Sidewalk Conversations
"Let the one who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall..." (1 Corinthians 10:12)
Standing strong and remaining true to your calling is no easy task. No one sets out to crash and burn. In fact, it's actually the opposite, most people want to stand strong, remain effective, and be true to their values all the way through to the end. But, it is really hard to do.
In these interviews, Piet Van Waarde (a 40 year veteran of pastoral ministry) has heart-to-heart conversations with ordinary people about what it takes to stay faithful and effective in the things that matter most.
Sidewalk Conversations
From 2 AM Bedtimes to Sunday Morning Ministry: The Natalie Story
Natalie shares her journey from skeptical teen to passionate social media manager and youth leader at Shoreline Church, revealing how God met her in her darkest moments and transformed her life.
• Finding faith during COVID through a devotional book found in a junk drawer
• Building and leading a social media ministry team at Shoreline Church
• Using technology and social media to share the gospel and invite people into church
• Working with middle school students and addressing their questions about faith, identity, and self-control
• The importance of authenticity in reaching the next generation
• How modern church environments can eliminate barriers between everyday life and spiritual experience
• Discovering ministry as a calling despite initial resistance
• Balancing the positive potential and pitfalls of social media in ministry
• Finding fulfillment in caring for people beyond technical responsibilities
If you're looking for a church in the Austin area, we encourage you to check out Shoreline Church. Services are also available online if you'd like to join from afar.
No.
Natalie Galeano:I didn't even know spring break happened.
Piet Van Waarde:I was just kind of there I'm like, why are there a lot of?
Natalie Galeano:people in town. Why is Whataburger filled at 10 pm? But yeah, because Whataburger is my spot, I go there with my friends like every night. That's the only thing open. Austin's such a big city, but nothing's open past 1 am.
Piet Van Waarde:Well, what are you doing after 1 am?
Natalie Galeano:Not drugs, not partying, and so there's nothing else to do. How?
Piet Van Waarde:about sleep.
Natalie Galeano:No, no, not for the young Drink water. I feel energized, I feel happy. Good, how are you feeling?
Piet Van Waarde:I'm feeling good too. I went to bed at 10. 10 pm. Like I'm. You know, I'm getting tired at 945 and trying to get ready, yeah.
Natalie Galeano:I met up with my friends at 1030 last night. Yeah, yeah.
Piet Van Waarde:I wouldn't even know when you got out. I mean, if you tried to text me, it was already. My phone was already up.
Natalie Galeano:No no.
Piet Van Waarde:But you know I am older, so that's okay. Thank you for joining us for another Sidewalk Conversations. We're so grateful that you've come and participated. We have another great guest with us today. I'm so thrilled to have one of the youth workers at Shoreline. But before we get into the conversation, let me take a moment to actually thank Shoreline for their sponsorship of this broadcast. So we have a number of different sponsors over these broadcasts and there is one that is going to be doing today's and that's Shoreline Church. So if you're looking for a church in the Austin area, I would encourage you to check out Shoreline, and they also have services online so you can join us from afar if you'd like as well. So today I have as my guest Natalie. How are you, natalie? Good to see you.
Natalie Galeano:I'm doing good. How are you?
Piet Van Waarde:I'm good. We were just talking about, when you got up today, crazy Bed at 2.33 am Am and awake at 9 am.
Natalie Galeano:I mean that's a good amount of sleep. That's what. Like seven hours, yeah, I guess so Two three, four, five, six, seven.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, whatever. Yeah, that's there Way to go. Yes, well, let's start off with. What do you do? What keeps you busy during the week?
Natalie Galeano:So I work at Shoreline Church as a social media manager and marketing assistant. Okay so that means I'm doing all on the deliverables ordering things, getting things shipped, communicating with companies, going back and forth with communications, communicating with people upstairs, doing all the things. And then social media is a social media post planning content, creating all the fun stuff.
Piet Van Waarde:Love it, and then you're also involved with the youth right.
Natalie Galeano:On my free time. On Sunday nights I volunteer with the youth program as a middle school youth leader. So real fun.
Piet Van Waarde:All right. Well, let's back up a little bit. You have an interesting upbringing. So, tell me a little bit how you grew up. Some of your key influences, that kind of thing.
Natalie Galeano:Yeah, I grew up in a household that was pretty Christian, lukewarm. I went to church, saw the whole VeggieTales stuff in preschool, lived in Spring Texas, then moved to El Paso and immediately after we moved to El Paso, around eight years old, I never went back to church.
Piet Van Waarde:Oh, okay.
Natalie Galeano:Yeah, I stepped into a church maybe two or three times the entire duration.
Piet Van Waarde:Was that your decision, or was your family just kind of not that much into it?
Natalie Galeano:Yeah, good question. My family, I mean, didn't care to go.
Natalie Galeano:It wasn't anything we talked about. My dad he believes in God, the concept of it, but just never really pursued it, and that's kind of how I grew up. I didn't care for God. It wasn't that I didn't think he existed. I knew something existed, I knew something was out there. I just wasn't sure what it was. And so, yeah, I never went to church because I just never cared for it. My mom and my little brother kind of attended every now and then and my best friend actually shout out to Hannah.
Natalie Galeano:I went to school with her and she was such a light. She was such a light in the world and just so joyful. And I just noticed she was different from everyone else and I used to ask her, like what's different about you? And she was like, oh, like I'm christian, I know god. Blah, blah, blah. I was like, okay, cool, didn't ask really, I didn't need the whole spiel right, but she invited me to church and stuff and I'd go and I really did not like it I did not like going to church it was.
Natalie Galeano:It was not my scene, it was too long of dresses too, I don't know. I just didn't vibe with it. And then I just remember stepping out of the church being like, oh, never again, I'm fine, I'm good sticking with the idea of something exists, just not sure what it is. So I didn't care for it. And then I moved to Austin a couple years later and my next-door neighbor invited me to Shoreline. She's about 87 years old now.
Piet Van Waarde:Oh, really, yeah, Okay, and you listened to an older woman.
Natalie Galeano:Yeah, it was during COVID time, and so she became my best friend. She taught me how to knit, taught me how to bake. She's German, so she taught me some German words too.
Piet Van Waarde:Oh, so cool yeah.
Natalie Galeano:And she needed a ride to church. So she asked me to go with her and invite my mom. So we went and from that day forward I never stopped going. I loved going to Shoreline.
Piet Van Waarde:I loved Shoreline, so was it just the church experience that?
Natalie Galeano:was different, or?
Piet Van Waarde:was there something also happening in your heart that kind of made you more open to it?
Natalie Galeano:Yeah, it's like reverse back of what I was saying. I had met God during COVID, when I moved to Austin, and so God met me in my lowest place and I just knew that he was the one and only God. He was truly like the.
Piet Van Waarde:God, Now what happened? Did he show up in some personal way? What was it? That kind of got your attention?
Natalie Galeano:Yeah, no, I was going through a really dark period of life, like depression, shame. I felt like I couldn't be redeemed. I felt like nothing was going to get better and I was stuck here in this hole and my best friend would invite me to bible studies and stuff and I would. I would reject it and it wasn't until I found a devotional book my mom had bought and she left it in the closet downstairs like our junk drawer closet. Anything and everything goes in there. There's a jang of pieces on the bottom floor. But, um, I found that a devotional book and I started filling it out and it wasn't necessarily me doing it because I believed in god, but because it was like a form of therapy for me okay, it was like oh, what do you think before today?
Natalie Galeano:what are you praying for? What bible verse? Blah, blah. And so I fill it out as like a prayer to be saved, to be forgiven. I don't know who I was talking to, I just knew that I wanted to be forgiven, um, and just feel better. And I kept doing it. And then, just one day, I started asking more questions about who I was talking to. Like, who is this God? What does he mean? Like, what is blah, blah, blah? And so I'd opened up my Bible and I started reading it and none of it made sense to me. But I Googled it and I kept asking questions, and there wasn't a specific moment. I just, day after day, I just believed more and more. And the more curious I became, the more answers he gave me.
Piet Van Waarde:And so so was it during that time where you were also invited to?
Natalie Galeano:Shoreline Was that kind of a dovetail experience there. Yeah, so like immediately or around that time, I started praying for community because I didn't have any Christian friends. My only Christian friend was in El Paso and I was still in Austin, and so it took God three months to eventually have my next door neighbor, who's also named Hannah, to invite me to church.
Piet Van Waarde:How cool is that yeah?
Natalie Galeano:She invited me to church and I went and at that point I'd been craving something deeper than just Bible study, deeper than just sitting alone in my room reading my Bible. And I went and the worship just changed me the way that it felt like a Coldplay concert, but a good way. It was a surreal moment. I've been craving concert, I've been craving worship, I've been craving a deeper sense of community. It was all there in one.
Piet Van Waarde:I love that so cool. So, now that you are a follower of Christ and you are quite devoted we've had conversations over the years about it and you're active in youth ministry what are some of the things that you enjoy doing around the church, outside of your role?
Natalie Galeano:I enjoy just serving, just serving anywhere and everywhere. If anyone needs help, I'm there. I used to serve, or my goal used to be as an intern. When I was an intern was to serve at least everywhere. Once the only place I've never fully served was the coffee shop. I just never did. But everywhere else I've served.
Piet Van Waarde:And do you have a favorite place of service?
Natalie Galeano:Probably tech. I love serving the tech team. They're very chill, very laid back. There's always a spot to do something. And so the camera, mobile cameras having the big old cameras on your shoulder, like walking around with them, is like a power move on a Sunday. I'm like, oh, you're talking during service. Ha, you're on screen now, you know. It's really fun.
Piet Van Waarde:So you have also picked up a camera in your life outside the church. What kind of piqued that interest.
Natalie Galeano:That is a great question. I used to love photography as a kid, but it wasn't anything more than just shooting on my phone. There was a moment about two years ago that the social media manager at the time was going on maternity leave and she was like hey guys, I'm leaving tomorrow for the next couple of months. Who is taking over my role? And no one at the time was like I don't know, no one had the time to do it, no one had the capacity. And as an intern, I was like no one had the time to do it, no one had the capacity. And as an intern, I was like I have, I can do it. I can do social media while you're gone.
Natalie Galeano:I had no social media experience. I didn't even have an Instagram account, and so that day I downloaded Instagram for the first time and I became a social media manager, and so with that it is. It's a blessing. I don't know how I got there, but God put me in that position at the right time, right space, and um, along with that he gave me. There was a camera there that no one was using. It was like a production camera, but no one really used it, and so they're like Natalie, if you want to use it for social media, please go ahead and do it, and so someone at the time taught me how to use it.
Natalie Galeano:He was busy as well so he did in-between services every now and then and I just picked it up and I kept learning, I kept asking questions and from there on I started building a social media team and now there's a social media team at Shoreline on Sundays that serves and takes photos and videos, and you're part of leading that group, mm-hmm.
Natalie Galeano:I'm super proud of it. Yeah, you should be. I want to be humble, but I did build it up and I'm so thankful and grateful that I couldn't have done it without God. The people on my team are so dedicated. They love what they do, and that's something only God could put within them, and I'm so grateful for it.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, I'm guessing they also like hanging around with you as well. You're such an upbeat person. You're like, okay, yeah, we get to hang out with Natalie too. Yeah.
Natalie Galeano:My office they talk about it kind of often. My office is always filled with people, even when they're not serving. They come in and just hang out on my couch and we just talk and chat about service and it's a great time. It's definitely a point of community for people.
Piet Van Waarde:Okay, now let me, since you're in the social media world, you have a lot of connections to what's going on in social media and I think there's a lot of critique in the culture about social media. It can be all-consuming, addictive People are always on their phones or whatever. So when you look at that, obviously you see it through the positive lens of communicating the gospel and inviting people into church and so on. So, from your perspective, two questions really on it. One is like what are the ways in which you're using it for good? How do you see it having a positive impact? And then I want to follow it up with a question about, like what are some of the risks?
Natalie Galeano:Yeah, there are always negative and positives to everything With social media. When people push back on it, like, oh, we shouldn't have social media within service, like that's a delicate, rare moment, like we should keep it just for the moment and I agree, there are some moments that I feel shouldn't be recorded, shouldn't be put on social media. However, my response to most of that is and people don't know what's going on inside the church. If they've never stepped into a church, they don't know what's going on. And so we have the ability to minister to people online to show them hey, there's lives being changed right now. There's people who are going through breakthroughs right now, in this moment. How else would they have seen that?
Natalie Galeano:if it wasn't through scrolling through Instagram. And so I would just say social media changes lives. I mean, I know I've seen churches, I've seen so many videos of people just being transformed just by scrolling on my phone. Who else has that ability in the world that doesn't have access to information online?
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, and I think too. One of the things I've watched happen with people's spiritual development is most people, especially if not familiar with church, won't just come in off the street and risk going to a service right, yeah and so if they have a chance to kind of sneak a peek which social media allows you to do, yeah, they'll be like oh well, that looks kind of cool. I think I could go there and not feel intimidated. And yeah, it won't be weird, you, you know.
Piet Van Waarde:And so social media gives people a chance to have, like an inside look without having to go, and who knows how many people have been prompted to actually go as a result of that right.
Natalie Galeano:It's like window shopping, almost Like oh, I see what's going on there, oh, look at this great deal, like someone's crying on the middle of the floor of worship. That must mean there's something there, there's something going on, and I think the more that we engage on social media and post our own things and show people like lives are being changed, the more people are inclined to go.
Natalie Galeano:I know that when I repost stuff to my story, people are asking oh, what's this event that's going on? Oh, what's that shoreline, what's coming up? And I can respond. I'm like, hey, come to church and I'll show you. And it's an invite, it's sharing the gospel, quite literally with one button on your phone.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, Now what do you think are the risks?
Natalie Galeano:Ooh, social media in general, or like.
Piet Van Waarde:Well, because what you're counting on is that people will engage social media in order to be exposed to the things you're posting, but on the other hand, you know, are you contributing to the addictive components of that.
Natalie Galeano:I feel like anything can be addictive on Instagram. The algorithm is designed to keep you on there, and if it keeps you on there and it keeps feeding you Bible content, that's great, but also most Instagram algorithms. It keeps feeding you Bible content that's great, but also most Instagram algorithms are not feeding you Bible content unless you're repeatedly engaging in it. So most times, if not, it's feeding you content that makes your brain feel numb, like if you're on Instagram, it's to hide away from what you're doing in real life, and I know that when I get home from a rough day, I'm on Instagram scrolling for hours just watching reels that have nothing to do with anything. It does not make me think. I just watch them and so it is a negative and I feel like church Instagram can contribute to it. But most times, if not, it should redirect you to the right place, should redirect you towards God, to the Bible. I know that a lot of times when I'm just brain rotting on Instagram.
Piet Van Waarde:I get a reel every now and then.
Natalie Galeano:That's like oh, go read your Bible. Have you read your Bible today yet I'm like you know what? I have not. Let me go read my Bible. So, there are cons and there are pros, but it depends it's in the eye of the beholder. You control what you see on Instagram, so that's most.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, and I think you know it's like everything you have to have a balanced perspective and you have to know your limits, and sometimes it's actually a good thing to say all right, you know, I'm going to give myself some time to enjoy this and just kind of veg out. But then I'm going to put a time limit on and say, OK, I've had enough.
Natalie Galeano:Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde:I think we need that in many areas of life right.
Natalie Galeano:Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde:All right. So now you're. I want to dive in a little bit on the work you do with young people. Yeah, so we've had other conversations about your work with young people, but maybe people haven't heard some of the other things we've talked about. So, just generally speaking, when you look at what's happening in the youth culture, what are some of the things that you're talking to people about on a regular basis?
Natalie Galeano:That's it, I feel, the question of sexuality with young students. A lot of my middle school girls ask me about that all the time, Like where does God stand on sexuality? Or like where does God stand with gossiping? I know a lot of my students struggle with that. Even adults struggle with gossiping and I know that they know the answer but it's just how do we apply it?
Natalie Galeano:And I feel like a lot of well, every time we have small group circle times, they're telling me about their day, about their weeks, about whatever I wanted to fight this girl. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, well, how did you respond? Like Jesus would, how did you respond to that moment? And most times if not, is them struggling with self-control? Self-control with their words, self-control with gossiping, self-control with what they're doing, what they're watching, all the things? Yeah yeah, but sexuality comes up a lot quite often.
Piet Van Waarde:Now, when you say that, what do you mean specifically? Is it like the conversation about gender and identity and that kind of thing? Or is it about intimacy and whether or not it's okay, or is it all of it?
Natalie Galeano:It's all of it. I feel like the deeper conversations come from their identity. They don't know who they are and they feel insecure. I know that I became a leader because I know as a middle school girl I was very insecure and I know that the girls around me fed into my insecurities at the time, and so I became a leader to show these girls like, hey, your insecurities, you might feel this way, but God says this about you that you're beautiful, you're loved, you're God's daughter, and so I just remind my girls of that. But it's constantly being shaken up by the world, by the culture around them, around people at school that tell them they're this way or they're this thing, and so I have to, sunday, remind them.
Piet Van Waarde:Jesus says this and do they listen, do you?
Natalie Galeano:find that they hear you on those things. Yes, to an extent as much as someone who tells you advice once a week can do. I don't see them every week. I do some of my girls. I do mentor some students, but on a regular Sunday it's like they can come in. I can tell them. But I do mentor some students, but on a regular Sunday it's like they can come in.
Natalie Galeano:I can tell them, but unless they actually apply it and keep themselves accountable, I can't do anything, and so it's just being real with them on Sundays as much as I can, with the relational equity that I have with them, but also understanding that they're girls. They're 13 to 12-year-old girls. I can't you know. They're going to make mistakes and I kind of have to just watch them do it.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is there something that you're encouraged about, like things that you see happening in the youth culture, maybe even specifically at church, that you're excited about?
Natalie Galeano:I love the passion, the passion they have, the fire that they have. If you look around on a Sunday, the people that are jumping around are the young adults and these students. You know, um, the the fire that they have on a sunday night in that room when they're jumping all together and worshiping and rapping the jesus lyrics together. It's like that's a. Where do you find that outside of church? You know, um, they have so much energy and light and, like we talked about earlier about me going to sleep super, super late and waking up early and you going to sleep really early, waking up really early.
Natalie Galeano:It's like you don't have the same energy that I do, because you're older.
Piet Van Waarde:What are you saying?
Natalie Galeano:Old I'm just kidding I used to like you.
Piet Van Waarde:I'm sorry I got you off track. No, it's okay, I'm going to cry now no, they have so much energy.
Natalie Galeano:And that energy can be put towards Jesus, towards changing the lives of people around them, towards staying up late and preaching the gospel to people on the street, which I can start doing now. But God is good and he's showing these kids that he is good. He's showing them through the worship, through the sermons, through the small groups on Sunday, through consistency, and so I think that's a lot of things. Kids lack consistency through other lives. They have their groups and they have their people at school. But that changes the next year, the next semester, the next whatever. But church stays the same, in the sense of it is the same schedule every Sunday, the same people they see every Sunday, and that's what they need.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, so is there a story and you don't have to share a name, but maybe a scenario where you have seen this kind of change that you're talking about, where a person moved from the sidelines of a church experience to kind of moving into a place of passion and excitement about Jesus? Have you seen that?
Natalie Galeano:I could say myself I definitely was on the sidelines for a little bit and dove deep into church culture. When I first started attending Shoreline, yes, I loved it, but I didn't serve because I didn't feel like it. I didn't feel passionate to do it. And once I was invited to do an internship, I dove deep into it. I became passionate. I came on fire for Jesus. Everyone knew my name because I was around everywhere, serving everywhere, Even with one of my students. I'm still working on her. Jesus is still working through her.
Natalie Galeano:Jesus is working through all of us. But I've just seen the transformation of where she was to where she is now, just repeating and reminding her what Jesus calls her to do, what Jesus says about her, and I've seen her just the way she interacts with people. There was one Sunday where she just sat alone in a corner by herself on her phone. I was like, hey, do you want to go talk to those new girls? Hey, do you want to come do this with me? Hey, do you want to come meet with me on Wednesday nights? We can talk about Jesus and stuff and just the way that she's opened up and just pursued Jesus on her own accord, while also pursuing Jesus with other girls. I've seen her find these new girls and invite them into her life and walk the life that Jesus calls them to do together. That's awesome, yeah.
Piet Van Waarde:Now looking at maybe the bigger picture when it comes to the Big C Church.
Natalie Galeano:Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde:And you know we all have different opinions about like what it should be. But I'm curious from your perspective, what are some of the things that you think would be like when you look through the lens of your own journey and some of the girls that you talked about, what do you think the church needs to be focusing on? To speak to the quote unquote next generation.
Natalie Galeano:Authenticity we need to be more authentic in everything that we do. Authenticity we need to be more authentic in everything that we do, authentic in our mistakes, authentic in where we're going, authentic in, um, just who we are. A lot of kids are craving that. They want the real jesus, they want the real church, they want the real people. Um, you could stand up on a stage and have pearly white teeth, but unless you're speaking true, authentic words and speaking truth into people, they don't want it you know, we're tired of the filters.
Natalie Galeano:I'm tired of the filters. I just want true, raw Word of Jesus. You know, yeah, yeah.
Piet Van Waarde:That's interesting because you know we are in a church that has a platform and lights and haze and all the things. Yeah, does that work against, do you think, the authenticity?
Natalie Galeano:No, I don't think so. I think that you could see it that way, but also view it as a way to pursue authenticity. It's like we set up the stage and people are almost like it's eye-catching. You invite people into the room and then, whenever you're on the pulpit, you're speaking truth, you're speaking authenticity. I know, for Sunday nights especially, they have all the lights, they have the haze, they have all the things, but when they're on the stage, they're speaking nothing but word that God, directly from God. There's no fluff to it, it's just the truth.
Natalie Galeano:It is what it is.
Piet Van Waarde:I remember too, for me when I was going to church. I grew up in a very traditional church that had the pews and the stained glass and the formal candles and all the ornaments and things like that and it was just like I almost felt like I was stepping back in time to walk into the space. It was like no other space I was ever a part of.
Piet Van Waarde:And that kind of had communicated to me that like, this is not life, Like this is something you go into and you do for a you know, you do your ritual, you say your things and then you walk out and you quote unquote, go back to your real world. And one of the things I do like about the church employing all these other technologies is like this is like everything else in my life, Like when I go to a concert, this is what I see. Or when I'm, you know, engaging with something on video, this is what it looks like. And so there's this integration of modern technology with this ancient wisdom that I think really works for people, especially maybe young people. Would you agree with that? Yeah?
Piet Van Waarde:Is that a reasonable assessment.
Natalie Galeano:I love what you said about how you feel like you're being transformed to a different space when you're at church, like the old pew church we're compared to now, and I definitely agree. It's like there's a song called monday morning faith of like how your faith isn't just for sundays, it's for throughout the week, it's for every day, and I love that. Our church encouraged people to come and whatever they want when they're nice clothes or shorts. You know, yeah, and I see the students come in on Sundays and I know some of them dress up real big, but I know a lot of them come in clothes that they wore to school or clothes that they wore to their practices or whatever, and they come and they get to learn about Jesus and go home and apply it. You don't have to wear your Sunday best to get the Word, you don't have to wear your Sunday best to. You don't need just pews to get to know the Word of God. You know, and so I love it.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, and I think part of what you know. Again, it's probably my generational thing showing, but you know we were in our home, you know we would dress up for God Like it was a matter of respect. But I think for a lot of young people now, as I talk to people like yourself, it's like yeah, but that can be also for the show. You know, it's like you're putting this thing on like I'm better than I actually am because I look good or I sound good, and there's something about just being able to say I'm going to come into this environment as I am and that might mean shorts and flip-flops. I may not have the resources for something nice, and so the fact that in the youth group and I think our church overall is this way it accepts people wherever they are and whatever they can do and whatever they can bring to the picture.
Piet Van Waarde:And that's what God's like right?
Natalie Galeano:Yeah, absolutely yeah. I literally had this debate multiple times with people and I don't necessarily lean on either side of like. Should we wear our Sunday best? Should we not, you know, come in your Sunday flip-flops because that's all you have sometimes. But it's also like if you're making big bucks but you're coming in with your tennis shoes and you're not really you know. It's like what are you doing? I feel God wants us to show up wherever we're at. In a sense of like. If I'm feeling like I'm wearing my best Sunday clothes today, I'm going to do that because I'm having church with the king, but it's also like I'm having church with the king every single day.
Natalie Galeano:This is not. It is a special day, but it's not necessarily. It's not going to be. I don't know, actually, I don't know. I don't know how I feel. I always go back and forth, because I don't lean on either side, because I get it it's like you're having, basically having breakfast with the king the word but also like he loves me, no matter what I'm doing. What do you think? What do you lean on?
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah Well, I like both. I like the way you put it in that if there's a day where I'm feeling like I want to honor the king by putting on my best and that's authentic with who I am and where I'm, at that time I think absolutely. But if there's a risk, let's say like I won't go if I can't dress up. I'm like no, no, however, you are, just get there, It'll be a good thing.
Piet Van Waarde:If it means you have to come in your shorts and a t-shirt and no makeup or whatever, then it doesn't matter to God, it really doesn't. And I think the more important thing is that we're there. As, however, we are.
Natalie Galeano:Yeah, for sure. Just God wants us to be there. Show up, be there, get the word, let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves. Yes.
Piet Van Waarde:All right. So when you think about your future like where are you headed, what are the things you're looking forward to?
Natalie Galeano:I was thinking about that. It sounds really depressing, but I feel like I've hit all my goals, like the things I wanted in life, like it is a blessing but, like I say, depressing in the sense of like, oh, now I have nothing else to look forward to, but like I have achieved what I wanted to, the things I've been praying about God has given me, and I'm so blessed and so thankful. And so I'm like what do I? What am I looking forward to next in life? And I think just seeing the flower, seeing the fruit from what I've plowed, or seeing the fruit from what I've planted in the past years.
Natalie Galeano:And I know I'm just looking forward to seeing my youth students, seeing them grow up in Christ, seeing them become the women of Christ that I know they can be, and also looking back on what I've done as a person, just the relationships I've made in my life, what has come from it. So I'm looking forward to looking back. I'm looking forward to becoming old and going to bed at 10 pm and looking back and seeing all the things that have changed in my life and what I've grown from to what I am now. I'm just blessed.
Piet Van Waarde:So do you see yourself like you're in ministry now and do you see this as a quote unquote career track? Do you feel like you're going to be involved with the church as a vocational thing, or is it still like you're questioning whether or not that's what you want to do and you don't have to like know for sure. How dare you?
Natalie Galeano:No, I know that God has called me into ministry. I wanted to fight it. He told me very vividly you're going to be in ministry, you're going to be in ministry. I was like, no, god, I don't want to. And I know God gives us free choice and I could quit my job and I could do whatever I wanted to do. But I know that this is where I'm called to be. This is where I feel like I best fit. All the abilities, all the goals I have, all the gifts I have fit where I'm doing things now, and so I want to continue doing this because I know it makes me feel happy and I know the people around me feel blessed for what I get to do as well, and so if I can bless others and bless myself with God's hand on everything, then I want to do that.
Natalie Galeano:Yeah so yeah, I see lives being changed every Sunday, whether it's through taking photos or whether it's just being able to take care of my volunteers. There was one Sunday that I remember that one of my volunteers she had been late and she texted me like hey, like I'm going to be late, I was OK, Well, I was waiting, I'm waiting for you, Let me know when you're here. And she texts me halfway through worship and she's like I can't come in, I'm in my car, I can't come in. So what's wrong? She's like I'm having a breakdown right now I can't do it. And so I put down my camera and I ran out to the and I just remember hugging her and telling her like it's going to be okay.
Natalie Galeano:And I knew in that moment that my photography, my social media job, my marketing, it's more than that. It's taking care of people and ministering to them. And so from that day forward, like she, we mentor each other in the sense that we take care of each other and spiritually walk with one another. But I just know that that is what I love. I love taking care of people and ministering to them and leading, and I love marketing and all the fun stuff. It all combines together into one career and I love it, and so yes.
Piet Van Waarde:Well, I think, if I can make an observation, I feel like one of the things I've really enjoyed and it's one of the fun things about being in the same church for a period of time is that you get to watch the development of people, so people that were kind of hanging in the background and moving into places of leadership. It's been really fun to watch you take on a mantle of leadership to be good at your craft, which you are, on a mantle of leadership to be good at your craft, which you are. But then also, what you just said is to have a heart for people which.
Piet Van Waarde:I think is at the core of ministry. It's like yes, we have our tasks, we have our assignments, whether it's speaking or social media or technology, but the main assignment, of course is to care for people and to make sure that we are leading them by serving them and, from what I can tell, you're doing that really well.
Natalie Galeano:Thank you so much. It's been fun to watch. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. What about you? What about your upcoming things? What are you looking forward to?
Piet Van Waarde:You're allowed to ask that question, I am.
Natalie Galeano:It's my podcast now.
Piet Van Waarde:Well, yeah, I'm excited about a couple things. So I have this cancer group that I lead and I'm very excited about that. It's one of the ways in which God's redeemed this cancer journey is being able to serve and help other people who are in a similar position. I love this podcast thing that I do weekly. I have a chance to talk to great guests and I'm just fascinated by interesting stories and you know, I set out to just talk, to quote, unquote ordinary people who I see doing pretty extraordinary things, to quote ordinary people who I see doing pretty extraordinary things, and so that's been a real joy. I also do a couple of different things with speaking at churches and I do a little photography on the side as well, and so I just kind of do a number of different things. I'm at a stage in life where I have the freedom to create my own schedule.
Natalie Galeano:Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde:And and so the things that I'm doing, I I get, I choose to do, I love to do it.
Natalie Galeano:Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, that's what I'm about, right now, that's great yeah it's good.
Natalie Galeano:Wow, being old and having so many great things, that's like the third time you said that. My apologies.
Piet Van Waarde:I don't think you're sorry.
Natalie Galeano:I'm not.
Piet Van Waarde:Well, thank you so much for joining us. I'm appreciative of Natalie being here and I thank you for joining us as well. And join us again on Sidewalk Conversations next week.
