Empowering Women Through Conversations: Unveiling Spiritual Growth on She's Free2Fly
Welcome back to another episode of She's Free2Fly, where we empower women to soar to new heights in their personal and spiritual journeys. I'm your host, De'Shonda Lucas, and I'm thrilled to bring you today's episode titled "Empowering Women Through Conversations: Unveiling Spiritual Growth on She's Free2Fly." In this episode, we'll dive into the power of having a goal and the importance of seeking knowledge to overcome any obstacles that may come your way. We'll explore how attending a podcast summit has transformed my understanding of podcasting and equipped me with valuable insights. But that's not all - we'll also delve into the topic of spiritual growth, sharing my own journey with God and the impact it has had on our lives. Join me as I discuss the joys of hosting this podcast, the importance of taking small steps towards our dreams, and the incredible transformations that can happen when we connect with others. So grab your cup of coffee, find a cozy spot, and get ready to be inspired on this exciting episode of She's Free2Fly. Let's dive in!
Transcript
Hello, ladybirds. Let's Perch. I am your hostess, Deshaunda Lucas, and this is the she's free to Fly podcast. It is such an honor and a pleasure to meet with you on this occasion. It is now October. We have completed our first full month of the she's free to Fly pod cast. For some people, this may be your first time watching. For others, you have watched all the previous episodes.
De'Shonda Lucas [:For that, I thank you and I am happy. I really am pleased with the birthing and the early stages of the podcast. I didn't want to focus on doing too much. My primary goal for the month of September was really to just learn how to do the recording and distribute the podcast on the different platforms. I remember my first podcast that I did when I did the trailer, as I mentioned on a previous episode, some of my girlfriends came over and we worked through the computer and the software and tried to work with the volume and figuring out how to get the image to show up. And it was quite a bit. We spent maybe about five or 6 hours on the podcast that day, and on the day I recorded it, honestly took me about 12 hours in total to get everything recorded and distributed on the platforms. It was quite a journey.
De'Shonda Lucas [:But it happened because I was willing to put the work in. I had a goal, I had a desire, and I had a plan, and I was willing to do the work that it would take to put it in. And I just want to encourage somebody, like, if there is something that you're wanting, if there is something that you desire, it's okay to take the time, put the work in. It's not going to go all perfect. I had a lot of retakes, like so many retakes. I had to watch videos to learn software, and it was really a challenge. But I was up to the challenge. I was up to the challenge because my why was bigger than the problems that I was facing in getting the podcast up and out.
De'Shonda Lucas [: give you the meat, the step,: De'Shonda Lucas [:Like, it was amazing. It was amazing. But when I started, I wanted to focus on one thing, and the one thing that I wanted to focus on was being comfortable with recording the podcast, uploading it to the platforms and distributing it to the people. That was my primary goal for September, and I feel good about how I operated in that goal. I haven't done much advertisement I haven't did a whole lot on social media, and that was very intentional. It was intentional because I wanted to fill out step one first. I like things to look a certain way. I like things to be a certain way.
De'Shonda Lucas [:I think they should be a reflection of me. When I got ready to start the podcast, I had a vision on where I wanted to film the podcast at. And for a while I had this plan on what I want to do and all this equipment that I needed, and life just happened. And I sat present with myself and the spirit just spoke to me like, you're good right where you at. Get the bare necessities of what you need to produce the type of content that you want to produce and start there. And so I'm starting at a very simplistic place for me, is like, keep it simple. I am keeping it super simple right now. But what's super simple to me may be complex to somebody else because quite honestly, a month or two ago, this was even complex to me.
De'Shonda Lucas [:So having a microphone, having a mixer, having the computer, having the camera, having the lighting, lighting in front of you, lighting on top of you, it's a process. Making sure my backdrop was good, so having my interior decorator come over and make sure that the image that you would see would be a great reflection of me because we've worked together for so long. And speaking of my interior decorator, she's coming soon, because I tell you, we have such a big reveal coming in the next month. October. I kept it simple, okay, in September, and I just got it up right october, get ready for what's to come. But that's what it's about. It's about taking the steps and not thinking you have to don't make the thing bigger than the theme. The theme can't be bigger than the theme.
De'Shonda Lucas [:The theme was truly cross generational conversations between women. And I hope that is what you're feeling. I hope that you're watching or listening to the podcast allows you to begin some conversations with someone else or even some conversations with yourself. I really hope that this stirs up something in your spirit to connect with women and to know that you can connect and be in safe spaces with women, with younger women, with older women. I really hope that this does that. I hope that you may have a vision or a goal for yourself. And just watching the progression of this podcast, where it started and where it's going, encourages you to take the necessary steps to move forward in your own life. I think many people have this, man, if I could only I really want to start this business, or hey, it may even be I really want to start this podcast.
De'Shonda Lucas [:I really want to release a song. I really want to produce art. I really want to travel to this destination. And you might not quite know everything that you need step at a time. And that's honestly what I did. I took one step at a time. I still haven't learned everything with what I have, but I know how to work with what I got. Okay, I haven't learned everything that I have, but I know how to work with what I got.
De'Shonda Lucas [:And so that is what I'm doing. And in this month of October, I'm going to turn it up even more. You're going to see me even more. I'm going to release an episode, but I'm working on some more pieces and working on developing even better, working on being able to touch as many people as possible. And I appreciate you for being with me and supporting me in that. September was about the simple start. October, we're going to run a little bit faster. We're right here at the beginning of fourth quarter, and I have to sit down.
De'Shonda Lucas [: ong and enter into a new year: De'Shonda Lucas [:I am being strengthened and I am being renewed every day. It is really creating a new love and new conversation. Even in my relationships, my relationships are growing stronger because we are putting things on the table that we haven't discussed in a while. How many of you are afraid of failure? If you are afraid of failure. Raise your hand if you are afraid of disappointing yourself. Raise your hand if you are afraid of disappointing someone else. Raise your hand. Walk through the fear.
De'Shonda Lucas [:You can be afraid. Walk through the fear. Walking through the fear is walking through the fire. And I tell you, it does not last. Always. Just continue to move forward. I couldn't be afraid of what people would think about me, right? I'm just not. I know where I've come from.
De'Shonda Lucas [:I know that I'm better today than I was yesterday. I know that I'm better today than I was a year ago. I know that I'm better today than I was six years ago or 16 years ago. So when it came to launching this podcast, fear was just not an option. Fear was not an option when the alternative was to be stagnant. I don't want to be stagnant. I've been stagnant long enough, focusing on distractions. No longer do I want to be focused on distractions.
De'Shonda Lucas [:I choose to be focused on the destination, right? I choose to be focused on impacting others. I choose to be focused on how can I set a better example or set a great example for my daughter who loves the fellowship of women, because she's grown up with the fellowship of women, she's grown up with supporting other people. So a couple of weeks ago, I was out to dinner with a friend, and I was asking, I said, hey, what are some things that you want to see on the podcast? And one of the things she shared me that she would love to see is a discussion about spiritual growth. And so I'm going to take a few minutes to walk you through my own spiritual upbringing and development of my own relationship with God and just how my growth has taken place over the years. So, as many of you know, I was raised with two sets of parents, so I've always been in the church as a little girl, whether with one set or with the other. And from a young girl, I have always loved God since I was a little girl. Jesus, You Are the center of My Joy has been my favorite song, and I'm talking about since a young, young girl. He has always been my favorite song.
De'Shonda Lucas [:And Jesus truly, truly has been like the center of my joy. And so as a know, I went to church because I was supposed to go to church as a teenager, I went to church, but it was when I went to college that I began to develop my own relationship with God. It was when I went to college that there was nobody to pick me up and say, hey, come on, we get ready to go to church. You going. It was truly, truly all on me. And it was in college I went to Georgia Southern University down in Statesboro. And I remember my freshman year, there were two girls that lived on the end of the hall in a would, we found this church, and we would go to church in this real small town next to statesboro, and we would just worship and we would just fellowship, and it was just a beautiful thing. And I remember being in this church, the Holy Spirit really got in me, and I just had this overflowing of joy in my spirit.
De'Shonda Lucas [:And I know for some people, if you haven't experienced this, it sounds like weird or something, I don't know, but this was truly, truly my experience and this spirit of joy that just got into me, and I just broke out and just laughter. And I had so much laughter in my spirit, and it felt so good, and it was so beautiful. And the person next to me, I guess they touched me, and when they touched me, they started laughing. And so we're in this church, and I have this spirit of joy and laughter in me. And everybody that touched me while we were in this church literally started laughing, and it just broke out into the whole church. And it was like, I think, my first real experience with God and learning that whole thing where people say, energy is neither created nor destroyed, it is only transferred, god is that energy for me, and God was that energy in that time. And I just remember what that felt like to be close to God and what it felt like to feel the joy and feel the Holy Spirit. I remember that.
De'Shonda Lucas [:And I was probably about 19 at the time. Yeah, I was about 19 at the time. And so since for a long time, I've had my own relationship with God. And let's fast forward to me graduating college. I've stayed in church. I can remember the sermon that was preached about having meat in the storehouse when I attended the tabernacle in I guess that's considered Decatur, Georgia. In Decatur, Georgia, I went to the tabernacle and he talked about me in the storehouse, and that's where I learned about tithing. So my journey has been very intentional, and it's been like me being present, me being present in God's house and me being present in seeking relationship with God.
De'Shonda Lucas [:So that was definitely a part of my journey. Once I became a mother from a baby, I gave my daughter to God. I remember when she was christened, and on her first birthday, she was baptized and knowing in that moment that she did not belong to me, she belonged to God. And even knowing that I belong to God, right? And I was speaking with someone a few days ago, probably a couple of weeks ago, and I was like, she doesn't belong to you. She don't even belong to me. She belongs to God. I belong to God. Right.
De'Shonda Lucas [:And sometimes I think we really try to take possession of people, and we have a plan for people and stuff, and we have an idea on how we think a person should act or think or speak. And the truth is, they belong to God. Like, we have no control of others. So my relationship with God has definitely been one of submission for a very long time. And please let me be clear, and I do not want this to be misunderstood by anybody. I am one of the most flawed people. Okay? You name it, I've probably done it. But, baby, in the midst of, I have still walked with God, and he has still walked with me, okay? So I just want to be really clear about that because I don't want to have this self righteous thing or people I don't want you to think that, like, I'm real people.
De'Shonda Lucas [: and my husband passed away in: De'Shonda Lucas [:I have always ran to God because there was nothing else that could help me. There was nothing else that could save me in certain points in my life, right? And so I've ran to God. But I can also remember being in church during that season. And I remember sitting in church, and I was so angry with God. I was so mad. I literally got hot all over my body and had to get up and leave. And that was just part of my journey. That was part of my pain.
De'Shonda Lucas [:That was part of my healing. And I'm not afraid to say it at all. And so that journey of my faith and my relationship with God has definitely changed over the years, but it has definitely gotten stronger. And my faith is not just a faith of feeling. It is a faith of action. And I will say that again, my faith is a faith of action. And when I say I move by faith, I move by faith. When I travel, I travel by faith.
De'Shonda Lucas [:I traveled through Europe for about a month, solo by myself. And where a lot of people may have been concerned, like, I traveled in faith. I didn't travel with the expectation of something bad happening. I traveled in faith. And I traveled walking with God. And I traveled with just an optimistic spirit about what was going to happen because I truly, truly walked by faith. And so that's just a little bit about my relationship. And I've been involved in different churches and stuff I tell people for me and I can speak for Deshaunda.
De'Shonda Lucas [:For me, when it comes to church, I think the only one thing and the only one person that completely, completely covers all of God is Jesus. So I've been to different churches because I've relocated and moved in different places. But there are some things that my right hand can do that my left hand can't. So once I learn my right hand, then I maybe ended up somewhere else to learn my left hand or learn my right foot. And so my faith has grown and my faith has transitioned because it's kind of comprehensive, of different teachings and comprehensive, but always Bible based and always focused on God, even like throughout the years. I believe in praying. My faith is very centered around prayer. And at this stage of my life, I'm praying quite continuously.
De'Shonda Lucas [:And I believe in reading my Bible daily. And I just tell you, my day just go better when I read my Bible. It just really does. If I just read one chapter, my day goes better, my time management goes better. I'm a better person for the people that I serve in my business because I have truly, truly come and centered myself before I present myself to someone else. So a regular morning for me is me waking up, is me turning on some type of music that gets me moving and out of the bed. And most of the time it's usually like Christian gospel music, but it's something that gets me out of the bed. And then I sit on my floor and I meditate for a little bit.
De'Shonda Lucas [:I sit on my floor and I meditate and I think about my day. And then I get my shower. And once I get my shower, I sit at my table. I sit at my table with my Bible and I pray and I read and I journal. I'm getting into journaling. Journaling has not been my strong suit in the past, but recently, this year, I've really started to journal quite a bit. I've been writing Dear God letters and it feels so good, it really does feel so good to be in relationship, in a daily relationship with God. And I've noticed that throughout my daughter's upbringing, she also has that daily relationship with God or she's very conscious of the relationship.
De'Shonda Lucas [:And so even now, when we talk, make sure you pray, make sure you read your Bible and stuff. And for her to say, mommy, thank you for reminding me to read my Bible. I really had a good day. That means a lot to me because the relationship with God means a lot to me. And so many times I would say my faith has been challenged, but life has been challenging. My faith hasn't necessarily been challenged, but life has been challenging. And so because of my faith, when things happen, I don't really go too left. Like, life is just happening.
De'Shonda Lucas [:And I know God walks with me. I know God talks with me. Years ago, I was getting ready to have open heart surgery, and I was coming back from Home Depot, because when things around me sometimes get chaotic, I always try to make peace in my home and make it feel peaceful. So I was probably going to buy some plants or something like that. But I remember getting ready to have surgery, and I'm driving down the highway and the Holy Spirit just spoke to me. He was like, you're going to be here because you have a job, and that job is to raise your daughter. God told me what she needed had to come from me, and for that, I would still be here. And so my relationship with God is very open.
De'Shonda Lucas [:The communication is there. Like, I can hear from God, and I know God hears me, and I know he hears my cry. And I really try to operate from a place of obedience. I believe that obedience of God's word, there are blessings that flow from that. And when I say obedience, I'm not talking about the opposite of being disobedient to punishment, but just the obedient to the teachings of God into the word of God, into the spirituality of God and the energy of God being obedient to maintaining an energy of grace in, an energy of mercy, an energy of love and acceptance. Those are the things that I try to be obedient to, the most energy of kindness, those things come from my obedience to God. So my spiritual growth, I would attribute a great deal of that to the time I take to spend with God. And most of that time, it's like, I am very I'm very convicted and very maybe the word is not convicted.
De'Shonda Lucas [:I'm very intentional. Yes, I am very intentional about spending daily time with God. I'm so intentional about that. I don't care if it's 20 people in my house, I'm not going to come out until I have some time with God first. And that is the basis of my spiritual growth and also having Godly. Godly relationships. And we were having brunch this weekend, and one of my girlfriends, she was telling us how her pastor had did a message that said, we walk by faith. And what she said to me was so profound, and she was talking about how she had never thought about the we in it right.
De'Shonda Lucas [:And the we that I walk by faith with. If you don't have relationships that encourage you to be the best of you, please seek those out. If you don't have relationships that will walk by faith with you, please seek those out because it is those relationships that have helped to grow my spiritual maturity. It is watching other women who are strong in their faith who persevere through hard times. It's watching my mother's persevere through hard times. It is watching them stay faithful and stay peaceful and stay calm and stay prayed up. My spiritual growth and development is definitely of my intention, but it's also of my observation of others. My spiritual development is also in the leaders that I have chosen to be my guy in pastoring at certain points of my life, whether it be years, years ago, Andy Stanley taught me some of the greatest lessons, right? Currency lee.
De'Shonda Lucas [:When I say he taught me how to read the Bible, like he taught me how to read the Bible, man, and now I am in a house, y'all, that is so powerful. I'm at Change Church with Dr. Darius Daniels, and I have just seen my spiritual growth to where it's impacting others, right? And just being present, it's like being present and being attentive and be willing to do the work and being willing to be drugged on the floor in the sanctuary. Spiritually, when something hits you and you know it's something that you have to work on. So even when I talk about earlier, when I just spoke about doing the hard work, like with launching a podcast and the action of that external work, I'm also doing the hard work internally as well. Like, I'm doing the hard work to grow spiritually and to really take a look at myself and learn myself and read the instructions and go back and say, hey, this didn't work, so let's try something else. I've really been intentional about putting that work in and putting the work in for spiritual growth and being focused on the work for spiritual growth, right? And so spiritual growth is not something that happens by happenstance. It is something that happens with intention.
De'Shonda Lucas [:So if you want to grow spiritually, I would encourage you get a Bible. Get a Bible. Find a church, find an online service to attend. Find something, find some type of connection. Let me say this. If you do not have any spiritual guidance, if you do not know where to start, if you do not know what Bible to buy, if you do not know what is a good pastor you can listen to, if you don't have any Godly relationships or friendships, please inbox me. Please inbox me. What I don't know.
De'Shonda Lucas [:I will do my best to connect you with someone who does. If it's a Bible you need, I've given out Bibles before. I will definitely ship you one or Amazon you one or something. But if you want something new in your life I didn't even know this episode was going to turn into this. But if you want something new in your life, and if you are tired of being tired, of being alone, of feeling defeated and you want something new in your life and you believe, like, God, is that something new in your life? Or you want to rededicate your life, please reach out. Please reach out. Because even when things are going bad, when you have the spiritual maturity, when you have the emotional maturity, when you have the understanding of God, man, it makes stuff so much better. Y'all, stuff be happening in my life, you wouldn't even believe it.
De'Shonda Lucas [:And I promise you, I'm pretty much kind of just like this, because I know all things come together. Like the word says, all things come together. My life has shown me that all things come together. So I encourage you to be open that if there is a need that you have when it comes to developing a relationship with God or increasing your spirituality, take those steps. Do the hard work. And sometimes doing the hard work is looking at yourself. This year, for me, has been such a healing year. I have truly, truly, truly taken the time to work with DeShonda and to work through DeShonda and to understand DeShonda and to help Deshaunda heal, and to be able to vocalize the processes that I'm going through and seek help when needed and talk to friends when needed and get on my knees and pray when needed and stand on my feet and praise when needed.
De'Shonda Lucas [:Because I'm worth it. Like, I am worth it. I am the silver and gold. I am the salt of the earth, and I am that, and I know that, and I pray that you do, too. I pray that you can be honest with yourself and honest with those around you, that you want something different in your life. And so if that definitely fits you, please reach out whether it's on Instagram or Facebook. DM me watch the podcast, and I will do my best to connect you with someone who can help you. I am not a know it all.
De'Shonda Lucas [:I don't know it all, but I will do my best to give you options and resources. Now, that I'm going to do. I'm going to do that because she's free to fly, and I want you to be free to fly, right? My goal in doing this podcast was for you to be free to fly, for me to be free to fly, because we are the she, and she's free to fly. So I think this is a good place to end this episode, and I pray that you receive my love. I pray that you feel God's grace, and I pray that you share with others. Have a wonderful, wonderful day. Bye.
