Today’s guest is the author of one of my most favorite books, An Intentional Life: A Life-Giving Invitation to Uncover Your Passions and Unlock Your Purpose. I was so excited when Kara Stott quickly agreed to be on the podcast, and we became fast friends. She’s passionate about connecting women and helping them grow in their relationship with the Lord, to understand their calling and to step out into the things God has asked them to do. But after working so hard building up her Pursuit Ministry, at what looked like the pinnacle of her success, God called her to lay it all down. Through that act of obedience, she began to understand what the really important things in life are. This book talks about her journey to live an intentional life that honors God, your family, your church, community and yourself.
One of my favorite observations she talks about in this episode is when she says, “If Jesus spent 30 years in family and three years in ministry… we have this all backward.” That was an eye-opening statement for me. Kara also shares her heart for the family table, her husband’s struggle with PTSD and one of the fun things she and her husband do to keep their marriage fresh and focused on each other. We cover so much good stuff in this episode I know you’ll walk away with lots of new ways to live an intentional life.
Quotes and Resources
“I was technically a stay-at-home mom, but I wasn’t mentally and emotionally there.”
“I was on this mission to do something for Jesus and to make an impact and to really just make my mark on the world… and then you turn around and you see those little eyes looking at you for everything and you are so significant to them… you are everything to them.”
“If Jesus spent 30 years in family and three years in ministry, we have this all backwards.”
“When you haven’t sown into community and you haven’t sown into family and you haven’t allowed people into your home, when you need someone there’s no one to call.”
“Everything on the outside from a business perspective was screaming success. And yet I listened to a voice that was not the Lord, that took success and wanted to manipulate it into something else.”
“Overwhelmed and tired and exhaustion and burdensome aren’t fruits of the spirit. That’s not God’s character.”
“So many of us, when we’re in pain in our current situation, we just want out and we don’t look down the line to see what is the fruit [of that situation] in 10 years or 20 years or 30 years.”
“What does it look like when we show up every day and we love hard for people?”
Connect with Kara at KaraStott.com, on Instagram at kara.stott and Facebook at Kara Stott and her Facebook group Christian Business Women Entrepreneurs Podcaster Authors Coaches & Leaders
Check out Kara’s book, An Intentional Life: A Life-Giving Invitation to Uncover Your Passions and Unlock Your Purpose
Listen to Redefining Priorities: Insights on Faith, Family and Purpose with Kara Stott