Ep. 11 - Disciple: As a disciple, make other disciples. As a leader, change your world.

Discussion about the importance of sharing your faith in the workplace and how to be a change agent w/ Holly Mattingly Cunningham, former Fortune 100 beverage industry executive and owner of a coaching/consulting practice focused on developing next-generation leaders. 

Questions and lessons explored in this episode: 

• Many Christians find it difficult to share their faith in the workplace. Why do you think that is? 
• Tell us about a time when you were a change agent in the workplace and the role your faith played? 
• You might be the best chance for many and the only chance for some ever to meet Jesus. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why or why not? 
• How does your identity as a disciple of Christ inspire you to make a difference in today’s culture? 
• How will these discipleship and leadership principles help you transform your workplace through your pursuit of Christ? 

Discipled Leader is a show that provides struggling, stuck, or merely surviving Christian Business leaders with a framework to grow their influence through becoming a redemptive (i.e., change for the better), Christlike presence in the workplace, and living a more fulfilling personal and professional life. www.prestonpoore.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Hi, Preston Poor and welcome to the Disciple Leader Podcast. Along with my young, professional co-hosts and adult children, Caroline and Ben, and a special guest, we'll explore a life-changing framework designed to help struggling, stuck, or merely surviving Christian business leaders grow their influence by becoming a redemptive, Christ-like presence in the workplace and living a more fulfilling life. Buckle up and get ready to be transformed. Hi, everybody, it's Preston Poore and welcome to the Disciple Leader Podcast. I'm joined by my co-hosts and adult children, Caroline and Benton. Thanks for being here. Today we're going to chat with a special guest, gain their insights on Disciple Leader's 10th chapter. And the title is Disciple, and discuss how to apply your faith in the workplace. Now, Caroline's going to facilitate today's discussion, and then be sure to stick around for Benton's hot seat, where we'll get to know our guests through a series of rapid-fire fun questions. Now I begin each chapter with a dual principle. And what I mean by that is that the part of the principle is around discipleship, and the other parts around leadership. And so chapter 10's principle is this it says, as a disciple, make other disciples. And as a leader, change your world. And the summary of the chapter is this. It says, Your ultimate goal as a Christian leader is to see others come to know Christ. But you must first work out your own salvation. That is, you must focus on allowing God to change you before He can change your culture through you. From that inner transformation, others will find your words, your actions, and your leadership compelling and want to know more about the reason you have for living. And that's when the work of the disciple leader really begins. And the anchor scripture, and you're probably familiar with this, but this is the Great Commission. Out of Matthew 28, 18 through 20, and then this is the new living translation. It says this it says Jesus came and told his disciples, I have been given all authority on heaven and earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all commands that I've given you. And be sure of this. End to the end of the age. So today, today we're going to talk about discipleship and becoming a change agent. It's my special pleasure to introduce our guest today. She wrapped up a 25-year career in one of the world's largest beverage companies. In her new chapter, she's building a coaching and consulting practice stemming from her passion to develop others and help them become successful in their work. And she's also enrolled in seminary. She's got a lot going on. On the personal front, she's recently uh married to Lee, and she has two grown children, Wiley and Sutton. And our guest loves to travel and is looking forward to the world reopening. As a matter of fact, when she sent her bio to us, it says this in quotes it says, Her passport misses her. Please help me welcome my friend, Holly Manningly Cunningham. Welcome, Holly.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Thank you. It's an honor to be here and just be a small part of your journey.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

That's great. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, Holly, I'm so excited to interview you. Um, obviously, you're a longtime friend and colleague of my dad's and um have just heard really awesome things about uh your work. And so uh I'm excited to talk about discipleship. You know, this is the Great Commission. It's the charge of the Christian. And so to kick us off, how would you put the Great Commission in your own words?

SPEAKER_01 3:37

Yeah, so um for me, this is really interesting because it's part of the journey of me closing a 25-year chapter with Coca-Cola Company, in that um, I started at Coca-Cola as a college intern. And I never saw myself retiring from the company just because I wanted to have a different experience. I loved every minute I had there, but I knew I wanted to have a different experience. And so I said after my 25th anniversary that I was going to go do something different, and I really felt God was calling me to do something different, and I didn't really believe it was going to be full-time ministry. Um, my experience and my wisdom is in the marketplace, but tying ministry to the marketplace a little bit more closely. And so um, when I left in November of 2020, I really took about two months to just reflect and pray and read and write and spend quiet time with God and really figure out what my path forward was. And in that process, I wrote my own strategic plan with my own life purpose. And so if we take that broader, the great commission is go and make disciples, for me, that context is really about building the next generation of Christian leaders in the marketplace. I really feel like that's what God has called me to do is take my experience and my giftedness as a leader and build that next generation. Um, and that gives me the opportunity to tie ministry and marketplace together in an area where I know that God's gifted me.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Yeah, that's so awesome. Um, that's definitely making use of your influence. Um, in that time of prayer and reflection, has God kind of revealed to you how you're gonna go about doing that?

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Um not really in the beginning, but I kind of in that conversation said, if it's on mission, I say yes, no matter how uncomfortable, how scary, how too big it might feel. If it's on mission, I say yes. So I really feel like just having that clarity of building the next generation of Christian leaders in the marketplace has been my filter to say yes and my filter to say no as things um have come my way. Um, and so yeah, I've I've had a couple of things. I've had to step out onto my out of my comfort zone and trust the Holy Spirit was going to show up with me, but it's been a really exciting journey.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

That's awesome. That's such, you know, trust in God's plan and just boldness in working on the Great Commission. I love hearing that, just your step of faith. That's incredible. Um, so we say in the book uh that it's a standout element of a disciple, that they make more disciples. And as you look back at your 25-year career, can you speak to a time when maybe the Holy Spirit nudged you, um, but it was a learning experience, or that you you didn't take that answer or you didn't reach out to that person who might have been on your heart? Um, just kind of leveling with listeners today.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Yeah. Um, I don't know that I have a specific example, but um there's definitely, you know, the journey of my career at Coke has also seen me grow substantially in my faith. So I think how I showed up at work 15 years ago to how I was showing up at uh my job, you know, in the end of my 25-year career looked incredibly different. I I would actually say that people who maybe hadn't seen me in 15 years and see me today, I'm probably a very different person to them because of the gift of sanctification. Um I get the opportunity to live a little bit more like Jesus every day. But um yeah, I think there were a lot of opportunities missed early in my faith where I found myself um in mainstream activities or gossiping at the water cooler or those things that just happen in corporate culture. And um, you know, seeing that kind of evolve over time where I would walk away from those conversations and just see myself show up very differently. Um it's it's been nice to reflect and see that process.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Yeah, I think that's a really relatable thing that you just mentioned, you know, kind of that water cooler talk. And I do think that's a differentiator between Christians and uh non-Christians. And, you know, I'm even convicted of it. But when you when you've walked away, um, obviously that's been out of obedience to God and what he's called you to. Has that supported conversations that might have developed after of like why you walked away or what's different in Holly?

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Um, yeah, I think for me, one of the things that um is in the this chapter of the disciple leader is that evangelism and discipleship should be an organic part of our lives. And so I think the way I show up at work every day is really um to be the salt in the light. And I'm going to make choices that look different than other people. And I'm hoping that people will ask me the why behind that. You know, I had a team member who uh we were having some ongoing conflict with another department, and um, he really wanted me to set up a meeting with the leader of that department and go address all this conflict. And I said, I can't do that yet because we haven't had the conversation with the people we're having the conflict with. We have not kind of aired those grievances and had an honest conversation yet. There's just been emails going back and forth. And um, you know, he's like, well, that's not gonna fix it. And I just explained that that's it doesn't matter if it fixes or not. That's it's my first step because it's a biblical principle that I'm gonna have conflict with the person I'm in conflict with first before it gets elevated. And so it's just an opportunity for me to live my life in a way that um I can delicately introduce the gospel to others.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Yeah, I think that's a phenomenal example of uh being salt and light, kind of how the book refers to it as that being salt is protecting and amplifying good God's goodness and combating moral decay. So I think you exercised some self-control, even you know, talking with your boss and not letting it get escalated to a group conversation was really kind of combating that moral decay. You know, it could have gone so much farther, but I'm thankful that um you saw the opportunity to really be Christ-like. That's awesome. Um, so as we kind of think about just sharing the gospel, and you've mentioned it needs to be organic. What are some ways that you've approached conversation or an example of someone that you has been on your heart and you wanted to approach, um, and then maybe you finally got to that conversation point?

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah, um, well, one in rereading this chapter, I certainly felt convicted that I should be more intentional in this area. I think a lot of us as Christians have that experience. Um but I think uh, and this is also, you know, very much um captured in this chapter of the book is you've got to be in authentic relationship with people. You have no credibility to speak to people about your faith if you're not in authentic relationship with them. And so I think genuinely showing up with an interest for others and getting to know others and understanding their story and why they believe the things they do really helps you to open the dialogue about your faith. Um, and like I said, also then just trying to live it out by example and have that open a door. Like, why did you do that that way? Well, I did it that way because of my beliefs, and this is what I believe. And um a little cautiously in uh, you know, a Fortune 100 company, it can't go necessarily outright witnessing, but the opportunity to share the why I do things and just hope that that's somewhat attractive to them. You know, there's a um sermon that Andy Stanley gave that said basically that non-Christians should want to hire Christians just because we're so attractive in the way we show up in our character and our integrity and our work ethic. Um, and so in trying to do that, it should spark people's curiosity to want to know more and be in relationship with you. And then you kind of naturally get to share your story. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

That's so good. No, I think that's incredible to think about non-believers kind of being impressed with just the work ethic and the trust building and the relationship building that Christians um can show people, and then that obviously just lose people to God. So that's awesome. That's an awesome quote. Um when it comes to trust building, I love that idea because it's a very relational thing outside of work, but with any customer, you know, trust is central. And so it's just incredible to see that reflection, both personal and professional. How would you say that you developed trust in a professional sense?

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Yeah, um, for me, it's authentic relationship, but it's also this idea of servant leadership. And I think there's been um a bit of a cultural shift in leadership um training and styles recently, where we went from this whole culture of leading from the front to leading from behind. And I find that very interesting because a lot of the concepts of leading from behind, being authentic, being approachable, being vulnerable, admitting mistakes, um, admitting we don't have the answer is very much already Christian values and servant leadership. Um, and so I think right now with this big cultural shift from this lead from the front where you never, you always have the answers, even if you don't have the answers and never admit a mistake and never let them see you sweat, and all that stuff that was so in leadership training a few years ago has shifted over to this be vulnerable, be authentic. And I feel like as Christians, like we should be the people that everyone else is looking to to see what that looks like in practice, because we should have already been doing that, even when the secular culture was saying do something different.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Mm-hmm. That's so good. I've definitely appreciated that about the culture shift as well.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Hey, Holly, I want to jump in real quick. Why is that so hard for the average Christian in the workplace to do that? Because all the studies that I've read and show and I've experienced it work myself, it's it's hard for people to do what you just said. Why is it so hard?

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Well, it does require a certain level of vulnerability to um let let yourself be known, let your people know you don't have the answers. And I think they fear we fear people are going to lose respect for us if we um or we're going to be seen as weak. I think that's what we're taught in secular culture. But honestly, I feel like the times I've shown up to my team admitting my mistakes or being vulnerable are the times where I think they've respected me the most and realized I'm a safe person. So I mean, I definitely remember a time where I just totally got it wrong, like totally got it wrong. And had the team, you know, in our team meeting. And I said, I just really messed that up. I actually don't think I could have made it any worse. And now we have more work to do. And I'm so sorry. And that that vulnerability for them was like, okay, she's human. We can be human around her. And also then they know when they make a mistake, they can come tell me I'm a safe person. And so um, I didn't really answer your question of why don't we? But I can I can answer the question of what happens when you do. Um, and it really it's almost counterintuitive. People don't think that's what's gonna happen, but you actually get that authenticity and approachability.

SPEAKER_02 15:53

Yeah, it's kind of a reverse logic that you have, right? And and the whole thing. I I think that there's a lot of Christians out there that one haven't had a role model show them how to uh show up to your point, right? And to be vulnerable and and to lead in a certain fashion. Um, but I think there's also a lot of fear out there uh about and and I don't I'm with you, uh it's it's not somebody we're trying to get to to be proclaiming the gospel on the street corner in the corporate building, you know, down the hallway or running up the elevator. But you've got to earn the right. That's the phrase I use. Excuse me, you have to earn the right uh in the credibility of somebody then to share your story, right? And that's that's ultimately, and and Barna uh does this study, right, as Christians at work, and they said one of the telltale differences between uh somebody that integrates their faith at work versus those that don't is their willingness to share the gospel in the appropriate moment, right? And um, that's I think one of those things that we just do missionally. And again, I go back, it's not about you know browbeating everybody, but when you have that opportunity that comes up, it's just to share what's on your heart with that. And that comes from that vulnerability at a certain point.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Yeah. And well, what uh there's a question at the end of this chapter, Holly, that just really strikes me and it definitely creates a sense of urgency. And I'll just read it for us because it's pretty poignant. Um, it says, You might be the best chance for many and the only chance for some ever to meet Jesus. What do you intend to do about it and when? I love that it asks the when part because it just is very urgent. But what does that stir in you? And I know you're on this new mission, so talk to me a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Yeah. Um I love what you just said about it creates a sense of urgency because I do feel like sometimes I'm like, well, the relationship isn't deep enough or the door hasn't opened yet. Um, and I probably am not as intentional as I should be. So I think what I'm gonna do about it is be far more intentional in actually sharing the gospel and not just Christian principles in which I live by and not being in corporate America anymore, I have a little more freedom to do that. Um, but I do like you said about um the fact that I might be the only chance that someone hears about Jesus. And I was thinking about that in the context that, first of all, you know, if I were in a different country where there were no churches and there were no Bibles, I would probably be living my faith so much more, I would be much bolder in living my faith and sharing my faith with others. But here in America, where there's a church on every corner in the South, I sometimes am a little apathetic because I'm like, well, if they wanted to know about Christ, there's a church or there's a Bible. I mean, they have access. Um, and then it goes back to the part about being relational, right? Like, that's not really a realistic expectation for someone who doesn't know Christ who's just gonna walk in a church. And so it does come back to the relationship component. And I do need to show up in that conversation, um, even if there are resources around me. Yeah, can help them once they have start that exploration of faith.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Yeah, I think it's it's incredibly important just to remember that this is the great commission. Um, it's it doesn't say show up at work and be nice to people and you know, maybe they'll think about Jesus. It's to make disciples and to be bold about our faith. Um, so that definitely convicts me not to disregard the idea of what you were talking about earlier on building trust, you know, in doing good work, even um and then being real with your employees or the folks that work around you. So all good stuff. Um, another idea out of the book is that the world is more ready to hear the gospel than believers are to hand it out. And that just really strikes me that I'm encouraged by what you're saying, just you taking a step in faith to share the gospel and feeling convicted in that as well. So as we go into our, you know, the next portion of our conversation, uh, I'll talk a little bit about or ask you to talk a little bit about trusting God with your whole being. I think that is another difference. You know, we talk about or I just talked about how the Great Commission is a bold statement and Christianity is trusting God with your whole being, you know, not just a part of it. How has that worked itself out in your own heart and life?

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Um yeah, I think um, you know, I talked a little bit about sanctification and how just we all change over time as we become more and more like Christ during our time on this earth. I would say though, within that, there are definitely seasons where we all probably are feeling like, you know, we are super connected and getting this right and everything seems to be working well. And then there are seasons where we probably might feel like we're a little more distanced from God. Um, I can tell you that for me, um in 2017 was one of the most challenging personal and professional years of my life. And um I literally just had to surrender it all. And um at that point in time, I had been in a job for four to five years, and so I had quote unquote mastered it, right? Like I had some bandwidth to do other things, and I was asked to um lead um the women's conference for the Coca-Cola company that year. And so I was certain that I could do it. I had some bandwidth because I knew my how to do my job really well. Well, not three months after I took this position to do this conference chair, I also then changed jobs. So now I have a learning curve in a new job, leading people, and then I have the second full time job in which um you know is to run. This entire conference. And then, you know, to be super transparent, I was also going through a divorce. And so I mean, I had it coming in every direction. And it was really when it rains, of course.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

And it was just it was a season of just complete surrender. And I can remember walking into the doors of Coke every day and just saying a prayer of just let me be the salt and the light. It doesn't really matter what the outcome is. If I if I succeed at this, it's for your glory. If I fail, there's a lesson in it, and I'll be an example in that way. But I was so not concerned about the outcome. Um, and just so much more concerned about showing up for others that I had this peace about me for that entire season of my life that, you know, I hadn't um wasn't expecting, I should say.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

Yeah, I love that heart position, just as you're walking through probably the one of the wildest seasons of your entire life, um, that you were really um extending yourself in a lot of ways, and that just God showed up for you and gave you that peace. And I think that's pretty easily translatable to us when we feel like we're extending ourselves. We feel like we're doing all we can um for the gospel. And we're even trying to be bold in our faith. It's that's when God shows up, when it's beyond ourselves. Right. Um, and he does the work of transforming us and he does the work of giving you peace. So I love, I love hearing that. That's an awesome testimony of just how God has worked in your life and trusting him with your whole being. That's awesome. Um, there's also this idea of the sacred and secular divide and the Sunday versus the Monday is what I hear a lot of people say. And, you know, I'm even guilty of it, right? There's a different version of me that sometimes shows up to work or shows up to church. Uh, when did you finally realize that the sacred life was your life and you needed to live that way?

SPEAKER_01 24:06

Um, yeah, that was um honestly, it was probably about the time that I've started being a people leader at Coke. And I don't know that I don't know that those are exactly correlated to one another, but um, I do feel that when I had that level of responsibility for other people that I needed to show up the way I needed to show up as a Christian. And so for me, I feel like that was really when it started to happen. Um, but I can certainly remember some times early on in my faith where I was not connecting Sunday to Monday. And yes, I was at church and yes, I would um, you know, read um a devotional every morning, but I didn't filter my decisions about my life through the Bible. Whereas at some point in this process, I started filtering life decisions through the word. Um and that's kind of when I knew Sunday and Monday were wholly connected.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

Yeah, that's awesome. And another example of just when you're beyond yourself, you know, when you're leading a team of people and we don't necessarily feel capable, like God steps in. And so I love hearing that as well. Um, you have made really good use of your influence, is what I'm hearing, right? Um, the book also talks about that. It's you you show up, that's your phrase, right? You make use of your influence, and then it's up to God to change the heart of others. Um, and that's discipleship. And I've just loved hearing you talk a little bit about that. Um what would you say to someone who has a new faith who has gone from just their initial belief that God exists to a relationship with Jesus as God's love and sacrifice for us? Um, how would you encourage them to grow their confidence and their faith?

SPEAKER_01 26:05

Yeah, um I would say you need to start reading the Bible, you need to find a local church. So those are some of the obvious ones. Um joining a small group or just finding someone who's further along in their faith journey who can pour into you. I think that was one of the biggest factors of my own personal growth was having someone further and more mature in their faith, helping me and equipping me. Um, and now I can see myself turning to people who are behind me in their faith and pulling them along. But there are still my times where I need to lean to that person and, you know, um have some hard conversations and make sure I'm getting filled up and still getting um deeper in the word. And so uh definitely a small group or a person that's gonna help you on that journey, uh, I think is critical to your growing in your faith.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

Yeah, that's awesome. I think we've heard that as a consistent kind of piece of advice is getting yourself in community, getting yourself around older believers, people that you can look and see, hey, this is this has worked in the past and God has provided for them in all these different circumstances. Um, so much good stuff, just on growing in that confidence, you know, how to disciple, how to be a light and insult in your personal and professional lives. How do you think this idea of discipleship, um, really the discipleship and leadership principle on this book of making disciples and changing your world will impact your new mission and your um your next chapter in your new work that you're doing?

SPEAKER_01 27:48

Yeah, um, there was a part of the book, that chapter that I really loved about having a significance mindset. Um, and I think for me, that definitely is something that resonated and I want to I want to spend some more time on um in how I show up every day. Um, is it not being about the task? I mean, we have to do the task. We just said as Christians, we have to have the work ethic. So we have to do the work reminding ourselves of what's the significance behind it. Um, because work is going, I mean, we live in a broken world and work is going to have brokenness in it on this side of heaven. And so um, the work's not always gonna be good and fruitful as much as we'd like it to be. But what's the significance behind that? And for me, it's that reminder of it's about being in relationship and witnessing to others through the work.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

Wow, that's really good. That's so good. Um, Holly, I just thank you for coming on today. And I'm inspired by the career you've had, how you've integrated your faith and um your boldness to step into this next chapter. I'm really excited to hear um in a couple of months how that's going for you again. So thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 29:03

Do you feel like one person in your personal life and another in professional life? Are you driven by your faith and yet you feel like that you can't bring it to your workplace? Does this disconnect make you feel like that you're not honoring God and everything that He's called you to do? Do you feel like that you're merely surviving day-to-day at work without purpose or meaning? Do you want to grow your influence and positively shape your work environment, but you're not sure how? Hi, I'm Preston Poor, author of Disciple Leader, inspiration from a Fortune 500 executive for transforming your workplace by pursuing Christ. You know, honestly, it took me a long time to figure out that it's not about changing your leadership style. While learning to be a better leader certainly is necessary, and many excellent books have been written to that end. Changing your style will not change who you are. Listen to this. Who you are needs to change before what you do changes. Becoming who you're meant to be as a Christian leader does not begin with focusing on leadership. Your calling toward better leadership is a calling toward deeper discipleship. My new book, Disciple Leader, provides struggling, stagnant, or merely surviving Christian business leaders with a framework to grow their influence through becoming a redemptive, Christ-like presence in the workplace and living a more fulfilling, personal, professional life. Through the book's 10 dual discipleship and leadership principles, stories and application, you'll experience personal professional transformation. For example, you'll change from struggling to live out your faith in the workplace to being empowered to positively shape your environment. You'll move from a stagnant, stale, dormant faith to one that's growing, active, and fulfilling. You'll shift from merely surviving day to day to thriving and living a life of purpose and meaning. If you're struggling to live out your faith in the workplace, worry that you're missing the opportunity to make a positive difference, or fear that you're living an unfilled life, it all stops here. Visit my website, PrestonPore.com, and order your copy of Disciple Leader Today and begin to experience personal and professional transformation.

SPEAKER_03 31:02

All right. So, Holly, as we're getting here towards the end of the episode, we have a little segment that I like to call hot seat, um, where we get to ask you a few fun and easy questions just for ourselves and listeners here uh to get to know you a little bit better. So, are you ready? Sure. All right, let's go. Are rats cute? No, I don't think so either. Are you politically correct?

SPEAKER_01 31:26

Most of the time.

SPEAKER_03 31:28

Most of the time. Okay. What's your favorite car?

SPEAKER_01 31:31

Um, right now it's the new Ford Bronco, and I really want one. In the area 51 color, that's that blue.

SPEAKER_03 31:39

Interesting. Awesome. Aliens, okay. Do you know how to salsa dance? No.

SPEAKER_01 31:47

I was raised Baptist.

SPEAKER_03 31:49

No dancing. Good. Good stuff. Uh, what does the acronym SCUBA stand for?

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Oh, um, I should know this because I've been through SCUBA training. So self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. Ding, ding, ding, ding.

SPEAKER_03 32:06

Good job, ding, ding.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Never got certified, but at least I know what the acronym stands for.

SPEAKER_03 32:10

Hey, I never would have known that either, to be honest. Um, on a scale of one to ten, how good are you at Wiffle Ball?

SPEAKER_01 32:16

Oh four.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

I'm out of practice.

SPEAKER_01 32:23

My coldest sack years are over, you know.

SPEAKER_03 32:26

I understand. Uh how many cups of coffee do you drink per day?

SPEAKER_01 32:30

Two.

SPEAKER_03 32:31

Two? That's a fair amount. Um, what is your ideal temperature outside? 80. 80? So hot. Okay. Um, if everyone in the world had to get married when they reach a certain age, what would that age be?

SPEAKER_01 32:47

26.

SPEAKER_03 32:48

Why? Why do you say 26? Okay.

SPEAKER_01 32:51

Um I don't know. It just feels like um that's about the right age. You're out of school, you have a job, you can support yourself. Um were you thinking it was too young?

SPEAKER_02 33:06

No, I just didn't know. I was just curious to why you said 26.

SPEAKER_03 33:08

It's all good. Okay. Wait, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 33:13

One of you guys 26. I'm an old, I'm old.

SPEAKER_03 33:17

She is wherever she is at all. All right, next question here. Have you ever slapped someone in the face?

SPEAKER_01 33:26

No, I've been slapped in the face, but I've never slapped anyone in the face.

SPEAKER_03 33:30

Wow. Okay, we'll leave it at that. Um, what's your favorite type of muffin?

SPEAKER_01 33:36

Gluten-free, sadly.

SPEAKER_03 33:37

Gluten-free. Okay. And who is your favorite cartoon character and why?

SPEAKER_01 33:45

I can't even like think of cartoons that I watched. Can I go with Dora the Explorer?

SPEAKER_03 33:51

Why not? Absolutely. 100%. That's a great job.

SPEAKER_02 33:55

Hey, Holly, you've been a big uh great sport. Thank you. A fantastic interview. Uh, wonderful to see you and talk to you again today. If you had one one thing that you wanted to leave with our listeners, one takeaway around the conversation, around the chapter, around disciple, uh, what might that one takeaway be?

SPEAKER_01 34:17

Um I think we need to be bold and that we often think we're not equipped. Um, and we gotta trust that we don't have to have all the answers. The Holy Spirit's gonna show up in that conversation, and we just need to be intentional and that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 34:34

Leave it with that. Bold. Love the word bold. Awesome. Hey, you've been great. Thanks for for being part of the Disciple Leader podcast. Take care. Well, that's all for today's episode, and thanks for listening. Join us again next time when we explore another life-changing principle from Disciple Leader. And be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes or other streaming platforms so you'll never miss an episode. Plus, if you don't have a copy of Disciple Leader, stop by my website at PrestonPort.com and order yours today. I'll end with this Transformed Lives, transformed cultures. I encourage you to allow God to work in you and through you to change your world.