What's going on, Pursuers? Welcome to The Pursuit
of Calling, the podcast that provides you with
the strategies and tools needed to successfully
discover and pursue your calling. Whether it's
through inspiring stories, thought -provoking
interviews, or quick, insightful episodes on
personal growth and development, we've got you
covered. I'm your host, Thomas Carney. Enjoy
the episode. We're just going to freeform this
one, everyone. How's it going, Pursuers? Welcome
to this episode of the Pursuit of Calling podcast,
where you already heard that in the intro. Guys,
I'm so tired. It's been a week. There's a few
things happening right now. There's a lot happening
in my life. You might already know. I'm going
to move my camera up my camera a little bit.
I am officially a week into entrepreneurship.
I got one client. Not we haven't started yet.
We're starting after I get back from my mission
trip to Uganda. That's right. We're going back
to Uganda for this time. I'm going to be on the
ground for eight days. That was a lot of information.
But for me, it's 7 .51 at night and I've been
moving constantly. It's besides like one hour
where I stopped watching one episode of Psych
because I wanted to take a break. Sorry, I'm
just like, oh. And I'm so tired. And I'm so excited.
I'm not going to talk about the entrepreneurship
this episode. That's going to be the episode
I record for next week. But right now, when you
listen to this episode, I'm going to be in Uganda
on the ground. That's the first full day. You're
listening to this on Tuesday. We're arriving
Monday night there. So it's going to be a good
day. It's going to be a good time. a long time
on a plane, but we're going to be very tired.
And we're also going to be very excited. So I
think that will, I think that will circumvent
the tiredness a little bit, but anyway, there
we go. I'm not looking to teach anything that
says this episode. I really just wanted, I didn't
prepare anything. So I just figured I would.
chat with you guys for a second. I want to tell
you guys, it's like, why am I going back to Uganda?
I went last year. If you've been listening to
this episode for long enough, you know that I
went to Uganda once before. And the reason I
was going then was because one, I wanted to meet
my compassion kid, Shafiq. And there was. Other
reasons why I wanted to go, like I wanted to
prove myself to myself and to others that I could,
despite their circumstances, I wanted to prove
that despite having a neurological condition
that causes chronic pain every day, that I could
still travel to the other side of the world and
spread the love of Jesus Christ. Like that my
circumstances determine what I can do and the
calling that God has for me. And it was fantastic
and better than I could have ever imagined. And
I ended up being in the least amount of pain
that I had been in a very, very long time while
I was there in Uganda, which blows my mind. It's
probably the food. Very starchy. Anyway, the
reason I'm going back, though. It's kind of this
part of it. Sure. It can be like, Oh, because
I have this condition, I want to improve them
again. I want to make sure that I don't know
if it's the right thing to say that I want to
make sure that I'm keeping that same vibe, I
guess, is what's popping in my head. I don't
really think that's the right word, but I'm going
back specifically because I want to continue
to spread the love of Jesus Christ, despite my
circumstances. I know I can do that here. I can
do that here in the U .S., here in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. But man, think of that without
putting me on a pedestal, without patting myself
on the back. Think of the testament that I can
be to other people. That could be the other people
with anyone to say like, if I can do something
hard where I used to be whenever I was trying
to figure out what my condition was, whenever
I was still having doubts that Jesus could and
would heal me one day, whether it be on this
side of eternity or the next, and we're really
wanting it to be on this side. I went from being
in the fetal position on the floor. crying my
eyes out because another doctor told me they
didn't know what was going on to then going to
Uganda because I wanted to, I didn't want to
be that person. I didn't want to, I wanted to
be somebody that's relying on God to be my provider,
not just provider for resources, but provide
not just for physical resources, but for spiritual
resource. This is a heavy spiritual episode.
I'm going on a mission trip. And it's because
of God that this is even possible. So I have,
while I'm going on this mission trip, there's
another reason. Again, I mentioned last time
I went because I wanted to meet my sponsored
kid, Shafiq. And now since between then and this
year, I picked up another compassion child. His
name is, his name, I always said the wrong name.
His name is Elijah. And he is the cousin of Aaron
who passed away when he was 10. And I was sponsoring
him at the time. And last year, I got to meet
his family, Aaron's family. I got to pray with
them. I got to see their home, which is literally
a mud hut with a thatched roof. It's probably
the size of the room that I'm sitting in right
now. I'm so blessed. We're so blessed to live
here in the United States. I got so awkward around
the mom and I'm like, and like, I didn't know
how to react that sometimes, but man, I'm so
excited to go. Like when you're listening to
this, this is, I'll be there. And then, and if
you can pray for me, that'd be fantastic because
I'm Last year, I barely slept at all. I'm bringing
some supplements this time to hopefully help
me out. AGZ it's called. It's the same product
as AG1 or what used to be called Athletic Greens.
Not the same product, but different products
in company. And it has a bunch of stuff to help
you have good sleep. So prayers that that works
out for me. Guys, I don't know what's going to
happen this time. I don't know what God's going
to do. But I know what he did last time. I'm
so excited to see what's going to happen this
time. I have no idea. And guys, pursuers, I want
to show you. That despite the circumstances that
you're living in, whether you're in a physical
condition like me, or you have a life circumstance
that makes you think that you're counted out
from the pursuit of your calling, from living
it out and living it well, living it with excellence,
I'm telling you, that's a lie. Your circumstances
don't determine your calling. God does. You might
be thinking, how is you going to Uganda? Is that
like your calling to be a missionary? Like, no,
like not constantly, not all the time. I don't
think so anyway. But it is my calling, one, to
spread the love of Jesus Christ. It's like it's
every Christian's calling, but it's also my calling.
I personally believe that one of the vehicles
I use to do that is to help people pursue the
calling that God's put on their lives and pursuing
it well. And I want to be able to provide shafiq
and provide elijah with the finances through
my donations to be able to live a life that where
they can learn about jesus christ they can learn
who he is and then they can discover the calling
that he has on their lives but i also want to
go to them and show them that there is somebody
else on the other side of the world that loves
them and cares about them even if they don't
understand that elijah's five and shafiq is nine
I don't even know if they understand where we're
coming from, that I'm coming from the United
States, but one day they will. One day they're
going to realize that there's a guy that came
from the other side of the world to see me. And
imagine if that was you. It was that somebody
loved you so much that they would travel halfway
across the world for you. Imagine being on that
receiving end of it and it's like, I don't know.
I don't know how I'd feel. I'm just so happy
to be able to be a part of that, be a part of
what Jesus is doing and be the light, be a salt
of the earth. Not just the salt of Pittsburgh,
but the salt of the earth. Guys, I'm going to
keep rambling if I continue to talk. I guess
I apologize if you're not a Christian, but if
you made it through this whole episode, phenomenal.
I want you to just contemplate Jesus right now.
Contemplate God. I think I told a coworker before
I left, I think I can say where I was employed,
NEP, before I left that company. I don't know
if I should have said that. Before I left that
company, I went around to each coworker and evangelized
a little bit. And I told one coworker who didn't
want anything to do with it. I just told him
like, there's enough evidence to God to be curious.
There's enough evidence to prove that God exists
to at least be a little curious about him. And
don't know what that did, but I want to say that
to you. If you don't know about Jesus, if you're
not sure of who he is, if you're agnostic or
you're atheist, just get a little curious. What
does that hurt? All right, guys. Thank you for
listening to this episode of the Pursuit of Calling
podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, if you
enjoyed it, if you learned something, If you
felt something, share it with anyone that you
feel like would benefit from hearing the message
that is in this podcast today. And I'm going
to be sharing some reels from it, maybe when
I get back. But if you see those come around
your Instagram, go ahead and share that with
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on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Give a thumbs up
on YouTube and write a comment and let me know
how I'm doing. Tell me if this resonated with
you. I would love to know how. I would love to
know where you are in the pursuit of your calling.
Go ahead and put that in the comment below if
you're watching this on YouTube. And also, guys,
just again, thank you. Thank you for listening.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for if you
listen to it. If you've been here for a long
time, I want to I want to say I just appreciate
you. Guys, don't forget pursuers. Pursue your
calling. Well, do it with excellence. I love
you guys. Peace.