Inside this week

• The 24 hours I almost talked myself out of
• Why letting your light shine is worship
• My summit talk, plus the All Access Pass (just a few days left at $59)
• A Sunday school song, with one word shouted

Hey friend,

Maybe you know the voice. Something good is right there, close enough to touch, and before you can reach for it, a whisper beats you to it. It's not going to happen anyway.

That voice sat right beside me this July.

On July 8, I got an invitation to propose a session for the Type·ish Spiritual Formation Summit. A lineup of teachers I've admired and learned from for years. And me, at my computer, needing to respond.

I spent 24 hours going back through a year of my own research where I sat with and coached over 160 women. Rereading notes. Rewriting takeaways. And under every sentence, that same voice: Who do you think you are? What if you did it wrong?

At 4pm on July 9, I hit submit. Then I sat back and said, out loud, to an empty room, "Eep!!"

Then the waiting commenced. That same stretch of July, another door I'd been praying over closed in my face. Something I'd been building fell apart before it ever really started. My Inner Storyteller wanted to promise more of the same, but I stayed optimistic.

On July 20, the email came. Out of all the proposals received, mine was one of the 18 finalists chosen. My name was listed right there amongst heroes and mentors and role models.

I read the email, and the list, twice. A slow smile started, and I bit my lip trying to hold it back, like a Good Girl should. But I couldn't and I didn't. Thank you, Lord.

Then I did something I'm still practicing, but getting ever so slightly better at embracing. I let myself FEEL it. I didn't rush to the what-ifs. I let the good land.

Letting your light shine is worship.

For women of faith, there's an extra layer of guilt here. We learned "This Little Light of Mine" in Sunday school, and somewhere along the way we got very good at the bushel. We call it humble. Almost like those words weren't drilled into us from the beginning: Hide it under a bushel? NO! We missed the whole stinking message. God is honored when we show up as fully ourselves, the way He made us.

Friend, this goes WAY past a summit. Picture Christmas this year, and you, fully there. Laughing at full volume, telling the story, playing the game instead of refilling the dip. Your people can't remember you as a woman of joy if they never get to experience you that way now. Your legacy is being written today. This moment.

That's what my talk is about. Why Good Christian Women Hide Their Light (and the Buried Gift Each Enneagram Type Carries) is free to watch on Friday, October 23, and I can't wait for you to see it.

This one's for you if you've ever talked yourself out of something good before anyone else had the chance.

Full transparency, I'm a summit affiliate, so when you buy through my link, part of it supports my work. Thank you for that!

The pass opens all 45 sessions right now and lets you keep them for life, with audio, transcripts, a workbook for all nine types, and the bonus gifts the speakers put together, including my Ennea-Joy cards, one card for each type's buried gift.

It's $59 only until the summit opens on October 20. Then it goes to $79, and $129 after. I believe in this lineup too much not to tell you.

Not ready yet? Save Your FREE Seat Here and watch each day's sessions for 30 hours. The summit runs October 20 to 23, completely virtual.

JOY NUGGET

The good stuff is allowed to land.

YOUR PINKIE-TOE STEP

The next time something good comes your way this week (a compliment, a yes, a sweet text), let it land for one full minute before the "what if" gets a turn. Don't explain it away. Don't hand it right back. Just smile. Then ask yourself, Am I showing up, or disappearing?

PLAY PROMPT: SING IT OUT

Sing "This Little Light of Mine" all the way through, in the car or the kitchen. When you get to the bushel part, shout the NO. Bonus points if a kid or the dog looks at you funny.

Wondering which gift you might be keeping under the bushel? Grab my free Nine Buried Gifts guide, an instant download, no sign-up.

A look into my world this week, and maybe an invitation into yours

I've been a little quiet in your inbox while I finished a few big things behind the scenes, and I'm coming back into focus. A new episode of The Joyful Rebel Podcast is out, YOU ARE THE LIGHT.

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Now I'd LOVE a peek into your world. Hit reply and tell me one good thing you almost talked yourself out of. I read every reply.

(For me? This summit. You just read the whole story.)

I'll meet you right back here.

~xoxo, Rachel

Rachel Harris — the JOY Coach. A New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author & Life Story Strategist who helps women stop ghosting themselves and re-author their second act.

P.S. The All Access Pass is $59 only until the summit opens on October 20. After that it's $79, then $129. If you know you want lifetime access, that's the best price it'll be. Get the All Access Pass here.​