40 | A Pep Talk For Women Part 1 with Kristen Tucker, Cindy Williams, and Laura Dudek
Ladies, it is time to give ourselves permission to be better and fill ourselves up with the tools to grow. If you feel overwhelmed with life that you could not possibly imagine making time for yourself, then you need to hear from the great featured speakers of the Created Order Conference happening in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 28th and 29th.
Giving you a peek into the event, Kristen Tucker, Cindy Williams, and Laura Dudek share their wisdom and encouragement on what you can expect in their sessions. Christian author and speaker, Kristen talks about the importance of partnering with God against the boxes you put yourself in. Cindy, entrepreneur and fitness instructor, gets into having female-focused businesses and how you can pull off a balanced lifestyle. Lastly, Christian speaker and author Laura shares how finding out your purpose that God implemented clears the clutter that prevents you from going there.
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A Pep Talk For Women Part 1 with Kristen Tucker, Cindy Williams, and Laura Dudek
This is a very special episode where we are going to start introducing all of the featured speakers of the upcoming Created Order Conference. I am so excited because I have been dreaming about this conference for years and it is finally happening. I am so grateful and thrilled to introduce to you each of our speakers that will be taking the stage at the event on June 28th and 29th in Charlotte, North Carolina.
We are thrilled to go back to Charlotte. My family and I used to live there for five years. My daughter was born there and we have decided to choose Charlotte as the city that is going to launch the Created Order Conference. It is going to be amazing!
The conference is all about how to recognize and eliminate the clutter that is getting in the way of your God-given purpose. I always say clutter can be anything from stuff to death to excess weight, to baggage from relationships or your inability to think clearly. Once that clutter is uncovered and removed, it's so much easier to get your life organized in a way that frees up space, time, energy and money and who doesn't need more space, time, energy and money in their life?
If you haven't already heard me get into that topic because I'm super passionate about teaching women how to free up space, time, energy and money, go to episode 36 after you listen to this show today. Created Order is all about being intentional with your life. You will walk away from this event extremely motivated and prepared to make a major change. You'll not only be fired up to see this journey through but will know how to achieve it. You will know how to get your life organized. You will know how to clear clutter and you will begin to realize that each and every one of us was put on this planet for a specific purpose that God had in mind and we want you to find out what that purpose is and start living it every single day. If you have not heard about Created Order, you need to go to my website right now, JenniferFordBerry.com/Created-Order-Conference and check it out.
You will see the schedule. You will see registration. You will see all about the speakers, their bios and what to expect. This is going to be absolutely mind-blowing. It's not only for women, but we're also inviting teens. If you have a teen that could use some organization or some time management skills or you want to empower them to live their purpose, bring them along because we have a keynote speaker just for the teens. We will get into that a little bit more in this show. I want you to know that if you are feeling overwhelmed by clutter, if you are sick of living a mediocre life and you want to feel like you pushed the restart button, this is the conference for you!
I'm telling you, it's where organization meets God in a big way and God is a god of order. He wants us to live with intention. He wants us to live without clutter and he wants us to get organized. He can use us more if we're willing to do that. It's a two-day conference. The first day is optional. That is the VIP session. The second day is all day long. It includes lunch and it is taking place at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Charlotte on South Tryon Street. Again, all the details are around the website and I want you to stay tuned while we get into meeting each one of these amazing speakers.
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We are starting off with the speakers of the Created Order Conference and we're super excited to have our first guest, Kristen Tucker. I want to welcome you Kristen. I'm so excited that you're going to be coming to speak at the conference in Charlotte. I want to say, first of all, thank you for coming on. I know you're super busy.
Thank you so much for having me. It is a great honor to be a part of this conference.
We're honored to have you and I want to go ahead and use this time for you to talk to the women. Let's start off with a little bit more background about you and then we'll go into why you're excited about being part of the conference. Tell us a little bit about you. How did you get to where you are now?
I'm a North Carolina girl through and through. I was born and raised in North Carolina and I had to grow up fast as a child. If anyone has done their Enneagram, I'm an Enneagram eight. Intensity is part of my life. With that, what I had to find out what was my passion and my call. So I decided to explore different things and I fell in love with working with people. I even worked at a funeral home when I was a little girl that my uncle owns. I was working with people. I was working with people at the most difficult times of their lives and that helped me fall in love with people. I worked in higher education for about nine years as the Housing Director and then moved into full-time ministry in 2012 when I was ordained. I love serving amongst people and helping them especially with all that goes around and the pressure and overwhelming life circumstances.
It's so true. You said you started in ministry in 2012?
Correct.
Have you seen a change in the climate of our society since you started as far as the part where you mentioned that people feel a little bit overwhelmed?
Yes, I do and I feel like we carry so much more than we have to and that brings life into an order of stress and feeling like we've lost complete control and we were not created for that purpose. We were created to enjoy life and have life in abundance.
Created Order Conference: God walks us through the relationship clutter all on different levels.
It's so true and I know that you speak to audiences of women all the time and I feel like one of the things that you said that I want so bad for people to realize, women in general and especially at the Created Order Conference, is that we're not meant to live in this space of lack. We are meant to live in abundance. I feel that when women hear that, they're like, “That sounds amazing but how do I do it? How do I get there?” That would make a lot of women feel that there's this long to-do list that we have to check off in order to receive that and it's not necessarily the case.
Exactly, “What is even balance?” It looks different for all of us. It’s finding what works for us and owning it. We can own those things. We can own our new habits or our new way of seeing things. It doesn't need to be that everything is seen and heard and done the same exact way and that's what I love about the diversity of who we are. One, is God's creation but two, is women and where our lives go with that.
That's so awesome how you said it and I love how you said we need to own it because I think that there comes a point in your life where you get tired trying to make everybody else happy and do it everybody else's way. There's so much freedom in deciding that, “I'm here now and I'm going to accept who God made me be. I'm going to embrace it and I'm going to own it and I don't need everybody else to understand that.” As long as we know where we're going and what our intention is with our life. I think what's going to be cool about this conference is that there are going to be so many other women that are going to be right next to you saying, “Yeah girl, own it. You deserve this.” They might not have that in their everyday life. I know a lot of times when you try to say on a personal growth path, sometimes the people closest to you don't understand why you're doing it or where you're going. I think that's going to be something that you bring to the table at the conference of helping women to own their gifts and to understand what role God plays in that. You're in session four. You're going to be talking about Partnering with God and I think that could be a conference in itself.
I don't want to give away my session but I will tell the women listening here that my life, especially in high school and college, was majoring in unhealthy relationships. I could not be single until I was 26 years old and it was me going around the mountain yet again, that I finally said, “There's got to be more to this.” When I broke up with my boyfriend in 2007 I thought, “I'm going to have my life together and I'm going to meet the one and fall in love.” To be quite honest, I have not been in a serious relationship since 2007 and instead, God has flooded me with opportunities and purpose. My Partnering With God session is going to be about that. Finding out what are the things that put us in a box. Then figuring out how to be free and what he wants to create in our lives which is that Created Order, that structure there of finding out our passion.
The beginning of the conference is recognizing what clutter is in your life. I've noticed that a lot of people think that clutter is stuff but stuff is a big and broad category. I always say that stuff can be things. It can be a debt. It can be excess weight. It can be that negative voice in your head that you're carrying around all the time that's saying, “Who do you think you are? You can't do this. Those dreams are too big. Nobody else you know is doing that.” It can be relationship clutter and relationship clutter is huge and it's funny because God walks us through that relationship clutter all on different levels and I know for me I have gone through learning a lot about relationships. Maybe you found this where the more you try to align yourself with God, the more he shines a light on the relationships you’re already in.
It's crazy. I think that freeing yourself from that is going to be such a huge relief for a lot of people but also teaching the women that come to the conference how exactly they do that. How do you partner with God? What does that look like on a daily basis? I think a lot of them will say, “Sign me up. I want to partner with God,” but then they need to think about how they're going to implement that into their everyday schedule. I know you're going to teach them that and that's amazing. Part of the reason why you're wrapping up the conference is that I want people to realize at the end that their dreams are not too big. Once they get rid of that clutter and they've realized what they want to focus on and they have the tools in place, I want you to make sure that they know that no matter what, if they go home and nobody agrees with them or nobody gets it, not only do they have this new community of friends but they have God on their side, helping them out every day.
I love a bouquet of flowers and the fact that each flower is diverse but when you put it together, it is absolutely beautiful. That's the thing. If there are 200 or 2,000 women there, he will speak to us in 200 and 2,000 different ways. We are beautifully diverse in that and he will meet us there. There will be no mistake of the women that come to this. He will meet you there and that's what's so exciting especially about this conference and getting together to look and search for this.
It is so true and he will be there. He will show up and it will be life-changing for every person. I think the biggest step for a lot of women is giving themselves permission to take time out of the everyday tasks and the schedule and the kids and the work and the partners and all of this and saying, “This is a day for me.” Can you speak to that for a second? Let yourself have permission to do this because this could literally change the trajectory of their lives.
"Give yourself permission to invest in your health."
When I was evaluating my own life years ago, it was, “Why do I always say no to me?” I feel like I'm selfish for saying yes to me. I learned more and more in my times of study and being with a church at a community that encouraged me that saying yes to me is a great step of faith and that saying no limits me. I would encourage these women, all women, to say yes to yourself this weekend. Have a weekend for you because it's well-deserved. This is a weekend where it could be Sabbath rest. Where you're sitting, you're breathing, taking in what you need to gain a relationship not entering into the conference and comparing with each other where we're at in our journey but celebrating where we're at in all of our journeys and hearing each other's stories. Again, I think it will be a great yes to yourself. When that inner critic shows guilt, know that God does not speak in guilt. He does not speak in guilt. He is going to meet us there and it’s going to be exciting. I hope that women will say yes for themselves this weekend.
That's my prayer for everybody. I've been praying so much for this conference. I'm praying for whoever God wants to fill those seats, he will get them there. He will form a way and I think a lot of times if you're reading this and you're like, “This totally resonates with me." It's God tapping you on the shoulder saying, “Yes it is, this is for you.” We created this conference for women like you, women that are feeling overwhelmed, women that are stressed out and women that want to get excited about life again. They want to wake up every day and know that they are living the purpose that God had intended for them and they're not distracted by the clutter which becomes excuses. That clutters up your schedule and can also become an excuse. You know deep in your soul that God's prompting you to come but you make up an excuse because so and so needs you or you need to do this or you need to do that. You'll never find out what you're missing if you don't answer that call.
It’s also a form of obedience. I was doing an interview on my podcast with Angie Smith, who I love. She was talking about leaving her kids to go speak in a different country and somebody sent her a nasty email, another mom and said, “How dare you leave your kids?” She was trying to make her feel bad. God spoke to her and said, basically in a nutshell, her children were going to learn more about Him through her obedience and being an example then they would ever see from anything else because as women, we are leaders in our families, in our homes and in our communities and people are watching us. I think we need to be bold. We need to be brave and that means stepping out and saying, “I'm going to something like this. It's for me and that is okay. No apologies.”
I'm so excited. If anyone wants to look you up before the conference, I know your bio and your link is on the website under JenniferFordBerry.com/Created-Order-Conference. They could find out about you. We posted a little clip of you speaking and that's on the Facebook page. That's inspiring but I know that you have been appointed to be here by God. I'm super excited for what he has planned to come out of your mouth and into the hearts of the women listening. I'm super grateful that you're a part of this, Kristen.
Again, it is a true honor to be a part of this and I cannot wait when we can all be in the same room and we can celebrate each other's lives and get to know each other and create that community. That community will start that weekend but it certainly will not end that weekend. I love that we will be warriors for each other. It will be great.
Thank you so much for being on this call and we are excited to have you live and in person on June 29th in Charlotte.
Thank you. I can't wait for you all to get into the Queen City.
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We are on to our next guest, Cindy Williams, who I have known for several years. You are coming live from Charlotte, right Cindy?
Created Order Conference: You can't pour into other people if you're not filled up.
Yes, I am.
I'm so excited that you're going to be part of the Created Order Conference and it's funny because when I decided I was going to launch the conference in Charlotte, you are one of the first people I thought of. It was because of a speaking engagement I heard you at when we were at a conference together in Orlando. It was all about knowing what your why was and you were so inspirational. I was like, “We have got to get this girl into the Created Order Conference.” You're a rock star. Tell the listeners a little bit about what you do for your businesses.
I'm definitely female-focused. I love to inspire women to be who they were created to be, to find that inner fire that fires them up to be a light for others. I do that through several products. I have a couple of businesses, one being the women's consignment sale business arena which is how we met Jennifer. It's become almost a bit of a ministry because it's a lot of hard work but the look on these women's faces when they come in and find this amazing fashion at a fraction of retail and they walk out with their first Coach purse or a great pair of shoes for a business interview that they're going on. It lights up our world. It's been almost ten years that we've been in the women's consignment pop up sale business. This is seasonal and it's become who we are here in the Charlotte market. That's one front. We absolutely love providing that for women, we call it being beautiful on a budget. That's our motto for Green Jeans.
It’s all about a good deal. I love reusing and not overspending and not cluttering up your closet with things you hate. The awesome thing about that is it's motivating to get rid of your stuff when you're going to make some money.
It's a win/win on all fronts. Our second business is a health and wellness business. I have a team of women that found health and wellness to be their passion. On a daily basis, we're sharing recipes and different products, different regimens and fitness and all that to help people find their niche when it comes to health and wellness because not everybody is the same person. There are a lot of fad diets out there and different things. It comes down to core nutrition, what you put in your body every single day. We try to help educate and empower women to understand that it's back to the basics. It's core nutrition and fitness and how do you fit that in a busy lifestyle? How do you make that work? It's never easy because it obviously takes a commitment. But it's about how to fit it into the nooks and crannies and how to make it work not just for you but also for your family. My motto as it states on the conference website is you cannot pour from an empty cup.
I do put God first, myself second and it makes me become this solid person that's filled up that can then pour into others. I can pour into my family, my boys, my husband and then women. My family and friends and all that. I feel like we have to take care of ourselves first. I meet too many women that are depleted both emotionally and physically because they're like, “I have to pour everything into my kids.” I get that they're important but we also need to think about ourselves. I love helping women find that in them and then give themselves permission to invest in their health to be a better woman.
100%. The permission is the key and the way you said it so beautifully is that you can't pour into other people if you're not filled up. You get exhausted and stressed out. Deep down, you want to do it but you don't have the energy to do it. You don't have enough of the fuel to give to others and that's one thing that I think is so huge. When you want to make a major lifestyle change and say, “I'm tired of living a mediocre life. I want to live on fire for God. I want to make a huge difference. I want to help other people". Then you do have to fill yourself up. You do have to set boundaries. You have to have different parameters around your schedule and you have to have all those things that bring what you said is a balance in order to be successful. I think that you do a wonderful job in your life portraying that. I watch your videos and I think you are rocking this healthy lifestyle.
You are definitely a coach and such a huge inspiration for so many women. I know you're going to be that at the conference. Your energy alone, people will be addicted to it. I think that a lot of it does coincide with knowing the basics that you have to do in order to pull off this balanced lifestyle. I think that a lot of women nowadays are missing the balance, I'm excited. I know you have a following in Charlotte. I'm excited for the people that don't know you to get to know you. I'm super excited that we are coming to your city. I haven't been back to Charlotte for a long time. My daughter was born there. We lived there for five years and then we came back when my son was little and then life got carried away. I’ve heard from friends that I won’t even recognize it, that so much has changed.
"Sometimes, the clutter comes from our past experiences and what we tell ourselves about the past."
The city has grown. There are so many great restaurants, entertainment, festivals, venues, and parks. I think that they embraced outdoor living, getting people outside and it's going to be a beautiful time of year. It’s a little warm but everybody needs some extra sunshine in their life in my opinion. It's beautiful here. It'll be about 70 degrees and sunny. It's gorgeous. Charlotte is great. It's such a newish city and it's got a great vibe and it's come a long way. The restaurants, I could recommend some amazing vegan. I'm not Vegan but some fabulous restaurants that are geared towards health and wellness. It’s awesome.
I love that. We're going to be at the Embassy Suites. It’s a great location. I think it's a great city if you want to make it a girl's weekend. I know that a lot of people are traveling in from out of town and they're bringing their mom, their sister or their daughter or their best friends and that's so cool because I think that what happens when you get a whole bunch of women together. It's not just about that conference. We know this because we attend the same conference in Orlando every other year. We get so fired up. It's when you leave and you go back to your everyday life where you need that constant encouragement, you need that community, you need accountability and that's one thing that I'm super excited to build. Everybody that comes will be part of that new community. We're not going to be like, “Good luck. See you next year.” How many times do we all connect through our conferences, throughout the year? We need each other so much.
Community is everything in my opinion. I thrive in the group environment, community and support. I know that if you have one question your one question away from a great answer or many answers. It's awesome and I love that. I'm so excited to be a part of this Jennifer, you have no idea. It’s going to be great.
I can't wait to see who comes and how their life evolves throughout the year. We've all talked about the fact that it's not about this one or two days. It's about the whole process and making sure that we as leaders help to see these women through. I think that's super important to not feel that you're left hanging alone. We want to hear about your progress. We want to hear if you have a bad day. We want to know if you need an extra pep talk. Because you do so much accountability, partnering with your groups, speak to me real quick about how you see accountability being part of a woman's success?
I think it is key. I am a tough nut and I call people out in a loving way because people sometimes need that. At the end of the day, we all want to do what's right but sometimes you need that one person that's going to give you the nudge and a reminder, and that person is me a lot of times. They know what they need to do but accountability is huge. I think it's that commitment. It's the commitment and it has to come from within. You can't make somebody be somebody they're not willing to be. It has to come from inside and if it takes a little bit of coaching, great, but at the end of the day, it is up to you ultimately. It's not up to me. It's up to you. I make that clear that success is all within yourself but it's so achievable.
Yes, and the first step is to believe that it can even happen.
Absolutely.
I'm so excited. Thank you for coming on. I know you're super busy running those businesses and coaching women. I appreciate your time and if anybody wants to find out more about Cindy, her bio and the link to her site are on the JenniferFordBerry.com website on the conference page. We hope that you'll come and meet her in person and get super excited about taking care of not only your body but your mind and your spirit as well.
Thanks, Jennifer.
Created Order Conference: Fear will drive you to love God for a season, but love will push obedience for a lifetime.
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Our next guest is Laura Dudek and I am so excited that you're on to let everybody know a little bit more about you. You're one of our speakers at the Created Order Conference coming to Charlotte on June 29th. Thank you so much for taking time out of your crazy busy schedule, Laura.
I'm so excited to be here. This is awesome.
You just got finished with your own retreat which wasn't exactly a conference but similar. That was super time consuming and a huge undertaking. I know you're starting to come off of that and you have a lot going on. Tell us a little bit more about you and who you are and how you got to where you are.
That's a very deep question. I've loved Jesus. It's been a journey of a deeper understanding of Him. It's been a rollercoaster, an adventure and all of that in-between. Currently, I do freelance design and I help a lot of entrepreneurs with their design stuff. I help you, which is awesome. I love it, but then I also have this whole other side of me that has a passion for ministry. That's what I went to school for. My undergrad was in Psychology, Religious Studies, and Adolescent Counseling. When I went for my Master of Divinity degree, I went for a concentration in pastoral counseling because my heart and my passion are to meet people in that place of their story. So that they can understand more about what they've walked through and more of where they’re going through the lens of the scripture. My heart and my soul is to help people embrace their entire story with Jesus. Whether it's the bible studies that I write or the videos that I do, conferences or retreats that I create, it's all about helping people press into a true relationship with the Lord, in pressing past fear, pressing past all of those things that hold us up from our journeys and facing it with the Lord.
I'm glad that you mentioned that because I want everybody to know that you've written several books. My favorite one personally is called Written and it's cool how you teach people how to not only look at where they want to go in the future but to reflect on the past because a lot of our past has to do with where we are today and why we are the women we are. I think that's so important when we're going to be talking about figuring out what is the clutter that trips us up. Sometimes that clutter comes from our past experiences or even what we tell ourselves about the past.
It's so true and I think that's where I came from in my own journey with the Lord was trying to understand how do I unpack, not only what I’ve carried in my life and walked through but the stuff that my parents walked through and the generational understanding of what's on my life. What is this pivotal moment that I'm walking through? What does Jesus say about it and how do I continue forward in a deeper relationship with Him to be a pure vessel for Him to work to bring the kingdom of God forward? A lot of that is facing the stuff that's inside, to declutter inside so that we can be the fullness of his glory on this Earth.
I see you as an example for these women. You’re another example of somebody who has gotten clear about what your purpose is and you've embraced your gifts and your personality and all these things that make you uniquely yourself which is directly implemented from God. I think it's going to be cool for you to show who you are to other women as far as when they want to learn how to embrace their own purpose. Part of that is embracing their story. I think why you're so on target with your personal calling and purpose is because you have embraced your past which is not always easy to do. I think that's a huge tool that you bring to the women. I think that everybody needs to know that you will be speaking directly to the teens that attend the conference and I can speak from experience that you're good at this because you spoke at one of my conferences called Blurry.
"The moment we see God's vision for our life and Jesus' vision for our future is when we start making the right decisions."
You spoke to their hearts. We talk all the time about how teens especially nowadays, have this huge group of "friends" on social media, yet they feel often feel alone. I think that not only do you have the heart to understand them but then to remind them and to guide them that they truly are not alone. They have Christ alongside them as long as they ask him for His guidance and discernment. We've talked about this, that when you're so young and you're a teen, there are so many choices. It can be a lot of clutter in your mind. Teens have so much clutter. Let's face it. They have cluttered bedrooms, they have cluttered schedules and they have emotional clutter. They're the epitome of clutter sometimes and I know because I have two teens of my own.
I want people to understand that what we want for the teens at the conference is to learn organization skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. I'm a firm believer that kids need to learn how to organize as much as they need to learn how to read, write and ride a bike. Because they grow up to be adults that are overwhelmed with stuff. I also think it is super imperative for your future as a teen to learn who Jesus is. Why Jesus wants to be your friend? What kind of help can Jesus give you? When can I rely on him and when can I go to him? I think that's something that you are going to bring to the table.
I started off in middle school ministry. When I was in college, my first legitimate ministry position was Middle School Ministry Director and I was over 300 middle school students. I was thrown into the fire while I was still in school, but it was awesome because I learned so much and I discovered there in that place to minister to teens my passion for speaking and for giving a message that conveys the word of God. I think it was in college, I heard this phrase, “Fear will drive you to love God for a season, but love will push obedience for a lifetime.” I think that was the epitome of my walk with the Lord as a teenager that I feared God and I knew God but it was about that unconditional love and that security in him that would drive me to love him for the rest of my life and to obey for the rest of my life.
Whenever I speak, whenever I get the opportunity to work with teens, I feel like it's my heart to show his love because when you have that love relationship and you understand Him and His nature that will fuel you to make the good decisions in college, the good decisions after college and the good decisions in your relationships, all of that. I feel that's such a foundation. When we work with teens to help them have that deep understanding of His love and they just have a fear that only makes you obedient for a season. I want to drive that home with them and I'm passionate about it.
That's a great point. I think as parents, we've been given these teens to shepherd for a short period of time. I think as my kids are getting closer and closer to leaving for college, I notice that the foundation needs to be there. I'm not going to be in their ear all the time saying, “Don't do that. Do this, this is a better choice.” They have to know in their heart and it's so important for them to know that at any given point, they can check in with God and say, “What do you think?” Learn how to hear the voice of God and learn how to be guided by God because like you said, obedience is so important, but it can be difficult if somebody doesn't spell it out to you. For me, when I was a teen, I loved the Lord and then I got to college and I was always struggling between that world and the world inside that was pulling me back. No one sat me down and taught me that. I think it can be completely empowering for these kids and it could change their whole entire future.
You realize that you have the choice. I grew up in that great Christian home. I love my parents. They love Jesus but they weren't the ones that were going to dictate my adulthood. They can't say “You can take our faith". You have to make that decision. For me, having him up close and personal. It wasn't that I'm was just reading the word in my quiet time and that's it, in this little fifteen minutes in the morning. It was about understanding where Jesus is every day and like you said, hearing his voice for myself and having that impact the decisions that I make and having His vision.
That's what I want to convey to the teens at this specific event. The vision that we have because when we see God's vision for our life and Jesus' vision for our future which totally encompasses our purpose, that's when we start making the right decisions because we realize, “That relationship is not taking me where I need to go. I need to cut it loose.” That was my vice if you will. They were all masquerading. You have to realize and you need to catch God's vision for your life. That's what I want to help the teens do, hear His voice and start seeing how He sees. That's when you start lining up your decisions in the present moment to lead you to where you need to go. I think that's where sometimes teens don't have the capacity, “This is my moment,” instant gratification. I want to break through that to show them this is God's vision for their life. When you make the decision now and tomorrow and the next day, it has to lean into that.
In relationships, whether it be a love relationship or a friendship, it can be a huge amount of clutter in a teen's life. It can make them feel like they have to please the people in their life more than they have to be obedient to God. Since we're doing a separate session, away from the women, I think the teens will open up to you more and be able to talk to you. I know after you spoke at the Blurry conference, they sought you out. They wanted to talk to you one-on-one. I think it's cool to let them have the privacy and let them be able to be themselves and bond with one another and feel a judgment-free zone. I think that's what teens need. I'm excited you are coming all the way from Cleveland!
I was going to go to seminary there. There were two seminaries and one was going to give me a full ride because they had never had a woman pursue a Master of Divinity before. It didn’t work out but I did go to a school at Liberty. It was a little close, but I was considering Charlotte.
I know, how far is Liberty from there? It's not that far at all, is it?
It's in the hills of Virginia.
Four hours or is it more?
I think it's five, maybe.
We're going to be in Charlotte together. I haven't been back for so long. I'm excited to see the new development and it's a great city. It is and it's such an open-minded city. I love that about it.
It's so beautiful. I'm so excited to go back.
If anyone wants to find out a little bit more about Laura, you can go to the website, JenniferFordBerry.com under the Created Order Conference page. You can see a link to her site. She has written four books. There's a lot of good information. She also has her own retreats and speaks a lot. Check her out. You do great awesome Facebook Live videos too. Even more importantly come to Charlotte and meet her in person. We want you to come. I know that this is going to be something that changes your life and speaks to you and impresses upon you what God would want you to know and where he wants you to go from that day forward. I'm excited for everybody to attend. I think it's going to be amazing.
I think in signing up they're already decluttering their lives because they are intentionally stepping away to hear the voice of God and initiate their purpose for their life. It's amazing.
Sometimes taking a step and making a commitment on your calendar starts to change your life even before you get there because you are taking control instead of letting life and the stuff about life control you. I see that a lot with people I work with. As soon as they make that commitment to themselves and they know they have something to look forward to, their life will start changing the day they purchased the tickets. They'll be more aware, they'll feel more intentional and they'll know that instead of being okay with having this kind of life of mediocracy and everyday norm, they know that something big is coming and that is huge. It's a huge energy boost.
I'm going to say it gives you that target. You can take a deep breath. A big, deep breath is coming for moms. Our last retreat, they were all like, “Honestly, I signed up because I didn't want to make meals for the weekend.” The purpose is to step away, you have to set it up and make it happen. I feel like even that gives everyday purpose because you can take a deep breath. You know a deep breath is coming. You're intentionally putting it in your calendar and that's huge.
Thank you so much for being on and taking the time out. I'm so excited you're coming to Charlotte to be with us at the conference. Everybody, look up Laura Dudek. She has amazing books and an amazing message and an amazing heart for God. Thank you, Laura, for being here.
Thank you. See you guys in Charlotte.
Important Links:
- https://JenniferFordBerry.com/Created-Order-Conference/
- Created Order Conference
- Episode 36 – Past episode
- Kristen Tucker
- Cindy Williams
- Green Jeans
- Laura Dudek
- Written
- Blurry
- JenniferFordBerry.com
About Kristen Tucker
Kristen grew up in Durham, North Carolina, and attended East Carolina University for undergraduate school and Appalachian State University for her graduate work.
In 2008, Kristen felt God calling her into ministry. Kristen was ordained and set apart for ministry in June 2012. Kristen had the honor to study at Campbell University Divinity School and graduated in 2013 with a Master of Divinity in Christian Education.
Currently, Kristen serves as the Associate Pastor of Spiritual Development at Pritchard at South End in Uptown Charlotte. Kristen works in the areas of Christian Education by writing curriculum, leading retreats, and speaking at conferences. Kristen’s tagline is On the Journey TOGETHER. It is her prayer you are blessed, while challenged when reading her devotionals and inviting her to your events.
About Cindy Williams
My professional experience and passion for creating memorable events has morphed into Charlotte's most talked about semi-annual Women's Shopping Event: Green Jeans Consignment! After participating in several local children's consignment sales, my sister Dana and I saw a need to host a sale exclusively for WOMEN! Our boutique shopping events are like no others in Charlotte. Shoppers have come to expect a highly organized sales floor bursting with a high-quality brand name and designer fashion and merchandise. Our level of customer service is also unmatched! Our goal is to make every woman feel like Eco Diva by encouraging her to recycle her wardrobe and shop without guilt! Consignors earn extra income and shoppers are able to purchase high-end items they otherwise may not be able to afford! Everybody wins!
Specialties: Creating memorable events. Bringing the community together for a fun, yet purposeful event. Incorporate local businesses and charitable organizations into each shopping event.
About Laura Dudek
Growing up in church, I have had a relationship with Jesus Christ for as long as I can remember. Being raised in the pews, I frequented religious education classes, youth group, and many youth conferences. I loved Jesus since my earliest memories. But there came a point in my story when I struggled to see how my faith in Christ actually intersected the reality of my life. There was this very heavy battle that I faced with insecurity and fear of rejection and imperfection. That battle led me in my young adult years through a vast wilderness, chasing after things I thought would fill this craving for freedom in my heart. I ached for something more to my faith than just going to church on Sunday and going to a conference to ‘meet Jesus.’ In that ache, I pursued the wrong things: relationships, body image, and perfectionism, to name a few. As I walked deeper and deeper into my wilderness, the Lord, one by one, stripped my heart of things that were holding me back from experiencing the fullness of his love. I came to the end of myself in that wilderness time. It was painful, and I was a mess in the pit of my own valley, covered in dirt and facedown waiting to sense some sort of hope that life could turn around. But in that place, I met the living God.
