The Stretch , Birthing Seasons and Conversations with My Book Writing Coach!

My interview with Pastor Laju Iren!

Author

Ugonne Ann Okonkwo
June 30, 2023

Happy Weekend Fam.

About 3 weeks ago, I joined a discipleship program called Kairos. It's hosted by the amazing Lady Kemz. The way I found myself here is a testament to the fact that the footsteps of the righteous are indeed ordered by the Lord. The truth is that God is HEAVILY INVESTED in us. Ah! He’s so committed to our growth and transformation. You have no idea. I struggled with deciding to join the program at first because I feel like my life is full already but I totally get it now. I understand why God sent me into this program.

I'm currently working on birthing the next level of my assignment and I realize that God is requiring a deeper level of capacity from me. "Birthing" is a life-transforming process. To birth any assignment, idea, or vision, the person carrying the vision must change. The visionary pregnant with an idea must be changed and transformed.

Mothers will know what I'm talking about. There are no two pregnancies that are the same. Even with siblings, you will see that the way you carried your first child will be different from your second or third child. The birthing process is as unique as the seed that is within. The nature of that seed will determine the specific processes, experiences, and capacities you need to push it out.

I believe that's one of the many reasons why I found myself in the Kairos discipleship program as well as the Future Forward Female mastermind. It is to be equipped for the release of the next level of the vision that God has placed in my hand. Regardless of the nature of your vision, or the thing that you're working on, I want to let you know that you will be stretched. Like a pregnant woman carrying a baby, you will have stretch marks physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Visionary Stretch Marks

Do you think waking up at 2 am almost every other day is a joke? Do you think spending the first 3-5 hrs of your day on meetings, praying, thinking, writing, etc is always a delicious experience? Do you think continuously disciplining yourself, Learning to say no, giving up things, and investing in your spiritual and personal development, is always exciting? Ha! Are you kidding me? Those are visionary stretch marks.

I don't know what your stretch marks look like. Long hours in traffic? A newborn baby? Extended study time? Repeated failure? A difficult pregnancy? As much as you want to avoid them, stretch marks are natural.

Why am I sharing this with you? The birthing process is a lot of work but you need it to enter into what is next for you. You must submit yourself to the process and build the capacity for the future you desire. There's this prayer that my pro-coach, DDK often says,

My affinity and desire for my future is greater than my resistance to the work that it will take.

DDK

Please repeat that declaration over and over again. We will not chicken out from the demands that destiny places on us. We will put in the work. We will take significant steps in the direction of destiny. Regardless of how hard it may seem, we will not recline into complacency, comfort, or convenience because it is too difficult. We are capable of the stretch because we are building capacity with it. We are here for the long haul therefore we embrace and submit ourselves to the process today.

Conversations with my book-writing midwife

I love feedback. Whether good, constructive, or bad, I just really appreciate it when someone sends me their thoughts about my work. One of the most consistent feedback I often get is on my writing and storytelling skills. I return all the praise to my father who put this gift inside me.

The funny thing is that it hasn’t been a long time since I discovered that writing was my thing. I was so oblivious to it till I encountered my pro-coach/midwife, DDK. You remember the gist from the MMM newsletter series I did in April. (Read here) Since I discovered this gift that God has given me, I've continued to invest in sharpening the skill as well as leveraging it as much as I can. That’s why i invested in a book-writing coach before publishing my book.

Gosh, making that investment was such a big deal for me but I’m super grateful that I did. If not for Coach Laju, I would have written a long blog post and called it a book. She opened my eyes to proper writing and helped me bring my book to life. That’s why I’m super excited about this week's episode of the BV podcast. I sat with my book-writing midwife/coach, Pastor Laju Iren, and she shared about

  • how she got into coaching authors

  • the power of the words you speak

  • why we should leverage storytelling

  • telling stories that change the world … and so much more!

A SNEAK PEEK INTO MY MIND

💃❤𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩

The Birthing Bootcamp. There is a crop of young women and mothers who the father is raising to go on an epic journey of discovery, birthing, and deployment of an assignment for him in this season. Are you one of them? Can you feel those birth pangs? If that person is you, Click here to join the waitlist.

🎤🎼 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤

Moses Bliss at TAPE 2023. This will bless you so much. Ah!! I thoroughly enjoyed worshipping my daddy with this. Our daddy wey dey pamper. He’s so good and too faithful to fail.

📺📺 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜

Future-Forward Female Blueprint in the FFF Mastermind. This is a step-by-step Comprehensive Growth Plan that empowers you to rise and reign as a woman of worth, wisdom, and wealth. The brilliance of this framework and the accompanying assessment is breathtaking. I kid you not. DDK is an institution sha and that’s my future. Ugonne Ann Okonkwo is a system of intelligence.

🙇🙌 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧

My husband, Isaac.   This man is the epitome of strength, wisdom, and love and the rock of the Okonkwo family. He’s not perfect but I’m eternally grateful for how he shows up for us. I doubt if you’ll read up to this point but either ways, Thank you Dr Isaac. You know that I love you loads.

Before I go, I want to ask for your help. Can you please share the podcast links and graphics with your community? I hope to reach 5000 women with the message of “birthing, vision, kingdom, building & partnering with God” and this is how you can help me reach my goal. What a testimony it will be to see more women growing, changing, running with a compelling vision, and living their best lives! Will you do that for me? Click here to copy the link you can share. God bless you as you do!

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