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Episode 37: How to Be the Best Version of YOU
69 Plays4 years ago
Clare Smith has never been one to lack energy! She loves encouraging women of all ages and stages of life to live well physically, emotionally, and spiritually. She is a gifted speaker, blogger, leadership coach, and certified fitness instructor! You can find her online, training body and soul for the race of life at www.claresmith.me.
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This podcast is produced and edited by Angie Elkins Media, Inc.
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Transcript
Introduction and Season Finale Theme
00:00:08
Speaker
Hi, I'm Patrick Schwenk and I am so thankful that you are listening in with me today at Root Like Faith. It is our deepest desire to encourage and equip men and women to be rooted in God's Word, transformed by the love of Jesus, and moved by His mission and the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is more important.
00:00:24
Speaker
Well, we just thought a really great way to end season one would be to talk about this theme of becoming the best version of you or becoming who God created you to be. And so as we look back over season one where we're coming to an end here at the end
Upcoming Break and Guest Announcement
00:00:40
Speaker
of December,
00:00:40
Speaker
We're taking a short break in the month of January, and then we'll be kicking off season two on February 2nd. So we just thought there's no better way to end season one. We're talking about this theme of who God has created you to be, becoming the best version of who you are. And so we're going to be talking with a dear friend and guest today about that theme. And so I just can't wait to share today's episode with you and introduce you to our guest and friend. So let's get started.
Guest Introduction: Claire Smith
00:01:10
Speaker
Well, I am grateful to have Claire Smith on the podcast today. Claire has never been one to lack energy. She loves encouraging women of all ages in stages of life to live well, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. She's a gifted speaker, blogger, leadership coach, and certified fitness instructor. And you can find her online training body and soul for the race of life at clairsmith.me. Claire, welcome to Root Like Faith. Hey Pat, thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
00:01:40
Speaker
Well, it has been a while since we've talked. It's been, I think it's been at least five years since we've seen each other. Is that correct? I think so. I think the last time that we saw, I think I was taking you and Courtney and Karen and Ruth to the airport. I think you guys had all sort of met at our apartment at the time there in Ann Arbor and I was the chauffeur and drove you guys to the Detroit Metro airport. I don't remember where you guys were going, but I just will say that was the
00:02:15
Speaker
I think you might have been, yeah. There were a lot of words flying around that car, right? I'll just say it that way. It was no, I remember dropping you guys off and I just sort of felt like Jesus going into the wilderness. It was like an instant silent retreat. So anyways, I do need to say upfront before we kind of dive in, I know a lot of our listeners will be familiar with, with who you are. And we're going to talk more about about your story and just your journey. And again, kind of helping people discover
00:02:25
Speaker
the noisiest car ride I think I've ever experienced.
00:02:45
Speaker
you know who they are being the best version of who they are. I do need to say really quickly though that to our listeners, you have the privilege of being the very first person to ever encourage me to start a podcast. So I just wanna celebrate that right now that years ago you were telling me, hey, you have the voice for podcasting, please start a podcast. So here we are. So Root Like Faith is dedicated to you.
00:03:09
Speaker
opened your heart and your ears to my suggestion because from the moment I met you, I'm like, that guy has a voice for podcasting. That's right. Even now listening to you, I'm just like, I am so glad you're stepping into this. It's so amazing. Finally, finally, finally. Well, tell us a little bit as we get
Claire's Journey: From Corporate to Faith and Fitness
00:03:29
Speaker
started. Again, I know a lot of our listeners are likely familiar with who you are and your ministry online, but I mean, just real quickly,
00:03:35
Speaker
You know, tell us a little bit about, for those that might not know you or know about your ministry, I mean, tell us a little bit about, you know, who you are and your family. Sure, absolutely. So, you know, I've had an interesting journey into where I'm at today, which is much like everyone else. You know, I always have had an interest in health and fitness and from a young age, it was just something that I think was ingrained in me. And so, as I was working through
00:04:02
Speaker
you know, high school and to college, actually went to college for business marketing, worked in corporate America for, you know, seven years or so. But knew, my husband and I knew that when we had kids that I would stay at home and take care of them. And one of the side jobs we thought I could do was to step into the fitness business, right? So we thought, hey, I'll be a fitness instructor, it'll be fine. And then maybe eventually turn back to corporate America.
00:04:31
Speaker
What God did, however, was took my plans, as he always has done, and just really yanked them around a little bit, or a lot, I guess you could say. And in the process of things, as I had the kiddos at home and was teaching fitness classes at my church, a mutual friend, a good friend of ours, Courtney Joseph from Women Living Well,
00:04:49
Speaker
She was in my classes and she had a blog and she asked me to start this blog writing for her. And one thing led to another where I opened up my own. And so for the past 10 years primarily, I have been able to have this online ministry and platform and it has evolved. It has changed kind of from what it started, the focus, and to where it is now. So it's a huge part of my days
00:05:17
Speaker
I'm also, however, a fitness instructor, a Pilates instructor. I do that at a local Christian college here. I'm also an adjunct professor. That's new over the past three years. And then in the past year, I've stepped into some leadership.
00:05:32
Speaker
training and to where I'm now able to coach leaders to be really the best, knowing themselves and leading themselves and leading other people. And so that is something new in my life as well. So it is a mix of that. But at the end of the day, I'm a mama and a wife. And those two things are very important to me. So you have two kiddos and eighth grade and sixth grade. My husband and I have been married for 17 years.
00:05:56
Speaker
We are very involved in our local church. We're a church plant. We've been there, I guess, now six or seven years. And so we are both in leadership there. And so that also takes up a lot of our heart and time and space leading community groups and being parts of lots of meetings and decisions and such. So there's a quick version of me. And that's a lot. That's a lot.
00:06:18
Speaker
I love that. Yeah, there's so many things like you just said that you have been a part of and that God has been kind of birthing in you and fanning into flame. It's just incredible to hear all the different things that you've been involved in. And just sort of from an outside perspective, watching that journey, you're right. I think you use the language that it's evolved. I remember early on, at least as far back as I can remember, where there was, yeah, a big emphasis on fitness and
00:06:48
Speaker
And yet it seems that over the years that what God was calling you to do or what you were learning and growing into, there became an even greater emphasis on not only fitness, but fitness and faith and just the intersection of both of those and the importance of both of those or how the body, how fitness can impact faith. And so I'd love for you to speak into that.
00:07:13
Speaker
you shared just briefly already that journey. But I mean, how did you first get interested in fitness? And then how have you seen that really intersect with its importance, you know, in a relationship with Christ?
Faith and Fitness: Intersecting Worlds
00:07:26
Speaker
Yeah, like I mentioned, I do believe in some sense, God just kind of implanted that in me because at a young age, I just was interested in, I'm not sure if you're familiar with the mouse or size like albums that were in the back in the day. No, I'm not.
00:07:40
Speaker
mouse or size with Mickey Mouse or something and I remember being in elementary school and really being into that and to get in shape girl and it was just a natural interest that I had and then as I got I was an athlete in high school so you know I was just a fairly disciplined person anyways which I think inherently is how God created me to be and so he merged those worlds for me and then just being a people person
00:08:03
Speaker
Um, somebody who loved the Lord and found, uh, honestly, um, health and fitness as a way to connect with people. And that was in a high school, you know, that would be me, um, with my track team and leading us in prayers before we ran regional four by four, you know, and different things like that and Bible studies. So that's kind of how I got into health and fitness. It was a natural thing. Now.
00:08:25
Speaker
What I tell people is that it was just an easy thing for me initially. As I grew in my own faith and as I matured, I really didn't probably initially make the connection of how health and faith and fitness and all that rolled together.
00:08:43
Speaker
as I continued to walk down that path personally in my life and got into my 20s and my 30s and then started interacting with other women, I really, you know, God just gave me this bigger vision and for how this would all intersect because I do believe he's made us mind, body, soul, and spirit. And so you cannot neglect the body. There's so much to our bodies and how it's interconnected. And what I found was that, unfortunately, in a lot of Christian circles,
00:09:13
Speaker
It was kind of looked down upon in some ways to like steward your health. It seemed a little bit like a vein perhaps, or we shouldn't be taking care of it. Or the only reason you would is because you want to fit in your size four jeans instead of anything else. And so for me, I knew though, inherently that was never it for me. I liked all of those benefits, but I also knew there was something to connecting the clarity of mind. I had the ability to, again, steward the gift that God gave me, which was my body and my health.
00:09:43
Speaker
on and to further the kingdom of God. So how then does that apply in our lives as Christians? How do we balance that while living here in this world? And so that kind of started an interesting journey for me as God started to develop
00:09:57
Speaker
my voice and my passion for that as I started my blog. And I was kind of working that out as I kind of was blogging to the women that God was bringing me. So it's definitely an interesting journey. Yeah, it's it is so fascinating. You know, there's a lot you said there, but it is so fascinating. You're talking about how within Christian circles, you know, oftentimes, you know, an emphasis on the body is looked down upon.
Historical Christian Views and Body Importance
00:10:20
Speaker
And as you know, I love theology, I love church history, I'm kind of a nerd in that way. And it is fascinating when you think about the earliest heresies within the church, and we were talking back when the scriptures, I mean, first, second century. I mean, one of the first heresies was this denial of the body. The Gnostics were famous for essentially saying anything associated with matter
00:10:49
Speaker
you know, that it was evil. And so there was really kind of a downplaying of anything physical or material and yet Orthodox Christianity has always placed an emphasis on, you know, the material world. And you just think about the example of God taking on flesh, He comes and takes on a body and dwells among us. And so all throughout church history, there's this
00:11:14
Speaker
there's, especially early on in the first centuries, you see a lot of those church fathers really rejecting that idea, this overemphasis on the spiritual, this idea that we have to escape the body, and that was one of the first heresies. And so you do, you see that all the way back, even first John is working against that. He mentions that idea, and certainly in early Christian writings outside of the Bible,
00:11:40
Speaker
they're rejecting that idea. I think somebody once said that we're material beings in a relationship with an immaterial God. And so much of this relationship with who God is and what he's called us to be and to do is happening in a material way within our physical bodies. And so this emphasis on our bodies is so important as we think about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and to be a part of his kingdom work
00:12:08
Speaker
in the world and so I think you're exactly right and that really is a journey and I know you talked about that just how that takes time you begin to recognize certain gifts or interests or passions within you way back when you were younger in high school and just how God in that journey begins to show you more and more
00:12:25
Speaker
how he's wired you and gifted you and then how he wants to use that for his kingdom.
Self-Discovery through Faith and Community
00:12:32
Speaker
And so when you talk about helping someone become the best version of who they are, you kind of shared a little bit of how in that journey, God did that for you and how you're still walking into that in many ways, but how does someone go about beginning to do that? Like it's somebody that's listening
00:12:48
Speaker
And they're saying, boy, I don't know what I have to offer. I don't know what those passions or those gifts are. And so how do I become the best version of who I am? How do I discover who God created me to be? I mean, how does someone even begin on that journey of discovery? I mean, it's such a, I think in many ways, a multi-layered question and answer there for you, because there are so many pieces to the puzzle. I really, truly believe
00:13:17
Speaker
as a Christian. So of course, if we're not talking to anyone here who is not a believer, then maybe the terms Holy Spirit and the sanctifying of your life becoming more like Christ is foreign to you. So maybe this would be a different type of a journey for you, but really truly for those of us who have been bought by the blood of Christ and who have the Holy Spirit residing in us. He is there to guide us and to help us, I believe, in transforming us
00:13:46
Speaker
into more like Christ, right? To begin that chiseling process and he does it through so many different things and he does it situationally and he does it obviously through our friendships and just our own personal journeys.
00:14:01
Speaker
I really believe it sounds so trait. It does begin with prayer. It is one of those things that you've got to want it. You've got to ask the Lord, reach out in faith and say, God, I know that you have something for me that you are building me and you have a plan for me. And so I want to become the best version of myself. And I want to be careful because I also feel like maybe the world and perhaps Christian culture too,
00:14:26
Speaker
has twisted what we think is the best version of ourself or self care ish. You know what I'm saying? I'm very careful with that because I think that that can be a little wonky as well. So we really need to make sure that we're anchored. That would be definitely one of the things that I always come back to that I'm tethered to the word.
00:14:44
Speaker
of God and what that would look like for me in regards to qualities and characteristics as God begins to shape me and really again chisel away everything that is Clare, that is the earthly Clare.
00:15:00
Speaker
and really making it the redeemed, holy and purified Claire. And so I do believe it begins with prayer. I do believe it always is going to have, you've got to have a community aspect to it because I think we get a little dangerous when it's just us kind of going down and thinking like, oh, this sounds like what I should be doing or whatever. I think it's really important for you to have a small group of people that are going to help you as you bounce off ideas and as you start to grow.
00:15:28
Speaker
and godly people who know the word and who want the best for you to really work with you through that. So I think a community or at least one or two other people is critical as you kind of begin the process. And then I really think it's just introspection and there's so many different tools you can use. I mean, we can go from spiritual gifts, right? We can go from talking through that, understanding maybe ways that God has put something special in you that he's not put in someone else.
00:15:56
Speaker
to our personality wiring. I think that's a huge piece. You know, if you're an Enneagram person who admires Briggs or a disk, all that stuff is part of honestly what I have gone through with my leadership stuff that has just helped me step into more.
00:16:10
Speaker
um, understanding of who God has created me naturally, um, and then my blind spots and my weaknesses. And so, I seem to have a lot of those, a ton of those, you know, so like having that humble, uh, attitude of that I think is, is important. Um, and then I think your natural passions, I think, you know, like I said, for you, for me, um, health and fitness was just something that I didn't have to try to stir up with it. I just had it and I liked it.
00:16:38
Speaker
And so I believe God is intentional in all of those different things and in different seasons of your life too, right? So it is a journey. And so for, I look back at my life and I think, man, what, if I only knew then what I know now 10 years ago, but guess what? I didn't because God did not, I believe it, well, I wasn't ready for that yet. I wasn't ready for that journey. So I think you have to have
00:17:01
Speaker
the long game in mind, I think you have to have this ability to say, I'm going to have resilience, I'm going to stick with this, and I'm going to stay connected to the father because he is going to truly lead me and help me to become that, quote unquote, best version of myself, which is, again, the most, you know, the person who is loving God and loving others the most. That's what the best version is. It's not the one that's the skinniest or the wealthiest or whatever you want to say, the smartest with the coolest job. You know, I don't fit in any of those categories.
00:17:32
Speaker
per se, but I am somebody who has this strong walk with the Father and who loves other people and really wants that to come out. Yeah, no, that's so good. I mean, you just mentioned so many, I think, important pieces of that. You're right. I mean, there are just so many pieces of discovering who God created us to be and I think
00:17:52
Speaker
I think about just my own journey over the years. My dad was a pastor and I never heard him once suggest to me that I should think about ministry. I look back on that now and he passed away in 2010 and I wish that I could ask him now, why didn't you ever suggest that?
00:18:11
Speaker
I think in part, I wonder if he wanted that call or that invitation to come from God and not from Him. And so I think you're so right that we begin in prayer and asking our Father to reveal that through His Spirit and we look at the different areas where we're passionate or things in the world that we care about, different gifts and abilities that we have that the Spirit of God has implanted in us or is empowering us to
00:18:38
Speaker
to do. And in people, I mean, you talk about community. I just think that is so critical. Again, as I think about my own journey, my dad never said that, and I think maybe for that reason. But I remember several people around me when I was a junior in high school. I mean, I remember standing in my youth pastor, his office, and it was the first time somebody said to me, hey, you should think about this. Like, I was just a kid trying to figure it out.
00:19:07
Speaker
and trying to understand what I should do. And I had a lot of my own insecurities. And he was the first person that said, hey, have you ever thought about this for these reasons? And so I think you're so right. I think the people that God places in our life and whether that's within our local church or family or friends that really see things in us and maybe even believe things for us that we don't believe about ourselves. Well, don't you also think that they call it out in you, but don't you also
00:19:36
Speaker
Don't you think they also become mirrors for you? You find yourself in community, right? So like when I'm in my community group or when I'm with my group of girlfriends, sometimes I see who I am because who I am not. Because of who they are. Yeah, no, that's so true. So if you're self-aware and reflective, sometimes it comes directly, someone calls something up in you and they see this, you thought about this. Other times, it's just by living in community and being like, oh, yo, that's not exactly how I think and what does this mean about me? And you know, the journey goes that way.
00:20:07
Speaker
Absolutely. And I even think about just like, just getting your hands dirty, like, you know, just getting in and doing something and going, Oh, wow, I'm really bad at that. I probably should not do that. Or when I did that, you know, I saw fruit, you know, and there were things that God did. And so I think sometimes, you know, like you said, spiritual gift inventories can be great. But even those sometimes cannot be the whole picture. And so I think sometimes just getting in, just taking a step of obedience,
00:20:34
Speaker
wherever you're at and doing something and trying it out, taking a risk, a step of faith and discovering that you're either really energized doing that, you see God move in a certain way, or you go, boy, I probably shouldn't try that again. And so those can be really helpful too. I mean, what kind of obstacles do you think exist for people that are on
Obstacles to Self-Discovery
00:20:54
Speaker
that journey? I mean, as you think about maybe men or women that are listening and they want to kind of step into more fully who God created them to be and kind of become that best version of themselves.
00:21:04
Speaker
Um, I mean, what obstacles do you think exist in our culture for someone on that journey of becoming who God created them to be? I think the most obvious would be, uh, the obstacle of comparison. And why do we have comparison so heavily right now is because everybody stuffs in our face, whether you're on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter or whatever that looks like. So, okay. So maybe when I was in high school,
00:21:30
Speaker
or 20, 25 years ago, was comparison a thing in my life? Of course it was. It's what we deal with, right? We live in community with people. You're going to always wonder, compare yourself into that way. However, in our generation, what I feel is we've got all of these things coming at us, okay? So we've got everybody's opinions, we've got what they look like, we've got what they eat, and whether we realize that those things are forming us, and they are definitely an obstacle
00:21:58
Speaker
And to us being like, well, but who is Claire? You know what I mean? Like, so I do think comparison is really difficult right now and tagging along on that is distraction. So it is the fact that we just have so much taking our attention from really sitting
00:22:14
Speaker
and listening to the Lord and hearing Him and where He is fine-tuning us. Sometimes He slaps us in the face like with a big one, like boom, like that's wrong, Claire, and making us who we should be and who we should not be. However, as I've gotten older in my faith, He's fine-tuning me now. I've been walking with the Lord for so long, and as I've grown in maturity,
00:22:38
Speaker
Sometimes it's little tweaks that he is actually calling me up into to become that best version. Well, those little tweaks, man, you got to be kind of like listening and having the ability to, again, block out all the other noises. So I think that tied with that also then is time, the time it takes for us to sit before the Lord and to
00:23:05
Speaker
meditate and pray and journal and ask him and all of those different types of things. And so I think it's just the pace of our society. I think it's all the information that we have coming to us that will really keep us from that. I think those are the largest obstacles. And sometimes I think too is we just, we also try to attach to something that looks close to like what we want to be because we have all this comparison. So we actually might think we're the best version of ourselves because it looks like,
00:23:34
Speaker
this person or you know it's it's it doesn't look that bad in comparison to other people but what we forget is that God is always calling us up higher and again sharpening us and so we can't settle and I think sometimes our our the obstacle is also that we settle a little bit because it looks good and it looks okay and so so do all the hundreds of people around us look similar so we have to be on guard for
00:23:59
Speaker
No, I think you are
Unique Gifts: Lessons from David and Saul
00:24:01
Speaker
so right. I always think of the biblical example of that in Saul and David in 1 Samuel 17, where Saul is... Of course, 1 Samuel 17 is the story of David and Goliath, but leading up to that, David, of course, is anointed. He's called to be the armor bearer of Saul, and David shows up, and I think Saul with good intentions,
00:24:27
Speaker
says you can't go out and fight like that and so let me put my armor on you and so he takes what what has helped him and he places it on David and I think it's in verse 38 you know there were where the scriptures say that that David walked around for a little bit you know that's paraphrased but he he walks right he takes a few steps you know I think there's some translations use that
00:24:47
Speaker
and realizes that he can't wear Saul's armor. And so he has to take them off. And of course, that's when he picks up what he knows and what God has gifted him and his experience of being a shepherd and takes the, you know, the smooth stones and goes out and God, you know, gives him that victory, gives Israel that victory. But I've always loved that story for exactly what you're talking about. I just, I remember reading that going, oh, wear, you need to wear your own armor.
00:25:13
Speaker
And, you know, Saul had a different kind of armor that was effective for him in the battle, but that wasn't David's armor. And so I just think, you know, what you're saying is so true that God in a, you know, similar way is saying, oh, we just need to, we need to be who we are, you know, who God says that we are. We need to wear our own armor and use the gifts that he's given us and not somebody else. He's called us to be faithful with the gifts he's given us, not the gifts that he's given somebody else. And I always think of that biblical example. And so I think you're,
00:25:43
Speaker
You're so right in that. I wanna ask you a final question, because I know what you're saying, we just talk so much about becoming who God created us to be. And that's really, I know for you, that isn't just about us. It's not just about self-discovery, self-awareness, that's part of it. But there's a greater reason, we need to discover who we are, who God's created us to be, that we're loved by the Father, that he calls us a son or calls us a daughter.
00:26:12
Speaker
we become aware of those gifts and those passions, but it's not meant to stop there.
Mission-Oriented Living for God
00:26:17
Speaker
And I know this is something that you're passionate about, that God has created us to be the best version of who we are, not for our sake, but ultimately for his sake and for the sake of the world. And so, as we think about that growing into that identity and really that calling, I mean, why is discovering who we are so important for the sake of God's kingdom?
00:26:42
Speaker
I mean, it's living mission minded. It's that idea that we have got a short period of time for us to tell the most important message that we have on our hearts. And so with that said, would I not want to be the person that God has said, this is you and your strength, Claire. And I want you to go out and just slay the kingdom because it is in my power that you're going to do it, but I'm using you.
00:27:11
Speaker
Mark, one of our pastors, he used to say, you know, we're not God's plan B, we're his plan A, meaning this, you're it. And so when I think like it's game time, so I think a sports analogy.
00:27:21
Speaker
You know, your coach that's ready to get the win, he's got his top five out there in basketball and he's like, you guys, you've trained for this, you've planned for this, we've practiced, your mindset's on, and so here we go. And so to me, it is just living with that bit of spiritual fervor and zeal in Romans that talks about that. And I also think too, when we look, you know, Ephesians 10 tells us,
00:27:46
Speaker
that God has works planned in advance for us to do. So when I think that there is something out me in the future that God is like, Claire, it's coming and it's going to be here. And because of your obedience to me, because I work all things, I see all seasons and times and people, everybody that you're going to come in contact with, but Claire, I've got this for you in the future.
00:28:09
Speaker
And I need you to be what I've asked, called you to be and what I want you to be. Like to me, that's exciting. So to say, I'm going to step into that Lord in the ups and downs and the way that you're chiseling me and becoming more like you, then that is exciting for me to have so much purpose in my life. And so again, it comes back to the mission that I have.
00:28:31
Speaker
on these few 80-ish years here on earth that we have, Lord willing, and to really make a difference for eternity. And so I always come back to that. If I feel in any way, and I'm very careful about this, an introspective, if I feel in any way that I am starting to veer off because I want to be the best version of me for any other reason, then primarily, I don't think it's wrong for you to be a good version of yourself too.
00:28:59
Speaker
have a great career and provide for your family or whatever that would look like. I'm not diminishing that, but if it is not my sole purpose to advance the kingdom because God's got something out there, then I'm really careful about that and really try to pull myself back in anchor again because it's so easily to be swayed by the culture and even Christian culture. So yeah, I think it's huge for us to think that we've got to live with this deal, with this fervor, with this mission minded, our pastor,
00:29:30
Speaker
who started our church plant, unfortunately, passed away of cancer. It'll be about three years ago now. And his funeral, he actually was able to prerecord a video and give it to us. And it was pretty powerful. But one of the things he left us with is that he says, I want you to enter heaven with a spiritual sweat. I want you to come and see me.
00:29:53
Speaker
up here because you have worked for the kingdom. And he gave such a powerful vision for us in our church to do that and what that looked like to disciple, to be discipled and to disciple other people.
Closing and Acknowledgements
00:30:06
Speaker
And again, it kind of all rolls back around into really what does it look like for us to just live on mission, being the best version of ourselves as God is sanctifying us day by day. Yeah, I love that. I think that's so good. And I think it's such a reminder to like,
00:30:21
Speaker
That can be things that nobody ever sees. I think when you were talking about some of the obstacles that we face in our culture, I think one of the obstacles that we oftentimes run into in living out what you were just describing.
00:30:36
Speaker
is that tendency to want to be seen or to want that to be what we would call something great. And yet what I think you see all throughout the Gospels in God's kingdom is that it's the small stuff, it's the little things, it's the things that nobody is ever gonna write about or put on the cover of Christianity today. And so I think for those that are listening, like this journey of becoming who God created you to be and entering into his kingdom work
00:31:04
Speaker
being used by God. I mean, sometimes that stuff that gets celebrated and people see it and they applaud it and they go, wow, look at the influence that person has had. And sometimes nobody ever sees it. It's the faithful mom or the parent who raises and disciples their kid. It's the faithful neighbor who is just a good neighbor for 10, 15, 20 years and leads their neighbor to Christ. And so I just think
00:31:30
Speaker
that there's so much of what you're talking about that I think it's easy, again, like you were saying before, for our culture to kind of distort that and even discourage us. And so just to encourage those that are listening, it is the big stuff, it's the small stuff, it's the things that get seen, it's the stuff that's unseen as well. And I just love that reminder from you. And so I appreciate that. Thank you so much for just your wisdom and again, for your faithful
00:32:00
Speaker
you know, ministry and witness over the years because it's been almost, has it been 10 years or more that you've been blogging and that, because I think that's when we first met, Ruth first met, you know, you and Courtney, I think it's been that long, hasn't it?
00:32:12
Speaker
I think you're right. I think I started in January of 2011. So yeah, we're going on 10 years. Wow. That is crazy. I know. I know. Well, thank you again for taking the time to be on Root Like Faith. I know this is going to be a huge encouragement to our listeners. And again, I'm going to link to your bio in our show notes and also to where they can follow you and learn more about your ministry online. And so thank you again for joining me today. Thank you so much, Pat. It was great being here.
00:32:40
Speaker
Well, as always, you can go to our show notes on rootlikefaith.com forward slash podcast. And you can also follow us on Instagram at Patrick W. Schwank and at Ruth Schwank or on Facebook. And as if I don't say it enough already, we are thrilled that you are joining us and we welcome you into our family here at Root Like Fate. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts so you don't miss an episode.