Episode 1607: Interview with Dr. Derrick Love About Education, Leadership, and his Books

===

Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining us on episode 1,607 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

Dr. Derrick Love: Hi, I'm Dr. Derrick Love. 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. You know, having the ability to recognize your divine purpose, you know, in life is key.

And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this Inspire Stewardship podcast with my good friend Scott Maderer.

As I begin to kind of ponder on the king in me and just kind of like, how do we take this faith, walk this faith journey and make it tangible and bite sizable, right? Because so many times we thinking that it all happens at one time. We thinking that change is rapidly and it. It just occurs instantaneously, [00:01:00] and that's not the case.

But how do I create and space an environment to walk?

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. 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.

In this podcast episode I interview Dr. Derek Love. I asked Eric about his book, the King in Me, and I also asked Derrick about why daily spiritual growth is so important, and Derrick also shares with you how you can share your faith without being annoying. I have a great book that's been out for a while now called Inspired Living.

Assemble the Puzzle [00:02:00] of your Calling by Mastering your Time, your Talent, and your treasures. You can find out more about that book over an inspired living book.com. It'll take you to a page where there's information and you can sign up to get some mailings about it, as well as purchase a copy there. I'd love to see you get a copy and share with me how it impacted your world.

Dr. Derek Love is a recognized authority in educational leadership research and higher education fueled by a deep commitment to ministry and a passion for transformative learning. He holds a doctorate in educational leadership alongside certifications as a superintendent, K 12 administrator and special education teacher.

He currently serves as chief academic Officer for a major Texas school district and is dissertation chair in the School of Education at Liberty University. As the creator and host of the Dr. Love Show podcast, Dr. Love equips listeners with soul nourishing insights, [00:03:00] inspiring stories, and practical strategies for purposeful living.

He's the author of four transformative books, Self-Awareness and Leadership. Your Greater Is Right Now Living Your Greater Life Devotional and Bible Study and his latest book, the King In Me Becoming More Like Christ One Day at a Time. Dr. Love is a thought leader in educational pioneer, transforming not only mindsets, but also practices within schools and communities, an active contributor to peer review journals and professional magazines.

He has led school turnaround initiatives that underscore his commitment to meaningful reform, steadfast in his mission, to empower, change, inspire hope. Kendall Faith and strength in communities. He continues to nurture lifelong leaders whose impact resonates across society. Welcome to the show, Derek.

Dr. Derrick Love: Well, thank you Scott. It is glad it is good to be here with you today. I'm truly excited.

Scott Maderer: Absolutely. I'm looking [00:04:00] forward to it as well. So I shared a lot in the intro about some of the things that you've done around education, around leadership. We have a. A, a history of some of some things in common and both here in Texas.

So I like talking to you this morning. But at the same time, uh, I, I think of intros as sort of like Instagram photos. They, they never really show the whole picture. They just show the part we wanna see. That makes sense. So take us back in time a little bit. Yes, absolutely. Share a little bit more about your journey and why, why is this the message that you're putting out into the world?

Dr. Derrick Love: Absolutely Scott. 100%. I think my journey began in an elementary classroom, and so that's where I learned that students have the ability to thrive in an environment where we create opportunities for students to be successful with high expectations. And so therefore it tugged on me to even go deeper into my journey.

And so I've been able to serve as a [00:05:00] teacher building an administrator, and now a district executive. And so. Cultivating these worlds in an instructional mindset and a leadership mindset has cultivated this pathway forward for me and where I am today. But also Scott, I have been ha, I've have two decades also in ministry.

And so my faith coupled with education has meed together and come together as a union in a sense. And that union has guided me in so many ways. And so that union has taught me in faith, uh, that my leadership is definitely grounded in my faith and it's taught me that presence is better than performance.

It is taught me that it is people over programs. And so I stay in that centered of mindset and perspective and belief. And this has kind of been who I am. And so there has been some challenges as well too, Scott, but most importantly I've allowed both of these two, the mirror to, to marry together, [00:06:00] to push me to, to, that has propelled me and to where I am today.

So this journey has been a, an amazing ride and I say amazing to some degree and you know, there's always some ebb and flow. Of life and what life is life in. But the, to sum, to the sum totality has been great. And so that's kind of been my journey. And so my messaging is a message of hope. It's a message of purpose.

It's a message of cultivating emerging leaders, and that's where we are today. So talk a little bit about looking back on it. I think we often can see the pattern of, of what got us here, you know, the challenges as well as the successes. But obviously when we're going through it at the time, it doesn't always.

Scott Maderer: Seem like it's making as much sense. You know, go back in time and talk about some of those points where maybe you weren't quite so sure of where you wanted to go or, or you weren't seeing it smoothly yet or perfectly yet. What were some of the [00:07:00] things that reinforced to you that this was actually your calling and what you were supposed to spend your time and energy in?

Dr. Derrick Love: Yeah, Scott, I remember there's several things that come to mind. I remember one point of trying to navigate which direction to go. Scott, I remember having, I had just finished my dissertation and I had got a call from, I think it was a university in Virginia. And that same day I was supposed to report to work as an assistant principal.

And so, I had booked, they had already booked a flight for me, paid for me to, to come to do the interview in Virginia. And then I had, I was supposed to start work that same day. I was at a crossroads. I didn't know which direction to go. I was like, I, I really don't know what to do. And I just remember sitting there, just being quiet and still in that moment and understanding kind of.

Work. Work. [00:08:00] The work purpose lied and work I was being led to. And in that moment, and even though I hated to have to make a phone call to one of 'em, I had to make a phone call to one that says I wasn't gonna be attending a. Coming and I chose to make that call. I chose to make that call to university and said that I wasn't coming.

And little did I know that when I said no to that and said yes to purpose, which is walking into a K 12 public education, um, as an, as an administrator, that, that God would redeem. That love and that calling. Probably about a month or not a month, probably two years later when I started adjunct teaching, um, and doing all the work in higher education as well.

And so that was a moment of crossroads for me and to determining kind of which direction to go. Um, there was another contention of just kind. Knowing that I was in the right space, I remember, you know, I was, uh, leading in a k, the K 12 space as the principal. [00:09:00] And I just remember that I had this teacher, uh, Scott, who was a baby boomer.

And so, you know, I'm this young, energetic millennial coming in here and this baby boomer. Looking at me like, no, that's not going to happen. I've been 20 plus, 30 plus years in education. We've been doing it this way for this long and this is how we're gonna do it. And so I remember the educator was just kind of looking at my youth as a kind of like, man, you young, you don't know you, you, you just walking in here.

Like you need to get some more stock and more stock equity into, into your experience. And I just remember. I was having a clash, but I knew purpose was being me and met was. Um, and so we were introducing a new thing on our lesson plan cycle and lesson planning, and she was so resistant. Oh my gosh. I was like, she fought me every through the nail from every side.

And I do remember that w. Eventually it all worked out. But I remember walking back into her [00:10:00] building one of her buildings. I didn't know she was there as an elementary teacher and I was a teacher supervisor and I was coming to evaluate teachers and she stopped me in the hall and she says, Hey, hey, hey Dr.

Love. How are you? How you doing? I. And she says, you know what? I know I gave you a hard time. I know I gave you the blues, but what you taught me, what prepared me for the next, for my next phase and season of life? And so when I went into my next seat job, they expected me to do the same things you were asking us to do.

So she said, I wanted to thank you for all that you did, and thank you for working with. Thank you for putting up with me because I know I gave you the blues. I gave you some words to everything, but I knew that also led to, I was in the right space. I was doing the right thing, and that just kind of confirmed that greater calling that I was in the right lane.

Scott Maderer: Yeah, I, I think. Sometimes whenever we don't avail ourselves of an opportunity, going back to, you know, thinking about turning, [00:11:00] saying no to the, to the Virginia opportunity. It feels like we're closing that door forever. But like you said, it actually didn't it, it just delayed it. But didn't, didn't close it forever.

Dr. Derrick Love: No, it didn't close it forever. And you can think that, and so you have a mindset being, and then you're always questioning, Scott, did I make the right decision? Did I make the right call? And then and as time moved along, God just showed me that you, this was the right lane for you. This was the right decision process for you and this is what I had for you.

And so we began to walk, and then when the opportunity came, I was like. Okay, well, great. But then I still have my love and passion for K 12, and I get a chance to be the research nerd and geek, um, in higher education. So it's,

it's a love, it's a love, Scott. It's a love. It's just all

Scott Maderer: love. So talk a little bit more about your faith and how that's [00:12:00] played out as you've gone through this journey. How does, I like to emphasize how, how our faith affects our life, but then how our life affects our faith and how that's kind of a feedback loop for most of us.

How has that played out in the journey that you're.

Dr. Derrick Love: My faith is rooted also into my work, and I think my work is also rooted into my faith. And I think what happened for me, Scott, has been, I think one of the transformational pieces for me was when I went to, um, seminary, um, and being in seminary was a, was a kind of life changing, a life changing piece.

And I remember what that life changing moment was when we did a mission trip to China. And I remember being in that, on that mission trip to China and just. Seeing my, the faith at work and seeing how faith moved even through language barriers, how faith even moved through cultural, disparate.

Instance and how faith just moved in the, in being, in the presence. And so for me, it has been everything. And I think from that experience and seeing the [00:13:00] lack of, or the need of, or what they didn't have, um, but I saw how faith intervened even in the absence of, and so for me, it has been rooted in just grounded in purpose for me.

And it's been framed in that way. And it, so it frames my lenses of how I look at my work. And so how I look at leadership. How I approach leadership, how I look at that, you know, people over programs and that systems do not drive systems should uplift people. Um, how we transform leadership into servitude and servitude into transformation and how transformation also lends back to faith, um, and the core belief.

And so I do believe that in self-awareness. Um, we're called to be that self-aware leader in self and understanding who we are and what we are so that we can be able to lead more effectively. So I've been. Able to, that's how both have blended, that's how both have worked. But it also helped me to know that even in writing, the king gave me the book, um, as well too.

So how to take one [00:14:00] day at a time and one step at a time, and how we lead one day at a time and one step at a time.

Scott Maderer: You just mentioned the king in me and that, uh, I mentioned in the intro as well. Of course you've written a few other books as well, but let's talk a little bit about the King in Me.

What, what brought you to write that book? Why is that something that, uh, you felt called to write at this time?

Dr. Derrick Love: I felt a sense in a calling to write the book, Scott, because I felt a tug in a presence to do. A tug and a presence. I remember a tug and a presence. I remember walking up the steps in my home and walking to my office and I just felt a tug and a presence about, and it just the king in me.

And so as I began to kind of ponder on the king in me and just kind of like, how do we take this faith, walk this faith journey and make. Tangible and bite sizable, right? Because so many times we thinking that it all happens at one time. We thinking that change is rapidly and it just occurs instantaneously, and that's not the case.

But [00:15:00] how do I create and space in an environment to walk alongside the king day by day? And what does that look like? How does that feel like? How does that feels? How do we renew? How do we renew our mind and to get people to think to, to slow down? You know, we are in such a microwave kind of environment and society fast-paced and everything is moving and, and everything is moving and grooving and life is happening.

But how do I take the introspective moments of life? Sit. Sit down in my thought processes and really dig into who I am and and who I'm called to be in purpose. So for me, the king in me is a daily walk. It's a daily 15, 20 minute walk so that you understand who you are in Christ, and who Christ, and what Christ has for you to be able to renew your mind to.

Look at who you are to look at how is I don't want to be in performance mode all the time. I want to be in presence mode. 'cause I believe that when you in presence mode, [00:16:00] everything follows, uh, soup when you in the presence. 'cause now you have a firm understanding of who you are and how to move and how to navigate.

Scott Maderer: So talking about the book I've written a book myself and I know you've written more than one, but at the same time, I don't think any book ever comes to fruition in some sort of nice smooth Oh no. Uh uh, you know, no. It leaves full form out of your head in one moment. Oh, no. Talk about some of the struggles of, of getting into the book and writing the message and, and crafting what.

What you felt called to put out there, because you know, I think a lot of folks want to write a book, but they don't really know much about the process of writing a book, so share a little about that.

Dr. Derrick Love: Absolutely. Absolutely. Scott. I think one of the things too, as far as just kind of understanding your your audience and who you're writing to towards your audience, first of all, you need to understand the audience you that you're writing [00:17:00] to.

Second too, you need to understand what your messaging is going to be about and how to carry out that messaging systematically and to have some breadcrumbs along there so that it's, it, it's succinctly and it follows and it's moving forward in the writing style and production and the progress of the writing style.

And I think, um, thoroughly is kind of what it what is the guiding principles that you want to to honor in the book? I know for me, and so in writing this piece was through several different iterations. And I mean, Scott, it was like several different iterations. I don't like this. We don't, I mean, and so this, and it was just chaotic at times.

Scott, I, I put it down several times. I'm like, Hey, this is way too much. It is, I'm done today. I don't know if I can finish this. And so, and I think it just always came back to the fact that it was still a tug, it was still a [00:18:00] calling. It was still a purpose behind it. And that's what kept me motivated because there are times when you're writing a book though, Scott, there's some un motivational times.

No, you're not motivated. You'd be like, I don't, I'm done. I don't. Okay. And so even when you're getting writer's block and things are not clicking and it's not happening, and it's. The brainwaves are not, you know, coming together and the brainwaves and the heart posture, and then the, the hands and the typing and not all fun co coexist in a function as one cohesive unit.

Um, can be kind of chaotic at times. And so those were the moments where I would get still and just get still into and in tune with my thoughts and, and, and my feelings and my research and all those kind of things. And then come back with a renewed mind, a renewed purpose. Renew, renew mindset.

Um, and then let's get back to it. And then, so this book went through, I mean, at least four to five, maybe six iterations, um, before it even got to [00:19:00] to, to full force, I mean full to the full plan of it. And then I had to, I had beta readers as well too along the way that, you know, I wanted to make sure that it, the content was where it needed to be.

So, um, so that I can make some, you know, those, uh changes as necessary and or as needed. But yes, it's not the easiest process to do. It just takes a lot of grit and determination and motivation behind the process and the work, and knowing. That you're called to it. And I think the work that you're called to will be the work that you will continue to strive to fulfill.

And I think if you're not called to it, then that's something that you can kind of feel like you can just sit down and it just kind of passes by. But when you have a strong sense of urgent, a strong sense of calling and urgency, it's always going to prompt you to complete.

Scott Maderer: So the book itself, the subtitle, is becoming more like Christ One Day at a Time.

And the emphasis seems to [00:20:00] be one of spiritual growth. And yet, you know, I've been involved in the church a long time. I've done a lot of, of development with, with lay people and, and pastors and, you know, I think spiritual growth is a concept that's misunderstood by a lot of Christians.

So unpack that a little bit. Why do you think spiritual growth and that kind of focus on consistency and one day at a time is so important for folks on their own walk?

Dr. Derrick Love: I think it's, 'cause I think society teaches us, I think most of our Christianity teaches that change is always instantaneously, it's always, it happens all at one time.

You're gonna be changed. It's you're never gonna think about it. You're never going to have these problems anymore. So if I have a sin nature that sin, nature's gonna change. Like, you're not gonna have it anymore. Not to say that it, that cannot happen, but, but for the most of us, it is still present.

But I think what we're seeing is [00:21:00] it can, it can instantly change back too. That so hence, therefore, that's why the reminder is it's a daily grind. It's a daily walk. And so Christ asked us to take up our cross and walk with him daily. And so in that daily moment, you need to be renewed, mind refreshed, mind revived, to be able to kind of continue on the path and the journey.

So when you think about spiritual discipline and spiritual growth, it's that I am renewing my mind in a daily fashion. I am walking with. Every moment, moment by moment. Um, and sometimes some Scott, it can be men in my men, um, depending on where you are in, in, in that journey. And I do believe that that that is critical and necessary for all believers.

Um, and that is reason why that spiritual growth is necessary in the development of who we are. And so we're growing faith by faith. By faith, we're growing in who we are in Christ. We're growing and becoming more, more like him. And so in order for you to become more like him, there [00:22:00] has to be some set of routines.

Consistency. You have to be diligent to the task. So just like a doctor, we go a. Goes into the study of medicine, but they're doing something consistently is routinely and they practice and their skill level allows them to increase in what they do and their ability to be able to do it well. So the same thing applies in order for me to be, to do well in my spiritual growth, I gotta put some something.

I gotta put some meat and muscle behind it, right? I gotta be diligent in studying. I have to be diligent in and, and and feeding my mind and soul and spirit in the things of who I am and in the things of Christ. And that's why spiritual growth is what it should be. But I think also that's why is necessary and it's needed.

And I think the other part to that is too, is that sometimes people. Think of spiritual growth and discipline as, oh, I can just, I can I'll get it. And I think, [00:23:00] I think life experiences is, is a great teacher as well too. And, and as value added in that as well. But I think also feeding us, feeding yourself daily in the word and in, in the spiritual disciplines also helps you to be able to move at a greater level of speed in your purpose and walking purpose.

Scott Maderer: What are some of the disciplines that you share in the book?

Dr. Derrick Love: Oh, so this is, is, um, stewardship, how to be accountable in stewardship. Um, looking at what just said as, as, uh. Presence over performance. Looking at how to renew your mind daily, how to be interdependent on God and not just not dependent on self.

How to live according to purpose and what purpose means to you. How to strengthen your walk in Christ. How to strengthen your walk in community and accountability. So these are some of the [00:24:00] disciplines that are covered within the book. And this kind of clarifies of a purpose and how to keep a mission, a mission focus, alignment to Christ.

Uh, and these are the areas that, some of the areas that are covered in the actual book.

Scott Maderer: So one of the things that you've done, and you talked about this earlier a little bit, is, you know, you've had the opportunity to, to bring your, your ministry and your faith and your work in the education and in the workplace and in business, and kind of try to blend those.

I, I think that's something that there could be challenges around you know, and how to do it in a way that is both res, respectful and fair and loving. And yet also. Representative of our own journey and our own beliefs and our own systems. How have you worked to do that in a way that is. Is loving and caring and, and representative of Christ but also not, uh [00:25:00] not step on people's toes and, and, and push people away.

'cause I think I shared before that one of the best compliments I ever got from a, a client who was a Muslim believer is after working with me for a few years, he says, Uhhuh, you know, Scott, you're a Christian, but you're not annoying about it. I'm like, you know, I'll take that as a compliment. I love you, recognize my Christianity, but I'm not annoying.

Okay, good. You know, I'll take that as a compliment. So how, how do you do that? The workplace and in the

Dr. Derrick Love: marketplace? Oh, Scott, I just, I walk in, in, in my practices, right? And so I don't try to lead with fear. I don't try to lead with an, with, with tactics of I'm the boss and you're the servant. I lead in a fact that of, um, of love.

I lead in the fact of that my faith roots who I am. So I'm not going to be. This leader who is non compromising. I'm not gonna be the leader like this my way or the [00:26:00] highway, but I think my faith grounds me in the principles of how do I work as a collaborative team and how does I get, how do I infuse influence.

And how do I use that influence in such a way that it, that it moves the organization, it moves the team, it moves the vision. How do I come into mission alignment with the vision? And so how do I root that in a positive culture? So not so much that I bring like, Hey, we gonna talk about Jesus every day in the workplace.

No, I bring it in the way that I approach leadership. I bring it in the way that I approach. Working with people and walking alongside people. I don't think Jesus kind of preached and taught like, hey, through the word of God, and like, you know, the King James version of the Bible. He showed them by the living example of who he is.

And I think as we represent the example, that example and the light, the how we lead ourselves. Becomes the catalyst of how we walk out our faith in the workplace. Not so much that we lead the Bible study of praying, but [00:27:00] how we are walking out the core principles and tenets of leadership and what that looks like and even in whatever it may be.

And that's how it's done effectively. I think that's how it was done in a way that it, you know, it's able to pull people together in such a way it's able to transform, be transformative in nature and its ability to be able to help the organization move at its fulfillment in, you know, full force and full maximize potential I would say.

Scott Maderer: So if you had to share for somebody out there that, that may want to pick up the king and I who is it written for? Who would you say is the, the audience that you prepared the book for?

Dr. Derrick Love: So the audience is for believers that are al, that are in the faith, but it also can string along for non-believers as well too.

And I think anybody, Scott, that's willing to take a, an a introspective look at, Hey, how do I slow [00:28:00] down? What does slow down mean? How do I get into the presence? How do I change mindset? How do, how to renew my mindset when I. Think about ways of how do I look at different perspectives? How do I build endurance and patience and peace?

All of these things are pieces. Things that are in the book are topics that are in the book that I think transcends whether you're a believer or a nonbeliever. Um, and so these principles or core or. The core beliefs or principles, I would say are universal principles, um, that go across any faith, any denomination any so believer and to and for non-believers.

Scott Maderer: So I've got a few questions that I'd like to ask all of my guests, but before I go there and ask you those, is there anything else about the work you do or your book the king in me that you'd like to share with the listener?

Dr. Derrick Love: So I just want people to just know that I am, I'm called to the work, I'm called [00:29:00] to what I, what I do.

I'm called to be mission focused and mission minded, uh, centered around just faith, education and leadership. Also with faith leadership and also coaching. And those are the core components of who I am that I love to do. It's my calling. It's what gets me up in the morning. It's what drives me for purpose.

It's what's what I'm thinking about when I go to bed. It's what I wake up in the morning thinking about along with my wife and kids and two right there, Scott. So look literally everybody. Um, but it's all tied into purpose and so the king in me is just a constant reminder of who we are. A constant reminder that we are all have a gift of calling and a purpose to fulfill.

Um, we all have talents, and it's just about tapping into your talent, into your talent pool and what you have within you to bring that to the forefront so that you can share that with the world.

Scott Maderer: So my brand is inspired stewardship, and I kind of run things through that lens of stewardship. And you mentioned that earlier [00:30:00] as a spiritual discipline, but I've also discovered over the years that stewardship is one of those things that can mean 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?

Dr. Derrick Love: Stewardship for me is just managing what you've been giving your time, your. Your gifts, your influence, your resources and being a good steward over that and being able to honor that in the spaces that you're in and being diligent to that level of stewardship.

And it also just in the steward, you know, not that you're the owner of it, that you are the facilitator of it. And how do I facilitate my level of influence and stewardship so that the greater good can be achieved? And that's how I see stewardship.

Scott Maderer: So this is my favorite question that I like to ask everybody.

Uh, imagine for a moment that I can invent this magic machine. And with this machine, I was able to take you into the future, maybe 150, maybe 250 years. And through the power of this [00:31:00] machine, you were able to look back and see your entire life, see all of the connections, all of the ripples, all of the impacts you've left.

What impact do you hope you've had in the world?

Dr. Derrick Love: Oh my gosh, God, that's a good one. Good one, but I would love to see the, the look back and see lives that have. Been transformed, um, students who've discovered purpose. Students who've graduated for life and now are doing great things and they're have families, and you can see the greatness within them.

They've identified purpose, most importantly, multiplying leaders. Who are self-aware, who are doing great things in, in the world of, of leadership and running companies and organizations from a fruitful piece, uh, from a fruitful place and faith that's lived and not lectured, right? And so faith that has moved people closer to Christ.

And their and their messaging has been the, the presence. Over performance in or service over status. [00:32:00] Um, not looking at their status, but looking how to serve and how we're serving people and how we're serving mankind in humanity. These are the elements of multiplying leaders, seeing lives transformed in faith that's lived and not lectured of what I want people to say.

That looking back, and the other thing is that I want my kids to be able to say, you know what? Dang. My father did, did well. He did well. And I want my kids to be able to look at me and honor me in such a way that they know that their father was there for them, that he loved them, that he cherished them.

And those are the things that I want to be recognized for or seen for, and valued of.

Scott Maderer: So what's on the roadmap? What's coming next as you kick off this new year and, and get things going.

Dr. Derrick Love: Wow, Scott, what's coming up on the horizon? You know, just kind of moving forward into bringing the message of hope and leadership and education of faith is [00:33:00] what I will continue to do into the new year.

Just ensuring that the messaging of multiplying leaders, um, multiply, apply emergent leaders and working with leaders. And leadership is, will be go, will continue to evolve. Um, my work in promoting the book will continue to evolve this year and and things of that magnitude. And so I'm just looking forward to just greater things happening.

And I'm looking forward to just what's next. I don't have all the, the blueprint is not already printed for me, Scott, so I can't tell you what the magic wand, what it's all going to be. But what I will say is that I'm a I'm happy for the ride. I'm alone for the ride and I know that the ride is going to be great.

And I just believe that this year is gonna be great. I believe that that it's gonna move and according to how God wants it to. And I'm just a co-pilot. I'm not the pilot. I'm the co-pilot and I'm gonna sit in the co-pilot seat. And just watch it all work. [00:34:00]

Scott Maderer: So you can find out more about Dr.

Derek Love over@newhorizonsinstitute.org. And of course I'll have a link to that in the show notes as well. Dr. Derek, is there anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

Dr. Derrick Love: Yes, um. One thing I would like to just to share with the listing audience is to also, it was just to recognize that life is about not status. It's about service and it's about how we serve. It's about how, how we treat our fellow, um, neighbors. It's about how we love, it's about the peace. And so if anything I would say is that as we continue to walk out, uh, you know, in humanity that show the love and kindness of who we are and let's be a blessing to others, and so that in turn we receive blessings as well.[00:35:00]

Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship 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.com/itunes.

Rate all one word iTunes rate. It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feed. Until next time, invest your time, your talent, and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the [00:36:00] world.