Why Keep Doing This?

Jan 1

Why keep doing this?

That’s the question that reveals itself in my work from time to time. It might be one of the most important questions we can answer in our daily grind. Simon Sinek’s best sellers, Find Your Why and Know Your Why, get to the heart of why ask why. The implication behind the answer is essential.
I left my full-time role in June of 2021, with no real plan except a clear voice from the Spirit that it was time to get some fresh air, fresh perspectives, and explore new possibilities. There was nothing practical ahead of my exit except a wide range of side hustles, which were about to become the main way to provide for our family. On the surface, it was wild. I even applied for a few new roles as an associate teaching pastor at other churches, only to be turned down because of a lack of real ministry experience with adults.
I am so thankful for that closed door, because it would have delayed the real work that needed to happen, inside and outside my life. As that summer unfolded, I got an opportunity to do the unexpected. An old friend and ministry connection called to ask if I was free to lead a retreat for their staff. The reason behind this retreat was to help his team gain creative confidence and build a new way forward for creating sermon series.
The crazy part, I said yes again without a plan (not something I always recommend!) I had two plane rides to do two of my favorite things: design a keynote presentation and build an engaging learning experience. The good news is that I had plenty to draw on from the past 20 years of ministry in creative leadership.
Once it was all over, the validation was in the fruit. Seeing a whole room come together, regardless of role, to gain creative confidence and actually move forward on real work. I got to be a shepherd of ideas and people. A ministry of creativity was born that day in the Ozarks, but it stayed dormant for another whole year. I didn’t lean into it. Other fires were burning that needed to keep burning so the lights would stay on.
Yet my why, which ministry forged in me, remained. My desire to repeat what happened at that retreat for many others still burned. Enter the Unlocked Conference, my expression designed to fuel that fire and bear fruit for so many leaders who face creative constraints, a lack of creative confidence. Two years later, I launched with a five-event tour, a 90-page curriculum, and a desire to unlock the potential of as many leaders as possible through biblically rooted creative leadership.
As I get ready for our next event on March 6th, in Louisville, Kentucky, my answer for why keep doing this is clear. My work flows from a belief that Kingdom leaders carry God-given creativity, and I help them rediscover creative confidence so they can unlock ideas, create with clarity, and faithfully bring what God has placed in them into the light for the good of others.