Why Chasing Your Dreams Will Never Be Enough, with Kelly Needham

Have you ever wondered if you’re living your God-given purpose? If so, this episode of Grounded is for you! Guest Kelly Needham shares why chasing your dreams, finding your “calling,” and reaching for greatness will never be enough. She’ll leave you equipped with practical tips to steward your imagination with eternity in mind. 

Connect with Kelly

Instagram: @kellyneedham
Twitter: @kellyneedham
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrskellyneedham
Website: https://kellyneedham.com/

Episode Notes

• Purposefooled book by Kelly Needham: https://www.reviveourhearts.com/store/product/purposefooled/
• “‘Purposefooled,’ with Kelly Needham” podcast series: https://www.reviveourhearts.com/podcast/revive-our-hearts/season/purposefooled-with-kelly-needham/
• “Set a Fire in Me, Lord” video with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_gc7_YqN7U
• Overcomers: Lessons from the Churches of Revelation booklet: https://www.reviveourhearts.com/donate/overcomers/

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Erin Davis: I believe we're all put on this planet for a purpose. Somebody very famous said that. But she added this: and we all have a different purpose. Ever hear that? How about: find your why, or find the center of God's will? I bet you've heard a version of those sentiments. I bet like me, you wonder, Am I living my God-given purpose? If you've asked that question, this episode is just for you. I'm Erin Davis, and this is Grounded.

Portia Collins: We're here to give you your weekly infusion of the two things that we love: hope and perspective. We've noticed that there are a lot of messages directed at Christian women about the idea of purpose. And we're going to put those messages and our own hearts under the microscope of God's Word today. That's the best place for it to be. 

Erin: I'm ready. I need it. I feel like this is an area where Christian women are being pummeled by messages. It can be really, really confusing. And for somebody who's wired like me, who likes to get things done and likes to achieve and likes to please the Lord, it can sometimes be burdensome. Portia, what would you say? What area of your life do you most feel like you're kind of striving for purpose?

Portia: Honestly, the old Portia was . . . So think back a couple of weeks to the episode with Dr. Heather Holloman. 

Erin: Yeah, that was a good one. 

Portia: She described me on that. I was like: gotta get the degrees. I got to do this. I got to be the young professional of the year. Thankfully, God has been changing my frame of mind about this, but I can imagine that today I'm gonna learn even more. He's gonna bless me even more on really reshaping what my idea of purpose is. 

Erin: I think we can put a Christian spin on that whole hustle / achieve message and justify it in ways that don't line up with God's Word. We've got just the guest to help us sort through all of this. Kelly Needham is here.

I know I say this about a lot of people, and I mean it, but she really is a Grounded favorite. Kelly says that chasing your dreams, finding your “calling and reaching for greatness” will never be enough. I'm curious why that is and what the answer is. After Portia and Kelly's conversation, I'm going to be taking us to the book of Matthew, specifically Matthew 22 and 28. Because right there in the Bible is your calling. So, I've got some reminders for you that God hasn't left you to, like, read the tea leaves and search the sky and try to figure out this calling thing. It is right there for you in God's Word.

Portia: You know, I think I already know where you're going, and I'm super excited. But I'm, I just had a little bit of play on words.

Erin: You already have one shoe off, don’t you Portia? Because we know how you like to throw the shoe.

Portia: Maybe I'm just getting ready, because I know you're gonna take us to church, and I am ready for it. But first, I need you to do me a favor. You gotta give me some good news. 

9:09 - Good News (with Erin)

Erin: Ah, I love it when I get to be the good news giver. I don't get that roll as often as you do Portia, because you bring it so beautifully. But I've got it this morning. So good news on Grounded is anything to put a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and remind you that God is good. I know that it's mid-August, but it's still summer. There's so much to love about this season. 

For those of us here in the United States, these months have been filled with watermelon and fireworks and burgers on the grill and trips to the lake. But my family is one of countless families who have also experienced a summer of spiritual growth. Good things have been happening in the Davis family this summer. I'm so grateful my middle boys and I were blessed to go to a camp in Wisconsin—Lake Geneva Christian Youth Camp. I had the joy of being the Bible teacher there to add one to the girls. And if that sounds sweet to you, I promise, just multiply it. It was just a joy. Many of those little girls made first time decisions for Jesus. 

So, think back to your own spiritual walk with the Lord. Did you have a formative camp experience? Did you have that moment maybe in a hot auditorium where you knew the gospel was for you? Well, I had the joy of watching that happen in the hearts of many little girls. 

And then our oldest son, Eli, I'm going to tell you a little bit more about him when I teach. He was one of 115 students from my local church who got to attend camp in Nebraska—the same camp where I came to Christ at age fifteen. He went at age fifteen. And that's been a real sweet, full circle moment for our family. 

And many of the teenagers in that group . . . My son is already a follower of Jesus, but many of the teenagers in that group surrendered their lives to Christ and followed Him in believers baptism. In fact, we had a special baptism service for our church just a couple of weeks ago where those teenagers followed Jesus' example and were immersed into those baptismal waters. 

Also, at my church, we just had Vacation Bible School and over 300 kids attended. I asked our littlest one, Ezra, “What did you learn?” 

He said, “Look up, look down, I can see Jesus all around,” which he got it. I love it. 

And so, this revival that is happening in my boys’ hearts is being multiplied in camps and Vacation Bible Schools, all across the country. And one news outlet recently reported this great news. The headline was this, “A Little Taste of Heaven, Thousands of Gen Z-ers Worship, Give Hearts to Christ at Summer Camps.” 

The next-gen director for the North American mission board said this, “Culture understands and calls them Gen Z, but we have been calling them the revival generation.” And that same director recently tweeted about a week he spent at a camp where he saw 790 teenagers make decisions for the Lord and young adults, including 366 first time professions of faith, 116 lives surrendered to ministry. Many are saying that they were already saved, but they needed to recommit their lives to the Lord to give God more than glory, to renounce sin in their lives. 

And some ways I think we take this for granted that summer can be a time of explosive spiritual formation in the lives of our kids and young people. But we shouldn't we should celebrate it anytime 790 young people are making decisions for the Lord or 115 kids are going to camp as is the case in my church or 300 kids coming to VBS. That means they're hearing the gospel. That's exciting!

So, I love to say there is no such thing as a throwaway generation. There's never going to be until Christ comes, a generation where God's Spirit does not move and woo and win. And He certainly seems to be winning in the lives of young people right now. He's moving. He's stirring the hearts of young people. Children and youth are surrendering their lives to Jesus, surrendering their futures to the call of ministry. That one gives me goosebumps. I was about sixteen years old when I surrendered my life to ministry. God is raising up a fresh generation of faithful followers and servants.

So, I know we talk about revival here. We long for it; we pray for it. And we should, but as we take a look around the world, we can see glimpses of it. Revival is happening. We can't think of any news we'd rather share here on Grounded. Portia, I’ll turn it over to you.

Portia I love it. I love it. Tell me again what my Ezi said.

Erin: He said, “Look up and look down. I can see Jesus all around.” I said, “You got it, Buddy.” Isn’t that good?

Portia: I love him. Please give him a big hug and a kiss from Auntie Portia. 

Erin: I will, no doubt. 

13:38 - Grounded with God's People (Kelly Needham)

Portia: Kelly Needham is with us today, y'all. I am excited about it. She's a wife, a mama and author and Bible teacher. And honestly, a Grounded favorite. She's one of my favorites. I love to talk to her anytime she and I are in the same space. If you have found yourself struggling with the idea of purpose, then don't move. Sit right where you are. Get your notepad, your pen, because Kelly is about to help us think more biblically about what it means to live out our purpose. Welcome back to Grounded, Kelly.

Kelly Needham: Thank you so much, Portia. I'm so glad to be here with you guys today.

Portia: I am excited to have you super, super. Alright, let's get to it. So Kelly, the title of your new book is Purposefooled. Let me just pause this, let's give a round of applause for the title, because I think it is perfect Purposfooled. In this book, I've been fortunate to get you know some Cliff notes. And so, you've revealed how we have been fooled into chasing meaning in all the wrong places. And so, I would love it if you could start us off by sharing some common misconceptions that you found people having about finding purpose.

Kelly: Well, I think those misconceptions are everywhere. They're in the culture, but they're also in the church, and in ways that we don't realize sometimes. I would say they boil down to this. Anytime we attach our purpose to something we do, it becomes problematic. But by and large, it's how we understand it. When we talk about what was I made to do, you hear do in in how we describe it. I was made to do what was I made for. We usually are thinking about an activity set before us, even in the church. We sometimes think about that, like a specific calling or task. 

But as soon as we attach our purpose to a verb, we now need to do that thing to be okay. Like, if my purpose is to write, my purpose is to be an author. Then as soon as I'm prohibited from writing because of just changes in my season, whether it's child care changes, whether it's a sickness that I'm dealing with, or one of my kids is dealing with. I'm now sequestered to this area of meaninglessness living because I can't live out the thing that was made to do. 

So, I think that's, by and large, the biggest problem. We're being trained to see purpose is what we do. But I think the Bible teaches us that our purpose is not a verb but a noun. We were made for a person, that our purpose is attached to God Himself, which infuses all of life seasons with meaning.

Portia: Absolutely, absolutely. You're already hitting those touch points. You are what I call, telling my business. Because I have found myself struggling in the very same ways exactly what you described. I have definitely been there. 

You know, in your book, you talk about the hunger for the extraordinary. I would love it if you give us the Cliff notes here. What do you mean by the hunger for the extraordinary? And why do you think that we are so drawn to that?

Kelly: I think that's a human longing. We can sometimes peg it on technology, right? We're all obsessed with being YouTube stars now or something like that. But I think if you look at Genesis, you see the Tower of Babel. I mean, from day one, human beings are like, how can we build something amazing that screams we’re important and extraordinary, we've done this big thing. 

So, I think it's in us to long for something out of the ordinary, something transcendent. That's why we want to build legacies and start things and be famous. It kind of leads to all of that. I actually don't think the longing in and of itself is wrong, I think it's just misplaced. If we're made in the image of the living God to mean the one who designs galaxies and upholds black holes with the palm of His hand, and yet designs every snowflake differently. 

I mean, what? We were made in His image. It is no wonder that we long for something transcendent and otherworldly because we were made for something bigger than this world, we were made for Him.

The problem is we take that big, deep, aching longing, and when we try to channel it toward things we can do . . . Even sometimes in our motherhood, we can see it as ordinary and extraordinary like, I'm gonna mother so well, people can write books about this later, right? Or I'm going to start this nonprofit and do this or whatever it is, whatever mountain we're trying to climb. 

I think ultimately, like the book of Ecclesiastes will say, you can get to the top of that mountain, and there's nothing there. Everything under the sun is meaningless. God Himself is the only one who can hold that weight and fill that deep ache in us for transcendent purpose. So, I think the ache is good. But it's just misplaced when we look to be extraordinary ourselves instead of looking to the extraordinary God.

Portia: So that makes me want to dig in a little bit deeper. You know, you're saying we're a bit disillusioned when it comes to purpose. And, we are chasing the extraordinary, which is not inherently bad, but our way of doing that is not correct. And so, I want to know, what's the danger? I think I know the answer to this, but I want you to give it to me. What is the danger specifically for what happens in a woman's heart when she is trying to or just striving to, “find her purpose”?

Kelly: Well, I think when you go down that path of, I need to find my purpose by my unique purpose, right? You've now opened the door for endless self-discovery. And that is because that pit is never ending, right? Who was I made to be in each new season? Now I'm asking, what am I supposed to be doing in this season and in this season? It's just kind of an endless pit of looking inward at myself, what was I made to do? 

And then now whatever I land on, whatever I decide is my unique purpose, now it becomes my lord. I now am going to bend over backwards to do that thing. And I'm going to see any hindrance to being able to do that thing as a problem. 

And even if God is orchestrating my days to provide good opportunities for me, if they appear to me as a hindrance to the unique purpose, they now become obstacles to leap over, not something to receive an embrace from God. So, I think that's one problem. 

But a second problem is, it keeps us as the main character. I'm still thinking about what I need to accomplish in the world. Instead of letting God be the main character of my own life, He now is the one acting before I had a conscious thought and Psalm 139. He's moving and acting in our lives. Do we see Him as the main character? Does He have the right to be that main character role in our lives? Are we trying to kind of squeeze our way in there? 

And most of us, you try to because it feels great to be the main character in a story and to be the hero, but ultimately, that's not who we are. And honestly, that's too much pressure for us. And at the end of the day, we're just burnt out and exhausted when we try to fill that.

Portia: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. 

So, speaking of stories, I'm glad you say this, who the main character is in the story and basically how God uses us in our story and His story is important. And so, we love the Bible here on Grounded. I love the fact that in your book, you look to Scripture and you recount familiar Bible stories, Bible passages to demonstrate how we can all purposefully change the world for the glory of God. 

And so, can we get a little teaser of some of what you do in the book? Can you share maybe one of those Bible stories and basically share with us how that correlates with the message that you're sharing in the book Purposefooled?

Kelly: Yeah. Well, I do a lot of focus on stories of the Bible in the book, because I'm hoping people will read their Bibles a little differently maybe after reading my book. We tend to focus on the highlight reels of the people in the Bible, kind of the highs. Wow. Look at Philip and the eunuch. He meets him on the road, he gets saved, he gets baptized. But what I started doing in the book is like, let's look at what led up to that. 

So, if you look, this is in Acts 8, for example, where that story is. What happens on the road, that desert road before? Phillip is in Samaria, and he's proclaiming Christ to them. And it says in verse six, the crowds were in one accord or giving attention to what was being said by Philip. There are crowds of people. And we see later that everybody's rejoicing, there's like a mini-revival happening in Samaria. 

So, it seems like this is the place to be. Big things are going on. Everybody is listening to Philip. And then we have a little side thing that happened with a man named Simon there. If you scoot down to verse 25 and 26, what we see is the gospel is going out to many villages in Samaria. But in verse 26, the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert road.” 

So hey, Philip, I know there's a revival happening, cool stuff is going on. But I would like you to get up and go alone down this desert road. He does not tell him there's a man down there that that needs the gospel preached. He just says to go there. And you can't do that unless God is your Lord. Not results, not big revivals. And I'm with you like yes, and amen to revival. 

And God is about that, too. Right? He's about to revive this eunuch who's on the road. But Philip is obedient. I think that's what you see in every Bible character that we love. At the end of the day, they were obedient. Yes, Lord, yes, Lord is in my heart. If that means I leave the busy, bustling ministry that's thriving and doing well to go on a desert road alone by myself. If you lead me there, I am an instrument in your hands. I'm at your disposal, because my purpose is you. And I'm happy on the desert road. And I'm happy when revival is happening. Wherever you lead me. I go. And I think that is really the key to a lot of these stories we love. We just don't like that part. As much.

Portia: Yeah. Amen, amen, what a way to help me look at the text with fresh eyes. Because I think I've missed that a couple of times, you know, I have truly missed that. So, thank you for drawing my eyes to what God is doing in the seemingly mundane. And, you know, the boring that that is. That's amazing. Alright. 

So, one encouragement that you offer in the book is that we should be reclaiming our imaginations from culture and stewarding them within eternity in mind. And so, coach us up here. I want to know some practical steps on how we can do this. And then after you share those steps, I want to kind of get us into a place of just praying for the woman who is struggling, who has been woefully influenced by the influencer type world that we live in now. So yeah, share with us the practical steps, and then we're gonna pray.

Kelly: Yeah, I think you're right, our imagination plays a really big role in this. We're being presented with images every day, all the time. So, for me what that looks like is reclaiming my imagination with an eternal mindset is a steady drip of the Bible. Not just read my favorite parts that for me has been really key. Like what I shared. Okay, wait a minute, what's happening here with Philip. I'm going to pay attention. I'm going to put myself in Phillip’s shoes as I read the Bible. What was it like for him to leave this bustling active revival and walk alone in the desert road? 

Lord, could I do that with You? If I meditate on those things, people like Phillip in the Bible become friends of mine. 

When I was about to have a busy, fun, full day of ministry at my church, and my kid is sick. I'm now at home alone. In this space, doing things that maybe aren't my favorite. I can remember God you did that for Phillip. Once asked him to go down a road that wasn't maybe what he planned on. Help me be like him. 

So, it gives me new people to have in my mind as I go about my day-to-day life, that study Bible drip, but also, I'll regularly try to reclaim who am I living for? What audience is on my mind? Am I thinking about people? A lot of times our phones are allowing us to live with other people as our audience? Or when I think about God, peering down over heaven onto what's being done on the earth, what is He gathering the attention of heaven and going, look at that. Look at that faith, look at that obedience. Look at that person waiting on Me, I'll just give myself even just five minutes alone, just staring out the window, maybe doing dishes to just ask myself, “God, who are you paying attention to today?” 

And even just pondering that question, even though I don't exactly know the answer, right? It changes what I value, what's important to me in my day. It helps me to live for that audience, not for this one. 

And so those are a couple of things.I'm doing almost on a daily loop to help me live meaningfully. So, I hope that is an encouragement to those of you listening, who are wrestling with that as well. And so, I'd love to pray for your listeners. 

Portia: Good, please. Go right ahead.

Kelly: Lord, we thank You that You do not despise our longings for greatness and grandeur. As Your disciples came to You and asked, who's the greatest? You did not rebuke them for even asking. You gave them a clear and direct answer. You told them exactly who is the greatest in the kingdom? You did not despise their questions. You just redirected them. And so God, these deep aches in our hearts for any woman feeling this deep ache was made for more than the life I'm living? I pray that she would hear and feel from You. Yes, yes, you were made for more than what you're living right now. You were made for Me. 

God, I pray that there would be a growth in our faith in my heart and all of our hearts. That really is the answer that we were made for You. And that is so much bigger than anything we could accomplish in this life. God, would You allow the truth that we were made for You to be an exciting invitation, but also a gift of rest? That we really can stop chasing that carrot on the stick. It's always one step ahead of u,s that the answer really is right in front of us. 

You're right here with us today. And so, God, would You help each woman wrestling deeply with this to take every question, every concern, every fear to You today, to spend time with You today to talk with You. And to take those deep aches and longings to Your feet, not to the feet of the world, not to her own feet to run ragged, trying to chase something. But God, would she bring each longing to You? And find in You, maybe an answer she didn't expect but one that's better than what she wanted. We pray these things in Jesus’ name, amen.

Portia: Amen, Kelly, thank you. I think you have turned our eyes toward heaven and toward our sovereign Lord today, and I am grateful, very grateful. 

Y'all Kelly talks more about this if you didn't get enough here. She talks more about this on the Revive Our Hearts podcast, our main flagship podcast. We will drop a link to that episode in the chat in the show notes. And we're going to drop a link to the Revive Our Hearts store where you can grab your copy of Purposefooled. Thank you, Kelly, for being with us today. Love you.

Kelly: Thank you so much Portia.

Portia: All right, Erin is ready to help us get, well, actually stay grounded in God's Word, because Kelly's already gotten us pretty grounded. I'm gonna be listening here with Miss Emery, who is a constant reminder that she is not a limit to my purpose. She is my purpose, part of my purpose. 

So yeah, Erin is gonna get us grounded, and she's gonna take us to Matthew 28 in just a moment. We're going to hear from her, but we want you to take a minute to watch this one-minute clip of Nancy teaching and consider, “Do you see your study of God's Word as an essential part to living out your God-given purpose?” Alright, check it out. Let’s watch. 

32:31 - Nancy Teaching Clip

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: We must let God speak to us before we speak His Word to others. Let God speak to us before we try to speak His Word to others. And if you start looking through this lens at Scripture, you'll see it all over the Old and New Testaments. Ezra chapter 7, verse 10, tells us that Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to do it. And then to teach Israel its statutes and rules. First his own study, his life to study to do, and then to teach. We read in Psalm 39, my heart became hot within me, as I meditated, as I marinated, as I let God speak to me. As I'm used, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue. Too many of us are trying to speak with our tongues before we have let the fire of God's Word and God's Spirit and God's holiness, burn.

How does that happen? It happens as we muse, as we meditate. It happens as we wait on the Lord with this Book open before us. We're pondering, we're thinking, we're processing. We're letting it soak into our pores. And as we do the fire burns, and then when you get up, there's power. It's not you, it's the Holy Spirit. You get up and you teach with your tongue and God does something supernatural. Out of the fire of your own heart to use it as kindling to light fire in other's hearts.

34:21 - Grounded in God's Word (with Erin)

Erin: Amen. How would your life be different if you saw sitting in God's Word as essential to living out your purpose? 

Well, I have a little yellow sticky note that typically sits on the monitor of my computer, I've pulled it off here to show you. And it says this, “John was more in love with the God of his calling, than his calling from God.” That's a quote from a writer that I respect a great deal. And I need that reminder: that the calling of my life is to be more in love with God than to be in love with any calling that He may or may not have given me. 

That little yellow sticky note, though it is silent, is constantly asking me, “Erin, are you more in love with your calling? Or the God who called you?” 

I cut my teeth on the idea as a believer that God wanted me to do big things for Him. I came to Him as a fifteen year old and very shortly after was convinced and would tell anybody who would listen, “God has big things for me.” I'd read the parable of the talents and decide, I don't want to be the one that squanders mine. I'm not going to bury it in the backyard. I spent many years rather functionally obsessed with this idea of calling and this conviction that I am called to be a Bible teacher. 

But was I more in love with my calling from God or the God of my calling? Most days, it was the former. We've muddied Scripture, something that Scripture makes crystal clear, that if the question is what is my calling? It's right here in our Bibles in black and white. We tend to add a lot of gray to something that Jesus doesn't. 

I want to read to you what I'm sure is a familiar cluster of passages. Matthew chapter 22, verses 37–40. This is Jesus talking. 

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” 

If you know the context here, it was some very religious men who asked Jesus the question that warranted this answer. They took the idea of calling far. I mean, all the way. They were essentially asking how their lives should reflect what they knew to be true about God. And what Jesus replied was maddening to them. How do I know that? Well, because it made them homicidal. 

They said, “What’s my calling essentially? Qhat am I supposed to do with my life?” And Jesus said, “Well, two things. You're supposed to love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength, and the second is a lot like it. You're supposed to love your neighbor as yourself.” I just got to believe because I have a human nature and they did to that they maybe went, “Can't be it. Surely, I'm called to more than loving God and loving my neighbor.” 

But have you started there? Are you doing this most basic and most essential callings on your life: love God, love others. That is what you can know for sure that He has called you to today. People call that the greatest commandment. 

And then we follow up in Matthew chapter 28. Go ahead and flip there with what we call the Great Commission. These two things go hand in hand, Matthew 28, verses 16–20. 

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

So, let's set the stage: the crucifixion and resurrection had happened. The ascension was moments away. Jesus was speaking about mission to a group of men who are about to turn the world right side up. This was a holy huddle. And before He ascended, Jesus said, “Hey, guys, hey, who I am going to build the Church on the backs of? Here's what I've called you to do. I'm recruiting you to be on co-mission with me.” That's why it's called the Great Commission. “I want you to go and make disciples, and I want you to baptize them in the name of the Father and Son, the Holy Spirit, and I want you to teach My word. And by the way, I am with you. I will never ever, ever leave you.”

Scripture does not record that He said this, but the spirit of this is he goes, “Let's roll. This is what we're gonna do. Let's roll. Join Me on co-mission of redeeming this broken world. And here's the game plan. We don't need a flow chart. We don't need a fancy program, we're going to make disciples, we're going to baptize them. And we're going to teach them the Word.” 

So, what is your calling? That's a good question to ask, as Kelly said. God sent that question into your heart. But if you think the answer is something that is incredibly tailor made to you, I think you're missing it. What is your calling? It is to seek the lost and teach the saved. That calling is for all of God's people. It will not change until the trumpet blasts and He returns for us. 

So, my oldest son, Eli, he went to that camp I told you about that. And one of the things they get after that camp is something called a “Kingdom Worker Card.” There are some rules. You don't have to take one. But if you take one, they're sealed. And if you take one, you make a commitment that I will do what my kingdom worker card says. So, Eli has been looking for this. It is the first year he can get a kingdom worker card, because he's going into high school. Don't ask me more about that. I'll tear up. But he is. 

This is the first year he could get his kingdom worker card, and he's been so excited. He said, “Mom, I hope it's something big.” And he had all of these dreams about what it was going to be. And then the night they got their kingdom worker cards. I said, “You get your kingdom worker?” 

And he said, “Yeah.” 

And I said, “Well, what was it?” 

And he pulled it out. And here's what it says: “Family walks over the next year. Walk together with your entire family each week. Each walk must be at least twenty minutes and phones must stay in pockets or at the house in at the house the whole time. Create a list of discussion questions to get the conversation going.” 

And I said, “Well, what do you think?” 

He said, “I thought it was gonna be something bigger.” 

He wanted it to be something that would be fantastical and measurable and draw a lot of attention to himself in his heart of hearts. I don't blame my boy, he loves the Lord. But he is made of the same stuff as the rest of us. And the idea of rallying our family for a walk just didn't seem like Kingdom work to him. 

And we talked about if you cannot love and serve your own family, what business do you have going out there? And we talked about the calling on your life as the love of God and love others. And we talked about how loving your family can sometimes be the biggest and hardest thing Jesus ever asked you to do. Same can be true for loving your neighbor. 

And I said, “Buddy, can I share what happened with your kingdom worker card just this morning?” He said sure. And God is using him for big things. God is using him to show the world that a fifteen-year-old boy who takes the time to walk with his mom and dad and baby brothers and talk about what matters, that God can use that. 

Women, we are reading the tea leaves. We're looking for signs in the sky. We're looking for a calling that seems big. And Scripture gives us a couple of really important questions. Are we faithfully loving God with everything we've got? And are we loving others? In other words, are we more in love with the God of our calling? And are we loving our neighbor every day, every week, every year until He comes? 

So, we're recording this at the beginning of a new week. Say mission: Love God, love others. Seek the lost, and teach the saved. Next week, say mission and next week say mission and next week say mission and next week say mission. 

Yes, you have a calling. And yes, it has eternal significance. But it's right there in the text that you're supposed to share the gospel with those God puts in your path. And you're supposed to hold high this book. Those steps, we never get past them. We don't outgrow them. There isn't something better coming. 

So, let me encourage you to stop searching for your calling. It's right here in God's Word. It's time to start looking for it. It's time to stop looking for it. It's time to start living it. So, let's roll. 

Portia: Let's roll. 

Erin: Let's roll for the glory of God. The building of His kingdom.

Portia: Yes, yes. I love it when you teach Erin Davis. Thank you. I knew where you were going. Good. Going. Great Commission go. So I was doing a play on words. I hope y'all caught it.

Erin: I caught it, it was good. I was tracking. 

Portia: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. We love you. 

All right, raise your hand. Y’all ready? Raise your hand if you are ready for the good stuff. I always come prepared to recommend a few tools that you can put in your spiritual knapsack, it's probably already overflowing. But we're gonna put even more in there. And this month, I want to share an excellent resource with you. It is called Overcomers. And the subtitle is this: Lessons from the Churches of Revelation. It is a short study that's based on the teachings of our very own Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. And this month, we will send it to you as a thank you when you give a donation of any amount to the Revive Our Hearts ministry. 

And don't worry, I can almost hear my Revive Partners saying “Hey, what about us?” Well, as a thank you for your monthly partnership, all you’ve got to do is request this resource. That's right. You can get it. Just log into your online account, and click send me this resource, and we'll get it right in the mail to you. Which reminds me, I'm gonna go request my copy right after this episode. 

Erin Davis, this was great.

Erin: I got to work on that resource. It is really good. It will take you through the churches in the book of Revelation at the beginning. I actually think it dovetails into this conversation nicely because a lot of those churches forgot what is our fundamental mission, and they got sideways. 

Hey, my husband Jason always listens in when we're recording Grounded. And he just texted me and said, “Stop saying reading the tea leaves.” I want to say that I don't mean you actually read the tea leaves. But I do think we sometimes can look for our callings in a way that seems like that. So in case there was any doubt, it was a play on words, maybe not a good way.

Portia: I was tracking with you, and I think our Grounded sisters were.

Erin: I want to make sure. He always has really wise input.

Portia: Yes. I love that. And I love that you honor your husband in that way, and he honors you. That is great. Awesome.

Erin: I don't read the tea leaves. I sip the tea, preferably with honey. But yeah, we don't want to act mystical about our calling.

Portia: Look, for full disclosure, I had never heard that phrase until I heard you say it. But I knew exactly where you were coming from. 

Well, I think God was certainly glorified through our episode today. And I pray that we can keep it going. In fact, next week, we're going there. We're going to try to go on and give ourselves a biblical view of physical beauty.

Are you ready? 

Erin: We've got anything in there for forty-somethings? I hope so.

Portia: Absolutely. I'm sure I'm sure there is a little bit for everybody. Robin Parton is there and is going to help us look at the Book and see what God's Word says about our physical beauty. Let's wake up with hope together next week on Grounded.

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