AHA Moments with Kendra

In this episode, Kendra Morgan—host of the Rise & BUILD Podcast and founder and director of Building All Children opens up about personal moments when God showed up in powerful ways. She calls these her “AHA moments.” Join Kendra as she reflects on these meaningful experiences and invites us to recognize the AHA moments in our own lives.

For more Aha Moments visit https://buildingallchildren.org/podcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey you guys, welcome to the Rise and Build Podcast. My name is Kendra Morgan and I'm the host of the Rise and Build Podcast. Today it's gonna look a little different. So normally I have guests here and I'm the host, I just ask the questions. They're the ones that provide the wisdom. I've actually learned a lot through it. But today I'm gonna talk to you about aha moments. So how did this come about? Well, so I have had several people along the journey of building all children ask me to write a book. And I just kept pushing it away, kept saying no, kept saying no, and I would have people say, But Kendra, there's so many God stories that people need to know. So one night my husband and I were talking, and I just told my husband Ryan that to sit behind a computer and to write a book is the last thing I want to do. I am a people person, I love people, I really don't want to spend my time behind a computer. And he was like, you know, there are ghost writers. And I was like, Yeah, I just don't even really know if I want to spend the time with someone to get the story out. And we were just talking about it, and he kind of took a deep breath and he said, you know, Kendra, you were designed to tell stories. So you maybe just need to think about telling the stories. So I took that, kind of, kind of just set on it for a bit, and then I started praying about it. Maybe I'm supposed to tell the God stories. What does that look like? So through the process of praying through all this, um, I kept hearing this aha moment, meaning aha moment that God just showed up in my life and in building all children. And so I kind of sat on that. I was talking to a really good friend about it, and I was like, aha moments, like what is that? What does that even mean? Why is this coming up so much as I pray about this? And she goes, Oh my gosh, Kendra, it makes total sense. It's about abiding, hearing, and acting. And that is all you have done. I've abided in the Lord. I'm listening, I'm hearing his way, only going his way, and then I'm stepping out in faith and I'm acting on it. So I am gonna share a home moments with you. I first want you to know that this is not about me. This is about glorifying God and all that I say and all that we do. And I want you to know that we have a Lord that just shows up. Ever since I was a little girl, he has been my provider. Um, and I once had a Sunday school class. Um, the leader of the Sunday school class came to me and asked me if I would come share about God in his Sunday school class. And he said, we just want you to come up with one name. And I remember thinking, how in the world do I come up with one name for God? And all these like powerful words, like Yahweh, like all these big words, Jehovah, you know, just kept coming to me. And then I realized it really isn't about all that. It's just about having a God named that's a provider, and he's always provided for me. So I'm gonna tell you the a-haul moments of God and how he has been the provider, how he's always shown up for me. Um, and then I don't have to write a book. I just get to tell stories. And then the stories will be out there for my kids and grandkids, um, and everyone will get to see how God has been in the middle of building all children. We often are asked, How have you done this? Um, and I quickly let people know I didn't do this. I just said yes, and the Lord has provided every step of the way. Um, when I didn't know where to go or I didn't know what to do, he provided people in my life. And I've had a lot of people with a lot of wisdom that have guided me along the way. Um, and so those are the stories that I'm gonna tell you. So sometimes I will interview people because I've had a lot of people come alongside me and get Building All Children to where it is today. Um, and then sometimes it's just gonna be me telling a story. So the first story that I want you guys to know about is how I received the vision of Building All Children. So when you say vision, um, I have never been a person that has had dreams or visions. Um, it's just never been the way the Lord has worked in my life. Um, but I think I just got to a point that he knew vision was the way I learned and visually is what I picked up on. And so building all children literally was a vision that the Lord gave to me. And so I'm gonna back up and just let you know that I am a child development specialist. I became a child development specialist because I wanted to make a difference in children, and I wanted them to be looked at differently than the way they typically are looked at. Meaning, if you are not doing something right, we try to figure out what's wrong with you. And I wanted children to be seen by how the Lord created them with their strengths. What are they good at? And then we're gonna look at what maybe they're falling behind in. So I became specialized in assessments, and I've always assessed children ever since I graduated with my master's from OSU. But I always came home and I just always told Ryan, I don't know if I'm really doing my purpose. Having no idea what my purpose was, Ryan would always just challenge me and tell me to just to pray about it, to ask the Lord, what is your purpose? What is your purpose? So I ended up working for the state, working for the federal government. Um, I ended up being a mom, and praise the Lord, I got to stay home with my babies. And so I have three children, stayed home with the girls. I have we have two girls, stayed home with them. And then when our son was born, I actually went back to work when he was about six months old, working very part-time. Even in that job, I knew it I wasn't fulfilling the purpose that the Lord had given me. So I decided to get on my knees and pray and pray a lot. And I asked the Lord to just guide me and to direct me on what he wants me to do and what he wants my purpose to be. Ryan knew I was doing this. He was praying with me. We would pray together, but I would pray a lot on my knees by myself. One day I was sitting at my dining room table, which I could show you the picture, it is still in my house, and the sun was kind of shining through, and I was reading my Bible. I was doing my quiet time. Um, Jace was actually, my son was asleep in his crib, and I was just doing my quiet time. And this vision rolled out, um, and I I don't even know how to explain it, except I can still see it. Um, it was the services of a program, um, and then it was the business side of the program, and then it was a big building. And to look at you and say, I knew it, I ran with it, I wish I could. Instead, I freaked out and I called Ryan at work. And I was, I mean, I was nervous. I was like, I just had a vision. I had never had anything like that happen in my life. And he was so calm. And he said, Kendra, this is it. This is what we have been praying for. Go for it. And I was like, What do you mean, go for it? And he's like, Do it. Whatever you just saw, move forward with it. And so I got off the phone and I literally typed in my computer, how do you start a nonprofit? Had no idea. I had never been around the nonprofit world, I wasn't raised in the nonprofit world. Um, it was a new concept to me, but I was pretty confident that was the route we needed to go. So um, Ryan came home, I told him specifically everything I saw. I took the time and I really wrote down those things so I wouldn't forget. And um we decided as a couple that we weren't gonna tell anybody, that we were just gonna sit on it, we were gonna continue to pray about it because I didn't want a lot of outside people giving me information and confusing me. I just wanted it to be what the Lord had designed and what the Lord wanted us to create. So we just sat on it for a long time and continued to pray about it. Um I actually started a blog and I started writing a little bit. I created a website, which I mean, I can't create websites. It was horrible, but I created a website. And so we started playing around logos and names and what does that look like. Um, we got the kids involved, told the kids what the Lord had given us, and they were so excited, and they all started coming up with names and logos. Um, my favorite story is Addy, our middle daughter, um, came home from school one day super excited about the name that she had been came up with for our family ministry, and um she said it's Kendra Care. And I was like, oh my gosh, no. Like I didn't want my name in it. I wanted it to be about the Lord, but I she was right, Kendra does care. Um, and so we kind of giggled about that. Um, she gets embarrassed every time I tell that story, but she was she just knew it was it. Um so the kids were really involved with it. So I remember my first person I told, we were headed to an Oklahoma State football game, and we were with a good couple friend, and he had he was a pastor and he had been in the ministry world for a long time. And so I told him about the vision and that we were gonna start a nonprofit. And he was just like, oh my gosh, Kendra, don't do it. It'll never work. The percentage of nonprofits happening and having success just don't, it just, just don't do it. And I just got quiet. I just kind of sat there, didn't think much about it. We went on, had fun at the game. When we got home, Ryan asked me, he's like, What did you think about that? And I was like, I mean, it's discouraging, right? I mean, this is why we didn't want to tell people. And I said, But I know what I saw and I'm gonna carry on. Well, the next day, that gentleman called me and he said, I owe you an apology. And I said, For what? And he goes, the more I really thought about what you told me, the more I should have just kept my mouth shut. And I think you should do it. I really do think this is from the Lord, which was great. I honestly needed that encouragement, but we had already decided we were moving forward. Um, so just along the way, we started seeking guidance and seeking wisdom from people. So the gentleman that I had was talking about, he said, if you're gonna do this, here is an attorney group to start your nonprofit. So I met with them and they said, you have to come up with a name. And the only name we had was kindred care. And I was like, well, that is not it. And so um I remember I set the kids down, and Ryan are like, we have to come up with a name for this ministry. And I started talking to a few people about how do you come up with a name that is positive and carrying on and impacts everybody? Like, how do you do that? And so we just spent a lot of time on it, and I was reading Nehemiah and the story of Nehemiah, where he had favor with the king and he got favor with God, and he decided to rebuild the wall. Well, Nehemiah 2.18, um, it talks about him um rebuilding the wall, but then there's a part um in a different translation that says, Let us rise up and build. And so they strengthen their hands to do the good work. And that was it. Um when Ryan and I read that, I was like, that is it. And Ryan Ryan's whole thing, he kept saying, I feel like the word building needs to be in it because building never stops. You are always building. You build a little bit, well, you can build a little bit more. Um, and so I kind of giggled. Ryan's an engineer mind, um, always kind of wanted to be an architect. And I just thought he was wanting to like go back to his childhood, watch the construction workers. So I kind of made fun of it. We kind of giggled about it. And then we went back to Nehemiah 218, and I said, that is it. We are gonna minister to families to rise up, strengthen their hands for the good work, and build. And so we came up with building. That is how the word um in our name came. And then my whole career, I would have children that needed help, but this certain program couldn't serve them because they didn't have quite the percentage of disability. Or this program was based on income and I couldn't serve them, even though they were oh, just so close, low, low income, but maybe middle class, I couldn't serve them. And so I knew I wanted the word all in our name. I want all families and all children to receive the help that they deserve. No income, no guidelines on disability, there's no religion, no color, there's there's no nothing stopping anyone from walking through our doors except age. So we do only serve birth to fourth grade because we're early childhood. That's what I'm specialized in. So we that's the only thing. But the word all is in our name because we want all children to receive our services. And then children, well, because my heart longs for children. And I see the power in children. And when we pour into children, we're pouring into the next generation that is going to continue to build our world. And so that is how we came up with building all children, and that is how we came up with our name. And so we got the attorneys going and we got the 501c3 happening, um, started working back and forth on bylaws and mission statement and vision statement. Um, and all of this was just in the back end, um, still hadn't really told very many people. I did go to my pastor at the time of our church. I did go to him, and I just wanted to just give him kind of what the vision was, where we're going, what we're doing. Um, and after I told him, he said, without a doubt, this is from the Lord, Kendra. Continue to do the good work. Um, and so with that, I just kept moving forward. Um, I did kind of take a deep breath when I met with him, and he said, I feel like there's something you're not telling me. So I told him about the services and I told him about the business, but I didn't tell him about the big building. And so I said, Well, there was there was something else in that vision. And he's like, What was it? And so I told him about the big building, and I think I left that out because it made no sense to me. I couldn't, I just couldn't make sense of it. Um and he challenged me to write it down. Um, and so I did. I wrote it all down and I filed it away. And to be very honest, I thought I would never get it back out. But that's another aha moment that I'm gonna tell you about later. And so through the process with the attorneys, um, we continued to move forward and we became a 501c3 nonprofit organization, but we were already doing the work. So that's the beginning of Building L Children, and I can't wait to share the next a haul moment with you.