Welcome Robin Rhine McDonald of MadeWell.com today as we discuss what may be your favorite topic (or not!)—our physical health. Robin is a faith-based holistic health coach who loves Jesus and has a passion for helping people live their best life physically, all for heaven's sake. I ask Robin some tough questions today—maybe I was feeling a little defensive as I do love my sugar—but she answered everything beautifully. You will learn and be encouraged, no matter where you are on the health spect...
Welcome Robin Rhine McDonald of MadeWell.com today as we discuss what may be your favorite topic (or not!)—our physical health. Robin is a faith-based holistic health coach who loves Jesus and has a passion for helping people live their best life physically, all for heaven's sake. I ask Robin some tough questions today—maybe I was feeling a little defensive as I do love my sugar—but she answered everything beautifully. You will learn and be encouraged, no matter where you are on the health spectrum.
Robin learned her good habits because she needed to, and she learned how food and fitness work together to help us live the way God designed. We talk weight loss, bad and good habits, and why God cares about us stewarding our bodies well.
Some gems from Robin:
1. "I think the turning point for me was watching my grandparents' health deteriorate. They dealt with all the common chronic diseases, and I began to see that if we don't make intentional choices, we are going to end up the same way."
2. "It's about going back to the garden and the way that God intended for us to live, before there were processed foods and convenience was the norm."
3. "We don't have to be perfect, but we do need to be intentional and aware of the choices we're making. It's never too late to start making healthier choices."
4. "Grace is not just about covering our mistakes, it's fuel for transformation. It's about acknowledging that we're not perfect, but that God is at work in us.
"5. "Our culture promotes convenience and a sedentary lifestyle, but it's important to remember that small changes can make a big impact on our health."
How to connect with Robin and access her great resources:
- Podcast: visiondrivenhealth.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robin_rhinemcd/
- Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RobinRhineMcD
- 5 Day Sugar Fast Devotional: https://www.madewellhealth.com/sugarfast
- Greens & Grace Experience: https://visiondrivenhealth.com/greensexperience
- How to prioritize your health masterclass: madewellhealth.com/prioritize
Robin McDonald is a health advocate who believes that small changes in lifestyle can have a big impact on health. She knows that many chronic diseases are preventable through healthy choices and that our cultural norms make it difficult for people to know where to begin. Robin encourages people to take hold of God's grace and start making positive changes in their lives. She emphasizes that there is no shame in past choices and that hope for healing is available to everyone.
TRANSCRIPTION OF OUR CONVERSATION - ENJOY!
Good morning. Today we are talking to my first health coach. I don't know. I'm not sure I can do this today, Robin, because I went to Taco Bell for lunch. But this is Robin Ryan McDonald, and she describes herself as a faith based, holistic health coach, and we're going to dig into that a little bit. Robin, I know you'll be excited to talk about what that actually means. We'll break it down. Robin, first, tell us a little bit about where you live, your family, and then what does that exactly mean?
Robin McDonald [00:01:13]:
Yes. So I live in Oceanside, California. I'm a mama of two boys. I've got a three and a half year old and a ten month old.
Sue Donaldson [00:01:21]:
Whoa.
Robin McDonald [00:01:22]:
I know. And I'm married to the man of my dreams. So a holistic, faith based health coach. So at the end of the day, it really means that we are coming into alignment with what God has called us to already. We've been given this life. We have a vision, we have a purpose, we have a calling like you talk about all the time. We have this legacy. And so my big thing is, what does it look like to steward our bodies and to partner with God in creating the vitality that we need to carry that out?
Sue Donaldson [00:01:56]:
Say it again. What does it look like to steward our bodies? For those who don't know, the Christiane steward. What do you mean by that?
Robin McDonald [00:02:03]:
Thank you for asking. So stewarding means that you are taking care of you're tending to something. So if someone lends something to you that actually belongs to them, you want to make sure you take really good care of it. Right. And so our bodies, at the end of the day, belong to God, and so we want to make sure we take really good care of them again in order to do what he's called us to do.
Sue Donaldson [00:02:28]:
Yeah, it's always for a higher purpose. It's not so that we look good, though. I like to look good in order to fill out or fulfill our purpose that God has given us. I'm wondering for the person who has an ongoing disease that makes them maybe they can't even get out of bed. What's that called where you just don't have any strength?
Robin McDonald [00:02:55]:
There's a couple of different diseases.
Sue Donaldson [00:02:58]:
If they're listening to this today, they go, wait, is this my design to stay in bed all day? What would you say to someone like that?
Robin McDonald [00:03:04]:
It's a good question. Bringing the heavy questions out. I like it. So first thing I'll say is I don't believe that that was God's intention or design. The problem is we live in a fallen, broken world, and unfortunately, there is disease, there is pain. And even Jesus himself said we would not face this world without trouble. There would be challenges. And unfortunately for some of us, that is physical.
Sue Donaldson [00:03:27]:
Right.
Robin McDonald [00:03:28]:
With that said, there is almost always something we can do to either minimize the either propensity we have towards disease or even our current state. Right now, the United States, we are struggling. Most adults are either obese or experiencing not just one, but two to three chronic diseases. And a lot of that is actually lifestyle induced. So there are the people who unfortunately have these oftentimes diseases that they got maybe since birth, but most people only have a propensity to disease. And it was the choices that we've made that led to the outcome we have. And for some people, maybe they hear that and they're like, oh, man, I did this to myself. And maybe they would be inclined to feel guilty or shame. And I would say there doesn't need to be any shame in it because unfortunately, our culture has informed us that fast food and convenience and sedentary lifestyle, all those things are the norm. And so most of us wouldn't even know where to begin to make different changes. And when we become aware of where we're at and the hope that's available to us for the healing that can come from starting now, no matter where you're at, to make those simple changes, that's when we can take hold of God's grace and actually create a different outcome and trajectory for us moving forward.
Sue Donaldson [00:04:52]:
Okay, now that is a mouthful and a paragraph full. And I love all those different sentences. Taking care of yourself for God's kingdom. Also taking hold of his grace and also starting where you are. I think for people who are chronic dieters, especially, feel like I've tried them all, none work. So I'm just going to go buy another donut. A friend of mine, she does like to walk a lot more than I do, but she calls it taking care of her temple because our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And I thought, okay, spiritualize, everything grace. Her name is even grace. But it's true. We take care of our temples when we are stewarding our bodies. Well, how did you get started in health coaching and what do you love about it?
Robin McDonald [00:05:36]:
Great question. So for me, I actually grew up eating terribly.
Sue Donaldson [00:05:40]:
Paul talks about why is that your mother? You're going to blame your mother? Watch it. I have adult children.
Robin McDonald [00:05:47]:
I always say bless my precious mama. She didn't know. I didn't know. None of us knew. We were just living. The American Standard Diet, also known or the Standard American Diet, also known as Sad. Right? Sad.
Sue Donaldson [00:05:59]:
What's it stand for? Standard American diet.
Robin McDonald [00:06:03]:
It's just sad.
Sue Donaldson [00:06:05]:
White sugar, white bread, all the things.
Robin McDonald [00:06:07]:
I like shaken bake this, fried this, pasta that. Hamburger Helper. If it wasn't in a box or something we could throw in the microwave or something we could get in a drive through. I personally wasn't eating it. I was the pickiest eater. Paul writes about how he was the foremost in his sin, and I'm like, I was the foremost with my eating. Like, I did not like vegetables. A lot of my childhood friends who know what I do now think it's hilarious because they knew how piggy they remember.
Sue Donaldson [00:06:35]:
Yeah, my mother always served two vegetables at every meal, so that was good. And she was from the Midwest, but we lived in California, so we had good vegetables. You know, the Midwest, you think they would have better vegetables, but no, it's the frozen vegetables, I think, that are healthier than the canned, of course.
Robin McDonald [00:06:50]:
Oh, yeah.
Sue Donaldson [00:06:51]:
And then she always had a salad. But I'm not saying we grew up, and also we couldn't afford to go out, and I think going out, especially the fast food in McDonald's, was like to eat. Well, they were pretty cheap when they started, but it was kind of a treat to do fast food. So I think I grew up fairly healthy. But you didn't. So what switched it?
Robin McDonald [00:07:14]:
That's awesome that you had that. And I think that's one of the things I tell people, too, is if you could just cook your own food, even if maybe it's not the standard, healthy, whatever, that's a game changer in and of itself. But for me, it didn't catch my attention until college. I ended up getting a full face of acne and gaining the freshman 15, which turned into the college 20. And then, like we talked about earlier, we want to look good. I wasn't feeling so good in how I look, and so I started to do some more research and exploration. And it was funny because I was trying to find the right topical regimen for my face. And a friend of mine said, you know, what shows up on your face is actually part from what you eat. And I thought that was the dumbest thing. I was like, why would what I eat have anything to do with my face? That goes in my stomach.
Sue Donaldson [00:08:02]:
But I remember people saying, well, I can't have chocolate because of my acne.
Robin McDonald [00:08:08]:
It is absolutely related. I didn't know at the time, obviously, and it wasn't until I did change my diet, and at the time, I was I was eating out a lot. I was getting a lot of and I was on a college budget as well. Sure. And so I ended up realizing by changing my diet, I cleared my acne, I lost the weight. But what really shifted in having a passion for this was when I started to see the health of my grandparents deteriorate. So I have all the chronic diseases represented in my grandparents heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer's, cancer, dementia. And I have one grandparent left. Unfortunately, two grandpas passed away from dementia, alzheimer's. One grandma passed away from heart failure. She also had diabetes and arthritis. My last standing grandma has she's a cancer survivor. She has diabetes and arthritis and all of these.
Sue Donaldson [00:09:07]:
Yeah, diabetes is such a bad thing. My husband's an internist, and so he's very conscious of getting his patients to lose weight. Because diabetes is so hurtful to your body, you don't stay alive longer. I'm pretty sure.
Robin McDonald [00:09:21]:
Absolutely. And unfortunately, diabetes is often the precursor to heart disease. So when you see someone who ends up with heart disease, stroke, heart attack, it often started with diabetes, which even before that was a result of excessive blood sugar spikes, which comes from eating a lot of processed, high carb, refined foods.
Sue Donaldson [00:09:44]:
I'm going to ask you another hard question.
Robin McDonald [00:09:46]:
I'm ready.
Sue Donaldson [00:09:47]:
My husband is naturally slender. Thankfully, all three of my daughters got those genes, but we feel like it's unfair to those who are naturally DNA disposed to having. One of my roommates, her father died very young and he was a jogger. And when I mentioned that to my husband later, when I met him, he said, oh, well, it's DNA. And so how much of it is DNA? Where people go, well, it's not fair. He can have three beers a night and he doesn't get a beer belly and he doesn't work out, and he just climbed Mount Everest. So I know that's whining, but I bet you hear it.
Robin McDonald [00:10:31]:
Absolutely. And even to some extent with me, I'm 6ft tall, and so even when I was at my heaviest and I show my before and after photos, they're like, you don't look like you were that heavy. And I'm like, well, it just kind of distributes really well.
Sue Donaldson [00:10:48]:
Yeah, I wear big sweaters myself.
Robin McDonald [00:10:51]:
There you go. And your question, there's two different aspects to it. So one, just based on what we know through research, is 80% of what actually comes about with disease is lifestyle. Only 20% is genetics.
Sue Donaldson [00:11:11]:
How do you know that for sure? That's a big statement.
Robin McDonald [00:11:15]:
Yeah, absolutely. So if you want to delve further into it, you look into the study of epigenetics. So this is the study that looks or the study of your genes and gene expression. So what we've come to find is that you're given a certain set of genes from your parents, obviously, but based on what you do, your environment, even your mental health, what you eat, your water, all these different factors cause those genes to either express to turn on or to turn off.
Sue Donaldson [00:11:43]:
Oh, wow. And can you kill them off early on so that they never get turned back on?
Robin McDonald [00:11:48]:
I'm not entirely sure about that. What I do know is that the more we implement those healthy habits, the better chance we have to keep the negative ones off right.
Sue Donaldson [00:11:58]:
And did you study health in college then?
Robin McDonald [00:12:00]:
I actually didn't. So undergrad was business, grad school was seminary, and I ended up doing a specific nutrition certification through integrative health after I graduated, once I started to see the health deteriorate with my grandparents. And after coming from seminary, where we're being equipped to execute the Bible and to understand theology and to equip the saints and doing what God's called them to do. And I'm seeing these precious saints getting taken out of the game early and being hindered by disease, and I'm like even professors and peers, there were two pastors in my denomination who passed away.
Sue Donaldson [00:12:39]:
In their fifty s and sixty s oh, my goodness.
Robin McDonald [00:12:41]:
From these degenerative diseases. And so God really put on my heart of like, okay, this is a problem. If the bodies that comprise the body of Christ are unable to do what they're called to do, to actually be the hands and feet of Jesus, we're in trouble.
Sue Donaldson [00:12:58]:
How much as believers, do we need to focus on the physical? You've sort of answered the question, but I think that might come to mind for those who are more like too heavenly minded to be any earthly good. But God calls us to set our minds on things above. He doesn't say to set our bodies on things above. So how would you answer that?
Robin McDonald [00:13:19]:
I think the best answer to almost any question we have regarding our walk with God is what can we see from Jesus in his life? So Jesus had three years of public ministry. He was alive for 33, but he only had three years of public ministry. When you read the Gospels, I believe the number is I'm not going to give the percentage, but I would say at least a third of the Gospel is referring to physical healing. So if physical health didn't matter, then the Son of God was wasting his time. And I don't think he was, but.
Sue Donaldson [00:13:55]:
I think people would argue, sure, yeah, late, I'm ready. I taught high school, so I love it.
Robin McDonald [00:14:04]:
I love it.
Sue Donaldson [00:14:05]:
Has nothing to do with anything. I think they might argue that the reason there were physical healings is because people were looking for an outward sign fair of a Messiah. But you take it to a different aspect. I'm not arguing with you, but I think that's a very interesting thing. That's how you come about, I think you've already answered it. Is that God wants us to live for Him in the best way possible and to live longer. May or may not be in the cards. I mean, Tim Keller just passed away very young because of pancreatic cancer, who knows whose fault that was or is there a fault? Who knows? I don't think people are talking about that right now. They're just feeling the loss.
Robin McDonald [00:14:47]:
Right.
Sue Donaldson [00:14:47]:
And my brother is almost 80 and I'm not ready for him to weigh he's got a lot more going on, but he's sick right now, so it makes me worried in a spiritual way, of course, but I've given him to the Lord, but I just don't want him to. But 80 is long for some and I told you, I'm 71 and I'm not ready to conquer over, but I'm ready to see Jesus. But if he wants me to be healthier, maybe I need to hire you.
Robin McDonald [00:15:17]:
Hey, I'm here. I'm ready. Would you have an application process?
Sue Donaldson [00:15:21]:
I just don't want to give up sugar. That's my problem. I'm a good baker.
Robin McDonald [00:15:26]:
Hey, me too.
Sue Donaldson [00:15:28]:
You are? Yes, but I'm not going to argue with you. I'm sure you are. You include in your description the phrase weight loss. There's a lot to be said about this because of body image, and my daughter's a therapist and she has to deal with especially girls or women who we go into deep depression because of body image issues. Maybe it's not even a bad body image, but it's how they view themselves. Depression, even suicide. What are your thoughts on that? I think it's a weight loss.
Robin McDonald [00:16:02]:
Yes. So it's obviously a word that can be fleshed out a lot. When you think of weight loss, when you ask someone, what's your main health goal? And they say, I want to lose 20 pounds. If you cut off someone's leg, that's going to drop for some people, close to 20 pounds. But that's not really what we're looking for, right?
Sue Donaldson [00:16:20]:
No.
Robin McDonald [00:16:21]:
And so what people really want is they want fat loss and what they even want more than that is to look a certain way. And oftentimes, at least for myself, I care a lot about building muscle. There's a lot of research that shows that one of the number one things you can do to reduce all risk of disease and mortality is to build muscle and oftentimes to create maybe the aesthetic that people are looking for. They don't realize that sometimes that could mean gaining weight.
Sue Donaldson [00:16:51]:
Yeah, muscle muscles make you cause gain weight. Yeah, I've heard that before too.
Robin McDonald [00:16:56]:
And so something we talk a couple of different things we talk about with my clients. One, a big foundation of the program is grounding ourselves in our identity, in Christ and knowing that the pursuit of health, even the pursuit of weight loss, isn't about trying to attain an acceptance for our body or trying to reach a certain aesthetic goal. Again, we all want to look and we want to feel confident, but I think what we often don't realize is that's a decision that we make for ourselves that comes from receiving God's perspective of us, that comes from believing what's true and identifying the lies that are there. And oftentimes the lie is, I'm not attractive or beautiful unless I weigh X amount.
Sue Donaldson [00:17:36]:
Okay.
Robin McDonald [00:17:36]:
And things like that. But then, of course, from the actual health standpoint, we want to say, okay, and some people, they're actually health at a heavier weight. We want to look at their blood work, you want to look at their physical capacity. You want to look at those other factors. Or even two, if someone's more muscular, and then they have maybe some fat on top of that, and it looks like they're heavier, but their body composition isn't health. So there's a lot that goes into what it means to lose weight and what it means to be healthy. And in terms of body size, what that looks like.
Sue Donaldson [00:18:05]:
Okay, what is your favorite? Maybe you don't have one. Do you have a favorite popular weight loss or fitness program? I'm thinking of noom calibrate weight Watchers. Do you have one or you don't even want to mention it?
Robin McDonald [00:18:23]:
I don't. I'm a big proponent of creating a lifestyle, and I think that's one of the biggest hurdles for people in creating something that lasts. 90% of people who lose a significant portion of weight gain it back within five years.
Sue Donaldson [00:18:46]:
Oh, totally.
Robin McDonald [00:18:47]:
And a big part of that is because we try the next thing. We try the next diet, we try the next app or whatnot? And we miss that. It's not a question of hitting your next goal. It's a question of, am I creating habits that serve a lifestyle like we talked about, enabling me to do what God's called me to do? And so we do a lot of reframing and perspective shifting with my clients to where, yes, we support them in losing the weight. Yes, we support them in improving their blood work and increasing their energy. But we want to come down to, are we creating a lifestyle that's in alignment with who you are in Jesus?
Sue Donaldson [00:19:26]:
I'm writing this down, no problem, because I've joined a couple of these things and I've lost, like, five pounds, but I don't like the food. Sometimes I don't like the food. So I think, well, this is not going to last. So I quit. That wasn't those two. But there was something else. I can't remember the name of it. I thought, oh, my gosh, I don't even like it. And I'm a foodie, and I know you can eat well and deliciously healthy, and sometimes I do. So am I creating habits that are in alignment with say that again with.
Robin McDonald [00:19:57]:
Who Jesus has called me to be and what he's called me to do.
Sue Donaldson [00:20:02]:
Do you think that there's a prejudice against fat people, even in Christian circles?
Robin McDonald [00:20:08]:
It's a good question. I think it's one of those things where it's something to discern with each individual heart. I'm not entirely sure. I guess I don't have a strong opinion on that question. I think there's a misconception about people who are heavy, the assumption that they're that way because they're lazy or because they end up that way. And I don't think that's the case because like I said, our culture one, we've got a culture that has severely misinformed us on what health actually is. The governmental guidelines are junk and actually perpetuate obesity and the onset of disease. And then on top of that, oftentimes what parents consumed and their lack of health when they have their kids, they increase the propensity of obesity and whatnot. And one last thing I'll say about that. Most people who come to work with me are undereating, even though they're overweight.
Sue Donaldson [00:21:06]:
Isn't that interesting?
Robin McDonald [00:21:07]:
They're trying so hard to lose weight and they care so much about trying to be healthy and they're actually not able to lose the weight because their body is starving and holding onto the weight to survive. And I have to do a lot of mental reworking for them to be comfortable with increasing their intake so that we can get their body nourished and help improve their metabolism to get to a place where they can actually lose the weight.
Sue Donaldson [00:21:34]:
It sounds like it's a big educational process, education plus building good habits. Can you summarize what you mean by the phrase grace based sustainable process that's on your website?
Robin McDonald [00:21:47]:
Yes.
Sue Donaldson [00:21:47]:
Let me say it again. Grace based sustainable, which we all want to be sustained in any process if we're going to work that hard, if we're going to spend money to be coaching or to change a habit, whether or not we go with you or anything. And also fresh food costs more. Sometimes the poorest section of the population is difficult. And so of course I know we were each given $100 by our church during COVID to go pass it around to people.
Robin McDonald [00:22:19]:
That's cool.
Sue Donaldson [00:22:20]:
Yeah, I think my husband used it to help someone who needed dental work. And my daughter and I went around and we bought some sleeping bags on sale and passed them out to homeless people. But we actually went to McDonald's to get $10 gift certificates because they could get more food. It would fill their belly longer, but of course it wasn't healthy. So I'm a bad girl. But they got fed. They were happy to get them. Of course I'm sure. So what do you say for someone I can't afford to eat?
Robin McDonald [00:22:49]:
Well, what I will say is it does take some intentionality to craft a meal plan and a grocery list that actually can fit within a certain budget. And I will say I'm very excited. I'm going to be having a gal on my podcast who is like the budget master and that's like her whole thing is you can eat healthy and budget for this much. So I'm excited to have her as a resource. But with that said, what is not able to occur in finances for purchasing food will have to be made up in time to plan accordingly.
Sue Donaldson [00:23:27]:
Yeah, it's so true because well, I grew up with mom parents, who we didn't go out to eat much, and where I live here, we didn't go out to eat much just because I have that. I'm a granddaughter of the Depression. But I also find that the food tastes better if you make it at home, but it does take more time. And because I didn't have to work full time after my children were born, I have the time and energy to do it. But when I started working part time, I thought, well, no wonder people want to order pizza. You're so tired after work. So you have to plan in advance. And I usually plan my menus two weeks in advance, and then if I change my mind, at least I usually put a little, like, if I don't feel like eating this a little list. Because intentionality helps, actually, in so many good things. What is the main key to good health?
Robin McDonald [00:24:15]:
The big, broad question.
Sue Donaldson [00:24:17]:
I know, but you wrote on this, you say being healthy doesn't have to be hard. Really? How so?
Robin McDonald [00:24:23]:
Okay, so being healthy doesn't have to be hard. What is the main key to being healthy? The main key, so I think, is being vision driven. And that vision comes from, again, our identity in Christ and knowing who we are in Him. Because whether it's from me or something you Google, there are always going to be recipes, meal plans, diets programs, et cetera. But the question is if it's going to last, it comes down to are you being driven by the One who made you and the One who's called you to living that life of purpose?
Sue Donaldson [00:25:06]:
Doesn't everything always come down to that.
Robin McDonald [00:25:08]:
At the end of the day? Yeah, they joke about that being the answer in Sunday school. Jesus, it's like but yeah, that is.
Sue Donaldson [00:25:14]:
Ultimately that's the answer. And, you know, my podcast is about legacy, and I can tell what your legacy is, and I appreciate your you're so articulate. How old are you? Can I ask how old you are?
Robin McDonald [00:25:27]:
Yeah, I don't mind. I'm 32.
Sue Donaldson [00:25:30]:
Here we go. And mother of two, active and a great and 6ft tall and has this great business, but it's not just a business for you. I can see that. It's a passion. So how would you answer this question? What do you want your legacy to be for those who know and love you?
Robin McDonald [00:25:46]:
So the biggest legacy that I want to pass down is that we would be led by Jesus in all areas of life and prioritizing what matters most, and that's being vision driven in relationships, in career, in health, everything. And obviously one of my primary areas of focus is health. And I really believe that it's to the enemy's delight that we consider health as something separate from our pursuit of Jesus and our ultimate legacy.
Sue Donaldson [00:26:22]:
Totally. I was told in college that spirituality isn't a slice of the pie, it's the whole pie. And our health is one of those slices. And of course I like to eat and make pie, but I always remember that because I think people, like, in your neighborhood, they see you drive out to go to church on a Sunday morning and they think, wow, they're the religious people and they consider it a slice of your life. And unless they actually know you and get to know you, they think, well, that's just not for me. But if they get to know you, hopefully they will know that it's not just a slice of our week.
Robin McDonald [00:27:03]:
Amen.
Sue Donaldson [00:27:03]:
During the other six days that Jesus rules our life. And I can say that it's not always the case for me, but that is my long term goal as well. How are you busy doing it right now, passing on this lexi?
Robin McDonald [00:27:17]:
It's been a huge game changer since I've become a mom. I think it's added a lot more depth to that question and what it looks like, and it's also, in some ways, made it more challenging. And so for me, I'm very intentional do my very best to spend time in prayer and in the Word. And even prayer has taken a different avenue. Every time I breastfeed, I'm like, I'm just sitting here, I'm going to pray. Every time I put down my babies, I pray over them and just finding those mundane areas where I can invite God, acknowledge Him with me. Even just this morning I put on my Instagram story how when I was at the gym, I was thanking Jesus that I was feeling stronger. I'm ten months postpartum and I was like, how cool, God, that you created our bodies this way to heal and get stronger and recover, especially for us as women to have that opportunity and privilege. So for me, that's a huge part is how do I integrate Jesus into the mundane? And at the end of the day, a habit that I've recently started implementing is I call it the God count up. And so I write down at least three things that God did through my day that I would count as a win, that I get to give Him glory for, and then I write down three things as intentions for the next day. And that practice has helped me just in reflecting on my day, helped me acknowledge God, help me acknowledge what there is to celebrate, and then also set my focus for the next day and just helps me be so much more intentional with, again, what matters most to me and grounding myself in Jesus.
Sue Donaldson [00:28:46]:
So every day you remember what your three things are for your focus?
Robin McDonald [00:28:51]:
Not always, actually, I tried to.
Sue Donaldson [00:28:53]:
How can you do that with two small children? Good for you. I read recently that we should just tell God every day how much we adore Him and. Has really revolutionized I can't really say that revolutionized my prayer life because it's been since Friday, but since Friday I have felt closer to God in adoring Him.
Robin McDonald [00:29:14]:
Amen.
Sue Donaldson [00:29:14]:
Even when things were not going to the way I wanted it to go. You know how things happen and you're disappointed in people or in yourself, and then you go, Well, I just adore you. It makes such a difference. And that really brings God and his grace into the mundane, because life is mundane. As Charles Windall said, the trouble with life is that it's so daily and yet God says, I love. I think it's Psalm 92. It's my parentheses, it's my parentheses verse. It says, I proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness by night. So in the morning you have the love, in a night you have the faithfulness. And because I was an English teacher, it's a parentheses and then we're in the middle adoring him. What obstacles did you have to overcome or challenges to meet to leave this legacy or you're in the process.
Robin McDonald [00:30:05]:
I know, yes, of course, always in the process. The two biggest things, one is I would consider myself kind of more of like a type, a achiever kind of person. And I've fallen into the trying to do for God versus with God. And that's a big thing I am trying to be so mindful of and to continue to bring before him and to bring to his feet. Because while doing things for God, it's not a bad thing. But I I want the fullness of what I'm created for. And I know that that's that intimate relationship with him and I know that the way that I'm going to have the greatest impact and to ultimately do what he's laid on my heart to do is going to come from being in him. I'm doing it with him, from him versus if it's just for him, then it's out of my own perspective and my own strength. So that's the first thing. The second thing is being mindful of when again, being an achiever type is being aware of when shame tries to creep in. And that's why I actually emphasize so much about grace in the program, because I have so much experience of working through that shame and taking hold of God's grace. And acknowledging grace is something that not just that which covers our sins or our mistakes, but also the substance by which we are fueled into transformation. We use the phrase like, oh, it's by God's grace and it is that we can be transformed and experience a different trajectory.
Sue Donaldson [00:31:35]:
Give me an example, good example from.
Robin McDonald [00:31:40]:
I think it was a week and a half or so ago, I was trying to handle this very stressful situation with my husband. He was out of town on the phone, I have a baby screaming, I have my three year old whining and my whole self is just like and I ended up yelling. I went into the garage, I did a yelled outside, came back in, and I just was, like, so worked up. And it was ironic because I had just prayed a prayer a couple of days before of, like, God, reveal the areas of me that I need to work, maybe even slightly from a place of pride, of, like, I don't know what I need to work on. Reveal to me. And then it's like, two days later, boom. Like, okay, Jesus, I see that. And that would be one of those moments where I'm like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe I reacted that way. What's wrong with me? That's not the example I want to set for my kids. And that's where the shame would try to creep in. But I guess fortunately, unfortunately, I've walked this path so many times, and I'm like, okay, hold on. We're going down the road of shame. What's true is I made a mistake. I'm not perfect. I get to work on taking hold of God's grace in those moments where I'm super stressed, recognizing, like, this isn't life or death. How can I be the thermometer instead of or the barometer instead of the thermometer with my kids? Right? I set the tone, and so I was able, after, of course, being upset with myself and experiencing a bit of the shame, to take hold of what's actually true and take hold of God's grace. And since then, it's been better. Am I never going to have a moment like that? No, but I can say that God's doing that little bit of work continually in me in that way.
Sue Donaldson [00:33:23]:
Great. How do you embody God's welcoming heart?
Robin McDonald [00:33:28]:
I love that question. And I actually just went to a conference this past weekend, and it was not a Christian conference. It was a business conference. And it was a group of people who have a huge desire to make a big impact. And the language that they used was, like, the universe or living a life of surrender the cosmos and the energy.
Sue Donaldson [00:33:50]:
That you bring to the table, the.
Robin McDonald [00:33:52]:
Energy, all those things. And they even had stories of, like, I don't know, something in me told me to do this, and my heart was just, like, bursting because I'm like, It's Jesus. It is Jesus. All of that is found in Jesus. And obviously, I can't just interrupt them or scream like, Jesus. Usually it's not super effective, but what I did do, they create a lot of space for sharing in that environment. And this is what I try to do in my life in general, is to be really authentic and to not feel like I have to hide or change language when I'm talking about what's authentic for me. So when they asked what my goals were for the year, I said, I want to be in 100% partnership with God in my business and my family. And when they asked me, what are the big wins you have from the last year? I said, my husband and I did a pastoral internship together at our church, and we led a small group together and we have weekly date nights and we're going to go on a vision retreat together. Like, I'm prioritizing my marriage and God and we're serving together. So it's like I wasn't preaching to them, I was sharing authentically. Right. And even too, they asked the question of, what are you going to bring to this event? And I said, if anybody is questioning at all about their worth and value and feeling like this business is the way that they're proving themselves, I would love to speak life into you. And I got to have a couple of those conversations.
Sue Donaldson [00:35:08]:
Did they come to you?
Robin McDonald [00:35:12]:
Yeah.
Sue Donaldson [00:35:12]:
Was your point that they would find it, that it wasn't enough?
Robin McDonald [00:35:17]:
Can you rephrase that?
Sue Donaldson [00:35:19]:
You said, if there's anyone here who's finding their worth in their business, I thought that's what you said and you were going to say, well, you're going to eventually come to the end of that because God is the one who gives you worth. Okay.
Robin McDonald [00:35:34]:
Yes, a lot of them are, and they share it's a pretty vulnerable group, which is really cool. And I think what sets the stage for me to also share vulnerably and even for them to be more receptive, but they'll say things like, oh, yeah, my mom didn't believe in me. And so I'm proving to her now I'm making this much, or things like that. And I just want to be like, oh, precious person, you're enough as you are. And what you're creating here is an overflow from your worth and your value. And then at the end of the day, again, back to Jesus. But being able to just speak life and encouragement is certainly something that really lights me up wonderful.
Sue Donaldson [00:36:12]:
So how could people find you?
Robin McDonald [00:36:15]:
I am on all the social media platform. Actually, I'm not, I'm not on TikTok, believe it or not, as as a millennial, I'm not on TikTok, but you can find me on Instagram or Facebook. I also do have my own podcast I just launched. It's called the Vision Driven Health Podcast. And so those are the three best places you can find me or hear more from me.
Sue Donaldson [00:36:33]:
Okay. And we'll put the links in show notes and you have a couple of resources. Would you explain them? And then we're going to offer them free to my listeners.
Robin McDonald [00:36:41]:
Perfect. So the first one is called the Five Day Sugar fast devotional. This one was a labor of love with me and my team. We get into what fasting is from a physical standpoint, what it is from a spiritual standpoint. And then we each wrote one of those or we took turns writing those different devotionals in there. And it guides you through a really cool process of fasting sugar and ultimately receiving more of God in your life and learning to partner with Him in your health, too. Something physical. So that's a great option. Second one. In the same vein, the Greens and Grace challenge. It is a five day experience where you will have access to five different recordings from myself on what it means to be vision driven, grace fueled, and then some very practical trainings on how to deal with sugar and blood sugar, how to form habits that last and break ones that aren't serving you, and those different topics. So that and it also has recipes. Both of these actually have recipes in there based on the topic of them. And lastly, for those of you who maybe are hearing all of this and say, I don't have time for any of this, I have the how to Prioritize Your Health Amidst the Chaos without Any Added Stress Master class.
Sue Donaldson [00:38:01]:
How long is that?
Robin McDonald [00:38:02]:
It's 2 hours. So, ironically, so it's something that you can break up over a few days or a week and kind of get little chunks of it as you go, but it also has a few different resources built into it, how to make a schedule. It's also got recipes. Quick, easy recipes. All of them. All my recipes that I give people, I try to make quick, easy, and tasty.
Sue Donaldson [00:38:23]:
I love that. Quick, easy, and tasty. Me too. I always give a gift to my podcast guests. My listeners don't know this, but I send you simple favorite recipes from sue, and you can just throw them all out when I send them to you.
Robin McDonald [00:38:40]:
So funny.
Sue Donaldson [00:38:41]:
You're going to say, oh, dear, she needs me.
Robin McDonald [00:38:44]:
I'm going to look at them.
Sue Donaldson [00:38:46]:
Thank you so much for being with us today, and you have been a delight, and God bless you. Until next time, think about your legacy, the one God has called you to live all for heaven's sake. I would love to speak at your next Christian Women's event, see my keynotes and retreat series as well as the show notes from today's broadcast@welcomeheart.com. Thanks for coming. You're always welcome here. You don't think so?
