Finding Your Voice & Your Place - The Series

finding your place- where do I begin?

New week, new newsletter!! Welcome to another post on our series ‘Finding Your Voice and Your Place’. I hope you’ve been enjoying the series so far. Today’s focus is on finding your place and the importance of stepping into it.

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Finding Your Voice & Your Place- The Series

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Podcast: ‘The Pressure is Getting Werser’ by the Real Vibe: in this podcast, Tumi Erikitola shares her story on adulting. This episode is a must listen! And ties in so well with today’s newsletter too. A key quote from it is:

‘Your rest doesn’t mean you will miss your opportunity, it means you will be even better positioned’

-Tumi Erikitola

Now let’s get into today’s newsletter!

For those who prefer listening here you go:

Finding our place takes time, it’s an ongoing journey. When I say ‘place’ you might be wondering what I am referring to. By place, I mean the designated area/s God has purposed we occupy and fulfil our calling. This looks different for everyone. For some it could be the media industry, government, business, education, family and religion. Each of us have various spheres we are created to occupy and influence. I don’t believe this is a journey that will happen overnight, this journey is an ongoing discovery with God. I emphasize this because sometimes it’s easy to be pressured into performance. It’s easy to run a race that was never yours, due to the fear of being left behind and instead run for the sake of belonging. But why? What do we miss out on by choosing to pause and allow God order our steps accordingly? By this I don’t mean we should be static, but rather acknowledge that there is an Author who has written our stories from the beginning of time, and we should continually ask Him for His will.

— This is also a quick word of encouragement for anyone who may have felt behind in life because you may feel as though you have not found your place. I want to remind you that if you have God, you truly have everything. As much as this post is a call to ponder on the importance of knowing our place, it’s important we don’t become more focused on knowing this place more than we focus on knowing the one who has written out our journeys — God. You are not behind to because you don’t have an extensive plan on how your life will unravel. It’s okay to move with what you know now and make the most of what is currently in your hands. Please don’t compare your journey to that of another. We all have our seasons. As we steward faithfully over our present lives, more will become clearer in time. But remember this:

• A person’s go might be your pause.

• Someone’s time may have come, but yours hasn’t come yet, and this is okay!

• Someone’s time of celebration might be your season of planting.

• Someone’s harvest, may be your time of cultivating your seeds.

Life happens in seasons, you are not behind because you’re in a different season to another person. ❤️ We all have unique processes we need to go through to ensure we are best equipped and prepared for the next stage God has for us. Where you are today, is not a final stop, there is more.

I think a crucial part of the journey that is easy to skip is service. As I mentioned, finding our place is an ongoing journey and sometimes it might begin by trying our hands at something that seems completely unrelated to what we’re really made for. I honestly think this is a beautiful part of the journey- to be able to serve others, join someone else in building their own venture and learning as we go. Through proximity, we’re able to learn more on what to do/ what not to do. There’s more room for mistakes to be made, outside of the limelight. A character that exemplifies this so well is David. Before David became a ruler, he was tending sheep.Looking after sheep is far from glamorous, yet this was the journey he needed to go through to be well prepared for his time of reigning. No part of the journey is wasted, every process we pass through serves a purpose.

Realities of the Journey

Finding our place comes with sacrifice. Sacrificing the life you thought you would have and being willing to accept the life God really has for you. It will always come as a cost. The cost could look like:

• Unlearning who you thought you were and truly awakening to who you really are in God.

• Shedding weight: people, places, positions etc that you were connected too because of who you thought you were, as opposed to who you really are, may have to go.

• Habits, behaviours, patterns that you had normalised because you saw them as a status quo, but were far from normal, or misaligned with the person God has been preparing you to be, will likely be stripped away. And now you’re at a tipping point. Will you let go of what is familiar and safe, and walk into what is unfamiliar, but it’s exactly the change that is needed?

You may feel vulnerable, in doubt, maybe even insecure because you’re still getting used to your new normal, but it is worth it. And with time, you’ll get used to this new rhythm of life. It is for our good.

Abraham was told to leave his father’s house. In essence, leave the familiar, leave what was set in stone, to a journey filled with the unknown, but orchestrated by God who knew all the details .So — how willing are we to be taken off our tracks? To be taken off what is steady, that has a clear sense of direction, to what seems shaky, unclear, yet you know who is leading you?

Having courage is key. Taking faith filled steps, could naturally lead to questions like, am I good enough? Will this work out? What if i fail? While it okay to have these questions, it’s important we don’t become stagnant because of them. Joshua 1:9 is one of my anchor verses and it says:

 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

This is a reminder for me, that anytime I step out in obedience to God, I have the reassurance that He is with me, and will guide me along the way. Our journeys have never been about perfection. It’s not about not making any mistakes, or going through life trial free. But more so following the path laid out for us day by day. All things will become beautiful in its time, until then, keep having faith and sowing seeds. The journey is certainly long, but we can start with a step today. This could look like:

• Volunteering in that industry you’ve wanted to gain more experience in.

• Joining a team for a cause you care about.

• Seeking out mentorship in an area you want to grow your knowledge & expertise in.

• Going for conferences, networking events etc that are outside of your comfort zone. A conversation can change everything.

As we wrap up today’s newsletter, I hope you remember this- you have a place marked out for you, but are you willing to go on that journey in spite of the questions you may have?

As always I hope this met you where you are!

and let me know your thoughts

Love,

Rhieme