Mrs. PIE
Welcome to ' Mrs. PIE' We are savoring life with inspiring conversations and teachings. I'm Shelley Jeffcoat, your guide in this journey of faith, innovation and inspiration.
Join me as we dive into faith-based teachings and exclusive interviews with global business leaders and entrepreneurs. My commitment to blending spiritual insight with leadership wisdom shapes every episode.
In our PIE (Proud. Inspired. Empowered) Podcasts, we explore a vibrant mix of lifestyle, business insights, spiritual growth, and engaging product discussions.
Ready for a journey that's as enlightening as it is uplifting? Hit subscribe and let's embark on this transformative path together.
Shelley Jeffcoat, CEO & Founder of LCM Group and Grace and Grit Media, is a dynamic Business and International Christian Woman Speaker, Author of the 'What’s My P.I.E' book series, and the engaging host of the 'Mrs PIE' podcast series.
Discover more at Grace and Grit Media, LCM Group, and Parade Deck Live TV.
Mrs. PIE
Embracing Gratitude and Faith: Navigating Adversity with Purpose and Determination
After weathering the storms of life's trials, I've discovered something powerful: gratitude and faithfulness can serve as anchors. In a world where tragedy seems to strike often—like the recent airplane and helicopter crash—it's all too easy to lose sight of the blessings we have. This episode invites you to refocus, finding strength in expressing gratitude directly to God. By acknowledging His role in our joys such as family, health, and prosperity, we not only honor Him but also find comfort and motivation in His unwavering support. Join me as we explore how maintaining a thankful heart, even in times of adversity, can deepen our spiritual journey and help us navigate life's challenges with grace.
But gratitude is just the beginning. We also tackle the art of balancing prayer with action, unlocking the doors to personal success through discipline and seizing opportunities. It's not enough to wait for change; we must actively pursue our goals with determination and resourcefulness. Whether through free online courses or building networks, we have the tools at our disposal to achieve personal and professional growth. Drawing from personal experiences, I share how focus and community support can be powerful catalysts for change. Let's embrace a mindset of continual progress, forgiving setbacks while staying committed to our goals, and see how being intentional and determined can transform our lives.
Come join us at our virtual events monthly. Visit our website to learn more.
no-transcript. I'm turning on my music. I play music in the background for those of y'all who don't know what's going on, but I play. It's called soaking music and it just kind of helps me to stay in the mode of these teachings. So happy Thursday, y'all, wherever you are, whether you're waking up early with me. Good morning family. Good morning Dr Tracy. Yes, yeah, we're going to catch that too.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure if everybody knows. There's so much going on on the streets in terms of things that are happening around us, and there were 60 plus people who were impacted. There was an airplane and a helicopter crash. So in the US because I have to say this, because I know there are folks that watch in other countries that happen in our country and obviously lives are torn apart by that accident, and so that's something else We'll pray at our one o'clock prayer and seven o'clock and again, you're welcome to join us if you're going through a thing and you want us to come alongside you. It's free. It's a phone, so we're not seeing each other, ok, but you're welcome to join us.
Speaker 2:But today we're closing out the month of January and there's a running joke that January is the longest year because of all the things that are happening, and I don't know if you feel it like I do, but for real we're in week five and it's still January. So before we go further, I just want to thank you, lord, for giving us this platform. I thank you for every person who wakes up with me, who goes to bed with me, listening, and I pray that they're encouraged today by what you have to say, centering and being disciplined and not being torn into so many pieces with everything that's happening around us. Today, we're just talking about having thankful hearts and recognizing your faithfulness in everything, even when we can't understand what's happening. We don't have the bigger picture. We're thankful that you're still a good father. We thank you that you're still a good father. We thank you that you're still blessing and protecting us. We thank you for your mercy. We thank you that we have refuge in you. We thank you for blessing us. We thank you for opening our eyes.
Speaker 2:Some of us have been asleep. I know people use the word woke a lot. I think it means something against one group, but it really means that those who have been asleep and not aware of all of the spiritual things that have been happening that you're showing us now, so that we can respond in prayer. We can respond as disciples, we can respond as your children. So thank you, lord, for this awesome Thursday. I thank you for all that you're going to show us and the encouragement. Amen, all right, y'all.
Speaker 2:So today, we know this is again. We're closing out the month of January and we're going to talk about celebrating progress. I did drop this scripture. I'm going to pull it back up and we use this scripture in our live prayer. So if you watch our live prayer replay that's also on YouTube you'll see us. We pray this prayer.
Speaker 2:Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Now, I know in the world as you will like, I would say, in our real lives there's a lot of folks. We talk about gratitude and being grateful and using gratitude journals and all the things that you're grateful for. But I'm going to say that when I say this, please don't get mad at me or offended, keep your gratitude journals, but just hear what I'm saying. Okay, please don't come for me. Okay, but I got to tell you something, okay.
Speaker 2:So when you're writing your gratitude journal and you're saying I'm grateful for life, I'm grateful for this, I'm grateful for whatever the things. I want you, as those folks who are, you know, believers who follow Jesus, I want you to put a different spin on it and I want you to say I thank you, god, for right, because a lot of times we put ourselves in the, you know, in the I am, as if it's us really doing all these things, forgetting that we're giving thanks to God. So I just want to remind you that it's really his faithfulness, it's really, you know. And again, because we've been caught up in the world of you know, we can manifest our way to anything, we can convince ourself of anything and we bring that thing into reality because we speak it, we live it, we breathe it. That is true, but that doesn't necessarily mean that that is what God has for you, right?
Speaker 2:But so when you think about being grateful, when I say, like I'm grateful for my family, I switch it to Lord. I thank you for my family, right, because that's my source, that's where it came from. You know I'm grateful for my job, lord. I thank you for my job. You know I'm grateful for my health, lord. I thank you for my health. I thank you for prosperity. I thank you for long life.
Speaker 2:What it does is it puts us back in the seat where God is, above all, right, thank you Jesus right when he is front and center and we're not making it just about Y'all. When we can't do the thing, then you know, then all of a sudden you're either blaming God or you kind of lose hope, you lose motivation because you can't you know you can't work your way good works your way into what it is that you want. So just just reminding us again that it's really his faithfulness and it's really God that we're giving thanks for, for everything. So that's one thing that I want to share. The second thing I want to share is what? So that's one thing that I wanted to share. The second thing I want to share is we're so now we're at the end of January.
Speaker 2:No-transcript in these 30 days was come up with your goals for this year or, you know, an aspirational plan for this year. That's still progress. What we can't do, y'all, is just sit still and do nothing and just, you know, pray and and and hope that God's going to bless me and send me. And when I hear from the Lord, you know it's a partnership. You've got to do some things like I, I, I can pray for a Lord, I want prosperity in my family, but I still got to go out and work the field. Right, come on, proverbs 31, women. You still got to go out and work the field. So that's something that you know.
Speaker 2:Really thinking about what progress you've made so far and if you aren't where you thought you would be right now because, like I said, it's been a really hectic year give yourself some grace. We're going to pick up ourselves. We're going to dust off our feet like our fly aunties. Okay, I'm going to keep saying that's my mantra for the year. All right, we're going to dust off ourselves. And then, before February so that means you got a couple of days before a new month starts right Is to really reflect what do you want to accomplish Now? Why is this important?
Speaker 2:We have got to be disciplined this year with our time, with our talent, with our treasure. We cannot be caught up in every single thing on the news cycle that happens. There are going to be times when things are going to happen that you're going to be glad for and excited for and yay for, and they're going to be things that's going to be, oh Lord, what's happening. Right to be oh Lord, what's happening? Right? But I want you to be disciplined, because when we come to December, when we look back on this year, we have to have some harvest right. All the seeds that we're planting now, in the month of January, we're going to harvest in December. That means if you're not doing nothing but on social media and going through the news feeds, you're not going to reap anything in December but frustration, right? We don't want that. We want lives that are filled with prosperity.
Speaker 2:So, for those of y'all who are on the jobs, I want you to start looking at what are the skills you need to build this year. What's free courses, what skills your companies offer Y'all? Do the research and start signing up for these things. Every month, you should have a new skill, or you should be building on that skill, right, and it's going to require discipline for you to do that. Discipline is going to look like you don't have to tell everybody outside of your manager that you're working to build these skills. Okay, you know, work in secret and then you celebrate in December. Build your skills so that you don't get distracted, right? So, again, focus. That's the second thing, right, focus on whatever it is. Start building up your skills. Start taking the free courses. There's so many free courses online, y'all. We could YouTube our way to a whole master's program, but start taking these courses and things that are already available to you.
Speaker 2:When you ask God to elevate you and to promote you, and then he shows you here some to elevate you and to promote you, and then he shows you here are some tools you have to go out and do the thing right. For those of y'all who are in the job market and praying, you know we pray for you all the time, and so this is also not a time to lose discipline or lose hope. So, as companies are making all the shifts and changes, this is where you are networking, y'all you know. Use LinkedIn, update your profiles and network right. Network and meet people. Go to different events in your communities and start meeting people and telling people what you want. That means you got to know what you want. Where do you want to go? You can't just say I need a job. You have to understand what it is that you really want to do, and then that's you know. As you start meeting people, you start asking folks what they you know, what do they do for a living, and you know, and don't, please don't do that, hey. If you hear anything, let me know. It is your responsibility to hunt this job down right. So that is discipline. Discipline means that you wake up, you go on, you search, you network, you do the things and then you take a break right, because you still have to take that break. So all of these things y'all so important that if you haven't started it, then that's all right. Our progress means that we're going to celebrate that. We talked about it, we agreed and we're going to do it right. We're going to stay disciplined and focused on the things that we want to accomplish. It's not what your boss wants. It's not even what your spouse wants or your kids want. It's you individually. I want to share this with you and then do prayer and then I'm going to close it out.
Speaker 2:Yesterday, I was in our office and I was already. It's a heavy time for me right now, and I was already. You know it's a heavy time for me right now. You know, I literally have so many, so much things going on. I'm just like, okay, god, okay, I'm gonna need you to take some of this back.
Speaker 2:And I went into the office and I had already decided in my mind that I needed to separate myself and go into like an office space and, just like my daughter says, lock in right. So I call it was going to be my lock-in day. So I went, I said the quick hello and I locked in. I was very focused and disciplined on here, the things that I needed to accomplish. But I was so grateful to the Lord because along that path he sent a few women to just check on me. One of them we were just talking about like light stuff, decorating and all the things that we want to do for our home, and the other two we just kiki and laughing about the craziness on the job. And I realized when I, by the time I left, I got in my car, I was, you know, I was exhausted because I was locked in for the day, but I allowed myself to receive that love that the Lord has sent for me for my way.
Speaker 2:And I want to make this statement because I see, now that there are especially women that look like me, that I don't want us to fall into this trap, because this is a trap, now that I'm seeing that the enemy has laid even for us, and that is, that we cannot fall into the trap of demonizing people. We cannot fall into the trap of demonizing people Because one of the persons that poured into me yesterday from a genuine place she don't look like me, right, so I just there's a lot and that maybe for you that's a part of your journey, but that is not. Again, if you are real, you know, real Jesus follower, whatever you call yourself because I don't even know if people want to use the term Christians nowadays because it's so ridiculous but God is a God of love and you're not we. We are not to demonize people each other, right? We, if you understand spiritual things, you know that there are spirits working behind them and all the things. I don't mean like you run up in everybody's faces and you're everybody's BFFs, but God is going to send people.
Speaker 2:Some of your opportunities lies with people who don't look like you, who don't sound like you, who aren't from places where you are. Some of those very people are speaking your name in rooms where you will never ever be. You know what I'm saying, okay? So we have to be very careful that we do not demonize people. That's a lesson that I had to learn, and I learned that the hard way, because I thought, just because we looked like each other, we had each other's back. That's not the truth. So you've got to be very mindful now of not to demonize people. So I'm sharing all this because this is also a part of the discipline that we're going to have this year.
Speaker 2:Be a watcher this year. Listen more and speak less. You don't have to jump and I say this as someone who I'm on social media because I have to post the videos. You know what I mean. I got to check in on people but don't be you know, don't be the keyboard warrior this year. Focus on what you have to do, focus on your assignment, what are your goals and what you want to accomplish.
Speaker 2:This is a season of opportunity for those of us who are disciplined. One of my superpowers I stand in the middle of the storm. The storm goes all around me and I spot opportunities. And as I'm sitting there and I can see those opportunities, somehow the Lord opens little doors for me to go in, and that's how I'm successful. And you can't do that if you have a spirit of fear or chaos or you're caught up in everything. If you're caught up in those storms, you'll miss the opportunities to serve and minister onto other people. You will always miss it because you're in the middle of the storm, right? So I hope that bless y'all.
Speaker 2:Y'all. We're celebrating progress. It is January 30th. If you've done nothing so far, it's still not too late for you to get started. We're going to start a new month in a few days. I want you to sit down and think about what do you want to accomplish this year, and we're going to reflect and thank God for even reminding us that he has great things for us, right, that we walk in victory, y'all for real. So I thank you, lord.
Speaker 2:I pray that this encouraged someone that needed to hear this word, including myself, that we are to stay on track, not be distracted, and to be focused, to not demonize each other, and that you will provide the opportunities, you open the doors for us to be successful. I pray that there is success on the hands and feet of every single person under the sound of my voice. I thank you that goodness and mercy follow us all our days and that, no matter what traps were set for us, they are destroyed because we are covered by you, lord Jesus. So I thank you that you're giving us hope. Lord. God, I thank you that you're giving us joy in our hearts and peace this morning. And, lord, teach us this season to be disciplined, to watch before we react, watch before we respond, so that we'll have the right words and go in the right places in the right time and not just be a part of chaos.
Speaker 2:Lord, thank you for everyone who's shown up. Lord God, those who are standing and waiting for a word on the job, lord God, those who are waiting to hear how their bills are going to be met, what they're going to do with their lives, that you will let that word come quickly. Thank you for your mercy and your goodness for all of us. We worship you. We thank you, lord, in all the things. Amen, all right, amen, yeah, I'm just going to bring this up, dr Tracy, this is my listen, this is my thing. Be still and know. Be still and know. I thank you for your love, mercy, grace and peace. Amen.
Speaker 2:Y'all come join us on the prayer call later. It's free, we're not in nobody's business. So you call, you tell us your prayer request. We pray with you. That's what we do, and we do it twice a day on Thursdays. And for those of you who join and just listen. I know we have people who dial in and they don't say anything. We still got you. We will pray for you. We got you All right. So I hope that you have a great rest of your Thursday. Think about what I said. Celebrate your progress, what you've done so far. It's okay if you're not where you thought you would be. It's okay if you've had some setbacks, that's all right. We have a new month coming. We're going to start, we're going to restart. Right, god is still faithful, but we've got to do the work. So I love you, jesus loves you more, and I will see you next week. Take care y'all. Bye-bye.