A Heartfelt Message from Renee During the Season of Lent

Embark on a journey with me, Renee Richel, as we unearth the lessons Lent teaches us about self-discovery and nurturing love in our lives. With a decade of experience in kindling human connections, I've come to understand that the holy season is more than just tradition; it's a time for us to mirror Jesus' resilience against temptation, allowing us to emerge stronger in our faith and in our relationships. Today, I'll share how embracing God's path and the practice of selflessness can profoundly influence the way we connect with ourselves and those we hold dear. We'll explore the art of listening with intention and the beauty of engaging in conversations that are as meaningful as if God Himself were part of the dialogue.

As we navigate through the season of reflection, the focus is on learning to view ourselves and our potential partners through a lens of compassion, akin to God's view. Let's shed the layers of judgment and welcome an attitude of acceptance that transforms how we approach love and how we participate in our communities. This episode isn't just about observing Lent; it's about integrating these practices into our daily lives to forge a path rich in faith and blooming with authentic, loving relationships. Join the discussion as we delve into these transformative experiences and how they can lead us to a deeper spiritual connection and, quite possibly, to finding our true love.

Transcript

Renee Richel: 0:07

Hi, I'm Renee Richel, the founder and president of 1 True Match. I'm here to help you find and cultivate the love of your life. For over a decade, I've dedicated my life to the importance, purpose and dynamic of human relationships. My team and I are disciplined by faith, love and integrity to help our clients find the quality relationship they've always dreamt of. Each week, I will be sharing the tools and tips I've learned that have rooted my success as a matchmaker with other leaders around the world. Hello, loves, welcome back.

Renee Richel: 0:42

I am beyond blessed and touched by this topic that we're going to talk about today, and it was just really weighing not only in my heart when I was talking to my team about what we're going to talk about in this week's podcast. I really really felt that I was getting this clear message from God to speak about the season of Lent we're in and all that it means to obviously us as Christians, in the 40-day period of giving something up and just being reminded the journey that Jesus walked through in the desert with Satan as a temptation all around him for so many things that he had the good Lord in him to fight through. And so why I wanted to bring this up is not only because, obviously, we're in the season of Lent and Easter is just around the corner. We have so many clients and just people that we're touching the lives of on a daily basis that God has so uniquely beautifully designed and brought to us for some of the most inspiring messages from him to our clients, to our matches, just in general as being somebody to inspire other hearts to really not only believe in themselves but also not forget about what God's plans are that he has for us. So I want to do this podcast today to not only inspire you but also encourage you to also really think about the things that may be tearing you down during the season of Lent and, in general, even past Lent, to be reminded of the things that we sometimes have to sacrifice or do to cleanse our soul, to focus on God and Jesus and all the things that are most important in our life that truly give us the strongest love that we will ever have or imagine.

Renee Richel: 2:44

And if you're somebody that is still trying to find your faith or you're somebody that's walked down the path like so many even myself, as a kid, went to church and then kind of stopped going either you go to college or some people have gotten divorced or just watched their parents get divorced and now they've really steered their way away from the Lord. This is an opportunity during this time, even of Lent and again forever in the season, to seek him first and foremost, in everything that you do. When people come to us and they say, you know how long is it going to take, or why is everybody else you know finding their path long before me, the season of Lent is really about the preparation for what obviously God had prepared for Jesus to go through, to give us all, to be able to sacrifice. You know, obviously, our sins and forgiveness, and so the one reason why I wanted to talk about this topic is because, you know, in the last several weeks and maybe it's also because it's the season of Lent we've had a lot of you know, just individuals that have come to us and through our coaching and also through our time of growth, is to really spend time in the season with your soul and who God has uniquely, beautifully designed you to be, and not to get off the path of him, first and foremost.

Renee Richel: 4:10

First, I met with a client earlier in the week that honestly, she just needed a pep talk. There were so many things that were happening in her life that were just kind of spiraling out of control, or decisions she felt were really big. And this happens to the best of us all the time right, to all of us where there's moments where it just feels like it's a snowball effect and things are happening one after another after another, and truly what she just needed was the message to remind her that God's got this and he has a plan uniquely for each and every one of us and, as a matchmaker and obviously, just the biggest cheerleader, as a sister in Christ, to so many individuals that we're talking to on a daily basis and hearing their story, we all want to be heard, but we also need to be able to listen to people that are coming in our lives, and so I wanted to record this message and just put something out there to inspire each one of you that are either giving something up during the season of Lent, as some believe, and really do this 40-day cleanse, or whatever it is that is important to you, that you've given up, or also spending time with yourself in a way that you're connecting with your soul, and maybe you're somebody that's reading the word now daily, during this time. I hope it continues, of course, but I just think it's really, really a big deal to not lose your wholeness and not give up on the discovery, ever, of who you are meant to be and who that person is you're meant to be with. And so you know, so many times our clients will say well, how do I, you know, shift the conversation from one thing to another? Or how do I lead the beginning of a connection? Or if you're dating and you're engaged or married even, and you're just in this season of you know, challenge in your relationship and it's just kind of becoming stale or it's not really going in the direction you had planned for. It's so important to take the conversation on a level I call it the highlight topics of really where you want to guide the first call, the first introduction, the millionth conversation you've had, but in a way that's so loving, speaking as if God is right behind you, speaking through you, to have the conversation of curiosity and openness to flow in the way that God wants you to.

Renee Richel: 6:54

And I think so many times I see this happen to hundreds of individuals where they really and I've said this on many podcasts before where you get in your own way and you get in your own funk or your own rut. And so I thought this would be really important to talk about during the season of Lent, when we're really trying to figure out how do we hit the reset button, how do we prepare ourselves as Jesus was obviously walking through the desert for all things that he had coming as attack towards him but to also stay whole in that process and know that God's got this. And during the time, if you're single and you're waiting and you're seeing everybody else fall in love and you're wondering, why is it not happening to me? It's because, whatever you're not equipped or prepared with yet, neither is the person you're supposed to be with, and so it's paramount, I feel, in a relationship when we see couples fall madly in love and some take longer and some take less time, but it's truly because God is working on two people's hearts that are truly showing him in the world that they're ready and they are willing and they are able and they are mentally, emotionally prepared to be accepting, I feel like, is the right word for this person to come into it.

Renee Richel: 8:20

Every day, as a matchmaker, we are faced with people who judge profiles all day long. I mean in our walk, of our work, of what we do, even yourself in your work, of what you do. So all day long we are judgmental in certain areas of things that we're experts in or things that we do, but during this season I think it's a huge reminder that God obviously has uniquely designed each one of us to be authentically real and who he wants us to be, and he has the plans. And Jesus walked that walk for all of us. So stop getting in his way, stop trying to control all the details and, for heaven's sakes, stop being so judgmental with your mate. Stop seeing them through the lens that may have gotten cloudy over the years that you just can't see the other side. Stop when you see a profile, and maybe their height or their age, or you know the clothes they're wearing or something so superficial is not what you imagined and start seeing somebody through the lens of how God sees us. And particularly first, before you even see or think of judging somebody else, look in your own lens, look at the mirror, see. Are you your best version of yourself? Are you loving of yourself, or are you just waiting for that person to come into your life, thinking that's when all make a difference.

Renee Richel: 9:50

God knows the ones that are truly ready. God knows the ones that are fighting for him every day, the ones that are. You know, I tell my team all the time is. I wake up every morning and I give God a ton of options and some stick, and there's a lot that definitely don't, and that's because it's his plan. But he wants you to be in conversation with him. He wants you to, like, try your hardest in everything that you do, and so if you haven't already during this season of Lent, or you already are doing something that you're giving up, I encourage you to also, you know, take the time to not only look at the season, but change your way of thinking during this season of Lent for the rest of your life and love yourself. And I don't mean that in a selfish way, to not be boastful and be proudful and all those other things that you're not supposed to be, but to just also tell encourage yourself.

Renee Richel: 10:55

You know, like we always talk about the littlest things, if you don't feel your sexiest or you don't feel like you're making other people around you better because of the love that God gives you in a way that you feel like it's draining you, then something's got to change, something has to shift, something has to be looked at through the lens of God's eyes so that you have a clear vision to be the best version of what God designed you to be and with the person that's going to make you even better to be in this great love that you will receive not only from him, as well as in a mate. And so I thought this topic in this subject would be something super interpersonal that I wanted to just record and have a heart to heart conversation with you, because it's something that we all go through, and the question is is who are you surrounding yourself around, like our team here that we're constantly being each other's cheerleaders, because we go through everything that our clients go through, plus we all have personal lives, plus we want success across the board. Right, we want our clients to be successful, we want our matches to be successful. We want our team to be successful. We want God's great love to grow, their love and blossom to so many other people, to also show the world what true love looks like when you are truly in love with him first and you are the best version and seeking that always and what he's designed you to be, to find somebody that the two of you make each other better together, and that's the relationship that God wants us to all feel. And, as we're all going to church and preparing for the beauty of Easter that is yet to come as it's so important to be reminded in this season what is it that you're doing? What are you doing right now for the rest of your life that's attracting the type of individuals that God wants you to surround yourself with. And what am I going to do, even past the season, that's continuation of some way like Lent, that makes you stronger, that makes you healthier, that makes you more in love with him.

Renee Richel: 13:19

And a lot of times also, we have singles that will say well, you know, they just need to be invited into something that's either happening at your church or something that's happening that would empower them better. And so I know one of the things during the season of Lent I've also said that I want to. When I think I have a feeling or there's somebody I'm thinking of, I want to be better at like, sending a message out to that individual. I want to be better at, you know, inviting more people in, because I wouldn't be where I am in my faith today if I didn't have those people, those leaders in our lives that invited us into certain things. And so, whatever it is you're doing, I'm always like say, add one more thing right, cause we can do it.

Renee Richel: 14:04

God has made us resilient in so many ways and made us so strong to do so many things, and when we're seeking answers, instead of getting in a funk or kind of reverting into you know, your turtle shell right, and just thinking I'll just wait until this season passes because it's not fun and I just want to get through it, and then it literally is like Satan that was trying to attack Jesus walking through the desert in those 40 days. Right To say brush it off, get out of your turtle shell, whatever it is I call it and look at this opportunity as a shift during the season to really do something different, because I guarantee you the minute that you think of life differently and the minute that you get out of your own way and you surround yourself by whether it's listening to this podcast or positive podcasts or other positive people that are just, you know, bringing you up and not tearing you down, because there are so there are so many people out there that it is Satan just creeping in your backyard or in your back, yeah, on your shoulder, telling you you're not doing this or you can't do this. You're not doing a good job. And so who is leading you towards the Lord, who is leading you stronger in your love? And those are the people that I encourage you to find, to like love on and then pass that along to other people, and don't stop on those days that are hard. Just know it wasn't God's plan for you and know that that relationship is not something that God has planned for you in the future. And so when you surround yourself around all of those incredible people that are like angels from above that you know empower you, it's amazing how God can come in your life and that richness you'll feel, not from things, but from the love and the growth of the opportunities that will fall on your lap, whether it be a career, whether it be location, whether it be family, whether it be love. All of that will unfold so beautifully when we focus our eyes first and foremost on God. I hope you have found this beneficial and helpful. I love it when I can, you know, have these talks so personal and hopefully be a light in your corner and be a big cheerleader for you, because, at the end of each day, I love each heart that God has so beautifully designed and getting to hear their story and really truly who they are. So they were not clouded by the judgemental, one-dimensional, you know profile that people look at individuals, but we spend the time really diving into the soul and the heartbeat that God has so beautifully designed so that we can find a match that not only for friendship a buddy, a true love that we believe in is so important, as God has made us, you know his ambassadors to connect human hearts on all levels of friendship, love and forever.

Renee Richel: 17:17

So if you have not listened to some of our other podcasts before or you're looking for more advice, I encourage you to listen to many of our other topics of conversation and talks. Tune in on Thursdays, write in. We love answering questions that are either trending or just thoughts that you have that we can talk about, to enrich your life, to be the best version of yourself and be the most successful in every relationship you have going forward. We are going to love and leave you, and I hope you have a very blessed Easter ahead and this message inspired you in so many ways. It's been another great talk on this episode 1True True Talks by Renee Richel. I look forward to our next chat. Please write in your questions and comments so I can be sure to talk about whatever it is you want to discuss in our next upcoming episode. Lots of love, God bless XOXO.