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
**Trailer** Black Sheep Welcome: Our Studio Makeover Story
Welcome to Season 4 of Sidewalk Conversations, now broadcasting from our brand new studio designed to create a living room atmosphere. We've evolved over ten years of podcasting to focus on ordinary people doing extraordinary things, with a space that reflects our more conversational approach.
• Our dedicated team including Jen, Preston, Martin, Ethan, and Carol spent countless hours creating this new studio space
• Special thanks to donors Wendy Sweats, Jennifer Nichols, and Mike and Leanna for their generous contributions
• The Black Sheep theme remains central to our identity, representing those who think differently
• Season 4 kicks off with three fascinating guests: entrepreneur Rebecca, musician Amy Hooper, and Leanna who overcame a life-threatening accident
• Our studio is located within Pickleball Kingdom in Pflugerville (1900 East Howard Lane), the fastest growing sport in America
If you're interested in learning about pickleball or want to play, check out Pickleball Kingdom's premium facility with air-conditioned courts, a cafe, and store.
Hey, I just want to say welcome to season four. Actually, we were talking about this before we came on the air. We've actually been doing some kind of podcast for like I think, 10 years, because it was even when I was back in pella. We did this podcast called voices from the villa and carol thought it sounds like some kind of horror show. You can't keep that name, but it was all part of the evolution. And four years ago we kind of got serious about this whole process and started something we call now sidewalk conversations, where we just talk to ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and so we are getting ready to launch our next season in the new studio, and so I just want to give you a little preview today about season four.
Piet Van Waarde:And I want to start with the studio. So look at what. I have a team of people, and I am always humbled by the fact that there are folks who believe so passionately in this work that they are willing to volunteer time and kind of work for not a lot of money to help me pull all this off. And so I want to begin just by recognizing the team and the folks that helped me do this. So I have, first of all my administrative assistant, jen, who spent literally hours painting and putting up things. I have my technician, preston, who, similarly, was just willing to do whatever needed to be done to make this happen. I also want to thank my videographer, martin. He does a lot of my projects for social media, but he also came in and he fine-tuned the studio in terms of the video and audio pieces. I also want to thank Ethan, who's terms of the video and audio pieces. I also want to thank Ethan, who's kind of the new guy on the team. He came for a day and helped me do some of the more dangerous things like hang sound paneling and go back and forth between here and Hobby Lobby and Lowe's to make sure we had all the supplies. So it's just been a great team effort.
Piet Van Waarde:And, of course, I cannot forget my beloved wife, carol Like. If you see anything here in the studio that looks good and looks like it matches, it's because she was a like champion on marketplace Wayfair you know all the Ikea and I gave her a picture and I said here's what I think I would like to have done, and so she was able to find it and I was like I could not believe it. She just kept on coming up with things and then showing me, hey, like, will this work, will this work, and I can't even imagine how many hours she spent working on this project. And so, carol, thank you so very much for all the things you did to help bring it together so that we have a wonderful new environment to have these conversations. In fact, that might be a good thing to share a little bit about, because when we were kind of in the process of thinking what we needed to do with this space, we realized that one of the things that's kind of happened over the last few years is that we've evolved from a more what I'd call formal interview style to something that would take place, hopefully like in a living room, over coffee, just friends talking, and so we wanted the studio space to reflect that new emphasis and vibe. And I'm just, I think we got there, I think we did it, and so thanks to everybody who made that possible.
Piet Van Waarde:From the pragmatic side and at the same time, I also want to say a thank you to there were some sponsors and donors who said hey when they heard about this project, said, hey, we want to help make that happen, we'd like to donate some money, and so I want to say thank you to Wendy Sweats. These chairs are a product of her contribution. I also want to say thank you to Jennifer Nichols. She was like she had somebody I had back in the college days, and she was one who said I want to try and help as a kind of payback for the things that you provided during my college years, and so she made a very generous contribution as well. And then there's Mike and Leanna. These are people that we just met recently at a conference. We were sitting kind of close to each other. We just turned to each other and we realized we had so much in common and we started hanging out. We had dinners together and then, when they heard about this podcast, they said, hey, what can we do to help? And they also made a great donation. And you're going to be hearing from Leanna, who has just an amazing story of God's redeeming grace in the midst of hardship. In fact, she's going to be one of our guests here in the first month of Sidewalk Conversations.
Piet Van Waarde:I also want to kind of give you a little tour of the specifics of maybe some things that, when you look at it on your phone or on a computer you may not be able to see real clearly, but I think they're kind of cool little additions. And so first of all I want to kind of bring our attention to this space right here. So you notice the Bureau which when Carol showed me this on the internet I was like I'm not sure that. But of course I have to listen to her because she has proven time and time again, when she pulls things together they all match, they all look good. And so this was one of her suggestions.
Piet Van Waarde:And then we thought, you know, we can't keep the black sheep out, so we got to figure out a way to put the black sheep out. So we got to figure out a way to put the black sheep out there. And so if you've been part of this conversation from the early days, you know that part of what we want to do is we want to be able to say hey, if you feel like you're a little bit outside the norm or you want to kind of think through a different grid, maybe a little bit of a black sheep, we welcome you. And so that's kind of been our little mascot, I guess you'd say. And then some of you may remember that a couple of years ago I put together a book of poetry and photography, the Black Sheep Diary. So that's here.
Piet Van Waarde:And then this is our new painting that signals what we're doing here. It was sidewalk conversation, and so I had a little survey on the sidewalk conversations Facebook page. We had a couple of different options and just said hey, you guys tell me what you think reflects best on the vibe that we're trying to create here in the studio and what we can use as kind of a hint at what we are doing in these sidewalk conversations. And so this was the one that won, and my administrative assistant, jen, pulled it all together, made sure it came in on time, and so that's the painting that you're going to see in our drawings or in our interviews. And then behind me we also have one of my favorite black sheep pictures, because I think that one of the hallmarks of the person who has that like black sheep mentality is they're willing to stand against the grain, like when everybody else is willing to jump over the edge. The black sheet says wait a minute. Am I sure that that's what I want to do? And that's, of course, what's shown in that picture, and I love it. I think it's a great thing that I want to kind of keep as a centerpiece here. And then our pocket prayer devotionals. Some of you are part of my Pocket Prayer devotional team. You've either bought the devotional as a 365-day book or you're part of the text stream that I put out every morning, and so we're giving a little shout-out to the Pocket Prayer group by posting those or having that on display here as well, so that gives you a little overview of what we've done in the studio. I want to give you also a little preview about what you can expect in the next couple of weeks.
Piet Van Waarde:I have three guests that we have been waiting to bring some of these people on for a really long time. First of all, we have Rebecca. Rebecca is somebody who was back in season one. She is an entrepreneur. She's written a great book called Lost Girl and she has a great company, and we're going to spend some time talking about entrepreneurship, like what does it mean to start something and stay with something, and I'm very excited about having that conversation.
Piet Van Waarde:Then, week two, we're going to have Amy Hooper. She is a person who is quite creative. She's a great musician. We're going to talk about creativity. We're going to talk about music. We're going to talk about what it means to write music and to take a risk to put your stuff out there. I'm very excited about having Amy. Then, in the third week, we have Leanna, whose story I begun to tell you about. She is a person who had a life-threatening accident and came back from that accident to see God do some really amazing things, not just for her physically, but to use her story in providing encouragement for others who are going through a difficult season. So those are our upcoming guests. I cannot wait for you to hear from them and give us a chance to talk through some of their story, and I am super thrilled that you're going to be able to be a part of that.
Piet Van Waarde:Now, as I close, I just want to say one final thank you, and that is to one of our great sponsors of the broadcast, and that is Pickleball Kingdom and Jarrah Jolly.
Piet Van Waarde:Sponsors of the broadcast, and that is Pickleball Kingdom and Jared Jolly. Our studio is actually located within the Pickleball Kingdom facility. Jared generously donated the space and, if you are at all interested in either playing it more often or in learning how to play, this is the fastest growing sport in the country right now, and it's not just for the older folks. In fact, more and more young people are engaged in the activity as well, and so if you have an interest in learning about pickleball, if you'd like to play, you can gain a membership here. It's an absolutely premium facility, air conditioned, like top grade courts and a whole series of them. They have two different buildings, one with 11 courts, one with three courts, and they have, of course, the cafe and the store and all kinds of amenities, and you can take advantage of that. They are located in Pflugerville, at 1900 East Howard Lane, and so take advantage of that. Thank you, jared, for making this space possible, and I look forward to seeing you all in week one next week.
