Welcome And Weekly Scripture Focus

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Welcome to The Road of Travel, a Christian podcast for Minute, where real faith meets real life. Through honest conversations and personal stories, we help you apply God's word to your everyday journey by sharing the road we've traveled. Whether you're walking through talent, change, or calling, this is your road. And you don't have to travel it alone. Now let's take the next step with your hosts, Aaron Degler and Alan Hugator.

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Welcome back to the Road Travel. Thanks for taking a little time to join us today. As we find you on your road that you're traveling, we invite you to join us on our road as we share a little scripture each week, as we share little stories behind that scripture. How do we apply it to our life? How do we apply it to the road that we traveled? And we hope that it finds you, encourages you on the road that you're traveling. And we share those things that worked for us, didn't work for us, the good, the bad, and the ugly. So thanks for joining us. I am Aaron Degler, your host, along with Alan Hugator, your host. And we'll kind of get started today.

What Real Leadership Looks Like

SPEAKER_01 1:09

We're gonna talk a little bit, I think about as men, we're supposed to be all-knowing leaders of our family. You know, it's kind of the macho thing to to be a leader. And I think so many people think, well, not a leader. But if we define leadership, it it's really there's this video, it's been it's been a while, but it showed this guy, he was like at some music festival. He was just in the middle, just dancing like crazy. And they were kind of making fun of him video and kind of making fun of him, and then somebody else came and joined him, and then somebody else, and then somebody else. And it it was saying that all you need to be a leader is just one nut to follow. And you know, and and really that's what it is. It's just almost, it's just really influence. We're all leaders. Absolutely, every single one of us.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Absolutely. I've made reference to that, is how quick does a small child start mimicking an older person or a bigger brother or sister, and they'll start doing the same thing. I mean, that's leading. That may not be intentionally leading, but it's leading, and it really falls back to the reflection about what kind of spiritual life are we leading or setting

Influence At Home And Joshua 1:9

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with our walk with God. We're supposed to be setting that. That's the biggest testimony of all is how we walk the the word of the Lord. And but a child will follow and start mimicking. There's a lot of funny videos on where they're trying to mimic a way a grandpa walks or the way a little brother does, and then little sister does the same thing, you know. So there's leadership roles that fall into play, not by trying to be a leader, it just happens. Of course, we have a big responsibility as Christians and as Christian parents to set that example.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Yeah, and and if we, you know, if we look at Joshua 1 9, it says, Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, do not, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you when wherever you go. And and that's to remind us that I think sometimes we do get, you know, we're trying to lead our home, but we just don't feel, and I think sometimes it's because maybe we're not earning enough money. Maybe we're working too much, we're not home enough. So there's so many things that uh you know we j we just don't feel like leaders. And and I can't I can't really remember the the percentages or study, but it showed that if the husband or the father goes to church, then the whole family goes to church. Versus if it's just the mother or there's there's more to it because again, it's the father, the husband leading the home. And really that's what leadership is, is really it's influence. I think sometimes we think I'm not a leader because I'm not perfect. And leadership isn't about perfection, it's really about how you influence. Just like you said, you know, we're going to church, the kid sees us going to church. They see us how we speak to our wives. Our kids see how do we speak to their mother. They see those things, and and that is leading because you're influencing that child. You're influencing those people in your house. And and make no mistake about it, good or bad, you're a leader. You might be a bad leader. And that's just, I mean, we have to be very mindful of that too. Just in I mean, we can look at different governments around

Servant Leadership And Leading By Example

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the world and say, wow, that's really a bad leader. You know, how does how does he how does he govern his people? That's a really good leader. How do they and and and even in business you see all kinds of different leaders, how do they, how do they lead? And when we lead at home, I think sometimes we think we don't feel like the leader. But I almost like to say, if you can serve someone, they call it a servant leader. If you uh and that's really what Jesus was, was a servant leader because washing of feet, that is a service to someone else. I mean, think back in that day, they didn't have pedicures or manicure uh pedicures and their feet. I mean, they were wearing sandals, if that, and it was pretty disgusting to wash somebody's feet. Sure. And Jesus said, I'll I'll wash your feet. And that that's servants because you're influencing them because leading by example.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

You know, a lot of military leaders. I think back to Custard when he's in the Civil War when he would lead the charge. You know, later I found out maybe it wasn't quite as much, but at that point in time he was leading the charge. Whoever was back at the time, some sergeant or some upper, would lead. And you gotta lead by example. If somebody's working for you, well, show them that you're not afraid to do the same work. Pull your, you know, roll your sleeves up and go show them. So there's a lot of different ways, as you mentioned, to lead. Now I know spiritually in in my personal family, uh, my mother was the Christian spiritual leader in our family. And that's great. I'm glad she introduced me to Jesus and and all of that. You know, dad didn't take such a role, he took one a little later, but not at that time. But he led the financial part, and he led out here and teaching work ethics. And so they had a, you know, different ones done different leadership for different things. You know, Kim and I, I feel like there was a time there that we both went to church some, and then I didn't go much, and she kept taking the kids, and she was the spiritual leader at that time. And then when I got back going in the last 15 years, we've kind of shared that role. Not one stepped in front of the other, but you know, we don't over-dominate in that area. We don't, well, I'm praying every time, or you know, hey, you don't pray, you pray. We pray. We pray together. Kim and I prayed, you know, with each other out there together, just me and her. But but with the family goes, well, we just whoever's one time she's I want to do the prayer today, get after it, you know. So we don't dominate in the leadership role there. We go to church together, that's like you said, that's set an example, same way. You can get too caught up in anything. But I think the sharing shows the true when you're both trying to serve the Lord and you're doing it together, and one, it's not anything about I, I, I, it's about we as a family are gonna serve

Sharing Spiritual Roles In The Family

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the Lord. Mm-hmm. So they say, and my house is gonna serve the Lord or whatever the scripture is there.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

I don't recall it exactly, but it's something on that nature. It's yeah, you see it, you see it a lot in houses, and and and and you know, and you can share those leadership roles because then you can share those leadership influences. Because just you mentioned like praying, I'm gonna pray, she's gonna pray, we're gonna go to church. It's those small spiritual actions that make a big impact. It's not just sometimes that one small action, it's the compounding effect of those small spiritual actions of maybe kids seeing you pray out loud, maybe seeing mom and dad together praying. Maybe it's I had I did an interview one time with a lady and she was sharing how she was how she grew up and how how often that her parents prayed, and that when they received a blessing, they shared it with the kids and said, Hey, we just want to let you know we've been praying for this, and this is the outcome of it. So as they grew up, they were able to see those examples and and realize that, and so they her and her husband had done that with their kids. So they could see that they were praying for those things and how God was working in their life, and and they were together leading their family, leading their home, and leading that generation similar as what her parents had had had done, because I think sometimes we pray about things, but as we just kind of forget to tell our kids about it, you know, or those other in the house, well, I've been praying on that, and here's the blessing. Right. Sometimes we'll kick and say, Well, I've been praying on that, nothing happened. You know, it's kind of like anything. If if it's not going right, we'll be sure to tell everybody. Kind of like God, if it's all going right, we're probably not gonna have a big conversation with him. But if it's all going wrong, you know Fall to your knees. Well, yeah, well, we we're gonna tell you all about where you've been, what you've been doing. You you know, I'm over here just kind of sweating it out.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

And I was talking to a man this morning, and he has I believe it's four children anyway. One of his son-in-laws might not have quite been on the same on the right path. And he is telling me how the family he couldn't do it because he's a father-in-law as easily as the brother-in-laws could do it, and help bring this guy back in or bring him in closer to God and introduce him more to God. And but it was a leadership role the family took on to try to help this one. Not that he was that bad, but still help bring him in closer and get and help build his relationship

Small Spiritual Acts That Compound

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with the Lord. So that whole family was working as leaders. They wasn't pushing, you ain't gonna push him in. You have to lead them in. Uh but they were working as a group in a leadership role. We think about one person, but sometimes it's the whole group that helps one person get brought back in.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

And I think that's a good point when you said they were leading them. And we think of leader is they are they're not pulling them, they're not pushing them. Have you ever tried to push your wife into anything?

SPEAKER_02 11:40

They don't work you too good in my family. Uh you know, I usually it's just a suggestion. But if you're kind of leading with, you know, with good intentions and all, sure, they'll follow. I'll follow. But if you try to push, it's kind of like somebody touching you in the chest and say, Here, you're gonna do this. I'll show you I won't.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

And and and haven't you ever been walking with your wife and kind of wanted to go a direction? You kind of you're you you might you're holding hands and you kind of gently nudge one way. And okay, I'll go that way. And and that's that's following. It's not like you're right, it didn't not a finger in the chest, not yanking, because that's not gonna turn out so well. Right. But you but you're still walking side by side.

SPEAKER_02 12:23

Yeah, it don't really matter what you're handling, livestock of some kind of horse or cattle or you know, herding sheep, whatever. Mm-hmm. If you just try to totally be the drover, if you don't let something take the lead, you know, then they'll all follow, like the lead steers did on the big cattle drives back north. They had lead steers, two or three, that took off that way, and they kept them in line and the rest would follow. But if you didn't have them and you just tried driving them back, they scattered like covey of coil or balked on you.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Mm-hmm. And you couldn't do anything with them. Yeah. Been there. Yeah. It'd be a big, big problem. And you know, and oftentimes when we don't feel like a leader and we and I think probably we hesitate calling ourselves leaders, but we we can do that when we influence somebody else, and all of us do that. When we start doing those small spiritual acts, again, they don't have to be perfect, but they have a compounding effect. And it's what we find out when we start doing those small things, even though if we don't quite see ourselves as a leader, we start to grow as we go. It's kind of like we learn a little bit, we do a little bit. We learn a little bit, we do a little bit. You know, but it's it's just as simple as if we're gonna say prayer, we don't have to say the the all the Lord's prayer, we don't have to memorize all that. Maybe it's just a line. Maybe it's just if we share a prayer with God, maybe it's just five or six words of the in a sentence. And then as we continue to do that, we can get better at it. As we continue to go, oh, in our home, when I have this reaction, it affects my family in this way. So maybe I need to change that as a leader and be a more positive influence. So, oh, when I when I'm positive and I say these things or do these things, my family acts in a reacts in a positive way.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Is Jesus

Gentle Guidance Versus Pushing

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doing that with the apostles? When he was training them, he was training them how to lead and how to share how his character with other with people of various countries and and all, and he sent them out to help lead them to him, to to God's way, and how to be, you know, to understand God's way, but he sent them out to lead. And that's why they reap the harvest was through leading, it wasn't by going out and pushing. But he taught them how to lead, and that's what we gotta do. We're trying to build leaders. Well, the first kind of leaders we should build should be godly in a godly manner. Teach them to understand who God is and how to love God. So we're teaching leaders there. So the only way we can really teach them is showing them by leading them, setting the example.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

And and if if you're maybe in a position now where you go, well, I don't know what that is. I don't know what what a godly man looks like. I don't know what a godly leader looks like. It it's really just how do I want to influence my family? When when we look at like that, is how do I want to influence? That maybe that's you start. Maybe it is I do want to raise them in a godly home. Well, I don't know where to start. What do I do? The great thing about now, I always I always joke, you know, why is everybody not rich, skinny, and happy? We have every single tool available to us to be rich, skinny, and happy. The problem is we don't put it into action. So the same thing is true if if we don't know where to start, sometimes the simplest place is just to open a Bible. You know, I don't necessarily know where to open. There's this there's this video I really like. It's this preacher goes in to get a haircut and his normal barber isn't there. So he sits down with this other lady and he said, he goes on to say, you know, she's all tattooed up, she has piercings all over her body. And he said, you know, I'd really like to do like I usually do when I get a haircut and just go to sleep. He said, because I don't know what I'm what I what in the world I'd have in common with this girl. And so she asked him where he where he preaches, and he said, Well, I work over and he says across the streets, this big church. And she said, Well, I was just over there the other day. And he goes, kind of shocked, like, you were over there? She so she goes on to tell him about his her mom's drug abuse

Start Somewhere: Bible, Apps, Mentors

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and her family's drug abuse, and she said, I didn't want that for my life, and so she said I didn't know where to start, so I just went into the bookstore and got a Bible, and I just started, you know, opened up somewhere and read it, and she goes, I don't understand it, but I'm reading it. And so he goes on saying, he said, you know, he apologizes for the way he was thinking when he when he first met her. He said, Well, we'll go get a Bible study over there and and and I'll teach you. But the sometimes it's that simple, it's like, I don't know what to do, so let me do something. Let me just open a Bible. Let me, you know, the great thing about, like I say, ri being rich, skinny, and happy, we have this wonderful thing uh that's called the Bible app that you can download. It has all kinds of studies, all kinds of plans, all kinds of different versions of the Bible, everything, all in one app. Used to you'd have to go out and buy a Bible and you'd have to do these things, but it it can walk you through the process. You can type in there how to be a godly leader of my home. And you can find Bible studies. So sometimes maybe by listening to this, you didn't know where to start. But by listening today, you go, I can start there. I can I can download that Bible app. I can put in a Bible study, I can uh watch some videos, I can do that. And and as simply as sometimes God puts maybe put us in the path on your road that you're traveling to say, oh, I can do that. It doesn't have to be, I don't have to be super smart to be a leader in my home. I don't have to be super perfect to be a leader. I don't have to be anything to be a good leader. Because again, it's not about perfection, it's about starting, influencing, and grow as you go. Because where you and I sit today, that's not where we started in business and family and and the what we know the podcast or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. None of that. You had asked me before we started today, you know, is there things we could probably do better with podcasts? I said, yeah, that there is. But when I first started podcasting a few years ago, I was happy just to get a mic and a a plug to be able to plug into a computer and record it. Now, as recorders, we have little fancier mics, a little fancier microphone stands, some lights, a camera. I mean, it's a little, it's, but it's we just grow as we go. I didn't know all that stuff. It wasn't perfect. But just like you said, being, you know, we just started the podcast. We got to start. We don't, we didn't want, you know, not having a name and all of our reasons to hold us back. It was like, we gotta start. And and that's the thing. This is your, you know, sometimes you don't know what you don't know, but this is the call. This is you hearing us say, you can do something. You can pick up a Bible, you can go the Bible up, you can find a mentor, find a friend that you go, he's a good, seems like a good Christian leader of his home. Hey, what are you doing? I want to be a little bit more like that. And we start asking, we start finding out we want to know more, because we'll find when we want to know more, it'll start showing up, and there's more that we can find out. Because why? Because not because all of a sudden it showed up, it's not a magic trick. It's because we're looking for it. When you lose your keys, they just didn't magically appear.

Mentoring, Humility, And Lifelong Learning

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You were looking for them.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

God says to search for him and you will find him. I can't quote the scripture, but you know, you just gotta start looking and look at the ways. And like you said, if someone called me, I would be thrilled to stop and visit with them for a while and give them my opinion of how to get started or help them get started over a period of time. Just learning more about God to where they can take steps in leadership role or any part. There's plenty of Christian, God-loving people out there that would love to mentor someone. And do not be embarrassed for whatever reason. Easy to say, hard to do. Very hard. You know. It's one of my old my old sayings is you know, go ask the girl for a kiss all she can say is no. Mm-hmm. Okay, then that's it. I mean, really. You know, ask her out on a date, all she can say is no. I don't think she can do anything else to you. I don't think she'll pull a gun and shoot you. Mm-hmm. Same way here. Go check it out a little bit. Do with various ones. Do you find where your comfort zone is, where your level is, who who do you relate with real well that can help you find the way?

SPEAKER_03 21:27

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Yeah, and and that's uh, I mean, d you know, because the little secret is that everybody doesn't have it figured out like they always you think they do. I sure don't. No, I mean I mean, you you might be listening to Dave go, well, they got it figured out, and you probably ask us separately that we don't. And we might think the other one has it figured out, but we don't. And we meet people like that all the time that we just think, well, they got it figured out. And I it and as Christians, uh you know, as as Christians in general, as men in general, I think we we need to have People that we mentor, and then we need to have people that are further along than we are that that mentor us. And you'll find that as you go through life in different career in and in religion, we always need to have somebody that knows a little bit more than we do. And so we're always searching that because how can I do better? How can I be more? And then we we take that and we pass it on to those younger than us.

SPEAKER_02 22:27

The only way to grow is not is not to be the smartest one in the room. If you're the smartest one in the room, you're help share, and that's great. But you're it's hard for you to learn. Be in a room where there's more educated people or in whatever you're studying or whatever you're trying to be, whatever, but don't be the smartest one in the room, or you can't learn and grow. So go to someone that you have respect for and get started.

SPEAKER_01 22:59

And say, what do I do? Where do I start? And and and just ask those questions.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

And if you don't want to ask them, you can listen to us and and and as we how many different podcasts are out here different ways. Find one that you like. Some of them are pretty simple like ours, and some of them are real detailed on the scripture.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

And

Identify Your Stage And Keep Pressing

SPEAKER_01 23:16

you can put any kind of search thing and find all, you know. I forget how many hundreds of thousands of podcasts there are out now. It's just unbelievable. And that's just podcasts. And you've if you go on YouTube or something like that, you I listen to them. Yeah. I learn from them. I got a lot yet left to learn. And sometimes we take those things, we share them here. Sure. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

Yeah, because there's like you said, there's people way smarter. So wherever you're at on leadership row, you know about where you're at if you'll just examine yourself. I'm not saying everybody out there don't even know where to start. A lot of them's already started, a lot of them's various stages of life, various stages of their walk with God. So, you know, kind of identify where you're at, but keep pressing forward. No matter if you think you're one of the smartest or not, get around some more that's smarter, or keep pressing, or keep looking at how you can improve yourself. Because we're all trying to witness and we're all trying to glorify God's kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

And and the challenge really is to realize that you do influence somebody. And so, what type of influence do you want to be? And that is the type of leader you

Prayer, Encouragement, And Closing

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want to be.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

There's somebody watching you all the time to see what kind of person you are. Do they want to be around you? They want their family around you. It's one been one of my biggest weaknesses, is how I've hadn't walked the way I should walk throughout my life. One of my biggest regrets. But I can't change yesterday. But I can change today and tomorrow. Let's pick up where we're at and move forward. Grow as we go. Absolutely. Yeah. Join a minute, I'll go to the Lord word of prayer. Hard dear Heavenly Father, again, we pause at this time, Lord, just giving you all the praise and glory in our lives. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity for us to share with others about our walk, about our shortcomings also, and how we still seek to learn more about how to represent you on this earth. And Lord, as we take that walk, each one of us that are listening, as we take that walk, help guide us. This when others look, they might see you through us. We come to you in the name of your Son, our Holy Savior's name, Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Thank you for each of you for joining us today on the road travel. We hope that our thoughts, our stories, our comments help find you on the road you're traveling. And always, if you enjoy an episode, you enjoy the show, we encourage you to share it, podcast, YouTube, wherever you find the road traveled, and that you just share with family and friends. And we hope that we find them on their road travel and we can make a difference on their road. So thank you again for joining us on The Road Travel. We look forward to seeing you on your road.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

You've been listening to The Road Travel, where real faith meets real life. Remember, every step matters, even the hard ones. So keep walking your road with courage, conviction, and Christ leading the way. Until next time, your hosts, Aaron and Allen, say we'll see you down the road.