Written by Tanur Badgley (PoP’s Creator & Host)
Meeting Pastor Daniel Grothe was such a blessing.
Our interview is short, but it was jam-packed with wisdom.
I love his overall concept of being so intentional about capturing wisdom and chasing wisdom.
I admire how he writes letters to older folks that have done great work in their lives and maybe lived in the shadows like Eugene Peterson, who pastored in a 300 person church in a small town. Eugene then translated the Bible into the message version that has been read by millions and millions of people. He reaches out to people, listens, and prepares excellent questions.
There's just so much to learn from such a simple idea of how to go about your life.
It's not about living in the moment of where we're at on our knowledge, our wisdom, day by day, with your peers. It's about finding those people that have lived a long life of wisdom, someone that is considered a Sage and sitting down with them, preparing great questions, and listening.
The power of listening stood out to me in this interview.
Pastor Daniel is so good in this aspect. He talks about how you have to listen differently so that you will know what language to speak when you're with an 18-year-old athlete versus a 65-year-old grandmother.
Another thing that I'll always remember is how he blocks for purpose and how his mentors talk about blocking for purpose.
You make a literal appointment for yourself. No matter what you have been invited to, you say "I have an appointment" and it's because you are blocking time to be contemplative. Pastor Daniel talks about coming from that idleness and that stillness into your task that requires all of who you are rather than coming from toil and tiredness and distraction. It is much needed in a world like today to really capture and fully invest and fully live from your purpose.
I loved how we ended the interview by talking about how important it is to be a student of how God made you.
There are so many levels to this, but that essentially is what it is to be intentional about living a life of purpose.
Daniel Grothe is only 37 years old, and he knows so much wisdom about how to be a person of purpose. I highly encourage you to listen to our interview a second round through as I just did. There are so many keys to this interview that will teach you.
Ask yourself what you need to do to listen to others, listen to yourself, and how you can commit, invest, and fully live from your purpose.