Episode 12: Stop Planning and Start Doing

Kristy: 00:07
Welcome to Unshaken, the podcast for unwavering faith in its real life. I’m Kristy, and together with my husband Tony, we dive into authentic conversations, offering biblical insights and sharing stories that inspire resilience, especially for families navigating the challenges of disability. Join us each week as we explore faith for family and the journeys that keep us grounded in Christ. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Let’s stand firm together.

Tony: 00:41
Welcome back to another episode of Unshaken. My name is Tony, and today I’m flying solo. I guess right out of the gate, I need to say that this is this episode is not what I had originally planned to release today. But when God puts something on your heart, I think it’s important that we listen to the Holy Spirit and not get so caught up in schedules or certain orders, but we follow where God leads and we follow what the Spirit is calling us to do. And so I think if you are someone that maybe has tried to do ministry, maybe has tried to do more in in the job that that you’re doing, maybe has just wanted to do more, but for whatever reason you’ve not been able to or not been allowed to due to not planning or not having things be administered enough for those around you, just know that at the end of the day, authenticity beats polish every single time. And so if that’s you, if you’re trying to do ministry, or if you’re trying to do more at your job, or if you’re trying to do if you’re trying to make a dream happen, maybe you’re trying to start up a business, maybe you’re trying to just get something going that God has put on your heart, but for whatever reason you’ve been stopped because the plan that you have isn’t as detailed as some people would like. In whatever way that I can, I would just tell you to keep going. I would tell you to just do something. Take one step. Don’t let fear stop you. Don’t let the others that doubt you stop you. If it’s truly what God wants you to do, then continue to push forward. Continue to drive towards that goal that God has put on your heart because it is meaningful. And let us know what those goals are, let us know what those dreams are. Let us pray for you. Let us pray and let us be a part of the cloud of witnesses that will cheer you on as you keep pushing towards whatever goal that is. And I’ll I’ll just say it again: authenticity beats polish every single time. So continue to be authentic to who you are and what God is calling you to do because it matters. It so matters. When you are overthinking, and maybe that’s you, maybe maybe you’re on the other side of this. Maybe you’re an overthinker and you know that you’re an overthinker. Well, what I would say to you is please don’t overthink it. Please don’t think that you have to administrate every single detail with countless spreadsheets or documents or lists or whatever whatever it is, whatever brings you comfort when it comes to overthinking, please don’t do it. Because when you overthink and when you overplan and when you try to overadminister something, what you end up doing is you end up choking the life out of whatever it is that you’re trying to accomplish. So if you’re trying to minister to a group of people, whether it be the the disability community or any other ministry, please don’t overthink it. Please don’t over-adminstrate it. Because what God needs is He needs laborers to go out into the field. Not laborers to sit on the sideline and just continue to think about what needs to be done. I mean, remember what Jesus said in the Great Commission. He said go. And really, when you when you look at the Greek language, that go and when he says go make disciples, it’s not it’s not get ready and then go. It’s as you are going, as you are moving through life, you are to be making disciples, teaching them all my commands, so that they can then go and make disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples. So it’s an ongoing thing, it’s not well plan first and then go. No, it’s go and as you do life, as you live life, as you are making your way through life, you are to go and make disciples from here to the ends of the earth. And Jesus says that when we do that, that He will be with us as we are going. So it’s not as we are planning, it it is as we are going. Because when you are stuck in the loop of over-planning and over-administrating and over detailing, and you turn every molehill into a mountain, you’re not actually going at that point, you’re just staying, and that’s not what God is calling us to do. So let me give you a real example of what this kind of looks like. So last week Kristy and I were uh serving at a family retreat, it’s kind of a summer camp for a week, um, for parents and kids who had disabilities. And I say kids, but uh we actually had quite a few adults that had disabilities as well, which which to me was a really cool thing. Because normally at these kind of summer camps and retreats, it’s usually the the little ones that we see, and we never get to see the the adults with disabilities. And and I loved having the the mix of of both kids and adults with disabilities so that you know we could love on everyone, we can love on the kids who had disabilities, we can love on the adults that had disabilities, we could love on the parents, we can give them rest, we can give them respite, we can pour into them and and say, hey parents, we see you, we see what’s going on, and and just know that God still has a plan and purpose, not only for your life, but also for your child’s life that you’re struggling with uh day in and day out. And so uh at this camp, as as we’re able to serve uh so many parents and so many kids and and just just families in general, Kristy and I really didn’t want to leave. Our hearts and and buckets were full um come Friday afternoon when when it was time to leave, but we truly didn’t want to go. And I think one of the one of the reasons for that is because on Thursday night there was a talent show where the kids and the adults that had disabilities were able to uh just show off their talent, their God-given talent. And some of them um sang, some of them uh did gymnastics, some of them danced. Um, but every every kid, every every adult that got up on that stage uh was so talented, and it was just awesome to see. And there was an excitement that entire day because you know, so many of them you would see in the afternoon and they would say, Hey, I’m going to practice. And, you know, they were able to practice Thursday afternoon uh with their uh buddies, and and man, the the teenagers uh that were buddies last week, they did such an awesome job. Uh shout out to them uh because they uh they were just amazing uh as buddies uh for uh not only the kids with disabilities, but also the adults uh that had disabilities as well. And um just every single one of those buddies was was just amazing for uh for the kids. But it just goes to show that when you volunteer and when you serve and when you have that heart of serving, um, God will use whatever it is that you give him to further his kingdom. And it was just amazing to see all those teenagers uh just serving out of uh pure love for these families. Watching this this talent show on Thursday night, so many talented kids. Um, and then at the end of the talent show, nobody really wanted to go to bed. You know, so there were people were just mingling around in the room where everyone met, and there was Christian worship music being played in the background, and all of a sudden, a conga line formed, and it was two kids, and then it was four kids, and then it was eight kids, and you know, and then it was fifteen kids, and and then as they went around the room, people just joined into the conga line. So it it was a Christian conga line, and every single person that was in that room in that room at that moment was smiling. Uh some were laughing, some and not laughing in a bad way, they just were just with the joy that they felt in their hearts, they were just everyone was just having a great time. In those moments, as as I’m watching this happen, as I’m watching this unfold, I realized, and what comes to mind is, man, this was not planned. This was not on the schedule, this was not part of the talent show. This was just something that happened. This was this was two teenagers that said, you know what, we’re gonna do this and we’re gonna see who joins in. And so so many of those kids joined in, and some of them knew that to hold on to shoulders, some of them just were in the line dancing, some of them were in wheelchairs and needed to be pushed, and and they were their buddies that were assigned to them were very happy to push them in the Conga line. Some of them were able to push themselves and propel themselves. Um, but no matter how it went down and no matter how you moved, you were just part of it, and it was just awesome to see. But again, it wasn’t planned. There was no there was no set plan for this, there was no agenda or schedule. It just happened. It was authentic, it was real, and there was no polish. It was raw, unscripted, I mean there’s no better word for it beyond authentic. And that’s what kept going to my mind, how authentic it was, and how no one in that room was going to forget that experience that night. I guarantee you, when they do this retreat again next year, those that were a part of it this year that are a part of it next year, there’s going to be that conversation that comes up more than once. Early in the week, people will be saying, Hey, I wonder if a conga line is gonna break out this year like it did last year. I guarantee you that conversation is gonna be is gonna be had more than once. If you were there this year and and you serve again next year. And you know, Kristy looked at me and she said, I I bet that I bet that God is smiling ear to ear right now. I I bet he’s overjoyed right now just watching this scene happen and watching it unfold. And I I couldn’t agree with her more. Because that is what Jesus is all about. Jesus is all about authenticity. I mean, if we go into scripture, we could almost close our eyes and just point our finger at any point in scripture and find a story about authenticity that Jesus was a part of. But the one that comes to mind for me is in Luke chapter 11. Jesus um is invited to a Pharisee’s home to eat with him, to share a meal. The custom at that point was that when you were invited into someone’s home, they would put out a a bowl uh for people to kind of wash in and wash their hands and everything like that. And and so Jesus goes to this Pharisee’s house. He just passes by and doesn’t wash. And the Pharisee was surprised. And Jesus says to him, Now then you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. Apparently, Jesus was not worried about being invited back to this person’s house to eat another meal. He goes on, he says, You foolish people, did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But now, as for what is inside of you, be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. So Jesus says to the Pharisee and to everyone else in the house, basically, yeah, you can you can have a very clean dish and a very clean cup, but you know, being clean on the outside doesn’t matter as much as what’s on the inside. And we know this to be true. What I mean none of us would would drink from uh a cup that was Squeaky clean on on the outside, but you know, filthy on the inside. We just wouldn’t do it. But this is what we do when we when we overplan. We like to make things look really pretty, but what it ends up doing is it ends up choking the life out of what we’re actually trying to do, which is serve others. There is nothing planned about the conga line, there’s nothing clean or polished about the conga line, it just happened. When it comes to this podcast and and this ministry of an of Unshaken, if you’re looking for a professional ministry, that’s not what you’re gonna find here. What you will find here is you will find a real ministry, an authentic ministry. When we record our podcast, 90% of the time we are sitting at our dining room table across from each other and just having a conversation. We’re not inside some fancy studio, we don’t have all the fancy equipment, it’s just us having a conversation because we want to bring you guys in and we want to share the journey along with you guys, and that’s what we’re trying to do. I’d much rather do ministry with a poster board and a magic marker versus a glass statue that’s three feet tall because I want to make sure that people are actually able to experience the love of Christ and not just think about it. I want you to experience the joy, not just wish for it or hope for it. You know, the Great Commission at the end of Matthew says, you know, go and make disciples. And I think the English doesn’t do the translation justice because really what Jesus means there is as you are going, so as you are doing life, as you are doing the thing, make disciples, not plan and then go make disciples. But as you are doing life, as you are going through life, make disciples. Basically, as you are building the plane, fly the plane, keep going, do something. That’s why it says in Luke 10 2, you know, the the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. It’s because so many are just sitting on the sideline planning. Stop planning and start doing. Please. Stop planning and start doing. That is what God is calling us to do. Stop polishing it so much and trying to make it look so pretty that it gets so pretty that nobody actually wants to do anything for fear of getting it dirty. I’d much rather have a Christian conga line and celebrate an unplanned Christian conga line than have a bunch of documents or spreadsheets or whatever that talk about all these plans, but don’t actually do anything. And I think I I want to pause and just say that it doesn’t mean that you do everything off the cuff. I’m not saying that. I mean, there were plans if if the weather didn’t go well, or you know, if this happened or that happened, you know, the planning in and of itself is not bad. There was plenty of planning that happened for the retreat. And so please don’t hear me say that all planning is bad, because no, that’s not what I’m saying. What I am saying is that over planning, overthinking, over-administrating, that is what’s bad. And that happens way too often, especially in ministry. And we need to not let that happen. We need to lean into the experience that people are going to have and we plan faithfully and we and we let God fill in the blanks, and we give God the room to actually do what He is capable of doing instead of over planning and over-analyzing. Because when we focus so much on how it looks, we forget about the most important thing, which is what’s on the inside, but that’s what God sees, and that’s what’s most important to God. And if you don’t believe me, go back to the story of David. I’ve talked about This before on other episodes, people saw David’s brothers and they said, Surely one of these guys is gonna be the next king, and God passed on every single one of them. It wasn’t until they got David, and David came in from the field, the one that they that his own family forgot about, his own family disregarded. It wasn’t until he came in that God said, Here’s a man who is after my own heart. So let’s not get caught up in how something looks. Instead, let’s focus on the experience that people can have, and let’s do what we can and as much as we can with the resources that we have versus sitting around for days, weeks, and months doing nothing but plan, plan, plan, and never actually get off the sideline to do it. No sport would ever be that entertaining if all they did was stand in a huddle or on the sideline or on the bench and they just talked about what they were going to do, but they never actually stepped out onto the court or onto the field. Nobody would watch, nobody would be there. But we go to the game, we go to the field, we go to the stadium because we know we’re going to see the players get out there and actually perform and actually do what was planned. And does it always turn out exactly the way it was planned? Nope. Most of the time I would say it doesn’t, but we go to watch anyway, and we have a great experience because we’re able to see these great athletes go out there and play and do what their talent allows them to do in the moment, and I think that’s what God is looking for. God is looking for us to plan enough so that we keep people safe, but not plan so much that we squeeze out the moments where He wants to actually come in and do something that maybe we’ve never seen before, like a Christian conga line. So let’s be the people that say, you know what? I know that I don’t have all the details worked out, I know that I don’t have everything mapped out on a piece of paper, but I’m gonna trust God, I’m gonna trust in what he’s doing, and I’m just gonna be authentic to who I am. Because at the end of the day, that’s what Unshaken is all about. If you’re looking for a professional studio with all this fancy professional equipment, it’s not here. I’m sitting at my dining room table recording this episode for you guys. And I’m enjoying it, and it’s a lot of fun loving the fact that so many of you have listened to these episodes and gotten something out of it. But if this is your first time listening and you’re expecting some professional camera shot or whatever, that’s not us. We are Unshaken, we are authentic, we are real, we are family, we are faithful, and we are resilient. That is who we are, and that is Unshaken. And I hope that you will continue to come on the journey with me. I hope that you will continue to come on the journey with us. There’s exciting things coming, and we so appreciate each and every one of you that are listening to these podcasts, to these episodes. If you’re someone that is looking to do more, let me encourage you to just do something. And if you are someone who is overthinking, and you know that you’re an overthinker, or you’ve been called an overthinker, just do something. Stop thinking and just do something. It’s gonna be okay. Not everything and not every detail has to be planned out. I promise you, it will be okay. Will you pray with me? Father, we come before you and we just thank you. Um thank you that we can come to you freely, not polished, not with a three-piece suit, not with everything put together, because honestly, God, we’re never gonna be fully put together. We’re human, we’re imperfect. The only one that is perfect is your son, and we love him, and Father, we just we’re so thankful that he made a way for as imperfect as we are, he made a way for us to confidently and boldly approach the throne because you are our good, good father, and you love us, and you want a relationship with us. So, Father, I just ask that you extend this grace for those of us that are trying to do more, help us to do more, give us the resources, open the doors, help us to just do as much as we can for those of us that are overthinkers, calm our spirits, calm the fears, take away the fears, take away the anxiety, take away the need to overthink. Just be with us as well. Help us to do more, help us to just do something, help us to just point people to you and help us to not just plan to make disciples, but to actually go and make disciples here and to the end of the earth because we know, Father, that you sent Jesus and that he is going to be with us from now to the end of the age. So thank you, Father, for everything you’ve done. Thank you so much for your son, and we ask these things in Jesus’ precious name. Amen. I love you guys. I hope you guys have a great rest of your day and a great rest of your week, and we’ll see you next week.