S2 Ep 23: How to Build Your Business or Ministry Online and Having Hope in Uncertain Times

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

god, people, life, church, bible, speak, books, world, ministry, aaron, feel, happen, spanish, missionary, called, wife, faith, talk, years, spend

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Welcome to building a life you love. This is your host Kristen Dietrich on the show, I'm going to be having conversations of bringing you tips and ideas for how you can begin now to live and build your best life so that you can experience all the richness that you are meant to have in this lifetime. So here we go. Let's get started. On today's episode, we are going to talk about how do we have hope when the world sometimes seems less than hopeful? How do we step out in our purpose in build our lives around the work that we really were called to do? We are going to talk about how do we create our legacy in the world with the people that we impact the people that we, you know, speak into their lives, that I hope this episode will lift you up, I hope it will encourage you to step out and do even more that you feel called to do so take a listen. Hi, today on the show, I would like to welcome Aaron Degel. He's an international speaker and multi book author in the host of a growing YouTube channel. His wife Cecilia is a marriage and family therapist. It pastored a church but now do marriage coaching and seminars while preaching in various churches and creating YouTube videos that help Christ followers grow in their purpose. Welcome, Aaron. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here. Ah, I am. So looking forward to the conversation. I think the way the last few years have gone. I think a lot of us could use a little more faith and a lot more hope. So I'm excited for this conversation. Can you start by just telling us a little bit about what you've been up to you and then what you've now transitioned into doing in your life? Yeah, totally. So to start out, I'll give you some context. Whenever I was growing up, it was I was around the things of God and church and all but

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when I was 12 years old, God spoke to me and said he would use me in ministry, I would travel and speaker, the missionary and go to places where they didn't speak my language. And I just really had a lot of hope for a pretty bright fruit feature. And then, not long after that someone broke into the house in the middle of the night rate, my mom and I was there I witnessed the entire event. And I was very upset with God for allowing this to happen.

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You know, tying that into the abuse for my dad and abuse from different stepdads. And I just got to a place where I was, I was done with God, I was upset with him and decided I wasn't going to give my life to God or do any kind of ministry like that. So I quit going to church and ended up in the streets at

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14 years age of 14 years of age, I was selling drugs. I was on drugs, and in and out of juvenile detention rehab, different programs for youth trying to get me on track. My mom was always doing her best to get me back on the straight and narrow, but I constantly fought it. And when I was 17 years old, I came across a Spanish speaking girl in my junior high or high school. And I was like, Man, I gotta learn Spanish so I can flirt with this girl. And I was also a rapper at the time selling little cassette tapes actually would make cassettes, record over them and sell them on the school campus. And I decided I'm gonna learn Spanish so I can talk with this girl and I can make these rap CDs in Spanish. So I got the complete Idiot's Guide to learning Spanish and reading it. And taking Spanish in school, I found out that was a Spanish church in my city. So I went there, not for God, not because I wanted to change my life or anything like that. I just wanted to learn Spanish. So I was hanging out at the church. And over about a year and my heart started softening. And I just really began to feel God again and really feel him pulling out my heart and wanted to give myself my heart my life back to him. And I did. And not long after that I started getting involved in ministry. At the same time my Spanish teacher was he was very strict, but he had like every student's best intentions at heart. And I really connected with him. And I just made the decision that I would do two things that I would become a minister so I could help people like my pastor helped me and then I would become a high school teacher so I can help people like my Spanish teacher helped me and that was that was it I changed everything started going after my schoolwork, the things of God went to college and got a degree in English and concentration in Spanish. I was completely fluent in Spanish by the time I started college, but studied it just to qualify to become a teacher. And at the same time I was working in my local church and doing youth ministry in small group ministry and pastoring I helping my pastor lead the Spanish church. And anyways, I graduated and went to grad school while teaching I taught for two years to your high in Section Eight. It was very, very challenging, but I did enjoy working with the students. And I taught three years in high school the same Spanish teacher became the principal and hired me to work for him in the school, where I had taken this class in and

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worked three years at that high school. And during this time I was pastoring, the church. But all the while deep inside, I kept feeling like, I remember when God called me to travel to be a missionary like this is really the ultimate goal. So I started asking how can I make this happen? How can I make an income but still have the freedom? How can I be in ministry, but not be tied down either to a church or to a job. And I felt like the Lord had led me to quit my job teaching, but I was terrified. So I was like, I'm gonna wait one more year, just to make sure this is God. And I did, I waited, but that last year, it was I was just uncomfortable, I wasn't happy anymore. And I knew I needed to do something else. So I left teaching. And I launched off and published my first book, and started working a little bit on social media. And I did all this with the expectation of I'm going to quit my job. And I'm just going to open up my online ministry and I'm going to be a millionaire by the end of the year.

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I almost felt like a millionaire in reverse by the end of the year.

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After struggling online and getting my head busted along the way, trying to figure out my way and but over time, I began to get my footing, and get some direction and get some focus, and started putting out more books. Some doors started opening for me to travel and minister pastors were calling different leaders in churches were calling from different countries, different states, it was always in my heart to do this. And God was blessing and opening doors. And I was getting some financial compensation for traveling and speaking, and working on my books. And then I started my YouTube channel in the beginning of 2021. And that was something that I had always had in my heart, or I was unsure about. And once I decided to go for it, I just went forward and jumped in headfirst and have been super consistent. And now what I do is work on the YouTube channel and write the books throughout the week. And then I'm usually at a church, it could be 10 miles down the road, it could be 10 states away on the weekends speaking preaching to the congregations. And then I work a lot with pastors one on one will do zoom meetings, just talk over the phone process things they have done, we do this better in the church, you know, what can we do with this leadership team or whatnot. And my wife is also a strong asset to everything I just said she's been super supportive. I know that is a struggle for a lot of people who jump into online business, online ministry doesn't make sense to people, sometimes they don't agree with it. And so I've been blessed to have at least my spouse, not everyone in my life, agreed with it or saw the value. But my wife did. And she's been very supportive. And she's also she has a master's degree as well in marriage and family therapy. And so we have been doing marriage conferences together. Marriage coaching, we do premarital coaching, and I officiate weddings. So there's a whole marriage aspect to our ministry. And we are full time in the things of God, YouTube books, marriages, and just blessing people and encouraging people. Oh, my gosh, so much there. And thank you for sharing, you know that what happened to you and your will to your mom, but I mean you to in those early preteen years, I mean, that's very traumatic and kind of your journey in being able to

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forgive, I guess, to some extent, but also just to forgive God for sure. But right like to, or to let to let it be and to move back towards him. You know, and yeah, I think a lot of us have something that's happened to us, right, that we get angry if God or we don't understand why. And so maybe we start questioning, you know, what's, what's going on here? You know, do I really have? Do I really want to have this faith in God? Or do I want to kind of disconnect? So I guess the first thing I asked you is, what would you say to people that maybe have stepped away from their faith at this point? Or don't feel very confident in that relationship, you know, with with God, and maybe their daily efforts there? What would you say to them about, you know, especially now in these times, I feel like now more than ever, I feel like we need prayer in our lives, if that's what you do. And I think we need God, honestly. And so I think he's missing in a lot of places. So would you say to somebody, maybe that's had an experience where they haven't gotten where you did when you were 17? And you felt a softening of your heart? That's a great question, Kristen. Because so many of us are in that place where, for whatever reason we know about God are the things of God, but we're not living to the fullest in what we know God has for us could be because we're angry with him. I felt like when you describe the feelings behind what I described as the scenario you were pinpointing exactly where I was living. And so I think this would speak to a lot of us, myself included, but what comes to mind is the in the Bible, there's a man named Elijah. He does a really awesome thing he calls the challenges prophets of a false god and calls them out to look

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contest. He says, you know, if you're God's real, let him answer by fire of mind you do that him answer by fire in at the end of the whole situation, the other prophets are embarrassed because they're fake. God doesn't do anything. And Elijah is God, the God of the Bible actually does consider the fire, the sacrifice with fire. And this is a great feat. It's a great accomplishment. But right after that the Queen Jezebel, who was also at the same religion as the false prophets, threatens him and says, I'm going to kill you. And so he takes off running, completely afraid, goes out to the wilderness by himself sits under a tree and says, God just take my life. And he's completely out of the will of God, because God shows up. And he asked me, says, Elijah, what are you doing here? So that's a clear indicator that he was not in the will of God that he had ran from the things of God, right after having a wonderful experience with God. And you see that God is showing up, God sends an angel who feeds and wakes him up, he says, arise, get up and eat, because the journey ahead of you is too great. You're not going to be able to make all these goals and all these things happen, that God has for you, if you stay right here in this cave. And I think that's what you're asking, right? There is, what about those of us who are in that cave, who, like Elijah had that type of experience, but you know, some kind of good encounter with God, but now we're feeling isolated, or depressed or disconnected. And the one thing that comes to mind is this right here, that just because I'm running from God, doesn't mean he's running from me. He's actually running towards me. God was pursuing Elijah, even in the worst of the worst. And this ties into something that seems to shock people when I share this story. Because it's like, Wait, God would do that, like, yeah, he would I, during the time I was on drugs, I remember sitting in a circle, I would smoke weed, I was passing it to one of my friends. And I was watching him, hit the blunt and start choking. And in my mind, in my heart, I could feel God telling me, Aaron, I called you to travel and be a minister, and to speak to other countries. And like, why are you sitting here doing this with I have something better for you like right there, while I was deliberately getting high, deliberately doing something I knew I shouldn't be doing. God was reaching for me. And so that listener here on the show, I want to encourage you that you may be away from God, you may feel like you've been disconnected, there may be an event, like the rate with my mom's something that triggered that disconnect. But God is chasing after you the goodness and the mercy of God will follow you all the days of your life. And the fact that you can feel that voice and that conviction, just speak into you is a clear indicator that God is still reaching for you that he still has hope for you. And then he has plans for a bright future ahead of you.

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Oh, that's so good. And yeah, I so agree. I mean, it's so easy, right? To, you know, to have that happen, where we, you know, let's be honest, we're human. So even that there's even an ebb and flow for many of us, you know, where we, you know, you come in and out, or maybe every day you have a daily practice, you know, that gets you closer to God with, you know, you might pray or read the Bible, but then there's other seasons, you know, I've had this happen to me too. Even if it wasn't something huge, where I was angry, it was something hard, or I just got busy, and I prioritized, or I or I wasn't prioritizing my faith, you know, pieces of my life or my day, above other things. I thought I was until you look back and realize, Oh, I didn't, I didn't do that for a week. And how did that go? You know, so, I think it's important to remember just because we aren't in a place where we're, you know, practicing our faith, and we're trying to enrich our relationship with God doesn't mean they can't today or tomorrow or next week, you know, we we can keep revisiting this and then making a choice to show up. But I think it's important what you said, which is, we're being pursued it's just that often we're ignoring that pursuit that God is sitting there trying to whisper to us, you know, and I know it took it's taken me years to move into a bigger role with my faith inside of the the work I'm doing, you know, in the world, and I share this, share this on my other podcast spark of faith, which only came out in December, but a month ago, I had something happened to me where I was laying in bed at six in the morning, and I know my husband's alarms are about to go off. I've heard my son's alarm go off, but I was waking. I was thinking about that podcast in this one and just everything I do. The in my husband uses the old clock radios and his phone. But the clock radios are just buzz buzz for over 20 years I hear mostly buzz buzz buzz, right? Well, I heard it click on he's still asleep. I'm laying there. I heard it click on it. It just said a man's voice give glory to God. And it clicked off. That was it. And I was like, Okay, I got a message. gotten the message. It just happened to me a month ago and I've never had anything like that before. And I was like, Okay, I think I heard my marching orders like it's up and step out, you know, and, and I've not ever had a clear signal

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It was audible before you know. And I was like, okay, and look at it first I was like, well, could could Caleb a bit on? Or could this? No, there's no, there's nothing else going on there. And it was no music. It was nothing. It was just talking and off. And then something else happened to me that day that I won't get into right now I share it on the other podcast. But the point is, is he's pursuing us, and He wants us he has a purpose for us. He has a mission for us. But we have to be willing to, you know, step into that, you know, in little ways start trying to

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renew that relationship, I guess I'd say no, absolutely. So So lastly, this, I think, you know, you sort of touched on this, you know, that we were kind of in this cave, a lot of us are feeling anxious, we feel there's a lot of uncertainty in the world, there might be, we might still feel isolated. I mean, my kids are still wearing masks at school. Now, their district has, or actually the state has said they don't have to anymore, but they're still trying to fit in. So they're not completely taking them off. And so the challenge with that, though, is that socially and mentally, emotionally, I've seen the toll that's still being taken on my children, because of all the things that have happened last two years being home for a year, right with schooling, going back to school, but it not being the same yet. Maybe it never will. And a lot of young adults or college students are also struggling through this pandemic, through the way the world has gone. And we have a son in college, and this is what's recently happened, that you're having a hard time these classes, but are you doing okay? Like, how are you doing? And I said, you know, at the end of the day, you know, we say, you should have good grades. So I said, No, that matters. At the end of the day, the money doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is your health, your mental health and happiness, we will support you in anything you need. And so I talked about this for two weeks after that conversation, he sent me a text and said, I don't think things are working out. And I think I need to come home today. And so we called him and we said, are you okay? Because we can come there. You know, instead, he's No, I'm okay to drive home. He said, Come home. So he came home, and he's completely withdrawing from school. But if it weren't during this period of time, I don't know that that would have happened. And it's okay. We don't care how he moves forward in his life. But can I tell you for two weeks, I was emotionally crushed, not because of his choice, but because of the what could have happened to him if he hadn't felt comfortable enough to share that with us. And if you'd kept trying to walk through that difficulty, but thank God, and I do think it was a prayer answered that he felt comfortable to tell us that because a lot of kids aren't telling their family or their friends, and they're suffering, and then they're having worse outcomes. These youth, they're suffering a lot. And there's a lot there's going to be hardship for a long time because of what we put them through in these last few years. I agree. It's a testament to you and your husband and your parenting. Because, unfortunately, you're right. Most people that age do not have that level of trust and comfort with their parents to express that. And so they don't have that sounding board of somebody who legitimately has their best interests at heart who has no other agenda behind, you know, their advice, or whatever. And, and so that's a testament to you guys, as far as your parenting is that's, I'm happy for you in that sense. Yeah. But it tears me up to hear what what your children are going through.

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Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So I guess Yeah, that's the question, how do we try to show up in the world and be hope, but also be hopeful? You know, is there anything that you would recommend to people you know, that you find works are helpful to you? Great question, Kristen. The Bible says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. And so we are not going to change what is happening around us and everybody else's opinions and the pressure that is coming at us from society, we can't make everyone else see things, the way we see it. The only thing we have control of is our own internal world. And when the Bible speaks about fear, it's talking about something that is happening inside of us. There are things around us that can cause us to feel afraid. But it's kind of like the concept of, you know, someone cuts me off in traffic, and I say, Oh, you got me so angry. No, they didn't get me angry, I chose to get angry because of the external stimulus. And so there's all kinds of external stimulus or stimuli around us that are creating this environment that allows us to that induces us to feel fear, and what the Bible tells us, he says, Now on the inside of your heart, and in your mind, I did not put that fear in you. Instead, I've given you these three things I've given you power, love, and a sound mind. So the way to break that down and understand what it is we do have and how to have this

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powers love sound mindedness in spite of the fear, in order to, thus have hope in this world is to see what is at stake here. What is God telling us that we have power we have love and we have a sound mind. Well, for power, I'll give you a little, maybe a humorous example. But preachers, a lot of times talk about playing golf, and reading books and stuff, I do read, but I do not play golf. I think golf is absolutely boring. Whether you're watching it or playing it. However, I do have a sport. I love martial arts. I do Jiu Jitsu. So I preach on the weekends, and I fight during the week, low strange combination. But the wonderful thing about jujitsu is that it is a power that it is body techniques, body leverage, but mechanics to where, you know, a smaller person can defend against a bigger person, I know, women in our gym who are smaller than me who have trained and can really hurt me if we were actually in a fight. I mean, they win every time. And so there's a power there. And so when, you know, recently, I was at a family Christmas parade, and there was a gentleman at the parade, that very irate and upset because the little kid that was with me, and my wife went out in front of the his kid and grab some beads. And he was making a big scene, real tall, real strong guy, and he just, somebody is gonna go to jail today and blah, blah, blah. And I didn't even pay him any attention. It didn't bother me one bit, because I knew deep down inside, that if we were to get in a fight, I could hurt him, I could bring him to the ground, pin him down, because I have a power. Therefore inside of me, I wasn't concerned. I say that to say this. When God says I've given you power, he's telling you, I've put something inside of you that is greater than all the stuff that's going on around you that you have something that can control that you don't have to be afraid you don't have to be awake worrying, you don't have to be anxious, although that is our natural tendency that we can stop that we can put the brakes on that. And we can say no, I'm in control of my feelings. I'm in control of my thoughts. And I can harness this in I can, I can stop this. I don't have to give myself over to this. And so we have to first of all, see that hope as possible is what I'm trying to communicate. We have to realize that we're not stuck, that we don't have to be afraid. The second thing there, he says is that he gives us love. Now there's another verse in the scriptures in first John that says that perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment. So then I want to ask what is perfect love? Well, another Bible verse says that God is love. And so God cast out perfect fear how through his love. So when I understand that God loves me, that he is sovereign, he is, by definition, God is God, which means he's in control, he can stop anything from happening to me, he can cause things to happen to me, I he is ultimately in charge. But he loves me unconditionally. And that is something that is difficult for us to understand, because we don't love conditionally, unconditionally, we love conditionally. You know, the, the small exception is, in most cases is that of a parent. But, you know, beyond that, we always know I love you, if you know, I love you as long as and God's not that way he loves us unconditionally. So I say that to say this. If God loves me, and I get sick. I know that God's in control, and he could have stopped it, but he didn't. So I trust him, I trust that He is in charge of my life, and he will not let something happen to me. That should not happen to me before it's time. If nobody can do anything to me that God does not allowed. Nobody can hurt me in ways that God does not allow them. And so his love for me cast that fear out, I have hope. And I can stay focused and stay strong in this world in spite of all the craziness going around me, because I know that God loves me. He's got and then finally, it says that He has given us a sound mind. Sound mindedness ties into the last part of the verse in First John, where it says that perfect love casts out fear, but fear because it says fear has torment. Now torment is not torture. Torture is physical. Torment is mental. Torment is what's going on inside of my mind. It's me playing over and over or what they think about me or how, you know, how are they going to respond if I vocalize my opinion on this or you know, and I go over all these things and mull over all these what ifs and these worst case scenarios and what's going to happen if and that's torment. It's inside of my mind. That's what the Bible says that fear has torment, but then he says, You have not gotten fear from me instead, you've got a sound mind. Sound mindedness says, You know what? It doesn't matter what they think, you know what, I have a right to my own opinion and to voice that, as does the other side. Sound mindedness keeps me level headed when there's a bunch of crazy, not level headed thoughts and ideas just bombarding me

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So we can have hope, because God didn't give us fear. And we can take charge over our internal world and choose to have hope.

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Oh my gosh, yes. i That's amazing. And, you know, I think the thing is, is I've even had friends say to me, you know, be going on a walk with a couple girlfriends. This was months ago, you know, during more more of the COVID stuff going on, and just some other uncertainty in the world. And basically, how are you? So how do you seem hopeful when things don't seem hopeful? And, you know, of course, I'd say one of the reasons is my faith but But beyond that, it's it's daily things we do that let us have that reconnection, that resetting, and then that slowing down to have to realize, like, hold on, how are we? How are we showing up into our day? And so for me, and I'm sure you have some of these, too. It's what are the practices I'm putting into my day? So is that prayer and maybe doing a prayer journal? Is it having quiet time just to you know, let me let me kind of get centered. But I'd say if people aren't feeling the things you just mentioned, you know, the sound mind, hope and love, you know, or not fear? I would say, look at your schedule. And can you add in these small things, right. And it doesn't always have to be your reading the Bible, or a little verse of scripture, it could be a quick devotional, it could be talking to a friend that's encouraging you, right, it could be slowing down or canceling something because you need a break. Right? You You've, you've overdone, your day, you know, have too much. So you know, that's one thing I'd say to people is if you if you're not feeling those things, one reason is because we need to alter our schedules, you know, or our life.

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Absolutely. 100% is, sometimes we're doing too much of things we shouldn't be doing, sometimes we're not doing enough for what we should be doing. And I couldn't agree with you more 100%, altering the schedule would, would definitely clear up some of the confusion and give us some clarity. Yeah, so one thing I want to jump into is, you know, we probably both talked to a lot of people who, you know, they might be a faith based person, a Christian

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believer, and they might have a business or they're considering stepping into something new. But I this happened to me before where I felt like my business roles, or, you know, my business, and then my faith role, felt very separate, you know, and I didn't really know how do those come together? You know, so I was kind of fragmented. And I'm, you and I, before we start recording, talked about this, where it's just been over the last couple years, and even in the most recent months, that I've finally it's clicking where it all is coming together as just Kristin right as all my parts instead of oh, it, it worked over here. I'm still a believer, but but it doesn't really come into my day. So my two questions are What do you have to say about that? Like, how do we have an integrated life? You know, for all the parts of us and in what we believe? How do we become more integrated? And then to I want to talk about, if when there's something we want to do, or we feel called to do? How do we use those hours and our schedule that we don't realize we're maybe using for entertainment or something else, but we really haven't available to us to do have more impact in the world? Absolutely. Okay, let's go into the first one, the integration of the various aspects of our lives. And in Ephesians, in the Bible, it says that you are God's workmanship, created for good works in Christ Jesus, that you may walk in them. So there's three W words workmanship, works, and walk. workmanship means that God handcrafted you like a very strategic intentional creation and formation. So right in the very beginning, when you were in the womb, God was developing your personality, and preparing who you would be born to and where you would live because these influences on your life which shape you and he was putting your likes and your dislikes, and your preferences and your style and everything about you. He handcrafted you to be you. And the reason he did it, it says so that you can walk in these good works. Now a lot of times we think of doing a work for God as being pastoring a church or teaching a Bible study or seeing in a church or something very church oriented. But here when the Bible uses the word works, it's referring to any sort of endeavor, it can be plumbing, it can be parenting, it can be tutoring somebody, you know, what one good example right now I'll use to talk about works is I have an invitation to go out and speak in Brazil. I'm fluent in Spanish, but I cannot speak Portuguese enough to preach in Portuguese. They don't have an interpreter for me. So I will have to preach in Portuguese. And I'm closing in on just a few more months out before I go. So every morning I'm studying Portuguese. Now. My question is, is that ministry is that

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Part of who God created me to be? Or am I wasting my time? Well, given the context, I believe that studying Portuguese is as unto the Lord, you know. And so the same deal applies across the board. Now, if we have children, then parenting becomes our works unto the Lord, it becomes our ministry, if we chose to get married and our responsibility to our spouse, there are so many scriptures across the Bible about how we treat each other as a as a matter of fact, it tells men to dwell with your wife with understanding so that your prayers be not hindered. So there's a direct link between your domestic relationships and how you treat each other in the home to your direct relationship with Christ. The word works also refers to entrepreneurial endeavors, it can be starting a business it can be, I mean, churches need money, you know, we need to have the lights on, we need an AC in the summertime, at least down here in South Louisiana. And so you know, that doesn't happen with money growing off trees and falling from the sky and Angel showing up and paying the bills. And so somebody needs to know how to invest or have multiple streams of income and, and all these things work together to create the body of Christ. And so there's all kinds of places in roles that we have in the Bible that says the last W word is that we walk in them, in other words, that that we live them out. And so I really struggled a long time, particularly when I was teaching, was working for the school board at the time. And I was like, I don't want to be doing this, I want to be doing ministry. And then it finally dawned on me that with this earning income from my family, providing for my wife, you know, helping these kids, you know, grow and learn. And, like, if this is where God has me right now, this is ministry, this is who I am, this is what God called me to. And so for me, I, when I wake up in the morning and spend time praying with God, like that's, that's my connection with God. But when I have dinner with my wife, and turn off the phone and ask her about her day, that is same Aaron as unto the Lord, because I'm married, you know, and so it's just a part of who we are. And I think we fragment these areas of our lives and sort of make them compete, we'll put our, our parenting against our, our spouse responsibilities against our work responsibilities against our church life, and then start you know, pitting one against the other and one call, one starts suffering and the other starts struggling and one's doing good. And, and really, we're called to walk in the role of living in the moment and be who God called us to be at that time. And so, if I'm supposed to be spouting to my wife, right now that that's what I'm gonna do, right now, I need to be working on this podcast. Now I'm living in the moment, but I am who God created me to be in whatever endeavor God puts in front of me, the Bible says, Whatever you whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. And so just work enthusiastically unto the Lord and whatever endeavor is in front of you at the time.

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Yeah, that's good. And then what what would you say? So you've written several books, you've started this YouTube channel. So you've launched things, right? Beyond being a, you know, ministering at a church and beyond being a teacher, which are both amazing things as well. But what would you say to somebody that has something on their heart to step into to do it might be write the book or podcast, it might be

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adopted child, like, it could be a million things, but and they say, Hmm, you know, I just don't have the time or maybe they're getting stuck, they're stalling out. But what would you say to us about how do we actually make that happen?

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So okay, there's a couple of angles to get into regarding that. And I think it's a very pertinent question, because all of us have something we're striving for, or at least want to reach one, if we've accomplished everything. And were fully satisfied, I would think that we've completely fulfilled God's purpose for our lives. And I think we'd be already up there in heaven with Him by that. So there's definitely in each and every one of us that desire to reach out and strive for more, if it is a time thing, if it is legitimately, like, I do not have the time, then I want to encourage this concept. I'm working on a book right now called Good versus God. And it's easy to scrap off of our calendars, things that are not good things that aren't right for us. Like when you first start walking with God, you know, okay, maybe I shouldn't be using drugs. I shouldn't be stealing. I shouldn't be sleeping around. I shouldn't be killing people, like the obvious things that, you know, okay. But then you start to get beyond that. And then God will start saying, like, Hey, um, you spend a lot of time watching that TV show? No. So it could be a wholesome TV show. But that doesn't mean it's a sin. It just means that it's something you're carrying around that is weighing you down, the Bible says to lay off the sin and the weight that so easily set you back. And so sometimes, you know, we have things in our lives that we don't realize are holding us back because they're not bad things. They can be good things. The TV show was sort of a neutral ground. But let me take it a step further. What if you have a friend who you've been friends with for a very long time, but now at this season of your life? You're just not

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going in the same direction. And you mentioned all kinds of ideas, starting a business adopting a child, maybe this person doesn't like children, and they hate business and are afraid to be an entrepreneur, they want to be an employee. So every time you talk with them, they're discouraging your dream to start your own business or to adopt the child, then that might be a good person. And it might be a good thing to have friends. And it might have been a good friendship during its time. But right now, it's no longer good for you in this context. And so there's a quote I try to live by from Bruce Lee, he said, It's not the daily increase, it's the daily decrease packaway at the non essential. And so I would start ruthlessly chopping away things, ruthlessly cutting things out of my schedule.

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I constantly fight this war. But if it is a time thing, then I would say, start getting rid of good things so that you can go after great things.

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Yeah, and I think, actually, I have been reading one of the books I've been reading of many is the ruthless elimination of hurry.

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Yeah, it's it's Bible title. Yeah, it's by a pastor in Oregon, Portland, Oregon, I believe. And I know his name, I just can't think of it right now. But, but anyways, but in the book, he basically talks about that, that, I think in a year, and this is probably from a couple years ago, this data point where we're spending more, the average person spending more than almost $800 800 hours a year on Netflix, and then young men, which my son are in that group. And I have to tell you, there's definitely times where this has been the case, although we try to limit it. You know, they say, young adult, I don't maybe it's by 21, the current men in that in that range, they're spending more than $10,000 10,000 hours gaming, which you could master almost anything, you could get a master's degree. So this is what we're talking about is we're spending a lot of time hours of our discretionary time, we think we're so busy, but then we're spending a lot of time on entertainment that's not growing us, it's not helping us reach these dreams, or they're this purpose we have on our heart, or the book to write or whatever it is. And so I'm there to you know, I definitely relax, you know, many evenings. And, you know, I kind of feel like, Oh, I can't sit at the computer anymore, I can't do this. And I've made dinner for the family. And I'm kind of like, Okay, it's time to maybe just relax and do nothing. But sometimes I'll read, but there's many nights where we might choose to watch, you know, a show together something, it's like you said, it's not that that's bad. It's just that we have to be aware, if we're not reaching the goals we want for ourselves, if we're not learning the thing we want to learn, like you're learning Portuguese, we have to look very carefully and then edit those hours to help us accomplish what it is we want to do. So if it's, you know, if we're saying actually have no time, but then if we look at our schedule and realize, oh, actually spent 20 hours this week on Netflix, that's okay, if you're choosing that, but sometimes we don't we're not aware we're choosing it. Because it's kind of become on autopilot, I think. Yeah, that's a lot of wisdom. I've never heard that term, edit the discretionary hours. But that is a phenomenal word choice to go in and precisely decide, am I going to use this time for this? Or am I not to cut it out? Because like you said, we're on autopilot. Sometimes we there's no way somebody chose, hey, I'm going to spend 10,000 hours of my life on this video game i Nobody sets out to do that. No, they face

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day in and day out. They're not thinking about it. You know, and I didn't want to say that. I do understand that a lot of people that are gaming, like my son's, well, they don't all game, but it is their social time too. So I'm not trying to say every hour they're doing that it's just this wasted, whatever, which I do think that to some extent, but it is when they're connecting with their friends. So if some of them choose to do that, instead of going out and doing something, so So I do get it, there's a social component to it. But once again, how many hours is too much on one thing where you could be learning or building or you know, getting income or doing something else, especially for adults? You just mentioned something about no need to rest. And I wonder this came to my mind as you were talking was rest is good. And we're not advocating that you completely do away with relaxation, and you just go after your dream and go after your goals. That would be not wise as well. That would be horrible. It's like, I could pray. Prayer is excellent. If I ask anybody. Is it healthy to pray? I mean, anybody who has a relationship with God would say that yes, it is. Okay, so I'm going to pray all day long. I'm gonna stay up at night pray and I'm gonna do the same thing. And I'm gonna just consistently do that for 60 days. Like that. That's that's probably not, you know, a good approach. That's not really wise. Nobody's ever done that even in the Bible. You know, that's it. That's overkill. And so there needs to be a balance in life. And I want to draw a misconception here as well. But sometimes we think of balanced means okay, I need to spend the right amount of time with my family the right amount of time with God the right amount of time with my business. Life kind of has its

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Some flows, you mentioned that those words earlier, and there are seasons where I will go into intense prayer, and I'll pray a lot. And I'll seek God. There's other times where I'm really busy in my business, and I'm not praying nearly as much, you know, it's just a quick connection with God in the morning, there's times where I'm home, and I don't have a lot going on my business. And I'll spend a lot of time with my wife. There's other times where I'm away, you mentioned Portland, Oregon, I was in Portland for five weeks, one time, my wife was back in Louisiana. And so we didn't spend a lot of time. But over the course of life, there's a little bit of everything sprinkled without an over the, say, a 20, year period, everything balances, but rest is important. It just needs to be intentional rest, not the 10,000 hours passed, because we didn't really realize what we're doing. So what do you want to do for us, and then us make that choice? No, for me is to jitsu that's why I don't do a lot of other types of relaxation for a coach. So just make it intention, I guess that's the way it would come into is Be intentional, incorporate rest. But like anything, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Yeah, and actually, what I was about to mention is, I, if I find that I'm doing too much of one thing in one day, you know, so it might be production work on my computer, for my business, I'm exhausted by a certain hour, because even though it's good work, like I'm trying to put out, you know, good and valuable, and, you know, healthy content, it still is the type of work that drains me. And so I have to remember, if I feel like it's draining me, so I say is something life draining or life giving. And I don't mean, you shouldn't do the life draining thing if it's your work. But if you're doing too much of it, then I'm worthless for the next three hours, or it can't get any other work done. Because I'm I'm literally physically exhausted, you know, mentally exhausted, I should say. So I have to balance and that's why people eat take breaks. So you go on a walk, or you shift to some other type of work. Because some things are just they take a lot of mental energy, right? And so that's your thing, as I say to people, and even with our when we're choosing what we're going to keep in our lives, you know, even activities, or if you're choosing between two get togethers is this one, does this one feel like it's going to be life giving, you know, is it going to lift you up or energize you? Or is it like draining, or the group of people that are going to be there? And I'm not saying Say no to all the things, you never see that other group, but sometimes you have to decide for yourself, like this weekend? Do I feel up for this thing? And what is it going to do for me? As far as you know? Is it gonna build you up? Or encourage you? Or is it gonna give you energy? Or is it just gonna be too much? Yeah, I love it. I agree. Yeah. So let me ask you, what would you say just one thing we start talking about before the movie started recording is? I think a lot of people think if they're not in, they're not a pastor, they don't have their own ministry, like a children's ministry. They're not a missionary that, you know, yes, they might have a role to play at their church, or they might have a role to play. You know, maybe they help people or they, you know, go work in a soup kitchen. But that's it. They don't really think of themselves as having a ministry. And so I know, we both feel like and of course, she'll explain what the Bible says. But I say all of us have our life is our ministry, and it's the ministry of you. And then I know you talk about this as well. So would you just was there anything you'd have? Because I think sometimes our perspective is, maybe we're not important in the grand scheme, like we don't realize that our role in the world is just as important as someone that might say they have a ministry, like actually use that word.

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Absolutely. A lot of times, whenever we help people we serve, we go about our daily living, it could be interacting with our family, it can be on the job, it can be in our classroom with our classmates or with the teacher, we don't realize the extent of our actions or our investment in someone and we never know who we are investing in. As far as God's perspective is concerned. I'll give you two examples. I'll make a personal one. And then I'll make another one from which has been super inspiring story to illustrate this point. Whenever I was going to that Spanish church, I first started going, I was still using drugs, I would drink and the church service started at two o'clock in the afternoon, there was a Hispanic family from Puerto Rico live in the neighborhood. And my lady and her husband, they were in their mid 50s. At the time, they would come every Sunday around one o'clock and they'd off the Horn and invite me to church and some Sundays, I would go with them other Sundays. If I drank that morning, particularly I felt bad about going. So I was I was hit or miss and I would go out and I would say oh no, I'm not going sick today or something. And they would they would leave and they just really invested in me. They let me go to their house and they would feed me and you know, talk to me about the things of God. But they never as far as the outside looking in. Yeah, they've done different things in their church that the husband did the woman is, you know, helped and been a great Christian lady and faithful but you know,

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I mean, they're in there, they're getting older now. And I wouldn't look back and say, Oh, they were like, you know, a, you know, Denzel Washington or a TD Jakes or like somebody famous or somebody rich or somebody with this great spectacular thing. But they took a little kid in their neighborhood to church, they just they loved on me, they let me go to their house, when I needed to get away from drugs, and away from everything I was in that that's a whole topic for another day. But that's not just quitting a drug, it's changing a lifestyle. And to get into the things of God, a lot of times, we have to get out of everything we know everyone we know, in and into a whole entire, you know, atmosphere, and they provided that form. So I say that to say this. I have preached in multiple states, I have books on the internet, I have a YouTube channel that is growing, I've been in several countries, I've preached in communist countries. And

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all of that probably would have never happened, had that lady not just said, Hey, come have dinner at my house, Hey, would you like to come to church with me and my husband, you know, and so everywhere I go, every life I touch, they're touching, they're a part of that. But at the moment, they didn't see that they didn't know that they were just being time people just doing stuff. So I say that to say, you may be walking down the street, and you just might help somebody, or it might be someone on your job that you just invest a little time on encouraging word in, there's somebody in your house where you just keep pouring into that child and just keep, you know, fighting for him and defending him and, and just teaching and loving and just disciplining and doing all of the hard things that it takes to be a parent, but you don't know where God's gonna take that child, you don't, you know, and so just have that faith that God's in control and that he, he has a purpose, and he has a plan and whether we see the end from the beginning or not. If we're faithful, God will use what we we have, he'll blow our minds. I did tell you, I tell you the second story, but I'll make it real quick. It was a missionary who went to Ethiopia, he went for years and years and years, and he never got a single person to come to church never got a single person to give their life to God. Until the very end of his life, he got one Ethiopian guy who was willing to like, you know, okay, I'll hear you out like any would teach the man the Bible. And just you just love it. So you have one person and gave his entire life to go and be a missionary in Ethiopia and one one person. And then he died. And I'm thinking that he probably felt like a failure, like dying in Ethiopia with one person, you know, well, that one person is his name, his brother Tecla. Marian. And he has seen millions of people come to God, he has some of the greatest outpourings of God's Spirit and just massive revivals all throughout the country of Ethiopia. And it's like, the man did it. But he does, he doesn't even know he did. You know, and so just just be faithful, and trust God with the process, and you'll work it out. Oh, I love that I love what Pastor and author Mark Patterson says about this, you know, he talks about inheritance is sort of what we do in the world, right on it kind of in our faith life. But then he talks about legacy. And legacy isn't just our dream. It's the it's the, it's what we do and other people that allows their dreams to happen in the world. And it's exactly what you just explained about that person, which is, we don't always know the impact we have through little conversations. You know, he talks in his book about, you don't know how one compliment will literally change the course of an entire person's life. You know, and in his book, he talks about how when he was in school, I don't know what he was, someone complimented his public speaking and sound like have you ever thought about being I don't know if they said a preacher, but it was something where up till then he'd never really entertained that. But that seed was planted, you know, and many years later, you know, he had this call that he felt like he was going to speak to millions of people around the world. And of course, then he became, you know, an author with many, many books that are in, I don't even remember how many languages around the world, you know, but once again, it was this, it somebody planted those little seeds. And the people have done that in our lives as well. You know, they've spoken something to us that we might not even have seen at that moment. They accepted us and they, like you said they supported you no matter where you where we're at now, because they believed in where you were going or where you could go. And yeah, I think that's kind of the point, right? Is the ministry view is just how do you show up in the world every day? You know, how do you show up as your best self and it's about loving on people and giving them hope, in speaking truth into them for what you see where they who they truly are, not what we're seeing on the surface. Right. And, you know, to to add to this concept of legacy.

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When I really was inspired to say, You know what, I can do this, I'm going to be a writer, this this is me, I know, I'm going to go after it. It was when I was reading Mark Patterson's book, the circle maker, you know, it just really got to me he's, he's one author who has always inspired me to go out and write so I've published multiple books now.

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from a man who published books because somebody else at one point in his life said, Hey, have you considered public speaking in other lives? Oh, yeah, I love all his books. And, you know, one other thing he says is, you know, he says, When he stopped speaks at writing conferences or conferences, you know, people ask about being writer and he's like, if you were called to be a writer, it would be, it would literally be, I'm gonna say it wrong. But basically, like, if you weren't called to be a writer, like don't waste your time, but if you were called to write, then it would literally be disobedience to God or something like not to do it not to show up and do it right show up and do it in the world, if that's what you're meant to be whatever the thing is that you feel it's been put on your heart. Yeah, you you're touching on something I remember from the book where he said, someone asked him, What if nobody reads If I do it, and nobody reads it? And he said, If God told told you to do it, you need to do it, what it doesn't matter who reads it or not. And that can apply to anything, be it a podcast, starting a business, you know, YouTube channel, writing a book, or anything that you want to reach out for, if God told you to do it in you might be frightening, you might not know if it's going to produce fruit. But, like, it's disobedience to do anything else and to not do that. And so if God told you to do it, run with it. Yeah. Yeah. And the only other thing I'd say to that is we, we want our timing to be fast and quick, and kind of get to the status where we see other people that are ahead of us on the journey. But I would just remind you, you know, it's, it's one is the act of doing the work that we feel like it was put on our heart to do so it's when it's stepping and doing it, too. We don't know when that thing's gonna have impact, you know, and like you said, we might not know the impact, but it might already be having impact. Like you said, you might not see book sales, but truly, you might have given copy to a couple people or something, and it shifts someone else's life, but we just don't know, often, especially then sometimes you might hear stories later, you know, maybe we don't but you know, so I'm with you. It's, you know, be obedient to those, those God sized dreams and callings that you have in your life, I think is sort of the the lesson there. Right? Absolutely. That'll give us a dream. And then we think it'll be fulfilled a certain way. And we'll go after that. But a lot of times, it'll happen, it just won't be the way we planned out for it to go. And yet, he'll tell us later on in life, hey, do this. And then that'll be the thing that brings it full circle. And I know sound a little fuzzy. But let me tell you what I mean, when I when I was 12 years old, God spoke to me said you'd be a missionary and speak in all kinds of countries that people don't, you know, speak your language and things like that. And there's a lot of countries I have wanted to get into, that have been there that are very close to missionaries, very difficult, some of them may be dangerous. And then I just kept feeling for a long time to do a YouTube channel, your YouTube channel. And I'm not saying that it's the only thing that's going to open up, we're going to go into other countries, personally be there live. However, when I look up on the Google Analytics for my YouTube channel, it's these countries, it's like places where I've always wanted to minister but I've not been able to go door hasn't opened or, you know, it's very dangerous eat into it. And it's like, there's some of the top 10 countries that are watching the YouTube channel. And I'm like, I didn't even realize this, you know, and so I'm saying that to say just step out in faith with where you're at, and what God's called you to do, even if it doesn't make sense. And then you'll look back in retrospect and see, oh, well, that was this promise on my life, or that, you know, thing that God shared with me now I see it coming to pass this way, maybe not the way I thought but stepping out in faith and being obedient, you start seeing those things connect.

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It's so true. And I just recently shared something here on my podcast numbers, you know, you know, I'm still in the earlier season, right? So there's still plenty of growth that I that I will that I'm working towards having both audience and download size. But I had seen recently in Nigeria, my This podcast was like in the top 35 for that week, and as we know, it changes all the time, right? So I'm not saying I'm going to stay in that spot, but I was like really Nigeria but like you said I'm in India I mean it might be small download numbers, but it's you know, people in India listened and Nigeria all these other places your point we're not actually stepping foot on that continent at this point, you know, maybe one day but we still you can still up impact and like we said it might be one life you change it might be one life or one idea they hear from you speaking or writing or showing up and have your showing up in the world but you know, it does matter. You know? 100 I love it. Congrats on your downloads in Nigeria. Yeah, I was like how funny right I said now I just have to work on the English speaking or you know, in the US and stuff which is a much harder market to to drop into that number but I'm here I thought us would be my biggest market and it's not a several India's actually the number one for my YouTube. Oh my gosh, that's funny. Alright, So Aaron, tell us any last things you want to share with us just to kind of leave us with any ideas

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before we wrap up with where people can reach out to you. Yeah, one last little thought would be

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except the hardships along the way, know, when we go out to live the ministry of you, and we're working on building our best life ever, a lot of times we have this ideal of what that looks like. And the goal is to reach the ideal, but the reality is we live in the real. And just because there's hardships and their setbacks, doesn't mean you're not walking in that purpose. You know, Paul talked about in the Bible, he says, You know, I, I've been beaten up and put in prison. I've been shipwrecked. I have been, you know, facing death from my own people. I've chased death in foreign countries. Like everywhere I turned, she's bombard me, I just, and then on top of that, I'm stressed out about all the churches I'm trying to help. But the question is, was he living his best life? Was he fulfilling God's purpose? I mean, God used to miraculously be healings and writing books that became part of the Bible. I mean, yeah, I think from our perspective, Paul was fantastic. He lived his best life, you know. And so he lived it with a lot of hearts, you know, hardships in the process. And so you're gonna face setbacks, too. I face it, we all do. But that doesn't mean you're, you're not in the will of God, it doesn't mean you're not doing the right thing. Just push on past it and accept hardships as part of the journey. It's not a sign that you're in the wrong direction. Maybe it's a sign that you're in the right direction.

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Oh, that's so true. You're right. No, instead, we're not going to have pushback. And, you know, us being tried tried to stop us. You know, the point is, is if we're, if we're getting close right to to serving, then it's likely there's going to be more resistance. So I think that's it's so true. And, and I love that message. Alright, So Aaron, how can people connect with you online and learn how to or how to find you on your YouTube channel and all that good stuff? Yeah, everything is based on my name. So it's Aaron spelled like the brother of Moses. J is the middle initial for James like the brother of Jesus. And Daigle like the brother Lauren Daigle.

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But only one of those people is actually my sibling. I'm just kidding. Laura's not my sister. But still, Aaron J. Daigle, and I'm mostly focused on YouTube, I do my very best to respond to all the comments, and stay engaged on YouTube. I do have some books on Amazon right now. I have an Instagram, but I don't know, I think I just have it because I think I have to have it. I don't check it all the time. I'm not always there. So YouTube and Amazon are two places where I put out content and where I hang out the most.

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Well, thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you for sharing a message of hope. And a message that, you know, we can try to reconnect if we've felt feel disconnected if we feel less than as far as our faith walk. And, you know, I would just say, just show up every day and be the light, you know, for someone else be the hook, like you said in whatever job you're in, because that's where we're likely called to be because we all have an impact to make every single day with the people that we you know, that are in our lives around us.

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Absolutely, I agree. Thank you so much, Kristin, for having me on the show. This has been an honor, and I'm super pumped about what you're doing. Thanks again, I love it. And I look forward to connecting again soon, saying, oh, and I wanted to share this conversation I had with Aaron today because I think we could all use a little bit more hope in our lives a little bit more encouraging words. And I actually wanted to share a little bit of the book, chase the line by Mark Patterson that we talked about in this episode, talking just about how we can have impact when we sometimes don't even realize it. And this is what he says, even when you feel as if you aren't making a difference. God might be using you in ways you aren't aware of. And it's not the immediate impact that matters most. It's the exponential impact to the third and fourth generations. And he goes on to say, inheritance is what you leave for someone. A legacy is what you leave in someone, go ahead and leave an inheritance but more important, leave a legacy legacies the influence your dream has on others even after you die. For some it's short lived, for others, like my father in law, influence compound interest. In fact, they may have more influence and definitely didn't like legacy isn't measured by what you accomplished during your lifespan. The legacy is measured by the lives that are affected by your lifelong after you're gone. I think that's so good. And I think that's the point is if we are stepping into our God, purpose, if we're stepping into work, we feel called to whether we can see the impact in other's lives that we are speaking in cranked COURAGING words to the people that are we are showing up and showing love and we're sharing God's message with them. By the way we step into our lives and the way that we are inviting those others into our lives. We have to remember how important that work is.

1:00:00

Even a compliment can really, truly complain to see the can change a life change a path change of direction for someone, most of us are very fortunate that we will know we have impact in some people's lives, whether it's raising our children or teaching or you know, pastoring, or just being a good role model and adult role model to maybe neighborhood kids that we connect with, or maybe we coach and we're able to have influence, you know, and leave a legacy with all of those kids. But whatever it is you're doing, I promise you, you are making such a difference in the world, even through compliments and small conversations. It's really about the time you're spending with people and then the affirmations you're giving them. So keep going out doing that in the world, whether you know you're having

1:00:49

once again, thanks for listening to the podcast, and if you enjoyed the podcast, we would love it if you could leave a review on Apple podcasts because that helps us get discovered by more people. We'd also love your feedback. So email me at Kristin at Kristin Fitch comm or DM me on Instagram. I'm at Kristin Fitch and let me know what ideas or ideas for shows or for guests that you have. I would love to hear from you.