Sterling: Yeah. Today we’re talking about changes, you guys, and we’re talking about big changes and little changes. And we’re going to talk about how the brain perceives changes. And then we’re going to announce some changes that are coming for Made for Greatness. So we were talking about how some changes come unexpectedly, and then there are some changes that we choose, but even the seasons kind of create change for us. Like, everybody’s shifting gears from school and springtime, and we’re kind of gearing up for summer. And that is a change in and of itself. And I know, Lorissa, you just graduated a kiddo from high school. So tell me about that.

Lorissa : Oh, my gosh, it’s crazy. This was our first one. My baby, my little baby. And I remember dropping him off at kindergarten and choking back the tears and then getting into my car and just crying and saying, oh, my gosh, he’s going to be graduating from high school. I know it’s going to be a blink of an eye. And here we are. He graduated this past Friday, and we had our graduation party for him yesterday. We’re sending him off to college in two weeks, less than two weeks. And it’s a legit change and a shift. It’s going to look different in our family. 

Our family life is going to change a little bit, and yet it’s all good things and it’s blessings, and it’s what you want for your kids to raise them and send them out into this world equipped to do God’s will. And so we get to stand by and cheer him on as he does it. But it is, it’s changing and it’s settling into it, entering in, leaning into it. Because so often when we have big changes in our lives, we want to resist it.  We want to keep things as they are. Are, feel safe and secure. Like, I know that he’s in my home. He’s okay, he’s safe. We’re able to take care of him. And yet now is the time we’re. Like letting him fly the nest.

Sterling : Okay. I knew he was graduating and I knew he was going to play football for the school. I did not know he was leaving in two weeks. Like, oh, my goodness. Of course, though, when they play, they have to go early to play. So you don’t even get the summer.

Lorissa : No. 

Sterling : I don’t know why that’s so hard for me. I’ve had a couple of friends who have had one fly from the nest. And it does change the family dynamic, and it isn’t necessarily bad. It’s just like you’re used to having that person and their roles, and then when they leave, everybody else’s roles kind of shift a little bit.

Lorissa : Yeah, that’ll be an interesting dynamic to see who kind of takes on some of the things that Josh has been kind of the leader of the kids in our family. It’ll just be what it is. And I’m excited to see what God has in store for him, for us as a family. But it is fascinating, this life that we have and all of the things that come with it.

Sterling : Well, and God wants us to change. I mean, I think that’s what we want to talk about today is that we are not meant to stay the same. Your children aren’t meant to stay the same. You’re not meant to stay the same. I have only heard positive things from families who say that when one has left, they miss them and they’re like, we miss him a lot. But I’ve always heard parents say it was so neat to see the next kid and how the next kid kind of, like, steps up and grows. And that happens, I imagine, every time. And we are supposed to change.

And I think that there are two kinds of changes. There’s changes that happen to us, and I think this is an example of that, graduating from high school is just a milestone. And then there are scary changes, too, like a diagnosis or someone losing a job. There are those kinds of changes. And it’s interesting that I find that we are even more accepting of those changes than the ones that we have to trigger, that we have to be the ones saying we’re going to do, like moving. Just because you want your life to change, right? Let’s say there’s not a job. You just decide, I want to move. And that takes so much courage, it takes so much bravery, and even things like cleaning up your eating or trying to lose weight or exercise more, that’s a form of change. And it’s interesting to me that brains are so resistant to change and in my opinion, even more so the ones that we have to choose and walk into eyes wide open.

Lorissa : Yeah, no, I think that’s a really good point. And again, our brain, at the most basic level, just likes things that are familiar. It likes things that are simple. It likes things that it feels like is safe and secure. So it’s no wonder why we get into our comfort zones and we’re like, okay, I’ve got this.I know what I’m doing, and I’m.

Going about my day. I kind of have a sense. But you’re totally right. Like, God, I mean, change happens. It’s part of life. It’s so easy for our brains to freak out and think because the moment change happens, what it does is it takes things that were familiar and simple and easy and comfortable and kind of flips it a little bit. All of a sudden. Now, whatever it happens to be, whether you’re moving to a new place, it’s like, okay, now we’re going to uproot. Our family needs to meet new people. What’s life going to look like, and. The brain, if we’re not really careful, the brain usually will default to the worst case scenarios. And so this is why I think we as humans are so resistant to change, because initially the concept of change brings about fear. And then our brain hones in on that fear and goes to the worst case scenario. 

I know this a lot. I’m in this whole circle of moms right now who have graduating kids, and the comments are like, are they going to make good decisions? Are they going to have good friends? And their brain will go to those worst case scenarios of picturing their kids partying at college or drinking and driving. And their brain just like the fear, all of it just well up about letting their babies go out into the world and all of the scary things and all of the what ifs come about. And so it’s important, I think, for us to just be aware, first of all, be aware that our brains are going to freak out a little bit and all the worst case scenarios are going to pop up trying to protect us and protect our children. And that’s what the brain does. It’s what it’s supposed to do. But then we as human beings have the ability to override that a little bit. We can say, yeah, it is scary sending our child off into the world, or it is scary moving our home like what you and Michael and your family did a couple of years ago. You moved from Boise up north and started over in a whole new place.

And there’s some unknowns there. There is some uncertainty and there are some what ifs and all of those things. But we have the ability to utilize our brain and our imagination to imagine the best case scenarios or to imagine all of the possibilities or the good things that can come. The new experiences, the growth and how we can become the transformation that we experience when we go through a challenging thing. that we come out the other end and go, wow, look at how much I grew. Like, how much did you grow from moving? What was that experience like for you?

Sterling : Yeah, we love it now. And we had some other friends who were trying to move up at the same time. And I remember them saying, you guys did it so fast. And it wasn’t because we weren’t scared or it wasn’t uncomfortable. We did just lean into it. We were just like, oh, yeah, but it’s worth it. I just kept telling myself it’s going to be worth it. And so we packed everything up and moved, which is very hard. You guys with six kids. I mean, if anyone has moved with really, I think more than three kids, probably every kind of moving, but it is a lot. And this was the first time, I guess we had moved one more time in a big way across the state. 

But it’s different when you’re moving within town than when you were, like, loading everything up, driving away. Like, we’re not coming back. I can’t forget anything. We’re just going to go. It is challenging, but it made us so much stronger. And I think that is also what I want you guys to know about change, is that it makes you resilient, it makes you confident, because then you begin to know that you are a person who can handle change. And that’s actually very valuable. I really value that. I’ve lived in many different places and that if you dropped me into the middle of a city and just said, figure out the bus system and find an apartment and get a job, I have the confidence that I know that I could do that. But this came up for me in a silly way, Lorissa, because I like talking about big change. But just recently my friend said, oh, hey, there’s this hiking trail that’s like 15 minutes from your house. No, maybe it’s 5 minutes from my house, but it’s a quick little, like 1530 minutes trail walk if I wanted to do it. And my brain was just like, what if someone attacks me, though? And it was just so funny because it was such a radical thought that I was like, brain. Really? Like, you are worried about us going on a hike in northern Idaho because you think that someone might attack you. And I think that that’s what brains do. 

They go to the worst case scenario. And listen, it is not a 0% chance, okay, in the world that has happened. And we have probably heard a news story about that, but the likelihood is extremely low. And yet that’s what our brains do. Our brains try to scare us with the worst case scenario. And instead, I told my brain, I said, but what if this is the best thing ever? We had a hiking trail very close to my house that I could just pop out and do with some or all of the kids. And it was one of my favorite ways to exercise or connect with the Lord. That is our job. It’s just to give the other scenarios. But this could be the best thing. This could be so exciting. And then I think that that helps us to fuel through the discomfort of change.

Lorissa : Yes. And that’s what I’ve even found myself doing with Joshua, is like, okay, I could just hold on to like, oh, my gosh, he’s going out into this scary world and how is he going to do it? And is he going to be able to navigate college and go to all of his worst, who are his friends going to be? All of that. But now I’m like, I keep thinking about the opportunities that he has, and I know, the people that he’s going to surround himself with. And I’m so excited. I find myself getting so excited for him and the fact that I know he is going to be faced with these changes himself. He’s going to step into this and he’s going to grow and become stronger, just like with what you said. He will become more resilient, he’ll become stronger. And I’m also just looking forward to having an adult relationship with a child, which is a whole new thing, and that’s like, our relationship is going to change. And this is my first child that I will have moving into that adult phase. And so there are unknowns there and how we’re going to navigate it. But everybody I talk to that has adult kids talks about how beautiful it is to enter into that place.

Sterling : I remember when I turned 19, my mom said that to me. She picked me up and then we went to breakfast and she said, you know, Sterling, I always wanted to be a mom. She said, I always wanted to be a mom. I was pictured being a mom. And she goes, But I never got to this part. She said, I never imagined having an adult relationship with one of my kids, and it’s so fun. And that conversation has just always stuck with me. And I don’t want to rush the kid part, but I see that there’s this other part too, that we get to have with the kids. So what we’re saying is, one, your brain is going to freak out about change, okay? It’s going to give you ridiculous things. It might even give you reasonable sounding things, but it does not want you to change. But God wants you to change. And when we change, it’s an opportunity to grow in virtue. Right. 

We don’t want to stay the same right now, you’re probably not fit for sainthood today, right? You’re not perfectly refined and ready to go. He wants to refine you. He wants you to grow in virtue. And so it’s your job to get your brain on board with change. And you can do that by thinking of the best case scenarios and also just accepting that it is uncomfortable sometimes that’s all it has to be is just going, yeah, moving is uncomfortable. We’ll feel better when we’re done moving. Sending someone off to college is uncomfortable. We will feel better once he is settled, right. All of those things. And so we just want you to know that you can think about change that way.

Lorissa : Yeah, I think you hit it on the head as entering into that acceptance. So often when we find that change is causing us to feel so much suffering, it’s usually because we’re in some sort of resistance to it. We’re either saying something to the extent of, like, I don’t want this, I don’t want to have to be doing this, I don’t want this. Or why does it have to be, like this or this is not what.

I thought it was going to be. We find ourselves either just so resistant to the change or wanting things to be how they were before. But like you said, there are certain changes that come that are out of our control. And so the sooner we can step into acceptance and say, okay, this is where we are right now, this is what we’re faced with, I’m accepting it. I understand that I’m capable of doing hard things and we can get through this and we will be better off because of it. 

Man, that’s a game changer. And I’m starting like I used to be so resistant to change. And of course, all of us have things that we definitely don’t want to have to deal with, that we hope we don’t have to deal with in our lives. But I started to anticipate change a little differently, like a little bit more of an adventure versus something I dread. And I think that’s kind of what you’re talking about too. How do you go into it? I think a number of years ago for a lot of different circumstances. We made a decision to switch parishes and that was really hard for us because this had been our parish where we had been for 20 years, memories, all the things. 

We went to a different parish and we were like, okay, how are we going to do this? But we went into it with a mindset of this isn’t our ideal situation. We wish we were back at our main parish, but we know we need to move, but we’re going to make new friends and we’re going to get involved and we’re going to volunteer for ministries. And we went into it kind of like it was an adventure and it ended up being so many blessings came from that and still to this day, so many relationships that we wouldn’t have had, had we stayed before. And I think that’s kind of what you’re saying, God invites us into these sometimes very difficult moments to give us blessings that we don’t even know he’s preparing for us.

Sterling : Yeah. I now have had enough changes in my life, planned and unplanned to know that God has something around the corner for me that I can’t see. And I feel like that for all those years that I wasn’t religious and I just could never see religion around the corner. Right. And then that just completely saved me and completely changed my life. And then marriage was like that. I really, for the longest time, did not want to be married. And then I opened myself up to that and that completely changed. And then motherhood and then each child. Right, because I think most of you know that we planned one of our six children. And so all of those were unexpected changes that happened to us, but the joy that was around the corner and then even one year later Michael left his job at Micron, which was a chip company, and we bought a fence company. 

And it was so painful for a year that for a year we were like, oh, my goodness, was that the wrong decision? It was so painful and uncomfortable. But it was after that year that we stabilized the company. And then I had these three bedrest pregnancies, and there is no way that we would have been able to run our family with Michael working that traditional job. He had the flexibility to take care of me and the kids, and God just knew all of that. He knew all of that. And so he instituted this change, initiated this change, and we couldn’t even see why it was important and why it was so great. And then there was life Coaching, right? Life coaching was another one of those changes that I never saw coming. And I imagined the year before that, God was sitting with me like, just wait, just wait. This thing is coming. 

It’s going to change your life. And then even being up here, right? Even when we found Life Coaching, God had not put into my heart yet that he was calling us to come live up here. And so I’ve just been through enough of those major things now to know, okay, Lord, you’re calling us to this thing. There’s going to be so many blessings in it, and there are things around the corner that I can’t see, and I’m okay with that.

Lorissa : Yeah. And that’s where trust lies, right? Like when we’re like, okay, Jesus, I trust you, and I may not be able to see right now what’s happening  or why this is happening, but I trust you. And I trust that you’re always a couple of steps ahead and that there are things that maybe you’re clearing out or putting together or putting into place that will be made known at a certain time. But I think that’s the perfect way to be. So when we find ourselves in these moments of discomfort because we’re going through. A season of change, that’s what we want to hold on to. That trust in God, the belief that we’re going to grow, that we’re resilient, that we’re strong and that God’s strengthening us and virtue and that there are things around the corner that are for our good and hold on to that even through the difficulties.

Sterling : Yeah. So we have a big change that we want to announce, and I have a lawyer to announce it. But before she does, I want to say that one of the things that is so true for both of us and one of the hopes that we have with everything that we do is to teach all of you to be women who discern the will of God that’s it.

If you do that, that’s like the meta skill, you guys. The meta skill is praying and saying, lord, are you asking me to do this. And we really live our life that way. We really do. And what that involves is sometimes God brings things that come out of the right field and you’re like, oh, Lord, I was not expecting to have this baby this year. I guess that’s what we’re doing this year. Or a job change with your husband, or moving. And we just want you guys to know that his plans are better than your plans and that he will give you peace even if you don’t get to see all of it yet. And our desire is to model that for you and to invite you into that kind of life because that really is the best way to live. And it doesn’t mean that we don’t go, what? Lord, I wasn’t expecting that. Or it doesn’t mean that the change isn’t still uncomfortable because we’re telling you right now, all change is uncomfortable. It doesn’t feel great, any kind of change, but let us be women who discern the will of God and who choose to say yes, who choose to be obedient, because I just don’t think that there is any better way to live our lives.

Lorissa : Yeah, absolutely. And it really speaks even to Mary’s Fiat, right, of her modeling that for us, of being this young woman, like, who am I, Lord, that you asked me to do this, but You will be done. And she was like the first one to really model for us what that looks like, to just say yes even in the midst of all the unknowns and what that might look like for her future and for the future of the whole world. But yes. So kind of diving into the kind of what we wanted to announce today is more on a personal level, but also affects us and our company. But for most of my adult career, I’ve been involved in ministry, youth ministry and campus ministry for four years. Not too long ago, I was the director of campus ministry at our Catholic high school. And it was at that time that I was doing that. I was also doing youth ministry for my parish. But Sterling and I connected. And I think that this has been what’s so powerful is that God really in our own ways.

Sterling and I, on different tracks, came into life coaching and started learning about it and learning it and having it affect our own lives, helping us with these tools just personally, right? And then feeling this calling from God to I mean, each of us ended up getting certified as life coaches because we wanted to utilize these tools to help particularly Catholic women. And then God kind of brought our paths together. And again, Sterling, you and I talk about how five, six years ago, could you imagine being here right now doing this work and doing it together?

Sterling : No. And it was really the Holy Spirit. I don’t know if we’ve told that story on the podcast. I feel like I’ve either told it on the business podcast or lots of times in business coaching because it was such a Holy Spirit sparkle moment for us. And it wasn’t that Lewis and I weren’t friends, but I want you guys to know we weren’t hanging out. We weren’t, like, in the same mom’s group. We weren’t, like, raising our kids together. We lived in the same city, but kind of on opposite sides of the city. And we would see each other at conferences and be like, hey, what are you doing? And so then it was this crazy moment when we were like, Wait, you are part of the Life Coach School. What? There are very few people, particularly for however many years ago, that had heard of this work. And so it was such an amazing moment for us to connect over that. And then we both like, it was the secret was like, do you know what I’ve always wanted to do? We want to create a Catholic version of this. And then very separately, but in a very huge way, this made for greatness quote has always been very special to each of us. And so it was like the skies parted and the angels came down and blew trumpets, and it was like we could create a life coaching membership and call it made for greatness. And it was so unexpected, like the week before. I was not thinking about that. And it was such a moment that the Lord brought us together and gave us this mission, and it was really special.

Lorissa :Yeah. Yes. And so, really, I mean, we kind of both just jumped in really fast. And I think this is what you do when you feel God speaking to you and when you hear the Holy Spirit call you. Sometimes it feels like some people would go, gosh, that’s crazy that you would just jump in and start a company with someone and take off. And yet that’s what we did. And the whole time, without any doubt or hesitation, it has always felt like god’s been right at the center of it.

The Holy Spirit has guided us every step of the way, and I think that’s ultimately the reason why we’ve been able to reach the women that we have in the last two years. And so in my own journey I was doing campus ministry, youth ministry, starting this company with you, Sterling, kind of wearing three hats at three different jobs and raising seven kids and really feeling God, just knowing that I needed to get down to kind of one job and slowly doing that. I left the Catholic high school job last year. They replaced me with an amazing woman who took that over. And then I was right in the process of stepping away from my youth ministry job a couple of months ago, which is all coming to an end this week. And my plan was to just go all in and continue as co-owner of this business and continue to build it. 

And when a couple of months ago, the campus ministry position at the high school reopened, the girl that took my position ended up getting a scholarship to go work on a master’s degree, the full ride scholarship at the Augustine Institute, which was like a dream. And this opportunity for me to come back to Bishop Kelly opened up and I was offered the position back. And it was completely like you said, I mean, it was just so out of left field for me it was not anything I was thinking about pursuing or wanting. I was going down this one path and then this kind of opened up. And as we do, and like you said, our number one job is to pray and to discern God’s voice.

And in that discernment piece, God made it very certain to me that he was calling me back and that he wanted me back at Bishop Kelly through a lot of prayer, discernment, talking with my husband, talking with you, sterling all of those things and a lot of tears, a lot of, like, God, what what are you doing? Like, I thought this was your plan. And now, you know, the plan is shifting and changing and all of that and yet when we listen to God’s voice, even in the uncertainty, there is always peace. And that’s what I felt. Even the tears have come from a little bit of, I would say, grief and like, okay, I love coaching, I love working with you, Sterling. I have loved building this company, and yet God is asking me to go in a different direction. 

So just processing through all those emotions has been powerful and emotional. But this is my kind of change story here today, which is that I’m going to be going back to the Catholic high school, my Catholic high school, as the director of campus ministry. It’s where three of my kids are attending high school. So that’s pretty special to be there and to be a little even more engaged in their lives and doing this work. I have always had a heart for working with high school students. That’s been something that has been a great passion of mine. And so I know that God is calling me back there and I can’t wait to see what happens. But with all of that and the fact that the reality is, at least for myself, I know when you’re working full time and you have a family, when you say yes to something, you have to say no to other things. And even though there are things that maybe we don’t want to say no to, but we have to for our own health and well being and our own taking care of ourselves.

So to make a long story short, Sterling and I have kind of made an agreement, I guess what it is. I’ve sold my half of the company to Sterling. She’s taking it on Made for Greatness. And I’m so grateful and so excited to be kind of letting go of my co ownership to her and letting her run and grow this company. Of course, with me on the sidelines cheering and supporting in any ways I can, I’ll still be staying on as a master’s coach, doing a little bit of coaching on the side, but really stepping away from the ownership and the running of the company and the running of the business, which I’m excited to turn that over completely to Sterling. She’s amazing and has all the skill set and gifts to be able to do that. But this is kind of our little announcement today.

Sterling : Yeah. And it was obviously very unexpected for me, too, for both of us. But one of the things that we have always really valued in each other is one just our complete honesty and transparency with each other. We’ve always had that kind of relationship. I don’t know what other business partners have, but we have always just said all the things all the time about our life and our family and what we want and what’s important to us, and there’s a lot of trust there. And then we’ve also just trusted each other to pray like that. We both always considered that our number one job. And never I can’t think of one time that one of us would go pray about something and bring it back and the other person would say, what? No, I don’t want to do that. 

And I can’t tell you how many times the opposite was true, where I would be thinking about changing something and I would come and Lorissa would say, oh, my gosh, I was thinking the same thing, or, that’s exactly what I think that we should do. And so it was such an interesting experience, as I watched myself to experience both happiness for you and sadness at the same time, because I could see that God was calling you to that. But there was a grief for both of us in being like, oh, the grief of an idea. And you can grieve an idea. You can grieve something that you thought was going to happen, even if the reason is a good thing. And what Lorissa does at that school is very special. 

And there are a lot of Catholic high schools that are not very Catholic or they’re kind of Catholic in name only. And so it’s the administrative job to bring in the team to build Catholicism. And that was really kind of what you spearheaded that school. And so it’s really neat to have a job like that where you directly get to touch the souls of the kids and to give them that relationship. And I wish more Catholic high schools would fight for that and make that a really big part of their curriculum. And I’m so grateful that that school has done that. And I’m not surprised that they were like, you’re kind of the best at that. Will you come do this for us? I just want you guys to know that this is what it looks like. This is what it looks like to be open to what God asks you to do. And it doesn’t mean that you won’t cry and it doesn’t mean that it’s not hard but there’s a piece, right?

Mary, I think, sweetens the cross of transition, and she’s just with us, you can just feel it. And this is exactly what that looks like. And so we wanted to come share that with all of you so that you could see, so that you could see exactly how we make decisions. And even when they’re difficult, that’s when you are filled with conviction. And the word conviction means knowing that God has asked you to. Well, it just doesn’t really matter how different it is than what you planned or what other people think about it. You just go, you know what? This is what God has asked me to do, and I’m going to do it. 

Lorissa : Yeah, absolutely and it is this life that I mean, we’re going to get to the end of our lives and we’re going to say, like, did I really say yes to God, and did I step into his will, even in those difficult moments when I thought it was going to look a little bit different? And yet that’s where the miracles abound. That’s where things happen. That just kind of where you get to sit back and watch God work in his very mysterious and beautiful ways. I also really wanted us to do this podcast because, like Sterling said, transparency and honesty has been so important in our own working relationship. But I think it is also, especially.

When you are a woman running a business. And running a partnership, and if things change and people on the outside, they don’t see, oh, there’s these changes, or oh, Lorissa is no longer co owner of this company. What happened? And it’s so easy to have it’s so easy for our brains to just assume again the worst, like, oh, did they not get along very well? Could they not make it perfect? Were they having issues behind the scenes? Things like that? And I just want everybody to know. Like, no, this is really what happened. And here we are. We’re two women that care deeply about each other. We care deeply about this beautiful company and all of our members and all of the women that listen to this podcast, and yet we’re women and mothers in our vocations trying to do God’s will and being attentive to that and listening to it. 

And even though really what’s happened in my own personal life and the changes, the shift in ownership of this company as far as what this business and this company offers, that’s not going to change. Nothing’s really going to change for our members in a significant way or even this podcast. We’re still going to be providing great content and supporting women Catholic mothers in their lives and their businesses. And all of It Made for Greatness is going to continue to go on. Masters is going to continue to grow and bless even more women. But the main reason we wanted to share this with everyone today was just so you could hear this news from us and to know that Sterling and I have a great relationship and that we will continue that relationship into the future. And that we’re both excited to see.what God has in store for us in moving forward and that this is just what it looks like.

Sterling : Yeah, I think we wanted you guys to hear the love in our voice and we wanted to just model these things for you. I mean, it’s not often that you get to see women in business and that they tell you what’s going on. And it’s a shame because we know that God is calling some of you to that work, or he’s calling some of you to be brave and to be courageous and to make a change. And maybe you have heard something in your prayer life and you’re sitting there thinking, I just don’t know how I could do that. Or it feels foolish, right? Because I was doing this and I told everyone I was doing this and now he’s asked me to do this. And so we just wanted to model for you that we should all be fools for Christ, we should all do what he asks us to do. That’s it, that’s what he calls us to do. And we just knew that it would be powerful to share all of this with you.

Lorissa : Yes. And so on this line of change Sterling, let’s talk about some of the things that are coming to Masters in the near future.

Sterling : We had some changes coming up that were coming up anyway, so we wanted to also take this episode as an opportunity to talk about. So one of the biggest changes that’s coming is that we have completely reshot and redone our weight loss program in Made for Greatness. So we’ve had this amazing weight loss program in there since the beginning. Was it since the beginning? It was pretty early on and that one has been so powerful and so many people have used it and lost weight and really enjoyed it. But that program really came out of the training that Lorissa and I had, right. We both went to this school and they taught a particular way, which is a very effective way, but it really says, hey, here are the rules, follow these rules, and this is a way to lose weight.

And I love that program and it was very powerful for me and along the way, we hired someone to deliver weight loss for us, which we always knew we were going to do. And she brought totally different training and we watched her marry our work with her work, and it was just even more powerful. And really one of the things that she did was she anchored in the Holy Spirit, which was what we had been doing in Masters, but that part wasn’t as threaded through our weight loss program. And she really threaded those things together, plus some things that we had never heard of before that were incredible.

And so this coach, Denise, who’s been on the podcast at least two times, really filmed this entire program and has been working on it for a long time. And that is now officially in Masters. So if you want to learn how to lose weight with the Holy Spirit and the program is called Weight Loss with the Holy Spirit. And I would say that one of the biggest differences in this program than I’ve seen a lot of other programs is that it’s about loving yourself through food and not coping with the world through food, but loving yourself with the things that you choose to eat. And I remember going through her workbook and she was saying, if you want to eat a snack at night, the most loving thing to do is to plan that for yourself. Go plan something. Plan something, look forward to it all day and then eat something at 08:00 at night. And I really felt the truth of that. I really felt the truth of how you could love yourself by planning food for yourself. 

Whereas previously the other weight loss program didn’t really address that. It kind of had more rules and it was like, hey, don’t eat anything after dinner. And again, that is an effective way to do it, but this other way just feels so much gentler. And I was asking one of our members, I said, hey, what was your experience with this? And she said, you know, it’s so funny. She goes, for me it comes down to full fat yogurt versus low fat yogurt. And I said, what are you talking about? And she said, well, before I had done Weight Watchers, and in Weight Watchers you can have fat free yogurt, and it’s free, there’s no point. And she said, But I didn’t really like the way that it tasted. And she said, and Denise really gave me permission to eat full fat yogurt and to love myself through making that choice because that is what I really wanted. And I think in a lot of programs they say you can do this program and eat what you want. 

Weight Watcher says that right. They say you can eat whatever you want. But what they really mean is you have to count the points and in the end, you don’t really eat whatever you want. Whereas in Denise’s program, I’m noticing the women really do eat what they want. They may not eat a ton of it, but, like, this woman was like, I buy full fat yogurt. She’s so happy to tell me that. And it was so beautiful. And so this is something that we’ve been working on as a team for a long time, and it’s a beautiful program, and we’re really proud of it. We asked ourselves, how can we do weight loss in a way that feels very Catholic, that feels very honorable, that doesn’t feel like it’s shaming women? How can we put this in our program? And I think we’ve absolutely done that. So if that is something that you’re interested in, it’s in there. It will continue to be there all the time. 

We would love to have you sign up for Masters, go through this program. Denise does coaching calls so you can raise your hand and ask her very specific questions about what you’re going through. And our goal is that you grow closer to the Lord through this program, that you grow so close to Him that the results show up on your body. Isn’t that such a cool thing to think about? And so that is something that we’re very excited about, and we’ve been waiting to announce for a long time.

Lorissa : Yes. And for those of us that are blessed have been blessed to know Denise and work with her. She is just a very special soul. And she’s a phenomenal coach. She’s done this. This is her life’s work, her life’s passion. She wants nothing more than to help women in this area. This is everything for her. And she delights in helping women to know how deeply loved they are by God and to really help them gain the freedom from food addictions and to really utilize food as a tool in walking closely with Christ. And I’ve done so many weight loss programs in my own life, and I’ve never met anyone like Denise who brings what she brings.

I know for some of you that are hearing us talk about adding this program to Masters, it’s a much bigger deal than maybe what it sounds like, because, again, it is us listening to God and the Holy Spirit and being guided. But we have always, from day one, wanted the very best for our members. And bringing this program to Masters, we knew that we wanted to bring it. And we’re so excited that Denise was so excited about bringing it as well, because any woman that goes through it will get so much out of it and will certainly grow closer to Christ in the process.

Sterling : Yeah. And one of the things I think it really does is it helps you go from self loathing to self loving. Most women just really beat up on themselves all the time. And you can go to Weight Watchers and count your points and still hate yourself. Right. You can just yell at yourself till you lose weight and Denise really teaches you how to love yourself. And I will tell you it feels scary. That’s what we always hear people say. It’s like, oh, no, it feels too scary. I can’t love myself like that. I can’t put things I want to eat on my plan. I can’t do that. 

You can tell there’s this resistance, but they do it and they stick with it and they realize, oh, this is how you live. This is how you actually live. To just love yourself through the food choices that you make. And Lorissa is right. There’s no way that we can convey all the things that she teaches and the tools. And that’s why it’s this program. That’s why it’s a program that has, I think, eight videos and a beautiful workbook, and you can do it at your own pace, and it’s going to feel like love. I can tell you that. I can tell you that you’re going to do it and it’s going to feel like love. And we’re just really proud of that.

Sterling : So I’m not ready to fully announce it, but we also do have another change coming for the Husbands of Masters members. So that is really exciting. We’ve got something new coming for Husbands, and then in June, we’re going to be doing a workshop called Keep Your Cool. And we’re going to talk about how to not lose your mind over the summer, my friends, because some of you are on, like, day two, some of you have two more weeks to go until your kids are home. And you know that it is a lot with the snacks and the screen time and the water and just trying to get kids to sleep, trying to get kids to wake up. It’s all the things. And so we’re going to do a really lovely workshop to just tell you how you can manage that all summer so that we can be calm moms and not yelly moms, because nobody wants to be a yelly mom. And yet that is so easy for us to drop into. So I will send out an email with those dates as well. And it’s just going to be a really lovely summer. Our goal is to just help you have a calm summer.

Lorissa : Yes. So this is a great time. As we enter into summer, maybe schedules change a little bit. If you’re not in Masters, I want to invite you to come and check it out. You might have a little bit more free time to dive into some of this, to maybe jump on a coaching call and get the help and the support that you need. There’s so many amazing resources, a phenomenal community, and Masters and what a blessing it is. So we want to invite you to be a part of it. 

Sterling : Yeah. And I think that we just want to send you off knowing that change feels uncomfortable. But it’s important. It’s important, and you can control how you experience change. You can’t control what change God brings you, but you can control not resisting it. You can accept that it’s probably uncomfortable. And you can tell yourself, what if this is amazing? What if this is the best thing that ever happened to me? And trust that he has something really beautiful and special for you right around the corner. And I just love saying it because it’s just true every time. But the world offers you comfort. But you are not made for comfort. You were Made for Greatness.