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Follow one church's journey as they depart from modern church growth trends and reinvent themselves by equipping everyday Christians to live out their faith in real life. Find episodes and show notes at www.dereksanford.com/reinventingchurch
Derek (00:19.458)
All right, hey everybody, I'm here Kelly Lundberg, PSA, Luti. And these guys came through handcrafted our our class where we helped discover our two-word calling. And just want to talk a little bit about how that class went, how it's gone since then, what were some key moments of that for you? And I've got a cool story that I want to tell. So Kelly, why don't you tell us your two words and tell us about a light bulb moment that happened during the class.
Kelly (00:46.528)
So my two words are building belonging. Yes. And I can get into that later, but one of the exercises in the class was finding your or your hinge moments, listing five hinge moments, listing five highs and five lows. And as you write them down, I really realized how those hard times in my life were
the most areas of growth that I've had. And so that was really meaningful for me.
Derek (01:22.702)
That's awesome. PC, why don't you give us your two words and also talk about a light bulb moment that happened for you during the experience?
Luti (01:29.998)
Sure. My two words are structuring success and I consider the entire class to be a light bulb moment for me. Before I took the class I tend to feel insecure and sometimes I felt like I was an imposter at church and at work is in general. I was never good enough when I compared myself to other ministry leaders. I wasn't gentle, I wasn't compassionate.
I didn't know how to deal with strong emotions, including my own. So those were characteristics that always made me doubt myself. At work, I was an engineer, design engineer. I never thought I was good enough as a design engineer, but I didn't know where I would go after that just because I didn't have the emotional intelligence that I thought I could go into management. So it was always a struggle. so going to do the handcrafted class.
Seeing how God wired me to be differently, how He shaped me through the high moments and the low moments and finding my two-word calling as structuring success really opened my eyes and made me realize that I wasn't insufficient, that I was where God wanted me to be, just different and I could serve God in different ways and just just not the typical ways that you see
everywhere else. so that was just a big life defining moment. And I walked away from that class just feeling this big sense of relief and peace, knowing that there wasn't something wrong with me. It was just that I was uniquely created. So that was a wonderful experience.
Derek (03:19.434)
Love that. Love that. So I'll come back to you, Kel. Talk about was there an exercise from the class? We we go through lots of tools and exercises and assessments to help to get to those two words. So was there one of those exercises that stands out to you as meaningful?
Kelly (03:38.796)
Yes. the the exercise was the ability three sixty where you had to reach out to I can't remember how many people. It was quite a few. Twelve. Okay. Twelve people. And they essentially had to tell you what kind of a person they think you are, what gifts you have. And that was very difficult for me because first of all reaching out to people
asking them to take the time to do that and then also waiting for their responses and seeing how they line up with how you perceive yourself. But it was really a moment to reflect and kind of appreciate that
People see you in a different way than than you see yourself. Like you're too hard on yourself sometimes. And they see your gifts and they see your abilities and it was it was a really great exercise for me.
Derek (04:44.524)
That's great. That's awesome. PC, can you say answer the same question? So the question is, was there an exercise that we did throughout the class that sticks out to you as memorable or impactful on you?
Luti (04:56.462)
Similar to Kelly, the ability three sixty and just getting twelve people to tell me what were my top two to three abilities. Some of the feedback I received reinforced my prior understanding going into the class, knowing that, you know, this was my strength. But there were a few abilities that completely surprised me. so the consistent feedback I received from everyone was I was an excellent planner and I knew that.
That was my strength going into the class. I was always good at planning. I loved planning. The most surprising ability that several people identified was adaptability, being excuse me, adaptability to changes or being able to handle problems gracefully and well. And I never viewed myself as that. I always thought I was a stick in the mud type of person. I didn't like change, I didn't like going out.
my comfort zone. So that was very, very different from what I perceived myself as as my strength. And the other one was my tendency to see the best in everyone. And I never thought I had that at all. So that so just to hear what other people the people I trust that I worked with, that I've been friends with, telling me all these abilities really encouraged me.
and help me feel comfortable in my calling and just walk away with this sense of wholeness. Yeah.
Derek (06:38.168)
Great. I love it. Love it. Okay, let's do the third question. And the third question is how have you been walking out your two-word calling since the class ended? So has there been a moment, a situation, an experience where that you can talk about where you said, Man, that was where I saw it show up and it it it spoke exactly to this moment I was in. Why don't we start with you, Cal?
Kelly (07:04.502)
Well,
So again, my calling, my two words were building belonging. So I tried to separate them into work life, church life, and my family life. And so in church life, I I feel like nothing's really I mean, building, I I have the capability to I was involved in a couple building projects and I was able to use my gifts there and that was
Really rewarding for me, and I'm I always think how on earth was I able to volunteer in church and use something, a hobby essentially to serve the Lord. So that was great for me in my work life. I'm a dental hygienist and I'm supposed to make people feel welcome and comfortable when they come into the office and listen to their stories or their fears, everything, make them feel comfortable.
But in my family life, which I feel is the most important, I I I guess I came into the handcrafted class not knowing what my calling was and also just not being sure that being a mom was my calling. We adopted, we have two biological boys and then we adopted our daughters when they were three and four years old.
And things have been kind of a struggle the past f five years, I would say it's been an up and down struggle, especially with our our youngest. And I said there's no way that being just an adoptive mom
Kelly (08:47.768)
Could be my calling. And this class really confirmed for me that yes, this was your calling. Even when you feel like you're doing a horrible job at it, or you feel like you're failing, because I think that's why I questioned it, because I was like, I'm I'm failing in this. So how could this be my calling? There has to be something else out there that I'm that I'm missing. And so I guess I went into that class seeking that different calling, but then it just reaffirmed that this is where
I'm supposed to be. yeah. So it's awesome. I don't even know if that answered the question.
Luti (09:24.694)
That was great.
Derek (09:25.388)
Fantastic. Fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. So PC, why don't you answer that same question? So how how have you seen your two word calling kind of being lived out since the class ended?
Luti (09:37.806)
So my two word calling is structuring success and I think it's fundamental looking back at everything I do on a daily basis at work, at home and in the ministries that I participate in or leading. And I thought of structuring success and its meaning it has multiple meanings depending on different situations.
That I'm in, depending on different seasons that I can also be in, and just the roles that I play in general with different people. So at work, it's a natural calling because right now I am a program manager. And I currently manage two new product launches at the same time. So being a program manager, I look at myself as a navigator for the team. I need to know
Where are we going? When are we gonna get there? How are we gonna get there? And how much we can spend as a budget to get there. So to have a successful program launch, I need to structure plans. I have to have details. I gotta be able to break down the yearly goals given to me into monthly, weekly, and daily milestones. And every day the team comes to me for direction, for help which
challenges. So each day it just filled with decisions and lots and lots of discoveries, challenges. So using the the calling that that reassu reassured and reaffirmed that I'm in the right spot, in this right position.
I can decipher better of when when challenges come to me, I can decipher what to focus on, what is critical to the program and what is critical for me to focus on any given day, just because I can't handle everything. and structuring success to me, having gone through the class and knowing that this is my calling, I treat the team differently. it's
Luti (11:55.958)
challenging to find a spot especially in a marketplace in the marketplace in a corporate culture where success is driven by specific metrics. and to me when I look at success in my program, it's about making the fe making the team that I lead feel cared for consistently, that they're seen, they're heard, that they are appreciated when they go about and beyond and that they are always
supported when they're struggling. So with that mentality and purpose, it helps me to drive the team with a different behavior. And instead of talking smart like a lot of leaders, I want my team to see that I talk with passion, that when they come to me, it's always free discussion. It's a safe zone. Instead of leading with authority using you know strong
Pressure, I lead more of a confidence that we will resolve it together. Whatever issues that you bring to me at my desk, we will solve it together. We will always find resolutions to it. And instead of building myself up for the next promotion, that's typical in a corporate culture where we focus so much on our image.
I focus more on building relationships, building connections and it's
so ironic in terms of me not wanting to you know be the focus of attention, me dreading making new connections on you know on a r regular basis. Now I intentionally go and seek out my team members, especially new ones that come into my team. I want to know them personally. I want to know what makes them tick. I want to know what is what are their strengths and what are their concerning areas, whether it's at home or at work. Because if
Luti (13:58.548)
is not well, they won't be well at at work as well. So it's just
it's been a journey and it changed my perspective of what it means to be a successful leader in the marketplace and I can be different. if I may, I want to bring an example. this has been, I think, my proudest moment of last year. And that was the my first year leading the programs as well. When I stepped into this program, one of the critical design activities were already six weeks behind schedule. So I stopped into
it I started asking questions. I want to know where could I take out the inefficiencies, the redundancies. And the more I asked, the more pushback I received because a lot of people thought I was just micromanaging the team.
The loudest complaint came from the team's manager to me multiple times. I didn't let that face me. I essentially just went to work, I laid out a structure, I planned daily activities, and I met with the team on a daily basis, giving them support when they needed input, when they need clarification, I got them that. when they need some additional help, I brought them that. So it took us nine months to finish that design phase. And at the end of the nine months,
I proved to everyone on the team, including the manager, that I was there to empower the team, not to micromanage. I was there to help. And at the end of the program phase, at the end of the year, that manager has become my strongest supporter. And to this day, he still writes me encouragement notes, he still says hi, he constantly finds occasions to to come and just compliment.
Luti (15:51.768)
He provided good feedback to my direct manager as well. And I just loved it out of the whole year. To me, it wasn't about accomplishing the milestones. It's about building that one relationship. And that's how I see myself is structuring success. It's not about making a lot of connections. It's about making one connection at a time. And that's my way. I don't make connections with a lot of people. I don't like the exposure to the crowd, but I can make intention.
connection with one person at a time and that was just beautiful. I ended the year on the highest note, just having that experience and that connection.
Derek (16:33.304)
Thanks so much for sharing that. That was awesome. All right. So one of the things that's fun for me to hear both of your stories is because you you telling your stories back to back in the class really moved me personally. And so on the last week of the class, all the students stand up and kind of share their two words and tell a little bit of the story about how they arrived at those two words. And so you guys were were back to back when you stood up and Kelly, you were first and you you s gave your two words building
belonging and you told this really beautiful story. There's this kind of artistic side of that. You're the building side and the the spaces that you created at the church and and the this belonging that you create in those spaces and at work creating this belonging and then you you really you cried a lot. And everybody in the crass class cried a lot as you started talking about your family and this adoption journey that you guys were on that was just like incredibly moving and
Emotional, and you opened your home and and building belonging for these two girls, and it was just like, man, it brought the room down. And so the room is like in this emotional thing, building belonging, we're all in these flowery things. P say you stand up, and in true, just engineer fashion, you say, My two words are structuring success, and you gave this impassioned story about how you arrived at those two words. And when you know, at work you're structuring success and you're leaning.
into people and when you plan a family vacation you structuring success it it it it was this very kind of like just black and white cut and dry you know all the the the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed kind of thing and it it was it it it was so amazing for me
To watch this process that you both walked through and to see two totally different personalities, two totally different experiences, situations that you found yourself in, or whatever, two totally different two-word combinations, like couldn't have been more different. And yet they were so meaningful for both of you. And to see, again, two very different people arrive at two words that were meaningful for them that they could step into and live out, it just reminded me that God has uniquely
Derek (18:52.784)
designed every single person. And he's put us all in different places and around different people with different skills, different abilities, different passions, different gifts, to to affect our worlds in our unique way. And it to me, the back-to-back thing was the most beautiful expression of this class that I've seen today. So I really appreciate you both and I'm cheering you on as you live out your calling for Jesus.
Kelly (19:17.486)
Thank you.
Luti (19:18.03)
Yeah.