When Everything Changes: How to Lead Your Family and Business Through Life's Biggest Transitions

Change is constant, but that does not mean it is easy. In this episode of the Love and Leadership Podcast, Trent and Star Postel get raw and real about one of the most universal challenges every leader, spouse, and parent faces: navigating seasons of change.

From becoming empty nesters after their house went from seven people to just two, to leading businesses through organizational transitions, Trent and Star share personal stories, hard-won wisdom, and practical tools to help you lead with clarity when life shifts beneath your feet.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why change feels so personal, especially for leaders
• How life transitions expose leadership gaps and create growth opportunities
• Why communication and trust are the two most critical factors in any change initiative
• How faith stabilizes your leadership when the outcome is not yet clear
• The difference between survival seasons and growth seasons, and how to honor both
• Why vulnerability is not weakness but a leadership superpower

Whether you are navigating an empty nest, a business restructure, a ministry transition, or a personal crossroads, this conversation will challenge you to stop fighting the wave and start leading through it.

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Love well. Lead with purpose. Steward what matters.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What does it look like to love well at home and lead with purpose in the boardroom? Welcome to the Love and Leadership Podcast, where faith, family, marriage, and business come together to build leaders who last. Hosted by Trent and Star Postel. Love well, lead with purpose, steward what matters.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Hey, and welcome again to the Love and Leadership Podcast. I am Trent, and I'm joined with my wonderful and beautiful wife, Star Postel. And this is the Love and Leadership Podcast. Look, this podcast exists because love and leadership doesn't fit neatly in the box. Instead, it collides in life. And we don't have to have it all together here, but what we do is walk it out together. So today we have an amazing episode ready for you. We're going to be talking about leading through changes in life. Right. One thing I know about changes is guess what? It's always constant. So you'll never get away from it. So we're going to jump right into it today. All right, you ready to do that, Star? Let's do it. Awesome, awesome. So I'm going to ask you a couple questions. But, you know, one of the things I know about change, we've had several in our life, you know, transitions through business and families, 25 years we've been together. I mean, we've seen quite a bit. Um, so you know what? I just want you to talk about first, like what is changed? What have you seen in your life? Like changes done to you, and how do you handle what's the best way to stabilize yourself when it comes to changes in and out of your life?

SPEAKER_02 1:25

Yeah, I mean, I think we've been through a lot of transitions and changes together as a couple. Um, but then of course, also individually. So I think um really just diving into thinking about where you are at that stage in in your development, your growth and in your season, and really just being able to figure out not just where you are, but is that where you want to be? And then also, you know, how long is that season gonna take? Sometimes uh it's about just, you know, making it through. And then other times you have to make peace that we're gonna be in this place for a long time. So what do we need to change? How do we need to grow? How do we need to transition to make the best of the season that we're in right now?

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Absolutely. You know, and what change does, it actually exposes leadership gaps, right? And but it also exposes opportunities for growth, right? For trust and faith, which are all things we need to develop to get to that next place in leadership, or even be a better parent, be better husband, wife, whatever the case may be. So I think those things are really important for us to learn how to grow through when it comes to those changes. So um, so let's open up with um a little bit of um, you know, questions about change. And I think that, you know, this one actually is probably real personal to you. Um, you know, why this change often feels so personal? And why is it, why is that necessary?

SPEAKER_02 2:42

Um, I think if you are a leader or if you feel like, you know, you're the one that's uh in charge of that season in a sense, then you feel like the responsibility is on you to steward it well or to lead through it. And I think that's why it feels so personal because if you're not in a season that's very comfortable, in a way you blame yourself. So even if it's uh, you know, maybe like a financial difficulty at home and you're the main one that's handling the finances, maybe it's not all your fault, but you're gonna feel that pressure. You're gonna feel um judgment, even if it's not from the other person. But sometimes we judge ourselves and we assume the other person's judging us. And even in leadership, you know, sometimes things are not going well. And especially when you're in those seasons of transition or those seasons of growth, it's gonna be rocky, it's gonna be confusing, and there's gonna be gaps. And if the person at the top is the one everyone's looking at, it's gonna feel personal.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, and I think that sometimes, you know, when you're not ready for it, that's when it hits us the hardest, you know? And so because sometimes you get into routines, you finally get settled, feel like you got you knowing something in rhythm, but then all of a sudden something changes. All of a sudden it's like, dang, I just was just getting used to that. I was just learning how to do this. And then bam, here's another change, you know? And that can be very frustrating, you know? So I think that, you know, sometimes we just have to kind of bear the weight of that season while the change and figure out, like I said, new strategies to where you don't have to put so much pressure because it's all on you.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Yeah. And as a leader, you have to remember that it's not just the perks that you inherit when you inherit that title, but it's definitely the responsibility and um just the weight that comes with being the one that everyone's looking at. Everyone is wondering where are we going? How long are we gonna be there? How are we gonna get there? Yeah. And they're looking at you for answers.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Absolutely. Absolutely. We've got a question you got for me. What you got?

SPEAKER_02 4:38

Um, okay, so here's one. What season of change do you feel like we're currently navigating in together?

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Okay. Um, actually, uh, we just became empty nesters, you know, recently. And, you know, our our daughter and our nephew were the last two to go off to college. Uh, we quickly went from a house of seven within like literally what, you know, less than a year, literally we went down to just me and you. And so, so having a busy house with responsibilities. Cause even though our our teenage, you know, kids and our niece and nephew, they were more self-sufficient. There's still responsibility to them, right? Yeah. And so whether it's school, whether it's their transition to the next place in life, you know, our son was playing football, and then all of a sudden he had major surgery. And so trying to figure out what's going on with his life there and he doesn't know what's happening. So, I mean, there's a lot of things that you know you still bear the bear the responsibility of when you're in the care of everyone. But then now that they're gone, it's like, man, who am I caring for? Right. And so uh, and when you're used to caring for others so much, when that's gone, you have to try to figure out okay, well, what's next for me? It could be kind of a nerve-wracking situation. And I I'll be a little transparent at this moment because uh, you know, we also often talk about this, and you tell the story how it was very difficult for you to, you know, when the kids left and you know, it was a transition season, you know, you remember that day, it hit me pretty hard. Like I just I broke down.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

You were fine for a while. We were talking about the transition of our younger kids um going into college and which school they were going to. We were doing all the college visits and going through all the motions, and I was breaking down every other day, and you seemed like you had it all together. And and I think you just held it, held it, held it. And that one day you just kind of finally let it go.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Yeah, but I think it just speaks to how change can really affect us, you know, even though it may affect us differently, it does still affect us somehow, you know. And so that was my way of being able to release and let go of that season that where I was the caregiver, I was the father, I was the uncle, you know, I was that person people depended on. And now that's now I have to grieve that season, you know, and it's that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

And I think with change, a lot of times, you know, comes that um, I don't know, but before the changes, you feel like things are under control, right? You feel like you know what's going on, you finally have the routine down, you finally have um just you know the responsibilities and everything is in is is in place. And the minute you know that things are getting ready to shift, it it comes an uneasiness, you know? Yeah. We don't know what's next, we don't know how to navigate that. And are we gonna be as successful in next season as we have been in this season?

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Yeah, and that can be nerve-wracking, you know, because we're very results uh revolt uh results uh driven, especially as leaders, because a lot of times we look at what we do for as the results as to see if we're successful or not, versus whether did we survive the season, did we change properly?

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Did we and there's gonna be seasons that require just survival? Yeah. And that's it. You know, if we made it through and we're still together, we're still in one piece, like the business didn't go under, the family's still intact, then that might be the definition of success for that season. Whereas there might be another season where there's a lot more opportunity, and we also want to capitalize on that season, where it's a season of uh exponential growth, you know?

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Absolutely. So kind of piggybacking on that, you know, I'm gonna challenge you with this next question. So one of the things I talked about earlier, the only constant in life is change, right? So there's a reality that change is going to come, like whether you like it or not. And so, you know, how in excuse me, in seasons, you know, that we're changing, how does it expose leadership gaps? You know, because like I said, we're entrepreneurs, we're, you know, we have so many people that we employ that depend on us, but in a business, change happens often. So from your perspective, you know, how does that, you know, expose or our leadership gaps when those changes come?

SPEAKER_02 8:20

I think those gaps um offer that opportunity to evolve as a leader and as an individual. And either we take it or we don't. So either we get to that place where we say, okay, I've led well in this season, but this next season is completely different. Um, and how do I navigate that? Or we just keep doing things the way that we've always done them. And a lot of times if we choose that path, it's not going to translate well. And so I think the unsteadiness of that new season is having to almost be a novice again. You know, it's like when you're in high school and you're the big dog, you're a senior, you know, everything is your way, you know, the school uh up and down, back and forth, you feel very confident. And then now all of a sudden the next year you're a freshman in college and it's like, okay, I have to start all over. Yeah. And I feel like as a leader, a lot of times that's what happens in those new seasons is you you got to go back to the drawing board and figure out what's gonna work in this time period now that you're in.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Yeah. And sometimes it's difficult because you know, having to reinvent the wheel to please the people that you lead. I mean, sometimes they get bored of our styles of leadership, or sometimes they get stagnant, or they hear you say the same things over and over. It's a lot of pressure to have to change who you are and what so to do have a new message.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

You have to evolve as you're expecting your people to evolve.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:44

So every time there's a new transition, you know, the same strategies don't work year after year, especially when you have people that have been with you for for multiple seasons. Yeah, they have to get something new to be inspired in a new way, to be led in a new way, and to be challenged the same way we do.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Yeah, leadership sometimes is performance-based. Like it's like we're performing all the time on the stage in our public. And this goes from you know, business leadership, entrepreneur, in your home, especially one thing I think gets lost in these types of leadership at pastors and ministries, right? Like it's very difficult to lead, you know, large ministries or any ministry when you're out front all the time and you have to, you know, speak to empowering people every single week that are dealing with so many different things. How do you create a message or how do you create systems in place where you please all of them, you know? And so sometimes, you know, that can be a very lonely place when you don't feel like you're being effective or something changes where you have to change things because people are not receiving what you have to say. So I think that sometimes, you know, we have pastors got to give themselves grace to understand that because you have to change something or administrative, you have to change something doesn't mean that you're doing a bad job. And sometimes you have to say, hey, you know what? I've got to change for the sake that make sure my people are still able to receive and grow.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Yeah. And I think too, nowadays leadership um is so multifaceted and it's much more the expectation level is much greater than it ever has been before. So at work, people are not just expecting you to lead them to the mission of the job.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

They're expecting you to meet their emotional need, their intellectual need. You know, they're they're just I I feel like what's being asked of us is constantly growing and evolving.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

And unfortunately, we have to make peace with that.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

Um, but then we also have to look at it as something that's positive. You know, that's an opportunity to create even more change and to have even even greater influence.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Yeah. Systems of self-sufficiency, right? And so that's that could be a whole nother episode there we talk about when it comes to getting people there. So but uh so yeah, to continue on the conversation, um, you know, I think you have some like some like fun little, you know, relevant facts and statistics.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

So I found these statistics. Um, so uh the first one says most organizational change initiatives fail due to lack of communication and trust.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

So how have you seen that? I mean, would you agree with that?

SPEAKER_01 12:05

Absolutely. I mean, if you uh we can go macro on this, think about some of your large companies and things that go through organizational changes. Or I mean the biggest thing with restructuring is sometimes a culture shift, right? And people are used to doing things one way, and then somebody comes in and says, Well, I want to do it a different way because we got to shift the culture. How do you, how are you able to do that? Well, if there's not a clear communicated plan, if you don't have people in place or the right things in place, they can utterly fail, you know, especially when people are already stuck in their ways and say, Hey, I want to do this my way, I'm used to doing it this way. And so it's hard to get people to change, especially if they've been doing something for so long or if they're used to, you know, certain types of things. And so, uh, so as a leader, you have to be uh inventive, you know, uh, you have to be very, you know, you know, you know, be able to think out the box out of the box to be able to create systems and things and how you communicate. Everybody has different communication way they receive it. Yeah. So you can't come in barking orders. You have to, hey, come in relational, you know, getting to know people at the level that you're at, getting to know what makes them, you know, how can they contribute and what you've been part of before and and how can we help and you you transition them with you. How can you help be a part of the things and change that we want to see?

SPEAKER_02 13:16

Yeah. And I think what you said is key also when it comes to um making sure that that relational part is out there in the front, because a lot of times you're having to overcome obstacles that you don't even know are there.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

So until you really get with your people and you find out what are they concerned about, what are their fears, their worries, you know, what what is their apprehension about this change that you may think is gonna go great. And behind the scenes, they're saying one thing. Um, and I think, you know, just making sure that you that you have your ear to the ground when it comes to those big changes and you know where your people stand, what what they are feeling nervous about, and you get to the core issue. Because with the transition, it's gonna take multiple layers of convincing, it's gonna take multiple layers of processing um those uh those challenges and those obstacles. So, you know, the first layer might just be um, you know, making people feel safe. And then that next layer layer making them feel understood and heard, and them feeling like you really did analyze the whole situation and that this is this is what you came up with. It yeah, that you've taken everything into consideration. Um, and then that last layer is really getting their buy-in for them to be able to see that it's gonna benefit everybody in the long run and that it's gonna make sense.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Yeah, a lot of people don't like to be forced to change, you know. A lot of people don't like like, oh, you're doing this because I said so. So again, the buy-in is very key in how you do that. Like the Bible talks about in scripture, without a vision, the people perish, right? Yeah. But I'll go a step further. Without a clearly executed, communicated vision, yeah, then that's where, you know, the lack of understanding and the people then just kind of wander and don't know what they're doing. And what that does, it literally kills anything you're trying to do because you can't accomplish anything without your people, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

And you and you have to take that moment to gauge the understanding. Yeah. Because we can put out a message and assume that everyone hears it the way that we put it out. And they may hear it and receive it a completely different way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

And delegation is key with that. I mean, you gotta you want to get in a room where you have core leaders around you and people around you that can help clearly communicate that. Because if it's coming from more than just you, if it's coming from a trusted group of people that can get the buy-in of those around you, then you have a lot more chance of that, you know, organization or whatever you're trying to do to survive, you know? Yeah. And so that's very, very key.

SPEAKER_02 15:41

For sure. Um, and then another thing here, it says people experiencing major life transitions report higher stress, but also higher long-term growth. Yes. So, what do you think about that?

SPEAKER_01 15:52

I mean, stress uh is gonna come with anything, right? That's you know, they say anything that's worth working for, right? So the thing is, is that if if if you're gonna work, if you want a family, guess what? It's gonna take some work, you know. If there's stress involved, yes. But what do you get out of it? You get the love, the nurturing, the ability to raise your kids and and see them then produce after your own and have they have kids and go on. Like, so there's there's a great reward for that, but there's gonna be stresses that come with it. If you stick through the stress, you see the growth, you see the stuff that you want to see. You know, no tree starts, you know, from you know, just this big, beautiful thing that just has fruit growing, right? Yeah. And in that season, or from a seedling to that tree, there's multiple things that happen. You have droughts, you know, you have different things that come along to try to kill that tree's, you know, growth to get to where it wants to be. But the the key about the tree, it's growth its root system, right? The better that root system is, the better chance that tree has the opportunity to actually grow and actually withstand all the stress and all the seasons that are gonna come. It can't help the fact that a drought's coming. It can't help the fact that the hurricane's gonna come, right? But what it can do, it can grow itself. It can do the things, hey, let me get some good roots, let me stay grounded. And then now it's gonna be able to withstand all the stuff coming. So if you really believe in something, right? If you want something bad enough, you're gonna stick through the stress, you're gonna stick through those tough things so that when you get to the place where, hey, I got what I wanted, then it was worth all the stress because you grew through all that. But a lot of people don't like to grow. Grow it growing is painful, it stretches you, right? It literally think about it, literally stretching something is taking it outside of its comfort zone. And so so many people don't want to go there and then they don't get the results of what they want or they don't last long enough to see the production of what would have happened if they stuck through the stress.

SPEAKER_02 17:39

Yeah. And I think that's why it's so important to as a leader grow through each of those periods of transition, you know, even within yourself, there's a lot of challenges that we experience personally, um, even if it comes with um, you know, just even things as far as maybe our communication styles, you know, we have to constantly reinvent ourselves at the level that we're at and what's needed for the organization or the family that we're leading. And also um just make sure that we're gaining those lessons and that we're, you know, we're just really taking what we need out of each season so that it can propel us into the next one. Because when you learn something at the smaller scale, you know, you're gonna be prepared maybe for the next one and the next one and the next one. You're not gonna be an excellent leader right at the top if you haven't gone through some things, you know, underneath before. So um, here's another statistic that it said is uh leaders who communicate consistently during change retain higher team confidence. So I think really the communication part is is key.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

And then you think about the co if you have a cohesive message and everyone buys in now, now to team for me, you the acronym together, everyone achieves more, right? So when everybody is has the buy-in, now you guys can go together. And so I think there's um correct me if I'm wrong if I get it, but you go further, you know, when you have to get when you're together.

SPEAKER_02 19:03

Yeah, there's that saying you could go fast alone, but further together. Together, yeah. So something like that.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

And so uh, and that that's the essence of teamwork, you know, and and making sure your team has buy-in. Because if you're going it alone, you're gonna get tired and you're gonna burn out and then you're gonna drop before you're gonna be able to do it. And you can only do so much.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

You can only do so much when you're on your own. It's when you really get that synergy of a team where everyone is coming with different talents and strengths and connections that you guys can really do something beautiful together. But it's gonna take that communication. It's gonna take, you know, failing, getting back up, failing, getting back up. And it's how you lead through those times of transition and failure and opposition that your team is gonna learn to trust you more and more. So they're gonna be able to trust you through bigger transitions and through even greater obstacles when they know how you've done in the past when it comes to the communication and making sure that everybody's on the same page.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Absolutely. And one key word you said is trust. So kind of transition to our next topic is trust and faith, right? Yeah. And so how does faith really play into our journey when it comes to, you know, hey, how do we lead through change or how do we communicate change, right? Sometimes we're uncertain as leaders, right? What we're supposed to do or if I'm gonna do it right, but you have to have some type of inherited faith inside of you to know that, hey, I can do this, right? Or when I don't see it clearly that, hey, we can do this together or accomplish what we want. So I'm gonna pose this question to you, you know, how does faith stabilize leadership when the outcomes aren't clear?

SPEAKER_02 20:30

I think for me, faith is essentially having a belief in something greater than yourself. And you can think about that in a spiritual sense, but you can also just think about the fact that, you know, I'm here doing a service, I'm here for the greater good. My intentions are pure. And when you start off with that faith, knowing that, you know, as long as I'm walking upright and I'm walking in the right direction, that eventually everything's gonna be okay, then, you know, you have more of a sense of peace, a sense of security. Um, and then also you don't let your, you know, your faults or the setbacks define you because life is all about learning. It's about, it's a journey, you know, and we can't look at it, we can't be so hard on ourselves that we think that a failure in what we're working on or what we're doing is a failure within us. And we have to just make sure that we're constantly learning and growing and giving ourselves that grace to grow because it's gonna take that. It's gonna take a lot of trial and error, it's gonna take ups and downs, it's gonna take the failures to help you grow into, you know, the person or the leader that you want to be.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

Absolutely. And one thing you said, just you know, step by step, right? And you know, one of my favorite scriptures talks about that. You know, faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not yet seen. Not yet. So we can't see it right now, right? But faith says, you know what? I'm gonna take steps every day towards my goal, towards it. Even though I don't see it yet, even though I haven't gotten there yet, I'm gonna continue to step in the right direction, be upright, you know, do my do faithfully. Do it in the right way in the right way. Do it, you know, to the utmost of my ability. And eventually you'll get there. You know? I think sometimes leaders quit a little too quick when it starts getting real rough, you know? But that's where faith is supposed to persevere. Because if your faith is greater than, you know, the obstacles that are ahead of you, you'll get there, right? And so, but if your faith is not quite there, but then also to what grows your faith is just going back and looking at the last time you overcame, right? Or the last time you accomplished something. And I think that we have to be people of remembrance when it comes to leaders. If you've been in a leadership position, or hopefully if you're in a leadership position, it's because you've proven something in the past that I have the ability to lead. And so just go back onto those things that you've done in the past and remember how you overcame in those situations and apply that to the next situation. And maybe that'll kind of help you with your faith getting to that next place, right?

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Yeah. Um, how do you feel that leaders remain present without having all the answers? How, how do we do that?

SPEAKER_01 22:57

That's a good question. Um, one thing, if you know that I'm not gonna always have the right answers, I think you can start there, a place of humility because you know, we are not always gonna be right. You have to be okay with being wrong and know how to go back and to either apologize or say, hey, look, I got this wrong, but we're gonna go in the right direction, do it right. You know, just being honest with yourself, right? Because if you always think that you're right, then when you when you fail, it's gonna be a very hard fall when it comes to that. And also, too, people can see realness in you. Like when you do not know.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Yeah, it takes vulnerability and honesty for sure. Um, for people to see that you're willing to grow too, and that you know, you're the type of person that if you get it wrong, you're gonna correct it. You're not gonna be so stuck in your ways and in your pride that you're gonna, you know, carry them all off a cliff because your pride is too great to admit that you're going in the wrong direction. And then that's I think people admire that and people people gravitate to that and it gives them a sense of safety when they know that that you're the type of person that can be vulnerable even when you're wrong.

SPEAKER_01 24:00

And the admiration in the sense that, hey, you're you're able to have that vulnerability brings stability, right? Because if you're always the person that people feel like, oh, he's never gonna self-check himself. He's gonna be, he's gonna fall off the cliff when he's wrong. He doesn't care, then people don't really buy into you, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 24:15

And it gives them permission to be wrong. Yeah. It gives them permission to be vulnerable when they feel like, you know, hey, I think I made a mistake, you know, boss, can we can we talk about this? I need to admit that that I'm headed in the wrong direction. And at least at least that way you guys have enough time to maybe fix it before it gets even worse. But if you create that culture of fear and judgment, uh then your your people are not gonna have any place to go when they know that they are in the wrong or that they they need the help.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

Absolutely. That's good stuff. That's good stuff. So, what we want to do, we want to leave you guys with some some practical application things that maybe, hey, you can start just asking yourself or even apply, you know, into your leadership journey when it comes to or just the things of change that happen every day and the realities of it. And so, so the first thing I'm gonna challenge, you know, what habits help couples and teams stay aligned during transitions, right? And so, again, change is gonna come, transition is gonna come. So, you know, what are those things that you can do to make sure that you're still in alignment, you're still in the right place? It doesn't throw you off to the left or to the right. You can remain stable knowing that the transition or change is gonna come.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

Yeah, that's a good question.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

Yeah. Um, another question is what season are you resisting that may require trust instead of control? Right. That's a tough one because you know, especially when things are shaky, the first thing you want to do is grab the wheel, right? And I want to steer back into the place. But sometimes, you know, you have to say, okay, hey, change is unstable. Change does have uncertainty, change does come with the weight of not knowing what the outcome is going to be, especially when change is uh something that's transitional quick, right?

SPEAKER_02 25:51

You're gonna feel like you're going backwards a lot of times before you can really move forward.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

Like some things that we've gone through, we've had to make some quick moves in our life. You know, we've moved several different times. And, you know, our last move to uh here to Orlando was literally from you know Jacksonville, where we spent almost 10 over a decade, 10, 12, 13 years of our life. Our kids were, you know, stable in their schools, and then all of a sudden we uprooted them literally in the summer and came here as God, you know, called us, hey, I want you to come here, right? And so I think that sometimes, you know, those types of things can really, you know, just come at you really fast. And yeah, things are gonna be off-chip.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

They definitely test you, but you know, you can use that test to either help you grow or you know, to help you become more uncertain. And I think through the uncertainty, that's where there's that opportunity for faith to think about something bigger than yourself and to know that there's a greater purpose.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Absolutely. And sometimes going with the flow, actually, you know, of just hey, this transition, you're actually more stable. It's like riding the wave, you know, like when you fight the wave, you're gonna drown, you know. But when you ride that wave, you know, you can kind of get to where you want to be, right? And where might God be inviting patience before clarity? You know, like, you know, that's that's that's something that we all should reflect on. You know, it's like, hey, you know, one thing about us human beings, we are not patient people. You know, patient is patience is a very tough thing for us to gain. But the only way we can gain patience is we have to be put in situations where we require patience, right? And so uh so sometimes that can be tough, especially since we have are so fast-paced, especially in today's society. It's about getting things faster, quicker, you know, more now. And so that can be run against, you know, the the our mindset when we have to actually be patient through a change because that change is going to require us to be patient to get to where we want to be. So yeah. So uh, so again, you know, I want to leave just a couple of things with you guys. Um, like I said, transition is gonna come, you know, change is gonna be constant. It's something that, you know, is always gonna be there. And so, you know, don't fight it, you know, just figure out ways that, hey, how can I stabilize my family? How can I stabilize the people that I lead at work? How can I stabilize my ministry or my church or whatever the case it is that you're leading? You know, you being in control of the change is gonna be your best way to stabilize it, right? That your thoughts, you know, how you react, how you galvanize the people around you. You know, those are the things that are gonna get you through transitional times when it comes to that. And I think that if we can focus on not the change itself, but my reaction and my and who we're becoming in the process. Absolutely, my growth in it, right? Yeah. Because we can I can go back and look at all the changes I've been through. And a lot of that growth was so necessary. Now, if I would have known what I was gonna go through to get there, I definitely would not have done it, right? It's like, nope, don't want that. But because I went through it, I know it was for the better for me. So, right. So, sorry, is there anything else you want to leave with our listeners about change or seasons through change before we uh leave them today?

SPEAKER_02 28:41

I guess the main thing I would say is just, you know, be honest about yourself, be honest of how you're feeling with the changes first. And um, and then I think out of a place of vulnerability, you're able to communicate it better to those around you, especially the ones that you lead. And I think a vulnerable leader, a leader that's communicating, a leader that's being honest, even if they don't know the answers, they're saying, Hey, I don't know the answers right now, but I'm gonna work on getting them, um, is a leader that's worth following. And it's a leader that you can trust.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Amen to that. So I think that's a great final thought. So again, thank you so much for joining us on this episode of Love and Leadership. We definitely want you to come back and listen to more of this great content we're already giving to you on this. And so, but before we leave you, we always want to let you know make sure you love well, lead with purpose, and steward what matters.