What Took Root in a Season of Pruning: November 2026

This year was a colorful, standout for UNCORKgenius’s Movers & Makers mastermind, and it was also a year when much had to die.

This past year’s Movers & Makers mastermind was the best mastermind we’ve done in UNCORKgenius in terms of growth, output, and total flourishing!  At the same time we’ve been in a "forgiveness season," where God is doing essential pruning.

Crosses can come parallel to the resurrections, not just before them. As one thing dies, another thing thrives next to it. We’ve been talking about this for three years and now it’s actually been at our doorstep for some time. 

For Dave and me, many things died. UNCORKelevate finished for us, at least in the way we had been doing it, and we really celebrate that as a victory. Other ways of doing things seemed finished too. For instance, the way we had done client intake to this point. It would have been nice to simply celebrate being finished. 

Some of the endings felt more like a crucifixion, more like Jesus saying from the cross: IT IS FINISHED.

Of the things that died this year, many of them had to die by our own hand. God said, “Kill it.” Kill the project. Kill the connection. Kill the vision or let it die. He exposed unexpected branches that needed pruning. He gave His life up, and we are sometimes called to give up ours, but not without the promise of resurrection. He kept revealing what had to die. Many times we thought we were finished dying, and He would reveal another thing. 

We were assured by God that we were still in His process. We were still covered. We had been at this point before. We had even spent nearly two years in UNCORKelevate talking about this death that was coming. And it sure did come! When you're in that place, it isn't fun. 

For instance, we’ve moved twice this year.  God told us to move, and how to do it, and when to do it. As is often the case, we saw the pathway but not necessarily the timeline, which has been lengthier than we thought.  We felt like the apostle Paul, on the move more than we wanted to be.

God said recently: Leave behind where you are carrying what is not yours to carry, where you are helping and not received, crusading and not surrounded by the Body supporting your purpose. Shake the dust off your feet. He’s burned another layer of over-responsibility right out of us!

Refinement. My wound of “the prophet has no place to lay her head” was certainly activated again on deeper levels. God may assure you that you're on a path and not a dead end, but it is still terrifying to watch things you worked so hard to build get drastically pruned.  Many branches have been cut from a living, but now very stubby, stump.

What could be shaken has been shaken. One thing that has changed, one purpose of all this, is rootedness. I certainly feel rooted in ways that I did not previously. And I feel rooted in who I am, rooted in my agency, choices, desires, and how the love of God might support who I’m becoming. 

It’s another layer of Yes. I’ve really let my yes be yes and my no be no more and more, so I can be rooted and grounded in love, not double-minded in ambiguity.  This is not self-criticism.  We needed options to be open for a time.  We needed to discover, to grow. Now that I know what I know, some old doors had to close. 

This has refined me: 

  • Just because I know the answer doesn’t mean I should offer it.

  • Just because I can help in the short term doesn’t mean the fruit won’t be codependency and energy drain in the long term. 

  • Just because the situation fits inside my knowledge base doesn’t mean it fits my calling. 

  • If the mutual self-gift, desire, calling, exchange rate in the Spirit is not there, walk away.

  • If the RECOGNITION, RESONANCE, and RESPECT is not there, walk away.

  • Don’t help people go past the level their character and maturity can hold.

New wine can actually harm folks who aren’t ready for it. It can destroy those who try to hold it too early. 

Resist the temptation to do it for them, or even with them. The consequences for that could be dire, for all parties. Sometimes people just aren’t ready. And that’s okay. 

It’s also okay that I am ready. It’s also okay that I leave behind those who aren’t fit for my own race. It’s okay that I don’t harm myself by slowing down for others. It’s okay that I can’t take them with me, or else they’ll be injured. 

All of this may be a word for some of you, to support your own strong YES, as you learn to say no. 

For help with that, below are the MOVERS & MAKERS MASTERMINDS. Contact us if we can help.

God’s favor to you!
Zia

MOVERS & MAKERS MASTERMINDS for 2026-27

  • MULTIPLY — Body + Abundance (standard format, shortened to 2.5 hrs. for Daily Bread)
    How do I receive, hold, circulate, and relate to resources?

  • PRESENCE — Identity + Embodiment (standard format, shortened to 2.5 hrs. for Daily Bread)
    Who am I becoming when I gather the abandoned, rejected, hidden, or forgotten parts of myself back into presence?

  • DAILY BREAD — Practice + Integration (1-hr lab), meant to be paired with Multiply or Presence
    How do I take what I'm learning and metabolize it into the life I am actually living daily?

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LETTING GO

You do not have to do anything especially sophisticated. Just listen for My next prompting. Simply trust and let go. Release the burden of control, for there is no real comfort in it. True comfort comes from abandoning worries and abiding with Me. By giving Me responsibility, you unshackle yourself from needless concerns.

The illusion of control will drain you, but resting with Me brings heavenly refreshment. Often the very things you fear to surrender are places full of new possibility. By giving Me your most cherished cravings, you stand to lose nothing but a flawed way of life. Exchange your version of perfection for Mine. It’s better.

Turn your concerns over to Me and healthier fruit will spring forth: confidence, gentleness, humility, humor, and power. And most wonderful of all: the freedom to love and be loved.

I bring contagious encouragement as you delve deeper into the prosperous life in the Spirit—one that is already yours. All of this comes from letting go.

“Do not fear; just trust.”
Mark 5:36

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God loves the whole you.