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Welcome back to Fierce Calling! In today’s episode, host Doris Swift welcomes back author, coach, and Proverbs 31 Ministries writer Abby McDonald. Abby is here to talk about her brand new book, Surrendering Certainty: Hearing God Today by Letting Go of Tomorrow. With warmth and honesty, Abby opens up about juggling the demands of motherhood, writing, and community, and how God has shifted her focus to finding Him in both the big moments and everyday interruptions.

Together, Doris and Abby dig into what it means to truly surrender our need for control and certainty, and to trust God—especially when life doesn’t go the way we planned. Abby shares insightful stories, biblical wisdom, and practical steps to help you trade fear and frustration for adventurous faith, and to recognize that even life’s distractions can be holy moments of growth and connection with God.

Whether you’re in a season of waiting, feeling weighed down by uncertainty, or looking for encouragement to embrace your calling, this conversation will remind you that you’re not alone. Get ready to be encouraged, challenged, and equipped to rediscover joy and confidence in following God’s lead—one surrendered step at a time.

Episode Highlights

05:36 Intentional Connections and Community Building

09:32 “Trusting God’s Plan”

13:41 “Surrendering Certainty” Book Endorsement

18:38 Honest Prayer for Clarity

23:07 Chronic Pain and Seeking Comfort

24:06 “Meteor Shower and Divine Assurance”

29:51 “Rejection as a Refining Process”

31:19 Psalm’s Guidance Against Fear

34:49 “Delayed Success is Sweeter”

38:44 Encourage Book Reviews for Abby

Connect with Abby!

You can connect with Abby and find her books, social media links, coaching services, blog, and her 5 Days to Life Unstuck Challenge, and more at abbymcdonald.org

Abby McDonald is a writing coach, speaker, and the author of Surrendering Certainty: Hearing God Today by Letting Go of Tomorrow. and Shift: Changing Our Focus to See the Presence of God. Her mission is to empower women to hear God’s voice in their lives and act on it in faith. Abby writes regularly for Proverb 31 Ministries’ daily devotions team, and her work has been featured in numerous publications. Abby lives with her husband, three children, and black lab in the mountains of western Maryland. Connect with her at abbymcdonald.org.

What Threatens to Steal Your Joy?

Check out Surrender the Joy Stealers: Rediscover the Jesus Joy in You 6-week Bible study rooted in John 15. You can find more info at https://dorisswift.com/book/

Let’s Stay Connected!

Find my free resources including Fear Fighting Bible Verses, Simple Tips for Sharing Your Faith, Surrender the Joy Stealers, Step Out of Your Doubt and Into Your Calling ebook, and more on my dorisswift.com homepage!

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Thanks for Listening!

I hope this episode with Nancy encouraged, inspired, and challenged you to cultivate community, live and walk in the value and worth God gave you, and take action where your passion, compassion, and conviction intersect. You’ll find links in the show notes to connect with Nancy and with me.

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I hope you’ll join me next time when I talk with another woman who is taking action where her passion, compassion, and conviction intersect …

Until then friend, have a blessed week, and I’ll talk to you soon.

With love and joy,

Doris

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Transcript

Doris:
What is threatening to steal your joy? What is it that feels so heavy right now that you could barely stand? God has a plan, and his plan is to surrender it. Surrender it to him. It might be a prodigal. It might be a relationship, a marriage, something with your job. So many things. We have so many amazing blessings, but there are so many things in our life that threaten to steal our joy. I’m Dora Swift, author of the award winning six week bible study, Surrender the Joy Stealers Rediscover the Jesus Joy in You, And it helps women rediscover the overflowing, ever present Jesus joy within that fills, empowers, and ripens the fruit that God produces in our lives. Using personal and biblical stories, I share how you can identify your joy stealers, surrender them to God, reawaken the joy within, and share the joy with others.

Doris:
You can do it on your own or with a group. Check it out, friends. Surrender the joy stealers, rediscover the Jesus joy in you. It’s available on all the online retailers. It’s time to take your joy back to the show. Today, I’m excited to welcome back my dear friend, Abby McDonald. We had her on, a time when she had a book came that came out called Shift, and that was amazing. She has a new one coming out called Surrendering Certainty, Hearing God Today by Letting Go of Tomorrow.

Doris:
I was honored to read an advanced copy and endorse this book. It’s fantastic. And we’re gonna talk about that today among many other things, I’m sure. Welcome to the show. It’s great to have you back, Abby.

Abby McDonald:
Thank you, Doris. I’m glad to be here.

Doris:
Thank you. Yeah. This is really exciting for you to have this next book coming out. I know that you’re you’re always working on something. And you’re also you’re you’re an author, you’re a a coach, you’re a mom, and you’re a wife. You have a lot going on, and you’re an editor too. So that’s something that’s, in your wheelhouse that you’ve been doing. So that’s pretty exciting.

Doris:
And I know sometimes people might think, okay. Well, this book comes out here and then this next book comes out. It might be a while in between because it takes a while for books to come out, but it doesn’t mean that God is not moving or doing other things in our life. So we would love to hear, Abby, a little bit about what’s been happening with you and what God’s been doing in and through your life and how you’re currently taking action where your passion, compassion, and conviction intersect.

Abby McDonald:
Absolutely, Doris. Well, a lot of my time is spent with my kids and, getting them from one activity to the next. I have three kids. They are 16, 13, and eight, so they keep me pretty busy with their various activities. Sometimes I just feel like I’m a taxi service getting them from one place to the other, but, my 16 year old is, about to get his driver’s license. He has his permit right now, and so I am gonna be soliciting his health in that area and having him running errands for me. Looking forward to that for sure. But, yeah, I have just the past few years, God has really put a passion in me to really connect in my community, and really focus there.

Abby McDonald:
And, not that I wasn’t connected before, you know, I’ve always had a local church, but, to really just focus more of my efforts and, being intentional, you know, about connecting with people, meeting for coffee, you know, going to a bible study, that sort of thing, and just building those relationships, because I think that online ministry is wonderful, and I I continue to do that. I’m a writer for Proverbs thirty one Ministries, encouragement for today. But I think that where God really moves and where people’s lives are really impacted is in those just everyday moments and in those relationships that we build with the people around us. He’s put us in in the places we are, in the spheres of influence we have for a reason. And I think it’s important for us to realize that and to really, ask him for his guidance and then be intentional about doing where whatever we feel that he’s leading us forward.

Doris:
That you brought that out. That that’s really important to talk about being intentional about, the the people around us, like, right where we are and to see the people. Mhmm. Yeah. I I kind of had that same feeling this past year. It’s kind of been a realization of, you know, we we focus so much on reaching the masses with a message that God has given us, which is so important because even Jesus said, you know, go to the ends of the earth with the gospel. But sometimes we do lose sight, and I kind of called that, like, a farsightedness and versus a nearsightedness, you know, that we we might focus on so many things that are, like, kind of out there versus what’s right in front of us. And so I’m glad that you brought that out.

Doris:
I’m glad because it is it is important.

Abby McDonald:
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And, you know, I mean and I hate almost to bring up COVID, but I think that that was part of, you know, what kind of isolated us, you know, and make us, just look more inward, you know, and not necessarily connect to the people around us. And I think it’s taken us a long time to get back to that point, you know, where we’re realizing, I we need people. You know? We need that connection, and it can’t just be online or, you know, on a Zoom call with, well, I love talking to you. You know? It it need we need to have that face to face

Doris:
Yeah.

Abby McDonald:
Interaction. And so, yeah, I feel like God is leading a lot of people toward that realization, you know, that we we need each other.

Doris:
Definitely. And so, you you know, you have a lot of activities going on. Like you said, you’ve got the the kids, and they’re in different, things at school or whatever that you are taking them here and there. Your son’s about to drive, which that is a huge milestone. Right?

Abby McDonald:
For sure. Yeah.

Doris:
Sure. So that keeps you busy, and then you write and you you help other writers. You coach other writers who want to do writing with excellence and encourage them. And so this book, when I read it, it just was something that resonated so much with me because we do tend to wanna know what the next thing’s supposed to be, where we’re supposed to go, you know, all the things. So tell us a little bit about what this new book coming out, Surrendering Certainty, you know, what is it that you want the reader to take away from it, and what is the actual core of the message in the book?

Abby McDonald:
Yeah. Well, the main takeaway I want the reader to to have after reading this book is that we can lay all of our desires and all of our longings to know what’s gonna happen tomorrow on the other side of our obedience, on the other side of our yes to him at Jesus’ feet, and we can know that he is going to lead us, that he is gonna have his loving eye on us, and he’s not gonna forsake us in that. And the reason why we can do that is because he is a perfect God, you know, and He has good plans for what He has called us to do. And, so, the core message that I’m really getting at in the book is that a lot of times when God asks us to do something, you know, and it’s usually, in my experience, it’s a nudge, you know? It’s like a thought that we keep having, you know, that we just can’t escape no matter how often we try to ignore it, you know, or just, like, this burning we feel in our soul, like, you know, I need to do this. But we wanna know, you know, like you said, we wanna know, well, what’s gonna happen? What are people gonna think? Am I gonna be successful? You know, do I have the resources? All of these things. And we end up, in this cycle of of doubt, and we just want more more signs, more affirmation. And this can go on for months or even years, you know, is what I’ve found. And so, the the truth of the matter is that we we can’t know what’s gonna happen tomorrow.

Abby McDonald:
God never promised to tell us that, and, while he I think he does sometimes give us little hints, you know, or he does prepare us for things, he ultimately wants us to trust him. And we we can’t trust him if we’re simultaneously asking him to tell us what’s gonna happen, you know, tomorrow or whether we’re doing that, you know, verbally or just in our head. And so, yeah, the book goes through three things that Jesus, tells the Pharisees in John 10. And what I’m real I’m inviting the reader to make those her foundation instead of this longing to know what’s gonna happen tomorrow. And those truths are my sheep hear my voice, they will come and go and find pasture, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. And so, those are really, I believe, what our hearts truly long for. And when we can really internalize that and believe that, which that that’s the key is believing it, then we can walk forward in confidence, and we can persevere even when things don’t go exactly like we want.

Doris:
Right. Which is a lot of times, you know, when we think about it. You know?

Abby McDonald:
Yeah. Yeah.

Doris:
I love the way that you broke it down, you know, into those main points of the things that we truly do desire. And to be honest, you know, we struggle with, we wanna know what’s gonna happen next. But, honestly, do we really wanna know? Because sometimes if we knew what was gonna happen Yeah. We’d be, like, heading for the hills. You know? Like and, it’s like, I’m sorry.

Abby McDonald:
I’m not on board

Doris:
with this. But, anyway but I would love to read just the, you know, endorsement that I wrote about the book because this was kinda some of my take aways. And I yeah. So I just read in Surrendering Certainty, Abby McDonald helps us discover true contentment in our right now moments through surrendering to god our need for next step certainty. McDonald beautifully weaves engaging personal stories and solid biblical truths through the pages showing us how to release our expectations for the clarity we think we need and embrace the journey of moving forward in faith. Readers will appreciate the simple yet practical steps to walk forward without fear, trade comfort and familiarity with adventurous faith, and consider the possibility that life’s distractions are, as McDonald suggests, holy moments meant to refine us and transform our lives. And I just kinda go on to say I highly recommend, you know, the book and that it’s a message that reminds us our purpose and calling are ultimately rooted in that these life these distractions in our life, sometimes we can get super annoyed about things that distract us or get in our way or kind of like, oh, that wasn’t on my schedule today or that wasn’t part of my plan, but they were actually holy moments. So what kind of, drew you to bring that point out? Because I think that is something that we can all stop and remember, and it would totally change the trajectory of our day, won’t it?

Abby McDonald:
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I think what what drew me to talk about that, Doris, is my own experience. I mean, I’ve had so many distractions. I mean, we live in a age of distraction. Let’s just be honest. But, sometimes, sometimes those distractions, and I think, you know, more of what that quote is talking about is those things that we perceive as, This is not my plan, you know? This wasn’t part of what I planned, and this isn’t anything other than just a hurdle to keep me from going where I want to go.

Abby McDonald:
But, I mean, god is God is guiding even those distractions, you know, and that what we perceive as a distraction could be something that he placed there to get our attention or, as an opportunity for us to either minister to someone who needs that or to refine us in a way that is gonna help us later, in becoming who he wants us to be. And so which, I mean, who he wants us to be is ultimately more and more like Jesus. And so, I think that how we respond to those moments is just so key, you know, because we can get angry and we can get frustrated and throw up our hands, you know, or we can seek him in the midst of that and just say, you know, god, what is it that you want me to do here? You know, what is it that you’re trying to show me through this so called distraction? And what it can really, like I said, be a holy moment for us. It can be a moment of growth and refinement. And so, yeah, it’s definitely, a process, and I’m, like, no means perfect at it, but I’m learning slowly.

Doris:
I know what you mean because we can look at at distractions as just, like, kind of, like, interruptions, but they if they’re holy moments, they’re holy interruptions. And, you know, maybe that’s what Yeah. We were meant to do. And it kind of reminds me of of your other book that you wrote, which was really cool, and that came out a while ago. But the name of the book is Shift, Changing Our Focus to See the Presence of God, and that book was fantastic. And just kind of it all kinda ties together, changing our perspective, changing, you know, what God is seeing what God is doing in our life versus what we wanna do in our life. And, you know, that things line up with his will and his plan. And and like you said, sometimes, especially when hard things happen, we wanna say, well, I this isn’t part of my story.

Doris:
I don’t want this to be part of my story. I don’t want this to be part of my plan. This can’t possibly be part of your plan for my life, Lord, because this is doesn’t seem good and you’re good. So it kind of it feels like it’s a contradiction. So what would you say to someone that might be struggling with that?

Abby McDonald:
I would say that, first of all, just get get alone with the Lord in in prayer and just be honest with him. I think that a lot of times we just try to put our head down, you know, and we either retreat, you know, or we try to ignore the situation, which that never does any good. But when we just get alone with him and we’re honest with him about what it is that we’re feeling, you know, and we just say, god, whatever it is, you know, I’m frustrated, I’m disappointed, I don’t understand. That can be a moment where god uses that honest confession to, like you said, shift our perspective. And often with those moments, he shows me what he’s already doing, you know. He opens my eyes to the ways he’s already working. Now I’m not saying that happens every single time, but there have definitely been times when he has used that conversation to show me, hey. You know, I’m in this.

Abby McDonald:
I’m moving. I’m working. And while my circumstances may not immediately change, my attitude definitely does. And I can and it’s, I told someone the other day, I was we were talking about a a difficult season I was going through, And, what came out of that was the the comforter can’t comfort us when we don’t need comfort. You know? And that that just really I was like,

Doris:
That’s profound.

Abby McDonald:
But, yeah. I and but it’s true, you know? And most of the time, we just wanna skip over the pain or the struggle or whatever it is, but it’s true. He cannot minister to us and comfort us if we’re just smooth sailing through life. You know? Everything’s good. But when he has that opportunity to just love on us, it just there’s nothing like it.

Doris:
It kind of just even draws us closer because we can see our need. You know, we all we all have that need for a savior. We all have that need. Mhmm. But there are times in our humanness that we might not recognize it as we should until Mhmm. The other shoe drops. And then all of a sudden, like, Jesus, you know, like Peter falling in the water. Jesus, save me.

Doris:
You know? And so, so I love that you brought that out. And also the fact being when we kinda circle back around what you’re talking about community and how important community is. Mhmm. And it you know, when we build relationships, it’s something that we can draw close to God through also, you know. And it it may it may not always be someone that is a believer. I mean, God will lead us to people who don’t know him so we can have faith conversations and share the hope that we have, you know, that, Peter and Peter says, to do that. But also those who do believe and wanna encourage us and pray for us, and we can in turn reciprocate and do that for them as well. And that’s just it’s so important to have a supportive community.

Doris:
And like you said, you know, and there were certain instances, you know, especially around COVID where we might have tended to isolate and not really connected with people physically because we, you know, couldn’t for a while. But what a what a difference in impact now, and it should have really kind of wet our appetite to get back into that and to be with people. And it it’s just very powerful. And I know that your book is gonna be so amazing and and impactful for people to read. Because I know when I read it, I was like, oh, yeah. Me yeah. Me too. I yeah.

Doris:
I do that. And, so I I think trying to know, you know, what god is doing and what he’s wanting to do. And I I think you just really hit it with the title with the word surrender. So, can you think of a time maybe where god has kinda brought you through a situation where it just brought you to having to just do a full surrender, to him with it.

Abby McDonald:
Yeah. Yeah. There well, there’s been more than one time for sure, but, I one of the most recent times that I recall, and it it was the situation where, like I said, he he became the comforter because I I needed that comfort, was, I went through a season a couple of years ago where I was just dealing with chronic back pain. It went on for, it was between six and eight months where, you know, it was just every day, you know, no relief. And, I had been the specialist. You know? I had gotten the MRI and done all these things, and nothing nothing was helping. And I remember one day when I was walking my dog, you know, I just cried out to him, and I was like, I don’t I don’t know how much more of this I can take. You know? I really need relief.

Abby McDonald:
I need to know that you’re with me in the midst of this. And so that night my husband is a dedicated, stargazer, and so he always knows when there’s a major, like, star, you know, lunar event going on, and he knew that night there was gonna be a meteor shower. And so he told me about it, and we made it a point to go out back. And we live in a pretty good stargazing area. We have about two acres, plot of land, and so, you can see lots of stars when the sky is clear and, you know, sure enough it started and it was just like one after the other, you know, just boom boom boom. And so I’m sitting there and I’m watching this, and I’m just in awe because I had never seen anything like it. You know, I’d seen falling stars, but nothing on this scale. And as I was laying down to go to bed that night, I sensed God telling me, you know what? I know that you don’t always understand what it is that you’re going through, but I am putting out fires for you that you don’t even see coming, that you’re never even aware of.

Abby McDonald:
You know? And I’m here. I I’m with you in this in the midst of it. And, that moment to me drew drew the surrender because it was like, you know, I don’t know when I’m gonna get relief from this, but I know that he’s here with me in it and that he cares. You know? I may not understand it. And I think that’s the key is we have to give up our need to understand, because there are a lot of times when we’re never gonna understand. Yeah. You know? And we can see that in in Job, for example, in the bible. I mean, he never understood what happened to him, but he understood who God was.

Abby McDonald:
And that, you know, that was why God chose to honor him. And so, yeah, it, and I and I did eventually get get relief. You know, it’s still kind of an ongoing journey for me, but I’m a lot further along than I was two years ago. So God was faithful.

Doris:
Well, thanks for sharing that. And I love how you kinda brought that out that Yeah. You know, we don’t have to understand everything. We just have to understand who God is and, you know, know his character and Mhmm. Trust trust him in in all things, even in our suffering, and how even in our suffering it draws us closer to Jesus and, you know

Abby McDonald:
Yeah.

Doris:
What he experienced in his suffering. So I think that’s so beautiful and so many great nuggets there and of truth that I know is gonna encourage someone who’s listening today. Because there might be someone listening, who might be dealing with chronic back pain, and it’s very debilitating. And especially if you’re, you know, you Yeah. You’re active and you don’t really have a choice of whether you’re active or not because you have things going on in your life that that have to be done. But, you know, of course, there is that season of rest, and sometimes God will use a lot of different things, even things that we might not choose to cause us to stop and rest and really reflect and surrender. And, you know, and God uses things like meteor showers, you know, to get our attention. And how majestic is that? You know, when you think about the beauty and what God it it just kind of allows us to step back and just see the bigger picture of what really this is all about.

Doris:
Yeah. Sometimes we can lose sight of of the bigger picture. Well, how does that not see the forest for the trees or something like that? So Yeah. That’s pretty powerful. So, but this yeah. So this is so great. And, you know, kind of like I was saying earlier, with with a writing journey, it can be really challenging because it does take a lot of time and Yeah. You do get a lot of no’s before you might get a yes.

Doris:
So that could really be something not only discouraging, but it could cause someone to wanna quit. So how would you encourage someone? Because it not necessarily is in writing because it’s really you know, the publishing world is kind of it it is a difficult thing because you do get a lot of rejections. But how can we go forward in anything that we do? Maybe in a job or, you know, even whatever God has us walking in right now, we might feel rejection. How can we kind of overcome not taking that personally and be able to use it, for something that will teach us something?

Abby McDonald:
Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. That’s a good question. I have a chapter in my book that kinda speaks to this. It’s called, is it a closed door distraction? And and we kinda talked about distractions earlier, you know, how they can be those holy moments. When it’s a rejection, it feels a lot more personal, though, doesn’t it? Because, you know, it’s not just, you know, our circumstances or, you know, what we think is is a bump in the road. It’s it’s somebody who we think is just out and out saying we’re not good enough, you know, for for whatever it is that we’re pursuing.

Abby McDonald:
And so, yeah, I think that, that those can be refining moments too, you know, and and, obviously, it depends on what type of rejection it is. You know, if it’s if it’s a publisher rejection, then, unfortunately, that is part of the journey. You know? And I hate saying that, but, I can look back on every rejection that I received, and I can see how it really made me a better writer. You know? And, even though it was painful, you know, and it I had to take time to grieve that and allow myself to feel that disappointment, it did end up making me better, and ended up refining me as I worked through that. And so I would just say, you know, continue to to persevere and to fight that good side of faith. You know. If God has called you to write or to do whatever it is, you know, and you may not be a writer, but if he has called you to it, he’s going to make a way, and he’s going to get you through to what through that rejection to the other side. And one of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 23.

Abby McDonald:
And this Psalm has come into my life at at different parts of my journey in a very intentional way, but at one part in that Psalm, he says, the Lord is the light of my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? And that just internalizing those words, has helped me so much because who do we have to fear? You know, if God is for us, who do we have to fear? And so I would encourage you to to read through that Psalm. It’s a very popular Psalm, but it is for a reason. And, it has just been such a an encouragement and a light in my life, and has helped me get through some really difficult seasons. Rejection, definitely being a big part of that.

Doris:
Beautiful. And thank you for the reminder of reading the Psalm, you know, that particular Psalm. And I remember, I think it was maybe Lisa TerKeurst maybe said one time that she had to learn to have, tough skin but a but a soft heart.

Abby McDonald:
Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Mhmm.

Doris:
Yeah. And I think, you know, rejection, you being a Proverbs 31 writer, that’s really encouraging and that you share God’s truth and encouragement through your writing that reaches so many people through that ministry. It’s just a fantastic ministry, to God and to his glory. And so as you’re writing these things, is it mainly like you’re sharing experiences that you’ve been through, or do they give you topics to to write about, or do you kind of just submit what God puts on your heart for that particular season? Or how does that work, Abby?

Abby McDonald:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I’m glad you brought up because that was a a story of rejection too. And and the first time I applied to be on their team, it it wasn’t now. And then that opportunity opened up, a cup again, a couple of years later, and it was a yes. So I just I bring that up to say what seems like a yes, no or excuse me, a no now can be a yes later. So, you know, be encouraged in that. Yeah.

Abby McDonald:
They they do, give us topics with encouragement for today, which is the ministry that I write for, it’s pretty open. You know, they have certain topics that they look for, and that depends, a lot of times on the season, you know. So we’re about to enter Easter, so, of course, anything having to do with that or resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus. But, they are receptive to to what you wanna write about. And, of course, now with me launching a book, a lot of what I’m writing is gonna be about discerning the voice of God and, you know, surrendering that need for certainty. And so they’re very open to that, and, they’ve been a great help in just getting that message out there.

Doris:
So Yeah. And a perfect example. Like you said, it wasn’t you at first, but it wasn’t Yeah. It was, like, not no forget it ever. It was just no not yet, no not now Mhmm. Because it wasn’t the time. Right. And it wasn’t the season.

Doris:
And had you have received a yes Mhmm. From the get go on the first time you applied, it may not have been as sweet as when you were able to do it when you got the yes the second time. So it just it almost, like, even feels sweeter in a way or even something that you could treasure more and know that God had had your back on that and that he was opening the door at the right time. Because I always say, like, if God’s closed the door, don’t try to climb through the window because, you know, we try to make things happen and we try to manufacture our own, like, steps sometimes. And it it doesn’t always work out really well, but even so, god can

Abby McDonald:
Right.

Doris:
God can say, alright. You know, I’ll let this happen. But then we might be missing the exceedingly, abundantly above what we would have asked or hoped or thought. Because how many times have we, like, wanted to do something and it was like, no. Not now, or this isn’t gonna be a door that I’m opening, and it’s like, oh, but I love this door, and I wanna go through this store. And then why can’t I go through this store? You know? And we kind of become like a toddler. Like, our faith becomes like a toddler. And but, you know, we’re supposed to have childlike faith, so I guess that’s not all bad.

Doris:
But, you know, then he’s like, yeah. But look over here, you know, just wait a little while longer and I have this to come. So it kind of comes back to the theme of your book and how we can surrender the certainty

Abby McDonald:
Mhmm.

Doris:
And, you know, not be so stubborn sometimes. Sometimes we’re just a little stubborn and we want we want

Abby McDonald:
That’s true. To

Doris:
think about that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But definitely

Abby McDonald:
definitely been there.

Doris:
Yep. And so what are, maybe, like, one thing you would like to leave a listener with right now before, you know, you, can share how the listener can connect with you and grab your book and everything?

Abby McDonald:
Yeah. Absolutely. I would love to assure her that she does have the ability to hear God’s voice. I realize that God can sometimes feel distant or silent, but like I referred to earlier, he says in John 10, my sheep hear my voice. And we do have that ability to hear his voice. So it isn’t reserved for select few. It isn’t reserved for the person behind the pulpit on Sunday morning. It’s for you too.

Abby McDonald:
And so if you feel like you’re discouraged or you’re uncertain about that, then just enter into a conversation, with him and just get alone with him and get real. And I’m praying that he will open your eyes to the way he’s he’s speaking to you.

Doris:
Beautiful. I love that encouragement so much and how you brought out that he he’s speaking to us, so we don’t have to wait till he speaks through someone else, you know, to, you know, what they’re going to share. So I think that’s so powerful, and I love it. And I would love too if you would share how the listener can connect with you, if there’s any resources that you’d love to offer, and how they can grab your book.

Abby McDonald:
Yeah. Absolutely. Well, you can connect with me at abby mcdonald dot org. I do have a free, five day challenge that I send to email subscribers. It’s called five days to life unstuck, that addresses just some of the common hang ups that we have as followers of Jesus and ways that we can get unstuck. And, you’ll find all my book information there as well. The resellers that have it are there, or you can go to Amazon and you can find it. I know that’s a popular choice, so it is available there.

Doris:
Yes. And and when you read the book, and I know you’ll love the book and share about the book, it it will be amazing and a blessing to Abby if you would write a review about the book, and that will help others to find it. And I think, you know, that sometimes we just, you know, we don’t think about doing that, but it’s just such a special way to bless the person who shared a message that really resonated and encouraged us. And so well, well, thank you so much for being back on the show. It’s been a good long time before since you were on last. So, I knew that, you know, this would be a really special time to have you back on again. So I appreciate you so much, Abby. Thank you again, and God bless you.

Doris:
Yeah. God bless in your ministry and what God is doing in and through you. And, if you are listening right now, reach out to Abby, and I’ll have the links in the show notes so you can find her. And, friends, this has been an amazing time, and I hope that you’ll join me next time when I talk with another woman who’s taking action where her passion, compassion, and conviction intersect. Until then, friend, have a blessed week, and I will talk to you soon.