Episode 1441: Interview with Randy Adkins about Becoming the Producer of Your Life

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining us on episode 1, 441 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:08] Randy Adkins: I'm Randy Adkins. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to be the producer of your life is key.

[00:00:26] And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend, Scott Maderer.

[00:00:44] I hope that I have inspired somebody to live a life of joy, a live a life that is connected spiritually to their creator and the designer of this world. One that has uplifted people [00:01:00] to live, live in a powerful way.

[00:01:04] Scott Maderer: Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling.

[00:01:19] In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:37] In today's podcast episode, I interview Randy Atkins. I asked Randy about how he came to write his book, Produce on Purpose. Randy also shares why you need to be the producer of your life. And Randy shares what to do when it seems like everything is holding you back from living your calling. I've got a new book coming out.

[00:01:59] called [00:02:00] Inspired Living. Assembling the puzzle of your call by mastering your time, your talent, and your treasures. You can find out more about it and sign up for getting more information over at InspiredStewardship. com Inspired Living. That's InspiredStewardship. com Inspired Living. Randy Atkins Jr. is a Lowcountry native of South Carolina.

[00:02:25] He creatively weaves his experiences as a corporate consultant, ordained minister, community leader, and distinguished toastmaster into a tapestry which inspires observers and listeners to integrate their spiritual growth principles into everyday life. Randy has a passion to create lasting change in lives through writing, teaching, and speaking.

[00:02:47] He's an altruistic leader, an organizational visionary, and a captivating speaker, as well as a respected advisor with a mission to inspire individuals to be leaders, [00:03:00] change agents, and go getters. He's written a book, produced on purpose, experienced life, being the real you as well. Welcome to the show, Randy!

[00:03:10] Randy Adkins: Hey, thank you for having me on, Scott. You're welcome, Scott.

[00:03:13] Scott Maderer: Absolutely. I'm excited to talk to you today. I shared a bunch in the intro about some of the things that you've done, some of the work that you've had, but I always laugh and talk about our intros are like the Instagram photos of our life.

[00:03:28] We want to make sure we frame everything just right and get the dirty laundry out from behind it. So talk a little bit more about what. happened in your life? What's your journey been like? What brought you to the point of putting out produce on purpose and putting this idea out into the world?

[00:03:46] Randy Adkins: All the way since I was eight years old, I go back to around that time in my life where me and my friends, we would just be up and down this one street where I grew up on and whether we were in the ditches, [00:04:00] pulling crawdads and looking at them, I was always intrigued with life. I was intrigued with what was out there, what was happening.

[00:04:08] And one of my best friends, what we would do and it intrigued me so much was that we would go in his backyard and we would go and get tape and wood and tarp and we would put all of these things together and what his mom probably would call his contraptions, but we called it our world. It was. either Star Trek or Star Wars or whatever we were doing at the time we were putting it together.

[00:04:35] We would crawl under and have fun out there. But what I found during that time was that sometimes I would come up with the idea and he would do and put stuff together on my instructions and sometimes he would come up with the idea and I would put things together on his instructions and sometimes when we do it together.

[00:04:54] I did find that I really enjoyed being the one that came up with the idea and telling [00:05:00] him what to do. But we'll talk about that later. And as we would do that, I was intrigued by just having an idea in our head. And how we could make it somewhat of a reality in this world. And that was something that has followed me throughout my life and throughout my journey as I've been going through.

[00:05:22] And so we were very intrigued. I was intrigued in school and I wanted to learn as much as I could while I was in school. I was also intrigued in, Church and understanding the Bible and trying to get an understanding of what does that mean in my life? And so as I was growing up, I would do that type of studying and I would call it empirical thinking or empirical observation of life and I would try to find out how things were working and what may work for me and what may not work for me.

[00:05:53] And if at some point I went to school, we, I got through high school and I got into college. And [00:06:00] during college I got through and was doing really well. And at this point I had a defining moment where I failed the class. I was sitting in another class and the professor says, Hey, if I didn't call your name, why don't you come up after class?

[00:06:20] I go up after class and he tells me, he says, I dropped you from all of your classes. Wait, what? You dropped me from all my classes? I'm a junior in college and these are all my major courses for my major. What do you mean you dropped me? You failed the prerequisite for all of them. Oh, so you can go talk to the other professors if you want, but you probably are not going to have too much success.

[00:06:47] I ended up getting into other classes during that time and just to fulfill that time. One of the classes I ended up in was called African American studies [00:07:00] and I ended up finding my future wife there. One of the things that I learned in that moment. Good class to take then. Not a bad class to take.

[00:07:12] Is that even though I thought I was really upset, I was bummed that I had failed that class. And there were reasons I failed it, but it didn't matter. Because I failed it and I ended up in that class. That sometimes failure looks like failure, but it's not. I've been married to my wife for 26 years and we're happy.

[00:07:31] We enjoy our children. We have three beautiful children out of that. And so what I learned in that moment was as time went on that It looked like a failure. I still ended up getting through college and I still ended up doing some great things in this world. But so maybe you're in a particular space or position in your life and you think that you are, you've just failed.

[00:07:53] It's not that bad. And so then additionally in life, I continue to push on [00:08:00] learning and doing more and new things in my life. And as I've been doing that's what has brought me to this space where I wanted to put out this message of being able to produce on purpose. And that means that you can have joy, you can have peace, you can have an experience every day that you wake up, no matter what, because I've heard from so many people.

[00:08:22] That every day is not quite that way, but how can I do that on a consistent basis? And I knew the Bible has some good tidbits for that and what I've learned in life. So I share that in Produce On Purpose. And then I have a podcast and some other things that I want to share this message, not only through writing, but also through speaking and sharing in many different forms.

[00:08:47] Scott Maderer: Awesome. That, that makes a lot of sense. And it's funny though, sometimes how I guess, so you went to these classes to just quote burn [00:09:00] time to fill up your calendar, so to speak, and yet you ended up meeting your wife. I guess what I want to ask is even at that age, I think a lot of us at that age, when something like that happens, that's unexpected.

[00:09:14] We have a tendency to react negatively, go in our own head this is all my fault, I'm a terrible person all of those litany of script. And yet you met your wife at this time too your future wife, you didn't know she was going to be your wife yet, but your future wife.

[00:09:34] How did that kind of balance between did you go into the classes with the thing, Hey, yay, or was this more of a, you had to overcome that. And then how did that relationship happen? If you were quote, bummed out or whatever you're showing up there.

[00:09:51] Randy Adkins: I was completely bummed out.

[00:09:54] I remember having a conversation with my dad and I was like, this is going to destroy me and he's how much is [00:10:00] going to hurt you? I was like it's going to have me in school for another semester. This is horrible. And he's it's cool. going to be okay. But during that time, it felt like my world was crumbling down and I was coming to these classes just to make sure that I can continue through the semester, continue to get the financial aid that I needed and move forward.

[00:10:20] So I wasn't looking for anything at the time. And however, I ended up meeting my future wife in that class. And It was definitely something to grapple with. So it wasn't just something that I was like, Oh, I just easily overcame it. I'm pretty sure she heard some of what I was going through at the time and maybe she gave me some words of wisdom.

[00:10:43] I don't know, but it did. Obviously that relationship helped at that moment in time that really helped me move through. And sometimes you just don't know. You don't know who's going to end up being around you to support you in different spaces. And so now that I [00:11:00] hindsight, of course, it's 2020. I was really bummed at the time.

[00:11:03] I wish at the time I would have known and be like, Oh, this is going to be a defining moment in your life. It didn't look like that to me. It looked like, yeah, a defining moment where I was failing. So I ended up seeing something and being a part of an experience in life that I would have never. been able to experience if I just didn't go through some of what I ended up through.

[00:11:25] Scott Maderer: So let's talk a little bit about your faith journey. You're an ordained minister, as we mentioned. You mentioned that your spiritual life has been an important part of this journey. How has that kind of evolved and how did that feed into this idea of producing on purpose and how did producing on purpose feed into your faith walk?

[00:11:51] Randy Adkins: My faith journey really begun when I was in a vacation Bible school and I was [00:12:00] learning about there was some verse in, in the Bible that said something that as soon as you hear this, you're now going to be held accountable. I was about 11 years old at the time. And I was like, you know what? I think I do want to know who this savior is.

[00:12:17] I want to know who he is in my life. And I prayed, I went to a revival and a couple of things, but I didn't really feel like I had gotten anything, but there was a Saturday morning. I was in my room. praying and I felt like I just saw the hand of God come and touch me. And I knew at that moment in my life that he had said, Hey, you are my child.

[00:12:40] You are you do believe. And that started my journey from a perspective. I had been in church before that, but I was really now engaged in what his words said, what is he want from me? Because now he is. saying that I'm his child, I'm his friend. And from there I would study, I [00:13:00] listen and be a part of what was going on in church and different things.

[00:13:04] I won't say my teenage years that I was pristine, but I learned during those years about what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be. And I wanted to say during that time, I really got. into college. And really when I met my future wife is when I really ramped it up and said, you know what?

[00:13:25] I'm all in. I'm going to put my whole life into what my faith is. I want my spiritual life to lead me. And that's when I was going to Sunday school, started teaching and started sharing information, not only just coming to get the information, but I was then saying, I'm, I have a poll I want to share and teach it.

[00:13:48] And then as time went on, I was a young, I ended up being called in to my church as a young deacon, and I was only 25. And at the time, [00:14:00] and I got to learn some of the back end stuff of the church, which is different than maybe what most people see on externally. And it's still My faith journey was still there, even in the midst of, if you, if anyone understands how organizations run they're, that's different back in the back than what during worship service, but I was intrigued by it and I continue to continue in my faith.

[00:14:26] Another defining moment in my life where I really ended up becoming closer to God was my brother who was 19 ended up in a fatal car accident. And during that time, I ended up drawing closer to God in that moment because I didn't know, I didn't understand what was going on. Why was this happening in my life?

[00:14:48] This was devastating to me. I wanted him to just show up in the door one day and it. you're asking these questions and God, what is it? And I know in those moments, you can either draw [00:15:00] further away from God, or you can draw closer to him. I ended up drawing closer to him in that moment.

[00:15:04] And I felt a call of God to actually preach and to share and to teach. And that's when I started my journey as a moving towards being an ordained minister and sharing the word consistently. And my faith journey is I put God first in all that I do, and I ask him and consistently spend time with him to hear his voice and what is he saying.

[00:15:30] And so that is what put as a foundation for producing on purpose. So as an ordained minister, I would get people coming to me and saying I'm just not happy every day. I wake up in the morning and I'm like, I believe God. Intends for us to have joy. I believe that he intends for us to have joy that he gives us that will give us strength when we are weak.

[00:15:51] I believe that in his word, he promises that he's going to be with us. He's not going to leave us. He's going to be with us in anything that we [00:16:00] do. So I wanted to share in the a book format and what stories of coming from my experiences and explanations and actionable items that we can use on a daily basis.

[00:16:13] I wanted to put it all together in a book and that is what Produced on Purpose comes together and provides. And so I think as we begin to look at that, then it's it's a help. Now you have the word and it has a foundation in the word of God every day. Chapter has the word of God in it, and it helps us to be able to live in a better way with more joy.

[00:16:38] Scott Maderer: When you think about the book, let's go into that a little bit produce on purpose, and then the subtitle is experiencing, experience life being the real you. What does that mean? What does that title mean to you? Why I I mentioned, I've got a book coming out.

[00:16:58] I spent I [00:17:00] know how agonizing, what's the title going to be? What's the subtitle going to be? We spent a little bit of time on that. So that's not something you threw together in two and a half seconds. What did, why did the title come together? What does that mean to you?

[00:17:13] What do you hope listeners or readers of the book? Get from that message.

[00:17:19] Randy Adkins: The title of the book comes from the idea that we all should be producers. And what do you mean by that? On the book cover, you see a mask and the mask is representative of actors from the Greek times. What they would do is we would put on mask and they would do acting.

[00:17:41] I would want you to think about your life being a movie. And it is a series of many, a mini series of movies that you have going on, depending on what season you're in and that many times we're showing up as actors or actresses in our [00:18:00] lives. And one thing that we know about actors and actresses is we see them on the billboard there in the front.

[00:18:06] Everybody sees them. They know them. They know who they are. And you're like, wow, there's the actor or the actress. But we, if we were to meet them in person. They would not be the same person that they were acting on the screen. And sometimes what happens in our lives is what we do is we show up into different situations as an actor, an actress, based on how are you supposed to show up when you're in church?

[00:18:30] How are you supposed to look and speak when you are at home? Maybe you are looking and speaking a different way when you're on your job. And I am. guilty of this. I did it myself and I've done it is I've shown up in the corporate world in a particular way. I showed up at church a particular way and I showed up at home a particular way.

[00:18:52] You know what happens? I get tired of juggling all of these masks and trying to be an actor and actress in all of these different [00:19:00] places. What an actor and actress does is they work on someone else's script. So all of those places that you might go, you might feel like there are social norms or special things that are unwritten rules that you are abiding by and showing up in a different way than what you were born.

[00:19:18] to actually show up as. And so you say if I'm the actor or an actress, okay, I don't want to do that. Maybe I want to be the director of my life. And that's fantastic. The director does have more creative freedom than the actor or actress. They can say, hey, here's the shot, here's how things are going to show up.

[00:19:36] However, even the director has someone else they are really working for, and that is the producer, and I'm encouraging everyone to look at the producer and be the producer in their own life because the producer, what they do is they bring in these resources, they may be many times have the script. They are the ones that hiring and firing the director and the actors and [00:20:00] actresses of their lives.

[00:20:01] We know we can't do this life by ourselves. So we have to be good producers and bring all the appropriate people, all the appropriate resources into what we do. So if you are a producer, then you should produce on what you were designed and born to produce in this world. If you have specific purposes in your life, that you are born and uniquely made for, then you should be producing on that.

[00:20:28] So producing on purpose is talking about us producing on that gifting that you have been given by your own creator, my creator that I call God. And that when you are doing that, Then you express and experience a life that is greater freedom, greater joy greater love. You have a lot more that happens in your life that way.

[00:20:52] And the subtitle is saying experience life being the real you so that you can remove these masks. So throughout the book, we talk about [00:21:00] how the mask can start to be removed and that you can show up authentically who you are, no matter what situation you're in, no matter what context you're in. No matter what people are around that you're able to show up as your real self.

[00:21:16] Scott Maderer: So a lot of times too so is it, yeah, there is some degree to which I think everyone all the time in different roles with different responsibilities, you take on different aspects of yourself and yet at the same time, there's such a thing as showing up in quote fake it till you make it right.

[00:21:37] Be faking you. Do you see. a difference between the kind of masks that we wear where it's just highlighting a different aspect of ourself and the kind of masks that we wear when we're hiding ourself being inauthentic to ourselves that kind of thing. Do you distinguish between it as you [00:22:00] think about this?

[00:22:01] Randy Adkins: I would say that if you are having to really think about it or having to juggle it, whether it is one where you are just showing up because you are maybe following specific rules. Now, there are, there's a portion of this that where you don't have to really put on a mask to follow rules, but you can still authentically be you to follow rules.

[00:22:25] But the idea is when you are changing facets of who you are who you were born to be, and sometimes we're not in touch with who we were born to be. So that's that's one of the first steps is what is your gift thing? What are you born to do? What are you supposed to be doing in this world?

[00:22:44] And I think when you take that and you say, Whether the mask is something that I'm hiding emotions because sometimes the mask is, hey, I'm not going to show my emotion in this particular area. Sometimes that is the what you are supposed to [00:23:00] do. You're not supposed to move immediately on a particular item.

[00:23:04] But you are now in a space where you're learning And you're becoming and so part of our journey is also the practice of becoming who we are supposed to be and that's really part of this journey is figuring out who you really are and if there are any masks, number one, being to being able to identify that mask and then secondly, being able to start to identify who you were born to be.

[00:23:33] Every one of us was uniquely and wonderfully made by our creator. We have a design. My DNA and the way that I am is not the same. Not even my children, even though they may have some of the mannerisms I have, they're not carbon copies of me. And I, we should all embrace that in our lives, that we have a design.

[00:23:51] We are different and that we can bring something to the world that is great. And so looking at those masks and there are [00:24:00] things that you will learn to be able to operate in this world, but that doesn't mean you have to wear a mask in that you can show up with your unique ideas, your unique ways of being able to maybe even approach situations, and that's also what makes great leaders, great entrepreneurs.

[00:24:16] And others because they are now able to sit in a space that is not like a carbon copy of somebody else. You are different and you can then make strides in that direction.

[00:24:32] Scott Maderer: Let's circle back to a minute. You mentioned that earlier that somebody oftentimes we were struggling to figure out what is our purpose?

[00:24:41] What is our destination? What are we trying to become? You also use the word journey several times, which I like, and I resonate with cause I don't think, I don't think finding our purpose is a destination. I think it's a journey and when you. hear [00:25:00] somebody that's struggling in that area that's really hearing that and going I, I don't know what I'm supposed to be.

[00:25:06] I don't know what my special giftings are. I don't know how I've been designed. What advice would you have for them? Or what suggestions would you give them?

[00:25:16] Randy Adkins: One of the first steps I encourage anyone to do is, number one there is a practical step of taking some time to inventory in your life.

[00:25:27] And here's what I'm meaning by that is whether it's five minutes or something, take some time and I'm encourage journaling. Take a journal and write down what are the things that you have ease that you do, that you're good at. This is a practical way for you to start to write down whether it's four, five, six things do push yourself and say what are some good things that I'm really good at I'm good at math, great put it down.

[00:25:57] I'm good at [00:26:00] teaching and I'm specifically good at teaching whatever and so put those things down and then What I'm going to encourage is more of a practice of starting to understand who we really are. I talk about the book about connecting with our source or our God in because remember, if God is the creator of all things and he has designed all things, why not go to him and see what he's doing?

[00:26:31] Why did he create me? How did he create me to impact this world and begin to connect with him in that way? And I share in the book about Paul talks about us being a tri part being. So he says that we are body, soul, and spirit. So then the body is our five senses into this world so that we can communicate, relate to this world.

[00:26:54] The soul provides us with our mind, our will, and our emotions. And this is where you make many [00:27:00] of your choices before you act upon them in this world. And then the spirit is what has been given to you from the creator. And some of the things that sometimes happens is we've been probably working in the realm of the body and getting all of this information, all of the stimulus from outside of us, and then making choices on those.

[00:27:19] But what I'm encouraging everyone to do is to begin to seek more information. What is the spirit saying? And what is the spirit telling me at this moment? And begin this, try to go to the spirit first, and have the spirit inform your soul, and then your soul inform what to do in this body. This is a different way of approaching this world and approaching this life than having things from the outside in.

[00:27:43] You begin to work from the inside in. And when we do that, it begins to change us in a way that we can now begin to understand more of our purpose in any situation. Sometimes you might be in a room just to smile because you're [00:28:00] a great smiler. I don't know whatever your gifting is, you have been put in that space.

[00:28:06] for your particular reason, no one else can do what you do the way that you do it. And when we begin to embrace that, then you can show up in any situation and not be as affected by some of the external things and stimulus that sometimes get us upset and sometimes put us in a space where we don't really feel really good, that you can then focus back and almost center yourself.

[00:28:30] And one of the practices I will share is that taking five minutes, 10 minutes, whatever it is. And just sitting in silence. This is something the pandemic helped me with is I found that I was not sitting in silence in my life, that every time I wanted to some things got uncomfortable, I would move on to the next thing.

[00:28:49] I couldn't do that in the pandemic. And I learned that I needed to spend way more time sitting. In silence. So I encouraged the journaling and [00:29:00] I encouraged some sitting in silence and that will spark you to have additional pieces of I'm seeking, I want to know what is my purpose? Why am I here?

[00:29:10] What was I born for? How am I supposed to impact this world?

[00:29:15] Scott Maderer: Let's go the other direction. I think sometimes too people begin to sense. Okay. I know this is the direction I'm supposed to go. This is at least the beginning of the journey. I'm supposed to be doing something in this realm.

[00:29:32] And yet they feel like everything stacked against them. The their relationship, maybe their relationships, the people around them aren't being supportive. Why would you want to do that? That's crazy. The, those things, maybe it's the internal dialogue, maybe it's some of those worldly things like time, money job.

[00:29:52] all the age I'm too young for that. I'm too old for that. Whatever it is, when those things are arrayed against them, and [00:30:00] yet they're feeling that sense of this is the direction I'm supposed to produce. This is the direction I'm supposed to go in. What advice do you have for the person that's in that stuck in that trapped feeling or that in between feeling?

[00:30:16] Randy Adkins: I encourage anyone that is in that position Hold firm, stand firm on understanding what your purpose is. Everyone will not understand your vision. Everyone will not understand what you are supposed to do. And sometimes it will feel like you are alone. And I'm going to encourage you to stand firm on that.

[00:30:41] And the way to stand firm on that is I'm going to encourage the prayer and meditation. I encourage increasing your prayer and meditation in those times because it's hard when you do not have maybe the support from those that are around you support from even when you begin to [00:31:00] look at the things that are outside of you.

[00:31:01] And I, the reason I encourage this part, because anything we're seeing right now to me is already the past anyways. It's things that we have been working on for years and or a time up to now that. That's showing and manifesting in this world at this moment. But what you're doing when you begin to focus and you begin to really pray and you begin to meditate, and if you need to say affirmations, which are, I'd say, good affirmations of scriptures that you pull those promises from God and you begin to focus in on that, in that moment, that you can then have enough strength to continue.

[00:31:39] to move towards your purpose because sometimes people won't understand it until they see it in this world and when they see it in this world, then everyone goes, Oh, that's what you were talking about. I knew you could always do that. That's not always been the case for me, and I know that [00:32:00] it is difficult because I have had many times where people were like, I don't understand what you're trying to do here, and I'm like but I've got this, I got this calling in me, I know I'm supposed to do this thing.

[00:32:13] It's I don't see it. I don't see it. I don't understand it. I understand. Don't wait until everybody else sees it. You stay in prayer. You stay in and get your confirmation from your creator and your designer. And as you're moving in that, the one thing I will tell you that you, when you know, you're moving in that direction, you will have great peace within you and everyone else may not understand.

[00:32:37] And they may actually get upset with you. Because you, but you will have peace on the inside of you and anything you can do to protect your peace, I encourage you to do that so that you are not finding yourself stuck in something that is causing you uneasiness throughout your days and future days to come.

[00:32:59] That's [00:33:00] where the external begins to affect you. You now start to move in a place where your internal begins to affect everything externally in your life.

[00:33:11] Scott Maderer: I've got a couple of questions that I like to ask everybody, but before I ask you those, is there anything else about the work you do or your book, Produce on Purpose, that you'd like to share with the listener?

[00:33:24] Randy Adkins: Yeah, as we started going into this portion right here, I would like to share an analogy that I really like to look at is that many times we are looking at this world as a thermometer. The thermometer tells us what the Temperature is around us and it's good at it. It tells us, Hey right now, I believe it's probably about 70 something degrees here.

[00:33:50] I can look at the thermometer and it tells me that sometimes that's how we're looking at our lives. We're looking at all of the outs and external things, the environment and the people that [00:34:00] are around us. And we're good at gauging that. And I have a lot of people that I work with. I have a team that I work with at work.

[00:34:06] And a lot of times the team is good at telling me what the problems are. Okay. But what I want to know, what is the solution? And so I'm encouraging everyone to be a thermostat. And why do I say that? How can you become that thermostat? The thermostat changes the temperature wherever it goes. And I love it because when I'm in my house, I can go to the thermostat and I can change the temperature within my house.

[00:34:30] And the same thing you can do in your life. You can begin to change the temperature of your life. Even though. everything in the thermometer might be saying a particular thing outside of you, you begin to change the temperature within you. And guess what? When you show up into a room and you are changing the temperature, you get to change everyone around you.

[00:34:52] That includes your family, everything that is going on in your life. And so my encouragement to everyone is that when you begin to produce [00:35:00] on your purpose, that you become the thermostat and not just a thermometer.

[00:35:06] Scott Maderer: I like that analogy. So my brand is Inspired Stewardship, and I run things through that lens of stewardship.

[00:35:14] And yet I've discovered that's one of those words that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. So when you hear the word stewardship. What does that word mean to you and how has it played out in your life?

[00:35:27] Randy Adkins: I discuss in my book about purpose. So I say you have a general purpose and you have a specific purpose.

[00:35:33] The general purpose is for you to please your creator, who, if you agree with me as God, then God is love, then everything I would do for my general purpose would be to express love to my God, express love to humanity and everyone that I meet. The second. Purpose that I talk about is a specific purpose.

[00:35:55] It's your gifting. Your specific purpose is the thing that you [00:36:00] do so well that no one else understands or can do. When I think of stewardship, I think of that gifting that you have been given in this world. And the greatest expression or greatest version of yourself is going to be you Expressing that gift on a daily basis that you are expressing and impacting that world with the gift that you have And so as a good steward, I'm going to make sure that I use my gifting And so my gifting one of my gifts I have is I'm able to teach I'm able to teach very complex things in and make them seem as if they are easy and digestible for someone, whether I'm using metaphors, analogies, or information to be able to give that information to them.

[00:36:44] So on a daily basis, I make sure in some way, shape or form that I am being a good steward of that gift that I have been given. And I'm sharing that information with others. Whatever your gifting is, I encourage you to do that same thing with the stewardship that [00:37:00] you and you've been a gifting that you've been giving so you can be a good steward of all of those gifts.

[00:37:07] Scott Maderer: So this is my favorite question that I like to ask everybody. Imagine for a moment that I invented this magic machine. And with the power of this machine, I was able to pluck you from where you are today and transport you into the future. Maybe 150, maybe 250 years. But through the power of this machine, you were able to look back and see your entire life.

[00:37:28] See all of the connections, all of the ripples, all of the impacts you've left behind. What impact do you hope you've left in the world?

[00:37:36] Randy Adkins: I hope that I have inspired somebody to live a life of joy, live a life that is connected spiritually to their creator and the designer of this world, one that has uplifted people to live in a powerful way, that they're not focused on the things that are this world that are temporary, but they [00:38:00] have been given begun to focus more on the things that are eternal, that will last for a lifetime, and that will last forever, that I have been able to do that through allowing that to Gypsy shared in multiple ways, and that I have done that hopefully in a very impactful way, and that whether it's one or two, as long as one or two or many have been touched by that I have done what I needed to do, especially I would hope my family.

[00:38:33] Scott Maderer: So what's on the roadmap? What's coming the rest of this year?

[00:38:38] Randy Adkins: The rest of this year, I'm continuing to update information in my podcast and on my podcast is your produce on purpose. That podcast I'm looking at now bringing on guests. I've been doing it as a solo podcast for a while and I believe I'm at the space where I'm going to bring guests on.

[00:38:58] Additionally, I [00:39:00] am you I'm a finalist that my church is for a pastor. Maybe that will be in the future and I will be pastoring our home church and then. Continuing to promote and share produce on purpose. And I do have another book that I have in the making that hopefully it will be out sometime next year.

[00:39:24] Scott Maderer: Thanks so much. And you can find out more about Randy over on his website at randyadkinsjr. com. Of course, I'll have a link to that over in the show notes. So you can find it there. Randy, anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

[00:39:41] Randy Adkins: Yeah, definitely. Anyone who wants to reach out to me, feel free to come to my website, randyadkinsjr.

[00:39:48] com. And especially for the Inspired Stewardship listeners, I'm going to give a discount on my book, my signed books on my website of [00:40:00] 25 percent for anyone that uses the coupon code INSPIRED. If you use the coupon code inspired, you get 25 percent off of a signed copy of produce on purpose. Go to my website at randyatkinsjr.

[00:40:13] com. There, you will also find information about my podcast, produce on purpose. You will find information about maybe other events that I've been to and videos sermons that I have out there. And definitely I would ask that you would share feedback, any information you want to connect with me.

[00:40:32] My social media links are also there and I'm on many different social platforms, so feel free to connect with me there as well. I look forward to hearing from different people. So thanks, Scott, for having me on.

[00:40:45] Scott Maderer: Absolutely. Thanks so much for being here. We really appreciate it. And thanks for all you do.

[00:40:51] Thank you.

[00:40:57] Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship [00:41:00] Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.

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