Transformed & Transformational

How can we lead well and cultivate Christ-centered leadership in our students? Matt Coe joins us to explore this big topic and share from his experience as a Sports Leadership instructor.

• “Just defining Christian leadership in itself is no easy task, and then, when you bring in the cultural element, and the virtues and values of what a good leader is in that context, it’s dramatically different.”
• GLOBE Project
• “If you have that underpinning of trust, then you can have robust conversations, then you can talk into people’s lives. A leader must be able to read the situation, must interpret the situation, and then use the right leadership quality for that moment, all wrapped in love.”
• “The character of our students is vital, the practical application of the skills that we are teaching them - organization, decision-making, teamwork, conflict - all of these things that we deal with in the mission world, we have an opportunity to teach that.”
• “As we release our students into the wider world, we need to be able to teach them to be adaptable and versatile and flexible.”
• “How can we always guide them back to the cross through the opportunities that we give for leadership?”
• “Everyone has capacities to lead in different ways.”
• Lead Like Jesus by Blanchard, Hodges, and Hendry
• “Everyone has their gifts, everyone has their strengths, so let’s play to those strengths and let’s form a team around it.”
• Leading from the Second Chair by Bonem and Patterson
• The Ideal Team Player by Lencioni

Did you miss our episode on growth mindset (Episode 15)? Listen here or read the article here.

For more about missionary kids, listen to Episode 22: Third Culture Kids with Michèle Phoenix.

What's changing our lives: 

• Keane: Habitica
• Heather: Meeting friends’ kids on Marco Polo
• Matt: The creativity of students

Weekly Spotlight:  Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center

We'd love it if you would subscribe, rate, review, and share this show!  And as always, you can reach us at [email protected]. See you next Friday!

Michèle Phoenix is known around the world as an advocate for Third Culture Kids (TCKs) and the children of missionaries. Listen in for a glimpse into the world of TCKs!

• “Passport culture plus adoptive culture(s) equals Third Culture Kid (TCK).”
• “Because I have those two cultures in me, my closest sense of belonging is with others who are, like me, multiculturally formed in their formative years. There’s a misconception that third culture is actually my individual third culture that I form out of the two that shaped me [...] but actually the term means that we find belonging with others who are also third cultured.”
• “My differences were similar to their differences, and that I wasn’t weird; I was a TCK.”
• “Mostly belonging in multiple places increases their skillset; it makes them bridge builders.”
• “To ask them to figure out what is uniquely one culture and uniquely another in the way they think and in the way they think, even in the way they speak, is going to be a real challenge for them.”
• “Something that feels fairly minor to a monocultural adult who has lived multiculturally for a while might feel like this tidal wave of all of these emotions coming back to the TCK or MK.”
• Article: Nine Tips for Living Well in a Season of Grief
• “The enormity of the blessing and the strength that comes from growing up as a TCK is immeasurable.  You have blessed them in ways that you probably won’t ever be able to fully realize.”
• “Generalizations about TCKs are not always entirely helpful, but knowing what the majority of them tend toward I think can be a really helpful thing in mentoring them and walking with them.”
• “Because of our experience seeing things done differently in other parts of the world [...] we can start to draw people from their highly selective clusters toward each other.”
• Learn more about Michèle’s ministry here!

What's changing our lives: 

• Keane: Reading more than one book at a time
• Heather: The Next Right Thing Journal by Emily P. Freeman
• Michèle: Four Tiny-Small Questions for the Quarantine-Weary
• • What small thing can I do that will make me feel alive in this moment?
  • What small thing can I do to take some sting out of this day?
  • What small thing can I do to make today feel purposeful?
  • What small thing can I do today that will connect me with God?

We'd love it if you would subscribe, rate, review, and share this show!  And as always, you can reach us at [email protected]. See you next Friday!

How is prayer foundational in our everyday and key to our transformation?  Brian Delamont returns to the podcast to dialogue about how we can continue the conversation with God.

• “What is prayer, then, in the fullest sense? Prayer is continuing a conversation that God has started through His Word and His grace, which eventually becomes a full encounter with Him.” - Tim Keller
• “Prayer is continuing a conversation that God has started.”
• “Through Jesus, we have access to the Father by the Spirit, no matter whether we are ‘far away’ or ‘near.’”
• “Jesus teaches us to address the holy, sovereign God of the universe as ‘Father.’ That is, Jesus teaches us to address the holy sovereign God of the universe the same way He does.” - Darrell Johnson
• “When we come to God, we frame this in the basis of who He is and what His character and nature is.”
• “God has greater ability, He has better solutions, He has divine timing.”
• “God will either give us what we ask or give us what we would have asked if we knew everything He knows.” - Tim Keller
• “Prayer, at its core, has a large element of trust. If I trust God, then I have to trust His ways and His working, even if it’s way off from my expectations.”
• Ephesians 1:18
• War Room Movie
• “Remember the relational aspect of prayer [...] It’s this awareness and welcoming of God’s conversation into your day.”
• Join us for TeachBeyond’s Third Annual Day of Prayer: March 20, 2021

What's changing our lives: 

• Keane: Hey Clay
• Heather: Making sushi
• Brian: Lead by Paul David Tripp

Weekly Spotlight: Lighthouse School

February Reflection: Am I praying the same way I did a year ago?

We'd love it if you would subscribe, rate, review, and share this show!  And as always, you can reach us at [email protected]. See you next Friday!

Wyndy Corbin Reuschling reminds us of God’s great invitation to be a part of His work in the world and inspires us to join that work through investing in our communities.  

• Check out this article from Wyndy: God Invites Us
• For more on calling, check out Episode 3.
• “God has gifted humans with capacities to use gifts and skills and knowledge and wisdom and education to continue the work that God has in creation.”
• “We are all called to be disciples of Jesus, we are all called to be in Christian community, and we’re all called, I think, to use our gifts and graces to participate in God’s work in the world. Maybe the specifics are left more to us than we might think.”
• “We aren’t pawns in a giant cosmic scheme. We are invited by the living God.”
• “God still loves the world, and God still works to redeem it.”
• “The deepest tragedy in our world is not that rich folks don’t care about poor folks; the tragedy is that rich folks don’t know poor folks.” - Shane Claiborne
• The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann
• “And of course it starts with us, doesn’t it? Does the love of God properly order my love of students, my love of my community, my spouse - and then, how does that get practiced?”
• “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going [...] but I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You.” - The Merton Prayer
• “I think that there’s a wide range of grace to make decisions to participate in God’s work in the world.”

What's changing our lives: 

• Keane: Monday Zoom calls with family 
• Heather: Ancestry.com
• Wyndy: Period of waiting

Weekly Spotlight:  GDQ International Christian School

We'd love it if you would subscribe, rate, review, and share this show!  And as always, you can reach us at [email protected]. See you next Friday!

Talking about feelings might seem superfluous, but fostering an emotionally healthy environment is foundational to transformational education. On today’s episode, Amy Massingale introduces us to the Mood Meter and inspires us to pursue social-emotional health as followers of Jesus.

• “I don’t make any assumptions at first.  My first step into the classroom is building a relationship [...] I’m going to build a relationship with them, get to know them, and then let them tell me because I never want to assume what they have experienced.”
• Learn more about the Mood Meter here: https://www.marcbrackett.com/the-colors-of-our-emotions/ 
• “The most important foundation is giving them the language to use to express their emotions and to give them a space where they can talk about it.”
• “I never look at a kid for what they do or what they say as who they are. I always try to find the root of where that behavior is coming from because that is how they are expressing their needs.”
• “A basic definition of what a healthy classroom could be is students that are willing to take risks [...] and are willing to share their emotions.”
• “For me, being emotionally healthy and pursuing that is staying in the Word and staying connected with friends and being honest with myself about what my emotions are.”
• “It’s very humbling to be emotionally healthy for myself and for my students.”

What's changing our lives: 

• Keane: Book study on “How to Fight Racism” 
• Heather: Reorganized closet
• Amy: The Bible Recap

Weekly Spotlight:  Bingham Academy

We'd love it if you would subscribe, rate, review, and share this show!  And as always, you can reach us at [email protected]. See you next Friday!

Looking for a creative way to study God’s Word? Author Lisa McQueen shares how colors, symbols, and a humble approach to Scripture can be transformational.

• The Bible in Living Color
• “God was loving in the Old Testament; He was not a mean tyrant. In Judges especially, I love how He was so merciful. Whenever they cried out, He was always consistent to respond to their cries, every time, in all seven sin cycles.  When they cried out, He answered every time.”
• “From beginning to end, God was saying, ‘I love you, and I want you.’”
• “The Bible is a living document.”
• “I pray and say, ‘Help me with Your living Book that You authored.’”
• “If you know who it’s written to and you know why it was written, then you can read it with a different lens.”
• Bible tools: Logos and Blue Letter Bible
• Hebrews 4:12
• “‘I don’t know what I need today, but You know what I need, so when I am reading this, show me something that You want me to have in this moment.’”
• “Knowing is not doing. I hear it, I’ve heard it, I’ve read it, but now I want to be a constant doer.”
• James 1:22
• Amos 4:6-13
• “The Bible was not written to us but written for us.”

You can follow Lisa McQueen on Instagram (@mcqueenonamission) or visit her web site here: https://lisamcqueen.com/  What's changing our lives: 

• Keane: Libraries
• Heather: Puzzles
• Lisa: Anticipating getting married

 Weekly Spotlight:  LIFE International School We'd love it if you would subscribe, rate, review, and share this show!  And as always, you can reach us at [email protected]. See you next Friday!

Brian Delamont joins us again to talk about navigating change and practicing five spiritual disciplines to grow in discerning God’s leading.

• “As followers of Jesus, we build on this foundation that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, forever - and yet, He’s always changing something because He’s also in the process of making all things new.”
• Acts 13:1-3
• “God knows who I am, knows what I’ve gone through - good, bad, ugly - and still has this amazing plan for me. This is the Gospel.”
• “You are not your past mistakes, and nothing is wasted.”
• “Spiritual disciplines give us some great insights into how God recalibrates our hearts.”
• “Worship is incredibly powerful for understanding God’s leading in the midst of change.”
• “One of the first and simplest ways to find discernment in a changing context is to be engaged in connecting my heart with the heart and purposes of God.”
• For more on “daily calling,” listen to Episode 3
• “Fasting is giving our desires to Jesus in every way.”
• “Prayer is coming to God with our hearts, our ears, and our minds open.”
• “Gathering invites us into the welcome of God.”
• “Unity is not unanimity.”
• “You may not ever get every box ticked before you make a decision to take one step forward and to follow, but He is good and He is trustworthy.”
• “Having this heart that is inclined to listen to God through these spiritual disciplines sets you up to be able to be confident that God is good and He loves to lead.”

 What's changing our lives: 

• Keane: Trader Joe’s pickup
• Heather: Holderness Family videos
• Brian: Acoustic guitar tune-up

Weekly Spotlight: Alliance Academy International

January Reflection:

• What is the work that God has called you to do this week?
• What does it look like to worship, fast, pray, gather, and pursue unity?

 We'd love it if you would subscribe, rate, review, and share this show!  And as always, you can reach us at [email protected]. See you next Friday!

As followers of Jesus, we’re all called to be part of making Jesus known to the ends of the earth. Listen in for how the Traveling Team does just that!

• Click here for more about The Traveling Team
• “God desires to use His people to make His name known among all of the earth.”
• Genesis 12:1-3
• “Jesus invites His disciples to also play a part in this mission, telling them to go and make disciples of all nations. That challenge and invitation of Jesus two thousand years ago to His disciples then is our invitation now.”
• “Pray and ask God: What would that look like for me to go at some point, or even surrender the plans that I have or that I’m making for You in a cross-cultural way?”
• “Sending isn’t A team and B team. Sending is so valuable and important. How can we be sacrificial senders with our time in praying for the world and giving?”
• “It’s easy to throw up excuses because it’s a lot to consider, and there’s a lot of sacrifice when we engage in God’s mission.”
• “It’s good for us to search our hearts and understand that there is difficulty in taking next steps. Jesus never promised that it was going to be easy to follow Him.”
• “God’s not some terrible cantankerous angry man who wants you to do just things you hate, but He wants us to take steps of faith.”
• “No matter where we live, we desire to make Jesus known.”
• “God’s will and calling can be so much bigger than you make it.”

What's changing our lives: 

• Keane: Pink Panther episodes on YouTube
• Heather: Updates on Microsoft Teams
• Amber: Disco balls
• Tanner: Coffee from Good Coffee and The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self

Weekly Spotlight: Grace International School

We'd love it if you would subscribe, rate, review, and share this show!  And as always, you can reach us at [email protected]. See you next Friday!

Having a growth mindset is key to transformational education. Dorothy Gnanakan shares how perseverance and effort contribute to our continued learning as we seek to become all that God intends and help others step into their God-given gifts. 

• “Growth mindset is that internal belief that abilities can be improved and developed with perseverance and effort - those are the two key words.  That creates a love for learning and produces resilience.”
• “God created us with astounding brains that can grow and change throughout the course of a lifetime. You never stop learning and growing.”
• “All of Scripture screams that we were created with and for a divine purpose.”
• “Marrying the physical capability of how God created our minds and intellect with the grand spiritual purpose for which we were created unleashes tremendous transformative opportunities in learners. This growth mindset is aligning what we believe about ourselves with what God says about us.”
• “The Holy Spirit refines and gives us more power to truly rejoice with those who rejoice because we realize that that is a celebration of God’s narrative and timeline in someone else’s life, which also means that God equally has that grand narrative in our lives.”
• “Recognize and celebrate the productive struggle, the productive pain that yields growth.”
• “Disorienting dilemmas are disrupting experiences in our chosen challenges.  Those are necessary for transformative learning in which we really have to engage in that productive struggle.”

Check out this article from today's guest: "Mind Your Mindset”

Did you miss our episode on inside-out transformation (episode 6)? Listen here or read the article here.

What's changing our lives: 

• Keane: Board games
• Heather: Non-directive coaching
• Dorothy: Exercise routine

Weekly Spotlight: Global English School

We'd love it if you would subscribe, rate, review, and share this show! And as always, you can reach us at [email protected]. See you next Friday!

TeachBeyond President David Durance returns to the podcast today to share wise words about leading through crisis.

• “As leaders, we are always going to be stretched during a crisis to be able to find the right times to be leading from the front [...] and, at the same time, creating spaces to be able to listen to what [people] are dealing with.”
• “People are experiencing a real crisis, and at the same time, we live in this reality that God uses these crises for His good to accomplish what He wants to accomplish.”
• “When we haven’t been able to be in classrooms, we have been able to be virtually in homes.”
• “Authenticity during a crisis is so key [...] To authentically care for those that God puts in front of you is never more important than during a crisis.”
• “The human nature of wanting things the way they were is the most critical thing that we have to buck against. What was happening before coronavirus or whatever crisis you’re facing? We want it to be the same again. That’s rare, if not completely impossible.”
• “We need to move out of crisis mode and move into a new mode of being, and that means that we are going to accept that things will be different.”
• God and the Coronavirus (N. T. Wright)
• Coronavirus and Christ (John Piper)
• “Through the opportunity that God has given us in this crisis, we are going to come out through this crisis better equipped to accomplish the mission that God has given us.”
• The Steward Leader (R. Scott Rodin)
• “As leaders, whether in crisis or not, but especially during a crisis, we need to be leading from the overflow of what God is doing in our own hearts. That is going to be the foundation for effectively dealing with this crisis. If we aren’t personally seeing this inside-out transformation, then we won’t be effective in leading.”
• “Depend on it. God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.” - Hudson Taylor

What's changing our lives: 

• Keane: Duolingo language learning
• Heather: Making zoodles with a spiralizer 
• David: Being handy and YouTube videos

Weekly Spotlight: International Christian School of Budapest

We'd love it if you would subscribe, rate, review, and share this show! As always, you can reach us at [email protected]. See you next Friday!