The Farther Along

In this special feature, The Farther Along Podcast host Rob Chagdes shares something to think about as you move forward one step at a time. Today's episode is about your legacy, and what you will leave behind when your time on this earth is finished. 

Senator Chuck Grassley (Instagram: senatorchuckgrassley) (Twitter: chuckgrassley) was first elected to the Iowa state legislature in 1958 and served there until Iowans sent him to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974. In 1980, Grassley was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he’s developed a reputation for bipartisanship and pragmatism. This approach to legislating consistently earns Grassley high marks as one of the Senate’s most effective and collaborative lawmakers. Each year he visits all of Iowa’s 99 counties and is widely known for his engagement with the people and his passion to serve Iowans.

Show Notes

What We Discuss with Senator Grassley:

• The keys to longevity in government, and the concept of representative government

• The Senator’s view on term limits for U.S. Senators

• Serving with Ronald Reagan and the Senator’s favorite President he has served with

• Dealing with criticism and the media

• The Senator’s social media presence including his popular Twitter account

• The role of faith in the Senator’s life

• His experience being in the capitol building on January 6th, 2021

• The division in politics and the difference between what we see on the media and what’s real

• Why people should engage in government and in the political process

  • Lugar Institute Bipartisan Index

  • See Senator Grassley’s 2019 score on the Bipartisan Index

  • See Senator Grassley’s lifetime score on the Bipartisan Index

• How the changes in society are reflected in the congress of the United States

• How to take a step to engage in government

• What happens when you write to Senator Grassley
  • Link to contact Senator Chuck Grassley

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Rob Chagdes (Instagram: robchagdes) is a pastor, writer and the host of The Farther Along Podcast. He has been married to Leslie since 1996. They live in Iowa with their three incredible daughters and energetic dog Jedi. 

Michelle Eblen (Instagram: michelleeeblen) is an entrepreneur, ministry leader and all around extrovert. She and her husband live in Iowa where they actively love and serve their community while pursuing opportunities to help others know Jesus. 

Show Notes

What Rob and Michelle Discuss:

• Why Rob started a podcast and calls it The Farther Along

• What margin is and how to move toward managing it well
  • Andy Stanley series on margin

• We discuss the difference between margin and capacity

• The reality of burnout and the role of spiritual formation in preventing it
  • Transforming resources (Ruth Haley Barton)

• The role of self awareness in managing your margin

• The role of replenishing relationships in our lives

• Managing around the expectations others have on us

• Practical steps to help set good boundaries
  • Tracfone - Contract free cell phones

• Finding joy in what you are doing by having boundaries

• Warning signs that you are not managing your margin well

• H(ungry) A(ngry) L(onely) T(ired)

• An unplanned comment that is a clear sign that Rob is way older than Michelle

• The power of saving our best YES for the right things

• Practical first steps to move toward managing your margin

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Kim Eddy (Instagram: christianenneagram.coach) is a Christian Enneagram Coach, author, and mom of two from Phoenix, Arizona. Her goal is to help us look beneath the surface of our personality to unlock a deeper understanding of ourselves and others, all while keeping our focus on Jesus. You can learn more about Kim and her book The Enneagram for Beginners: A Christian Guide to Understanding Your Type for a God-Centered Life, on her website.

Show Notes:

What we discuss with Kim Eddy

• The importance of understanding ourselves and others.

• What exactly the enneagram is and why it’s gained popularity.

• How can we use the enneagram to learn about yourself and others?

• What is the value of the enneagram to those who follow Jesus?

• Getting started with the enneagram. Kim’s book can be found on Amazon or wherever books are sold. Kim also mentions the Enneagram Institute, which is a great free resource to learn more about the enneagram.

• How you know if you’ve typed yourself correctly, and what steps to take to move forward with the enneagram.

• The different ways the enneagram can be misused, and how to respond when it is.

• How parents can use the enneagram with their children, and what to watch out for.

• Specific ways to get started in better understanding yourself and others using the enneagram.

• Different ways the enneagram and Kim’s book can help you in your own spiritual formation.

• Like this podcast? Please consider leaving us a review here. Even a sentence helps, and consider leaving your Twitter or Instagram handle so we can thank you personally.

Ben Framstad (Twitter: BenFramstad, Instagram: benframstad ) is the Creative Arts Pastor at Grace Church in Wooster, Ohio. Ben came to Grace in 2008, and currently helps develop creativity within the church while empowering others to use their gifts. He is a talented artist and musician who is passionate about reaching people for Christ and helping them develop their faith. Ben and his wife Amanda have one son and they love to spend their time adventuring together.

Show Notes:

What we discuss with Ben Framstad

Why creativity is important. Ben talks about how creativity helps us with self-awareness, and the role it plays in expressing ourselves from our deepest places.

The different ways creativity can be expressed. We talk about innovation and how creativity helps us push past the limitations we face.

Why the Church can often struggle with creativity.

What it looks like to create opportunities in the Church for people to use their gifts.

How creativity can play a role in helping people walk with Jesus. We discuss the role of symbols and tangible responses to learning the truths of God. Ben shares how he works to create doorways for people to walk through to know Jesus.

What it means to fuel our creative outlets.

The transformational power of creativity. Ben shares how God has led him to lean into creativity during the most difficult events in his life.

The power of taking steps forward in creativity in tangible ways.

Like this podcast? Please consider leaving us a review here. Even a sentence helps, and consider leaving your Twitter or Instagram handle so we can thank you personally.

Dr. Jim Burns (Twitter: drjimburns, HomeWordCenter, Instagram: homewordcenter, drjimburns) is the president of HomeWord. He speaks to thousands of people around the world each year. He has close to 2 million resources in print in 20 languages. He primarily writes and speaks on the values of HomeWord, which are: Strong Marriages, Confident Parents, Empowered Kids, and Healthy Leaders. Some of his most popular books are: Confident Parenting, The Purity Code, Creating an Intimate Marriage, Closer, and Doing Life with Your Adult Children. Jim and his wife, Cathy, live in Southern California and have three grown daughters, Christy, Rebecca, and Heidi; two sons-in-law, Steve and Matt; and three grandchildren, James, Charlotte and Huxley.

Show Notes:

What we discuss with Dr. Jim Burns

• What makes parenting so challenging, especially during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• The importance of having a plan in parenting. Dr. Burns talks about having a roadmap and getting on the same page if you’re parenting with another.
• How parenting changes with each child. We talk about having a personally tailored plan that varies based on age and personality.
• The importance of self-care in parenting. Discussing how parents need to do things that replenish themselves and have replenishing relationships and rhythms in their own lives.
• Keys of discipline. What we should be looking for as we discipline our children, and what are some important things we need to make sure we are doing.
• Single Parenting. How single parents can set themselves up to thrive in the challenges they face in raising a child / children.
• Parenting Older Children. How parenting changes when your children move out of high school and onto adulthood
• Being the transitional generation in your family. Dr. Burns talks about what it means to change the story you’re telling in your family.
• How to move forward as a parent. What steps can you take today to grow as a parent?

Confident Parenting Book

Doing Life with Your Adult Children Book

Parenting with Love and Logic Book

Like this podcast? Please consider leaving us a review here. Even a sentence helps, and consider leaving your Twitter or Instagram handle so we can thank you personally.

Dr. Chinwé Williams ( Twitter @DrCuwilliams, Instagram @dr.chinwewilliams) is the founder and owner of Meaningful Solutions Counseling & Consulting. In addition to clinical work, Dr. Williams is an invited speaker and has presented or co- presented at numerous conferences at the local, state, national, and international levels. Dr. Williams has written several articles and blogs in the areas of mental health, parenting, trauma therapy, wellness, and self-worth.

Show Notes:

What we discuss with Dr. Chinwé Williams

• Chinwé tells us what it’s like to be a therapist during this season in history, talking about the confusion and disorientation people have encountered.
• We discuss what anxiety is and how we can walk through it. Chinwé notes how stress relates to anxiety. Stress is usually linked with stimuli, issues or events that we are worried about. Anxiety is a different category. 1 in 5 people experience anxiety. It’s more persistent, not always linked with an event, occasion, or stimuli.

• We talk about whether anxiety is getting worse among the generations. How have work demands and technology and our lack of slowing down impacted anxiety in this world?

• What does it look like to walk through anxiety? Anxious thinking tends to be toward the future in a “what if this happens / doesn’t happen” sort of way; racing thoughts, overthinking, irritability, anger.

• How should people respond to others who are walking through anxiety? If they haven’t experienced it, they don’t know what it’s like. It can be frustrating. Anxiety doesn’t respond to logic, so we can’t tell our kids and loved ones to just calm down.

• Chinwé explains the importance of breathing when coping with anxiety. When we are anxious we tend to breath in shallow ways which can cause us to feel light headed, dizzy, disoriented, and can cause panic attacks. This changes the nervous system’s response.

• We explore the role of faith in walking through anxiety. Anxiety is not always tied to sin, many people who are exercising their faith deal with anxiety. There is an area of hyper-religious coping that isn’t always helpful when walking through anxiety. Across all faith traditions, the research is clear that having and exercising faith does reduce the stress in your life and helps you put things into proper perspective.

• Lifeway Research on pastors and mental health

• Christianity Today article on pastors and mental health

• Pastor Louie Giglio anxiety resource (available for only $2.00)

• Goliath Must Fall – Louie Giglio book about overcoming giants in your life

• Chinwé’s book that will be released later in 2021 will be communicated through all The Farther Along social media, website and e-mail list.

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In a world needing leaders we can trust, author, speaker, and Orlando Magic co-founder Pat Williams shares wisdom on leading with vision and integrity. 

Pat has been a general manager with NBA teams in Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Orlando, working with some of the greats—such as Dr. J, Grant Hill, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. Thirty of his teams have gone to the NBA playoffs, six have made it to the NBA Finals and his 76ers team won the NBA title in 1983.

From 1996 to 2011, Pat completed 58 marathons, including the Boston Marathon 13 times. In 2011, Pat was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, which is a form of blood cancer.  He has since won his cancer battle and is in complete remission.

And if that wasn’t enough, Pat and his wife, Ruth, are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four foreign countries.  They also have 17 grandchildren…and counting!

Show Notes on Episode Page

• Character Carved In Stone book
• The Reluctant Leader book
• Preorder Revolutionary Leadership

Next Episode: Walking through Anxiety