaching program established. Those are great, right, they're done. I can do those things. But when God is telling me now okay, well, this is great, but I want you to do more Bible studies, y'all Bible studies. You want me to do Bible studies on leadership? Now, really, in addition to the podcast, you want me to have an actual gathering, community gathering, with women who lead in an intimate space, and you're giving me all these details that in some cases, go against what we're known when we gather.
Belinda Gaston:And the first thing I think is like Lord, who has the resources with this? You know how much eggs cost, lord? You know I have two kids in college. You know how much college tuition is. I have a child in middle school. You know how much these school fees are. Like Lord, are you sure? Like how is all of this supposed to happen? I don't have the resources. I think I need to go back to school again. I don't know if I'm equipped for this. Right, that's the second thing I've been feeling lately, and what I was reminded of again by my advisory council is listen, you didn't have the resources to start the other things that you did. I didn't have the resources or the knowledge even to start a podcast. I didn't have the resources to invest in my coaching certification, I didn't have the knowledge on how to get published or how to publish a book, but God provided as I went. And so that's the reminder that, even in this shift, even for you, if God is shifting you, if you've been doing one thing all this time and you feel this move, this stirring, if you've been doing one thing all this time and you feel this move, this stirring, this feeling of I need to be doing something else and you're worried about the resources, just do the one step, do the thing first, the first thing, and watch God provide, especially if he has given that to you as an assignment.
Belinda Gaston:I have a friend right now who works in. She was a nurse for many, many years, a really good nurse, and she is at a place in her life right now where, all of a sudden, she's passionate about food, y'all food, growing food, healthy food, gardening tips and she started out just I going to plant this thing. But now God is really giving her a passion for it because she feels passionately about preservatives and she's tied it to her work and what she's seen in the nurse as she was nursing for all these years and she's out here doing that thing and people think she's crazy. Ma'am, you are a nurse and she was in leadership in nursing like she wasn't. You know, she was living real nice, she had a real what they say, a real good salary, all that thing. But God shifted her into this new space and she was saying how? She didn't even have the space to garden, how is she going to talk about gardening and gardening tips? And has now acquired space. God has just provided this thing so much for her that she has acres of land that she can use to garden on.
Belinda Gaston:And it came out of the most unexpected ways and I can't really give all the details because I don't want to tell her business. But listen, the point is that God provided as she stepped out there and even as people are looking at her like she's crazy, she's still moving forward. God will do that for you. So if you're feeling shifted midway, if you're being turned around and saying no, and even if, even if you have something that's incredibly successful right now, something that's going really well for you, and you feel the shift happening, you feel a tug like, oh, this is not. I need to be moving into some other place. Can I just tell you to be free to move with God. What are you holding on to? If God built the first thing, can't he help you build the next thing, even if it doesn't make sense to other people? Part of it is is also that we have to keep our mouths closed. I'm over here telling y'all about my transition. I haven't exactly told you everything, but I'm telling you about my transition right now because I believe that that's what God. I'm not on my notes at all so clearly. This is what we're supposed to be talking about.
Belinda Gaston:I started this episode to talk about the book and and God's taking me in a different direction. But sometimes, though, when God gives us ideas and says, hey, we need, I need you to transition into something else, or, you know, put something in your heart to move on. You don't need to tell anybody, maybe your trusted advisors, but maybe you keep it to yourself and you move in silence. That's, you know, you move in silence until God releases you to speak about it. Because, let me tell you, sometimes you can tell somebody something oh, I'm transitioning from, you know, working in this corporate setting to going out on my own and people be like you're crazy. Don't do it, girl. They put fear in you. Right, you're working as a teacher and you really want to sing. God says I need your voice, I need you to sing. You know how many people try to go into the arts and entertainment industry and they fail. Don't do it, girl.
Belinda Gaston:Sometimes you have to do it quietly, with God, until he releases, until he sends somebody along and says hey, I noticed this thing about you. Can I help you? Right? And the last thing I want to say and I'm going to stop talking is that God will indeed send you help. It's amazing how, once I let go and I said, okay, I'm going to do this podcast and it's not going to be perfect I don't have a podcast studio, I'm not even quite doing video for all of the episodes and I haven't even released video for the episodes. I'm not doing the things that they tell you in the podcast university to get you know a hundred thousand downloads and you know your name and life. I'm not doing all of that, but I'm doing this because I believe that's what I'm supposed to be doing. Believe that's what I'm supposed to be doing. And oh, by the way God's now saying okay, write the book. So I get the book done. So I did the book, and now he told me something else.
Belinda Gaston:But let me just tell you, along every step of the journey here, god has sent me help. Help in the form, literally, of people that have come up to me and said you know, I just want to help you with this, and not I mean, some of them are doing so just because God has assigned them to do it, like they're not expecting anything in return. It's a blessing for them. Whenever I've been stuck with I don't know why this is happening on my podcast Somebody will come along and have a conversation oh, you're having that issue. Well, you know, I have a podcast too, and this is how I handle it. Or, oh, you're having some issues with your website. Well, I know a great designer. Let me just give you this resource. Let me just help you out. Right? God sends the.
Belinda Gaston:I'm telling you, I have not been in a situation where I have felt like I don't know what to do. I don't know how to do something, or I have this vision, I don't know how to execute it. When he didn't send the help and I know that you know I have a lot of coaches on here too. God has actually sent me the right coach for the right season too, just to help me get to the next. He will send the help.
Belinda Gaston:And so if you are in the place right now where you're feeling a shift happening, a transition happening for what you know, what you're confident in, what you've been doing, how you've been doing something into something new, I am here to tell you that perhaps the time to move is now, because God has need of you in this other space. It's not by accident that you have a new passion, a new dream, a new idea in your heart. But I'm telling you now, the transition from that comfortable space to this new and different thing can be full of fear and uncertainty. It can be full of doubt, it can be full of people saying girl, you are crazy, listen here, what are you doing. But I'm here to tell you that, as I am even walking this journey out right now, what I understand is that God will provide clarity as I go, so, as you do the things, he'll provide clarity If you are connected and not working in isolation. Your community can support you, the right people can support you in the right way, and sometimes those people are not your family members, listen here not your best girlfriend from the eighth grade either, just putting that out there. That might be a different conversation, and I can wholeheartedly say that the resources will come, that he will put what you need in front of you, as long as you're paying attention. Let me tell you, some of the people that came along to help are the last people. I thought that would help me. Some of the ways he's provided are the last ways that I thought it would come, but it came, and so that's all I have for you today.
Belinda Gaston:Wait, let me go back to the book, because that was the whole point of this. I want to talk to you about the book Equipped by God, Graced to Lead. Listen, do me a favor and go and purchase one. It's on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and again, you can go to my website, belindagastoncom. If you can't find it there. It's in a Kindle form right now and a paperback, looking to get it on Audible as well, so that those of you who are like me, who listen to your books in the car on the way to your different destinations, you'll be able to listen to it soon, but go ahead and get the book for me.
Belinda Gaston:Listen, I'm nervous about this thing because I'm transparent in the book. It's not perfect. I was reading it and I was like, oh, I should have said it this way or that way. But I pray over every chapter. I pray that every person who received this book, who actually picked it up and began to read it, would find something in it that would help them. If it's not going to help you, maybe it'll help somebody. You know and listen, y'all, don't judge me for those first couple of chapters, and I'm telling y'all about myself. Okay, I'm being honest Because, listen, you can't judge a book by its cover. So you know, what you see is not always what you see, right, and I'll just say that if you do purchase the book and you like it, I would love for you to give me, you know, write a quick review of the book. Help me out. And if you get your book, do me a favor, let me know, take a picture of it, tag me. I'm on Facebook and Instagram at. I am Belinda Gaston, so you can find me there. All of the links and information will be in the description box for this episode. This was, again, not what I expected to say, but I'm being obedient, listening transitioning.
Belinda Gaston:Next week, we're back with an amazing interview. We're wrapping up season two, y'all. I've got a couple episodes left. We have, I think, two amazing interviews coming up. So remember, you can find us every Thursday. I have had some technology challenges so I've been a little bit late on Thursdays, but hopefully we have remedied all of those things. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support For those of you who listen to the Graced to Lead podcast. I appreciate you. I don't take your listening lightly. There's a podcast on every platform doing everything now, and I understand that you can do something else with your time. So thank you for listening Until we see each other again, until we meet each other again next week. Remember, you are indeed Graced to lead. Bye-bye.
