Finding Wholeness: A Journey Through Faith, Self-Care, and Purpose w/ Aprill Williams

Coach April Williams shares her journey from overwhelming burnout to purposeful living, revealing how her deepest pain became the foundation for her greatest purpose. She now helps women rediscover themselves amid life's many demanding roles.

• Coach April found herself saying yes to everything as a people-pleaser until she reached a breaking point
• When she stepped back from her many roles, she fell into depression after feeling abandoned by those she had helped
• Through conversations with God, she transformed her pain into purpose with Journey to Live Complete
• Self-care isn't selfish—it's a mandate and essential foundation for serving others effectively
• Simple self-care practices include prayer, deep breathing, naps, setting boundaries, and saying no
• Faith became her anchor through depression, teaching her "there's no place you can go that He can't come and get you"
• A powerful moment during a rainstorm taught her "storms are going to come, but you're covered"
• Women must be honest about where they are spiritually rather than sending their "representative"
• Your voice matters and there's nothing you can do that makes you unworthy of God's love and grace

Connect with Coach April at goj2l7.com or on social media @J2LIVE7 on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. She also hosts self-rejuvenation retreats, with one planned for May 2026 in Costa Rica.

https://mindforcepodcast.buzzsprout.com

Chapters

• 0:23 Welcome to Mindforce
• 1:03 Coach April's Journey to Wholeness
• 5:07 Small Habits for Peace
• 9:56 Male Perspective on Women's Challenges
• 14:17 Embracing an Imperfect Journey
• 22:21 Self-Care as Soul Care
• 33:09 Faith Through Life's Darkest Moments
• 43:12 Final Thoughts and Resources

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:23

Hi everyone. Welcome to Mindforce, a space where real stories meet real healing. I'm Nate Shear. Today, we'll be inviting you into a powerful conversation about wholeness, healing and the quiet strength that carries us through life's storms. Today, we'll be unpacking what it looks like for women to embrace their journey, messy and miraculous as it may be. How self-care is more than bubble baths it's a commitment to your soul. And how faith can become an anchor where everything else feels like it's falling apart. Okay, let's dive on in. Let's start with our guest's introduction. I'd love to hear your story in your own words. Who are you, what moves you right now, and how did this journey towards wholeness begin for you?

Speaker 2: 1:03

Okay, so thank you so much, first of all, nate, for having me on your platform. My name is Coach April Williams and I am a wife, a mother, an ordained minister. I'm most passionate about helping women to rediscover themselves, and by rediscover I mean a lot of times. As women, we go through lives and we have all of these different roles wife, mother, right and we have our careers as well. And so rediscovering for me, god placed what we were called to do on this earth in us before we were even here, and so I help women to rediscover what that was that he put down in us of women on their journeys to wholeness, and help to shed the light and make things brighter for them in an overwhelming situation.

Speaker 2: 2:09

And so my journey to wholeness began about four years ago, so a little bit within the pandemic, and I was doing and doing, and doing and doing so much. I was, like I said, wife, mother. I had a career, full-time job. My husband was in the military and we started a business. I was in school and doing all the things. I was an ordained minister and a leader at my church.

Speaker 2: 2:41

I had so many different things going on at one time and I kept saying yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes to everything.

Speaker 2: 2:48

Because I was a people pleaser, and so I got to a point where I just could not do it anymore, and so that led to me having to drop different things, and it led to a deep depression, in fact, because I felt like you know, I'm doing all of these things. I took a step back from life, essentially, and when I did that, it felt like no one really cared. All these people who I had been there for were nowhere to be found, like I went missing off the planet and no one came looking for me, and so that led to an even deeper depression. And so that is how Journey to Live Complete was born Going through that and having talks with God, I was a little angry for a minute, but he brought me through that, and so, in that, journey to Live Complete became it's the result of where my deepest pain became the foundation of my greatest purpose, and so that's where I am today helping women, help guide women to a place where they don't have to go through what I went through.

Speaker 1: 4:02

That's some amazing stuff. I just actually finished a book. I'm in this leadership academy at church and we're currently going through this book. It's called Shape. I had to look it up real quick Finding and fulfilling your unique purpose for life, and it's all about spiritual gifts and things like that.

Speaker 1: 4:18

And so one thing I found super powerful is God uses the gifts that you are given in whatever they may be, and so I think that's an important reminder as I was reading the book. You know a lot of people want to have the evangelism, the charisma, the upfront, but the support and the administration and the organization and the things that happen in the background are just as important. But unfortunately, as like humans, for whatever reason, we want to have a hierarchy or one's more important than the other. Holding down the house is just as important as some of the other things we do. So I'm glad you brought up some of those good reminders on everything's important and all towards the glory of God. The first question I have for you in the warmup is what's a small habit or ritual that brings you peace when life feels chaotic?

Speaker 2: 5:07

Okay, so, first being absolutely prayer, because, okay, god, hey, because prayer is nothing more than a conversation with God. And so if you're overwhelmed, then who else do you need to really talk to? But your creator, you know, because he knows everything that you're going through already and he already knows how you're coming out of it. So why not talk to the person who already knows it all? Right, and so that's that would be my first thing. But the other thing that I do is just breathing, simply simply breathing.

Speaker 2: 5:46

And because you know, in the Hebrew language, god's name is Yahweh right, and so most theologians will consider just taking in breaths, inhaling and exhaling, as speaking the name of God. And so if I'm overwhelmed, who do I need to call on? But Yahweh right, and so if you do it, it calms your nervous system. God is intentional about everything you know, and so science and theology and all of that, they merge. And so in that moment, in those moments of adversity and overwhelm, I take some deep breaths. Overwhelmed, I take some deep breaths. Definitely I'm able to calm down and refocus and I'm able to better align myself and I'm better able to focus on what I need to do in that moment.

Speaker 1: 6:35

Yeah, that's another really good reminder. One of the best things I've heard is you know when the baby comes out and you know they have to, unfortunately, kind of hit the baby to get that response. You know that first breath is you know the name to unfortunately kind of hit the baby to get that response. You know that first breath is you know the name of the Lord. So it's crazy right off the bat. The very first thing is that sound.

Speaker 2: 6:53

Amazing amazing.

Speaker 1: 6:54

Another thing I took from the book I was going to mention and then I kind of kept going was we're all made, and you mentioned it. What made me think about it is we're all made creatively and uniquely and to be the way that we're supposed to be. And I feel like for the longest time myself I knew that I was different. But different for some reason in our society is weird and not good and kind of has like a negative. But I think that was one of the other things I took from the book and the spiritual gifts, like who you're supposed to be. You were built that specific way for a specific purpose, so don't feel any type of way. I think we all want to fit into a mold or want to, you know, go with the flow or go with the crowd when you know that's not the our route is unfortunately not the easier route. So that's another thing. Just be who you are.

Speaker 2: 7:41

We're peculiar people.

Speaker 1: 7:42

Yeah, and we're built specifically. Yeah, and we're built specifically. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 7:46

That's not a bad thing.

Speaker 1: 7:49

Tell me about a place, physical or spiritual, that always made you feel safe.

Speaker 2: 7:57

So okay. So, anywhere that I am, as long as I am in the presence of God, as long as I know that God is with me, I feel safe. Long as I am in the presence of God, long as I know that God is with me, I feel safe. But the main place physically is my bedroom, in my bed, in the comfort of my bed. I love naps, I love give me a blanket and some worship music and I can exhale, right, and so that's my cocoon, so to speak. You know I am an introverted extrovert. I have to recharge. When I'm around a lot of people like I can be the life of the party, but when the party is over, for me the party is over Right, and so I have to go and recharge. And that's my safe space, is my bedroom, that's my sanctuary.

Speaker 1: 8:42

I hope my wife listens to this one. I've been arguing that I'm the introverted extrovert for a while and she won't buy it. She won't sign off on it.

Speaker 2: 8:50

It's real, it's real. I'll attest to it.

Speaker 1: 8:53

I got someone else to back me up because, yeah, I'll be the center of attention, I will have fun, but I want to be done by nine o'clock and in bed.

Speaker 2: 9:01

So exactly, exactly when it's time to go, when I'm at capacity, I am at capacity and I can't go any longer.

Speaker 1: 9:09

There, it is Okay. Before we get into your three main pillars, I'd like to see if you have a question for me.

Speaker 2: 9:16

I absolutely do. I do and I'm glad that you gave me this opportunity, because as a coach of women it's I don't often get the male perspective, unless I'm talking to my husband, right, and you know he's just like, okay, yeah, what, what do you want? But and he'll give me some pointers but I want to get from, from a male perspective, what? What's something you've observed that's unique the the unique challenges, excuse me, that women face today. And how do you think men can support? Better support I'll say better support, because I believe men do support us but better support and understand these unique pressures that we face as overwhelmed women.

Speaker 1: 10:01

I'd say it's probably two things that really come to mind at first, the first one being that maternal instinct is so good and so powerful, but I feel like sometimes it's overpowering. I know my wife will rarely get herself clothes or really spend money on herself at all. She wants to make sure the kids are taken care of and the food is ready and all these things, and so the maternal instinct is amazing. But sometimes I think maybe it goes a little too far, where there has to be some level of self-care and things like that. And I think, for whatever reason, it's become like self-care is selfish, which we know is not true, but for some reason it's still kind of in the back of your mind. We're trying to take care of everyone but yourself, and so I think we need to find times to set aside or send you off to go and spa day or whatever, because more than likely you will probably not do it. So we probably just need to step in and, you know, surprise, make it fun and make it where you don't have to think about it, because if you do, the chances are that you probably won't.

Speaker 1: 11:00

And the second thing I would say, which I don't know if I really have a solution for it. But ladies, I feel like, aren't as nice to each other as we are. It seems like there's a little bit more cattiness, or whatever that particular word is. Like we have competition and we, you know, want, you know a little bit of rivalry and whatnot, but it feels like, when it's all said and done, we're in it together to a certain extent.

Speaker 1: 11:26

There is competition and things like that, but I feel like more passive, aggressive and things that kind of happen behind the scenes and that's a lot more difficult. Like we will just go to the other dude and be like I don't like what you did, just fix it, or something like we don't seem to have as much problem with like the directness, and then we can just process and move on Like we'll usually. You know, maybe we got to throw hands or something, but then it's, but then it's over, at least. So I don't know if that's quite along the right lines, but and I don't know exactly what that solution is. But I think the biggest thing is trying to take care of our partners and things like that, because a lot of times their instinct is to take care of everyone else, which is amazing, but we need to make sure they're getting taken care of as well. Do you have any advice on the other one?

Speaker 2: 12:14

On the cattiness. I'm still trying to tackle that myself. I don't know that is an issue, but I think that if women realize that we are better together than tearing each other down, then we will go so much further. But it is a real thing as a matter of fact.

Speaker 2: 12:33

A quick story, side note as a leader at the church I was at in San Antonio, texas, my pastor wanted to put me over the women's ministry and I was like no, I don't even like women like that, like no, no, no, please, no. But as I went along, you know, god spoke to me and was like no, that was the beginning of really me starting in the calling that he's, because Journeys to Live Complete is a ministry. It's what I do, but it is definitely a ministry. So that was the beginning of him saying no, that's who I called you to be, and a lot of times the thing that we don't necessarily want to do is the very thing that he's called us to, and so that's how that started. So, yeah, I don't have the answer just yet, but I'm trying, trying to get there.

Speaker 1: 13:24

I do find that funny too. Me and my wife have been going on a few months now and helping in children's ministry and she did kindergarten and other day care as she was growing up. She's like I don't want to do that, and so we were like, oh, should we? And it's funny, your initial thing is like, oh, I don't know 24. This last Easter, of course it's Easter, so everyone goes to church, like you know, once a year, and so there was like 30 kids. It was just crazy. And that's just 30 in the group that we're talking about, because there's the babies and the other one, but these are all like elementary school, so that's a lot of kids running around. But you just got to follow the calling and get in there. We're having a good time. It took a little, you know few sessions, but we're there. But your first main pillar is helping women embrace their journey to wholeness. Can you share a chapter of your life that felt broken but later became a foundation for your growth?

Speaker 2: 14:17

That is my story, absolutely so. Like I was saying in the intro, I went through a period of time where I was very overwhelmed with doing, doing, doing. And not only was that, I was placing everyone's needs in front of my own, was placing everyone's needs in front of my own To the extent that at one point I told you my husband and I started a business. Well, he was still in the military and within a week of us opening that business, he was stationed two hours away. So we had a business partner and but it was up to me, I felt, to make sure that the business didn't fail. So now I'm him here, so, because he couldn't be, he would be there on the weekends, but during the week I was making sure that everything was going running smoothly. But, mind you, I am still. I still have a full-time job, I'm still a leader at church, I am still a mother who had two boys who were in college, playing football, and so overwhelmed was an understatement and, by the way, I was in school getting decision because I had a 4.0 and I was not about to stop that and so. But I knew that if I did not drop something off of my plate I wasn't going to survive mentally, and so I ended up dropping out of school because I did not want my GPA to go down. I was like I'm getting a 4.0 throughout this time. I know I can do it, I'm doing it, and if I have any of these distractions, I know that I won't be able to accomplish my goal. And so I stopped going to school at that point so that I could run the business which was his dream Not a business that I cared anything about at the time, right, but because I wanted to support my husband, that's what I chose to do, and so, in that, there was resentment that ended up building up because I'm like you know, I did all of this. You know, because I have an MBA as well, and so I was basically their CFO and I'm doing all these things, and it was a lot, and so I ended up having to not only take a step back from the business, but I took a step back from church as well. So leadership I was always talk about this is a ministry that we helped start. So we just celebrated 10 years in ministry this past month, at the beginning of this month, and so this was a ministry that I helped to build and to say I'm dropping back, I can't do this right now, was a lot, and so I did that, and that's kind of when everything started. Do I regret that now? Yes and no, because I believe that it was the foundation for where I am today. I had to go through that in order to get to where I am, and at the time I wasn't very happy about it because it was a dark place and because my connection with God wasn't like it had been. So that's my story. But this is how I realized on the other side that I was good.

Speaker 2: 17:52

So I was sitting on my balcony one day, and in Houston, when it rains, it rains, it pours and it's ridiculous, right. And so I'm sitting out on the balcony on my swing and I can hear and smell the rain coming, and so I start gathering all of my stuff and I'm trying to run into the house, but I don't see the rain and I'm trying to figure out why there's no rain. I hear it, where is it? And so finally, I start seeing the rain and it's going straight up and down parallel to my balcony. Normally it's just whoosh on the balcony, right.

Speaker 2: 18:27

And so in that moment God spoke, and just as audible as I'm talking to you right now, audibly as I'm talking to you right now. He said storms are going to come, but you're covered, so you're not done with the storms. Yeah, you're on the other side of that storm, but more are coming, but you're covered. And I was like, oh okay, thank you, lord, you know I'm praising, you know. But then he gut punched me real quick and he said he also said you were covered back then, but you chose to come from under it. And I was like, oh okay, well, yeah, that's, that's exactly what happened, you know. And so I understand now what I didn't understand then, and so it's my goal to help other women to understand it so they don't have to go through it.

Speaker 1: 19:17

Yeah, it's always an important thing to remember. I think sometimes people you know that are not Christians or you know non-religious from the outside and maybe they do decide to, you know, cross over and whatnot. They're like oh, everything will be perfect and be rosy and rainbows. It's like that's not what it says. Like you said, the storms will still come. There's that larger plan we don't understand and you know you have to be molded and developed and you know, go through some difficult stuff. It doesn't just all flush away. That'd be nice. But in the regards of helping other people, how do you encourage other women to embrace their imperfect, unfolding nature of their journeys?

Speaker 2: 19:58

So I would say to tell women a lot of times that when you go on a journey, a physical journey, you don't expect to never make a stop, you don't expect to never take a detour, take a shortcut, whatever it is. And so the same is true in our regular lives. We have to understand that in on your journey to wholeness, you're going to have some roadblocks, you're going to have some detours, there's going to be some construction that needs to happen. You know that you're going to have some roadblocks, you're going to have some detours, there's going to be some construction that needs to happen. You know that you're going to go through and but embrace it, embrace it and keep moving. That and so.

Speaker 2: 20:47

But the other part of that is the journey starts before it starts, and I mean what I mean by that is you have to prepare for your journey right, and so self-care is preparing for your journey. If you're taking a physical journey, you're going to make sure that your oil is changed, that you have gas in your tank, you're going to make sure your tires are inflated. All of these things are necessary to make sure that you have a safe journey. But a lot of times we just hit the road and we're gone and we're here. Here, we're all over the place and we're never stopping. And so that's what I encourage women to embrace to start with the self-care, to make sure that you're OK, in order to be better able to help others along your journey.

Speaker 1: 21:45

Yeah, I definitely think you have to put in the preparation Like. One of my favorite things is that iceberg image where it shows like success and all the things people see above the water. Iceberg image where it shows like success and all the things people see above the water. But then below the water is the late nights and the grinding and the studying and all the other things. It's unfortunate Sometimes people see just the wave tops like oh, like one of the things that drives me nuts.

Speaker 1: 22:06

I don't have too many pet peeves, but one of them is like when you get something like a promotion or something you put a lot of time and effort into, and then you'll see someone write on social media or somewhere and they'll say lucky. And is there luck involved? Probably, but you had to be in the right rooms with the right people doing the right things to have the luck. Luck isn't random. You have to have some level of preparation of doing the right things and then you know, get to see the dividends and the payoffs. But it's one thing that's always just drove me nuts a little bit because people don't see, you know, the behind the scenes, unfortunately.

Speaker 2: 22:42

Absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 22:45

Your next pillar is self-care, so I think this is a good transition as a lifelong journey. So what did self-care look like for you when you were younger, maybe in your 20s, compared to now? Let's see the before and after and kind of what you've learned about self-care.

Speaker 2: 23:01

In my 20s, what is self-care? That's what it looked like. It looked like I didn't know what that was. I was a young mother. I became a mother at 20. Okay, and so I have been a wife for almost 27 years and a mother for 28 years. Right, and so self-care to me, if I, if I had to think about it in that context, back then it was something extravagant like taking a trip, and you know I couldn't afford that at that time, so it was something that was beyond my reach. But now I understand that self-care is really soul care and that's taking. The soul is comprised of your mind, body, your mind, spirit and emotions, and so in that you have to take care of those things. And so if you take care of your soul, if you love yourself the way God tells you to love your neighbor, by the way, self-care is, it's a mandate. Like we don't, we act as if self-care is big, taboo thing.

Speaker 1: 24:27

Like optional, not optional.

Speaker 2: 24:28

Right, it's not optional. Jesus took time for himself. He went away. He got away from the crowd to prepare himself for what he had to do. His calling was about people, was about serving people and making sure people were okay, and that's great. But if you're not okay, how are you going to help the people? You can't, and so that's the difference. Now I understand what self-care is and what it isn't now, and it doesn't have to be some big, lavish thing that I do. It can be as simple as a nap and taking the time. Self-care can be as simple as saying no when you know that you're overwhelmed. Setting a boundary is self-care. So I understand that now. In my 20s I didn't know what that was.

Speaker 1: 25:25

Could you walk us through some other things that you do, because I feel like this is one of those things that's kind of commonly maybe misunderstood. I feel like sometimes, like, oh, shopping spree, and like spending money you don't have, you know, sometimes it just gets a little misinterpreted oh, self-care day, like what are some more examples? You mentioned a few, but what are some other things you do to kind of recharge?

Speaker 2: 25:46

So, like I said, my number one thing for me is a nap. Love it, right, but it can be journaling, it can be reading a book, it can be talking to a friend. There are so many things. It is about what replenishes you. It is self-care. So my self-care isn't going to look like yours and yours might not look like mine, but whatever it is that your body needs, what your soul needs, that's what you do, and so it can be getting a massage. That is definitely self-care to me. You know, because we embody.

Speaker 2: 26:22

Our stress is in our shoulders. We keep our shoulders, I mean, we keep our stress in our shoulders, and so a lot of times, if you're in a stressful situation, a stressful job, whatever, you hold that into your shoulders, and so massages can be good. There are a myriad of things. It doesn't have to be something extravagant. It can be going out to dinner, having, if you're married, having a date night, making sure that's self-care and community type care, all in the same thing, because you're making sure that your spouse is okay as well, all in the same thing, because you're making sure that your spouse is okay as well, that you're showing attention. You got it both ways, you know. And so there are a lot of things that you can do, but the main point is to do what makes you feel replenished.

Speaker 1: 27:11

One thing that was really eye-opening for me. I was I don't know how many years in the military I was at the time, but I was stationed in Guam, and I don't know how many years in the military I was at the time, but I was stationed in Guam, and so I'm in a small remote Island in the middle of the ocean and that was where I really started to notice like I feel most reconnected in nature, Like nature is so powerful to me because the sunsets are. You know, I scuba dived a lot, so underwater, seeing these like crazy sights of different colors of fish or coral, and just realizing that the Lord has made all these things is just wildly powerful to me. And so that was where I first started to, you know, kind of get recharged, which I find it interesting, because earlier you said science and religion go together, which I think is completely spot on. But for some reason, I think a lot of times people see science, nature and religion in separate planes and they don't touch and there's no overlap, and I just don't think that's true.

Speaker 1: 28:09

The Lord made all the things. He made people, Then people make science, so that's just, you know, down the road, and then nature, just to see the thing that he created, like I could just sit out in the hills of Guam and watch the sunset or the sunrise and like recharge for the week or month or whatnot you know 20, maybe I was 30 at that point. You know, I'd been around for a decent amount of time and I still didn't realize like that's something that's super powerful to me until you know it kind of dawned on me and, you know, got those warm feelings. So nature is super important.

Speaker 2: 28:47

Definitely the beach is another location that. That's one that I love. I love to travel. I'm also a travel agent, and so my husband and I and and I have a lot of girls trips and stuff, but my main thing, I'm always wanting to go to somewhere tropical so that I can lay out on the beach you see my little fair skin and so get a tan and just be one with nature. I love the water. Yeah, so I completely understand. I love to hear the water as well. So like sitting on the rocks. One time I went to Mexico, I was sitting on the rocks and just listening to the waves hit up against the rocks, and it was peaceful. So it just really depends on what floats your boat.

Speaker 1: 29:31

Okay, I want to see if you can share a story. I think the way we learn best is hearing stories, so can you share a moment where prioritizing your own well-being shifted something for you and maybe your family?

Speaker 2: 29:44

Goodness. Well, I would say that the experience that I shared earlier, that was the main, main shift for me. Main shift for me when I realized that I hadn't been prioritizing myself and looking back that's really what happened was the look back at everything that I had been doing, putting myself on the back burner so many times, saying to everything. You know, sometimes we have the ability to say yes and we're weighed down by those yeses and the yeses. There's no balance, because the yeses have you in the pits of hell, the no's are up in the heavenlies and hard to reach. And that's where I was when I started. I withdrew from school and was helping to build the business, and that is the main story that really resonates with me, because I realized that I was more than who I had become, so I was doing a yeah quick Lion King reference, right there.

Speaker 2: 30:56

Right, my pastor uses that all the time. But I was essentially. I was more than what I had become, because I was doing a lot of good things. You know, I was doing things for the church. I was doing things for people in the church, I was doing things for my children and in the community, I was a leader for the women's ministry. I was doing good things, but none of them were exactly what God had called me to do. So the realization of that me sitting down and after going through the depression, helped me to realize, and having conversations with God Okay, you were doing way too much and not enough all at the same time, if that makes sense. So I was doing all the things, but none of them were what I was supposed to be doing. And so, doing too much and not enough all at the same time, you haven't done what I've called you to do. I placed you on this earth for a reason. I need for you to understand what that reason was and finally got it. Praise the Lord.

Speaker 1: 32:05

So what advice do you have for the people that do agree to everything? I feel like I fall closer to the people pleasing side of the house. What's the what's the advice for practical advice of the house.

Speaker 2: 32:22

What's the advice? For practical advice, you have to first of all admit where you are.

Speaker 2: 32:25

Like you said, okay, yeah, I'm probably a people pleaser, okay, well, so now what do you do? Until you acknowledge it, you can't do anything with it, right? And so, now that you've acknowledged it, so what are you going to do the next time you are faced with 5,000 things at one time and you are already overwhelmed? What are you going to do? You have to make a choice. No is a complete statement. It is. You don't owe anyone an explanation. You have to do what is best for you first, and then you can do for others.

Speaker 2: 33:02

I had a conversation with another coach friend of mine, amber Phoenix, phenomenal young lady and we were talking about. She brought up Matthew 22 and 37 through 39, where Jesus is asked what is the greatest of the commandments and he said to love your God with all your heart, mind and soul. And the second is, like it, to love your neighbor as yourself, right, and she was saying you know well that that, you know, just really got to me and I'm like I say yeah, but the thing about it is, would your neighbors even really like you if you love them as you love yourself, if you treated them the way you treat you, would they even like you? Probably not. Because what do we do?

Speaker 2: 33:53

We put ourselves on the back burner. We say, oh, I'll get to that later, let me go help them. We keep on, keep on, keep on pleasing other people instead of making ourselves a priority, and so we cannot be there in the real way that God wants us to be there for other people if we are not there for ourselves first. And so that scripture in itself tells me that, like I said, it's a mandate Like you should be taking care of yourself so that you are more able. It's just like on the plane. What do they tell you? Put your oxygen mask on before you help others, because if you try to put theirs on and you're fumbling around with theirs now, you done passed out and you're both dead. You can't help anyone without you being built up as well.

Speaker 1: 34:50

Yeah, I was like the. The physical example of. They say you can't pour from an empty cup. That one's always been good for me because I love the visual of that cup. If that cup is there's nothing left because you just ran it dry, then you're not pouring anything out of it.

Speaker 2: 35:03

You're not pouring at all and you really shouldn't be pouring. They should be getting the overflow, because if you're always pouring into you, it's nothing for that extra to fall off the sides. If you're always allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell within you and getting recharged by going to the Holy Spirit, by praying, by you know self-care, then all of that extra is for everyone else.

Speaker 1: 35:31

That's good. Yeah, I like that. Your final pillar is the power of faith in overcoming life's challenges. Can you tell us about a time when your faith was tested and what got you through?

Speaker 2: 35:43

Time where my faith was tested and what got me through. Once again, I keep going back to the time where I went through this deep depression, because that's where all of this started and when I stepped back from the church. When I stepped back, when I was so overwhelmed that I was like, okay, I have to take a step back. I stepped back. My initial thought was I'm just taking a break. You know, need a couple of weeks, I'll be okay, I you know, but I'll let you know when I'm coming back. And that break turned into a year and I was like okay, that break turned into a year and I was like, okay, but and during that year, some of the decisions that I made during that time? Because, like I told you, I was angry because I'm like I have been gone, the people I'm always helping people and nobody has checked on me, ain't? Nobody said, hey, cat dog, nothing Right, and so so I was angry and my relationship with God diminished. And so it was during that time that I'm like, oh God, what I had to go back to him and I had to repent. I had to repent because I'm like this isn't who I am, person that I am, that I'm looking at right now, that's not. I don't even know this chick right here. And so I had to repent.

Speaker 2: 37:04

And that is the moment that I was like, okay, I'm not too far gone. Right, and that's what I like to share with other women is you're not too far gone. There's no place that you can go that he can't come and get you. He's everywhere and he wants to meet you there. He wants to meet you wherever you are, but a lot of times, a lot of times, we're not there. We're sending our representative because we're pretending like we're okay. A lot of times we're acting as if we're okay and so he can't meet us there because it's not us there. So that would be. That was a time where I had to repent and just say God, okay, I surrender, I lost my way, but I'm back, I'm back and I'm better. So, yeah, that would be the time.

Speaker 1: 38:02

It reminds me of one of my favorite poems, maya Angelou. I am a Christian. I love that poem. She says like I'm not perfect, but that's why I'm here, that's why I need help, that's why I need you. I think a lot of times again from the outside like, oh, you guys are just saying you're perfect and you know if you go to church you know hypocrite, and all these different words get thrown around. I hope no one's saying they're perfect. We're saying we're not perfect. We're just trying to live the proper way, live like the Lord. And you know we're far from perfect. That's the problem. We needed the grace we needed the grace Exactly.

Speaker 1: 38:36

What is for someone listening who feels their faith is on empty? So at some of those darker moments, you said never beyond redemption, which is an awesome reminder too. You know, in the Bible we see tax collectors, prostitutes, all sorts of things used towards the glory of God. So never too far away. But if someone is in a difficult time right now, they feel like their faith is on empty, what would you say to them?

Speaker 2: 39:00

God can work with empty. He can work with anything, but you have to be honest about where you are. Like I said, a lot of times, we try to mask where we are, we try to suppress where we are, instead of just being completely honest and going to him and saying, hey, I don't have it all together, I need you. God can work with that. And so, not being fake or phony about our experiences being sharing If you're so inclined to sharing your story with others, when we are honest with people and we're honest with ourselves first and honest with people, we find out that we're not alone. A lot of times, when we're feeling so empty, we feel like oh, you know, this is I'm the only one that feels like this. I don't know, you know, no one else will understand, but when we start sharing our stories, that's when we find that there are more people like us than there aren't.

Speaker 2: 40:07

And so, just being completely honest and transparent with people, now you have to have some discernment to, because everything is not meant for everyone, right? So you shouldn't be sharing all your business with everyone, because some people, unfortunately, will try and use some of that against you, but finding a good friend, confidant, a coach, therapist that you can share, you know a pastor, you know whomever, but sharing that, your story with them and asking them to walk alongside of you, to hold you accountable for you know, doing the things that you know that you should do, and accepting, accepting that help, like don't just say, hey, will you be my accountability partner, and then you don't ever show up to be accountable. You know, and then now you mad at them because they're holding up their end of the bargain and now they're on your nerves. No, you have to be. If you're going to be held accountable, you have to actually show up and just be honest, be honest.

Speaker 1: 41:12

I think that's what I love about this show. I love having conversations and whatnot with different people, because I think that's like the core of mental health. I think that's what I love about this show. I love having conversations and whatnot with different people, so I think that's like the core of mental health. I think a lot of times we downward spiral because, like you said, I'm the only one. There's like eight to 10 billion people in this world. You are not the only one that's ever been through this thing and even if you are like you have some rare disease or something there's a parallel. There's someone else that's like been through something similar, that could at least empathize and, you know, sit in the space with you. Well, coach April, I want to try to bring it all together.

Speaker 2: 41:55

What's one message you hope every woman hears about herself, her story and her worth. Your voice matters, you matter. There's no place that you can go, no thing that you can do, no thing that you can say that makes you unworthy of God's love and his grace and his mercy, and it is those things that will help you to get to where you, where God has called you. So, remembering that, I have, I have, a little mirror over here that I use when I do retreats and it just simply says I am, and I have different words of affirmation all over it, because I need for the women to look at themselves in the mirror and understand I am confident, I am loved, I am focused, I am anointed. Whatever the word is, I am and who is. I am loved, I am focused, I am anointed. Whatever the word is, I am, you know, and who is I am.

Speaker 1: 42:43

Great, I am.

Speaker 2: 42:45

Exactly, and so, through God, you can do anything, anything, and so that is what I would leave them with. Is there's nowhere that you can go, that you can't come back from there's nowhere that you can go, that you can't come back from Perfect.

Speaker 1: 43:02

This conversation reminded me that wholeness is not about having it all together. It's about choosing to keep showing up with grace, grit and faith. Thank you for being a part of this moment with us. Before we wrap, where can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work and message?

Speaker 2: 43:14

Yes, yes, yes, you can find me at goj2l7.com. That's my website, and on social media it is at J2LIVE, and then the number seven on Instagram and Facebook, tiktok as well. But I also I host. I have a lot of free resources on my website, and then I also I host. I have a lot of free resources on my website, and then I also host self-rejuvenation retreats. Right now, I'm planning one for May of 2026 in beautiful Costa Rica. So, I'm excited about that and I'm excited to continue to walk alongside women on their journeys.

Speaker 1: 43:56

Well, coach April, thank you for coming out. If this resonated with you, please share it with a friend, leave us a review, or just take a breath and reflect on what you needed to hear today. I'm Nate Shearer and this is Mindforce. I love you all, see ya, thank you.