Hope Mangiafico (00:00)
What happens when the plan you are so sure about suddenly doesn't look anything like you expected? Maybe God's asking you to let go of something you thought was part of your future.
Maybe a door closed that you desperately wanted to stay open. Or maybe you're realizing that the path you've been on just isn't where God is leading you anymore. Does that mean you failed? Hmm, not necessarily. Maybe God is asking you to pivot. In this episode of Equip Fellowship, we're talking about what it looks like to recognize when God is redirecting us and how to trust Him when the new direction doesn't come with a map. Because sometimes a detour isn't a setback.
Sometimes it is the direction. Hi, I'm Hope.
Nikki Humphrey (00:44)
Hi, I'm Nikki. Welcome to Equip Fellowship, where friends become family through Christ. We're two Jesus Loving Friends on a mission to share personal stories, resources, and real talk about our triumphs, breakthroughs, struggles, and setbacks. Why? Because we believe you are called to live victoriously and we're here to equip you with Holy Spirit-led tools and strategies to strengthen your faith.
Transform your mindset and walk boldly in God's promises. Because here's the truth. You have been given great and precious promises by God. So grab your coffee, lean in, and let's grow together. It's time to step into everything God has for you.
Hope Mangiafico (01:32)
And when you step, sometimes you gotta pivot.
And today we're talking about something that I think most of us have all experienced at some point in our lives. And if you didn't pick up what we were laying down, it is pivoting in your life. You know that moment when you have a plan, you think you know where you're going, what you're doing, maybe even what God is doing, which I am super guilty of telling God that I know what he's doing. But then suddenly there's a plat twist. The job doesn't work out.
The dream doesn't unfold like you were expecting, the relationship changes, the door closes, the opportunity disappears, which I think is one of all of our greatest fears. Or maybe something you once felt so passionate about, woo, just doesn't feel right anymore. And you're left thinking, Okay, God, now what? I think sometimes we interpret these moments as failures. I know I do.
Often, and Nikki and I have talked many times on the podcast about how it's an identity thing. We thought we were mistakes and failures. And we often think that we've gotten something wrong. We should have done this thing, we should have tried harder. Maybe we just weren't faithful enough. Maybe we made the wrong decision. I mean, we could think of a thousand different thoughts that we probably have had in situations like these. But
What if the change in direction isn't evidence that you have failed? What if it's God simply saying, Hey child, it's time to pivot? And that's what we're gonna unpack today. Because there is a big difference between giving up and being redirected, and I am still learning that today. And we're also gonna talk about something that's really important.
How do you know when God's actually asking you to pivot versus when you're just uncomfortable and wanting to quit? And guys, I kind of right there right now, to be honest. And a lot of times God is just telling us to keep on got to keep on going. And sometimes, though, He's also saying, I've got something different for you. We have to be able to tell the difference, right?
So how do we surrender our plans without feeling like we're giving up on ourselves? And how do we trust God when we can see where we're leaving, but we can't yet see where we're going. Holla, praise. Preach it to me, scream it in the back. So we're gonna get into all of this today, and I know Nikki and I are so excited because like I mentioned, I feel like I'm in the middle of this and I know she does too.
So if you found yourself in a season where you're wondering, God is this still where you want me, or maybe you're standing in front of a closed door wondering what you're supposed to open next, the episode's for you because sometimes the pivot isn't the end of the plan. It's actually just the beginning of God's plan. Hmm.
Nikki Humphrey (04:36)
And this whole episode came about because I had well, Hope's been through big pivots lately. Like where
Hope Mangiafico (04:44)
Ha ha
Nikki Humphrey (04:45)
where she is was nowhere i if you were to like have all the choices out in front of Hope. Where she's at now would have never been up there on any vision board or any communication with God or just any random thought that might have
popped in at one point or the other. Never. And yesterday I had a huge pivot of where I thought I was going, like what I was doing, how I thought the rest of my week was gonna play out, and ring a ding-ding, I get a phone call and plot twist, pivot. And you're left. Sometimes pivots are exciting. You're like,
Yes, that's exactly what I was going for. But sometimes, like yesterday when I got this phone call, the pivot is more like, whoa, like what does this mean for everything else? Is it gonna interfere, like Hope said, with a a door opening, a door closing? Like what does this have to do with me right now? And like we're gonna break down later in the episode. It's like, is this really from God? Is this the pivot?
Is this the direction he wants me to turn? Because we have to decipher like, is this just like, I want to do this, or this is the I quote unquote think this is the best thing for me, or is this really where God wants me next? And I think that's the part we're gonna dig into because.
It's hard, like it's har Hope and I were talking before this. It's hard for me to see the purpose. I know I'm where I'm supposed to be, but it's hard of like why am I in a different place? In the place I wanted to be. Same as Hope. She's in the place she wanted to be, but in a different place that she thought she would be.
Hope Mangiafico (06:51)
Yes, or with that pivot too, right? This is where I I mentioned the intro where I'm like, God, I see what you're doing. And
Nikki Humphrey (06:55)
Me nah.
Hope Mangiafico (06:58)
then within days, you're like, Okay, God, I don't see what you're doing anymore. And I think I might have been wrong, or I need some clarity, some new glasses, maybe a magnifying glass, a big old telescope. I don't know, something, but I ain't seeing it anymore. And it's like all of a sudden you felt like you were twenty twenty vision and then all you're completely blurred out and blinded.
Nikki Humphrey (07:21)
Yes.
Hope Mangiafico (07:22)
And if I'm fully honest, I don't even think we hit on this yet, is it can be really scary.
Nikki Humphrey (07:29)
Yes.
I'm scared right now. I'm nervous.
Hope Mangiafico (07:34)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (07:35)
For both of our jobs, even though they're very different, what we do affects the outcome of the people in front of us.
Hope Mangiafico (07:41)
Yes.
Yes.
On multiple levels too. You know, it's before we started recording, I was talking or we were talking, but I I had shared like how we know without a shadow of a doubt, even if we're questioning, okay, God, what are you doing? Like we know that our yes is an assignment based kind of thing.
And it almost feels like for Nikki and I we say yes because we do know that is truth. But that said, we still have so many questions.
And her and I both in the last year, it's like we'll get inklings of new ideas for something that we know is a God-given dream in us. And then whoop first kinda halted. And then maybe a new door opens. And then I know for me, I get afraid because I'm like, but what about that thing that you're telling me to leave? But I understand that you're telling me to leave.
And I also know that you telling me to leave doesn't mean the door is shut forever. It's temporary. And I know that pivoting, as Nikki was saying, is not only assignment based for whoever's in front of me that I can reflect the kingdom to, but it's also going to help somehow, and I'm still trying to figure this out in the season I'm in, help my family, the the people that are directly with me that I am most responsible for.
haven't figured that one out though to be honest 'cause I barely see my husband right now.
Nikki Humphrey (09:20)
I was thinking the same thing. I'm like between me starting this new job today
Hope Mangiafico (09:25)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (09:27)
and Luke's helping to coach my daughter's sports team in the evening.
Where do we and I have to go to bed early 'cause I have to get up at four.
How d I don't know how that's gonna work out right now. Because the mass is nothing
Hope Mangiafico (09:41)
And maybe that's
Nikki Humphrey (09:43)
on
Hope Mangiafico (09:45)
Say that again.
Nikki Humphrey (09:46)
The math is a mathing on time with my spouse.
Hope Mangiafico (09:49)
And as you were saying that, it makes me think like, is that where a lot of the issue lies? I'll call it an issue. I don't know, maybe it's just a conversation starter, is like we try to figure out the how.
Nikki Humphrey (10:03)
Right.
Hope Mangiafico (10:05)
And that drains us and goes back to what our intro talked about. It makes us feel like if we don't figure out the how, then we're failing in the moment.
Nikki Humphrey (10:15)
Yes.
Hope Mangiafico (10:15)
But the father doesn't say that he
Nikki Humphrey (10:18)
And as you just said, that I knew I had a note in here about the difference between quitting and pivoting.
Hope Mangiafico (10:29)
Mm.
Nikki Humphrey (10:31)
And
Sometimes we generally need to persevere, right? We need to keep going. We need to stay on the track. And other times we simply keep going because we're afraid to let it go.
Hope Mangiafico (10:48)
Right.
Nikki Humphrey (10:49)
And so quitting, you know, because I might have thought about quitting five, ten, twenty million times today on my first day, could sound like this is too hard.
Hope Mangiafico (11:01)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (11:02)
I don't feel like doing this right now. I'm afraid to fail. Someone's gonna be disappointed with me. I'm gonna get it wrong. I'm gonna mess it up.
I'm not getting the results that other people are expecting from me.
So that's what quitting can sound like, but pivoting can sound like, God, is there something different you're asking me to do?
Is this the season you truly want me to be in? I've prayed about this and don't have peace continuing where I was. Show me where my pivot is.
I sense God redirecting my priorities.
what I'm doing right now doesn't align where God is asking me to go.
So like pivoting it's not as much feeling based, like emotional based. It's divine based.
Hope Mangiafico (12:01)
And as your example you gave, divine based, and I was hearing from what you one of the words you said, a prior a priority based.
Nikki Humphrey (12:09)
Yes.
Hope Mangiafico (12:10)
And the one priority that it's not based on usually is.
Which quitting will have this as its basis, that self preservation. How do I
Nikki Humphrey (12:18)
Great.
Hope Mangiafico (12:19)
preserve myself? Whereas pivoting is how do I what's the new priority look like? It can
Nikki Humphrey (12:25)
Yes.
Hope Mangiafico (12:25)
look like taking care of yourself if you burnt yourself out in the season that you're currently in and maybe didn't listen to the father or did your
Nikki Humphrey (12:33)
Yeah.
Hope Mangiafico (12:34)
own thing. But yeah, it's the priority is based on what you're getting from the father and it's not self preservation.
Nikki Humphrey (12:41)
And as you were saying that, Hope, it's like a pivot can be fast or slow.
Hope Mangiafico (12:47)
Mm-hmm.
Nikki Humphrey (12:48)
Sometimes pivots are like but sometimes pivots are just the slow leading from the father and the directions you're just taking on a little bit of the pivot at a time, but you're moving away from something that's no longer serving you, but towards
A more divine based.
Hope Mangiafico (13:12)
Mm.
Nikki Humphrey (13:14)
Calling direction avenue
Hope Mangiafico (13:18)
Yeah.
And you know what's so interesting about everything that we're talking about is while I've been in my pivot, which felt like a little bit of a whiplash while simultaneously being kind of slow at the same time, I feel like you can have both coexist at the same time.
Nikki Humphrey (13:36)
Bingo.
Hope Mangiafico (13:37)
And that's an interest very interesting place to be because in the like you said on your first day today, it's like, have you thought about quitting fifteen hundred times? Yes. I can relate. And I have to also be careful because because it feels like both pivots are happening, I have to watch my mouth and who I tell things to, even though I think it's just venting, because a lot of people
Have said, Well, hope you can quit at any time. And while that is not tr that's not wrong, there's truth to that. I have to go back to what you shared a moment ago, Nikki, about it's divine based, and my priorities cannot be about what makes hope comfortable, what makes hope happy. Quitting, this is too hard. And when I start opening my mouth in this weird two type of pivot moment.
I hear it come out and I'm not intending it to sound like I want to quit, but those people hear it as you need to quit. And you gotta protect yourself when you know that you're in alignment with the Lord, though you do not understand it. And that has been very difficult for me the past couple weeks.
Nikki Humphrey (14:55)
Yes, protecting the pivot.
I I totally hear what you're saying and I feel I felt that so much as you were saying that because yes, sometimes you're just venting or like just processing. Yes, you're just
Hope Mangiafico (15:09)
Pro I'm I'm a verbal processor.
Nikki Humphrey (15:12)
processing your day and you don't really want any feedback or response. You just need to like whoo release it. Let a little air out of that balloon that you've been holding on to all day.
And then other people are just chiming in. And you're like,
Hope Mangiafico (15:30)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (15:31)
well, yeah, well, wait, pump the brakes. I know that. But let's not be dramatic. Like it's gonna be, you know, this is where I'm supposed to be. And this is part of the process.
Hope Mangiafico (15:46)
Right. And we've we're such a culture of comfort. And Nikki, you know, we have not talked about this a ton on episodes, but I we've brought it up some.
That we also quickly get that mentality of if it's God, it's easy. Like I would say, I'm not in that anymore. However, when it gets really hard, that's where that doubt and questioning if I did the wrong thing comes in. And then I'm like, wait, back it up, hope. No, that's a lie from the pit of hell. And
Nikki Humphrey (16:17)
Right.
Hope Mangiafico (16:18)
the Satan wants to keep his little kingdom wants to keep us comfortable because then we have no impact.
Nikki Humphrey (16:24)
Great.
Hope Mangiafico (16:27)
protect the pivot and I I I like that statement a lot. And the reason
Nikki Humphrey (16:31)
Yeah.
Hope Mangiafico (16:33)
I keep talking about like having both the slow and the quick at the same time is I think the slow is where you have to be most protective over because the window of opportunity for you to process is gonna be larger.
Nikki Humphrey (16:48)
I was thinking the exact same thing. It could be fast and slow. The fast part is making the decision to pivot pivot.
Hope Mangiafico (16:54)
Yes, yes.
Nikki Humphrey (16:57)
The slow part is learning your new roles, habits, getting direction, and walking out your assignment.
Hope Mangiafico (17:08)
Yes, good, good.
Nikki Humphrey (17:10)
God doesn't want us sprinting through life in He wants us to be intentional with it. Because if we're not intentional, we miss the whole purpose of why we're placed where we're placed.
Hope Mangiafico (17:22)
And you will be graced, for lack of better term, with the opportunities to not be intentional. All the parts of you that you've worked on with the father, though you have a renewed mind and you're doing that day by day, those things that have been familiar to you in the past will still come up.
And yeah, I guess as we're processing this, when you talk about protect the pivot, I I have this deep conviction to guard my mouth.
And here's the thing that's interesting. For anyone listening that's also like me and deem themselves as verbal processors, you gotta be extra careful because you get sucked right in.
To over talking, over sharing, and over listening, actually, sometimes too, while you're doing that. And it's an excuse sometimes. You have to be very mindful of your heart posture when you're trying to process. Is it a bitter heart? Are you like angry for a moment, right? About where you're at. to Nikki's point, she shared, like, you know, sometimes you're just trying to process, but not get feedback.
We're all human. People are gonna try and give you feedback and it probably ninety percent of the time it's not the appropriate feedback and you really gotta process what the Father.
Even your loving spouse who is your cheerleader and fan, they were not given the assignment.
And they can love you and you know, you can ask them to stand beside you on your journey and pray for you, but it's your assignment and yours alone.
And that's the hard part.
Nikki Humphrey (19:07)
And I love what you said about the spouse. So lately with my husband, I just say like before I start processing or saying, I'm like,
Hope Mangiafico (19:18)
Mm.
Nikki Humphrey (19:19)
I just need to get my feelings out. Like that's all I'm here to do.
So let me feel my feels and then I'm gonna be okay. But for me, I've held those in so long that it's an important step for me to actually verbally let those out. So I kinda give the heads up like I'm just feeling my feelings right now.
Hope Mangiafico (19:43)
Yeah, absolutely. That's a whole nother growth opportunity for me as well in a different way. So I think I think that's such a great hmm I'll just say marital opportunity because it opens the door for both people to to learn how to communicate in good ways too. And that's really Yes, exactly.
Nikki Humphrey (20:06)
know their roles in that moment. Sometimes
our men they always want to fix it, right? But they don't know that their role right now is just not even you don't even have to listen. I feel like you just be in the room. Just let me say this.
Hope Mangiafico (20:22)
Be in the room and make some eye contact periodically. Even you're not gonna get quizzed at the end, but
It's interesting.
Nikki Humphrey (20:30)
Yeah. And as I was going through all those feelings today of like wanting to quit and everything and and going back to protecting the pivot, I did this unintentionally, but I was like, what's going to ground me and then the girls who enter my classroom tomorrow in this situation where they're not expecting me. So they're getting the girls that I'm teaching are gonna have to pivot.
Hope Mangiafico (20:46)
Mm. That's true. That's true.
Nikki Humphrey (20:55)
I'm pivoting because I don't really know what I'm doing right now, but like
What's going to protect the pivot for all of us? We're gonna anchor, start with an anchor verse.
Hope Mangiafico (21:07)
Mm
Nikki Humphrey (21:10)
and anchor in and it was it's just the be still and know that I am God.
Hope Mangiafico (21:18)
But yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (21:19)
Because a lot of times we said the I said this earlier, when we pivot we wanna speed everything up.
But sometimes we just need to be still and know.
God's here for us. He's gonna take care of the situation. He's gonna cover the situation. He's gonna be our guide. He's gonna lead us through and he's gonna anchor us in this moment, in this time together.
Hope Mangiafico (21:43)
Amen. Yeah, that's great. W are you praying that in the mornings, or what are you doing? Or what's your plan, I should say?
Nikki Humphrey (21:53)
tomorrow will some of the girls know me, some don't, so it's just like an introduction about me, a little bit about
why, you know, what makes me me and then answering us all together and then having them reflect on I have some questions
Hope Mangiafico (22:07)
Mm.
Nikki Humphrey (22:08)
that go along with that verse. So I get to know them and where they're at right now.
Hope Mangiafico (22:15)
That makes me think about something that happened today.
Your thought to do that one really actually touched me because here's the other thing. We entered your statement by talking about how pivots are often assignment-based, divine influence-based. And then we get kind of shocked or we're like questioning everything. And then what do we t I'm gonna raise my hand. What do I tend to do? I go inward and it becomes about hope, even though I'm saying it's about God.
And I'm on this assignment for the Lord, but I unlike what you're practicing with your anchor verse with the with the girls, I kinda disregard the people affected in the assignment. Because sometimes those are the very people that are making the pivot difficult.
Nikki Humphrey (23:02)
Right.
Hope Mangiafico (23:03)
And so I love that you have that anchor because it involves the father, it involves the people involved, and then it involves yourself. And having the three components keeps you rooted and anchored in what matters. And I'm very guilty in a pivot when just guilty in a pivot to create a divide unintentionally. Because at the end of the day.
It's often me ag quote unquote against someone else that's creating
Nikki Humphrey (23:37)
Yeah.
Hope Mangiafico (23:38)
this tension. And I'm a Christian, I love the father. I said, God, I'm going for that person
Nikki Humphrey (23:45)
What?
Hope Mangiafico (23:45)
But that person ain't being my BFF right now and woe is me.
And so I liked what you're doing, and and it reminds me of today, going back to how I started my statement. I've been struggling, and today was such a sweet day because multiple people told me to not give up and to not let certain things get to me. And I'm like, okay, Lord, that's just confirmation that I am like I'm hearing you right, that I'm where I'm supposed to be.
And that this challenge, this difficulty is part of the journey. Because I don't know if they could see it. I don't think they could see it, 'cause honestly no one sees me during the day. I'm like in my own little space. But they know the atmosphere I stepped into.
And God will use anyone to propel you, to encourage you, to make sure that, hey, that's my daughter that said yes to my assignment. Come on, angels. Come on, everyone. Like, let's root on heaven heavenly hype squad, right? And then getting people involved too. And I really needed that today. because I'm exhausted from like trying so hard.
Nikki Humphrey (25:06)
Yeah.
Hope Mangiafico (25:08)
I'm t it's like I'm tired of trying.
But that doesn't mean to quit, as you said earlier.
Nikki Humphrey (25:15)
And I think when we pivot, we don't need to change everything about ourselves. God wants us to pivot with our whole self and not leave parts of our personality
Hope Mangiafico (25:20)
Mm. Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (25:26)
behind and not try to change or try to conform to fit into the environment. And so that's where I was kind of thinking outside of the box. It's just like, okay, I
Hope Mangiafico (25:36)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (25:36)
have to teach all these classes and all this curriculum, but I'm not this person that I'm replacing. And I don't even know how they would.
Hope Mangiafico (25:42)
Yeah. That's good.
Nikki Humphrey (25:44)
approaches, but how with the gifts God made me, gave me, how can I start this off with a little
Nikki God combo joy bomb here.
Hope Mangiafico (26:01)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (26:02)
Because it'd be so easy try to mimic what the other person might do, say, think, but I was placed here because of who I am and whose I am, not because I'm a carbon copy the person I'm stepping in for for a little bit.
Hope Mangiafico (26:13)
Yeah.
And that has been part of my challenge is I'm being compared to the person that I'm replacing.
Yeah. got that figured out by now too. And and I'm glad you shared what you just did because in a pivot it can be very easy to start I don't wanna say losing your identity, but conforming elsewhere or kind of forgetting who you are and what you bring forth because it's easy to play the comparison game, whether you're doing it yourself or
unintentionally it's being put on you.
And I guess if I can ask you a follow-up question, I don't think you just answered it. If you did, you can repeat yourself. How how did you hmm? I feel like it's gonna come out of my mouth weird, but it is what it is. How did you kind of recenter on like that truth and remembering it? Like was it simply in a pause, you know, and remembering like who you are and then
cool extracting that identity moving forward.
Nikki Humphrey (27:32)
so this whole download from God came after I had a conversation with the teacher next door. She came in and we were just talking, we weren't talking any curriculum or anything. We were just talking about God and how like awesome He is and what what does my work with teenage girls look like and all of that? And it reminded me who I am and the gifts that God gave me.
And I was like, why am I trying to get all technical and this nitty gritty from the jump? Like
I need to fully express who I am, partner with God, co create something, and start the year off that way.
Hope Mangiafico (28:15)
That's cool.
Nikki Humphrey (28:16)
Sometimes God just sends a little messenger reminder.
Hope Mangiafico (28:21)
Exactly. Well that's kind of what I was even saying about, yeah, today. Yeah,
Nikki Humphrey (28:24)
Unrelated, but kind of related and
Hope Mangiafico (28:26)
yeah, it's unrelated, but it's it's what each of us needs at a moment because we're all so different and he knows us so intimately. to remind us, that's really amazing. Wow.
And that said, you guys were just talking about the Lord and you weren't trying to find something. The same was true for me at work. I wasn't trying to find an answer in that moment. I was just trying to keep my head down and keep going, persevering. And he will always show up in the he'll always show up, period. But in the pivot, in that sticking point where you're feeling some tension. Don't dig.
Guilty. Don't dig and try and figure it out. He'll make himself known.
Nikki Humphrey (29:11)
Yes, and I think this leads beautifully into the acron acne can't even say it. Acronym?
Hope Mangiafico (29:21)
Acronym.
Yes.
Nikki Humphrey (29:24)
that came about that as I was this word was highlighted to me yesterday and I was playing with it
Hope Mangiafico (29:32)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (29:32)
and how do we know when God's asking us to pivot? And this is also a good reminder when you're in the pivot of what to do.
Hope Mangiafico (29:43)
Okay.
Nikki Humphrey (29:45)
So why don't I just go through them and then we can like go back and
Talk about all of them. So the acronym for PIVOT is P is for PAWAS. I is investigate. V validate. Open your hands and T trust. And it's so cool because it's basically everything we've been talking about so far.
in this episode about what it means to pivot.
Hope Mangiafico (30:21)
Well, you know what's really funny? When you gave me that acronym,
Nikki Humphrey (30:25)
Mm-hmm.
Hope Mangiafico (30:25)
I instantly whipped out my it was like literally when you texted me this this download, I picked up my phone and I felt like I was supposed to make another pivot acronym of what we tend to do.
Nikki Humphrey (30:38)
Yeah.
Hope Mangiafico (30:39)
Whereas the one that you had is what we should do.
Nikki Humphrey (30:42)
Yeah.
Hope Mangiafico (30:42)
And so if I can use that to compliment, because have I
I sure as heck have highlighted what I tend to do.
Nikki Humphrey (30:49)
Yeah.
Hope Mangiafico (30:50)
And so it'll hopefully make a nice little picture. So we often use panic when we should pause. We try to interfere when we should investigate. We create our own vision when we should be validating it with truth. We often oppose when we should be open. And we often turn away and to other voices when we should trust the Father.
Nikki Humphrey (31:15)
that's so good. God is so good.
Hope Mangiafico (31:21)
It's like it's so important to highlight what we tend to do so you can then understand that what you're doing isn't it and then you fall more naturally in the pausing, investigating, validating, openness and trusting.
Nikki Humphrey (31:36)
And that first P is so I still working
Hope Mangiafico (31:40)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (31:41)
the pause.
Hope Mangiafico (31:42)
Yes, me too.
Nikki Humphrey (31:44)
Pray connect to God. All of that. Before any major decision, not just in a pivot, but anything. That pause is so important. Because I feel like panic's on the other side of pause. Like if there's two sides to a coin.
Hope Mangiafico (32:03)
Yes.
Yes.
Nikki Humphrey (32:06)
What?
Hope Mangiafico (32:07)
You're right. Yeah, heads and ta head and tail are like complete opposite, and so is panic and pause, but yeah, they
Nikki Humphrey (32:12)
Yeah.
Hope Mangiafico (32:13)
share the same surface. That's so interesting. That's so true. And you'll notice within yourself, but also in others, like the panic is everywhere. And we think it's productive, use another P word, but it's not so.
I mean, I wish I could like somehow use like AI to be like, how many episodes have we used the word pause?
Nikki Humphrey (32:37)
Yeah.
Hope Mangiafico (32:37)
It's probably sixty-eight. but it just makes me think of how pausing's so valuable, like you said, and how it will be difficult just because you do not see it demonstrated.
And I think it's amazing that P is the first letter of pivot, and so that makes it the first point because we have learned and we're still learning that it is the most valuable thing that we can do in our lives.
Nikki Humphrey (33:10)
Then I for investigate. It's a simple question. God, what are you showing me? God, where do you want me to go? God, what are you showing you what are you telling me?
Hope Mangiafico (33:24)
You gave great questions right off the bat in the very beginning, that I think works so well for investigating.
Nikki Humphrey (33:32)
Mm.
Hope Mangiafico (33:33)
But you can only investigate if you pause. Because if you panic, that's when you interfere.
Nikki Humphrey (33:36)
Wait, you can't do both. You can't
be running and digging.
Hope Mangiafico (33:41)
Yeah, 'cause you're
past it. All the details.
There's nothing to see to investigate.
Nikki Humphrey (33:45)
And then
Hope Mangiafico (33:47)
And instead, yeah, you you interfere with things. And that's the thing, like when you start with panic instead of pausing, the panic makes you start spiraling. And then you're
Nikki Humphrey (33:57)
Break.
Hope Mangiafico (33:58)
interfering not just with the father's plans, but you're literally in interfering with everything.
Nikki Humphrey (34:04)
Because when you investigate, you can sense that conviction. Is
Hope Mangiafico (34:08)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (34:09)
it conviction or are you just frustrated?
Hope Mangiafico (34:12)
Yeah. And you can investigate which leads to the validation with truth. You're able to validate what's the father. And you know, I think sometimes you hear that people will say, like, you know, you can't find everything in the Bible. You know, we're in a different time, but
God's truth will always prevail in every situation. If you're walking with him and you pause and start investigating, he will lead you to something that is validated by the truth in scripture and his character. Every time.
Nikki Humphrey (34:47)
Every time.
Hope Mangiafico (34:48)
Literally.
Nikki Humphrey (34:48)
Yeah.
And sometimes we miss it 'cause we're going too fast.
Hope Mangiafico (34:52)
Yeah, we're going too fast. And we started then creating our own vision. And
Nikki Humphrey (34:56)
Mm-hmm.
Hope Mangiafico (34:57)
I talk about the pivot I'm in now. I think I know what the father's doing, but when I heard it right away, I ran. Nikki and I've talked about this a million times that we hear something, we rhyme. And so I had this vision that gave me hope and joy, but it was almost like a false hope and joy because I was building it on one thing instead of.
The character of God at the end of the day. I was building on my vision instead
of the truth of the Father. Two very different things. Even though the vision was rooted in something from the Father, it was it was still I was grounding myself in the vision, not in the truth. There it
Nikki Humphrey (35:38)
Yes.
Hope Mangiafico (35:39)
is.
Nikki Humphrey (35:41)
And that's why we have to do the we have to open our hands and surrender.
Hope Mangiafico (35:46)
Don't do this.
Nikki Humphrey (35:46)
Back.
Hope Mangiafico (35:47)
Don't cross your arms.
Nikki Humphrey (35:48)
Right. Or cover your ears
Hope Mangiafico (35:50)
Mm-hmm.
Nikki Humphrey (35:51)
or your eyes as you're running because you're like, I got it. I don't need any more information. I got it, God. Like you're good. Which I can so often do.
Hope Mangiafico (36:02)
me too. Me too.
Nikki Humphrey (36:04)
And
we have to know that we can trust God's plan even if it doesn't look like our vision that we created.
Hope Mangiafico (36:13)
Exactly.
And when it's not matching up, be careful of turning away and going to other voices, which we've already talked about, because I've talked about that earlier. And be mindful. God will, we've said it already today, God will use people. But just like I said a moment ago of not putting my hope in the vision, but rather putting my hope in the truth, if you go listening to other voices,
Your hope in where it lies sh shifts.
And that goes to probably our conversation of everyday idols, to be honest. What I think is episode sixty three. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think it's a good compliment to this because at the end of the day, usually pivots are so hard because we're holding on to something which we likely have begun. Maybe we didn't fully commit to making it an idol in our life, but we have started to idolize.
What we're moving away from.
Nikki Humphrey (37:15)
And that T is trust. We need to trust what we hear God telling us, what we
Hope Mangiafico (37:21)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (37:22)
are giving over to Him, opening in our hands. And we need to trust the next step he gives us. Just the next step. Don't plan out 10
Hope Mangiafico (37:30)
Amen.
Nikki Humphrey (37:31)
steps ahead. Do the step God gave you. Trust it.
And then get the next step.
That's what I did to tell myself today. I was trying to plan out we and I was just like, no
One day at a time, one step at a time.
Hope Mangiafico (37:50)
There's a reason why the scripture says he's a lamp onto our feet. That used to ground me so much and I don't really think about it much anymore, but it's not that he just lights up your whole path. It's literally a lamp and so it can only go so far ahead.
Nikki Humphrey (38:04)
Yes.
I wrote down God really gives us the entire map. He gives us enough light for the step we're standing on.
Hope Mangiafico (38:12)
Yeah, it's the truth. Whatever is the world's smallest lamp that you have in your house, let that be your picture as you're listening to this episode of how far you're able to see.
And then what are you gonna do with that?
Trust
It makes me think like what I would do if I mean this would be just fully honest, but I turn on my flashlight on my phone, right? So I can only see straight down. You better believe I'm still gonna try and sh shift the light up and see how
Nikki Humphrey (38:37)
You got a big spotlight,
I'm like
Hope Mangiafico (38:44)
Into the great abyss. That is the fun thing is that pivoting from pointing down to upward won't really change its effectiveness, even though I would try.
Nikki Humphrey (38:55)
To stick like
Hope Mangiafico (38:56)
Yeah, just a glimpse, please. Which is at the end of the day, believing that a glimpse would change us is a lie.
The grass is greener on the other side mentality. It's not truth. We've all been on the greener grass. And then it dies.
Nikki Humphrey (39:14)
I told that cheesy phrase to Josephine, I think yesterday. I'm like, the grass is greener, Josephine, where you water it.
Hope Mangiafico (39:22)
I was gonna say it then it dies 'cause we didn't water it, 'cause we weren't ready to be on that side.
It's so funny. I love it.
Nikki Humphrey (39:30)
Do you have anything else?
Hope Mangiafico (39:32)
No, my only download was the the opposite of the acronym.
Nikki Humphrey (39:38)
I love that.
It opens your eyes and makes it so relatable to those listening and watching about the pivot and both sides to it.
Hope Mangiafico (39:53)
Right, because one of the things you highlighted when you texted me, Nikki, about this is like what happens inside of us when we're pivoting. And inside of me, I'm not pausing, I'm panicking out of the gate because I've trained myself for 30 plus years to panic. So that's what's happening. And then the rest just unfolds. They build on each other. And so, like, I have learned that
And you probably have too, because you and I have done all the courses, the readings, whatever. I can only get so much knowledge, I can only retain so much. But until I know where I'm at and what I'm doing, I can't implement the good instruction. It took me a long dang time to learn.
Nikki Humphrey (40:39)
Yeah. And that reminds me of Proverbs three, five through six, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
Hope Mangiafico (40:48)
Yes.
Nikki Humphrey (40:50)
Because when I was trying to do that today, I was in chaos. I was panicking. I was just I couldn't think straight. I had racing thoughts and I was trying to do all the things. But once I leaned into God, got the anchor verse.
Hope Mangiafico (41:07)
I love that.
Nikki Humphrey (41:08)
Calmness,
peace, direction, purpose.
Hope Mangiafico (41:13)
So good.
I gotta be chatting with the Lord a little bit more.
Nikki Humphrey (41:15)
Thank you.
Hope Mangiafico (41:18)
He's been my all of that said, my last statement I'll make in my long pivot. It feels long. Actually today makes no tomorrow makes a month exactly since my first day.
Because pivoting, and this is a word for everyone actually, in the pivot you're having to create new routines. Some of the old ways that you were talking to the Lord or whatever, like they kinda go out the door and that you're kind of scrambling. Remember that just talking to him is enough. I do talk his ear off actually.
maybe not always the the right qu quote unquote right questions, but in this season when I'm trying to just figure out a flow, I'm not doing a lot of the things that I was. But I am talking his ear off. And that is enough when you're in a pivot a pivotal transition.
Nikki Humphrey (42:16)
I think that'll do it.
Hope Mangiafico (42:18)
I think that'll do it.
Nikki Humphrey (42:19)
If there's one thing we hope you take away from today's conversation, it's this. A pivot doesn't mean you failed. Sometimes it means you're following. Maybe you're in the season right now where God's asking you to loosen your grip on the plan you've been holding on to.
be scary because we like certainty. We like knowing what's next. We like having the five-year plan. But God doesn't always give us the whole map. Sometimes He just gives us the next step. So if you're facing a pivot right now, maybe instead of asking, why isn't this working? try asking, God, what are you inviting me into? And remember our framework. Pause, don't panic. Investigate.
Pay attention to what God may be showing you. Validate, bring it back to God's Word and His character. Open your hands, release the plan you thought you needed, and get ready to receive His. And then trust the next step, even when you don't see the whole road. Because following God doesn't always look like staying on the same path.
Sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is pivot. If this episode encouraged you, share it with somebody who might be standing at a crossroads right now. We'll see in the overflow.
