I'm your host, Amy Dardis. And in today's episode, we are continuing on in our series on idols and entrepreneurship and business. And today we are diving into the idol of comfort. So, quick recap: an idol is an object or a concept that we give a higher priority than God. It's anything we rely on for blessing, help, or guidance instead of God. Anything that consumes our heart, thoughts, or devotion more than God. And it's any good thing or bad thing that we elevate to a position of more power, more prominence, more influence in our life over God. And the question always comes back to where is our hope? Is it in God? Or in this case, is it in our comfort and our security? And comfort is a hard one because it's something that I think we all crave. I know I certainly desire it. I want it. I seek it out. I want things to be comfortable, safe, predictable. Growth always requires discomfort. And as much as I want growth and I want to grow, I don't always like the process of growing. I don't like the process of being uncomfortable, of being stretched. And it's always easier and safer to hold on to what we know up until a point. Up until the pain of not growing, the pain of staying the same, is actually more painful than actually growing. And there's different seasons of growth in our life. I think we're always growing. I think God is always working on us in different seasons in different areas of our life. And for me, I've had two very prominent, incredibly difficult seasons. And then the other seasons have all had their own varying degrees of discomfort. Some of them just easier to get through than others. But it's the ones where I was the most uncomfortable, those are the ones that fundamentally changed who I am. They fundamentally changed my life. They fundamentally changed my faith in God. And so for me, the season that I kind of want to share about is again one of the more recent ones. And this idol of comfort. And so over the last five years, I had worked as a full-time employee for an organization that I loved. I I truly loved working there and I grew in so many different ways. And I was challenged in so many different ways, and I was uncomfortable in so many different ways. So I wasn't in a season that was just like easy or coasting. But it didn't wreck me the way the next season did. But in summer of 2023, I knew that God was starting to call me into something new. And I share about this in one of the earlier episodes on how to how to know when God's preparing you to shift your season. And so, you know, it took there's like 18 months of just God preparing my heart and planting some things and shifting some things and just working in me. And I wrestled for a lot of it. I resisted in the beginning. And then I surrendered a little bit more, resisted, surrendered, resisted, surrendered. You know, you just kind of go through this process. And basically, God was calling me into starting this new business. He was starting calling me to start this new brand. But I wanted to stay where I was. I wanted the best of both worlds. Like I wanted to do both at the same time because the first time I had left the corporate world and gone into entrepreneurship, I knew that God was calling me into it. Like without a doubt, full peace, full affirmation, I knew God was calling me to do that. But my hope is always that when God calls us to something, that He's just gonna bless it, He's gonna open doors, He's gonna make it rain, like, and and it's just gonna be so good and so blessed. And both times God has called me out of the corporate world and into the entrepreneurship world, it has been the hardest thing in my life. Like both times, like you would think that after being in business for 15 years, that the second time around wouldn't be nearly as painful or nearly as hard, but it was. And both times it was like stepping into this incredibly difficult season that just wrecks me. It just strips everything away, which is part of it. You know, it's just it's part of what God is doing, it's part of the preparation, it's part of the anointing, it's part of him shaping us into who he needs us to be as we run our business, as we lead our business. And so I was resisting this calling because I didn't want to have what had happened before happen again. I wanted to do it differently. I wanted it to be more comfortable, more safe, less risky. I didn't want to just walk away from all of that and then have everything fall apart. Like I really wanted to build it on the side, take my time with it, have don't not have the pressure and the stress of having to like make money, just being able to work full-time, do my job, and then slowly build what I needed to build on the side because that made sense, that was predictable, that was responsible, and that's really what I tried to do. But that is not what God wanted. That is not what he was asking. Because the truth was the the comfort in the routine, everything that I had known, and not just not just as an employee, but just just my life. I'd been in the same place for 20 years, been a part of the same church, the same community for 20 years. I mean, it was just there was there was not a lot of new going on. And my soul was actually desperate for a change. I just wasn't aware of it at the time. It took a lot longer for my mind to get there for me to be aware of how suffocated I was actually feeling. I thought that things were good, I thought I was comfortable, and I honestly thought that I was happy. And I think to an extent I I was. You know, I had a lot of good things going on in my life. Like I had a small group and I had friends and I had community and church and connections and family, and there were just there were so many things that we knew and were comfortable with that really kind of shaped our life. My calendar was just driving me crazy. I mean, I was checking my calendar probably an hour every day, which sounds ridiculous, but that's how many times things were coming up, and I was pulling out my calendar to look at where I was gonna fit that in. And these were all kinds of things, you know, whether it was small group stuff or work stuff or kid stuff or vet appointments, you know. Just these things that were coming up, and here my soul was desperately craving peace and space. Like I so desperately wanted like nothing on my calendar, but my life was just giving me more and more and more. And so I recognized this battle that was happening, and I recognized this desire. And I actually remember my husband and I were having a hard time finding even days to spend together. And a couple of days opened up in early November of 2024, which was right before we moved to Alaska, and we had the kids were at school and we had two days. It was like a Monday, Tuesday that I didn't have anything going on at work, and he was clear on his schedule, and so we both took the days off and just hung out. Like we didn't go anywhere, we didn't do anything. We we went to the gym, we went to breakfast, we played some board games, like we just spent time together, and they were just wonderful days. And I remember leaving, we'd gone to the gym that morning, then we'd gone to breakfast, and we'd walked out, and it was this like beautiful sunny November day. Walked out of the breakfast place towards the car. I just remember stopping in this moment and just praying, just being like, God, all I want are more days like these. And it was just it was just like a a cry of my heart. It was just like a prayer that was just like, this is what I want. And in my head, I'm like thinking, you know, down the road, like maybe, maybe in a year, maybe, maybe just like I'll slowly work towards this all five years from now, maybe. Like it wasn't anything I was praying for like immediately. It was just a recognition that this is what I wanted, and I was just asking God for it. And two weeks later, we made the decision to move to Alaska, and two weeks after that, we were actually in Alaska and had made the move and kicked off the last year of having more days like that. Having so many days on my calendar with nothing on the schedule. Like, no, no, nothing. Because we didn't, we went to this brand new place. We went to this place where we didn't know anyone, we we weren't committed to anything. Like it was just nothing. And sure, over the year, the year, like there's been like kids' concerts or you know, basketball games, or you know, going and hanging out with some friends that we knew. But I mean, just so empty compared to what our calendar used to look like, and it has been a huge blessing. Like, I that was just one prayer that I prayed that I really didn't expect God to answer for a very long time, and he answered it so quickly. And man, like I just look back on this year and I'm just so thankful to get to have experienced it, to get to have like felt this rest and to feel like this space and this time, like this the quality time that we've had together just as a couple and as a family, has just been amazing. Just truly, truly a blessing, like truly God's grace in this season. But I was anyway, prior to that though, here I was, like my soul desperate for this change. And me realizing God was calling me to something new, but I was trying to just do it responsibly and plan it and and to stay comfortable, to stay within my comfort zone. But here he does. He goes and he uproots us completely, like just completely. So not only did I not have this like comfortable like job and benefits and security, but it's like we didn't have family, we didn't have our church, we didn't have community, we didn't have a place that we knew. Like he pulled us out of everything that we knew, everything that was comfortable. And he put us into a brand new place, into a place where we just completely had to rely on God for everything. Like we went to a place where we didn't even know where we were gonna live, we didn't know where we were gonna go to church. And the way God has orchestrated even those things, the very so we landed in Alaska at, I don't know, I was like midnight, got to our Airbnb at like 2 a.m. on December 8th, got up that first morning in Alaska, December 8th, and just like in shock, totally surreal experience, totally exhausted. We went to breakfast to get food, and it was this really popular, busy breakfast place here in Palmer, Alaska. The noisy goose, if if any of you know know in Palmer, Alaska, that's where we went. And it was a Sunday, and so it was super busy, and it was like noon, so you get all the after church crowd, and we're waiting in the lobby, and there's like 20 people waiting in the lobby for tables, and this I'm sitting there just like dazed and completely surreal. And this guy turns to me, hands me a card, and says, I feel like I'm supposed to give this to you. And I was like, Oh, oh, okay. And I look down and it's an invite card to a church. And I like looked at my husband and I'm like, This guy just gave me an invite card to church. And he's like, Oh, that's cool. Like, I guess we should probably like check this place out. I'm like, Yeah, sure. And then we were house hunting, so we were looking for a place to live, and of course, had no bearing as to where which direction we would go, like nothing. And here we're looking at houses online, and as we're driving to look at this house, maybe two days later, three days later, I happen to look out at the window, just like turn my head at the right moment, and there is this church that the guy had invited us to. Now, Alaska has churches everywhere on like every street corner. It's really cool. But I just happen to have looked, and there is this church. So, in this season of incredible uncertainty, nothing, knowing nothing, having no plan, having no direction or compass or anything, here God is anchoring us. Here he is, like directing our steps. And we end up going to this church. We end up buying this house that is right up the street from the church, and those two things end up being kind of what sets us, you know, starts, kicks off this new life of where the kids go to school and the families that we start to meet, and and the experiences we start to have, you know, in this incredible, like new adventure where there's no direction, there's no plan, there's nothing predictable, and and here God is just like little things at a time, just making a way and opening a door. And what I learned through this season, you know, so we buy this house, and there's cat pee, and there's smells that we didn't notice when we first walked through it, and then there's there's founding mice poop in the garage and in the walls, and then Josh tears his bicep, and we're trying to launch this business, and and I my my kids like want to sign up and do things, and I'm just like, whoa, whoa, whoa, like nothing about our life feels normal, nothing feels certain, nothing feels predictable. There's no like income isn't predictable, just the next day isn't predictable, the schedule isn't predictable, there's no routine, like everything is uprooted, everything is just kind of like turned upside down, and I find myself in this position of absolutely having to a hundred percent rely on God for everything, and somehow that feels like failing, it feels like where I'm messing up, that I'm not doing the right things. Because in this world, we think that if we work hard enough, we plan effectively, we weigh all the outcomes, we strategize just right, that if we do all the things right and we make really good decisions, then everything in our lives will work out and it will be comfortable and there will be leads and there will be security and there will be income and there will be blessing and you'll have you know the finances and the business and the relationships and the provision and it's all good. And if we just if we just play our cards exactly right, then that's what success looks like. But when God like calls you out of those things and he uproots your life and he asks you to step out of the boat and he calls you out of Egypt, and and you and you're sure that he called you out of Egypt, and you're sure that he's like bringing you to a new place, and he's gonna take care of you, and he's gonna save you, and and you're you finally leave, and it's like, oh my gosh, like God's amazing. And then you get to the Red Sea, and there's a big, huge sea in front of you, and there is all of these Israel, or there's not Israelis, there's all of these, there's this Egyptian army coming towards you. So here they are, like they did all, like they did the right things, they obeyed, they trusted God, and again they find themselves in this situation where it's like there's a sea on one side, there's an army on the other, and they are stuck in the middle. That is kind of what my life felt like. Like, here is this sea of obstacles and impossibilities and questions on one side, and then this army of like life and doubt and bills and insecurity on the other. And I'm like, God, what the heck? Like, what the heck do I do? You called me out of this, right? Like, you told me to do this. And it's easy for us to think that we made a mistake. It's easy for us to think I did this wrong. Like, I want this comfort back, I want this security back. And Numbers 14 mentions this. Like the Egyptians had left or the Israelites had left Egypt, and they're in this position, right? And they're they're like, Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to each other, we should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. So it's like we have all of our comfort uprooted, we have all of our security uprooted. And then it's easy to be like, I should just go back to what I should just go back and get a job. I should just go move back to what I know. Like this is really hard. It feels like nothing is working out. Like I must, I must be doing something wrong. Instead of God being, and and and instead, God is like, no, you are right where I want you. I want you to trust me. I want to you to rely on me. I want to show you. I want to meet you in this place. I want to show you my grace. I want to teach you these things. I want you to see that I'm gonna provide for you daily and in ways that you would have never expected or never asked or never imagined. Because my plan for you is better. And it just because this is hard, just because this is uncomfortable, doesn't mean that anything is wrong. And I think that's this mindset that we get in in this world is that if things are hard, if things are uncomfortable, if things aren't working out, then it's wrong. Then God's not in it. Instead of realizing that God works all things for our good, like he's able, like what the enemy meant for evil, God uses it for our good. And so even though we probably didn't do everything right, even though we probably sinned in the process, God is like using all of those things for our good, and he's shaping us and uh preparing us and building up our character and our endurance and our faith. And in this process, I'm oh man, I'm a wreck. Like in this process, just crying, crying every day, crying in in joy, crying in desperation, crying in crying out. Just emotion, emotion, emotion. As but what God's doing is he's just he's stripping away all of these things, he's stripping away all of these habits and all of these mindsets and all of these things that I had built up around me, that I had built up as this like security and this comfort where I thought that I was good, I thought that I trusted God, I thought that I was pursuing him. But as he strips these things away, it's really exposing me. It is really exposing what do I really believe? You know, where is my foundation? What am I standing on? And I realized I'm like, wow, I was standing on a lot of comfort. I was relying on a lot of comfort, a lot of safety, a lot of security. And God's asking me to lay all that down and to trust him fully, to get to know him deeper, to draw closer, to lean in, to build up my faith. And I look back on this year, and man, I'm so thankful for this past year. I'm so thankful for all the way that God's provided, all the ways that he's seen me through. I'm thankful for the move. I would have never planned it, I would have never picked it, I would have never gone after it. If he told me what was gonna happen, I would have said no. Same way as the first time he called me into entrepreneurship. If if I'd known what was gonna happen, I was like, no, uh-uh, no, I don't want to do that. And it was so hard. But I look at all the fruit that came out of that. I look at how he changed me in the process. I look at how he changed my life. I look at the path that he set me on through that season. And man, I'm like, I would have never chosen that for myself, but it's been so good, and I'm so grateful for it. And that's just what I had to keep reminding myself of like during this past season. It's like, I may not see it, I may not understand it, but it's gonna be good, it's gonna shape me. And it's amazing the way that just as the weeks go by or as the months go by, the the things that like God is revealing, and the the clarity that's coming, even though it's like I don't have any clarity about the future necessarily. Like, I don't know what you know next year looks like, or there's no predictability, there's no plan. There's just this conviction, and there's just this hope, and there's this mission and this purpose of like this is what I need to do. I don't know how it plays out, but I know that that God is working through this, and I know that things are happening because I just look back on even the last three months or the last six months or the last nine months or twelve months, and I just see the fruit starting to to come, and I just see his goodness and his provision and his faithfulness as I like look at my family and I look at my home life and I I look at all of what my life looks like now and how different it is from the life that I was leading back in Montana, and I realize that I can't, I I wasn't able to just leave what I knew and be a different person. Like I wanted that to be the case, I wanted to just leave and go to a new place and be different, but that's that's not how it works. But my prayer in that process as we were moving was that we would be different, and God has been answering that prayer, and it's been reshaping me and my mind and my habits so that my life looks different because my thoughts are different and my habits are different and my routines are different because I had just reverted right back to what I knew before. So even though I was in a new place, I was doing the same things, and I was just on this path to building up the same life that I had just left. But God wanted more for me, He wanted better from me, and He knew that my heart wanted those things too. And so He's stripping these things down and He's working in me so that I have these new habits and these new mindsets and this new life that starts to get created. And it goes back to this prayer of like walking out of that breakfast place and saying, I just want more days like these. Only for that to be something that's real and lived out and sustainable, something that I didn't just, you know, I created my own monster. I had created my life before. Those were my choices, my decisions. I was the one who put things on my calendar. That was me. I was the one who said yes to things. And so here I am, like living a different life, and our family is is different. The way we spend time together is different. The way we engage with each other, the way we see God together, it's it's different. And like those are the things that's like God knows our heart, He knows, He knows what He created us for, He knows the plans and the purpose that He has for our life, He knows His will, He knows. Kings knows what's best for us. And through it all, he's he's walking us through that, helping us get there, helping us achieve those things and experience those things. And then once again, it's like I'm in this place of yeah, I'm building a business, but the business starts with who I am and who God is in my life and where I put my hope. And it's just continually reminding me that he has to be the one who leads it, he has to be the most important thing in my life. So that's all I have for you today. As always, you can learn more at ClearAuthentic Brands.com. I will see you next time.