Hearing God and Trusting the Whispers with Kathy Izard

Hi, today on the podcast, I would love to welcome our guest, Kathy Izzard. She's an award -winning author and speaker who helped bring transformation to Charlotte in the homelessness, housing, and mental health areas. She has written five books. In her new book, we're going to talk about today, Trust the Whisperer. But I'm so excited to share this conversation with you because not only has she trusted the whispers and the call that God's put on her life to do step into so many things, but that is what she's doing with herself now. She's speaking and talking about

stepping into our calling and our purpose and she's just inspiring people all around the world with her coaching, her speaking, her retreats and her writing. So I know you're going to get so filled up with this conversation. So Cathy, welcome to the show. Thank you so much. It's great to be here. Absolutely. So I would love for you to share with us a little bit. I know we could talk for hours just about, you know, what you've filled in some of these books, but can you tell us just a little bit about what did your, you know, what did life look like in the last, you know,

10, 20, 30 years, you know, snapshot. And then what does life look like now and how are you inspiring people? Thanks. Yeah, so my life looked very different 17 years ago. Probably in my 40s, I was really restless for purpose. I knew that the life that I was living was good. I was a mom, I was a graphic designer, I was a volunteer in a soup kitchen, but I just had this nagging feeling that the life that I was living was not what I was supposed to be doing.

yet I couldn't quite figure out how to change that. I even thought, well, maybe that means I have to go back and get a degree, because I'm not qualified to do anything else than be this graphic designer that I've been for 20 plus years. But then I thought, well, how would I do that with four kids? I have four daughters. And also, what would I study? Because really what was driving me is I wanted to do good. And if I wanted to be really aspirational, say that I wanted to change the world, or at least change my little corner of the world.

And that led me on a whole different path. I ended up quitting my job and going to work for our soup kitchen, not to serve soup, but to build housing. And I ended up creating a housing program. From there, I worked on mental health, which was very important to me and dear to our heart. I had this whisper to write it down, which made no sense because I hadn't written anything longer than an email, but I ended up writing my first book, which has led to four more, including the one we're gonna talk about today.

And then really, I think my next chapter is encouraging women who were like me 17 years ago, who were wanting to do something with their life, but they can't quite see it. And so I founded something called Women, Faith and Story, and I've led retreats and workshops. And that's what I really love. That is my passion today, is to hopefully cause ripple effects and amplify those whispers. And if someone's hearing something and feeling that they want...

that they're called into something else but are afraid because they're unqualified. I'm the first one to raise my hand and say, me too. I know exactly what you're feeling, but take that leap of faith. Take that first step. I love it. my gosh. So much good stuff there. Yeah, first of all, I can relate because my background as well isn't anything to do with, you know, especially the faith side of a lot of the content and podcasts and things I'm doing now. So that was absolutely, you know, feeling like you're running through the...

you know, halls without any clothing on because I was like, I'm going to put my faith out there. I'm going to talk about faith in all aspects of our life. And so, you know, my background was in, you know, starting the business with my mom and it was in marketing technology, you know, so online type work and it had nothing to do with this. And so same thing I had to say, well, I'm not, you know, I didn't go to seminary. I didn't do all these things, but I still feel called that God's leading me to have these conversations, right. And to be in this platform. And so

you know, problem with homelessness that I was had this experience. It was just such an insistent whisper. I either had to pretend I never heard it or get busy doing something about it. So I don't think it was bravery. I think it was just, surrendering to, okay, I can't stop hearing this. I can't stop thinking about it. So I'm going to try. So, I was not brave. I was just finally, I, it was a sledgehammer. I couldn't stop hearing it.

Yeah, and obviously you have lots of those stories in your book, which I know we'll get into some more of those, but yeah, what would you say? So why don't you tell people that maybe haven't heard God dots before? Well, one, we have the whisper, but then we have God dots. So maybe just explain the two things, because other people might call it something else. But in case they haven't heard this before. So when we're talking about whispers, we're talking about that little voice inside us that's telling us to do something that feels.

You don't feel qualified to do it. It's unexpected. It's uncomfortable. It could be inconvenient. It could be something as big as quitting your job. It could be something as small as, hey, there's this little thing you could do for your neighbor, some random act of kindness. And you feel like, well, I don't know that neighbor that well. But when you do, you realize, my gosh, I was really the person they needed in this moment. And I listened and I did it. And as I said, these whispers are insistent.

And so when I started hearing this whisper to quit my job and house people experiencing homelessness, I felt a little crazy. I really, I was not a person of strong faith. I didn't really believe why would God be calling me or talking to me? And so through the process of listening and what happened over those years, I started realizing, well, I wasn't special or chosen. We're all hearing these whispers. We all have these moments of

and call it what you want, call it Holy Spirit, call it God, call it soul talk, call it speaking from your heart, whatever it is, the language that resonates with you. It is that little voice from our soul. And I started meeting all kinds of other people that were having the same experience. And not only that, they were having remarkable outcomes as well. And even more amazing to me is some of those people who were strangers at first became key to someone else's story.

And I started calling them as I was connecting them and hearing these stories, I started calling them the god dots in my life. These people that I realized it wasn't coincidence that we met each other. It wasn't just some sweet serendipity. We really were all connected in this, in this way. And to me, that's kind of the third part of experiencing a whisper connecting it in some divine way. When you talk about it, you really see how the ripple effect is so much stronger than you think.

how we all are connected in this divine weave and it is not random. We're not here by accident and our stories are really intricately tied together. And to me, that was the most remarkable outcome of the last 17 years of listening and paying attention and meeting other people is realizing it really transformed how I see the world and how I sell my faith. Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense to me. And one thing is I love that you say that about, you say that we should

talk about it or share, right? These things that are happening to us because if we don't, one, sometimes we don't make the connection, right? If you didn't talk to some of these people about what was happening kind of in parallel, but then two, sometimes it's just like they say, if you don't write down your prayers and go back and see if they were answered, you forget, right? We move on to the place. And so, you know, I've talked about that before, but not so much about writing down maybe the miraculous things or, you know, the divine timing, divine connections.

So what else would you just share with people about that? Maybe they're hearing this and saying, well, maybe two things. One, they're thinking like, well, I don't really know about all this. I don't really feel like I hear a whisper or my soul telling me to do things. Or maybe they haven't really been tapping in, listening to it. But then two is, why would I write this down or acknowledge it or share it? So how would you address both those things? Or really, why would I listen? Why pay attention? And I would say,

I do believe that God is whispering and waiting patiently for each of us to pay attention. I know for the first 40 years of my life, I don't think God was any less present in my life. I just don't think I was paying attention. And now I find it so undeniable that it's funny to me that I thought that some of these things that were happening in my life were just funny coincidence, random coincidence.

But one example I would give from the book is I was helping a woman who wanted to find her twin sister. They were about to be 45 and she had not seen her twin sister in over 25 years. And it turned out her sister had been homeless in the state of North Carolina. My friend lived in Charlotte. And so through the work that I'd been doing, I ended up helping connecting her with resources of people and she found her.

Her twin, she was homeless in Raleigh, North Carolina, but her twin ended up being housed and it was a very nice end. They've repaired their relationship. And then because I was talking to someone else who was inspired by the work that I'd done in homelessness, I was talking to a woman in Raleigh and she was saying how cold she felt to this work and that she was really inspired by the women that she'd been volunteering with and helping. And we had this aha moment.

because we realized one of the women that she had been so profoundly affected by to raise $27 million and build a housing program in Raleigh, North Carolina was the lost twin sister of my friend in Charlotte. And that triangle of divine to me was just jaw -dropping because if I had not been helping my friend and talking with her and then speaking with this other woman,

in Raleigh, we never would have connected those dots. We never would have known, but there were these really powerful divine forces kind of working with all of us to know each other, to meet each other and recognize this story. And when you read the book, Trust the Whisper, this particular storyline has about seven more intersections of kind of unbelievable divine. So that's just one point in the story of how if we listen to things, this woman was just feeling called, I need to find my sister now.

I need to know what happened to her related to this woman. I need to help with housing all related through the same person. I don't think that's coincidence. Yeah, absolutely. I agree with you. And I mean, I've read several other people's books where not the whole book, but they talk parts about pay attention to the person that God's put you at the table with, right? Or on the plane with. And I know you share some of those stories in your book as well.

But so often we just think like, I just want to get where I'm going. I'm busy. I'm waiting in line. Let me just hurry up. And we're not present. We're not really paying attention. Or maybe we know, why is this person like I keep paying attention to them? Or something seems like I'm wondering about them, even though I really don't want to talk to them. So what would you share with us about that? Because I know you've had that happen to you more than one time.

I do. And believe me, I've been that person on the plane that does not want to talk to the person next to me. I have been that person in the grocery store who's like, I just need to get it. I just need to pay my grocery bill and be out of here. But I really now I have, I make a practice of if, especially if someone is brought to mind several times, one, two, three times, I think about someone and I think, why is that person just randomly coming to mind?

I ask them up for coffee. I pick up the phone and call them. I send. And almost always there is a connection. And I can explain it. I don't know why that is. But I do think these whispers, these nudges are leading us to people and to places and to projects we would never imagine for ourself. But when we're looking for something, it's the path is in front of us if we're willing to pay attention. Yeah.

Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, so many times, right? It's if we're like, if we're open and we're present and we're paying attention, right? And then we're letting God work in our lives, right? In that timing, in that moment. Yeah. And I think this idea can be, I think for me, for the longest time, I wasn't willing to trust this or to think of it as real. I think we can tend to think that it's too woo -woo, that it's just, that's almost like supernatural or,

and not, I'm a very practical, logical person and I didn't want to believe that I was bumping into holy, that the examples of God were right in front of me all the time. But I think if you are willing, if you begin by believing there is something to hear, if you begin by believing that there are whispers in your life and you take a chance on a small one of the nudge to have coffee with someone or the nudge to

you know, check on your neighbor and you see what happens and you think, huh, I wonder what happens if I trust the next one. I do think whispers can be like muscle memory. The more you, the more you try, the more you believe, the more then they can lead to some heavy lifting, which can make big changes in your life. And I don't know if you would agree with this or not, but I think there's those momentary whispers or things that we do, right? Either we connect with somebody or we, you know,

stop and we end up helping someone, whatever it might be. But then there's also that, that like you said, that incestant, the same thing that we're getting that, that little voice telling us, which is more towards purpose or call. So would you say anything about, cause there's, there's really two different ones. I mean, they're similar, but there there's ones that are more like our momentary or in our daily lives. And then there's the ones that are more kind of put on our heart and it won't leave us alone, right? That are ongoing.

And I do think they're related in that maybe they're trying to get us to pay attention to the small one that's not so risky so that when you do have that one that's incessant, that's won't let you go, then you maybe will trust it a little bit more. And I think the first time I heard a whisper in my life, I was 44 and I was restless and looking for purpose. I had read this book called Same Kind of Different as Me with Ron Hall and Denver Moore.

And my mom had thought I would like it because it had stories of how they met in the soup kitchen and the way their life was transformed. And I read it and I was really kind of ashamed of myself because I'd been working in the soup kitchen volunteering one Sunday a month for almost 10 years. And in the book, Ron and his wife Debbie do something really remarkable. They end up...

creating a really authentic friendship, making Denver, who'd been homeless almost 30 years, family, they invite him to live with them, and they ended one person's homelessness. And I thought, well, gosh, I've served some soup, but I've certainly never ended anyone's homelessness. And this book kind of haunted me in a way that I can't quite explain, but I know that every time I looked at that yellow cover, I had this whisper, invite them to speak.

Well, that and that made no sense. I mean, we weren't having a fundraiser. I wasn't in charge of anything. I was just a volunteer, but it wouldn't let me go. So I finally I listened. I sent an email one day to Ron Hall. He's a New York Times bestselling author with Denver more. And I sent them an email and I said, hey, I don't know if you ever speak. What would you think of coming to Charlotte to speak? And I press send. And I thought, well, that was really crazy because I don't know why I did that. And I hope he doesn't read his email.

But he answered me 20 minutes later and he said, sure, when's your event? And that's how I ended up being in charge of a fundraiser for a thousand people that was going to raise money for our soup kitchen. But it really is what led to my having kind of the real epiphany is I had a moment with Denver where he asked me four questions that kind of changed my life forever. And I couldn't unsee the way he

had me see homelessness. And that led to me quitting my job and going to work for that Sioux Kitchen. And we ultimately raised $10 million and built a building that now stands today called More Place, named in part for Denver More. And I didn't see any of that coming. I certainly would not have said at the time, this is what I'm going to do. This is how I'm going to do good in the world. But it was starting with that one little whisper, invite them to speak, that led to another one.

what are you gonna do about it? Quit your job, which led to another one, which led to write a book. And each one just kept building upon the other. And I made this huge detour in my life for which I'm forever grateful. But it all goes back to that moment with Denver. Yeah, well, and started with that book, right? The whisper that that book put on you, you know, that it, or awakened within you, whichever way that is. But yeah, so.

It's amazing, but yeah, it's really like little divine breadcrumbs, right? You know, it's that voice that's, yeah, you know, you kept kind of picking up the next thing. I mean, like you said, you didn't know you were gonna find or the next thing was gonna happen, like the question he posed to you or the questions, but the big one, right? Which is, what are you gonna do about the fact that you shut your doors at night and the homeless people have nowhere to go, right? Basically, they don't have anywhere to stay or sleep and be safe at night. And so, right, and that was kind of the big question.

that haunted you, which is you knew that sort of, but like, what are you gonna do about it? You know, because it's a big problem. Yeah, I was giving him a tour and I was at the soup kitchen prior to this big fundraiser we're gonna have. And I was expecting him to be really impressed with what we were doing because we were more than a soup kitchen. We had art programs, soccer programs, gardening programs. And I was really proud as a volunteer of all that we did.

And so I was showing it to him and expecting him to say, well done, good and faithful servants in Charlotte, North Carolina. Great job. And he wasn't, he was just looking at me like I, like I was waiting for me to get to the good part of my story and like show him something really impressive. And so we got to the end of this wildly uncomfortable 20 minute tour and he hadn't spoken for almost 20 minutes. but when we got to the end and I thought, well, this was a bust. It's not what I.

how I thought it was gonna go. He said, can we go upstairs now? And I said, well, yeah, there's nothing up there. There's just offices. And he said, well, where are the beds? And I said, no, no, you weren't listening on my tour. We're a soup kitchen. We're a day ministry. And he interrupted me and he said, do you mean to tell me you do all this good in the day and you lock them out to the bat at night? Yeah. I said,

Yeah. And he said, does that make any sense to you? No. And he said, are you going to do something about it? Yeah. And, and that was my moment. I mean, I had never thought of homelessness that way. I'd never thought about the fact that we opened our gates at eight 30, we closed them at four 30 and what in the world happened in between. Right. Yeah. And, but I couldn't, after he showed me that and, and post it,

I couldn't ever unsee it. I couldn't go back to just serving soup and pretending I didn't know. And that changed everything for me. And I tried to not hear his voice, but then that started that whisper, what are you gonna do about it? Where are the beds? What are you gonna do about it? And so it took about two months of me trying to pretend I wasn't hearing it. And I finally gave in and started working there about two months later.

to figure this out, what does it even mean to build beds? What does it mean to try to do something more than serving soup? And just to be clear for anybody listening, you had no experience doing this type of work. Absolutely. Absolutely. You still took a position or they made a position for you actually, didn't they? They did. You could read the whole 100 story home, my very first book, kind of tells the whole journey of this. And I kind of synthesize it in chapter one of this new book.

Trust the Whisperer, so if you want the short version, you can have it in chapters one and two of Trust the Whisperer. But yeah, I was completely unqualified. I'd been a very gung -ho volunteer. I think they knew that I was a can -do person. But we were starting something, a donor had just given money for a program, coincidentally or not, I don't think so, at the same time, and they needed to hire somebody. And so I was talking with the director of the soup kitchen, Dale Mollinex, and I said to him,

you know that I'm completely unqualified to take this job, right? Like just so we're clear, I'm a graphic designer. I have a communications degree. I don't know anything about it. And he said, yeah, well, the good news for you is so is everyone else. He goes, I'm not getting any resumes of people who are qualified to start housing programs for soup kitchens, but you at least really want to do it. So I'm given the job to you. So it was another divine moment, you know, to take a job for which I was completely unqualified.

I know, right. Talk about doors opening for yes. Right. And the timing of that that money that donation. Wow. My gosh. So, you know, what would you just say to people? Because I think you and I both talked to a lot of women over the years who are exactly where you were and you know where I've been as well, which is you're seeking you just feel unsettled maybe in a part of your life. You feel like you're not maybe

doing what you thought you don't know really know what you thought you were gonna do, but something feels unfulfilled in you, right? There's something whispering even if you don't know what the thing is yet, right? There's this unsettled feeling. And like you said, you feel like you were living a good life, but there was something, maybe some people think missing or something that's just not fulfilled yet. But what would you just share with people that maybe, you know, feel that now and, you know, maybe they use the word purpose or calling and maybe they don't, right? Because there's a lot of different ways this can go.

Yeah, well, I think what I was really recognizing is that I had these four daughters and I was watching them chase dreams for themselves. And I realized I'd kind of forgotten what my own were. I didn't have any dreams and I was really directionless. But I think what Denver showed me, he showed me something that broke my heart and I needed to do something about it. So what I would say to women is if you're feeling that restless, feel like there's bigger dreams, is you feel like there's more that you're meant to do.

pay attention to what breaks your heart because it's different. If I asked you right now what breaks your heart, it would be completely different from what's currently breaking my heart and what I'm feeling that I need to do right now. And I think each one of us has something that's imprinted on our heart that becomes part of how we are raised and the experiences we've had that can kind of culminate in this stepping onto a new life path because what's breaking your heart is what you need to pay attention to.

And if it's what's breaking your heart is that children in your community don't have school supplies. Well, what if you just one day got some school supplies and took them to one school and one child and see how that made you felt, feel, and then maybe that leads to tutoring one child. And then maybe that leads to helping with an after school mentoring program. And maybe that leads to, I don't know what, but I think.

I just showed up at the soup kitchen that day with different, you know, okay, we have some money. We have to start a housing program. What is my next first step? And, and you just see where each one of those lead. It started out, we were just going to do a pilot program for 13 people, which we quickly realized.

was going to turn into much more. So I didn't know I was going to be showing up to lead a $10 million capital campaign. If I had, I probably wouldn't have, I probably might not have gone to the door, but, but I would just say to someone, if pay attention to that restlessness, that is, that is your soul speaking. That is your heart talking. That is that Holy Spirit knocking on your little soul saying, you know, there's more that you're meant to do. Pay attention and take one step in that direction.

Absolutely. You know, and one of the stories in your book that you share is about, is it called the Green Chair Project? Yes. Yeah. But you can share a little bit about that. But, you know, I think her, that story. And then also there's another person's book, right, that was interested in the furniture perspective. In both of them, that just started with one example.

Right, in other words. So that's maybe a good example of that. Yeah, so chapter nine is about Jackie and the Green Chair Project. And Jackie Craig lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. And she was feeling this restlessness, something with furniture. And she was volunteering at a women's prison ministry. And she was kind of having these these ideas. She'd always loved furniture. She loved to decorate. But she loved this women's prison ministry that she was a volunteer at.

And she couldn't quite figure it out. She's like, what am I supposed to do? Decorate the jail cells or help with the jail? She just didn't know. And she actually, she said it was this whisper was so strong. This restlessness was so persistent that she finally, she was going to Bible study one day and she remembers being at her house and just saying, okay, God, whatever this is, let's either get it out of my head or get on with it.

Cause this is really driving me crazy. So like I, I'm done. You need to be clear cause I don't know what it is that I'm supposed to be doing. And she says she walked in to church that day and a woman approached her and said, Jackie, you know, I have in my car, a lamp and a toaster. Do you know of anyone who needs it? And she said, Jackie said it was just like this huge aha moment of like, yes, yes, I do. There's a woman getting out of the prison ministry.

I mean, she's getting out of out of prison and she's going to an apartment. She has absolutely nothing. She could totally use that that lamp in a toaster. And that was the morning that the Green Share Project was born because she realized how many of us have stuff that we would love to help give to someone who really needs our stuff. And what if I could put those two together? And it started at a closet in her church and it has grown today to the largest.

Homeless Furniture Ministry in the state of North Carolina. It's an inspiration to other states across the country. They've helped 10 ,000 families and given 10 ,000 beds to children. They've helped with disaster relief. It is remarkable what they have done. And it started with a lamp and a toaster and a whisper to do good that she couldn't quite explain. Yeah, I mean, I think that's such a great example because all of us can do

something or might think like you said, gosh, you seem to have these, you know, interests in this thing, these passions or the skill set. And sometimes we don't know what to do with it. Right. But sometimes those things will find you. But I don't think we realize ding, ding, ding. Maybe this is the beginning of that, you know, that new thing uncovering or unfolding. And so I think to your point, it's so important to pay attention, right? One, what breaks our heart? But two, how did God design us?

You know, like, what are the things that he uniquely made you that you've done in the past or your experience or your skill set or, you know, that you're good at, whatever things are, because they all tend to intersect, right, in some way. And so not that we can always put it together then. It's a lot easier to look back and figure that out. I think they do. Whatever your talents are, you know, Jackie very famously said, God, God uses everything like she thinks of all of her experiences. She was not.

She never thought she'd be the executive director of this massive nonprofit, but if she thinks of all the things in her life and how God uses everything, they all came together. And I would say in my own case, I really thought when I left graphic design to go work for the soup kitchen and start this housing program, I was relieved because I thought, well, graphic design, that's just not very fulfilling. That's not really even a talent, whatever. You know what I needed to sell a crazy idea like building an entire apartment building work?

formerly homeless people, I needed graphic design skills to create a brochure so that I could sell the item to people. So that came in really handy. I've done two children's books now. Do you know what I need to do children's books? I need graphic design skills to be able to lay out the books and make them beautiful. So it really is funny to me, this skill that I thought was so useless and that I'd almost wasted 20 years of my life doing, it was so key to so many things that I'm doing now that I thought were this whole separate life, but they're all.

they're connected, they're tied. And I needed the time spending all those years, all the people I met, former clients were helped with all the things I did later. It's all tied. Absolutely, I so agree with you. Even years ago, I ended up, I was doing the stuff with my mom, so that the business or the site we have at ZiggityZoom, which is a family education and fun site. Well, I had just told her the day before that I said, you know, financially things aren't really where we want it to be.

So if that doesn't change by January, this was October, I said, I might have to look at something else, but I really meant just supplemental. Well, the next day an old colleague of mine from 20 years prior called me and they were looking for someone, right? And I was like, I said it out loud in literally, and I didn't know that that was gonna be necessarily something I would walk into. It could have been that some of my contacts, right? Because I had a lot of online contacts would have been the right fit, but it just so happened, right? That I ended up stepping into that for two and a half to three years.

And I wasn't planning on doing it full time. I was originally gonna be a consultant. But anyways, the point though is it was much like that. Like each thing I've done, I was kind of like, well, I don't know if I should step into this for right now. And then of course I knew I was kept being called to do my own work and step into other things. So that's why I left. But all of it is tied together. Like even though I had my podcast microphone before I started that job, so years ago before I started, just things happened where I didn't start.

One of the many things I did for them, I was marketing technology director, was make sure their podcast, everything was running for that. So each step, lots to the next thing. That was a small time part of it, but right? So it's always interwoven, always. I had no dreams of writing a book ever. That was not part of it. And you know what I did for almost four or five years at my church? I was the person who booked authors and speakers at our church.

for this something called Faith Forum. And so people like Anne Lamott and Brene Brown and really big names. I was calling their folks and I was setting up all the arrangements and I was working on the book signings and I was there with them. Now here I am five books later thinking, maybe that's so I wouldn't be so scared when I had to do it myself. Cause I saw the inside of what it looked like. I saw these, you know, women who were

really just normal great people. And I was thinking, my gosh, they're authors. That's a very scary place to be or thing to do. But even that makes me laugh. Yeah, I love it. Well, you know, and I forget, I'm going to forget the word now, but is it called shadow careers? But anyways, there's that concept that a lot of us end up working in an industry or a skill set or a career that's

they're, we're gonna, we're really meant to be in the one career over or like that, but add something, you know? And so a lot of times if somebody doing graphic design or working in publishing, but they're not the author, but eventually they might jump over to the other, you know, it's kind of, they're kind of being hidden or not hidden, but you were learning the skills, you were doing the things, not knowing, hey, one day I'm gonna be one of those authors, you know? So I think it's so interesting how this all works out. It really is. I am, I...

would never have planned anything that I'm doing. If you had asked me 15 years ago, are you going to be writing or speaking or anything? I would say, absolutely not. I'm terrified to stand in front of people. I'm not going to talk to anyone. Why would I do that? Why would I raise money? No. So let me ask you about this. So throughout your book, it's very clear that there you were one, you were the linchpin if you were tying people together or the cog, right? Like you connected a lot of people. You brought people together.

So what can you share with us about community and the importance of that, even if it's somebody that doesn't feel like they're part of a community right now, like that seems like it played in so much of these stories that you share. It really does. I think for the longest time I was pathologically self -reliant. I tried to do things by myself on my own. And it wasn't until I stepped into this very large project that I could not possibly have done by myself. I could not possibly have.

raised the money and built a building by myself that I had to kind of surrender and let go and, and ask people to come in and help, which became so much more fun to have this collaboration of people working for good and had done it several times after that. But I do think that, you know, we're, we've been talking about whispers. We've been talking about connecting. We've been talking about saying it aloud. And I think all of those things are, are part of finding the people that

you know, that you will not only be, maybe you'll be leading that charge, but maybe you have the skill that somebody needs, you know? In the book I talk about, at one point, I really, I was gonna have to create these very complicated pro -formos. And I had to be a certified public accountant to get those done. I could not be a certified public accountant. I couldn't go to school to get it done quickly. We couldn't afford to pay someone. And literally,

I bumped into someone at the soup kitchen. He was there volunteering and he said, I heard what you're doing, raising the money for more plays. That's really exciting. I want, you know, let me know if I can help. And that day I was so frustrated by this idea of pro forma. I said, well, very sarcastically, well, not unless you know how to do pro forma. And he said, are you kidding? I love that. I'm a retired, you know, certified public accountant.

And literally because I had even sarcastically spoken the dream aloud or the need aloud. I found what we needed and he became tied at my hip for the next two years creating all the financials that we need. The building would not stand today without his talent. So even if you think, well, I don't know my talents, what do I have? When you connect to people and you put all the talents together, I mean, it's remarkable what can happen.

I love that you shared that. Yeah, it reminds me, I don't remember which book it is now, but one of Mark Patterson's books, I think he's sharing an example where one gentleman basically was struggling. He needed a computer, right? So it's just a small scale, not like building a whole building. But he kept kind of praying for the computer. And you've heard other stories like this. But anyways, finally, he tells someone, one of his friends, and he's like, wait, like, I have an extra computer. But it's like before he was never

speaking his need and so no one knew that he needed something. So while he was praying to God, a lot of times God's expecting us, right? If we can fulfill it, he's gonna work through us to fulfill something. It's not necessarily just gonna magically show up on the desk, right? With no intervention of a person. Yeah, there were the hands and feet in the world, right? And I do think we can each be those hands and feet and hearts in the world that makes things happen. And so,

you know, listening to the whispers, connecting with people, speaking your dreams aloud, it really starts to transform and change things. Absolutely. I love it. Let me ask you this. What would you say is, I'm sure they're all your favorite stories, but maybe what's one favorite story or snippet that happens in the book that you'd want to share that you think might encourage people? I think my favorite is Chapter Eight, Miss Jo.

And Ms. Jo had read my first book, The 100 Story Home, and read this impossible story about how we went from soup to all of a sudden a building that houses over 100 people. And she sent me an email, she lives in Kingsport, Tennessee, and she sent me an email and she said, I am so inspired by what you did, and I'm really feeling, this is my whisper here in Kingsport, it's not just housing we need, we don't even have a shelter, there is no place for people to go at night.

even not in emergency shelter. And I think I want to start there. I'm going to try and work on a shelter. And I said, well, she said her nickname is Miss Joe. And I said, well, Miss Joe, that's great. I would love to help you. And she said, can I bring some people from Kingsport to stand in your building and we'll get inspired? And I said, yeah, that'd be great. So the kicker to this story is when Miss Joe read the 100 story home, she was 100 years old.

When she took her a little while to motivate the people and get the two van loads from Tennessee to come stand in Moreplace, she was 102 years old. She went back from that and started a nonprofit at 103 years old called the Kingsport Homeless Ministry. She started working on what they would call Grace House, which would be Kingsport, Tennessee's first shelter, emergency shelter. And she asked for her 105th birthday.

for all donations to go towards Grace House. Ms. Jo did eventually pass away, but Grace House is gonna open this summer. And so if anyone's listening and you think, well, I'm too old, whispers are for young people and my, it's too late for me. Well, if you are 85 and listening to this, you have 20 years to still work on and listen and pay attention to whispers. So I don't know how old your average audience is, but.

I'm betting it's a lot younger than 85. So none of us are off the hook. Like we could start listening at any time and paying attention at any time and acting upon those whispers. I love it. No, I loved that story. And yeah, it is inspiring because I think it reminds us, you know, we're told, you know, you can have a new dream. You can do something new at any age. And there's lots of examples of people doing that, right? In many, in any decade, right? Any season.

But she truly is a testament to that. That at 100, she started with this big, huge project. And she's the one that got it rolling. She's the one that's, because of her efforts, her city or her town is going to now have that resource available to people. I know. It's remarkable to me. Have you ever heard that start some big, foolish project like Noah? I mean, really, we should all start some big, foolish project like Noah. And I don't know. We tend to work on things that

We can get done in a week, but what if we had that mindset of what if I have 40 years? What would I like to have done in 40 years? Yeah, and I think, I mean, I've definitely heard that before, which is, if our dream, if our God dream isn't big enough that it requires more people and money than we have, then it's really not big enough. In other words, we're thinking too small. Yeah, I like that. Yeah. I've heard it said, are you living in a story that's too small? Yeah, absolutely.

my gosh, so good. So what would you just tell us about the intersection of faith and fulfillment? You know, like you said, when you were younger, you thought, you know, like maybe you had some opinions about your faith or God, but like it really obviously has impacted you in a much greater way now, both your fulfillment when you listen to the whispers, but also your faith. And so what would you just share with us about that? Yeah, I think I've definitely, I've been on a faith journey that I may not have realized in writing my first book.

came to see it as the first part of my faith journey. My second book I ended up writing about, well, maybe God doesn't just show up in the miracles of buildings, but maybe he shows up in the dark times too. My husband has a rare disease and that book is about that. And then I think this is kind of the third part of my faith journey that we are all so connected. There's a divine weave in the world. It is.

incomprehensible how all this works about how we're all connected and how the person that I need could be standing in front of me in the hall right when I ask it or speak it. But I know it to be true. So I think I this whole journey in the last 17 years have has given me not only a very deep faith, but I am not restless for purpose anymore. I feel very fulfilled. I feel like I'm on the right path. I'm open to the next adventure.

that I'm sure is not my plan and I have no idea what it might be, but it does make this an adventure. Not only the people that I might come across, but who knows what next projects we might create together. I love it. You know, that's the one thing I actually talk about often is that I think God calls us to adventure, right? He doesn't call us to live a boring, mundane lives, which most of us have gotten comfortable with. You know, I could imagine.

I have those seasons too where you think, I'm doing enough or I'm not saying we should all be exhausted all the time. That's obviously not what I'm saying, but you know, we get comfortable with comfort, right? Instead of very true. Instead of being comfortable with discomfort. You know what I mean? In other words, we, we just get used to let's turn on Netflix and let's do this. And instead of like, what's that little whisper, right? That's, that's prompting me to go.

get uncomfortable for just a minute or do something I haven't done before. And so I think it's so important that we do, that we are opened in our mindsets. I think we get very comfortable in what we become capable of. We become capable of things probably early on in our lives, but that may not be what we're called to. I was very comfortable as a graphic designer. I made a good income. I could have kept doing that.

It was very uncomfortable to go work for a nonprofit. It was very uncomfortable to write books. It was very uncomfortable to speak. And yet that's, I think what I was called to and far beyond what I thought I was capable of. And so I would just encourage anyone who's listening as if you're feeling comfortable in what you're capable of, then stretch yourself and think, I don't know what, what might I be called to? And it's going to be uncomfortable. Whispers are uncomfortable. It's risky. but I think.

your point, it's an adventure worth taking. Yeah, there's a quote I've shared before on the podcast, but it's in, I'm not sure who said it, but it's your comfort zone zone is God's, I'm sorry, is the greatest enemy of God's miracle zone. And it was by, it's a pastor at substance church, pastor Carolyn Hawes. But when I heard that, I was like, my gosh, right. It's so, I mean, it's so clear that it's like, wow. You know, I didn't really think about that, you know, that if we're too comfortable, not saying we should never be comfortable, but it's, it's

Like what you just said, it's just so important that we're willing to shake things up a little bit, right? Yes. So let me ask you, as we wrap up, what might be just one last message of encouragement that you might want to share with the listeners? Well, I just think our whispers lead us to ourselves, to each other, to God, and to our own truest story. And I think when you're willing to take that risk, there's a life ahead of you.

full of things that you can't possibly imagine. So I encourage you to trust that whisper and take that first step. I love it. So before we wrap up, let me just ask you this one question. What is fuel fueling your life these days? What is something that's just giving you life or joy this season? Well, what is fueling my life at this exact moment? I was very busy this spring was launching this book and talking about it and going around.

and literally just arrived where I am today in Wyoming. I arrived here last Friday and I'm just doing a giant exhale and what is fueling me is walking in these beautiful mountains and fly fishing. I've gotten into fly fishing because my husband is a big fly fisher and just really enjoying nature, which is a great place to be quiet and listen for next whispers. But the beauty of this place and spending some exhale time is what's fueling me right this moment. I love it. It sounds amazing.

Well, wonderful. Well, thank you for joining us today. And can you share with us, Kathy, how come people connect with you, learn more about your books and all the other wonderful things you're doing in the world? Yeah, thank you so much. Thanks for having me. The book, Trust the Whisperer, is available wherever books are sold. It's in paperback, audiobook, e -book. So any way that you'd like to consume your books. My website is my name, kathyizard .com. So K -A -T -H -Y -I -Z -A -R -D.

And I also have information on my Women Faith Story website, womenfaithstory .com. And I'm sharing stories of people who've listened to their whispers on a new sub stack called, What's Your Whisper? So you can go over to sub stack, What's Your Whisper? And I'm continuing to post stories of people who've listened to their whispers to continue inspiration even after this book has been published. I love it. And let me just tell you for anybody listening, I just finished her book last night and then just the last little

this morning and it was beautiful. It was encouraging, inspiring and I can't even tell you how many times I cried like full on face tear. my gosh. I'm not joking. Like so many times I was like literally had to go inside like get because there's so many feel good stories. There's so many people who have like really, I don't know feel good things. So I think you had no and I didn't cry because it was sad. I cried because it just moved me, you know. Thank you. Yeah. So I just shared that because it was beautiful and

I don't know if anyone else is like me, but I love reading books that inspire me in my life and inspire me in my faith and it did both. So just thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks so much for joining us with us today. I really appreciate it. It's been a great conversation. Thank you.