How do you connect with God and those around you? For you to connect with God and others, you have to first connect with yourself. You have to stop being judgmental and instead be grateful for the small things in your life.

show notes:

Wendy Henley is a mother, wife, coach, author, mentor, and teacher. Equipping others is one of her greatest passions in life, and she currently mentors and coaches while building her online courses. She talks about the importance of having a healthy mindset to allow God to connect with you at a higher level.

Listen in to learn how to trust the Holy Spirit within you to start hearing His voice and seeing His manifestation.

“Judgments promote fear, and fear keeps us from hearing and trusting that it is Holy Spirit.” ~Wendy Henley

Top Takeaways:

• How to connect with yourself to be able to connect with God and connect with others.
• Stop comparing yourself with others for it is judgment in the roots.
• The importance of starting your day with gratitude and pausing through the day to reconnect with the Lord.
• How to start hearing the Holy Spirit by trusting that He lives within you.

What you will learn:

• [4:40] Wendy describes who she is, what she loves to do, and how she loves to connect with God.
• [6:29] She talks about how she helps people connect with themselves to connect with God.
• [8:27] How to start your journey to a healthier mindset by saying ‘God has a better story’ when you start condemning yourself.
• [10:34] Wendy describes the best ways to start and live your day with the breath of God and reconnecting with Him by stopping to pause.
• [15:31] How to be aware and be conscious of the presence and love of the Holy Spirit who manifests in different ways.
• [20:12] Wendy talks about her goals and plans for 2021.

Relevant Links:

• Website: https://www.wendyhenley.com/
• Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hopeintheconnection
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/superchickhenley/
• Free 5-Day Devotional: http://bit.ly/5DayAbidingDevo

WHO WANTS TO CELEBRATE WITH ME?!?



This week my podcast hit 1000 downloads!!!

Did you catch that?! We are celebrating 1000 DOWNLOADS OF THIS SHOW in just over 3 months! I am so grateful to each of you for being on this journey with me. Grateful doesn’t even touch it. Only God. I am still learning SO much, but I thank you for your grace and patience as I keep meeting you on the show each week.

To celebrate this milestone, I am gifting a copy of Wendy’s “Hope In The Abiding” 30-Day Devotional! This is the perfect way to help you stay connected to God in your everyday life

3 SIMPLE STEPS TO ENTER (RATE, REVIEW, AND SUBSCRIBE):

1. Go to iTunes and rate Covered Beloved with 5 stars, then click to leave a written review (be sure to screenshot it before you submit or you won’t be able to view it!)
2. Subscribe to the podcast!
3. SHARE your screenshot review in your IG stories, or share an episode screenshot, talk about why you loved the episode, or mention this give-a-way AND be sure to TAG me @heidibramm and #CoveredBeloved (This is how I will see and save your entry).

AND be sure to TAG me @heidibramm and #CoveredBeloved (This is how I will see and save your entry).

You can enter multiple times over the next two weeks! Winner will be chosen March 25, 2021. If you’ve already left a review, you can leave another one! You’ll also get a BONUS entry by joining the FB group! So many chances to win! GOOD LUCK BELOVED!!!

Detailed Transcript:

Speaker 1:

All right, here we go. Yay! I love having Kingdom sisters on my show because God works in amazing ways and crosses our paths together as we need each other. And so Wendy and I first met in 2018 through 100X, which is a movement of Kingdom entrepreneurs founded by Pedro Adoa. I remember meeting her in the shuttle with this beautiful, red curly hair and this spunky attitude, and just loved her zest for life. And so shortly after, I hired her as my mindset and spiritual coach for a while, which helped me get some incredible breakthroughs. And now she’s here today to chat with us. I’ve known her for two and a half years through this current season of growth. And I just knew I had to have her on the show to share her story, her knowledge and wisdom, her path and building deep connections with God and all the things. So welcome, Wendy!

Speaker 2:

Wow, thank you so much. What an honoring intro, Heidi, I so appreciate it. And I just honor you, because the things I have seen you do in the last two and a half years are phenomenal. You are such an incredible teacher and encourager, and so knowledgeable. I just admire that about you. So thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1:

Oh, yeah, I’m just glad to be here. And that we were able to make this work. So in case you guys didn’t know, Wendy is actually going to be an extra on the side of The Chosen. And so she was able to squeeze me in today, between a couple of things. So love it. Okay, tell us if you don’t mind just a little bit about you, what lights you up what your hobbies are, or how you like to spend your free time.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I would be happy to do that. I always like to say that not only am I a lover of God, deeply, deeply in love with Jesus, but I am a wife of almost 26 years now to my incredible has been TJ. I have two amazing children, grown children actually, a son and a daughter who are phenomenal. And I am an author. I am also a like you said a coach, and mentor and honestly just a servant. I just love just to give to people. And so that’s my heart. One of the things that lights me up that I absolutely love to do is to be outside, especially in the mountains. So you can often find me in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, we like to vacation there also. And I like to do lots of things outside, but mostly like hiking and snowshoeing cross country skiing. And the thing that I can do year-round that just allows me to connect with God is to run. So I’m a little slower than I used to be. But I used to run marathons and ultra marathons. And there’s just something about that movement and being outside that really allows me to connect with the Lord.

Speaker 1:

I love that one of the ways that God will speak to me when I know I haven’t been spending enough time with him in nature is he’ll be like “pull over” as I’m driving. We have this little hiking spot on my way home, and he’s literally like, “pull over and we need to talk,” but it’s just beautiful. Yeah, being in nature and connecting. I’ve connected very much with God in that way too. So tell us what you do. You mentioned coaching. And so tell us more about what you do for a living and kind of your journey to getting to where you are today.

Speaker 2:

Well, I’m actually a former teacher, I have my master’s degree in educational psychology. My son really kind of spurred me on to just to, to help kids who are you know, outside the box in the way that they think to come to different solutions. And so I got my master’s degree in educational psychology, which actually has an emphasis on gifted and talented. And so I taught and I homeschooled. And now I like to write. I’ve written two devotionals. And also, like you mentioned, I coach. So I’m able to help people.

My signature with people is connection. And what that means is that I love to help people have a deeper connection with themselves. So that’s becoming more aware. And I know you can totally appreciate that with what you do with oils and so forth is that you need to be aware of what’s going on within yourself. Because if you’re really going to be able to connect with God, then you have to have an understanding about what’s going on within yourself in order to allow God’s love to move in that area. And then of course, connecting with God. And then all of that when you have those two pillars, then your connection with other people is going to flourish as well. And so you know, we have a vibrant marriage, I would like to say I have a vibrant community of friends, and we have a great relationship with our kids. And so I completely attribute that to all to connection and cultivating connection in those three areas. Self, God, and with others,

Speaker 1:

That is so good! Do you have any practicals for the mamas listening of how they can be more intentional with those connections, and probably their mindsets?

Speaker 2:

Well, the one thing is, I would have to say, and this is every person, but I would say I remember being a young mom, or even when you get older, like me, that you have to let yourself off the map, because you’re gonna mess up – what you call mess up. And I think that there’s this pressure, at least in our society to do everything perfect, you know, “have I made sure that they have the best schooling? And are they getting the best private sessions with their football coach, or their gymnastics coach, or just is my house perfectly clean.” And we can really just move into areas of perfectionism. And we don’t even realize that especially you don’t have to work outside the home to struggle with that kind of condemnation, you can, especially if you work inside the home that I think that condemnation is very, very easy to sneak up on. And that’s the first thing is that if you could just be aware when judgment to yourself or to others comes up in your mind and just immediately say, “God has a better story,” and then just let it go. That right there would begin your journey to a healthier mindset.

Speaker 1:

I love that. That is so good. And I agree with were so easy to bring in the judgment. Well, I’m just like comparison, which brings on that cycle of shame and condemnation and not good enough.



Speaker 2:

Yeah, and really with comparison, the root is judgment, because you’re judging against a standard that is not love. And that’s why Jesus told us, you know, “Judge not lest you be judged,” because he knew. It was he wasn’t saying that out of condemnation. He was saying, you protect your own heart, if you will just love and not judge. I think that’s a big key right there.

Speaker 1:

That’s beautiful. I agree. Yeah. All right. And you’re committed to helping others implement and see benefits from connecting with God throughout their day. So what can we be doing daily to connect with God? Do you have some practicals that you can share?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I just I’m just gonna do a little shameless plug real quick for my latest devotional, it’s called Hope In The Abiding. And that’s exactly the way that I like to approach things, being a former teacher is that not to just give people knowledge, but to give them just what you said, practical applications. And so the way that I’ve written my devotionals, is I give you an activation. So I’m not going to give you an extensive long explanation of what I think that the scripture means, but I’m going to invite you up and say, “Hey, you know, what does the scripture mean to you? What is Holy Spirit I inviting you to?” But then secondly, is that activation and that’s those practical things that you’re talking about.

So every day, I think it’s super important, if you will just start like, it’s a big deal. And I know that Heidi, I’m preaching to the choir on this, because you’re a believer in this, but it’s so easy in this day and age for us to immediately when our eyes pop open, there are two things that generally happen. One is you have your to-dos, you know, like what am I supposed to do today – your to-do list going in your head. And then secondly, is that you go to your phone. Both of those two things are the quickest way to start your day off bad, or just, I can’t say bad per se, but not you’re not setting yourself up for a connection with your Creator with the bridegroom Jesus, and with the beautiful wisdom and flowing, amazing, magnificent leading of Holy Spirit, if you’re immediately thinking about those things. Because what those things say is, “I’m tied to this world.” And the reality is, is that we are a three-part being.

So if we’re spirit, soul, and body, then those are very, I would say, you know soulish and body things. Those are leaving out the most important part which is your spirit. And so if we can start with the connection, if we can just lay in bed, just take just a minute, just stay there, don’t move. Just breathe in the love of God. Just breathe it in. Because in the Hebrew, the Holy Spirit is called ruacḥ ha-qodesh, and that is the breath of God. No one can be alive without the breath of God inside of them. And so to just be grateful, so when you are laying there in the bed, before you move before you know anything, just take a minute, breathe the love of God deeply within yourself, and just take a minute to be grateful. Just whatever comes to your mind to be grateful for.

Sometimes I’ve had a rough night. And I have to just be grateful for the fact that my bed is really soft at that moment, you know. Especially young moms who maybe didn’t sleep really well, or they had a sick baby in the night or something. And if you woke it up and you’re really refreshed, then you can lay there a little longer. And just let the gratefulness of even the appreciation of how that beautiful light that God created floods your room and just brings beauty into your life. And that’s an appreciation. And so a little bit higher even than gratitude. Because that sun didn’t give you “anything.” It’s just existing, you know, because God made it amazing like that. So that is probably the most practical thing I can tell you. And then the reconnecting would be just stopping, pausing, breathing. And again, just trusting that all things work for good. All things, and then just move, just move on, you know. But I have a lot of different activations in Hope In The Abiding if people wanted to check that out about how to stay connected in your everyday life with God.

Speaker 1:

That is awesome. I agree with all that 100%. I love just taking that moment when I first wake up with gratitude. And, you know, you’re kind of in that subconscious state too. So I move right into prayer. And sometimes we’re even praying throughout the night just in our subconscious. But one of my greatest Kingdom mentors, I just love reading what I just got his second book, Ian Clayton, and he’s taking you through this activation of really focusing on that creative light inside and watching it expand. I just love it! And so you mentioned ending up throughout the night with little ones waking up my youngest, who’s four, she ended up waking up. So I put her in my bed, and she didn’t like move over far enough to leave room for me. So I’m like, “yeah, I’ll just go sleep in her bed.” Oh, my goodness, her bed is so hard. I woke up this morning wishing I could have slept in my bed.

But yeah, I mean, it really is that moment. And I love the reconnecting to that you mentioned because I am super great about doing that every morning, the connecting, but it’s the reconnecting throughout the day. So that is something I’m going to take to heart as well. Okay, so we talked about the connection with God, what about helping people become more aware of God speaking to them in their everyday lives? Do you have activate those for that?

Speaker 2:

Again, I just have to reiterate, when you are learning to really become aware, it’s super important to lay down all judgments. And the reason why is because those judgments promote fear. And fear keeps us from hearing and trusting that it is Holy Spirit. We are worried about being deceived, and we’re worried about it just being us. And we’re worried about someone thinking we’re crazy. And we’re worried about it just being our imagination. When we just decide that, “you know what the Holy Spirit lives inside of me. I trust you Holy Spirit, and I am choosing to not judge.” And to just receive, then all of a sudden move, things begin to what I call – and are called, synchronicities begin to happen. And then you know the Lord is speaking to you, because you have all of a sudden become aware.

There’s a saying in the prophetic community, “what you honor you multiply.” And you know, in other communities, “it’s whatever you put your attention to, that’s where your energy goes.” That’s where you’re going to be aware and conscious. And so what I learned was when I begin to lay those judgments down, I begin to see the Lord speaking to me in nature. I would get just doves would show up. And I knew that for me that does not only is does it say, “hey, I am here. My presence is with you all the time.” But there’s such a comfort about the coo of a dove for me that it was even more so. There was just this enraptured love that would fill my heart whenever I would see doves and they just would show up.

So I knew the Lord was speaking to me about his presence and his love. And then if you see numbers, different numbers. Oftentimes then I just ask Holy Spirit, and I trust and I don’t give up just after one time, “it’s like, well, that, you know, I thought it was you know, Romans 8:18.” Well, it’s not you know. So then you just ask Holy Spirit, okay, because you keep seeing 18 and that is one that I actually see a lot. And I do I have to rank the scriptures when I see that and they usually are very applicable, right in that situation or in my mindset. When I see that time on a clock, and you know what I do I accept it. I don’t say like, “Oh, it’s just #18 again, or, you know, that’s dumb or I don’t need that.” I don’t have a judgment.

I am grateful because God has brought synchronicities into my life. There are so many things I could say over and over. So nature is a great way for God to speak to you. Like I said, you can see numbers – recurring numbers. I mean, I’ve had lots of people tell me, God speaks to them through some synchronicities like a billboard and then seeing someone have the bumper sticker that said the same thing as a billboard. It’s so amazing. God will speak to you however he knows you’re here. And that’s what’s beautiful. He’s so gracious. Holy Spirit is a gentle, gentle spirit, and is not invasive. And so when Holy Spirit is speaking to you, and the Lord is speaking to you, it’s going to be in a way that you’ll hear him.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that’s beautiful. I agree, thank you for sharing that. So many good tools and just practical tips that you offer. And I know there’s going to be moms listening, that are just going to take that to heart and start being coming more aware, and building that connection. So if people want to connect with you, where can they find you?

Speaker 2:

Well, they can find me at a couple of different places. One, I do have a website, wendyhenley.com. And if you go to that website, you can actually download the first five days of my Hope In The Abiding devotional. You can also see there that I have my Hope In The Hearing devotional which is all about hearing God in your everyday life, and you can purchase it there. Both of those are also available on Amazon as a series, or individually. So Hope In The Hearing and Hope In The Abiding. And also you can catch me on Facebook, Wendy Henley and on Instagram, @superchickhenley. And also we have a Facebook group that I’m going to be starting zoom calls and doing some of this teaching on for the next three months. And that is called Hope In The Connection.

Speaker 1:

Love that. And I will drop the link in the show notes for anybody that wants to grab that free 5-day sample of Wendy’s new devotional. I want to ask you one last question, what is next for you in 2021?

Speaker 2:

2021 is just such an incredible year! I’m looking forward to launching some of these courses that I’ve been working on that are connected, and also doing more coaching. And I’ve really been delving into more of the how to connect our bodies, you know, that’s really your realm, but doing more of that. As conscientious as I am about my body, the Lord really has encouraged me that if I want to help bring healing to the earth into the body of Christ, that there are some things about my body I need to be a little bit more conscientious about though. Just integrating all the pieces of becoming whole. And then also being able to teach that to others. So we have that going on, and lots of amazing travel and hopefully connecting with some of you guys out there.

Speaker 1:

Hey, awesome. Well, thank you, Wendy, I have a surprise for you and everybody listening that I’m going to be doing. I do have your Hope In The Hearing devotional. And so I want people to be able to get their hands on a copy of your Hope In The Abiding devotional for free. So I’m going to do a giveaway, I’m going to purchase one of your books (Wendy actually donated a copy after our call!!!). So for anyone that’s listening, if you want to get in on this, you just have to simply go to iTunes, and rate this podcast Covered Beloved with five stars, and then you’re going to click to leave a written review. So this is actually something that helps other mamas coming to the show, just kind of pull out what they’re going to get from it, highlight, you know what you love about it. And we have listeners all over the world!

I actually just realized I ranked number three in health and wellness in alternative health, excuse me in East Africa. So it’s just so fun. You never know who’s listening. And so you’re gonna rate the podcast, you’re gonna leave a written review, and then you’re gonna share it. You can share a screenshot of it on your Instagram stories, or on your Facebook stories and tag me @heidibramm. And I’ll have all these instructions in the show notes. But we’re going to do this giveaway through March and we’re going to choose the winner on March 25th. If you’ve already left a review, don’t worry about it, you can leave another one. And you’re also going to get a bonus entry if you join my Facebook group. So everybody go get in on that.

All right, Wendy, I just want to say thank you for spending this time with me. It’s always a pleasure. It’s such a blessing to hear from you. And I just pray everything that you have in your heart and your desire of your heart is met with God this year and all that you have planned because I know it’s gonna help so many mamas out there.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much. great pleasure.