050 - Redefining Success Through a Kingdom Lens with Erin Scheu

In this episode, Erin Scheu shares her journey of living in Denver, her passion for the outdoors, and how her fitness business, New Way Fitness, has evolved. She discusses the importance of connecting with God through nature and personal experiences that have shaped her faith. Erin also reflects on the challenges of running a business and the lessons learned during a season of pause and trust in God's plan. In this conversation, Erin Scheu shares her journey of leadership and community building through Revelation Wellness and New Way Fitness. She discusses the challenges of balancing a calling with the pressures of business, redefining success from a kingdom perspective, and the importance of maintaining a personal relationship with God amidst ministry responsibilities. Erin emphasizes the need for regular pauses to reconnect with the Lord and encourages others in similar seasons to focus on purpose over worldly metrics.


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Chapters

• 19:51 [Ad] The Balance of Gray
• 20:41 (Cont.) 050 - Redefining Success Through a Kingdom Lens with Erin Scheu
• 28:33 [Ad] The Signpost Inn Podcast
• 29:19 (Cont.) 050 - Redefining Success Through a Kingdom Lens with Erin Scheu

Transcript

McKenzie Smith (00:03)
On today's episode of My Valley, His Victory, we have Erin Scheu. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband and three kids. She loves to be outdoors and meet God there. Erin also has a business called New Way Fitness and also is a substitute teacher. Thanks so much for being with us today, Erin.

Erin Scheu (00:17)
Thanks for having me.

McKenzie Smith (00:24)
Yeah, so why don't you go ahead and just share with our listeners a little bit more about yourself and who you are.

Erin Scheu (00:30)
Sure. Yeah, like the bio said, I live here in Denver. We've been here for almost 20 years. And I spend most of my time being a mom and doing some substitute teaching. And then I also love to lead people into the outdoors, do hiking trips, retreats, backpack trips.

And my business, New Way Fitness, has moved from health and wellness to more outdoor leadership type of a business.

McKenzie Smith (01:15)
Okay. I know you said you've been in Denver for 20 years. Where did you grow up?

Erin Scheu (01:21)
Yeah, so I grew up in Washington state and then went to college in Michigan and then came out to Colorado for a teaching job. And then that's where I met my husband and yeah, we've stayed and raised our family here and love it here.

McKenzie Smith (01:42)
Yeah. And what do you teach?

Erin Scheu (01:46)
So I have a degree in science and PE, and that's what I taught originally when I was a full-time teacher. And now I am teaching more special needs kids as a substitute. So I've been really disliking doing the kind of smaller, more individual teaching kind of setting versus a whole classroom.

McKenzie Smith (02:14)
Yeah.

Erin Scheu (02:15)
So, yeah.

McKenzie Smith (02:17)
Yeah. Yeah. So growing up in Washington and then being in Colorado, it sounds like you've kind of always lived in outdoorsy places. Is the hiking and backpacking and all the things, are those things that you grew up doing or when did those come into your life?

Erin Scheu (02:34)
Yeah, so I grew up hiking with my family, but my family didn't camp or backpack. So I started doing more of that in college. Just had some friends who I would do that with. And then now really have done a lot more hiking and backpacking now that I've lived in Colorado and now that our kids are grown and we don't have babies anymore.

McKenzie Smith (03:04)
Yeah, how old are the kids?

Erin Scheu (03:07)
Yeah, so my kids are 15, 13, and 9. So we've got one high school, one middle school, one elementary.

McKenzie Smith (03:13)
Okay.

Okay, quite the spread.

Erin Scheu (03:19)
Yep.

Yes.

McKenzie Smith (03:22)
So do they love the outdoors and love backpacking and hiking and all the things?

Erin Scheu (03:28)
yes and no. So my son who's 15 has sort of veered away from loving it for now. He'll still hike with us and we camp every summer with a big group of people and he loves doing that because he gets to be with his friends. And then my, son's the oldest. He's a 15 year old. My two younger are girls and they are still, you know,

at the age where they love it and they'll hike and we backpack a little bit with our kids, but we haven't done a lot. So someday I hope to do a family backpack trip. My husband also loves backpack. So hopefully in the next few years we'll be able to do that.

McKenzie Smith (04:16)
Yeah. Yeah. That's cool that you guys both share that love together, you and your husband. I always, I feel like everyone on this podcast knows this and my husband is like not a big fan of backpacking and it's one of my favorite things to do. And so he's like, I'll go on a one or two night, but I don't want to go out there for any longer than that. And so that's fun that you guys get to do that together.

Erin Scheu (04:21)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (04:44)
Where do I want to go from there? Sorry.

So it sounds like you've kind of always had a love for movement and fitness, being that you studied that to be a PE teacher and grew up in the outdoors and then obviously now own a fitness company. What kind of set your heart on fire for fitness? Were you an athlete growing up? Kind of what got you into that piece of it?

Erin Scheu (05:17)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I was an athlete growing up and I grew up with two sisters, two older sisters, who were not really athletes. I was kind of just the one in our family who really just was, you know, moved towards sports and always loved to be outdoors, played outdoors as a kid all the time. So then,

In college I played a couple years of basketball at a small school. And then when that was done, I just got into running. And so I did some half marathons and marathons and just found a new way to move through running, which I loved. I also loved being outside running. And then I'm

McKenzie Smith (06:08)
Mm-hmm.

Erin Scheu (06:16)
an introvert so it was just a really great way for me to process things and kind of re-energize, right? And then from there I became a fitness instructor well into my 30s and that was not ever on my radar, something I wanted to do but was introduced to Revelation Wellness and they do a

a fitness instructor program and I was listening to their podcast and just really felt a nudge from the Lord to do that program, never intending to start a business or be a fitness teacher necessarily. you know, love to teach PE classes, love to be with kids, love to coach, did a lot of coaching, you know, for cross-country and basketball and soccer for high school kids and middle school kids.

McKenzie Smith (06:56)
Yeah.

Erin Scheu (07:16)
But it was like something new that the Lord put in front of me and kind of walked in obedience there and became a fitness instructor through Revelation Wellness. then, yeah, from there, kind of step by step, started teaching classes and eventually started the business.

McKenzie Smith (07:40)
Yeah, very cool. I've heard great things about the revelation wellness and what used to be called Rev Wild. I think it doesn't, I think Devin said that they are not doing it anymore, but heard great things about it. Never, never been a part of the programs or anything, but I think it's really awesome. At least what I've heard that they're doing in their mission. So that's really cool that that's how you got, got involved with it and kind of started your own business through fitness.

So you love to run, you love to backpack. Do you still love to run? guess I should ask you. You mentioned that, but do you still love to run?

Erin Scheu (08:17)
Mm-hmm.

don't run as often, but I still like it. There's certain seasons kind of throughout my year where I'm training for certain hikes or trips. And so I hike way more now, where I used to run way more, but I still do like running. I just don't do it as much because I do way more hiking.

McKenzie Smith (08:41)
Yeah,

yeah, very cool. Well, share with us a little bit about how being in the outdoors, backpacking, hiking, running, maybe plays a role in your relationship with Christ.

Erin Scheu (08:55)
Yeah, I would say that for me being outdoors and moving my body is just a really sweet meeting place for me and the Lord, especially these last, I would say maybe six, seven years of doing hiking where I am being a little more intentional with kind of what I'm thinking about or

what I'm meditating on as I'm hiking and that's through different trips I'm a part of through Revelation Wellness or through my own business where we kind of have a theme for the week or a little intention for the week that we are sort of processing through and so that's kind of really led me to yeah, to be able to talk to the Lord as I'm hiking.

And also just to listen to his voice as I'm hiking. yeah, just really thankful for the space that I can have when I get to be outdoors and just sort of meet with the Lord.

McKenzie Smith (10:11)
Yeah, absolutely. Can you share a story with us maybe in about a way in which God has maybe revealed himself to you or spoken to you in the outdoors?

Erin Scheu (10:24)
Yeah, for sure. There's a lot of them. A lot of them. Like I said, think a lot of times I am able just to ask the Lord a lot of questions and process things. Well, I'm hiking and then able just to hear from Him and a lot of times He'll ask me questions.

McKenzie Smith (10:29)
Yeah.

Erin Scheu (10:52)
And then there's just a lot of space. There's a lot of space to just be moving and sort of thinking. But I think the power in being outdoors is that you're surrounded by his creation, right? That he is revealing himself through his creation. And so different ways of just seeing beauty as I'm hiking or

experiencing things like wind or even mud. There was one hike I was doing for a training hike and it gets super muddy in Colorado in the spring because we get snow and then it melts right it warms up and melts and so trails are super muddy and I had just mud like caked on my on my boots right and it just gets like heavy.

Like, right? Like you just, you're sort of feeling the weight of that. And it was like this reminder of the verse in Hebrews 12, it's like to throw off, you know, the sin that so easily entangles and anything that's hindering you. And like this picture of like,

this mud that's caked on your boots and it's like kind of like holding you back, right? And so, so the Lord is just is speaking through that saying, hey, like what, like what's holding you back? Like what's holding you back from running this race I've set before you, right? Like where are you sort of on this, you know, path where you're heavy, feeling heavy and like, I want you to, to run with perseverance. So, you know, how can we clean those boots off?

so that you can persevere, right? Because walking in the mud for miles and miles, you're gonna wear out pretty fast. So some things like that, you know, like the Lord will just speak. I hike in the Grand Canyon every year I have for the past six or seven years with Revelation Wellness. And we do a hike that goes from rim to rim in one day.

And so it's 24 miles and it takes, you know, like 12 to 16 hours to hike through. But the first time, very first time I did it, one of the intentions, it talks about crossing over and how there's so many examples in the Bible where we cross over from like death to life, right? Or from disbelief to like trust.

And one of them was crossing over from like a scarcity mentality into just abundance. And we all had to pick up a rock. And then it's a powerful intention because you'll throw the rock in the Colorado River, like as you're crossing over. And so I had picked up this like tiny little rock.

not knowing what we were gonna do with it. And my husband was sitting next to me and after the intention was done, he is like, hey, like, do you wanna like get a bigger rock? That's kind of a small rock. And I was like, no, this is the rock I need because I was like, the words that stood out to me were scarcity. And I was like, this is what I need to throw in the river, right? Like I need to throw this little rock.

in the river that's representing scarcity. And so I did. And then once we crossed over, you're hiking through what we call the box of the Grand Canyon. And there is walls, huge rocks on either side of you for like eight miles. Like you're just in the bottom of the canyon walking through. And the Lord was saying like, hey, like this is my rock. Like my rocks are.

huge. Like you had this tiny little, you know, rock that that you sort of can be your mindset, right? Like this scarcity mentality. And he's like, he was just speaking to me for hours about like, this is my abundance. Like, you can trust, you know, you can trust in my provision, you can trust in my love and, you know, like just surrounding you, right? And so that's one of the most powerful ways that he's

McKenzie Smith (15:31)
Mm-hmm.

Erin Scheu (15:49)
just spoken to me through his creation.

McKenzie Smith (15:53)
Yeah, thank you so much for sharing those two stories. Those are super fun and I love both of those stories for very different reasons. And I totally get what you're saying about the mud and in the spring. Fall is stick season, spring is mud season. And it's a pain to hike with the mud and I know exactly what you're talking about.

Erin Scheu (16:13)
Okay.

McKenzie Smith (16:20)
Man, that's such a good analogy for life. That was, I really, really enjoyed that story. And then the Grand Canyon story, it's true. We have these little tiny things that we hold onto so dearly and God's like, have, you know, all of this and I've never been to the Grand Canyon. So I can only imagine how vast and grand it is, but that had to be such a cool, a cool experience to get to see that and go through that.

Erin Scheu (16:34)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (16:50)
intention and just have God speak to you in that way. That's super cool. Especially with you grabbing the tiniest little rock too. It's like, you know, God was really working something out there.

Erin Scheu (17:00)
Right?

Right? And now my husband, yeah, he totally was.

He really was. And my husband noticed and was like, why do you have such a small rock?

McKenzie Smith (17:17)
yeah, that's good. It's funny because yeah, you would think like, there's something about men though, and they just want to throw like big rocks into water. I don't know. I don't know what it is, that's funny. So I know you live in Denver, which a lot of people would say is, you know, super outdoorsy place.

Erin Scheu (17:24)
This is true

Yes.

McKenzie Smith (17:40)
It is also a really big city though as well. So you're probably a true hour or so from the mountains. So what are some ways that you maybe connect with God through your everyday life, through His creation without having to get out into these super remote places?

Erin Scheu (17:57)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's a great question. So we do live in the city and like we're in a neighborhood, but we do drive about 20-30 minutes before we kind of can be on hiking trails where we are. So I have a pretty consistent rhythm of taking walks, especially in the mornings, even if it's

you know, cold or dark or sometimes when it snows it's almost like the most peaceful I've ever felt when I go outside because it's just so quiet. But I will do a walk pretty consistently every morning and I either will just walk and try to express gratitude to the Lord or I also listen to

some meditations, guided meditations. There's a few different ones that I kind of rotate through, but it helps me to just sort of be present and grounded before I start my day. And it doesn't have to be, like it's not long. Sometimes it's 20 minutes, sometimes it's 10, sometimes it's only five. But just being able to step outside and we have a lot of

trees in our neighborhood, which is awesome. And so a lot of times I get to see the light of the morning, like the sunrise, and just the different ways the trees look through that light. And a lot of times I'll notice things like geese that are flying through the sky, or like once in a while there's an owl that comes around. We have a big park that's like maybe half a mile away. And so...

I'll see that owl like maybe just a couple of times a year, but it's pretty cool when I do. But it's just sort of noticing different things that are beautiful. And sometimes it's the moon, sometimes it's the sunrise, sometimes it's the trees. But it's just really grounding for me to have that morning space where I'm just kind of noticing, right? Like just noticing beauty.

McKenzie Smith (20:18)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. There's a, I think it's a book and I've never read it. I'm not even recommending the book, but whenever you said that there's something that's called like the art of noticing. And it's like, sometimes that's all that it takes is just being in a place to even be aware, to notice the things. And that can bring a whole different mindset, you know, in and of itself, other than just being head down and focused.

Erin Scheu (20:30)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yes, yes.

McKenzie Smith (20:47)
But yeah, thank you. Thank you for sharing that because it can be different things every day. can, know, different things catch your attention and it may not be something that you you do every day, but God's constantly revealing different things to you. Maybe even on the same path, you know, every time you go around every day, you know, you're catching something new.

Erin Scheu (21:03)
For sure.

Yeah, definitely.

McKenzie Smith (21:08)
Well, gears a little bit into the title of this podcast, My Valley, His Victory, would love for you to share a valley or a season of wilderness that you've experienced and just what God maybe taught you or has revealed to you through that season.

Erin Scheu (21:27)
Yeah, yeah, definitely. So the valley that I sort of feel led to share about has to do with my business and even when you said earlier, you said something about having a fitness business and I don't even really see it as that even though it sort of is. But so in 20,

2017 I went through Revelation Wellness instructor training like I said before and just kind of felt like The Lord was nudging me just after I went through that training to start leading classes, so I started leading some classes at my church and and then kind of step by step just feeling like he was nudging me to Yeah, just to kind of

do more, like create a membership and teach a little bit more classes and invite some more people in. really the premise of doing these fitness classes is not the fitness, it's really about wholeness and it's about discipleship and it's about moving in a way that is connecting you to.

God connecting you to your creator and really becoming more integrated as a whole being like heart, mind and body. So it's not just about the fitness classes, right? It's about getting into God's word, listening to upbeat, fun Christian music, moving to it, being in community and all of that. And so...

All those things I loved, like I loved having a community of women who would come to my classes. We would have different verses we looked at every week. We had fun music. And that's kind of how I built my business. was creating this membership for women to come and work out, move their bodies, and feel like they're a part of a community. And so once that started rolling,

It's like, wow, like I have a business now and so I need to do marketing and I need to grow this, right? Like I need more people to come and my sort of expectation was that I would be able to grow this business to be sustainable as a job for my income for a family. And so I...

I was teaching more and more classes. was trying to grow this business and I did that for a good like three years and I would try different programs and I would try different challenges and I would try different marketing things and trying to be on Instagram more and post more and get more likes and all of that and it just, they're really...

got to be a lot and it was good but it was starting to wear on me. It was just a lot to do as one person to run a whole business. And I was also teaching like six or more classes every week so my body is starting to wear out too. But I did that from about 2018 to 2022.

you know, created this business, New Way Fitness, and was growing it and trying to grow it more. And then, in, in that summer of 2022, on a backpack trip, I just really felt like the Lord was asking me to take a break from running this business and to, to just pause and, and rest.

And that felt very freeing and also disappointing because it was like, this is kind of what I've poured my heart and soul into for a good almost four years, right? And so that season of pause that I thought was just gonna be maybe a month or two.

McKenzie Smith (26:03)
Mm-hmm.

Erin Scheu (26:21)
It actually has turned into now two years that was in 2022. So, so two years later, I am like not running my business like I was previously. And I have had to lay a lot of that down and a lot of my sort of expectations and goals and what I really wanted it to be and what I thought it was going to be. And even when I

thought God was leading me into, he kind of changed my path. He changed the direction that he wanted me to go. And so there's been a lot of sort of value within that because I have had a lot of working through my own disappointment, kind of working through even my own control of it.

like and how I wanted it to be, right? Like my own expectations of how I wanted it to go and really being able to surrender that and trust in God's provision, trust in His abundance that He had a new thing, right? Like that He had a new thing for me, a new season for me. And I'm still sort of in that, like I...

I'm a substitute teacher and I'm a mom and I do a lot of outdoor leadership now. But I would say I don't feel real settled in like, okay, God, like what is my job, right? Like my quote unquote job. And so I have to really lean into him. I have to trust kind of step by step where he's leading me even when it doesn't feel very purposeful all the time.

So yeah, I would say that valley was sort of like laying down that season of my life, that business, that new way fitness and really trusting like the new thing that the Lord had for me.

McKenzie Smith (28:41)
Yeah, the new way.

Erin Scheu (28:44)
I

right? Ironically, my business named New Way Fitness, it's from, I'll read the verse if that's okay. Yeah, so the reason I named it New Way Fitness was based off of this verse from Isaiah 43, verse 18 and 19. It says, forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.

McKenzie Smith (28:56)
Yeah, please.

Erin Scheu (29:14)
See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. And so.

As a more fitness focused side, was like, forget about all the pressure to like, you know, look perfect and do a perfect workout. you know, like this is a new way to do fitness, right? Like this is a way that's gonna be about moving from love, right? Like, and moving from joy and moving from this gratefulness place, not like a place of...

pressure or trying to have a certain type of body or whatever it is. But then now it's you know it's kind of morphed into well this is a whole new way of doing your business so yeah just trusting that process.

McKenzie Smith (30:18)
Yeah.

Yeah. What?

Or is the outdoor leadership stuff that you're doing, is that a piece of new way fitness or is that through a different organization?

Erin Scheu (30:39)
So the outdoor leadership stuff I do is through New Way Fitness. I do retreats and I do one women's backpack trip each summer. And then I also contract with Revelation Wellness to lead some hikes. And we used to do Rev Wild.

it's on pause right now, which is an outdoor leadership program. And I helped lead that for Revelation Wellness. So I've had amazing opportunities through Revelation Wellness to become just more confident in some of my leadership skills and being able to lead in the canyon and lead for RevWild. And then I've also done my own through New Way Fitness.

McKenzie Smith (31:37)
Okay. Yeah. Very cool. I, I loved what you said as you were explaining this valley about that, that break that you took originally and that pause was both freeing and disappointing because I think so often we think things have to be one or the other and it's like, and no, can be both and like both

Erin Scheu (31:38)
Yeah. Yeah.

You

Mm.

McKenzie Smith (32:06)
I'm sure you felt like that was needed and so it relieved you of a lot of this responsibility and weight and striving. But at the same point, I'm sure there was a level of feeling of, am I failing in some way? You know, in the disappointment. I...

Erin Scheu (32:16)
Mm-hmm. Yes.

McKenzie Smith (32:35)
want to ask a question but I don't I don't want it to come across the wrong way so I'm going to try my hardest to to ask it appropriately

Erin Scheu (32:36)
Mm-hmm.

Okay.

McKenzie Smith (32:51)
When you started this, there was, you you said that it was you were building kind of a lot of things that you felt like people needed, which was community and being able to honor the honor the Lord and, you know, being able to move their body in a different way. And so you were fulfilling a need and probably a need of your own in some way to, you know, of building this community and having women in your life.

Where do you think the line is between being called to do something to help versus, you know, maybe turning it into a business?

Erin Scheu (33:35)
Hmm. Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (33:38)
or maybe like talk us through, through that. Cause I think, you know, that just seems like the progression, right? Well, there's this need. So let me make a business, you know, or I saw success here. So now I could recreate it there. And it's like, you know, maybe God just wanted to do the first thing. I don't know. Like, is that a part that you've wrestled with or

Erin Scheu (33:40)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

For sure.

McKenzie Smith (34:02)
Yeah, obviously I'm not you and I haven't walked through this season, but you know, sometimes it's like, well, maybe that was what it was supposed to be. I don't know.

Erin Scheu (34:11)
Yeah,

yeah, definitely. Yeah, I'll talk you through some of my thoughts. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to answer that question, but I, it's such an appropriate question. Yeah, because I have wrestled with that. I have wrestled with that for sure. It was like, Lord, did I sort of,

McKenzie Smith (34:24)
I don't know, is that an appropriate question?

Erin Scheu (34:40)
take this thing you wanted to just be, yeah, a way to help people and did I take it and run with it, like run ahead of you, you know? And, you know, did I fail? Like, did I fail to hear you? Did I?

Did I fail to follow you? All of those things. And I think looking back at like in the process of the whole thing, it was like a lot of big risks for me. It was a lot of discomfort for me to start a business and to even lead those classes for the women I've.

I'm an introvert and I don't necessarily like to be in front of people all the time and to speak God's word, That's just a high responsibility is to be speaking that to people. so all of those things I felt like were risks for me, they were challenges for me. They for sure grew my faith, grew my leadership, grew my...

McKenzie Smith (35:34)
Mm-hmm

Yeah.

Erin Scheu (35:58)
dependence on the Lord. And so that was success, right? In God's kingdom. All those things were success. And it was my perspective that it wasn't success. Success, you know, my like worldly idea of wanting to grow this business to a certain number, certain amount of money, certain amount of people, whatever it was.

McKenzie Smith (36:07)
Heck yeah.

Erin Scheu (36:27)
I think that's where I got lost, right? Like I got kind of sucked into this pressure. It needs to be like this. It needs to be this big. And it didn't, right? Like the Lord really has been so gentle with me in that process and said, you know what, like what were the, what were the, like the kingdom perspective?

right? Like there's so much success in his eyes and so I think he used it right like he I don't know if I got off track or if that was just the way like that's God's sovereignty and God's grace right like and my free will and how that all interacts but I think he in his mercy like he used it for his kingdom.

And that's the relationships that were built. That's the ways that I grew in my own faith and my own leadership and how he's using that now in other areas of my life. And, you know, just being in his word, like three days a week, like thinking of verses to share with my classes, like that grew my faith.

So all those kinds of things, I think I've had to shift my perspective and say, like, this was where you had me and you used it for your kingdom and the rest I need to surrender, right?

McKenzie Smith (38:16)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, there's, it's, so hard to adjust our mindset because

There were so many successful things and you know, it sounds like from everything that you've shared with me, like that you were doing, doing the Lord's work, you know, in this and the, the outcome of the monetary aspect may not have aligned with the kingdom, you know, aspect of it. And that's just so hard because we

Erin Scheu (38:48)
Yeah. Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (38:52)
We fix our eyes on things we can see, right? And some of those other things can just get lost. it's like, no, those are the most important, but yet, you know, in American culture, it's, you know, money and business and, you know, all the things. so, yeah, it's just, it's, so hard because, you know, I, I can totally.

Erin Scheu (38:54)
Amen.

McKenzie Smith (39:17)
sympathize with you, you know, it's like, well, if God wanted me to do it, then he would bless it, right? And it's like, he did bless it, but what lens are you looking through? You know, and so, but that's just so hard because we just, you know, we, we have, you know, you said you had to work through your own disappointment and disappointment of expectations and.

Erin Scheu (39:21)
Yeah. Right.

McKenzie Smith (39:42)
because we do, you know, account success as these things lining up and it's like, God sees it through a totally different lens. so, yeah, I think that this is really helpful because I think there are a lot of people who are doing things that are super beneficial for the kingdom. And so many people, I've been seeing this like...

Erin Scheu (39:45)
Mm.

McKenzie Smith (40:04)
thing go around on Instagram and it's like, if God gave you the idea, then he's going to bring the business. And it's like, it might not be a business. Like he might, he might just be asking you to do something and there's going to be no earthly reward for it. And, and so I think like, this is just a really good reminder, even this conversation for me, because, you know, I have little aspects of things that I'm doing that are

Erin Scheu (40:10)
Yep. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Mm.

McKenzie Smith (40:34)
business-y and it's so easy to get caught up in the numbers and in the things and it's like But I know that I'm I know that I'm doing what God has asked me to do Regardless And so I know that this is this conversation is really helpful for me in this season Just that I'm in because it's like you've just got to focus on on the the people and the purpose and not

Erin Scheu (40:39)
Yes.

Yes.

Mm.

Yeah. Yes.

McKenzie Smith (41:04)
the American chase of the American dream and you know being your own boss and all the things

Erin Scheu (41:08)
Amen. Yep.

Yep, all of it.

Yep. And we get sucked in so easily. And there's just like, it's just an easy lie to believe that if God has called me to it, like you said that he will bless it, or I think what we think is that it'll be easy. Like I think it kind of, that's at least in my heart what it.

boils down to it's like, thought like you brought me here, Lord. So shouldn't this be easier? Shouldn't this be comfortable? You know, why is this so hard? and his like, his goal is not is not my happiness, right? Like his goal is my holiness. And, and his highest priority is relationship, right? And he wants

McKenzie Smith (41:48)
Yeah.

Mmm.

Erin Scheu (42:10)
He wants me, like he wants my heart, he wants me to come to him and it's like, well, I probably won't do that if things are just going great and everything's really easy. Then I don't need to come to you, right? Not that God doesn't give you seasons of just blessing and happiness and all that. Like we need those seasons too. But growth is gonna come from probably seasons of, you know, hardship.

McKenzie Smith (42:10)
Yeah.

Yeah.

yeah.

Erin Scheu (42:41)
and discomfort and yeah.

McKenzie Smith (42:42)
Yeah.

I am looking up a verse because that made me think of...

Erin Scheu (42:50)
Awesome. Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (42:57)
I don't want to paraphrase it because I know I'm gonna... Yeah, that reminds me of... I just looked it up Mark 2. When Jesus heard this, he told them, healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do. I have come to call those who think they are righteous, but those who know... I have...

Erin Scheu (43:16)
Mmm.

McKenzie Smith (43:23)
come to call not those who think they're righteous, but those who know they are sinners. And it's like, just what you said, like if we were good all the time, like we wouldn't need, we wouldn't need a savior. We wouldn't need God if we were, you know, just rocking and rolling all the time.

Erin Scheu (43:27)
Hmm.

Amen.

Yep.

That's so true. Amen.

McKenzie Smith (43:42)
man.

Well, for somebody who maybe is in a season of doing something that they feel like the Lord has called them to do, but the worldly metrics maybe aren't lining up. What word of encouragement or advice would you give to somebody in that season?

Erin Scheu (43:58)
Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Hmm. Yeah, I would say...

I would say make sure you're developing rhythms of just pause in your day, but like in your week too, in your quarter, in your year. think kind of like that reset of like, okay Lord, am I in this place you want me to be? Kind of like that reevaluation, like am I off track? Am I going?

too fast am I lagging behind? That's developed through just kind of regular rhythms of connecting with the Lord, right? And so that happens daily, that happens weekly, that happens monthly. And I'd say if you can't find, if you're not finding places where you can pause or just rest or just really feel like, you can say hands off, like I give this to you Lord.

I'm gonna take this day off or this week off or whatever it is, then it might be, you might be pushing too hard, right? And that's not gonna be healthy for you or the people you're serving. Your relationship with the Lord for sure is gonna suffer when we're just pushing too hard. So yeah, I'd say, yeah, just simply put to stay connected with the Lord.

and find those rhythms of just pausing, listening.

McKenzie Smith (45:45)
Yeah, yeah, thank you so much for that. One thing I wanna add just in the season that I feel like I've been learning is that they're...

whenever you're doing something that has a ministry aspect, know, so you were studying, you know, you were studying the word for these classes and, you know, I've been studying the word for certain things that I'm doing. You have to, you have to have a separate time for yourself versus time that you have for preparing whatever the work or the thing is. And so,

Erin Scheu (46:15)
Mmm.

Yes.

McKenzie Smith (46:24)
I know that I've done certain things where it's like I've realized that I can't do that in the same way personally as I can, you know, in the other things that I'm doing. And so you have to be able to separate those two and have different times with the Lord for those things separately. You know, you're preparing for work does not count as your daily time with the Lord, you know. And so.

Erin Scheu (46:34)
Yes.

Yes.

For sure. Yes.

McKenzie Smith (46:50)
I don't know, that's just something that I've been learning, because that's been hard for me to separate in some of the things. It's like, well, I'm in God's Word a lot today. And it's like, yeah, but you're not, you're looking for things for other people, not for, you know, and so.

Erin Scheu (47:01)
Yeah.

Yeah, it's not necessarily filling

you, right? Because you're pouring out, like even with the study, like that's you pouring out. So you need that time just to be filled. Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (47:15)
Yeah, yeah. And so being able to separate those two even in just like your daily walk with the Lord if you are doing something that has a, you know, ministry aspect.

Erin Scheu (47:24)
Yes. Amen.

Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (47:28)
Well, Erin, for those listening who want to learn more about some of the things you're involved with in your outdoor exploration and your outdoor leadership events that you run and maybe some part of New Way Fitness that is still around, where can they find out more and kind of connect with you?

Erin Scheu (47:39)
Hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I've scaled way back from my social media presence these last couple years, but you can find me on Facebook. It's just my name Erin Choi and I have an email list and so if you want to be on my email list to be updated with my trips, that's the best way to sort of get in on that and just send me a message on Facebook.

McKenzie Smith (48:17)
Yeah, and are these coed or are they all women or is there something for both?

Erin Scheu (48:22)
Yeah, so it's mostly for women, the stuff that I've been leading. My husband and I have led a couple trips together that have been co-ed. And so we hope to do more of those in the future. Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (48:40)
Okay, so there's a little bit for both, mainly women. Mainly women go connect. Well, man, thank you so much, Erin, for just sharing so vulnerably and so just real. You know, I think that this is a thing that a lot of people go through and I love that, you know, you asked the question, like, God, did I hear you wrong? Like, you know, I thought I was walking in obedience. I think we have all experienced that question.

Erin Scheu (48:42)
There's a little bit for both. Yeah, yeah.

McKenzie Smith (49:09)
in some form, whether it's been with a business or a relationship or you know, whatever it is. And so I just just thank you so much for your transparency and for just being here and sharing your story with us.

Erin Scheu (49:20)
Well, it's been a pleasure. Thank you, Mackenzie, for just asking me to be here. I feel honored that, yeah, you would even want to hear my story. So thanks for the opportunity.

McKenzie Smith (49:35)
Yeah, and we can also thank Chuck for giving us the recommendation. I know you guys know each other through Revelation Wellness and so, just thankful that we were able to connect through him. Shout out to Chuck. Thanks, Chuck. Okay.

Erin Scheu (49:39)
That's right.

Yeah, definitely. Thanks, Chuck.