Expecting More From God And Putting In The Work.

We talk about expectation as a faith-and-work practice, not a wish, and why dreams die when we refuse to plan and move. We get honest about entitlement, timing, and what happens when we make big choices without consulting God. 
• expectation as a mindset you act on 
• faith without works and building an execution plan 
• why people wait for miracles instead of taking steps 
• expectation versus entitlement and “confidently entitled” behavior 
• preparation meeting opportunity at work and in life 
• trusting God’s timing when doors do not open 
• pruning, self-awareness, and getting your foundation ready 
• how your environment shapes standards and what you accept 
• a real story about moving without seeking God and the cost of it 
• asking whether you are running toward something or from something 
If you're a woman who does it all, sports mom, dance mom, beach girl, healthcare worker, someone whose life doesn't fit into one lane, you need a bag that can be fun. You'll find the link in the show notes and the comments.

Transcript

Dreams Need Action

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You can dream, but some people leave their dreams just as dreams. Um faith without works is dead. Absolutely. So it's like, okay, this gonna stay a dream because you never carved out how you want to execute this and you never took the steps to execute anything.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

To take God out of the equation, you might as well just let them faith and works be gone because you might prosper, but it will not, you will not feel or be fulfilled.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

There are seasons where we may not feel strong. We may not feel like you know what we're expecting to happen. It's not happening fast enough or in our time. God's time is the ultimate timing. That's the key.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

That's the key. Our timing versus his timing. Just because it didn't work out when we wanted it to work out does not mean it's not gonna work out. I'm in a season in my life where I trust God that it's gonna come back four times full for me.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Woman in Black is where we put down the cape and pick up the mic, being authentically who we are, where we are, unmasked, unfiltered, and unapologetic.

Check-In And Life Updates

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Check in. Let's just jump right to it. How have you been this week?

SPEAKER_01 1:12

I am this week. It has been weaking. Real good. But weaking. Yeah. Yeah. Especially with them kids. I love them. But the kids be kidding. Oh, but say something. Josh did launch this week. Yeah. That was cool. How do you feel? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

You don't know yet. Okay. You just embrace the journey.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Yeah, I don't know how to feel about it right now.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

I mean, I think it's important. The first step is doing it. Yeah. Yeah. And once you do it, it's like that's the biggest barrier, is actually doing it, and then just being consistent after.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

You got this.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Yep. How was your week?

SPEAKER_00 1:58

It was okay. Um, it was good. It was good. Still transitioning, right? Um, but I have no complaints. It was a good week. I'm just still I I hate being in limbo, but I understand that sometimes God will keep you in a place for a little while so that you could learn whatever lesson it is to learn. And sometimes it's not like as deep as you think it is. Yeah, it's just little things like, oh, okay, well, I did this last time. I didn't like how that made me feel. So moving forward, I want to make sure I have X, Y, Z in place. Like little things like that. And um, just taking the lessons and moving forward. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Yeah. Because sometimes we overthink. And when we're in our heads, we apply way more pressure that needs to be applied sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

So yeah, but self-awareness.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Yes, that's important.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

That's great.

Sponsor Break And Return

SPEAKER_00 2:59

Hey, it's Des here. Before we continue, if you're a woman who does it all, sports mom, dance mom, beach girl, healthcare worker, someone whose life doesn't fit into one lane, you need a bag that can be fun. This episode is in affiliation with Bog Bag. It's durable, waterproof, modular, and fully customizable. Whether you're headed to the stadium, the beach, or straight into a long day, it holds your lifestyle together without you having to think about it. You'll find the link in the show notes and the comments. Now let's get back to the conversation.

Expectation Meets Work

SPEAKER_01 3:36

So, what we're gonna do right now is jump right into it. Let's go. So, you know, I'll be doing my research, but I didn't do any research. How is it? Was it a TikTok video? No, this one came from church. Okay. Um, and my pastor was preaching about expecting. You have to expect when you walk into church, we go there to expecting God to do for us, expecting to receive the word, expecting to leave with something on our hearts, on our minds. We have to go in with an e with expectation, right? So I wrote it down, guys. I'm trying to get a little bit more professional. So sometimes I think that I think this is just my opinion, um, that people want big things in life, right? Success, love, they want to walk in their purpose, they want the the cars, they want the lifestyle, the luxury, all of that. But we don't, we as a human nature, just being human, we don't always, although we want it, we don't always expect to receive it. Yeah, I guess so. You can dream, but some people leave their dreams as is, just as dreams. They don't follow through with those dreams because I expect to receive this.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Are you saying like, because I I find this, I find that a lot of people do this as well, but let me make sure I'm on the same page as you. Um, faith without works is dead.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

And so people be dreaming and they be lacking a plan of execution. And so it's like, okay, this is gonna stay a dream because you never carved out how you want to execute this, and you never took the steps to execute anything. And so it's like, I hate to use this. God, maybe I shouldn't use this as a sample. But I've come across a lot of people who be like, they praying for something, like, I'm I'm God gonna pay that bill and they ain't go to work in like three years and do it again, shut off. It's like, did God disappoint you or was he telling you in order for this bill to be paid, I need you to humble yourself and go back to work? Like, I don't know. Some things to me don't be clicking, and I feel like we be waiting for the skies to part and something to come down all the time. And it's like you didn't put in any work. Like you didn't, like God will never leave us or forsake us, don't get me wrong. But there are some laws and rules in the earth that are here for a reason. Like, I'm not there's only but so much I'm gonna leave up to fate. It's just is that's how to fate. Yeah, that's that only only but so much. Like, I believe God leads me. I believe like I want to hear from God and all of that, but you know how I am. One plus one equals two. So I be like, so I be like, well, if I don't do this, what's the odds of this happening? And so I do feel like expecting, expecting is great. If I put in the work, I am expecting a return for sure. If I'm not, I'm not. I'm like, dang, now God, I try. Can I get something for trying? Like, I'm more that person, like I know I ain't do my hardest, so I ain't even expecting the most.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Yeah, but it's listen, now I'm not gonna agree with that one because even when I feel like I haven't done 100%, God, I am still expecting you, even if I didn't reach the 100% mark on my end, God, I need you. I'm expecting you to show me another way to get to that, to get to where I didn't get to.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

You know on my end. So, of course, like, but if we not listening and he telling us, it's like, what do you what are we expecting actually? Yeah. And like, you're like, you know, people we expect them to lose weight and don't never want to eat right or go to the gym. And if but then sometimes gotta do it, they'll get sick.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

Damn, do what that expected to lose that weight. Now they sick. Now it's going.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

It's going, it's good. Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Not the way they they wanted, not the way you expected it, but you still expected to lose it.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Be careful what you pray for. Exactly. But okay, I we probably went a different way than you expected to go. But no. What was church saying about expectation though? Like, what were they?

SPEAKER_01 8:06

No, he was just saying, like, um, or basically what we said. In in order to achieve things, you faith without works. Yeah. And you can't sit here and say, I want a new job, I want a new job, and then you don't do what you're supposed to do to get the new job. Right. Or when the opportunity permits, you say, Oh, I'm not qualified for that job.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

When God opens that door for you. Confidence, like having faith again, right? So sometimes we oftentimes we have one without the other, working hard without the faith and faith without working hard. But the Bible says faith without works is dead. So you need both to achieve what you're supposed to achieve.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

So do you think uh people confuse expectation with entitlement sometimes though?

Entitlement Versus Confidence

SPEAKER_01 8:56

100%.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Me too.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

100%. Girl. Because entitlement and audacity are at an all-time high.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

I I learned this lesson early in my work career. Um, when I be, when I moved into like a leadership position and people were expecting to get next level, next level, like climb the ladder, and it's like you're meeting expectations. In order to go to next level, I need you to exceed these expectations because the next level, you're exceeding expectations is meeting expectations. And so I think a lot of people, I'm using that as an example because I think that's clear a clearer ladder. Yeah. Like if you're meeting here, great. But if you're not doing any stretch goals, you're not asking the right questions, you're not trying to grow past this, then how do I know you can do this? And there are other people who might be asking for those things, and people never know. They always like, she don't do nothing. She just she leaves at four o'clock every day. Mind your business. Because she's leaving at four o'clock and she put extra work in. Okay, you have no clue because she might be more efficient than you. So she leaving at four, but her work was done at two, and from two to four, she helped me on this other project. So now she knows how to do budgets too. Exactly. Right. So entitlement is real. I think um I always, um, one thing I use is um we usually get to our next level and meet, you know, or exceed the expectation at hand um if we're prepared. Um, I always say preparation when preparation meets opportunity. Like if I prepare myself for that and the opportunity comes, I can walk into that with confidence, not entitlement. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Yeah. And being confident, confidence versus entitlement, sometimes people get them confused.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Yeah, they ain't work hard for nothing a day in their life, and they just want to confident.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

They are confidently entitled. That's what they are. Right. Like, Miss Mamas, no, please have a seat. Right. So, um, another question I had written down was is expectation about mindset, faith, or confidence? And we just answered that all in three. It's all together. It's all it's your mindset, it's your confidence, and it's your faith. Because I don't know about you guys, but we cannot do anything without God.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

100% at all.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Like, and when you take God out of the equation, you might as well just let them faith and works be gone because you might prosper, but it will not, you will not feel or be fulfilled.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Yeah, it's not gonna edify.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

It's not gonna, yeah, you're not gonna feel like you've been fed. Like, so please, whatever you're doing out here, don't exit God out the equation. Things get hard, and that's why you have to expect him to move those mountains for you. Because he's a mountain mover.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

He is, and you know, it's tough because I know a lot of people, a lot of us, we go through seasons where you might even feel let down by God because you felt like, well, I put in the work, I had the faith, and a door still didn't open, but here he is about to open a window, and here he is about to have somebody say, I see you and pull you up.

Trusting God’s Timing

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Like there are seasons where we may not feel strong, we may not feel like you know what we're expecting to happen. It's not happening fast enough or in our time, but God's time is the ultimate timing. Like we we have to feel those feels sometimes too, because it gives us, it gives us grit, it gives us perseverance, it gives us, you know, appreciation for what's to come.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

And that's the key, that's the key. Our timing versus his timing. Just because it didn't work out when we wanted it to work out does not mean it's not gonna work out. And I'm in a season in my life, if something does not work out, because I've had things not work out most recently, and I'm in a season in my life where I trust God that it's gonna come back four times fold for me. Just because that that didn't work out because God did not want that to work out. But did I learn something in those certain seasons, in those certain time frames? Absolutely. I learned that it wasn't God's timing, right? Right. And then we and I expect to be blessed with something way better.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

100%. And and while while you're waiting, make sure you're pruning, make sure you're preparing, like make sure you're exercising self-awareness. Yep. And so because you don't want God to give it to you and he ain't ready, it's gonna it's gonna fall on unfertilized ground, put it that way. Nothing's gonna grow. We want growth, we want expansion, so we gotta make sure our foundation is ready for what we're asking for.

Environment Shapes Expectations

SPEAKER_01 13:57

Do you think our environment growing up affects our expectations?

SPEAKER_00 14:01

It affects our expectations, it affects our standards, it's a f it affects how we look at things, um, it affects how we receive things. All of that.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

100%.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Yeah. I mean what it is, I mean, how we receive love, how we show love, how we, you know, give to others what we think, what our values are, um, parenting, all of that.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Yeah. So what you expect from life will determine what you accept from life. That's that's what I have out of that. Like that's what I gathered through all of that. What you expect is what you accept. So here's a here it goes back to trusting God's timing with all of your expectations. Because if now sometimes I'll I'll go back, God will bless us, He will give us just what we asked for. Yes, and give it to us. And he'll he'll be like, Well, let me see if my daughter is gonna decipher whether this is what I have for her or this is what she's been begging me for, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:05

Most of the time we fumbling the ball. We fumble in it. You get it?

SPEAKER_01 15:10

So then it's like because God, because I beg God for this, and He gave it to me right when I wanted to, but then you get into it no matter what it is, and you start seeing little things. Are you gonna just accept that because this is what you expected from God? Or will you really will you take that leap out on faith, right? And be like, God, I'm gonna be obedient. I'm gonna listen to what you have for me, I'm gonna follow your steps because I expect more than this. Because what we got really wasn't what we was asking God for. It was somewhat what we asked God for, but it wasn't fully, so God was like, I'm gonna just give it to her. She's getting them a nurse. Yeah, like our kids, because we do that with our kids sometimes too.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

I'm gonna give you exactly what you asked for so you won't ask for it again because that ain't for you.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Like, well, at least I do that sometimes.

Moving Without God In The Plan

SPEAKER_01 16:00

When I moved to Georgia, I had a whole plan laid out when I moved to Georgia. I didn't ask God to lead me to it, I asked him to give it to me. Mm-hmm. And where am I at? Right back in New Jersey. I did, I asked, I didn't, you know, I didn't even ask God. I told God, this is what I want. And because I knew how to maneuver, I knew how to get a good job, no, I knew how to get a place, I knew how to do all this and that. So he was like, I already gave my daughter the skills that she needs to do what she wants. And I'm gonna let her choose what she wants. But I need her to know that what she's expecting out of life is I have way more than what she's expecting. But I need her to follow what I have for her and not what she has for herself. The power of choice, the power, and that's in expectation, right? He gives us the power of choice. Are we gonna wait? Now, do I regret leaving? I wasted a lot of money. I wasted a lot of money, but it was an experience, and if I didn't go through it, I wouldn't have grown through it. So I needed that. You know what I mean? Just to reroute me. And somebody else needs to hear that because if somebody out there that was just like me on uh on February, March of 2026, you have decided that you just want to pack up and leave the state in May. Because that's what I did. You just out. I just packed my kids, we left.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

I ain't gonna lie, I've done that numerous occasions, but I ain't regret it.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

I was gone. No, because once I got to where I was at, right, you don't have nobody. Right. You think you have people at first, it didn't work out like that. You don't have anyone. So I was in a state where I was blossoming, doing very good for myself. Not to say when I got to Georgia, I wasn't because I was working for one of the number one payroll companies in the world. You know what I mean? But it was like when I got there, I had to start struggling and surviving because it was just me and my kids. So let's use it. We had no emergency contacts, right? None of that. That's a str for me with all these kids, all these boys, that's a struggle. And I'm like, I could have been home.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

So, and for other people, it's not. So I'm trying to figure out like, because I wouldn't be where I am if I didn't go, like if I didn't move out to Chicago, if I didn't, you know, do certain things like girl, bye. Like, use this. So we really gotta listen to what God is telling us and make sure we're telling everyone what God is saying.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

I went on I went on vacation to Georgia and I came back from vacation and I said, I didn't ask, like I keep saying, I didn't ask God. Right. I told him, I didn't ask him if this is where I'm supposed to be, I told him this is where I want to go, this is what I'm gonna do. Yeah, yeah, all right. So let the lesson. Yeah, I will you gotta ask God. You have to receive the in no way, shape, or form am I ever doing anything without consulting with God for 100%. 100% because not saying it wasn't an experience, that's not what I'm saying, yeah, but to get a little personal, I fell into a deep depression. Like I was in a sunken place, beautiful place, right? Every like very beautiful, but I wasn't myself, right? Fell fell down and then realized you ain't even asked God. You asked God for your protection while you was driving down here. I'm glad you did that though. Yeah, yeah. But you didn't ask God about the area, the environment, the environment, you knew what kind of environment you wanted. You didn't ask God to put you in the environment he wanted you in. Right, you didn't ask God anything. You told him, and I literally told him, because I expect I didn't expect God to do anything but what I told him to do. And I went wrong. You can't do it like that. You cannot do it like that, and I'm just being honest. Somebody needs to hear that, though.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Yes, somebody need to hear that because it's two sides to a coin. You know, you you were in a situation where you've like I had situations like that, but not with this type of story, right? Like, I'm not gonna act like I didn't have situations. But me moving away was the best thing that happened to me. It didn't feel like it at the time when I initially did it because I was leaving things that I loved. And but I I, you know, through the grace of God, you know, I was able to navigate and figure things out, right? But I I did, I was in my prayer closet, so you know, it was a different scenario. So these these are two sides to a coin. Like unfortunately, taking God out the equation is may not be in your best interest. If he's saying move, move. If he's not saying move, don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Don't do it. He didn't tell me to move. I went down there for a birthday party, came back. She said, I'm going, I'm moving. I'm leaving, I'm going to Georgia. I found me a great job, left my state job for this great now. The opportunity was great. Right. Like helped me tremendously, helped me, but I didn't ask God.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

So, how do you feel about this part? Because I came back, but I came back for another opportunity, right? Um, you felt like when you came back, you had to start all over. Is that what I'm hearing? In a sense, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Mm-hmm. Because I took everything, I I took everything. I had bank. You hear me? Like coin was coining. Had bank took everything to invest in myself down there, right? And um left. Everything down there. You was like hit the landlord up, like, hey, I'm out. This is this is worth this much. This is worth this much. You can have it. Thank you for the opportunity. Right. You can have it. I'm leaving. Okay. We're not doing that in this season. No. You can't do that, ladies. Gents. Don't do it. I'm telling you, you cannot expect God to move mountains. Absolutely. That's what we want you to do. That's what I'm doing for myself. That's what Des is doing. But don't take him out that equation. No. Because he will give us exactly what we asked for just to teach us that we need him. Yes. That we are nothing without him. So don't listen. If you don't listen to your mom, if you don't listen to nobody, take it for me. Don't do it unless he leads you to do it. Right. Don't do it.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Because I do have some of the little stories in other areas.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Exactly. And it may not be moving, right? It can be like she said, other areas of your life. Don't do it. You play with fire, you gonna get burnt. And God said, I'm gonna show you exactly how everybody feels about you. When I let you go down there, a lesson you got out of that.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Yeah. It's something you gained because we want to know how people really feel about us, too.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

We want to know how they're gonna come through for us. We, you know, like, yeah. Who chit-chatting? I didn't know.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

Because when I come back, I'm not talking to you no more.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

I did get to meet Bob though while I was

Lessons, Takeaways, And Closing

SPEAKER_01 23:29

down there. He kept calling me Jaclyn. Every time I see him, my neighbor, I don't even think his name was Bob. I forget his name. But we were so tired of it one day. He was like, Hey Jaclyn. And one day I just called him Bob. And the kids were spitting out their mouth, like because stop calling me Jacqueline, sir. I done told you. My name is Jocelyn. Hey Jacqueline. Hey Bob. Hey Bob. After that, Bob ain't speak to me no more. Stop playing with me. Don't play with me, Bob. And if they don't know, they need to think a little harder. Or just don't say anything. Just say hi. Just say good morning. But he was there, he was confident. He was confident. And I've said so it was there were so many mornings that went by, and it was like, uh um, good morning, Jaclyn. I'm like, it's Joshlyn, but good morning. He was hard to hear him. I don't know. He was not. But we're the takeaway from that for me is expect God to move mountains for you, but also believe in yourself.

SPEAKER_00 24:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

And faith without works is dead. You gotta put in some of the work. But God gonna move those mountains. If you trust him, you're obedient, you believe in him. And listen, we all fall short. Yes. God tells us to go straight. Sometimes we go left and right. But what matters is that we get back on that straight path, that we get back to acknowledging that we are nothing without him. Right. So that's my takeaway for you guys. And don't move the alpha retta unless he tells you to.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

I will just leave y'all to it with just piggybacking. Ask yourself Am I running towards something or if I'm running are am I running from something? You running towards something, or are you running from something? And if you question that, you need to have a conversation with the man upstairs. Talk to God, because sometimes in our human flesh, we are making those decisions, thinking that it's gonna put us further. And then we sit in there like, now why did I just do that? Like, and it's a waste of time. But you know what? The God that we serve, he brings it back a hundredfold. He restores the years, he restores the years, he will restore the years. So if you are going through that right now, just know he'll restore the years, just stay close to him, walk next to him. Um, because God, God is where he is all the time. It's us who either running away or running toward. So just keep him in that path and you know, do what you gotta do.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

Or being bossy. Because I know he was laughing the whole time. I was like, God, I'm going here and you coming with me. He's teaching, he was teaching her a lesson. God said, Don't be bossing me around, Jack. All right, you think you're about to boss me around? I'm about to show your tail. He just like a parent. Yep. He just like a parent. Go ahead. Go to that party. You'll be back. Let me know how you're gonna get home. You'll be back. You'll be calling me again and not sure of us. I'm like, how you getting me out of this? I'm never gonna leave you out of the equation. I was every time somebody called me, I was crying. I was crying. I was crying. My man at the time came right down there when I left. Oh man, when he left me after that weekend, I was crying for three days straight. I was crying. When he was about to go to the airport, he was like, What you crying for? I had left duty here for my mom. He was, I was like, I think I missed duty. I was crying because he was about to leave. I just was wishing I was going with him.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

Well, how long was you down here? Oh, let's not talk about it. Okay, we're not gonna talk about that. Well, okay, let's wrap it up. Y'all, that was a lesson.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Yes, yes, it was okay. And somebody else is going through something like this.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

They going they're going through it right now.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

Yeah. You better call them. Call him on the main line, tell him what you want. Pray. He's gonna answer it. But yeah, so have a great week, weekend, whatever. We'll talk to you guys soon.