LeaderImpact Podcast
LeaderImpact Podcast
Ep. 59 - Darren Young - Life-Changing Moments and Faithful Stewardship
Have you ever experienced a moment so profound that it redirected the course of your life? Darren Young, president of Power to Change, joins us with a riveting account of such a moment from his first chemistry class at Simon Fraser University. It's a tale of transformation, mentorship, and the integration of faith into every corner of one's life—a narrative that intertwines personal anecdotes with spiritual wisdom, offering both comfort and challenge to our own journeys.
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Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast. We are a community of leaders with a network in over 350 cities around the world, dedicated to optimizing our personal, professional and spiritual lives to have impact. This show is where we have a chance to listen and engage with leaders who are living this out. We love talking with leaders, so if you have any questions, comments or suggestions to make the show even better, please let us know. Best way to stay connected in Canada is through our newsletter at leaderimpactca or on social media at Leader Impact. If you're listening from outside of Canada, check out our website at leaderimpactcom.
Speaker 1:I'm your host, lisa Peters, and our guest today is Darren Young, the president of Power to Change, darren. I'm your host, lisa Peters, and our guest today is Darren Young, the president of Power to Change. Darren has had a great love for Power to Change as he is an alumnus from the student ministry at Simon Fraser University. He has also led the staff development, human resources and the finance team. In the past, darren has been involved in working with church leadership across North America and has served as president of Executive Leadership Solutions, where he pioneered the launch of a premier leadership collaborative for large and leading churches. Darren and his wife Wendy, currently live in Langley BC and are blessed with two sons who bring much joy to their lives. Welcome to the show, darren.
Speaker 2:Lisa, thanks for having me. It's a total joy.
Speaker 1:You don't look like you have really, because I asked you earlier how old your sons were prior, you said 21 and 20. I'm like you don't look like you should have 20 year old sons.
Speaker 2:Okay, so now we're getting off to a really good start. I like you immensely already, lisa, so thank you, I appreciate it. That's my start.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right. Well, congratulations on having two fabulous sons who bring joy in your life. I as well have two children almost the same age and they are just joy.
Speaker 2:Well, you also don't look like you're old enough to have children that age. So there you go.
Speaker 1:I was feeding into that, darren, all right, okay, well, this is gonna be fun, so thanks for joining us. For anyone who doesn't know Power to Change, just tell us a little bit about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Power to Change is a ministry that is a cumulative of nine different ministries that focus on the different spheres of society. So you touched on students on university campuses, athletes, through our Ministry of Athletes in Action business marketplace professionals, which is the circle here through our ministry of athletes in action. Business marketplace professionals, which is the circle here through our leader impact marriages through family life, so and it goes on. So it's really the heart. How can we move into these segments of society and help people experience the story of God in their lives?
Speaker 1:Yeah well, I just recently came back from a family life conference.
Speaker 2:And it was just fantastic. Good, I'm glad to hear.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just fantastic. So we want to talk about you today. So we want a little bit of your professional story and how you got to where you are today and if you can just give us a couple snapshots that were pivotal turning points along your journey.
Speaker 2:Well, you mentioned that I went to Simon Fraser University, so let me take you there. Over 30 years ago I'm sitting in a first year chemistry class my very first class at Simon Fraser University and there's about 500 of sitting in the class about 10 minutes before class begins and only in a first year class is everyone there. 10 minutes before class begins, a group of power to change leaders come to the front of the class and said hey, we want to do this spiritual interest questionnaire before class begins. We're going to hand this out if you don't mind filling it out. I had no idea who Power to Change was Actually at the time. It was called Campus Crusade for Christ. So the survey comes around, I fill this out and the only question I remember on it is them asking me would you like to be involved in a Bible study? And I ticked a yes to that, and the following week an individual named Tony Wong followed up with me and that began a four year journey that radically transformed my life. I had grown up in a Christian home, so the faith was not new to me, but what happened over those four years, increasingly, was this immersing in a greater story that I just didn't really understand a greater depth to who Jesus is, a greater understanding of the mission of God to restore all things. And so through this time I'd gone there to go to business school and I planned on going into the business world and all of a sudden God started kind of turning that upside down.
Speaker 2:I went into the summer before my last year graduating and I got a call from someone in leadership of power to change and they said hey, darren, we'd love for you to come in and have a conversation with us. We'd like you to do an internship before you graduate, the summer before you graduate. So I went into the office, sat down with this person and his name was Dave, and he said to me Darren, I want to be honest with you. Here's the internship, but I want to be honest. What we're trying to do is recruit you to full-time staff once you graduate. And so you and I don't remember all the conversations we've had with people, but I remember this vividly and this is verbatim what I said to him. I said, dave, I appreciate that greatly. So let me be honest with you. I have no intention of joining staff with Power to Change. Campus Crusade for Christ. And we talked about that a little bit, because I had planned on going into the business world and I had a deep burden. I was very driven, I had been very successful in my studies and scholarships and opportunities before me and that's fully what I planned to do. So we talked about it for a little bit and then he said OK, darren, we'd still love for you to consider doing this internship. So I drove away and I thought what a great way to spend my last summer before I graduate to intern with this organization that had meant so much to me and really deeply impacted my life. And so I decided to do it that summer. You can kind of see where this goes. That summer I was invited to Power to Change's staff conference.
Speaker 2:A speaker spoke about a passionate commitment to Jesus. I literally Lisa you'll appreciate this, not all of the listeners of yours will I still have the cassette tape Okay, so a cassette tape from this time, and not everyone will know what that is, but I still have the cassette tape from July of 1997. And he spoke about passionate commitment to Jesus. He spoke from 1 John. And he spoke of a passionate commitment to Jesus.
Speaker 2:He spoke from 1 John. God is light In him is no darkness, no, no darkness at all. And he talked about the brilliance of Christ and that he's worthy of our whole life. And it's like every part of my journey to that point converged for me to hear this whisper from God. Darren, I've been preparing you and moving you towards this moment to understand that I have a greater call for your life and you are to serve me with all the days of your life in full-time ministry. And that moment changed my whole life and for the last 25 plus years now, in various places which we could talk about, god's had me in ministry. But it was because in that moment, and what God spoke to me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so did you immediately go to Power to Change, or did you go and then leave and then come back?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I joined staff with Power to Change. It took me a few months to process it. It was such a radical shift, even though I knew I was to do it. It was hard for my family, it was hard for my parents to process, and, as part of what we do at Power to Change, we each raise support, we act as missionaries. That was hard to process when you're planning on getting a salary. I was completing my CPA at the time as well as I was preparing to graduate, and so there was a lot to process. But, yes, I joined staff.
Speaker 2:I was on staff for eight years, which involved a lot of stepping into transition, god throwing me in the midst of a lot of oh my goodness. When I finally joined, I thought this is going to be incredible. We're all going to serve God together for our life. And then you realize that ministry is just like business Leadership is hard and there's lots of organizational complexities. So a lot happened in those eight years really beautiful things, but challenging. And then the Lord released us.
Speaker 2:I went and pastored for 13 years. When I joined pastoring too, I came on as an associate and we weren't sure that I'd stay in pastor. My wife and I. We just felt like God told us to go there. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 2:Within four months the lead pastor resigned and then the church asked me to step into the lead. I had no Lisa. I had no preaching experience, no pastoral experience, no seminary whatsoever, which is really a lot of my story. Is God moving me into places that I didn't plan and saying you're going to learn to trust me and I'm going to prepare you and you'll learn it through experience? And so then I pastored for 13 years and then I moved in working with a leadership organization for several years where 45 days into that, the CEO resigned. I came on as a COO and then I was thrown into that seat. So there's kind of a thread Most of us if we're, when we get to a certain point, we can see threads the thread that God just kept throwing me into different places in ministry and then, yes, eventually he brought me back, which is a story on its own.
Speaker 1:Yeah, darren, I think we could have a whole half hour discussion on pivotal moments.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's, right Wow.
Speaker 1:Yes, did you want to continue with those, or would you like to go to the second?
Speaker 2:Well, I'll just, I'll just tell you one other. Yeah, there, I'll just tell you one other. Yeah, there's a lot of pivotal moments. The thing that we recognize is usually you recognize those pivotal moments more in hindsight, like you see, there's been really these tipping points that things changed in a moment for you.
Speaker 2:But when I was then working with, like you say, executive leadership solutions, when you introduced my story, I had a moment in a prayer time with the Lord where he said to me Darren, what has seemed random to you in your ministry places I'm about to bring all of them together he's only twice in my life really spoken. God's spoken to me as clearly as I would say that he's spoken, though not audibly. And the first was when I described when I was at that conference. And then the second time, and he and he just said Darren, your time with Power to Change before, your time pastoring, your time at Leadership Network. None of those were random. There's about to be a convergence where all of them are about to matter and you need to prepare yourself because of something I'm doing.
Speaker 2:I came out of that prayer time I said to my wife, because God does not speak to me like that, so this sounds super spiritual, it is not God. And I roll. I'm a business guy with a very practical mindset and I said to my wife, wendy, something's coming and we need to pray and prepare. And three months later I received a call from the search firm with Power to Change saying we'd like to have a conversation, and I got off the phone. I said hon, you're not going to believe who just called. And she said who. I told her. She said, oh, my goodness, what did you tell them? That began a three-month process where the Lord just said to me Darren, this is what I told you. And so for us it's been a homecoming. Coming back to Power to Change, I met Wendy at Power to Change. We started our family here, we began our ministry here, and so the Lord brought us home. It's been a real joy to come back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm thankful that you use the words hindsight in your pivotal moments, because when you are in them, they're not easy sometimes, and it is, it's part of the story. But you always look back and go oh, I can see it now.
Speaker 2:It's hard, it's hard, it's really, really hard. Yeah, it was very difficult going through them. There's so much uncertainty, there's so much you have to let go of, there's fears, there's struggles, insecurities. Like I said, most of my journey has kind of been the typical leadership principle that 70% of your leadership development comes from experiencing it and doing, 20% from mentoring and 10% from education, formal equipping. And that's really been my journey and it's been very scary and overwhelming, for sure.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you for sharing, Thank you. So our second question is give us your best principle of success and tell us a story that illustrates this.
Speaker 2:A number of years ago I read a book by an individual named Crawford Luritz. The book was called Never Walk Away and it's not about business, it's about family and it's a story of his dad and it's the story of how his dad every day showed up and the way he loved his family and the way he cared for his boys. And, of course, we live in a very fractured world and for many reasons and I don't want to simplify anything what families go through is really difficult.
Speaker 2:And uh, there's a lot of pain in that, in the midst of it, for a dad to have a resolve that I'm going to show up every day and I'm going to love my spouse and I'm going to love my kids, no matter what comes on good days and bad days. And it was a book about parenting, but it's been something that I've held really dear that in all that God entrusted me, in all the places he puts me in my marriage, where I've most definitely made a lot of mistakes, and in my parenting, where I've most definitely made a lot of mistakes, and in leadership. It doesn't always go how we want, but can I understand that to be successful, to be faithful, is to show up and to keep trusting God and to keep loving people how God's called me, to love people and to persevere when it's really, really hard and not quit on people and to faithfully steward what he's put in my hands and the people he's given to me. At the end of the day, jesus, when he was preparing to go to the cross, he prayed. Jesus, when he was preparing to go to the cross, he prayed in John 17. He had this incredible prayer with his father and he said Father, I've completed everything that you gave me to do, and the implication of that is I didn't do everything and there's a lot of critics because I didn't accomplish everything that everyone would want me to accomplish.
Speaker 2:But I was faithful to what you gave me and I stewarded that with great care and conviction and compassion and I persevered and I'll persevere right to the end, to the cross, to see it through, and that's what I want to be true of my story. I want it to define. Success is the father's entrusted, god's entrusted certain things to me my marriage, first and foremost, my kids, close relationships, the leadership position, the people I lead, the ministries that we have. And I want to be faithful and I want to steward them. And when it's hard, I want to not give up and I want to not quit on it. And we all know all of those places are really, really hard and there's always places that you want to quit, and so can I keep trusting God to keep going. So that, to me, is what I want to be true of my life. When I'm done, that's success to me.
Speaker 1:Right. Do you reread this book often?
Speaker 2:I haven't gone back to reread it, but I think of it often and I think of that title and for some reason right there's phrases that just catch us and I think it's a gift from the Lord. Whether it's a spiritual reference or not, it's just, it's a hook for me to hang things on, never walk away and never walk away. And around us we have a lot of fracture Wendy and I and people around us, and when pastoring for that many years, there's there's just a lot of fractured families we walk through and again, there's lots of reasons people go through that. I don't want to simplify it, but it's really hard and that resolve.
Speaker 2:You know, lisa, one of the things the Lord gave me when I was pastoring which has been an important part of helping me learn not to quit on the things he's given me is when I started pastoring, he gave me marathon running as a gift and which sounds really funny that I say that's a gift. Most people would not say marathon running is a gift, but it was a gift to me. I'd always casually run my whole life. It's another thread that he gave me that I only saw in hindsight why he had given it to me, but when I started pastoring an elder at our church had just run the Vancouver Marathon and I said to him Don, I've always thought of running a marathon. And he said well, let's do it. And then I had this moment where I thought do I really?
Speaker 2:want to run a marathon or do I?
Speaker 2:just say I want to run a marathon. I thought, no, I think I do. And so he started training me and I realized in it that running became this place where I could go to get away from everything. But if you've ever run marathons anyone who's run marathons know there's always times you want to quit, like it's really, really hard mentally, physically, emotionally and so part of the resolve that running creates in me is don't quit there. I know it's hard right now, but you can keep going. Sometimes you need to slow the pace, sometimes you need to walk, but so this never walk away, never quit. Keep going in what God's entrusted to me. There's lots of things God hasn't entrusted to me that you need to walk away from, but with what God's entrusted to me, yeah, I want that to be true of my story.
Speaker 1:Good. Thank you. Well, I mean, as I think we all know, we learn more from our failings and mistakes than our successes, and I'm wondering if you could share one of your greatest failings or mistakes and what you learned from it.
Speaker 2:When I left pastoring, I had been involved for a number of years with an organization called Leadership Network and when I I'd been involved as a participant, then, while I was pastoring, they'd asked me to do some things with them. It kind of grew. God was giving me success with it and favor with it. I'll just say it that way. That's kind of the spiritual way to say. It was going well and then they finally asked me to come on full time and be the COO and so I felt like God was calling me to do this. I went there and it just kind of, from the beginning it went bad. I'll just say it that way. Great organization loved it. But you get in there and you realize there's a lot of challenges and now I'm the one to solve them and you want to solve them and you realize that part of it is is is not about solving the issue. It's about you proving you can solve the issue and and recognizing how much of your identity you come from being a good leader. And it wasn't working and what I was doing wasn't working. And that's when I mentioned the CEO resigned and now I'm'm the interim and I have about 30 days until the board meeting. This is a nonprofit to prove to the board that we have a plan to move forward in sustainable effectiveness. We've lost a number of donors in the process. Our CEO has stepped down. He was brought in to lead the transition into a new day. He was brought in to lead the transition into a new day. We have some financial challenges to work through and so you're trying to pull this together and make it work.
Speaker 2:And we had a great board met with them and at the end of that board meeting they decided that they were going to pursue a merger with another great organization called Exponential, which is still functioning just great organization. I love them to death. But it was really hard that I just couldn't make it work and it's not to suggest that was all on me but staff had to be let go. That was hard. Then my responsibility was to navigate this merger with Exponential and mergers are hard. That's a whole oh my goodness, that's a whole world. I learned a lot, but at the end of it it resulted in a reality. That was not what I hoped for and all of our staff eventually were let go. No staff moved into the merged organization. I stepped away from it. They weren't sure what they were going to do with Leadership Network, and my wife and I weren't sure it was the right fit for us, so I stepped away. So then I met this.
Speaker 2:Not only did it not work which you didn't realize again how much of this you're actually just working out your own ego and pride and identity but then you're left at this place for the first time in my life where I don't know what's next.
Speaker 2:I mean, at every other point I was recruited, at every other point I was kind of moving up the ladder, so to speak, and now I'm left with I don't know what the future holds and I have no title and what's my identity in that and I don't know what's next. And now I have fear of that and I, my family and I need to provide for them, and also I'm left in the dark now. And so so you learn in the process how much you wrap your identity in what you do and how people see you and climbing the ladder. It was very humbling and it was a place in terms of of learnings as to coming back to God. Do I trust you? And this is is this really about you and what you have for me, or did it become about something different in the process of it. So in hindsight I see what God was doing, but again, when you're in it, you don't. It's just uncertainty, fear, struggle, identity, insecurity. It was the first time in a long time I'd experienced insecurity like that, so it was hard.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's way easier to move to a different position while you're in one versus having no title, as you said. That's right, that's a hit. You feel in control.
Speaker 2:We all want to be in control, we all want to be seen as if we've got it together. We all want to be able to go to our high school reunion and say, here's my title and here's my marriage and here's how many kids I have, and look at me. And so you don't want to be in the season where, wow, what's going on and it's that you're exposed, right as I think it was John Ortberg. He once quoted our heart is revealed and our character is forged when life doesn't turn out the way we hoped it would. And he was speaking of the life of Joseph and I thought from the Bible and I thought that's really true. My heart's revealed and my character is forged when it doesn't go well, and right now it's not going at that time going well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, it seems hindsight. It seems to have worked out.
Speaker 2:Yes, well, god's in it, right? I mean God's in all of our stories. He's faithful and good, right, so he's always going to. But he's a parent who knows sometimes your child needs to go through stuff they don't want to go through, and that's just really true. That's why he's referred to as a father in the scriptures, right? He? Loves us, but he knows better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think it's a time I mean I've watched, you know, not on this. On the same note, families in our church who are struggling with something and they're losing faith or they just they're struggling to find where God is in this story and that, but to have to surround yourself with those people and that's what Leader Impact is. We surround each other. When things get really hard or you know Power to Change or Athletes in Action, it gets hard and that's why we're partners.
Speaker 2:It's really hard and you have. We were made for community.
Speaker 1:I mean.
Speaker 2:The statistics right now show that in North America, over 50% of people regularly feel lonely and isolated. Over 50% of people regularly feel lonely and isolated and social media perpetuates a real problem of presenting as if most people around you have it all together. I was with a young leader in her 30s sharp, young business professional, and she was saying to me, you know she was sharing some of her struggles and she was talking about other people she knows and where they're at. And I said to her who are you comparing yourself to? And she mentioned a few people. I said you know, that's like 1% of 1% of 1% of people, like that's not most people, but we're comparing ourselves to an ideal that's not attainable and the reality is most of us. It's a struggle and it's hard and we need community. We need community where you just recognize we're not in it alone. And I get it and this is the story.
Speaker 1:So yeah, Good, All right. Well, as you know, at Leader Impact, we want to grow personally, professionally and spiritually for increasing impact. So I'm wondering if you'd be willing to share an example of how the spiritual makes a practical difference in your life as a leader.
Speaker 2:Yes, so I mentioned that I run marathons, and I run marathons again primarily because I think that the Lord gave it to me as a gift. It doesn't always feel like a gift, but when I sign up for a marathon, what it does is it creates this reality where I have to go out each morning and run and train because if I don't, the marathon is really, really, really going to hurt, like it's going to be awful beyond awful. Four weeks ago, I ran the Boston Marathon. I've been dreaming of that for a lot of years and it went awful, awful, awful, which is a whole different story, a whole different story. But what running does for me is it? And I realized the reason the Lord gave it to me is because it creates this space where I have to get out running and I go every morning in the Saturday morning, except for Sunday. Sunday is my rest day. I go every morning and then Saturday I go for a long run. It could be up to well, it could be up to three and a half hours long.
Speaker 2:And so what happened in that process is talking about the spiritual dynamic of my life, is it? I realized that the Lord gave it to me as a sanctuary. It was my sanctuary. It was the place that I went to be with God. I love people, but I'm introverted, so with the ministry and when I was pastoring and in my role now, it's tiring, it's overwhelming with all the needs you're trying to constantly help me, and so running created this place where I just went to be alone with God. I don't run with anyone else. People have asked me and I say I really appreciate the offer to run together, but I just don't run with anybody. I run alone, and so I go and I spend time with the Lord, and I have very honest time with the Lord. I usually start by talking to him about how I'm doing and I'm and I'm playing. I'm God. I'm really struggling today, and you allow me to go through. This is difficult. I don't understand why you won't resolve this situation. We have very honest conversations. Here's where I'm at, and then I'll remind myself here's who God is, though, and and God, but you're faithful, I know you're good and we'll. I will talk through that and then I'll bring requests to him and so forth. But what I realized is, if I don't have that place to go to be with God, now some people can go into a quiet room or go for a walk or do different ways. I can't sit like that, I just can't do it. So we're all different, um, but if I didn't have that place to go be with the lord and anchor all the realities of my life, I don't know what I would do.
Speaker 2:We all go somewhere to try to resolve the unresolvable in our lives, and if it's not God, it's somewhere else, because we have to. And so for me, I've just tried to really discipline myself. I need to go with them to be with the Lord, because it is hard, leadership's hard, marriage is hard, parenting is hard, finances are hard, health is hard, mental health. I struggle with a condition, so to speak, called morning anxiety. So I struggle with, I wake up in in a panic. I wake up with extreme anxiety, not every morning, but lots of mornings. Where would I go for all of those things to resolve them? Of course there can be medical and so forth. I'm not meaning good places we should go, but the unhealthy places.
Speaker 2:We go to resolve the unresolvable which don't resolve it. So my spiritual life, my walk with the Lord he's just created this space where, in the midst of it, he doesn't always solve it for me but reminds me. This is who I am, darren, and this is who you are to me. You are my beloved child. You know when the father spoke those words over Jesus at his baptism. You are my beloved child. Those same words are spoken to every single one of us. You are my beloved daughter, lisa Darren. You are my beloved son. The same love he has the father has for the son Jesus is the same love he has for us he has the Father has for the Son Jesus is the same love he has for us.
Speaker 1:So that anchors me to keep moving in his story, even when it's hard Interesting listening to you and talk about introversion, and all the roles you have had in your life are so extroverted either in front of people preaching, or you know, like you've just, you've had these roles of.
Speaker 2:Yes, and.
Speaker 1:I am very similar. I'm an introvert, but I keep getting these roles. Yes, but I love my quiet time.
Speaker 2:What people often don't recognize is that I don't know the percentage, but a strong percentage of preachers talking about preachers are introverts, because the stage is not true. The stage of a preacher is not true relationship interaction. It's very detached in many ways. So some people think preachers must all be extroverted. They're so excited up there. But it doesn't mean that that's true necessarily. So yes, I love people. I love people dearly. God has shaped my heart too. I have a shepherd's heart, but it's part of what makes me have to go run because the burdens are heavy for people. But yes, at the end of the day I love being at home with my family, my wife, my boys and my dog, and then going for a run. If I could spend all my other time there, that's true, it would not be with a lot of people. I, minister, if I can get recharged there, then I can be with people out of there.
Speaker 1:Well, I have to share a running story with you. So I used to run marathons as well, did you? I did and I ran Walt Disney's when I was maybe 29 or 30.
Speaker 1:I don't remember. And I trained in kilometers and I was now running in miles, so I really didn't know where I was and where you know where this wall was when you hit the wall. Anyway, I hit a very hard time and I'd lost my running partner. I said go ahead. And I was running alone and all of a sudden I hear this guy running behind me and he's cheering at the people watching us. He's like you guys look great and this man's running and he's like thanks for coming out, it's been a long day for you guys. And this runner is cheering and I'm laughing at this and this is funny and it kind of got me through this really hard time.
Speaker 1:And I turn around and there's no one there, there's no one has passed me, no one in front of me and there's no one behind me and I just I wrote about that in my diary when I got home and I, just in that moment where you just got picked up and I just got taken for five minutes or you know how long it was, and then I continued, I'll never forget that, but yeah, there was, there was nobody. Never forget that, but yeah, there was nobody.
Speaker 2:Anyway, boy, that's incredible. Those moments, yeah, those are really. I think we all need those moments. God does them in different ways for all of us, where he defies our normal experience, just to remind us he's there. We all need tangible little things from him, whether it's seems miraculous or not, that he just reminds us I'm in the story and I'm in your story, so it's in the story.
Speaker 1:Good, all right. Two more questions. So Leader Impact is is dedicated to leaders having a lasting impact. So, as you continue to move through this amazing journey, have you considered what you want your faith legacy to be when you leave this world?
Speaker 2:The scripture right now, that well, right now, for the last number of years, that's meant a lot. Which I think answers your question is Hebrews 12, 1 to 3. For me, so Hebrews 12, the writer of Hebrews. At the beginning of that chapter, he says, therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance. So a running reference, which I didn't mean to have with our marathon conversation, but the beginning of that verse. In verse 1, he says therefore, so the therefore is referring to Hebrews 11. Verse in verse one, he says therefore, so the therefore is referring to Hebrews 11. And Hebrews 11 is a chapter in the Bible that talks about the men and women who have gone before us, the men and women who have run this race, the men and women like David or Ruth or Rahab or Daniel or others, who have, in their time, faithfully trusted God in the story, walked by faith, and now their time is done. And so then it gets Hebrew 12, and it says therefore, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, therefore, because all of these that have gone before us, the imagery the writer of Hebrews uses is actually of imagine a running event or really any sporting event, but the grandstands. So it's this imagery of all of those who have gone before us who are filling the grandstands and are cheering us on now as we run the race. That imagery to me is so powerful because of many things we've talked about, that we need those who have gone before us. We need to know that they're cheering us on. Hey, don't quit. He's trustworthy, he'll do what he said. His promises are faithful, like just keep going, don't give up. It's your moment, it's your time. But to know they're all cheering us on is imagery that's been really impactful for me. Know that I'm part of a story across time and now it's our moment to run this race and tell this story. But everyone who's gone before me is rooting for me and cheering for me In terms of the legacy I want to leave.
Speaker 2:I want to do that with others. I want to, not just when my time is done, but from now on, as a new generation, and you and I aren't old, but we're still super young. Not old, not old at all. Still super young, as we've talked about. Not old enough to have the age kids. We do as our kids are at that age and as a new generation. I get to work because of our ministry Our largest ministry is our campus ministry, so I get to work with a lot of we have about 500 staff across the country and get to work with a lot of young staff and young leaders is I want to be someone who is an encourager that in the difficulties of leading and challenges, that that that people would experience me, me cheering them on that, that I would be joining in the cloud of witnesses with others.
Speaker 2:And we live in a polarized moment.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of tearing down, there's a lot of challenges we're trying to work through.
Speaker 2:But as I sit with people one-on-one and speak with our staff and group and our leaders, to be an encourager to people to think of joining that great cloud of witness, just to say hey, I had a race to run and I want to finish. I'm not done my race, I want to finish it, but I get really excited about just cheering other people on in it. So I think the legacy, when it's done and my time's done, that people would say I had few people in my life who encouraged me like Darren did, and I know he's still cheering me on, like I don't know how it works when people die. I'm not quite sure how that all works, but like, however it works, when I think of a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on, I picture Darren like he's cheering me on and I can hear him whisper, so to speak keep going, you're doing great, it's going to be okay. He's trustworthy. So I want to be an encourager. I want to share that with people.
Speaker 1:Awesome, good answer. Thank you for sharing. And, of course, our last question is what brings you the greatest joy?
Speaker 2:I alluded to before. My family brings me great joy, and it is not a token shout out to them, Though if I didn't say that and my wife watched this, I'd probably be in trouble but my wife brings me great joy. My boys bring me great joy, but I'll give you a little bit more than that. I'll give you something fun to finish on. We have a dog and our dog's name is Gus. We have a dog and our dog's name is Gus, and Gus is. I never thought I'd love a dog like this, so this is not like. Oh, darren's a dog lover and he loves his dog and eyes rolling. Let me tell you the story of Gus and let me tell you why he brings me so much joy. I'll give you a quick snapshot.
Speaker 2:So I've been in this role. I'm in almost three years three years next month and we had a dog before. Her name was Bailey, she was a Labradoodle and she died. Right within a week of me starting here, she died. She was a little bit older. She had a number of issues I never when she died. It was devastating to me and I never saw this coming. But what happened is I realized afterwards, is that I got in this routine where every night I would start when she got older, I would take her for a walk and it became a prayer walk for me and she just tagged along and she was older and slower at that point and when she died I realized that it was so crushing for me because this place that I went with her was so special to me in prayer walk and she was the only one that was ever there with me. Now, she was a passive, you know a passive dog in the in it, but don't get me wrong, there's nothing strange. She was passive in it, but she was still there with me, and so I lost that one who went with me into this deep place with the Lord every evening that I went, anyway. So we talked about my wife and I said, eventually we're going to get another dog, but let's not get one right away because I don't want to feel like I'm replacing Bailey Again. This sounds so strange, but we started dreaming about okay, when we do get a dog, let's get a golden doodle this time, because we had Labradoodle. We love doodles, so let's get a golden doodle, and this time Bailey was golden in color. Let's get a black golden doodle and let's get a boy because Bailey was a girl I'm not right, I'm not trying to replace her, so strange. And when we get this dog, let's call our dog Gus, because we had.
Speaker 2:This is during COVID, so we'd watch this show during COVID called Psych. It's this ridiculous comedy. You ever see this, lisa? No, psych, it's a ridiculous comedy. You can go look it up. It's. You have to really like, uh, silly humor. But there's a character named Gus and we thought, oh, we love this, we watched it during COVID, let's, let's. So we're gonna name this Gus Gus. So we have in our minds where our dog's going to be. He's going to be a black, golden, doodle boy named Gus. That's what we're going to do.
Speaker 2:So about a month later, we're still not planning on getting a dog right now. About a month later, on Instagram, a friend messages me and said, hey, are you guys looking for a dog? She knew what had happened to our last dog. I said, well, not right now. Later on, in a couple months maybe, she said, well, our friends had a litter and in the litter and she knows nothing else about what we're looking for In the litter they had a boy dog who was adopted by somebody, but then this single gentleman had to have knee surgery and so he had to return the dog because the adoption papers were really tight If you could not take care of the dog, you must return him.
Speaker 2:So they had to return him. So now they're looking for a home for him and I knew you guys had lost your dog, thought maybe you want another dog. And I said well, I really appreciate it, but we're not looking right now. And she said well, can I send you a picture? Okay? So, lisa, pay attention here, everyone pay attention. She said can I send you a picture? And I said sure, you can send me a picture. So she sends me a picture and she says this little puppy, he's three months old, he's a golden doodle, he's a black golden doodle. He was a return boy from the litter that had to be returned and you can call him whatever you want, but the owners have called him Gus. So I said to Wendy, you've got to be kidding me. I said we are getting this dog and she said I guess we're getting a dog.
Speaker 2:So why does Gus bring me so much joy? Because every day when I come home, as hard as work has been, gus is so excited to see me. He's just waiting for our walk. He licks me up and down. He's the worst trained dog ever because I refuse to train him to be polite. But every day I see Gus.
Speaker 2:I remember that God loves me, because something like that doesn't happen, that they've named him the same name, that and no one names their dog Gus. But it's just a reminder. Leadership is hard. This role is a great joy to me, but it's really, really hard and there's a lot of pressures and struggles and aches before the Lord. And every day with Gus, his great joy and his love, it just reminds me God sees me, he knows me, he loves me, so much so that he gave me this dog. He's such a joy to me because of what he tells me about how much my God loves me.
Speaker 2:Again, I think all of us need something like that. We all need something from God that is tangible, that reminds us he really loves me. And again, I think all of us need something like that. We all need something from God that is tangible, that reminds us he really loves me, like he really loves me and he sees me. I said before I struggle with anxiety and he's a bit of a therapy dog for me. So he's a gift from the Lord. He brings me a lot of joy, but I better finish having said that story. I better finish by saying but my wife and boys bring me more joy If I don't say that they already. If they watch this, lisa, they'd be rolling their eyes and like don't even worry about the disclaimer. We know you love Gus, all right, so anyways.
Speaker 1:I will remind Wendy that you did end with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, perfect, thank you, That'll help me out.
Speaker 1:Oh well, Darren, thank you for spending the last 40 minutes with us. I have a dog, very similar.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, what kind of dog do you have?
Speaker 1:I don't know, she's not. Her name is Sadie, but she's a mix. She's a rescue dog, but she just used to sit at my feet and when I was having a bad day she would just curl up around me. It's like I think you're an anxiety dog, but anyway, yes, so many more stories yeah.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, perfect if anyone has listened to this and is like man, I got to talk to Darren, I have a story, or they want to talk to you about something you know? Where can they find you? What would be the best place?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. You can find me on LinkedIn. That's a great place. You can find me on other social media too, but I'm not really great at social media. You'll find me in those places, but LinkedIn for sure, yeah, awesome. Well, thank you, darren, and again, because of what I said before, I hope everyone's encouraged. That is my great desire to be an encouragement. So thanks, lisa for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Darren Young, the encourager. Thank you All, right. Well, this ends our podcast and we hope you can discuss or share this podcast with your group. And if you're not yet part of Leader Impact and would like to find out more and grow your leadership, find our podcast page on our website at leaderimpactca and check out our free leadership assessment. You'll also find on our webpage chapter one of Braden Douglas's book Becoming a Leader of Impact. You can also check out groups available in Canada at leaderimpactca or, if you're listening from anywhere else in the world, check out leaderimpactcom or get in touch with us by email info at leaderimpactca and we will connect you. And if you like this podcast, please leave us a comment, give us a rating or review. This will help other global leaders find our podcast. Thank you for engaging with us and remember impact starts with you.
