Episode 17 - Still Showing Up

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Download Episode 17 Reflection Guide

Show Notes:

Summary

Sometimes obedience does not look dramatic.

It does not always look confident, polished, or full of energy. Sometimes obedience looks like sitting down and saying, “Okay, Lord, I’m here. I don’t know exactly what I have today, but I’m here.”

In this solo episode of Glory & Grit, Stephanie talks about the kind of faithfulness that often goes unnoticed — the quiet, tired, ordinary kind. The kind that keeps praying, keeps trying, keeps choosing God, and keeps taking the next small step even when the whole picture is not clear.

This episode is for the person who is not quitting, but is tired. The person who is still believing, but maybe it feels quieter than it used to. The person who may not feel strong, but is still showing up.

Anchored in Doctrine and Covenants 64:33, this episode reminds us that God sees the small yes, the tired step, and the hidden foundation work He is building in us.

Key Topics

• What faithfulness looks like when you are tired

• Why obedience is not always polished or dramatic

• How God honors small, imperfect efforts

• The difference between rest and quitting

• What it means to lay the foundation of a great work

• Asking God for the next faithful step

Takeaways

• Being tired does not mean you are failing.

• Faithfulness is often ordinary before it ever looks impressive.

• Small steps with God are still steps.

• Foundation work may feel hidden, but it still matters.

• Showing up does not mean pretending you are fine.

• Sometimes the next faithful step is rest. ...

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Transcript:

Stephanie (00:00)

Maybe you're not quitting, but you are tired. Maybe you're still believing, but it feels ⁓ quieter than it used to. Maybe you're still praying, but your prayers are shorter. Maybe you're still doing what you know to do: going to work, taking care of your family, trying to be faithful.

Trying to heal, trying to keep your head above water, and you just don't exactly feel strong.

You just feel like you're putting one step in front of the other. And if that is you, my friend, I want to talk to that person today. I want to talk to you today.

Welcome back to Glory and Grit, where faith meets real life. I'm your host, Stephanie, and I'm really glad you're here with me today. Today's episode is called Still Showing Up. And quite honestly, this one might be a little personal. Sometimes obedience doesn't lookbig and dramatic and sometimes it doesn't look like you're standing on a stage with perfect confidence and a full plan and your whole life all together.

Sometimes obedience looks like sitting down and saying, Okay, Lord, I'm here.

Because I know that sometimes we we underestimate the faith that it takes just to keep showing.

Not perfectly, not dramatically, not all you know, big and with this shiny testimony moment every five seconds, but just showing up. Still trying, still choosing God, ⁓ still ⁓ taking the next step. And I think

That matters more than we give it credit for. More than we give ourselves credit for.

You know, I'll be honest with you. When I sat down to prepare this episode

I had one of those moments where I was like, okay, Lord, what are we talking about here?

And it it wasn't because there was nothing to say. There's always something to say. But sometimes your brain is just like, it just looks at you and says, ma'am, we are closed. And I was sitting there thinking, I need to record. I need an episode.

I need this to make sense and I need this to be helpful to other people. And then I thought maybe that is the episode. maybe the thing to talk about is what it looks like to keep going when you don't feel all shiny.

When you don't feel super inspired, when you don't feel like you have ⁓ some big polished message.

Mm, when you're not quitting, but you're also not exactly over here skipping through a field of daisies either. You know what I mean? You're just here.

Still showing up. And the more I think about it, the more I realize how much faith, how much faith actually looks like that. It's not always loud. It's not always emotional. It's not always this big traumatic moment. Sometimes faith is really quiet. Sometimes faith is tired.

Sometimes faith is saying, Lord, I don't feel like I have much today, but what I have, I'm giving it to you.

And I think God honors that. I do. I think we sometimes have this very polished idea of what faithfulness is supposed to look like. ⁓ what we imagine faithfulness looks like. We we think it's this big yes, this brave yes, ⁓ a clear, definite yes.

And the moment where everything starts to make sense and you know exactly what you're supposed to do. And yeah, I mean, sometimes faithfulness does look like that. But most of the time, faithfulness looks pretty darn ordinary. Not all big and shiny.

It looks like getting up and doing the next right thing. It looks like sending the message, making a phone call, going to church when your heart feels heavy, opening your scriptures, even if you only read a few verses, praying when your prayers are not pretty, apologizing, trying again.

Taking care of what God has already put in your hands and not walking away just because it got harder than you thought it would. That, my friend, is faithfulness too. And I need that reminder. I don't know about you, but I need that reminder. Maybe you do too. Because sometimes I think that.

We look at our s we look at our own efforts and think, well, hmm, that isn't that wasn't enough. That wasn't impressive. That wasn't strong. That wasn't very ⁓ spiritual. That wasn't blah blah blah blah blah. But God sees more than the outside results.

He sees what it took for you to do it. He sees the effort and God loves effort. He sees the tears nobody else sees.

He sees the deep breath before you try it again.

He sees the moment where you almost gave up, but you didn't.

He sees the little yes that cost you something.

And I just want to say this clearly.

Sometimes the holy thing is not doing it perfectly. Sometimes the holy thing is doing it at all.

Mike Thumper. Let me say that again because I need to hear it too. I'm not just preaching to the choir. I'm talking to myself as well. Sometimes the holy thing is not doing it perfectly.

Sometimes the holy thing is doing it at all.

Definitely talking to myself about that one. and I have definitely felt that with this podcast. And I try not to use this podcast as an example for every situation, although it seems to fit. ⁓ but this is the last solo episode for this season. So I'm gonna use the podcast as my example again. You know, there have been moments when

I felt excited and clear and ready. And there have been other moments where I thought, Lord, exactly what did I get myself into? Because doing something new stretches you. And we've talked about that previous episodes. But it sounds cute when you're talking about it.

then when you're actually in it.

And suddenly there are recordings and editing and scheduling and guests and emails and tech issues and social media clips and website stuff and and about seventeen different tabs that are open in my brain twenty-four hours a day. Not to mention the rest of life that continues to need me.

And then some days you feel like, ⁓ yes, this is this is meaningful, this is good. And then other days you feel like I love this, but I'm so tired.

and that's not just podcasting. That's life. That's life. You can love your family and still get tired. You can love your calling and still get tired. You can be grateful for the opportunities and still feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities. You can believe God asks you to do something.

and still need him to help you carry it. And I think we need to make space for that.

Being tired doesn't mean you are failing. It doesn't. Being tired doesn't mean you are disobedient. Being tired does not mean you missed God.

Sometimes being tired just means you are human, my friend.

And ⁓ and maybe instead of shaming ourselves for that, we need to take it to God honestly, not dressed up, not polished, just honest. Lord, I'm tired.

Lord, I need help.

Lord, I still want to be faithful, but I need strength for this step.

That is a real prayer.

And I believe God meets us there.

What the concepts of this podcast, right? He meets us where we are, where there's in the middle of our mess or in the middle of whatever it is, right? One of the scriptures that came to mind for this episode is in Doctrine and Covenants 64 33. And it says, wherefore be not weary in well doing.

For ye are laying the foundation of a great work.

I love that.

But I also love that the Lord even says be not weary.

Because that tells me that he knows we're going to get weary. He knows that we can get tired while doing good things. Tired while serving, tired while building, healing, trying to be obedient while becoming.

So I don't hear that scripture as God saying, How dare you be tired? I hear it more as him saying, I know this gets tiring. Don't quit. Something is being built here. I'm with you. I got you.

And then he says, you are laying the foundation of a great work.

And foundation work is usually not glamorous. I don't know if you've ever seen a house being built, but it's one of the first things that happened. It's not glamorous. I mean, nobody has ever walked into a house and said, Wow, look at that foundation. I mean, we notice the paint, we notice the furniture, we notice the decorations, the lighting, all the pretty stuff. But the foundation.

Which is what's holding everything up.

Nobody ever looks at that. and maybe some of what you're doing right now feels ⁓ small because it's foundation work. Maybe it doesn't look impressive because it's not that visible part yet. Maybe it feels slow or ordinary or hidden because God is building something different.

Deeper than you can see right now. And my friend, foundations take time. They take time to build, they take time to set, they take time to dry. They are built step by step, layer by layer. Choice by choice.

And maybe that's what God is doing in you. Maybe He's laying the foundation in your faith, in your healing, in your family, in your future, your courage, your ability to trust him. And you might not be able to see the whole thing yet. But that doesn't mean nothing is happening.

And we've talked about that in previous episodes. There's another scripture that says by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

I know we say that, but living it isn't always easy because small and simple can be boring. It can feel boring. It can feel slow and it could feel like I mean nothing's being done. Like you you could be you could you'll be questioning, like, is anything happening here? I I don't see anything. I don't feel anything. One prayer.

One conversation, one decision, one boundary, one honest moment, one scripture, one day of not giving up. It might not seem like much, but God has always been able to do a lot with small things.

The problem is we usually want the whole picture. We want the breakthrough, we want the confirmation,

We want the big open door. We want the staircase to be lit up.

But a lot of the time, God gives us just enough light for the next step.

Which is rude. I'm kidding. Kinda.

But you know what I mean. Sometimes I want God to give me the entire plan, preferably tight, highlighted, laminated, and maybe even with a checklist.

But instead, he gives me the next step. And then I have to decide if I trust him enough to take it.

That's faith.

Not knowing everything, not having everything figured out, not feeling confident all the time.

Just trusting him enough for the next step.

So let me ask you this.

Where are you tired but still trying?

Where are you showing up?

Even though it doesn't feel impressive.

Where have you been dismissing your own faithfulness because it looks small?

Maybe you're in a season of rebuilding. Maybe you're grieving. Maybe you're caring for someone. Maybe you're just trying to forgive. Start over. Maybe you're working on your relationship with God after a hard season.

Maybe you're doing something he put in your heart, but it's taking more out of you than you expected.

and maybe you've been thinking, I should be stronger than this.

But what if God isn't disappointed that you need strength?

What if he's inviting you to receive it?

What if the fact that you're still here matters? Still praying, still trying, still choosing him, still taking one small step.

That counts,

I really believe that counts.

And I want to be careful here because I'm not saying that we should never rest. Sometimes the next faithful step is rest.

Sometimes the next faithful step is asking for help.

sometimes the next faithful step is admitting, I can't keep carrying this the way I've been carrying it.

Sometimes the next faithful step is adjusting the pace.

Faithfulness isn't the same thing as burning yourself out. And showing up doesn't mean pretending you're fine. We've talked about that.

It means staying honest with God and continuing to walk with Him. And sometimes walking with Him looks like moving forward.

Sometimes it looks like sitting down and letting him restore you.

Sometimes it looks like surrendering, which we talk a lot about, something you were never meant to carry alone.

So when I say still showing up, I don't mean keep pushing no matter what. I mean bringing your real self to God, the tired self, the unsure self, the hopeful self, the discouraged self.

I still want to believe. Help thou mine unbelief self.

Bring that self to him.

that is still showing up to as I look back over the season yay we're almost to the end of season one we have one more guest episode coming next then the season recap episode

So as I look back on that season over the season, I think this is one of those things that God has been teaching me. Not everything starts perfectly, not everything goes according to plan. Sometimes schedules change, sometimes people reschedule, sometimes technology acts like it needs deliverance, and sometimes.

sometimes you think you know what something is gonna look like and then it shifts.

But God is still in it. Not just the smooth parts, not just the polished parts.

Not just when I feel confident. He's in the learning. He's in the stretching. He's in the try again. He's in the messy middle. He's in the moments where I decide ⁓ am I gonna show up?

I don't think that's just true for me. I think that's true for I think that's true for a lot of us. So much of walking with God happens in the middle of the story. We want the finished testimony. We want the part where we can say, and here is what God did. But a lot of the life.

Is lived before we get to that part. It's lived in the waiting, in the building, the healing, the becoming, the quiet faithfulness that nobody sees. And maybe that part.

is sacred too.

So here's the gentle challenge for this week.

Ask God.

What is my next faithful step?

Not the next impressive step, not the next perfect step, not the step that explains the whole future. Okay?

Just the next faithful step. Maybe it's rest, maybe it's sending sending a message, opening your scriptures, making an appointment, apologizing, ⁓ forgiving one layer, trying it again. Maybe it's letting something be imperfect and do it anyway.

Maybe it's simply saying, Lord, I'm still here.

Whatever it is, don't minimize it just because it's small. small steps with God are still steps. And sometimes those small steps are laying the foundation for something you can't see yet.

As you sit with this episode, here are a few questions to think about.

Where am I tired but still trying?

What small act of faithfulness have I been dismissing because it doesn't look big enough?

Is there area where I've confused being tired with failing?

what might God be building in me through this slow, ordinary, hidden season?

And what is the one next faithful step I can take this week? Not twenty steps, not the whole staircase. Okay? Just one.

I wanna leave you with this. You don't have to feel strong for God to be working.

You don't have to feel inspired every second for your obedience to matter.

You don't have to do this perfectly for it to count.

If you're tired but still trying, God sees you.

If your yes feels small, God can still use it. If the work feels hidden, the foundation may still be forming.

And if all you can say today is, Lord, I'm still here.

That may be a more powerful prayer than you even realize.

So be not weary in well doing. You are laying the foundation of a great

Even when it feels small, even when it feels slow, even when it feels ordinary, keep walking with him. Keep walking with God.

Not because you have endless strength, but because he does.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me today on Glory and Grit. I'm Stephanie. If this episode encouraged you, I'd love for you to share it with someone who

might need the reminder that their small, faithful steps still matter. And don't forget you can download this week's reflection guide at gloryandgritpodcast.com.

Until next time, my friend, keep choosing faith in the middle of real life. Bye now.