110. Megan Smalley
Megan Smalley is the author of Give Grace and the founder of the nationally recognized Give Grace campaign, which helps individuals embrace their sorrow and get through difficult seasons with grace. She is also the CEO of the online clothing shop Scarlet & Gold and founder of The Infertility Sisterhood, a community of women supporting one another through sharing their hearts, fears, struggles, and successes.
Megan grew up loving the Lord, but she wasn’t truly tested in her faith until she faced a personal battle with infertility. Now the proud mother of three miracle boys, including twins, is devoting her platform to sharing grace with others, encouraging them that the challenges they face are not in vain, and inspiring them to give grace in return. Megan lives in Auburn with her family managing her shop, creating content, and delighting in life’s simple moments with those she loves the most. Tune in to this episode where Megan shares about practical ways to make time with Jesus, bringing pain to God, filling your mind with truth and MORE!
Show Notes:
Bible Verses:
Luke 6:45 “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
Revelation 19:10 “At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”
Acts 10:34 “Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.”
Revelation 12:11 “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
Romans 5:5 “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Topics Discussed
Introduction
- Megan grew up in Houston, Texas and she now lives in Alabama.
- Megan grew up in a mega church and she was a pastor’s kid.
- Megan has been married for 10 years and she and her husband have 3 sons.
Megan’s Business – Scarlet and Gold
- This business is a mix between faith things and game day things.
- The Overcome Journal is a practical tool for someone who is walking through something hard.
Balancing Work, Ministry and Family
- The most important work you will ever do will happen in the walls of your home.
- Your first ministry is your family and you need to make sure you are giving them your best.
- It’s okay to have a busy season at work, but it’s important to make sure your priorities are in the right order.
- Boundaries are healthy and they lead to freedom.
- Be mindful and intentional with what you say ‘yes’ to because every yes is taking you away from something else including your family.
- It’s okay to say no to good things.
Practical Ways to Make Time with Jesus
- It looks different in every season so it’s important to give yourself grace.
- It’s all about the attitude of your heart and bringing to God what you have to give.
- It’s important to make God a priority in every season.
- It’s important to spend quiet time with the Lord and turn off the noise and distractions.
- Make time in your week to learn and grow from sound theology.
- You have to be intentional. You cannot coast as a Christian. You have to make it a priority.
Megan’s Testimony of Walking Through Infertility
- Megan and her husband were told that IVF would be their only option to conceive biological children. They went through 2 rounds of IVF.
- The waiting is so important.
- We have this desire to control and write our own plans for our life, but God wants us to surrender. Surrender means that we take up the cross and follow Him at all cost.
- Megan is a different mother now because of her journey through infertility.
Bringing Pain to God
- If you don’t deal with the pain, it will come up in another time or another way and it’s often not pretty.
- Life doesn’t always go as planned and we will face disappointment in this life repeatedly and we have to learn how to grieve that.
- It’s important to identify what the pain is. Too often we look at the symptoms and we deal with the surface level pain, but we don’t deal with what is going on underneath the surface.
- How are you dealing with the pain? Are you taking it to the Lord or are you trying to cope with things of this world?
- There is a root to everything.
- The Lord wants to heal the root issue.
Practical Ways of Taking Things to the Lord
- Prayer, reading the Bible and spending time with the Lord.
- Recognize and identify the triggers in your life and put up boundaries so you can guard your heart.
- Make sure Jesus is going in through podcasts, sound teaching, church, small group, etc.
- Getting into a community is so important.
- There is no way we can step into who God has called to be if we do not have people around us cheering us on, lifting us up, supporting us and praying for us.
Grace
- In order for grace to be the overflow of your heart, you have to receive it fully first.
- Receiving God’s grace is a daily thing.
- Grace is the opposite of what we deserve.
- Give Grace How to Embrace the Beauty of Life’s Brokenness book by Megan Smalley
- It is important to be full of grace and truth.
- Faith and trust is choosing to believe what the Bible says even when it doesn’t feel like God is good and your circumstances don’t feel good.
Taking Thoughts Captive and Filling Your Mind with Truth
- It’s important to recognize lies as lies.
- Negative thoughts start in your head and then work their way down to your heart and you start acting like those lies are truth.
- If you are walking out those lies and believing them as truth, it is a reflection of your walk with God and a sign that you are not filling your heart and mind with God’s truth.
- Who you surround yourself with and what you are allowing into your mind is a reflection of your heart.
- You have to have a source of truth, for example Scripture.
- When you are presented with a lie, you have to take it to the source of truth and compare it. Take it to Scripture. Then speak that over your life.
- Put up boundaries in your life to guard against believing a lie.
- If the Bible is your source of truth, your life will look different.
Hope
- Instead of placing hope in the circumstances, you have to place your hope in Jesus.
- If our hope is in something circumstantial, you will ride the roller coaster of emotion; but if our hope is in something beyond this world, in Jesus, we can be much more steadfast.
- There is an end in sight, and it’s called eternity.
- Only Jesus can satisfy.
Powerful Quotes:
“Boundaries lead to freedom.” – Megan
“You can only be as good of a mom as how filled up you are yourself. If you’re not filling yourself, you won’t have anything to pour out into your family.” – Caroline
“What comes out is a reflection of what’s going in.” – Megan
“We have to make sure that Jesus is going in so that’s what’s flowing out.” – Megan
“Testimonies help us understand what God is capable of doing.” – Caroline
“There is so much sanctification and life and joy that happens in the wait.” – Megan
“Surrender means that we take up the cross and follow Him at all cost.” – Megan
“Isolation builds walls around our heart very high and that’s not God’s design. His design is to tear those walls down.” – Megan
“In order for grace to be the overflow of your heart, you have to receive it fully first.” – Megan
“Instead of placing hope in the circumstances, you have to place your hope in Jesus.” – Megan
“There is an end in sight, and it’s called eternity.” – Megan
Resources:
Infertility Sisterhood Podcast with Megan Smalley
Waiting on God by Wayne Stiles
Favorite Bible Translation: ESV and NASV
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