Unpacking Truths

How To Invest In What Matters

• LOC Church • Season 1 • Episode 7

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✝️ Unpacking Truths: Episode 007: How To Invest In What Matters

Explore the art of balance in this episode, examining how God calls us to invest our time, money, and energy wisely. Unpack the significance of investing in relationships, hobbies, jobs, and rest, finding harmony in every aspect of life. Drawing inspiration from scripture and real-life examples, delve into the wisdom of choices, using the story of Mary and Martha as a guide to making wiser decisions. Reflect on the reality of time and discover what God says about how we should invest this precious resource. Is God's investment advice universal, or does it vary for each individual? Join us as we navigate the divine principles of balanced living.

#UnpackingTruths #BalancedLiving #DivineInvestments #TimeWiselySpent #HarmonyInLife #MaryAndMarthaWisdom #GodsInvestmentAdvice #WiserDecisions #LifeBalance #ScriptureInspiration #InvestInRelationships #InvestInHobbies #InvestInJobs #InvestInRest #TimeIsPrecious #UniversalWisdom #DivinePrinciples #GodsGuidance #RealLifeExamples #ReflectAndInvest

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today we're gonna talk about that topic we all wrestle with how do we find balance in our lives in a way that works for now and works for our future hi I'm Pastor Kendall and I'm Pastor Mo and we are unpacking truths where we unpack God's Word and God's truth for life today everyone is seeking and we are here to help you find hope and power in God's work well Mo I see you don't have your creepy mug today you know what leave Lamontia alone that's the name of my mug spelled like Lemon Jello and I actually got that in West Virginia and they used to put homemade Moonshine in there and they would that those kind of cups or mugs would keep the kids away it would scare them has it scared you is it are you scared yes I when I sit down here and I see that thing I get like creepy crawlies up my back what kind of MUD do you have a judge of mottos my one my wife got me with Kanye and I and you can tell how old it is cause they got my soul patch on there oh yeah soul patch you should grow that back bring it back yeah it'd be a different color now though that's a problem hey you know what gray soul patches are into well they are okay well maybe the silver fox so so well we got a topic for today huh what are we talking about I think we're talking about balance oh oh talking about how do we find that balance in our lives and I think you know more for you for me for everyone yeah um it's not it's non existent right well that that too yeah but no I I think we're searching for we're trying to figure out how do we find a balance that works for us and you know just as we're starting into this it strikes me that it different seasons of my life yeah that balances look different um you know I'm thinking right now um our uh youngest daughter lives at home and she's full time teacher but she is she's working out six days a week yeah and just kicking it she's it's great I can't do that I I I don't with all the other things that I have going I can't figure out how to do that I'm now in my life I'm hope like during the summer I love to get out biking maybe four times you bike like 26 miles I don't wanna hear that you'll be like oh I just got done biking 26 miles it's a bike but at least somebody changed my road bike I can go that far no problem oh yeah is it electrical no oh my wife has an electric bike mine is no 26 miles the but when I had young kids at home if I was getting exercise once or twice a week that was about all I could manage so so I just recognized when we're talking about this balance thing yeah it looks different at different phases of our lives and and and I think that's okay yeah I think that's okay well I think it's kind of funny cause like balance has become like a joke inside my house because every year since my kids were little they're like well you know I'm like you guys that's it I'm gonna figure out this work life balance I'm gonna figure it out this year and so now it's just a joke they're like oh yeah working on that work life balance how's it how's it going for you and because I I think I'm coming to the conclusion that this idea that we can hold all things equally like my health and my job and um moving forward with you know time with family like it's impossible to think we can manage everything within equal increment of time energy it's that's just that's that's a lie well hold on one second Alyssa and Priscilla I'm trying to help her in the best ways that I can but she's still your mom so what can we say the so you know more I think somewhat it is a lie I mean I don't think we can keep anything in perfect balance you know someone remember someone once said they gave like a 3 foot pole and they said hold it on your your hand and you try to do that and you're constantly needing to adjust because it's you can't just put it there and it stays in balance yeah slightest breeze the slightest shift shifts it so I don't think the the you know keeping a life in perfect balance is possible no and so I think we have to step back and look at in different ways one of the things that strikes me as weird is I was preparing for this is just my I thought of Ecclesiastes 3 yeah where Solomon said for everything there is a season a time for every activity under heaven time to be born a time to die a time to plant a time to harvest that he was talking more not about this perfect rhythm or perfect balance but a rhythm that there's some of this and then there's some of that and then there and there and I and someone said that to me years ago I don't remember who but saying you can't keep in perfect balance but you can keep a healthy rhythm and that's what I've been striving to do and I kind of think of it like the shifting of things in our life so when I think of balance I think more of um prioritizing right like it's it's prioritize like what we prioritize shifts during different seasons right like my daughter as well works out like sometimes twice you know um a day because she's uh military and she has to pass certain tests and all that and she's like you know you should really and I'm like slow down all right like you're 23 years old you're a trained soldier you're nice and young and you don't have a job and you're in college so we're we're in different you know seasons and what does it mean to prioritize certain things during certain seasons and um yeah I actually came up with because I'm telling you every year it's a thing right like I'm doing all this research trying to figure out what balance looks like and there are three things I ask myself right or that I've Learned throughout throughout this period so you let me know what you think lay it on me so the first one is I I needed to really understand God's will for my life

right and I took that out of Ephesians 5:

15 where um it says be careful how we live live wisely and make the most out of every opportunity understand the lord's will because if I don't know what I'm called to if I don't know what I need to be doing because God is ordained me to do it then I'm going to um make mistakes and start doing other things and putting my time and energy too much into things that I'm really not called to be doing during that season um the second one was count the cost I'm horrible at this like I think something will take half the time it takes I'm I have a magical relationship with time ask ask Kendall he's like oh you're late I'm like no 10 minutes is on time 10 minutes after but I I counting the cost and that comes

out of loop 14:

28 don't begin until you count the cost for who would begin construction of building without first calculating the cost to see if there's enough money to finish it and the third is learn how to say no well right because if there's anything scripture shows us we cannot say yes to everything Moses was saying yes and he was seeing all the people and judging them right um and go having their cases come before him and Jethro he was burning out he was gonna tap out like and and Jethro had to come and say no give what you can to the the other people only take what what you need to take on and in Act 6 how I'll never forget the disciples who are like it's not our responsibility we need to be teaching and preaching not serving not being in charge of the serving food ministry right and so and and not that that's not good it's good stuff and I think especially when we are people that wanna be helpful it's so easy to slip into everything good and for other people must be God's will for me so I must say yes to it my neighbor needs help I should say yes um the church wants me to pack up food I should say yes I should say yes to this and this and this and I will if I do not have a solid understanding of what I'm called to do yeah in Mo I think there tend to be two types of people out there in the world and I'm guessing you fall into one or another of these categories you tend to be someone who always says no and so you have to be prodded to say yes yeah and other people tend to say yes all the time and they need to be reminded to say no so some of it is are you a yes person or a no person put that there I'm just be curious how many people are you a yes person or a no person I tend to be more of a yes person okay yeah so so you do so people who tend to say yes all the time need to learn how to say no but people who say no all the time because they're trying to protect themselves their time trying to keep this perfect balance sometimes they need to be prodded to like hold it you can do more god may be calling you more but I think that's a great point that learning how to say no is a crucial thing especially if it's it's not necessarily no it may be no not at this time yeah or be no that isn't for me because God's calling someone else to do it you know um God didn't call Mo to be the savior of the whole world I think Jesus already got that job so I wouldn't have done a good job well no we're not even going there I'm just saying I can't even save myself well we're there for you Mo we'll form a support group for you so um the but I think you're right about the prioritizing and you know you had some great New Testament I just think of you know Moses and Joshua both as they were leading the people you know said this choose this day who you will serve but Joshua said but as for me and my house hold we will serve the Lord so there is sort of this first decision we have to make to say who's right who's driving my life who's gonna shape the priorities who's gonna shape the decisions and if we are saying God shaping them right okay well then that's where we start and then we build out the priorities from there so my relationship with God in honoring him with what he has given to me that's where I start but then God has put me in some key relationships right with in in my case with with with my spouse with my wife Connie with my kids with this church I have you know have a job there on my own health all of those so how do you order it like how do you order your life you know that you have to put your wife like up at the top somewhere all the time every day yes I'm just giving you a little help you know helping out brother thank you please please need all the help I can get you know I think it really has again different seasons different things of what you can manage um but there were some things early on where Kanye and I made some choices um uh regarding our kids in how to manage that and for some of us uh for us given my job and my role as pastor one of the things we wanted our kids to be involved in things you know we wanted I always said you know you get into school I want you to be involved in either sports or music or drama I mean those are all places where you're gonna be a part of a team you're gonna be with other people helps you learn how to do that and you get the joy of being a part of that yeah we made the conscious choice like um our son Caleb was pretty big guy and probably would have enjoyed doing football earlier but you know kids football happen on Sunday mornings yeah well we had a different place we were going to be as a family on Sunday mornings so when he asked to do football you're like as for me and my house we serve the Lord is that quite how you get it no but we just we our kids just knew we yeah Sunday morning didn't even ask didn't really ask no he didn't push for it um and and so we did that I mean in this one and I know this is you know controversial given this context we're living in we also just said um uh you know our girls played soccer Leah got in volleyball and did those things but we did not push them to be and really push slash allowed to be on travel teams right during the weekend I had a job and Connie didn't wanna be out running them all around and she wanted them to be in worship too so we just made the choice we weren't gonna be involved in travel things that was going to have us go on all weekends no again I know their varying levels of that but that was be that was grounded and I'm not saying that's the choice everyone has to make and I'm not saying that everyone comment like this yeah yeah I'm glad the thumbs down happening right now he said it not me but but I do think there are choices that people have to make and and one of the things that also helped me is early on there was a guy in this congregation who had uh twin daughters who were really good athletes uh both good soccer players um but this guy told me he goes Kendall he goes I gotta tell you cause uh he goes all of the money in his daughters did get soccer scholarships in college he goes but he goes if you balance out what they got in soccer scholarships versus what we spent on them being bad investment well he didn't say bad but he sort of went it was about like this yeah so I I do think that sometimes we get caught in this while everyone's doing it so we've got to do it yeah and that is some of the business drive that happens especially in middle class upper middle class suburbs where people have some discretionary income you can throw your money at different things and but you're making a choice not only with your money but also with your time yeah and that time we only have so much of it in a day I have never found how to get 25 hours in a day yes except for whenever that clock changes one time then you get that and then I wanna be sleeping right so I just I think some of those making that first choice what is my first priority yeah and then looking out from there what am I doing what do I wanna do that's beyond that that's manageable so like getting a solid view of like what are our values and what are we gonna make sure we live out of like and we're gonna bounce all our choices off of that right yeah so I have a question cause this is a point where I really wrestle with and it's um if I know what I'm called to right I I have my values this is what I'm living out of but my job also at you know I so I know I can say no to certain things but your job requires all these mundane things that have nothing to do with what you're called to do and actually kind of feel repetitive and unnecessary but yet they are what they are and they're a real big time suck like do you have have you ever experienced that and if you have do you get good at saying no to some of it like do you have you ever had to say like no I really because you felt if I'm gonna live this part out I need to and be faithful to this part right and and what does that look like um well I'm not someone who loves paperwork yeah um the and especially all the details at the end Kanye will say I'm uh I do a lot of home projects and when I do them I'm great at taking him to 90 or 95% and then the last 5% one of the areas have really grown in the last few years but most of the years then you hand it to that point and then I'm on to the next you hand the jigsaw over to Connie and you're like listen I took on 95% you got the other five yeah well it's more like the mess oh wait Connie or the mess that I've left um but I I remember early on again uh Denver Bitner is saying to me when I was learning how to be a pastor with him he said you know Kendall the job isn't done till the paperworks done and I don't really like that but and I was ready to go on to the next thing but he reminded me that sometimes those follow up close the process details were important and so I do think if we can draw in I have another friend of mine very gifted pastor um and actually get I just was texting with him and get to see him here in a couple weeks um he um phenomenally gifted but he also is really clear I'm gifted here here and here and I'm not gifted there there the other place and some of what he did is he was upfront about that yeah and he drew in some people from the congregation who were like well I'm good at that stuff and so because they saw his strengths and wanted to do that he drew people around who could step in and sort of hold some of those other pieces that he wasn't as strong with so I do think in in finding balance and finding a healthy rhythm we it isn't that we have to do it all ourselves right and you know you know and so I mean I was watching you know I read some article or some you know where they're talking about you know wealthy people you know this guy is I was getting well the here three things I never did because they were distractions from what I was best at which I think you can do that but I mean one of me said I don't mow my lawn I pay someone to mow my lawn and I'm going he's a wealthy guy right well he he was getting wealthy he he he said I didn't want to invest my time I was gonna put it into either my family or my job yeah well I'm like you know for me mowing my lawn actually is like I actually get to see something done at the end of that and so it actually feels kind of good like instant gratification yes yeah and in the lot of the work that we do it's planning it's strategizing yeah it's with people and you don't always see a tangible result immediately so I actually like some stuff where I see tangible results right right as we're pastoring people too bad they don't change as quickly as it takes to mow the lawn yeah it's true well it's true because I don't change as fast as it is it takes for someone to mow the lawn either you know I think you hit on something really important here is that allowing ourselves to um not put so much time into certain things and put more time into other things but also thinking what I'm putting my time into is it filling my cup somehow right like so mowing the lawn did do something for you it filled your cup you know it whether you have a lot of money or not or it's you know prioritizing doing if mowing the lawn was a like an energy drain suck and then it took away from your time with family and kit you know and you were kind of in a bad mood every time you did it maybe it would be worth investing into having someone else doing it you know and and I think that does depend on who the person is yeah so I do think that is you know getting the god priority first then working out from there but then we do have to say what is the uniqueness of who we are because something that might bring some joy to me might not bring joy to you I I I wanna ask you a question you said focusing everything off of a prioritizing god right and so

that brings me to Matthew 6:

33 where Jesus says you have to put the kingdom of god first above all else and everything else then is handed to you like it will it all come about the way it's supposed to but you got to put the kingdom of God first what does that mean you know I think it does mean saying you know what you've often lifted up more like what is God what is God calling me to do yeah and pursue that and then you work out the rest of the details as you go now God may be calling me to be um the most competent carpenter that I can be and um maybe he's not calling me to be married and calling me to be single person and then I'm going to also use my gifts in this other way or do that so I I think it starts with what his you know when pursuing the kingdom of God it is keeping God at the center of my life and so building you know that letting God shape the values of my life but also looking to god for how is he gifted me and so what is that mean vocation wise work wise but also advocation in interest because we may have different interests so I think pursuing God's calling for my life involves living out of living out who god has called me to be but not just for the good of Kendall yeah but for the good of the world that Jesus gave his life for and so what does that look like and in and here again for me this is where the phrase that I have really come to is what is a sustainable rhythm so for me it's not about balance it's about sustainable rhythm and so I think of things like where God said remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy that Jeez that Cod knew from the beginning we couldn't be work work work work work work work people yeah that we needed a balance of work and rest a balance of work and worship that we need that balance but not you'll never keep it in perfect balance but can you keep a rhythm of that and so what is the healthy sustainable rhythm for my life and what is the healthy sustainable rhythm for your life yeah and I think that I think that's important to be thinking about and and when we feel out of rhythm right like when we feel you know anxious all the time or or rushed all the time allowing those things to kind of be sort of um sign posts or that point us like hey you know you have to you have to shift things you know you have to shift some things maybe some more rest maybe some more time where your your cup is filled and so um you know I love the idea of really taking a Sabbath day like a whole day 24 hours whatever that looks like whether it's you know evening to evening or just one full day of just I I only do things that um connect me with god connect me with people or bring me joy like those are my three things like and I ask myself is like if it's mowing lawn is mowing the I know it has to get done it looks like Jumanji but is it going to bring me joy is it gonna connect me to God or others and if the answer is no then I'm not doing it and even if I want to do it I have that itch like all the neighbors hate me now I should probably take down my Christmas decorations when it's July but you know what you left them up there you know it's like Christmas in July yeah there you go but no but and then I so really that becomes my aging factor as to what I say yes or no to and allowing myself to just trust that everything will work itself out right like regardless of what my worries are or anxieties like God is going to work it out and part of really taking a Sabbath is saying with our lives I really trust you enough God that my neighbors aren't going to hate me yeah I really trust you enough God that the work will get done anyway but it's okay right they'll hate me but like what's new like it's fine I think the other pieces is that sometimes it's the expectations that the world brings to you yeah but I think as much of the challenge for people in communities like this is the expectations that are in ourselves that I have to be look like this be like this have my life look like that I have to do this that it's managing not just the external but the internal ones so there's a lot more we could talk about on this but at some point when we figure it all out we'll let you know yes uh we have to have a sustainable rhythm and people only wanna listen to us for so long so amen uh let's bring it too close all right next time on Unpacking Truths my brother had a massive heart attack in his 30s and then he was in a coma and at praying over him and you know anointing him healing you know for anointed healing prayer and really believing that of course he's going to get better and so when the answer was no right when they they excavated him and took the tube out and he didn't survive that was really hard um and that had me really questioning was it my faith right like was I unaware that I just didn't have enough faith because we're told if we believe enough we can move mountains right like so what is wrong here or is it just not true and and are our prayers not answered sometimes or you know is God not listening like you grapple with all these things sometimes especially when you know um you really really really want something thanks for tuning in if anything we said brought up any questions or ideas let's keep the conversation going in the comments below or email us at unpacking truths at loc church.com and don't forget to like share and subscribe so we can continue helping people unpack God's truth for their lives

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Pastor Kendall Koenig

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Pastor Maureen O'Connor

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