Introduction
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:00:04]:You made us.
- You love the way you made us, and you love the women that, we are becoming. Lord, we just ask that you would help each and every one of us just trust you, listen for you, waiton you, practice your presence. I think that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve been my word for years practicing.
- Kim Moeller [00:00:31]:Well, there’s an amazing organization called the National Christian Foundation that you have heard me reference many times. Their vision is to have every person reached and restored through the love of Christ, and their mission is mobilizing resources by inspiring biblical generosity. And today, you get to hear from their CEO, Kendra VanderMeulen. And it’s an incredible conversation. I know you will be so happy that you joined us. So stay tuned, and can’t wait for you to be with us on the Generous Girl podcast.
- Welcome to the Generous Girl podcast.
- Today, I am joined with Kendra VanderMeulen who is currently serving as the CEO of the National Christian Foundation, and she is responsible for guiding the organization’s strategic direction.
- Kim Moeller [00:01:22]:Prior to this role, she served as the president of the Northwest Region until 2022, and her passion is to invest in and build up the next generation of leaders in the Christian generosity space. She’s got an incredible background in the telecommunications industry, a Master of Science degree in Computer Science, and she and her husband, Bill, have been married for forty years, have two adult children and two amazing grandsons and split their time between the Pacific Northwest and Georgia. So welcome, Kendra.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:01:53]:Thanks so much, Kim. Thanks for having me.
- Kim Moeller [00:01:55]:Absolutely. It’s a true honor and privilege to have you here. And, you know, in sharing your bio, I was thinking of those words, the Christian generosity space. And why don’t we start with how you would define that because it’s an incredible space?
National Christian Foundation
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:02:11]:Yeah, it is. It is many people don’t realize that there is a whole ecosystem of people and organizations who are very much committed to biblical generosity, to growing that in their own lives, to helping other people grow it in their lives, who really you know, our purpose is, you know, we we exist to see lives change to the glory of God through biblical generosity. And while we are very committed to that at NCF, we really are just a player or org in this larger ecosystem that involves folks who really are skilled at storytelling and teaching, generosity, who, are come alongside business leaders and business owners in their journey, who come alongside younger people and their journey, authors and just all kinds of really fun and interesting people who are doing the same thing and bringing their unique talents, their unique perspectives, their unique capacities to bear on helping people with this journey of generosity. So that’s the space. Yes. Lots of organizations in it. Mhmm.
- Kim Moeller [00:03:33]:Yes. And, it seems like more and more organizations are emerging, and then more tools are emerging and conferences, events, and, really, the iron sharpening iron of, wow, you’re living that kind of a life in in New York City, and, wow, you can’t out give God. And then you hear their story, and you think, I thought I was generous, and now I hear that story. And I need to, youknow, raise my own level of generosity to a whole new level. So your background, I also mentioned that you’re in the telecommunications industry.
- Kim Moeller [00:04:05]:
- And how about if you take us from, you know, being a wife and mom in that space, balancing career, motherhood, and then how God took you to make a real pivot into this generosity space.I think that would be a really interesting story to share.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:04:22]:Yeah. So I had grown up in the church, but I really wouldn’t say I was a committed believer in any way until after our kids were born in my, and I was in my late thirties and trying to sort out what it is that I really believed and what that faith really meant in terms of how to raise kids and how to live my life. And at that time, I started to struggle more. Actually, I started to struggle more with the life balance questions because they all of a sudden they took on a different perspective. Right? Right.
Cancer Journey
- So I struggled with that for a while and I, you know, had good days and bad days and good seasons and bad seasons for, oh gosh, a decade. And then in my late forties, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. And it wasn’t a devastating case, but it was a pretty serious case and one that ended up leading to a year of treatment and, surgeries and a bunch of stuff.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:05:19]:And at that time, I really sensed that I was starting to ask the much deeper questions about significance and surrender and whether I was really doing what I was made to do. And that set of questions resulted really in combination with some with real burnout that I was feeling after going through treatment and trying to work and trying, you know, to raise kids.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:05:48]:And so at that point, I took a sabbatical. And coming out of the sabbatical, it was really clear that I needed to step back, which was a very difficult decision for me.Over the years, our lives had evolved, and my husband had started his own business, and the kids were still young. And I had become the the primary breadwinner, but we weren’t without resources. And so, anyway, I felt seriously like I had to step back, and so I did.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:06:22]:And that put me on a multi-year journey to figure out, okay. What am I supposed to do with all of the time, talent, and treasure that God had entrusted to us? And that multi-year journey led me to National Christian Foundation.
- Kim Moeller [00:06:39]:The way God works is it I always think of if we you know, the baby was born with alittle manual that says this person is gonna thrive doing this, and go ahead and focus on this.And, you know, don’t spend all the years in this area because, really, in fact, one of my kids, we did violin lessons for her for probably six years. And then the moment she said, no. I really want to quit, she has literally never picked it up again. And then I’ll see the the little kids on YouTube playing, and they’re eight years old, and they’re just so passionate about it.
- And so, like, I think when we reach those seasons of the burnout and our body and our health and our our marriage, our kids, you know, it all kind of comes to a head. Like, it was working for awhile, and that’s where we were supposed to be. And then God’s like, I’m redirecting you, and I’ve gotta make it very clear or you might continue on this other path.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:07:32]:Oh, yeah. I know. He drops hints, and you don’t want to pay any attention to them. Right. And then He knocks you over the head, and it’s like Yeah.
- Kim Moeller [00:07:42]:Yeah. Exactly. And then all of a sudden, you find yourself in this generosity space, which we’ll talk about how you started that the office, and, of course, your whole telecommunications industry and all that background led you to be so effective in that space. But, you know, He just doesn’t give us that manual that says, in June of this year, you’re going to be doing something completely different.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:08:05]:Yeah. And He certainly didn’t tell me that I’d become the CEO of NCF
- Kim Moeller [00:08:10]: Exactly. If you would have read chapter 20, you’d be like, no. And that’s why He just gives us the information we need at the time. So okay. So talk more about then how you made that pivot because it was obviously a very big change for you and your husband, and your family.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:08:29]:Yeah. So the first step was just to let go. Letting go is one of the hardest steps. Right? I found that it took me at least six months to just have the adrenaline just drain from my body and be able to really rest in, being in a different season and not be fighting it. And then, I really came to the place of realizing that I wasn’t going to be great at choosing what was next. And I I didn’t have any confidence that I would just go back to what I knew. Right? Mhmm. Andso I asked the Lord, I just said, Lord, okay.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:09:08]:I’m not going to commit to anything significant. I I mean, I did some board work and I did some,you know, advisory boards and stuff like that, and I still do. Mhmm. But I said, I’m not going to commit to anything significant unless and until you show me what that is.
- Kim Moeller [00:09:22]:Mhmm.
Seattle Christian Foundation
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:09:22]:And about a year after I I made that commitment to the Lord, a friend of mine called me and told me about National Christian Foundation and about this chapter in Seattle that was just trying to start up called Seattle Christian Foundation at the time, and that they were looking for somebody to lead it. And that as he had prayed about it, he kept seeing my face and this whole thing. And I’m like, well, okay. But even so, when I interviewed with the board, I was like, my reaction was, what’s this got to do with me? Right? I, you know, this is not what I do. So not what I’m skilled at doing. And yet one thing led to another, and I had my own personal, pivotal experience with generosity. We had come to the place that we were committed to being givers. Mhmm.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:10:15]:But when I went to my first Generous Giving conference in 02/2006 and really came to understand God’s ownership of everything. And as opposed to this idea of tithing and or thinking about, okay, we’re really doing great because we’re tithing 20 or 30%, right? Whoop dee doo. It’s like, what about the rest? And so I when I really started to come to grips with that, I started to have a vision for what an office of Seattle Christian Foundation could do spiritually with people because I was experiencing it myself. Mhmm. And I didn’t feel I was very far along the journey, but I did know other people who probably would be interested in being on the same journey. So, yeah, took about a year again after I first talked to them before I said yes. But as I was praying about it, the Lord just said, you know, you could do this. It was kind of an invitation. I wouldn’t call it a calling.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:11:17]:It wasn’t like, this is for you. It was more like, if you want to do this, you can do this. I’m like, okay. I feel like I have your permission.
- Kim Moeller [00:11:25]:Right.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:11:26]:Let’s see. Let’s check it out.
- Kim Moeller [00:11:28]:And then 2008. And 2008 hits.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:11:31]:We start at the end of 02/2007. 2008 hits, it’s impossible. Right? I mean, the markets are a mess and starting a philanthropic organization at that time. I mean, I had really no perspective on that because I had been in philanthropy before, but I really, so I had no perspective, but I knew it was really hard and I didn’t know it was hard because I wasn’t good enough at it. Or if it was the markets or if it was Seattle, you know, all of it.
- Kim Moeller [00:11:59]:Right. All of it.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:12:01]:
- And so I just kept wondering whether I had heard the Lord right. And then He kept taking me back to John 15:16 where, you know, God says, you did not choose me. I chose you to go and bear fruit. And I kept taking that as, okay. He really wants me to hang in there.Mhmm. And it took a good five years really to get up on our feet.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:12:27]:And during that time, I had a lot of doubts about whether I had any business really trying to help anybody else because I was still trying to help myself and, you know, all of that. But it was a very formative time. And by the end of fourteen years, it was driving and doing well. But it wasn’t me. It was definitely not me. Right. I was just hanging on to him.
- Kim Moeller [00:12:53]:I remember hearing your story on another podcast, and then I remember a couple of things that really stood out to me. One was I believe you set aside an hour a day to really pray and seek the Lord, and I’d love to know more about how you spent that hour. And then I believe you really set a big goal that you believed God for. So can you talk about both of those things a little bit?
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:13:17]:Yeah. So I still try to do the hour. I’m not I wish I could say I was as good at it as I used to be when I wasn’t running such a large organization, but I I still do and it’s really just I do I read some of my favorite authors like I’m a major fan of Oswald Chambers and My Utmost and I read that every morning and I read other devotional stuff and I I’ve right now I’m following She ReadsTruth, so we’re in Genesis. So I do that and then I have a prayer journal and I’ve spent sometime just writing to the Lord, talking with him. I find that if I write, I’d be much better than if I just try to do that in my head.
- Kim Moeller [00:14:00]:Right.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:14:01]:So so I try to write as much as I as often as I can, as many days a week as I can. So that’s what that time looks like. And it’s it’s very grounding and it helps a lot. And then there are other times during the day, like, I had a call yesterday. I was like, oh, I’m not prepared for this call.Mhmm. You know? And I had one minute to go and I just sat there and I said, okay, Lord. You’re going to have to prepare me.
- Kim Moeller [00:14:25]:Give me the words.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:14:28]:I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do. And it worked out great, but you know, as usual, He always shows up. Right? So that’s that. In terms of big goals, about three or four years in on in Seattle Christian Foundation, it’s a little advisory board that we had set up, whohad been very helpful to me. We were sitting around asking ourselves the question, you know, how would we know if we were really making a difference? And that conversation ultimately led to us saying, what if by the tenth year of operations, we could give away $100,000,000? We could have cumulatively given away $100,000,000. And, we all thought, sure.That is you know, we were sitting on , I think, at a cumulative of maybe, I don’t know, 20,000,000 or probably16, 000,000.
An Audacious Goal
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:15:18]:Anyway, and just we had a long way to go to get to a hundred. And so we thought that was definitely qualified as a big audacious goal. Right. Right. And so we put that down on on paper and held ourselves to it and started tracking it. And started really keeping track of of that and keeping track of the number of people that were meeting in generosity experiences around our area called Journey of Generosity retreats. We started doing those, and we started tracking the number of people we were touching with that. And, you know, fast forward by the tenth year, we had a big celebration.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:15:53]:We’d given away $150,000,000.
- Kim Moeller [00:15:55]:Incredible. So great. Yeah. Only God.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:15:59]:Yeah. Only God. And, yeah, that’s that is and that’s just really helps you. That kind of thing really helps you to see the the hand of God when you do some stuff like that.
- Kim Moeller [00:16:11]:Well, I I remember hearing that story and just felt so inspired and so encouraged to just take my next step in my own life of believing God for bigger goals and carving out that time as much as I can each day. Because I think those two things, believing in faith, you know, it’s the only time we can live with faith before we get to heaven.
- We wanted that opportunity, and He just loves to show off. And so He does. All we love to do is, like you said, hang on, and, you know, He wants to work. So Yeah. Well, that is wonderful.
- Kim Moeller [00:16:44]:What about, fast forward then? You built this incredible organization in the Pacific Northwest.And then you said as you mentioned, at 70, you’re asked to be the CEO of the National Christian Foundation. So tell us a little bit about how that came about. And at that point, were you thinking of retiring, or you talked to some people who said, I don’t see retirement in the Bible.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:17:08]:Neither my husband or I have had a goal of retiring in the traditional American sense of retiring. In some ways, I feel like the privilege of working for National Christian Foundation is the greatest thing because it is so much more refreshing and rewarding than what I did for thirty two years. And so I don’t know why I would need to have any more fun than that.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:17:40]:To be honest. Right. It’s work. It’s work and it’s tiring sometimes, but it’s plenty of fun. So after, I don’t know, about four or five years, running the Northwest, they also asked me to join the National Board of National Christian Foundation.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:17:58]:So I did that. And so I’ve been serving on both the national board and leading this local organization, which gave me this really unique window on both what’s going on, with the national organization, which supports all the locals, right? And what it’s like to be in the trenches. So I’ve both of those experiences and not that many people have actually both of those experiences, couple of people, but not many. And so I had been in that capacity walking alongside our current CEO at that time. And, it was getting clearer and clearer to me that he really his heart wasn’t in it, and he was unlikely to stay. I tried a couple different ways to come alongside him to try to take the weight off and and encourage him to stay because I felt like he brought us to a really interesting place with regard to, forward looking strategy, and I wanted to see that through. And then he let me know one day that he was quitting and I immediately started praying. I just said, Lord, I don’t know what the heck’s going on here.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:19:02]:I You know, you we’ve got this, and we’ve done this great strategy work this past year. We’re poised to finally, you know, take off and and make some significant strides in some areas that are really important to me and really important to the organization. What are we going to do now? You know, starting all over feels like a really horrible thing. And He doesn’t speak to me often, but He does every once in a while. Like when He invited me to go to Seattle, to start Sadat Christian Foundation. And I heard him say, well, you’re prepared. What are you talking about? I, thought some more about that. Prayed some more about that.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:19:46]:Talked to my husband. He just laughed as he often does. Because he knows me. My kids, we live, by the way, with our adult children and our grandchildren. We share a big home that we all own a piece of. And, they were like, what? I thought you were just going to hang out with thegrandkids and make cookies and drive the carpool?
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:20:12]:think maybe I’m supposed to do this. So anyway, that’s how that happened. And I felt like at that point, I really I just went to the to the board chair and I said, you know, I don’t know if you think this is a reasonable idea or not. If you guys want me, I’m willing to serve. But, you know, the board would have to agree unanimously that they think that’s a good idea,
- Kim Moeller [00:20:33]:Which they did. And here you are.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:20:36]:Three years later. Right. It’s almost exactly three years.
- Kim Moeller [00:20:41]:Well and, you know, when we are faced with those kinds of decisions and three years later, you look back and you think of your life today, I’m sure you think, wow. What if I would have said no? All the people you’ve met, all the new relationships, the influence, the way you have watched others be used and how God has used you. And so I just want to encourage the woman listening right now who might be at that crossroad or, you know, maybe she’s just launched her kids and thinks, okay, my biggest season of contribution is over.Who am I? What’s my value? They don’t need me anymore. What would you say to that woman? Because you know, even starting this podcast, at first I was thinking,I don’t know how to do a podcast, and here we are, in the third season. But I could just show you these lines, like, the the breadcrumb trails of the people where this person led me to this person, and I and then, oh, you should have this person on your show. And my life has been so enriched by taking that step out of my comfort zone and figuring out the lighting on YouTube. I had no idea.
- Kim Moeller [00:21:51]:Like, if you look at the first episodes, they’re so dark, and I wish I could just pull them down. But,no, it’s like done is better than perfect. We’re just going to keep going and keep learning. So yeah. So, because I would love for you to just speak to the woman and kind of give her courage tod o whatever God is calling her to do to take that next step. What would you say?
Favorite Bible Verse
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:22:12]:Yeah. Well, first of all, I would link to my favorite Bible verse, which I know you wanted me to mention. Yes. Which is, Philippians 1:6. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. That is a promise. Mhmm. And, He is not done.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:22:27]:He’s never done. He is never done. The other thing I would say is God uses seasons in our lives to do different things in our lives. He also uses those seasons to build experiences and expertise into us. Sometimes we’re completely unaware of it. Sometimes we’re we’re more aware of it. And He doesn’t always, necessarily build on that right away, but it can be like seeds planted. And I certainly have felt that myself.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:23:02]:It’s like when we started the Seattle Christian Foundation for a while, for most of that time, I love the work. I love the people I got to serve. I love the people I served with, and it wasfantastic. But I always wondered in the back of my mind, you know, why He had chosen not to use all of my corporate leadership and management experience. And because this, you know, tiny little thing, and and it was I mean, I’m not saying it was there was anything wrong with it.Right? Right.
- Kim Moeller [00:23:34]:Right.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:23:34]:I wondered about that occasionally. Not that often, but occasionally. And now here I amwhere I can see it all coming back together. It’s like, yeah. I was out of the corporate game for twenty years, basically, but it’s like riding a bike. Right? Right. And so those experiences are things that God will use, has used in His time.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:24:01]:Not in your time, not in my time, but in His time when He wants to, He doesn’t throw anythingaway.
- Kim Moeller [00:24:07]:Right.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:24:07]:So I would tell that woman to expect God has more in store.
- Kim Moeller [00:24:13]:Mhmm. Mhmm. really think it also, like you mentioned, the seasonality of life And as women, often being a caregiver, whether it’s for an elderly parent, whether it’s for a baby, those seasons,you know, can really change also. Or maybe our spouse needs extra care at a time. And it’s just navigating and kind of being patient. Also, if we feel like we’re in the waiting room and we’ve got all of this experience or background and we want to be using it, but God’s saying, I know. I know.
- Kim Moeller [00:24:47]:Right. And trust me. Mhmm. Yeah.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:24:50]:Mhmm. Exactly.
- Kim Moeller [00:24:52]:Well, okay. In your role as CEO of the National Christian Foundation, you’re helping to steward just these large gifts that come in, and you’re helping the people that are putting their funds into their National Christian Foundation Giving Fund, and then they’re granting them out. And, you know, the fact that the National Christian Foundation has granted out over $20,000,000,000 since 1982 is no small number.
- But let’s transition in this conversation to all the women that are involved with what we’re calling the Great Wealth Transfer. Like the role that NCF is playing in that, how you even see in the future, how NCF might play even a more pivotal role, and and what a woman can do to be preparing herself for the great wealth transfer.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:25:44]:Sure. So, yeah. I think one of the biggest reasons that I was so passionate about what NCF’s next steps needed to look like back in 02/2022 was because I had been really awakened to the impact of the Great Wealth Transfer that’s coming at us. And I think that that impact has two major parts. One is for the people in my generation who will be passing on wealth. Mhmm. And the other is for the people in our kids’ generations who will be receiving that wealth.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:26:26]:And National Christian Foundation has a role to play both sides of that. And while it is true that we are really, really good at transactions, we are also really good at relationships. Right? And so one of the things that we, as you know, we have, really committed to is our local presence and our relational context of being with people is that they try to manage and give from all that God’s entrusted to them. And that is really important to me. It’s the best part of my job. When I in Seattle doing that work, I think it’s a unique gift amongst other people who do donor advised funds and the things that we do. The unique gift that we have to bring is this ability to be with you. So what’s that about? What does that turn out to mean in the Great Wealth Transfer?
- Well, it means that as people are contemplating what it is that God would have them do with all that’s been entrusted to them, it is helpful often to be in community and be with people who can guide, who have experience to guide, who can introduce them to other people who are on this journey to find encouragement, to find guidance, to find challenges, you know, and to have people challenge you and and ask you the kinds of questions that maybe you need to be asking.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:27:52]:And so I think we are very much trying to just multiply our capacity.
- Kim Moeller [00:27:59]:Mhmm.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:27:59]:To serve well as people prepare. To be fantastic stewards with all that God’s entrusted to them, both today in their current lives, but also as they transfer. However, we also know that there’ll be a new generation of wealthy Christians. And one of the things I would say about National Christian Foundation is that we have become really good at helping what we would call wealth creators. People who, have started things and built wealth with God’s help, of course, have walked with the Lord in various ways and the Lord has showered wealth on them in that process, and they’re trying to be great stewards.
- But we haven’t been as well positioned to help people who inherit wealth, and that is going to be a huge thing, going forward. Much more significant. Mhmm.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:28:55]:Many more people touched by being inheritors. And so we’re trying to get really good at that too, trying to really grow our skills in that area. So that’s that’s what I think the great wealth transfer means to NCF. As women begin to think about this, we know that women will be the largest initial inheritors, and they tend to outlive their spouses and they tend to be the firs tinheritors. And many of them are prepared, have been active in the financial lives of their families. But many of them have not been as active in the financial lives of their of their families. And so, I would just encourage them to find friends. So people who have had the experience of being connected to their financial lives in a way that they feel like they have some good confidence in that area.Can be great support to people who haven’t.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:29:56]:And women who haven’t have an opportunity and a responsibility to get smart. Right? And to come to understand what the issues are and to seek out people who can help them. People like you, Kim, who are there on the front lines in San Diego and available to help. And there are another 90 people like you across the country who want to help. Mhmm. And then each of you, each of those 90 people, has networks, right Right. Of people who love the
- Lord and who walk in this journey and who want to help other people walk it and grow in community with each other.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:30:34]:So that would be my encouragement is find your people.
- Kim Moeller [00:30:37]:
- Find your people. Find your tribe. I actually had a young couple that a wealth adviser in the Midwest had recommended to them. You need to find NCF in your local area. She’d never heard of us, so she went on the website, and that’s how we got connected. And, you know, again, starting from the beginning of the podcast, this Christian generosity space had absolutely no idea that all of this existed. And it’s just been so fun to connect them. You know, their heart is there – just so generous with wanting to do what God wants them to do in their thirties with young kids.
Conclusion
- Kim Moeller [00:31:16]:And it’s just been so fun then when I’ve come across people that I just know that they would so relate to and connect be able you know, I’ve connected them with them. And NCF every few years has the event, you know, that we had called Impact twenty twenty four. So they attended that and absolutely loved it. And, you know, some people whenthey don’t know about this generosity space, later, they will say, wow. I wish I had known about this. It was someone who told me about this.
- In fact, yesterday, I was on a call with Generous Giving and all the various facilitators across the country, and people talked about that. They just said it’s so incredible to facilitate these Journeys of Generosity and how they wished when they were in their twenties, they had heard about it.
- Kim Moeller [00:31:59]:So on this podcast, we frequently refer to our generosity partners, such as Generous Giving or we talk about Women Doing Well. And so if you’re in a place where you’ve got a community of people and you can connect through NCF, wonderful, fabulous. But let’s say you’re in a place where there isn’t that, you know, kind of in person connection. Go in those websites, you know, go on generousgiving.com, go to women doing well, Join an online JOG. Join an online Women Doing Well group and and just take the next step. And I guarantee you, it’s like Narnia. You’re walking through the wardrobe, and all of a sudden, it’s this whole world that you didn’t know was there.
- And, you know, with Generous Giving, they’ve got their annual event, the Celebration of Generosity event coming up in Austin in April.
- Kim Moeller [00:32:46]:And that’s an incredible event to attend where, again, it’s really the iron sharpening iron. And especially for, like you said, you know, maybe it’s a person, or it’s a widow who now, you know,has these resources. Maybe they’ve just inherited them. But when they hear other stories of people who’ve been in their shoes, they know they’re not alone. And it just gives them that idea of, wow. If they could do that, you know, maybe I could do this with that.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:33:16]:And Yeah.
- Kim Moeller [00:33:16]:And it just can really broaden a person’s life. Maybe there’s a passion project in another country, you know, that they want to invest in. I I mean, the other piece with NCF is you can just go on our website and sign up for our Saturday Seven newsletter and read these generosity stories. And some of the stories I love are when the family intentionally gets involved in, for example, like an overseas mission in Uganda, and then all the adult kids are pulling them in. And that is their family’s legacy that they’re building right now that they will leave.
- And so I think with this space of donor advised funds and, you know, charitable giving, it just allows you to be more intentional with how am I maximizing the resources God has given me. We will all stand, you know, and have to have an account of what we were given and what we did with it. And we really want God to say, look.
- Kim Moeller [00:34:15]:Because you are generous, you know, I multiplied this and I did this, and you had no idea that your $1 here touched these people. And I think that’s where we all want to be. And so, again, it’s these stories of, I had no idea that was even possible, and I’m going to try that this year. So, you know, it’s really it’s exciting. And I think when we get rid of the fear, we’re willing to release, you know, our hands, like, open our schedules with our time or money and give it to God. He can just multiply it more than we would ever, ever imagine.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:34:48]:Absolutely. Absolutely.
- Kim Moeller [00:34:50]:Well, okay. Any big audacious goal you have right now in your role at the National Christian Foundation that you’re just believing God for something like you were in the Pacific Northwest?
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:35:01]:Lots of them. In some ways, like a kid in the candy store that, you know, I I have to contain myself in terms of the kinds of things that, I want to see us accomplish. And so, but we’re making good progress. And, as you know, we have a big technology project underway and that’s probably, that’s the most transformative thing that, you know, we really desperately needed to do. So I’m trusting God for that to go well, multi year, multi tens of millions of dollars. And so, it’s a big undertaking, and that’s probably the largest one. But there’s lots of others as well. Mhmm. Yeah.
- Kim Moeller [00:35:45]:Well, so exciting, and I love to see how God is using you in this season and, like you said, your background, your experiences, and who knows what He has, you know, in store. And Yeah. Just thank you for, yeah, thanks for your courage. Thanks for sharing your journey and the faith that you’ve had along the way. And you mentioned, you know, your favorite or one of your favorite verses. So any other Bible verse you want to share, or do you want go into a book you’re reading?
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:36:14]:Well, I’ll share another, another verse. So, when I started working, as CEO of National Christian Foundation, I went through immediate like, immediately went through another kind of health crisis. And I had really bad back issues that resulted in, fusion surgery. And as I was doing that, a friend gave me this verse that I’ve carried with me ever since that day. And this is Isaiah 58:11. And it says, the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong. And you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. And that’s the promise.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:36:59]:Hanging onto that it’s gonna keep me strong enough. And, and I love the image of being a spring of water whose waters do not fail. I love that. So that’s one of my favorite promises right now.
- Kim Moeller [00:37:12]:Oh, that’s beautiful. Thanks for sharing that. Any book you’re reading or favorite book that you.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:37:18]:I, yeah. My problem is I tend to have more than one going at a time. Same. So, yeah, at the moment, I don’t have a particular one that I’m excited about. So but I just got a new one. Have you seen this one? This is the, Saturday ‘7, the book of giving. Have you seen this one?
- Kim Moeller [00:37:40]:I did see that. Yes.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:37:42]:Yeah. So I just got it. I haven’t cracked it open yet. But I love what little I’ve I’ve peeked at. I loveI love it. So it looks like it’s gonna be a beautiful, encouraging read.
- Kim Moeller [00:37:55]:Yes. No. That’s a great one to share. And I, you know, started getting all these great recommendations and and I needed to stay organized. So I use Goodreads now, and I’ll categorize the different books that the guests recommend. And, yeah, I need to take a big chunk of time to read them all.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:38:11]:I know.Kim Moeller [00:38:12]:Excellent books.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:38:13]:Mhmm. Yes. Indeed.
- Kim Moeller [00:38:14]:No. That’s great. Okay. And then your last, item, the bargain. Any any way you like to do bargain shopping.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:38:22]:I’m not a bargain shopper. I always felt like I should be. I would be the way there’s places where I feel a little guilty. But I’ve always prioritized mytime over money in the sense that God has always given us resources, but He hasn’t given us time. And so, bargain shopping takes time, if you ask me.
- Kim Moeller [00:38:44]:Right.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:38:44]:I watched my daughter do it. She’s a major shopper on OfferUp and Buy Nothing. AndI am very glad she is because then I get to use her to help me get rid of things.
- Kim Moeller [00:39:00]:That’s perfect.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:39:00]:And that’s what we need to do. So I was like, okay, canKim Moeller [00:39:03]:we put this up on BuyNothing? That’s perfect.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:39:05]:OfferUp, and she she does that for me. So anyway, I’m not great at it. But, you know, shedoes I’m impressed with some of the things.
- Kim Moeller [00:39:14]:do. No. That’s perfect. Yeah. I have had seen OfferUp and not used it, and I found a good bargain on there also. So very fun. Yeah. Lots of possibilities.
- Kim Moeller [00:39:24]:And you’re right. You can take a lot of time. Yeah.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:39:27]:But it does take time.
- Kim Moeller [00:39:28]:
- Right? Mhmm. Mhmm.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:39:29]:Exactly. That’s that’s time is the is for me. Yeah. The thing I have the least of.
- Kim Moeller [00:39:35]:That’s right.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:39:35]:Right? That’s right. But other people are in different circumstances. Right?
- Kim Moeller [00:39:39]:Yeah. It’s how we manage everything God’s given us. Absolutely.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:39:42]:Exactly.
- Kim Moeller [00:39:43]:Well, could I ask you to pray us all out and pray for the woman listening who maybe God’stapping her shoulder to be thenext CEO and she never, you know, intended that. Or maybeshe’s at home with little ones and wondering if God will ever use, you know, her gifts that she worked so hard to develop. So I’d love for you to pray for our listeners.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:40:04]:Father God, you are such a good God, and you see each and every one of us. You made us.You love the way you made us, and you love the women that, we are becoming. And, Lord, we just ask that you would help each and every one of us just trust you, listen for you, wait on you,practice your presence. I think that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve made my word for years practicing presence. And, it to the extent that you can help them do that, that I I am confident, Lord, that you will use them and usethem well in your time. Give them comfort. Give them encouragement.
- Kendra VanderMeulen [00:40:47]:Give them just little glimpses along the way of the ways in which you see them and you, youknow them and you have plans for them. And Lord, we just ask that you would help prepare them, that you would give them the urge to get prepared for the things that may be in front of them, and you would show them the way to do that. You would invite them into communities ofother people who are trying to get prepared and walking this journey well, that you would bring people around them that can be a blessing. And, Lord, I just ask that, you would bless Kim as she goes and the work of her hands and every single person who is, listening to this podcast that you would bless them. We entrust each of each of them to you in Jesus’ name. Amen.Kim Moeller [00:41:31]:
