How Do I Move If I Feel Stuck?

Feeling stuck? Same spot, same thoughts, no movement?
 Yeah… we’re not staying there.

In this episode, we’re talking about how to move—even when it’s scary, unclear, and far from perfect. Because stuck isn’t your story… it’s just where you’ve been sitting too long.

Transcript

Welcome And The Stuck Feeling

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to It's a Single Mom Thing, the show for single moms by single moms. This is Sherry, your host, and I am happy you are here today. Remember, it's a single mom thing, and not the simple thing that stops you.

What Stuck Really Looks Like

Sherry’s Risky Move Story

Five Ways To Start Moving

Trusting God When It’s Scary

Prayer Support And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 0:15

So how do I move if I'm stuck? Like really, how do I move when I don't even know where to start? When everything feels overwhelming, when the next step feels unclear. And honestly, a little scary. Well, hello there, ladies, and welcome back to another episode of It's a Single Mom Thing. It's your girl Sherry, and today we are talking about a place we don't always like to admit we're in. That stuck place. You know the one where you know something needs to change, but you don't know what or how or even when. And when you're a single mom, being stuck hits differently. Am I right? Because it's not just your life you're trying to move, it is your children's too. And maybe for you, it looks like staying in a situation longer than you should, putting off decisions you know you need to make, feeling like you're just circling the same thoughts over and over and over again, like doing donuts in your mind. Or maybe it's this. You're waiting, waiting for clarity, waiting for confirmation, waiting until you feel ready. But what if I told you? That waiting might be the very thing keeping you stuck. So today we're gonna talk about how to move when you feel like you can. Not perfectly, not with it all figured out, but how to take one step when you feel completely stuck. Because what you do today, ladies, impacts your tomorrow and your kids tomorrow. So, what does stuck feel like, anyways? Well, let's talk about that. Because stuck doesn't always look like you're not doing anything. Sometimes I have found it looks like overthinking everything, right? Who does that resonate with? It looks like running the same thoughts over and over in your mind, playing out every possible scenario, trying to make the perfect decision so you don't make the wrong one. And if we're being real, sometimes stuck just looks like being tired, tired of making decisions, tired of carrying the weight, tired of feeling like if you get it wrong, it doesn't just affect you, it affects your kids too. Who am I talking to right now? And as a single mom, girl, that pressure is real, right? So instead of moving, what do we do? We pause, we wait, we overthink, we tell ourselves, I just need a little more clarity, uh, I just need a little more time. Um, I I just I just need to feel ready. I just need to feel ready. But what if, girls, what if being stuck isn't because you can't move? What if it's because you're trying to make the perfect move? Stuck isn't the absence of movement. Uh no, it is the fear of moving incorrectly. And I know this feeling because, girl, I have lived it. Like door number nine lived it, okay? So, as some of you knew know, um, I used to live at Shepherd's Village and I remember coming up on my Time to Move. And it seemed like every sister before me that moved out had the perfect move. They got their man and they got married, or let's see, they had got their habitat home and they were moving into that home, or they were able to afford to buy a home, or they got a great job and they were moving out of the state. But your girl, mm-hmm. I was still at door number nine, and I was like, um, yeah, what's next for me? And if I'm being honest, uh, yeah, I felt stuck. I felt stuck in the mud. I knew I wasn't ready to buy a home. That definitely didn't feel right for me. The renting? Ugh, girl, the market was going crazy, prices were going up, and my salary wasn't. And then I had this thought in my heart, too, that's going along with this. I was like, Lord, I want to stay flexible. When my son graduates in four years, I want to be able to move wherever you call me. I don't want to be tied down to home ownership. So renting for me, it made sense. But financially, it was a whole hot mess. It felt like a stretch and another stretch mark, a big one that I didn't want. And then a door opened. A townhome became available, and not just any townhome. Check this out. One I had actually said years before, I would love to live there one day. Check at the owners, they were Christians, they went to my church. The people moving out, what were the odds that I knew them? I mean, it was one of those moments where you were like, uh, okay, God, um, I see you. But here's the thing: even with all that business, I still felt stuck. Because why? Because the numbers didn't fully make sense. The rent was going to stretch me. It didn't feel safe, it didn't feel comfortable. And then I had to ask myself, well, girl, are you going to stay stuck because it feels safer? Or are you going to move because God is making possibly a way? It looks like he might be parting a Red Sea for you right here. So I did move. And can I tell you what has happened since then? Now, truth be told, I am here a lot longer than four years, and then a lot longer than I had originally planned. And during that time, I went through, and my son and I, we went through three major hurricanes. And not once, not once did I lose power. No damage, no issues. The there's more. I have neighbors that are three doors down that go to my church, people throughout the community who are part of my world, and landlords who, in this crazy market, somehow have kept my rent reasonable. It has gone up a little bit, but it is still reasonable. And so I sit back here now and I think, girl, if I would have stayed stuck, if I wouldn't have moved when God opened that door, I don't even want to wonder what kind of stuck I would be in today. So if I think about it, that's the thing about being stuck, ladies. Talk it, work it out with me here, right? Because sometimes it feels safe in the moment. And listen, us single moms, we want to feel safe. We want to provide safety for our family. We are the protector provider, we are everything for our family. But it can also keep you, keep you and I in a place God is trying to move you out of. Because listen, if I would have stayed where I was, waiting until it made perfect sense, waiting until it felt completely comfortable, waiting until the numbers looked just right. I would have missed what God had already lined up for me. And so I think for some of us, some of you listening, you might be there right now standing in front of a door that's open, wide open, but we're still stuck because it doesn't feel safe enough, clear enough, or comfortable enough to walk through it. Because stuck will have you sitting in fear while God, check this out, listen to me, while God is already moving in your future. So, how do I move? Some of you might be thinking, so let's go back to that question. How do I move if I'm stuck? So let me give you a few things that have helped me and that I know will help you start moving too. So this is your cue to get your pen and paper handy that you should already have. So, number one, this is how we're gonna start moving. Number one, we want to shrink the step. And what I mean by that is you don't need a five-year plan. Forget it. Forget the five years. You just need a next step. We get stuck because we're trying to figure out everything when all God is asking us to do is the next thing. Sometimes big pressure will keep you stuck, but small steps, they will keep you moving. Number two, move before you feel ready. Can I be honest with you? Girl, you may never feel ready. I don't know about some of you listening, but I never felt ready. But when I even with the plan C section, I was still not ready to have my kid. I remember the night before I was crying, thinking, like, I I can I can't I can't be a mom. I can't I just can't. Who am I talking to right now? I can't be the only one here. So listen, if I would have waited until I felt completely comfortable to move, I would have never moved. Well, eventually I would have because the program was over and they would force me out. But ready, girls, is a feeling. Movement is a decision. And I think we need to remember that. Movement is a decision. Three, and our founder, Miss Phyllis, would love this one. Use what you have. Okay, so single moms, we know how to use what we have. We know how to stretch a dollar. You don't need more time. I'm telling you that. You don't need more money, you don't even need more resources to start. What you need to start with, girl, is what you already have. Because listen, what you have is enough for your next step. Number four. This is gonna be a hard one, especially for my clean freaks here, okay? My perfectionists. Ooh, girl, but sometimes we gotta let it be messy. And what I mean by that, some of us are stuck because we're trying to do it right the first time. But movement. You know this. We have kids in our house, they're moving all the time. Movement is messy, it doesn't have to be perfect stop trying to be perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect stop. Ladies, it just has to be in motion. And number five, this is the most important one. Trust God with what you can't see. Now, this is a hard one. I know, I know, I know. And if you have been walking with Jesus for a long time, you it just seems like the next challenge gets bigger and harder and harder to see, and it stretches you further and further and further. I know. I mean, like, let's look at Peter, who gets out of a perfectly good boat in the middle of the sea to walk on the water. Well, like Peter did. And girls, I am pretty sure it wasn't because a storm stopped. It wasn't because he suddenly felt safe. It was because he knew who was calling him. And as long as Peter, we know this, kept his eyes on Jesus, he did what didn't even make sense. Because, oh, I don't know, walking on water in the middle of the ocean does I don't know. That's you, that doesn't make sense to me. So you know this faith will have you do things that don't make sense, but they do make all the difference. In Matthew 14, 29, it says, Then Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. Because even when he started to sink, which he did because he took his eyes off Jesus, what did Jesus do? He reached out his hand and caught him. And it says that in Matthew 14, 31, immediately Jesus read out reached out his hand and caught him. So yeah, girl, it might feel like you're stepping out into something uncertain, but you certainly are not stepping out alone. When you know your father's holding your hand, you can step where you never thought you could stand. And listen, none of that means I am not even gonna try to try to straight up fool you into thinking that that might not feel scary because it probably will. Listen, if there is one thing that I know that I know about life that I'm sure you do too, is that there is always gonna be the next uncomfortable zone, right? Like you get into this uncomfortable, discomfortable zone, and then you start working it and living it, and then it becomes comfortable. And then there's the next uncomfortable zone. That's life. But listen, staying stuck, uh, my guess is it is costing you more than it is taking the step ever will. Stepping out, making the decision, taking the next step when you don't have it all figured out, yeah, it's gonna stretch you. And maybe right now you're feeling like you're standing at the edge of something, just like Peter, looking out at that water with a glaze and a haze in your eyes, like, I don't even know what I'm doing here. And it doesn't make sense, it doesn't feel safe. And then you're wondering, how do I even take that step? But what if the step isn't about having it all figured out? What if it's just simply about trusting that even if you start to sink, your father's already reaching out for you. Because he is. And just like that, the door I stood in front of, not knowing how it would all work out, but knowing God was in it, your step might not make sense on paper, girl, but it might make all the difference in your life. So, ladies, let's not think about being stuck. Let's think about standing. We are standing in front of our next step. And when we know the father is holding our hand, we can do what? What I said before you, we can step and stand where we never thought we could stand before. So take the step, not perfect, not with your hair all done right, not ready, but willing. Because what you do today, we've talked about that too. It impacts your kids tomorrow, and they're watching and learning and witnessing you are witnessing to them, your life is. And if you're sitting there right now and you're thinking, oh, this is me, I so needed to heal that, hear this, I feel stuck and I don't even know where to start. You don't have to stay there alone. Listen, if you need prayer, call our 24-hour prayer line at 855-822-Pray, day or night. We got you, girl. And if you're ready to take a step forward, but you just need some support and guidance, that's exactly why we created Shepherd's Village University. You can go online and take a course on there day or night in spiritual freedom, health and wellness, financial freedom. It's it's all there. And listen, there's even more resources there at shepherdsvillage.com. And if you're here in the Tampa Bay area and would love to have we would love to have you in a room with us, there is something I'm telling you this powerful bubba about being in a room surrounded by women who just get it. And are choosing to move forward too. Again, you can find all of that inspiration and information at ShepherdsVillage.com. So as I close, I want to personally invite you. If you need prayer, listen, if you are feeling stuck, uh, if you go back to the podcast description, right above that, there is this little phrase that says Text Sherry. That's a link that is gonna go right to my inbox. Tell me how I can pray for you. Because sometimes the first step out of stuck is letting someone stand with you in it. You don't have to figure it all out today, girl. You just have to take the next step. And I'm here with you. We're here with you, dear friends at Shepherd's Village, to walk that out with you. So, with that, as we come up on Good Friday, and it is Good Friday, because we know Sunday's coming, right? Which is Easter, I want you to have a wonderful week, and I want you to have a happy Easter, and I do want you to remember it's a single mom thing, and not it's a single thing and stops you.

SPEAKER_00 16:34

Thanks for listening to It's a Sigam. I hope you enjoyed our time together. If you have more questions about how to have a relationship with Jesus, visit us at www.shep.com slash prayer. For more information and resources.