6/6/22 - Tuning In To God's Direction: Tracy Mathews, Attune

Intro: As a Christian working woman, you have many roles from your responsibility with family and friends to community and work. How do you connect all that you do with all that you are, and still have your faith shine through?. It's a challenge, but you are up to it. The, sheWorks4Him, podcast it at the gathering place to empower Christian working women, to live out their calling at work.

By connecting them to God resources and each other through powerful faith stories from other working sisters in Christ. Welcome to sheWorks4Him.

Martha: Welcome to sheWorks4Him, where we connect Christian, working women to God resources and one another. And yes, there are some resources in today's show that you're not gonna wanna miss.

And I wanna encourage you to listen to them or check the show notes later and make sure that you get. One thing I do wanna highlight that is not on the topic of today's show, other than Christian working women getting together in Orlando in June for an event that is called Boss Woman Getaway. And I just want to encourage you to check out the link on that.

Dr. Perdita Meek's ministry is in charge of that. And really there, the thing I really wanna communicate is that it's for women in every role. That it can come together in a collaborative platform to have conversations around excellence and all that God desires them to be in their role in this season, whatever season they may be in.

So check out that link, see if it's a good fit for you. And I just invite you to join in on that if you are at all possible to do that this summer in June. So just another resource we wanna bring your way, but you can always find out more details about things by going to, sheWorks4Him.com Catherine?

Catherine: Thanks, Martha. We are all bound to face uncertainty in our work lately. It seems uncertainty abounds for everyone. The truth is we don't know what tomorrow holds, but we do know the one who holds tomorrow. James four, 13 and 15 tells us now, listen, you who say today or tomorrow, we will go to the city where that city its been the city or that city and spend a year there, carry on business and make money.

Instead you ought to say, if it is the Lord's will we will live and do this or that. And Matthew six, Jesus admonishes the people not to worry about what they will wear or what they will eat, but rather in verse 33, seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.

I believe Jesus was also referring to all resources we need for our work. God wants us to turn to him and inquire of him for our. Tracy Mathews and her organization, Attune is all about helping teams do just that. Tracy Mathews spent nine years with a biotech startup and has also worked as a consultant and as an engineer. She's is the spark behind Attune, a ministry that helps leaders and teams grow in their capacity to Attune to what God has in store for them in their work. Tracy, welcome to sheWorks4Him.

Tracy Mathews: Oh, thanks so much for having me. It's such a pleasure to be here and thank you for the work that you guys do.

Catherine: Thanks. Oh, thanks. I'm so excited to have you, Tracy, you know, as, as you know, I've had a personal experience of your work. And so I, I can't wait for listeners to get a taste of what it is you do, but first, can you share with our listeners how you became a follower of Jesus?

Tracy Mathews: Yes, of course, of course. So in middle school is when my family and I started to go to church regularly.

But my true coming to faith experience actually didn't happen until college. So what was happening is I had come back from college was talking with my mom in the kitchen. And I remember I was over by the window and I was watching a cut heal on my finger. And I was in like science and engineering.

And I was thinking like, you know, science tells us that things tend towards disorder. And yet here we have these human bodies that, that know how to heal themselves. And so it was this kind of amazement of like, oh, that doesn't happen on its own. And it was like, there must be some kind of intelligent designer to this.

And as I was talking to my mom about it, it just came out of my mouth and I knew it to be true. It, it must be the God of the Bible. So it started out as this very rational, logical conclusion. Like there must be a designer, but then all I can say is the holy spirit spoken to the depths of my heart. And I just knew it to be true that it was the God of the Bible.

And I, I really haven't looked back sense.

Catherine: That's amazing. God uses all kinds of ways, right. To point himself out to us. So, so Tracy, when did you realize that your work matters to God? How did God get your attention there?

Tracy Mathews: Yeah, that's a good way to say it too. Cause he got my attention. You know, it started well in a lot of ways. It started way back when, but I'll say this back in like 2014, I had this conversation with a friend who was telling me about this growing financial trend of impact investing and it was totally new to me at the time. And it just got the wheels turning and it's this basic idea that financial investors want more than a financial return.

They want some kind of social or environmental good to happen along with the financial return. And it just made so much sense and it kind of got the wheels turning. And then really a few months later in what I'll call kind of like an epiphany moment. I just had this thought, what if business is for more than just making money?

And it was a, it sounds, it sounds funny now, but it was a brand new thought and I was like all about my work, all about the private sector. And I also thought I was all about Jesus. So it was like a highly distressing moment of like, oh, I've never even asked God something as basic as like the fundamental purpose of business.

So that kinda kicked off just a I'll call it an adventure. But conversations here got led to some really great books. And well now I have this fuller understanding that God cares about all of our daily work paid and unpaid every situation we are in, he is with us and he has good purpose and guidance. And that changes everything.

Martha: Yes. I love talking to you, Tracy. Cause you just draw me and I'm sitting here thinking and, and just absorbing all of this and I'm like, oh, I need to, I need to keep the conversation going. You know, here I am a listener and a host at the same time. So. You have so authentically articulated what God has shown you and opened your eyes to you, and you were willing to have your eyes open.

I think that that's one of the, the keys to your story in that sense of, of what God was showing you. Can you in the next minute or so, just tell us as a Christian working woman, having your eyes open to how God cares so much about your work, What has been maybe a big challenge for you and a big victory?

Tracy Mathews: Yeah. And I'll, I'll put 'em together and try and do it in a minute here. But what I would say my continuous struggle even today is that I can tend to make work my idol. I can get my identity sense of worth sense of purpose in the world from my work. And when it doesn't go well, you know, I don't sleep at night.

And I, I struggle. It's, it's my, my worth that becomes on the line. And what I'll say is the biggest victory is that God has been freeing me from this and I can now show up so much more confidently and secure that I am loved, that I am his, and out of his love he gives me my work in the world. I don't have anything to prove anything to earn. I just get to be a part of his story.

Martha: How many of us listeners right now could use that fresh perspective? Thank you so much for sharing that with us, because I think I know that there are other women listening right now that, that struggle with that same thing of of making work, our idol, whether we want to or not.

So listeners, there's so much more ahead. You're listening to. For him where we're talking today with Tracy Mathews and we'll be right back.

Break: Did you know that God has a calling on your life? It's true. He's called you to bring Jesus to the world. For some that may look like a pulpit or a foreign mission field, but for most of us, it looks like a construction site, a cubicle, a hospital, or a classroom, wherever it is that you work, live, volunteer and invest.

That is your mission field. To learn more about integrating your faith into your work in retirement, check out our books. iWork4Him. sheWorks4Him and iRetire4Him by going to iWork4him.com/bookstore.

Catherine: Welcome back to sheWorks4Him. We're talking and I just, gosh, we were just saying how we could just listen to you all day, Tracy.

I love the way you, you share your heart and articulate. And I have had the privilege of being led through an Attunement session that you facilitated for Women in the Marketplace and Polished as we were seeking God's direction for our collaborative partnership. And certainly very similar experience, just, it felt so safe and so gentle.

And and so spirit led certainly very spirit led. Can you share a little bit about how Attune was birthed? How did that come into being?

Tracy Mathews: Sure. Yes. And let me just say it, it's been such a joy to get, to see how God does at work in and through you and Women in the Marketplace and everything. So thanks.

Let me just say that. But I'll say it has been an adventure and what we call spiritually Attuned leader. and we focus a lot of our effort on serving those that are kind of pioneering into two new territory. And in that space, what we're finding is that God doesn't typically kind of download everything all at once, but rather he says like, okay, go to the land I will show you. And we go to that next step. And then he shows us the next step and we go there and then he shows us the next.

So I say that I'll to say it has been an adventure and it started with this basic idea around a faith and work curriculum. And what we kind of were able to discern was like, oh, there's a lot of excellent curriculum out there, but where we feel called in that life application, like how do we help people apply their faith?

What they know to be true to their everyday work situations and decision. And so then we moved in that direction and then it became clear that it's, it's not just applying biblical wisdom, but it's actually about helping people hear God's guidance like their, the real time voice of the spirit, the spiritual Attunement that we're talking about.

So, you know, there there's been many other kind of add-on dimensions that we didn't know to look for at the beginning, but it's been this journey of becoming, and here we are now as Attune and a wonderful ride.

Catherine: And it's a wonderful resource. What I loved about it is just the unfolding of not only the vision and ideas, but also the brokenness that can get in the way.

And what I found was even though not everybody knew each other, it was amazing how, how transparent and authentic everybody was in that session. That was really impressive to me. So when do leaders typically, when, when is an appropriate time for leaders to, to bring you in, to do an Attunement session, what are they typically looking to accomplish?

Tracy Mathews: Sure, sure. And I'll say it varies widely, but there's a number of what we call kind of one off reasons. Leaders will bring us in a lot of times it is, Hey, we're embarking on this new thing. It's a new partnership. It's a new ministry, a new business arm, or we wanna start heading in this direction. We've done some racial reconciliation work, so moving towards racial equity and flourishing.

Sometimes it's, Hey, we're just going through a challenging season, right? We lost a key leader or the things that used to work, guess what? They don't work anymore. Cuz the world has changed. We, we need God's help. So a variety of different kind of one off things that we come into help for.

And then sometimes and where we like things to head is that people realize that spiritual atunement is a capacity that they can develop. Single early and as a team and it will help them in like a whole bunch of different areas. So they bring us in really for leadership development and for healthy culture.

Catherine: That's awesome. And you have a - sorry, Martha. I just wanna make sure that our listeners, so that you're offering a free resource it's Wisdom from Above it's a five day devotional on spiritual Attunement that you developed in partnership with Fuller's Dupree Center for leadership, theology of work project and Attuned, and our listeners can find it at Attunetogrow.org/taste-C. Taste-C.

Tracy Mathews: Absolutely.

Martha: I love that you've given us a resource and that it's, it's not this fact sheet, but it's a devotion because it sounds like that's just one more way that you're helping to develop it internally that it's not just here do these things. But how can God work on our heart? So let's break this down a little bit more.

So if I'm gonna attend an Attunement session. Like what does that actually look like? Because it sounds a little mysterious.

Tracy Mathews: Yes. Yes, yes. And some of it, you just have to kind of try it out to see, so that Wisdom from Above devotional actually includes a 10 minute audio guided exercise, so you can kind of get a taste for it and it hopefully will help you real time with your work challenges.

But all of our work, all of our Attunement exercises, our sessions, whether it be a 10 minute exercise off the website or a session that we will facilitate for you and your team, they all follow this kind of listen, discern go framework. And so we'll usually help you get clear on the specific situation or area you're bringing before God for more of his.

And then we'll walk you through some steps that will help you listen, meaning gain a better sense of some of the deeper and wider dynamics at play. You're just kind of naming some of the patterns or themes that you're seeing within yourself within the work product, within the team, whatever the case might be, so that listen, step naming the deeper, wider themes at play.

And then we go into what we call a discern. And here what we're doing is we're looking to gain an awareness of the one or two key themes or guideposts that we most sense guide inviting us to live further into in our response. So we'll walk you through some exercises to help you get to the one or two guideposts.

And then we say, go, and sometimes it's a, Hey, what are one or two next steps you might take? Sometimes it's a full to our workshop to kind of brainstorm where we might. And sometimes it's Hey, this is, these are the guideposts for you to keep in front of you over the season ahead to help you with the myriad of decisions and challenges and pivots that'll come.

But Hey, keep these guideposts in front of you. So listen, discern go. And all of our workshops will help people move through those three steps.

Martha: Mm. So how important is it that everyone involved in the Attuned session is strong in their faith? You know, have you seen how it's impacted people's faith when they've participated, especially as it relates to bringing their faith into work, but just give us a little peek behind that.

Tracy Mathews: Sure, sure. Somebody I'll take 'em separately. I mean, first it, it always helps if people are of strong faith and if they understand the voice of the spirit, you know, they know which, which voice is theirs and which voice is gods and what might be the enemies. But what I'll say is, you know, God typically honors our efforts to genuinely seek and follow his will. So we're happy to work with anybody who's hungry for God's guidance. And we typically find again that God will honor their efforts reward their efforts.

And that second question, you know, in terms of what differences it can make, you know, when did you've experienced God with you in your work and you've sensed his guidance for you, you, you, you hear how much he cares about the work. How much he cares about you in the work. And so it's incredibly strengthening in the faith and just that understanding of like, oh God is in this. And he cares about not only the work itself and what it can do for his creation, but he cares about how it might form me, how it might form us. That's a beautiful thing.

Catherine: That is beautiful. And I can attest to you know, since we've done that Attune session it's just been amazing how the team has been aligned and on purpose and really, really seeking God at each moment. So you're listening to sheWorks4HIm with your hosts, Martha Brangenberg and Catherine Gates. And our guest is Tracy Mathews. We'll be right back after this short break.

Break: Hey listeners. One of the huge projects Martha and I have been working on for years is making it easy for every workplace believer to find all the voices speaking, encouragement, and equipping into the faith and work movement, presenting the Awaken Podcast Network.

online at awakenpodcastnetwork.com with over 130 different podcast. Voices speaking truth into you, the workplace believer. Including over 30 podcast, dedicated to Christian working women. Go online to AwakenPodcastNetwork.com that's AwakenPodcastNetwork.com.

Catherine: Welcome back to sheWorks4Him. We're your hosts, Martha Brangenberg and Catherine.

And I just, I just love this topic, Tracy, you know, God does care about our work. He wants to speak to us in our work. And I think, you know, even those of us who live out our faith at work and know that that's important. It's not, it's not necessarily. And I, I talk to a lot of people. It's not necessarily a habit to, to seek God and ask him for the, the, you know, the challenges and the, and on a daily basis right. Throughout the day. And I feel like, you know, our experience we saw not only did God care about this collaboration, but as you know, you know, we went into it, even praying which project should we be praying about? And, and then, you know, the, then as we went through the different questions, you could see.

Because we took time to be quiet. Right. And then you said, all right, share what you feel is appropriate. And that's the thing it's always so safe share what you feel is appropriate. And as people were sharing, we were like saying the same things. Mm. You know, and that's the holy spirit. And so I feel like it's such a powerful experience to see why wouldn't we want to have this experience every day.

The holy spirit is speaking. And he wants to speak and he wants to give us that direction. And and you know, in fact, the, you know, we ended up with those three guideposts and they became the theme for our project, which is, you know, I mean, again, just, you can see God just leading the whole way. So what Tracy, what do you wanna be sure and leave our listeners with, because clearly this is, this is a key aspect of living their faith at work. What do you want to leave listeners with regarding really seeking God first, every day in their work?

Tracy Mathews: Yes. What, what I would say is that spiritual Attunement is a capacity that we build through intentional practice and repetition, right? The fruit of it is so beautiful. You've just spoken so beautifully to it, but we don't just naturally understand how to hear all the ways the spirit is speaking to.

So practice and repetition, try different stuff out, find what works for you and create those habits and rhythms that will allow you to become a more Attuned person in just the way you naturally move in the world.

Martha: Mm Tracy, you have given us so many great things, nuggets of information and people can find out more about you at what website?

Tracy Mathews: Attunetogrow.org Attune to grow.org.

Martha: And if you go to taste dash C, then you can find that five day devotional that we were talking about. So final word, what is a life verse for you or a verse in this season that is helping you walk out your relationship with the Lord and, and where you're going?

Tracy Mathews: Absolutely. So as I have talked to before, Attune feels called to come alongside pioneers. We, I am an entrepreneur pioneer. So a verse that means a lot to me is Isaiah 42 16. And I have it written here, which I always keep here, but the message version says, I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way who can't see where they're going. I'll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I'll be right there to show them what roads to take, make sure they don't fall into the ditch. These are the things I'll be doing for them, sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute. And it's been so true.

Catherine: That is so beautiful and God wants to do that for every single one of us. We just need to Attune to his voice, right? So, Tracy, this has been amazing. I know there's so much more you could share with our listeners. So I do hope they'll go to Attune to grow.org and, and check out that devotional taste and sea. So much Tracy for sharing this time with us.

Tracy Mathews: Thanks. You've so much for having me.

Catherine: Absolutely. You've been listening to, sheWorks4Him with your host, Martha Brangenberg and Catherine Gates. We're Christian working women, helping other Christian working women to live out their calling at work as sheWorks4Him.

Outro: As Christian women, we have many roles from daughter, sister, friend, wife, and mother to analyst, accountant, executive or educator. Is it possible to balance our roles at work and home in a way that honors God? The answer is yes. And our new book, sheWorks4Him will help show you how. Written to celebrate, encourage and equip women in the workforce. sheWorks4Him discusses the diverse experiences of today's Christian working woman. Pick up a copy by going to iWork for him.com/bookstore.

You've been listening to the, sheWorks4Him podcast with your host, Catherine Gates, Nadya Dickson, and Martha Brangenberg. Please like us on Facebook and subscribe on YouTube under sheWorks4Him and to access any of the resources we mentioned on today's show.

See the show notes at sheworksforhim.com that's she works the number four, him.com. This podcast was created to empower you to live out your calling at works. So the world knows sheWorks4Him.