How To Protect Your Peace and Your Paper | Episode 57

I'm Still Here

I'm Still Here. You haven't quit. You haven't collapsed. You didn't walk away. But somewhere in the last year, maybe longer, you stopped recognizing the version of yourself that used to show up automatically. And you've been quietly waiting for that person to come back. That wait is costing you more than the original loss did. This is the Season 2 premiere of Still Standing. Before anything else this season, before the frameworks, before the plan, before the next step, we have to sit with one thing. Not where you're going. Where you actually are right now. And what it means that you're still in it. Still here is not the same as back. And once you understand that difference, everything about what comes next changes. What You'll Learn: ⓵ Why "still here" is not a trophy or proof of strength. It's a starting line. What you do at that starting line determines whether this season goes somewhere or stays stuck. ⓶ Why the version of you before the loss already did its job. The person you were before the sale, the silence, the exit, the grief, that version didn't disappear because something broke. It left because something finished. Waiting for its return means waiting for the wrong person. ⓷ Why you're not carrying damage. You're carrying data: lived experience about who you are under pressure and what you're made of when the structure that held you up gets removed. That data is the curriculum this season is built on. The Practice: Write one sentence before you do anything else: "I'm still here because ___." Don't edit it. Don't write the polished version. Write the first honest answer, the one you haven't said out loud yet. Reply and send it. That sentence is the foundation of everything this season does for you. This episode is for you if: * You've survived something that still doesn't have a proper name * You keep measuring yourself against who you were before the loss and wondering when you'll get back there * You're standing at the beginning of something new, and you're not entirely sure how you arrived here One question before you close this: What's the one thing you've endured that you never gave yourself proper credit for surviving? Reply. One sentence is enough. I read every response. Subscribe to The Clarence Stowers Leadership Podcast wherever you get podcasts. New episodes drop Tuesdays at 7:30 PM CST. Substack: clarencestowers.substack.com Instagram: @clarence.stowers YouTube: @ClarenceStowersTV Support the show [https://cash.app/$ClarenceStowers] 📲 Stay Connected: 🔔 Subscribe to my YouTube channel [https://youtube.com/@ClarenceStowersTV] 📸 Connect on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/clarence.stowers] 📲 Connect on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/CEStowers/] 📖 Read my Substack for Weekly Insights [https://clarencestowers.substack.com/about] 🎁 Support Mars Hill Anywhere [https://marshillchicago.org/giving] 📚 Amazon Author’s Page [https://amazon.com/author/cestowers] ✉️ Subscribe to My Newsletter [https://clarencestowers.ck.page/profile]:  🛜 Website: https://www.clarencestowers.com [https://www.clarencestowers.com] 🎧 Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-clarence-stowers-leadership-podcast/id1595677363]

You Stayed Too Long. Let's Be Honest

You knew before you admitted it. You knew when the work stopped fitting. You knew when your energy changed. You knew when showing up became maintenance instead of mission. But you stayed. In this episode of Still Standing, Clarence Stowers talks about the hidden cost of staying in a season that has already ended. This isn't about quitting hard things. It's about telling the truth about what you've already outgrown. You'll learn the difference between enduring and staying, why fear often disguises itself as commitment, and the one question that exposes what you're avoiding. Because sometimes the bravest thing you can do isn't making a move. It's admitting you've been staying too long. In this episode: • Why staying too long rarely announces itself • The difference between enduring and simply staying • The three costs of overstaying your season • The question that exposes what you're avoiding • A simple exercise to help you name the real fear underneath your hesitation Reflection Question: What are you still pretending is working? Action Step: Write one sentence: "What I am afraid will happen if I leave." That sentence may tell you more about your future than anything else. If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who may be standing in a place they already know they're supposed to leave. Subscribe and get 1% better every day. Support the show [https://cash.app/$ClarenceStowers] 📲 Stay Connected: 🔔 Subscribe to my YouTube channel [https://youtube.com/@ClarenceStowersTV] 📸 Connect on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/clarence.stowers] 📲 Connect on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/CEStowers/] 📖 Read my Substack for Weekly Insights [https://clarencestowers.substack.com/about] 🎁 Support Mars Hill Anywhere [https://marshillchicago.org/giving] 📚 Amazon Author’s Page [https://amazon.com/author/cestowers] ✉️ Subscribe to My Newsletter [https://clarencestowers.ck.page/profile]:  🛜 Website: https://www.clarencestowers.com [https://www.clarencestowers.com] 🎧 Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-clarence-stowers-leadership-podcast/id1595677363]

Why I'm Changing Everything (And What's Coming Next)

If you have been listening to this show, you deserve to hear this directly. Something is changing. Not because things went wrong. Because things finally went right. This is Bridge Episode 2 of Still Standing. Today I am not pivoting. I am closing one chapter with intention, so we can both walk into the next one with both hands free. What You Will Learn: ① Why this show has always been about you, and why that does not change ② Why every new chapter requires a closing ceremony, and what happens when you skip it ③ The real cost behind the shift, the signals I ignored for two years, and what finally made me stop ④ Why you are not losing something, and why you are getting more of what you came here for ⑤ What Season 2 holds and why it has your name on it Key Takeaways: ① This show has always been about you. That does not change. What changes is how we show up together. ② Every new chapter requires closing the last one with intention. That is what today is. ③ The mission is the same. The method is sharper. The voice is clearer. ④ You are not losing something. You are getting more of what you came here for. ⑤ What is next has your name on it. Stay close. The Practice: Tell one person about this show. Not because the numbers need it. Because someone in your circle is in the middle of something hard right now, and they need to know they are not alone. This episode is for you if you have been here long enough to trust something about this show and you want to know what comes next. After you listen, tell me: what is the one thing this show named for you that nobody else was saying? I read every comment. Support the show [https://cash.app/$ClarenceStowers] 📲 Stay Connected: 🔔 Subscribe to my YouTube channel [https://youtube.com/@ClarenceStowersTV] 📸 Connect on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/clarence.stowers] 📲 Connect on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/CEStowers/] 📖 Read my Substack for Weekly Insights [https://clarencestowers.substack.com/about] 🎁 Support Mars Hill Anywhere [https://marshillchicago.org/giving] 📚 Amazon Author’s Page [https://amazon.com/author/cestowers] ✉️ Subscribe to My Newsletter [https://clarencestowers.ck.page/profile]:  🛜 Website: https://www.clarencestowers.com [https://www.clarencestowers.com] 🎧 Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-clarence-stowers-leadership-podcast/id1595677363]

Thirty Years In. Here's What I Finally Stopped Pretending.

Thirty years. That is how long I did this before I admitted something I had known for a while. The podcast I was making no longer matched the life I had actually lived. This is the bridge episode for Still Standing with Clarence E. Stowers, Jr. No frameworks. No 3-step system. Just the truth about what ended, what it cost, and what this show is now - delivered in five minutes. What You'll Hear: ① What ended - and why it ending was not failure ② What it cost to keep going when the old structure stopped holding ③ What Still Standing is now and exactly who it is for If you have been doing something for a long time and have finally stopped pretending it still fits, this episode is for you. The Practice: Before you close this app, pull up one name. The person you already know is carrying something they have not said out loud. Send them this episode. No explanation needed. Just: This one is for you. After you listen, tell me: what have you been pretending for too long? Subscribe to Still Standing wherever you listen. Search: Still Standing with Clarence E. Stowers, Jr. Support the show [https://cash.app/$ClarenceStowers] 📲 Stay Connected: 🔔 Subscribe to my YouTube channel [https://youtube.com/@ClarenceStowersTV] 📸 Connect on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/clarence.stowers] 📲 Connect on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/CEStowers/] 📖 Read my Substack for Weekly Insights [https://clarencestowers.substack.com/about] 🎁 Support Mars Hill Anywhere [https://marshillchicago.org/giving] 📚 Amazon Author’s Page [https://amazon.com/author/cestowers] ✉️ Subscribe to My Newsletter [https://clarencestowers.ck.page/profile]:  🛜 Website: https://www.clarencestowers.com [https://www.clarencestowers.com] 🎧 Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-clarence-stowers-leadership-podcast/id1595677363]

Your Worst Season Was Your Setup | Episode 59

Nine weeks ago, I sat in front of this microphone and told you the truth. I told you we sold our church building. That God went silent. That fear had me by the throat. That loneliness almost broke me. That I didn't know if I would make it. I told you that faith felt far. And then I walked you through every chapter of the book I wrote from inside that season. Nine weeks. Sixteen chapters. One story. Today is the finale. And I need to tell you something I couldn't say nine weeks ago, because nine weeks ago I was still building the case. Still walking you through the wreckage. But now? Now I can show you what's on the other side. I'm Clarence Stowers. This is Episode 9 of the When Faith Feels Far podcast series. The finale. Let's close this out. THE PROBLEM You have walked through grief, silence, fear, and loss. Some of you are still in the middle. You can't see the purpose while you're in the pain. You thought the silence meant God left. You thought the collapse meant the story was over. It wasn't. None of it was. THE PROMISE From where I'm standing now, I can tell you: everything you walked through was preparation. Not punishment. In this finale, I'm not teaching a lesson. I'm delivering a testimony. And I'm making you a promise. In this episode: ① Every season was a classroom. Here's what each one taught me. ② What the other side of suffering actually looks like. ③ Why Philippians 1:6 is not a hope. It's a contract. ④ Why your story was never just for you. ⑤ The declaration: joy is waiting. "Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning." Psalm 30:5 (NLT) "God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished." Philippians 1:6 (NLT) Joy is not behind you. It is ahead of you. And the God who carried you through the worst season is the same God who placed joy on the other side of it. THE PRACTICE Write a letter to yourself from one year ago. Tell that person what survived, what changed, and what God built in the space where the old thing used to be. Then read it out loud as an act of worship. Not as a journal entry. As a testimony. Because your story was never just for you. GET THE BOOK When Faith Feels Far by Clarence E. Stowers, Jr. Available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. Link in the description. Joy is not behind you. It's ahead of you. Your morning is coming. I promise. Support the show [https://cash.app/$ClarenceStowers] 📲 Stay Connected: 🔔 Subscribe to my YouTube channel [https://youtube.com/@ClarenceStowersTV] 📸 Connect on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/clarence.stowers] 📲 Connect on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/CEStowers/] 📖 Read my Substack for Weekly Insights [https://clarencestowers.substack.com/about] 🎁 Support Mars Hill Anywhere [https://marshillchicago.org/giving] 📚 Amazon Author’s Page [https://amazon.com/author/cestowers] ✉️ Subscribe to My Newsletter [https://clarencestowers.ck.page/profile]:  🛜 Website: https://www.clarencestowers.com [https://www.clarencestowers.com] 🎧 Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-clarence-stowers-leadership-podcast/id1595677363]