Latest / Finding God at Work / 7: The Reluctant Entrepreneur (Dr. Benjamin Andrews of Mosaic Center for Psychological Wholeness)
Transcript
- 0:05(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
- 0:07This is Finding God at Work.
- 0:14Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
- 0:16isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
- 0:18course.
- 0:19Check it out at findinggodatwork.org.
- 0:28Our current series is A Mysterious Business, bringing
- 0:32ministry and marketplace wisdom together.
- 0:35Today we've got an interview with a special
- 0:38guest, Ben Andrews, who is a psychologist and
- 0:42the founder of Mosaic Center for Psychological Wholeness.
- 0:45Thanks for joining us, Ben.
- 0:47Glad to be here.
- 0:48Thanks for having me.
- 0:49Absolutely.
- 0:51So I'd love to just hear kind of
- 0:53the story of how did you choose to
- 0:56become a psychologist and then also how did
- 0:59you end up starting your own practice, Mosaic,
- 1:01just the two to three minute version of
- 1:04your professional and entrepreneurial journey?
- 1:07That's a great question.
- 1:09We'll try to keep it in that that
- 1:11time frame.
- 1:13You know, I got into psychology early on
- 1:18in a way.
- 1:19I think I was a little kid when
- 1:22I first learned that counseling was a profession.
- 1:26I think I was like seven or eight.
- 1:28And I was like, oh, I want to
- 1:30do that.
- 1:30And it doesn't really matter that there's a
- 1:33lot of ways to help people or that
- 1:34I didn't even know what counseling was.
- 1:36As a parent now, I understand that those
- 1:38things don't matter to kids.
- 1:40They just latch onto something.
- 1:42So I was like, yeah, I just want
- 1:43to be a counselor.
- 1:44And my parents immediately were like, whoa, glad
- 1:49you want to help.
- 1:50But like a lot of people go into
- 1:52counseling and they lose their faith.
- 1:54Maybe you can find something else.
- 1:56And so I kind of promptly ditched it
- 1:58and, you know, got into being a garbage
- 2:01man or an astronaut or president or whatever
- 2:03kids want to be.
- 2:05And sometime in high school, I rediscovered psychology
- 2:08as this interesting thing where you could learn
- 2:10about yourself and take a test and answer
- 2:13some questions and they'd tell you about your
- 2:15personality.
- 2:17And then in college, I was studying it,
- 2:19but I really wanted to be a seminarian.
- 2:21I wanted to be a professor of Greek
- 2:23or Hebrew or something.
- 2:25And God made it very clear to me
- 2:28in a way that it's probably beyond our
- 2:30time frame, but that that wasn't what he
- 2:34was really planning for me.
- 2:37And I kind of went into psychology by
- 2:39default because it was the only other thing
- 2:41that I was interested in.
- 2:43By the time I got to grad school,
- 2:45I knew I wanted to help people who
- 2:46were suffering and I didn't know how.
- 2:51And grad school seemed like a way to
- 2:53learn a little more.
- 2:55And then I made the discovery that hopefully
- 2:57most of us in this profession make, which
- 2:59is we actually have a ton of work
- 3:01to do on ourselves too.
- 3:02And I thought I was going in to
- 3:05be helpful, but maybe I really was partly
- 3:07there because I just needed help.
- 3:10So that journey went for many years.
- 3:14At a certain point, I had kids, I
- 3:19had a family, I needed a way to
- 3:21pay bills.
- 3:22And I never really wanted to run a
- 3:24practice.
- 3:25I actually, earlier in my career, I had
- 3:28a boss who closed his practice and offered
- 3:31to let me buy it.
- 3:33And I didn't want it.
- 3:34I don't want to be in business.
- 3:37I don't like the red tape of insurance
- 3:40and like trying to do all this other
- 3:42stuff.
- 3:42I just like helping people.
- 3:44And then I got into a phase in
- 3:47life where suddenly those things really mattered.
- 3:49And it wasn't just like, oh, I can
- 3:51live on nothing and have a fun time
- 3:54doing whatever I feel like.
- 3:55I actually have some responsibilities.
- 3:58And so I opened Mosaic as a way
- 4:00to pay the bills and have a little
- 4:05more control over the vision for what type
- 4:10of work I wanted to do and still
- 4:12have the flexibility to be present for my
- 4:15family.
- 4:16So that's how I started this a year
- 4:19and a half ago, I think.
- 4:20Sure.
- 4:21So a somewhat reluctant entrepreneur.
- 4:24Yeah, definitely.
- 4:26Now you're in the thick of it.
- 4:27So that's wonderful.
- 4:29One of the quotes that we keep circling
- 4:31back to in this series is from philosopher
- 4:34and theologian Dallas Willard, and I know you
- 4:36appreciate his work too, that business can be
- 4:40a structure of love in the kingdom of
- 4:42God.
- 4:43So now that you're not just working as
- 4:46a mental health professional, but also running your
- 4:49practice as a business, what is your vision
- 4:52for how that practice could be a structure
- 4:54of love for the people you're serving?
- 4:57That is a great question.
- 4:59And it's interesting.
- 5:01It's not a quote from Willard that I
- 5:03was familiar with before you introducing it, but
- 5:07I love the idea of it.
- 5:11I think there are a few things that
- 5:13happen.
- 5:14Um, one just comes naturally from the work
- 5:17itself.
- 5:18Like therapy is supposed to be, at least
- 5:21is supposed to be a caring, healing, loving
- 5:24space and a journey or a relationship that
- 5:29carries people towards healing in their journey, which
- 5:32in a way is lucky because it makes
- 5:34it like this is automatically supposed to be
- 5:37loving.
- 5:38Um, I think the, the challenges in that
- 5:43do come in the business half of it.
- 5:45Like it's very weird, um, to sit with
- 5:48someone for an hour and then know that
- 5:51like that costs them money.
- 5:55Um, yeah, that, and, um, sometimes I get
- 5:58a say in how much that costs and
- 6:00sometimes that's determined by insurance, but it can
- 6:02be really, I mean, it's expensive enough that
- 6:07I wouldn't go and pay that much money
- 6:09to sit and talk with someone unless I
- 6:11had a lot of money or insurance to
- 6:13help.
- 6:14Um, and so that's, yeah, it feels complex
- 6:18because then there's a give and a take
- 6:20and a need that I have that I
- 6:23bring into the relationship.
- 6:25Um, the, um, I think, so that's one
- 6:31area where there's tension, but also the work
- 6:33itself is naturally meant to be loving.
- 6:35Another part of this that I think is
- 6:39coming forward for me at the longer I
- 6:43do this work is, um, looking at the
- 6:47ways that I can try to build a
- 6:49practice that, uh, serves people who are vulnerable.
- 6:54So this is probably part of my, my
- 6:56academic training.
- 6:57I went to a program.
- 6:58Um, I went to Wheaton for their doctor
- 7:01and they emphasize serving underserved people.
- 7:04And so one of the ways I do
- 7:06that right now is I keep a small
- 7:08number of people on my caseload that don't
- 7:10pay anything for therapy.
- 7:12Um, I, I give away currently about 10
- 7:15% of what my services for free, um,
- 7:18to people who could not afford therapy.
- 7:22And, um, some of them are quite marginalized,
- 7:27not all of them, but some of them.
- 7:29And that, um, that allows me to feel
- 7:33like I'm doing something at the, at the
- 7:38structural level of my practice where I've built
- 7:40in a way for people to, to do
- 7:42this.
- 7:43Um, and then I think the last part
- 7:47is actually, um, well, there's an aspirational part
- 7:51and a part that I'm doing.
- 7:52So the last part that I'm slowly doing
- 7:54is just trying to think about what it
- 7:57means for the love of Christ and love
- 8:00of God to be present in therapy in
- 8:03a way that moves beyond symptoms.
- 8:05So we typically have a, um, there's a
- 8:09lot of different genres of therapy.
- 8:11It's kind of like music there.
- 8:12There's hundreds of different genres and sub genres,
- 8:15and we all have different ways of thinking
- 8:17about humans and what therapy is and what
- 8:19we're trying to do.
- 8:20And, um, that's, um, exciting, but when it
- 8:28comes to insurance, which is how most of
- 8:32us get paid, um, if you're, if you're
- 8:34not going to be just out of pocket,
- 8:36um, then you have to buy into the
- 8:40medical model of mental health.
- 8:42And so that means you're treating symptoms.
- 8:44You're looking at functional impairments and you're providing
- 8:47diagnoses based on the medical approach that we
- 8:50have currently in the, in the DSM five
- 8:52TR, but, um, that like, this is how
- 8:55you're going to describe your work to the
- 8:58company that's going to pay you.
- 9:00And so when I end the day or
- 9:06after a session, there are a lot of
- 9:08times when I'll still end up wondering like,
- 9:10well, how much did I help?
- 9:12Like, is this person going to be less
- 9:14anxious or are they going to be less
- 9:16depressed?
- 9:17And then there are other times where I
- 9:19think like, well, maybe they are, but am
- 9:20I really helping them as a whole person?
- 9:23Or am I just trying to take away
- 9:26one point of suffering or pain in their
- 9:29life, but actually what they need is something
- 9:31deeper.
- 9:32And that becomes a place where I continually
- 9:36reflect on what the love of Christ means.
- 9:38And like, does it come through me?
- 9:41Um, there was a therapist named Brad, Brad
- 9:43Strawn, Albert Fuller, who he wants, um, someone
- 9:47asked him a similar, but different question.
- 9:49And his answer has always stuck with me.
- 9:52He said, I always hope that my clients
- 9:54leave looking a little bit more like Jesus
- 9:56than they did when they came in.
- 9:59And this is someone who doesn't do an
- 10:01explicitly Christian, like he doesn't just work in
- 10:03the church.
- 10:04He doesn't just work with Christian clients, but
- 10:05he's aware that therapy is formational.
- 10:09And maybe there's a way that even non
- 10:11-believers come out looking a little more like
- 10:12Jesus.
- 10:14Um, and so questions like that will be
- 10:17tumbling around in my head and hopefully shaping
- 10:19the way I work.
- 10:20Yeah.
- 10:21Yeah.
- 10:22Yeah.
- 10:23Thinking about the, the complexity, even of like
- 10:26your, your motive to serve, but then the
- 10:29requirements of how you build, um, I feel
- 10:33that where it's like, okay, you don't want
- 10:36to just address surface level things.
- 10:37Like the nature of your work is interior
- 10:39work.
- 10:39You're trying to address, you know, whole dynamics
- 10:42and yet you have to filter it into,
- 10:44okay, here's the box it fits into so
- 10:47that, so that you can participate in the
- 10:49economic model that exists.
- 10:50Um, yeah.
- 10:52On there's so many layers to that.
- 10:54One that stands out to me is the
- 10:55question of like value.
- 10:57Um, and I think like a lot of
- 10:58people who might find themselves in a business
- 11:02role that maybe didn't like you, maybe didn't
- 11:04primarily think about their work that way.
- 11:07It can be hard to think about like,
- 11:09what is it right to charge someone?
- 11:11Um, what is, what is the value of
- 11:13what I'm providing in terms of dollars?
- 11:15Um, because it's people like you who would
- 11:17be willing to do it for free if
- 11:19they can or when they can.
- 11:21Um, so how do you navigate that question
- 11:22of what is the value and how is
- 11:24it right for me to charge, um, in
- 11:27certain situations?
- 11:29Yeah, that's a great question.
- 11:31And it is one that I wrestle with.
- 11:35Um, and I don't for some reason, I
- 11:39think I thought I would stop wrestling with
- 11:41it at a certain point.
- 11:42Like, oh, I've matured enough in the field
- 11:44that I'm like comfortable with this, but it,
- 11:46it changes.
- 11:48Um, there are three things that helped me
- 11:52with this, uh, or have helped me.
- 11:54So one is I, I do try to
- 11:59think about the value of life.
- 12:03Like how much would I be willing to
- 12:05pay if someone could truly help me reduce
- 12:09my suffering?
- 12:10Like if someone said, I can help you
- 12:12learn to live in a way where you
- 12:14may still have some anxiety, but it's not
- 12:17going to run your life anymore.
- 12:19You're going to get, you know, we can't
- 12:21quantify it really, but just half of your
- 12:23life back, like half of the amount of
- 12:25time and energy you spend worrying, you can
- 12:27spend enjoying your time with your kids.
- 12:30Like how much is that worth to me?
- 12:32It's actually quite a lot.
- 12:33Yeah.
- 12:34Um, and so things like that helped me
- 12:37feel like at least the intention of what
- 12:40I'm offering is really good.
- 12:42Um, the second is actually, uh, something that's
- 12:46much harder to do.
- 12:48Um, both because it costs me money financially,
- 12:51but it also has a stake in ego
- 12:54and it's relationally complex, um, is paying attention
- 12:58to whether or not I'm actually achieving that.
- 13:00Like, is this someone who's stuck in therapy?
- 13:03Have they been seeing me for six months
- 13:05and they're not getting anywhere?
- 13:06Do I continue to tell them like, yeah,
- 13:11keep coming.
- 13:12We're going to like, you should keep paying
- 13:14me.
- 13:14Or do I say like I'm not the
- 13:17right therapist or is it something that's not
- 13:19have working in therapy?
- 13:20Like maybe they're not doing what I've recommended
- 13:24or something.
- 13:25There's some sort of breakdown.
- 13:26Like am I attending to that enough that
- 13:28I'm actively trying to solve it?
- 13:30And if it's proving unsolvable, am I willing
- 13:33to bring that up as an awkward, hard
- 13:35conversation and say like, Hey, we've been meeting
- 13:39for several months.
- 13:40Do you, how do you feel like it's
- 13:42going?
- 13:43And anticipating the answer being, I don't think
- 13:46much has changed.
- 13:47And knowing that my answer is going to
- 13:49be, yeah, I don't think much has changed
- 13:50either.
- 13:52Let's talk about like, if this, is this
- 13:57the right fit for you or, and that's
- 13:59sort of a bummer because I put myself
- 14:01out of work.
- 14:02And I don't do things like that very
- 14:04often.
- 14:04My default would be like, let's figure out
- 14:07what's wrong and fix it.
- 14:08Stay as a client.
- 14:09Let's just do this differently and make it
- 14:11work better.
- 14:12But it's necessary to do that.
- 14:17I think if you're going to practice ethically,
- 14:18otherwise you're just sort of creating dependence and
- 14:21being a paid friend, which is not really,
- 14:25at least in my, my vision of therapy,
- 14:27what I'm trying to do.
- 14:29Yeah.
- 14:29Yeah.
- 14:32Oh, there was a third, there was a
- 14:33third that I'm blanking on.
- 14:35So I had a thought related to your
- 14:37second, so if you can buy your time
- 14:39to think of it.
- 14:40But yeah, I, I've thought about that dynamic
- 14:43too, of to, to do what's most ethical,
- 14:46you actually have to financially disadvantage yourself sometimes.
- 14:50And the, the kind of temptation to not
- 14:53ask the tough question that might actually empower
- 14:56a patient in a more meaningful way.
- 14:59And this comes across in other healthcare fields
- 15:01too.
- 15:01I was talking with a chiropractor, very different
- 15:03kind of practice.
- 15:05But he said, you know, most chiropractors, their
- 15:07model is you keep seeing me forever.
- 15:09And he's like, my model is I only
- 15:11want to meet with you six times.
- 15:12You know, it was, it was an empowerment
- 15:14model.
- 15:14And it's like, if, if we can kind
- 15:16of figure out what works for you and
- 15:17some healthy practices, you should be able to
- 15:18do it yourself after that.
- 15:19And I just had so much respect for
- 15:21him because it's challenging to run a business
- 15:22when you only meet with people six times
- 15:24versus monthly for years or what have you,
- 15:26not that it would be the same number
- 15:28of visits for a therapeutic relationship necessarily, or
- 15:31that long-term therapeutic relationships aren't fruitful.
- 15:34But just to, to be willing to have
- 15:37that posture and to ask the tough questions
- 15:39of yourself requires a kind of humility and,
- 15:42and, and risk of a willing to embrace
- 15:44the financial risk that ethical practice requires.
- 15:47Yeah.
- 15:48Yeah, that's true.
- 15:51Definitely true.
- 15:52And yeah, I would say not six, but
- 15:55I do have a similar assumption that people
- 15:57are supposed to get better.
- 15:58They're not supposed to see me for years
- 16:00and years.
- 16:01Yeah.
- 16:02Yeah.
- 16:03I'm still blanking on the maybe we can,
- 16:06we can move forward.
- 16:07I got, I got more questions.
- 16:08That's great.
- 16:09So thinking about, especially since you've kind of
- 16:13had a reluctant journey into entrepreneurship, is there
- 16:16anything that you've learned as a business person
- 16:18that then you've realized actually comes back and
- 16:21helps you either like as a therapist or
- 16:24just in your spiritual life, your life and
- 16:26community and the church?
- 16:27That's kind of one of the things we're
- 16:29doing in the series is how do we
- 16:30cross pollinate between business world and ministry church
- 16:33world?
- 16:34Yeah.
- 16:35So I would say being in the business
- 16:38world specifically, not, not as much other than
- 16:43that.
- 16:43I gain a, um, a little bit more
- 16:47appreciation for the technicality of, uh, well of
- 16:53the legal side of things and like risk
- 16:55management, which I, which I don't like, but
- 16:58it does help me actually think like now
- 17:00when I, um, uh, I'm thinking about trying
- 17:03to put together like a short, essentially like
- 17:07a formation hour Sunday school type class for
- 17:09people in my church.
- 17:10But like, I have a whole separate set
- 17:12of questions I think about, wait, what are,
- 17:15what are my relationships here?
- 17:16What are my responsibilities?
- 17:18What happens if something goes wrong?
- 17:21Like how am I taking care of the
- 17:22people that, you know, maybe someone who wants
- 17:24to come to my class is coming because
- 17:26they're suffering and that's why they want to
- 17:28do a class on mental and emotional wellbeing
- 17:30in faith.
- 17:31And like, I need to be mindful of
- 17:35what that means and what that looks like
- 17:37in a way that I might've been at
- 17:40some points in my career and life much
- 17:42more casual about like, oh, I'm just trying
- 17:44to help.
- 17:45And now it's like, there's a lot of
- 17:48extra things involved.
- 17:51Um, I think, yeah.
- 17:53The other thing is that I do tend
- 17:56to be an idealist and business keeps me
- 18:00like planted in reality.
- 18:05Um, there's a, I, my wife and I
- 18:07were watching scrubs last night, which I love
- 18:10scrubs.
- 18:10And the first season is like one of
- 18:12my favorite seasons of any TV show.
- 18:14And Dr. Cox and Dr. Kelso are arguing
- 18:17about like, whether you make decisions for the
- 18:19patient or decisions for the hospital and like
- 18:22the show.
- 18:23And rightly, I mean, it comes down on
- 18:25the side of like, you do what's best
- 18:27for the patient.
- 18:27You don't do what's best for the hospital,
- 18:29but when you're running the business, you do
- 18:33start to think in a different way in
- 18:35terms of like numbers and money.
- 18:39And like, if this business closes or if
- 18:42it's not profitable, like I don't necessarily get
- 18:45to help anyone here and, and it impacts
- 18:49not just my clients, but it impacts my
- 18:51family.
- 18:52And as I'm trying to hire some people,
- 18:54like it's going to impact their families.
- 18:56It's not just about, um, it's not just
- 19:00about getting rich and being like, haha, I
- 19:02have money.
- 19:03It's about trying to create something sustainable.
- 19:06And I think that part of it can
- 19:10help me think about my role in church
- 19:13and faith better.
- 19:16Um, yeah, it creates a great space for
- 19:20like vision and sustainability in a way that
- 19:22I don't think I would have ever engaged
- 19:26in if I had avoided this role.
- 19:30Totally, totally.
- 19:31And some, some of those things you can't
- 19:32learn in a classroom.
- 19:33Um, only when you're looking at the profit
- 19:35and loss statement and trying to figure out
- 19:37how do I make this work?
- 19:38Um, I really appreciate what you said about
- 19:41like, you know, serving, serving the enterprise versus
- 19:45serving the patient and how it's like, well,
- 19:47ultimately, right.
- 19:48If we're not totally cynical, the enterprise itself
- 19:51is serving patients.
- 19:52Right.
- 19:52You know, and so, uh, protecting or, or
- 19:56stewarding the enterprise or the institution ultimately allows
- 20:01you to keep doing what it does well.
- 20:03Um, and obviously there there's temptations there where
- 20:05you can easily skew, um, how you would
- 20:08answer certain conundrums.
- 20:09Um, but yeah, there's validity there too.
- 20:12Um, that like to care for people requires
- 20:14caring for the institutions and the enterprises that
- 20:17care for them.
- 20:17Yeah.
- 20:18It's a symbiotic relationship.
- 20:20I think of, I almost think of a
- 20:21business or even the church or institutions as
- 20:24an organism and like they also have to
- 20:26survive or else all the little beings that
- 20:29are clustered around it suffer.
- 20:31Yeah.
- 20:31Um, the balance for me is saying like,
- 20:34my goal in a business is not to
- 20:36make the most money I could possibly make,
- 20:38but it is to be profitable, profitable enough
- 20:41that all of us who depend on it
- 20:43are okay.
- 20:44Yeah.
- 20:44Yeah.
- 20:45Yeah.
- 20:45Yeah.
- 20:47So, uh, we have listeners from all different
- 20:50walks of life and types of work.
- 20:52Um, some of them though are business people
- 20:54or maybe considering entrepreneurship.
- 20:56Um, and I imagine some of them might
- 20:57be considering it reluctantly.
- 20:59Um, like maybe they found themselves just like,
- 21:01maybe this is the answer, um, rather than
- 21:03like a lifelong dream.
- 21:05Um, so what, what would you want to
- 21:06say to your younger self, uh, about the
- 21:09journey of having business be part of your
- 21:11professional world?
- 21:14Uh, the first thing I would tell myself,
- 21:17and I think this is true, I don't
- 21:19know about other fields, but for mine is
- 21:22it's easier than you think.
- 21:23Um, I think I was always intimidated by
- 21:27like, wait, you mean I have to like
- 21:29create a business?
- 21:30I don't even know how to start a
- 21:31business.
- 21:33Much less like create, yeah.
- 21:35Review a profit loss statement at like design
- 21:39a business plan and get clients.
- 21:41And then I have to like set up
- 21:44a payroll system.
- 21:45It just seems like so much hassle.
- 21:47And then, then I have to negotiate with
- 21:49insurance companies and like, like actually it's very
- 21:54doable.
- 21:55Um, so that's one of the things I
- 21:57would tell myself slate.
- 21:59Yes, you can do this.
- 22:01It's not that don't be overwhelmed.
- 22:04Um, it doesn't have to be perfect.
- 22:06And that's probably thing.
- 22:07Number two, you can learn.
- 22:10I like, I'm sort of an over researcher
- 22:13and planner.
- 22:14So I'm going to figure all of it
- 22:15out, uh, on the front end and then
- 22:18like make sure everything goes according to plan,
- 22:20which does not happen anyway.
- 22:24And so, um, so like let it grow,
- 22:27let it develop.
- 22:28Like you, you can't be passive, but like
- 22:32you don't have to micromanage every corner of
- 22:36your business.
- 22:38And, um, the, I am still learning that
- 22:42and struggle with that, but as I do,
- 22:44it gets easier.
- 22:46Yeah.
- 22:46Yeah.
- 22:47More of a gardener than an architect in
- 22:49a way.
- 22:49It's not like you got a blueprint and
- 22:51then you follow it.
- 22:52It's, this is a living, moving thing that
- 22:53I adapt to, um, as it goes.
- 22:56Yeah.
- 22:57Yeah.
- 22:57Yeah.
- 22:58A little bit.
- 22:58Um, and then you find, yeah, you find
- 23:01your niche and in different ways where like,
- 23:04Oh, these are the people that I like
- 23:06serving and that, that want what I'm offering.
- 23:10And, and then I, I think most of
- 23:12the time that's where the matches, like when
- 23:16you have someone or a group of people
- 23:18that you love having something to give to,
- 23:20because you love what you do and they're
- 23:22there, those are the people that are going
- 23:24to be looking for what you're doing.
- 23:26And so you just find that audience, um,
- 23:30easier said than done, but, um, yeah.
- 23:34Yeah.
- 23:35Yeah.
- 23:35It can be joyful, a life giving thing.
- 23:38That's beautiful.
- 23:39Well, I wish we had time to keep
- 23:41going.
- 23:41Um, but, uh, I like to joke, this
- 23:44is a commute length podcast for our listeners.
- 23:46So, um, but would you be willing to
- 23:49just close in prayer for listeners about all
- 23:51the things we've talked about?
- 23:52Sure.
- 23:53Yeah.
- 23:53Thank you.
- 23:55Father, son, and Holy spirit.
- 23:57I thank you for this time and for
- 24:04those who are listening, um, for those like
- 24:07Chris who are serving and creating things that
- 24:11are useful to those of us in business.
- 24:16I ask that you would help all of
- 24:18us to seek you first, to seek first
- 24:23your kingdom and trust that you will help
- 24:27us along the way as we take the
- 24:29next right step.
- 24:31Uh, for those who might be discerning whether
- 24:34starting a business is right for them.
- 24:37I ask that you give them wisdom, give
- 24:39them voices of support and encouragement and people
- 24:43who are invested in their wellbeing so that
- 24:46those people who speak wisdom into their lives
- 24:48are doing so out of a place of
- 24:51love and desire for their flourishing, not just,
- 24:55um, out of what they potentially benefit from
- 24:59in seeing this person flourish.
- 25:01I ask that you would be with each
- 25:03of us, uh, also knowing that our most
- 25:08important self comes from you.
- 25:11The deepest relationship we have is with you.
- 25:14And it's not about being a success or
- 25:17a failure, even though those things matter practically.
- 25:21Um, they don't define our worth and value
- 25:25with you.
- 25:26Help us to embrace that in the way
- 25:29that we love and in the way that
- 25:30we work.
- 25:32I ask you to name the Father, the
- 25:33Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- 25:40Thanks for listening.
- 25:41Finding God at Work is a production of
- 25:43Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
- 25:46dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
- 25:49life.
- 25:50You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you
- 25:52listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
- 25:54of teaching on faith and work every Thursday.
- 25:56To get resources to go deeper with each
- 25:58podcast series, read our blog and get info
- 26:01about upcoming courses on faith in the workplace,
- 26:03go to our website, missioncentral.church.