9 to 5 Faith Podcast: Episode 13

Paige C. Clark 0:39
Hello, everyone. I am so excited for today’s episode, mostly because I had people knocking down my DMs for me to talk to that wonderful. Christa Hutchins. How are you doing today, Christa? I’m

Christa Hutchins 0:55
Do great, Paige. And I’m so excited to be here. When I saw you were starting this podcast. I was so excited because it was so needed.

Paige C. Clark 1:03
Yes. And I had so many people tagging me; you need to talk to Christa; you should talk to Christa. Christa. Have you talked to Paige yet? So I am excited that we are finally making this happen. And that we get to talk about all the good things because while we talk about very similar things, we both have like kind of our own like spin and our own angle. And I’m like, That’s how this world should just operate. You know, we both know there’s room for all of us. 100% 100%. So can you tell our audience a little bit about you and what you do, and what your thing is?

Christa Hutchins 1:37
Well, I am a chemical engineer by degree. I’m a project manager in the engineering and construction industry and have been for the better part of four decades; kind of scary, but so I work full time doing that. And on the side, I have a business called To Do a new thing, where I work with Christian communicators and coaches, mostly who are building their business and ministry on the side while they are either working full-time, homeschooling, caregiving, doing something else that occupies them during the day. So that’s what I do on the side.

Paige C. Clark 2:18
I love it. And do you work from home for your full time?

Christa Hutchins 2:23
No, I don’t. I actually work at a construction site. That’s about an hour away from home. So oh, five a day. Yeah, five days a week. Except every other Friday, I get to work from home. So I am working from home today. And so, yeah, goodness,

Paige C. Clark 2:40
that that is a commute. I’ve had those commutes, and they’re rough.

Christa Hutchins 2:46
Sometimes. It can be rough. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. I

Paige C. Clark 2:49
feel that I always like to ask that question. Because I also feel like commuters and noncommuters have different kinds of outlooks on what their daily lives look like.

Christa Hutchins 3:02
Yeah, and I think it’s really different if you’re commuting like you’re riding a bus or a train or something or in the south like me, and you have to drive. But I am very blessed because my husband owns his own shop in our little antique district. And so he has a very flexible schedule, and he’s actually closed a few days during the week, so he blesses his sweetheart, he actually drives me back and forth to work three days a week, so that means he’s making that our trip Yeah, twice a day. Wow, on those days so that really gives me a lot of time to do some of the things that I couldn’t, I couldn’t do some of the things I do without having that time, and I’m so

Paige C. Clark 3:45
and also just like quality time with him to

Christa Hutchins 3:48
quality time with him. It’s easier on me physically. Yeah. When is he, chauffeur? We have a van, and I sit in the backseat and spread out back there. I love

Paige C. Clark 4:00
it. And yeah, it’s hard on your body like physically to be commuting. I remember, like, I remember one time there was a time where I commuted 40 miles, which is about an hour and a half right with traffic. One like one way, so I was doing that, you know, twice a day. And I remember I would always call my husband on the phone whenever I drove over. And I remember one time I got like this back spasm or when I was like on the freeway, and I was like freaking out at the moment. He’s like, find a place to pull over. I’m like, I can’t pull over there so much. Freaking out, but it is tough on your body.

Christa Hutchins 4:41
Yeah, it is. I’ve had that. I love my heated seats. They run all year long just to keep my bat, you know, kind of calm so you.

Paige C. Clark 4:50
become like; you become like really innovative. I feel like when you’re like a commuter, and you commute regularly, you have like your drill and like heated seats. I kept a tennis ball in my like center console. But yeah, like, stick that back behind my back and, like, give myself a little self-massage.

Christa Hutchins 5:09
That’s a good idea. I think I’m going to do that when we get off the phone here. You

Paige C. Clark 5:12
absolutely should. So how did you end up in chemical engineering?

Christa Hutchins 5:20
Oh, it’s such a funny story. I was in high school, and I walked into my high school chemistry teacher’s office room when I was I was a junior, maybe as late in my junior year. And I walked into her office and said, I like chemistry. And I like math, what’s a good way to combine it? And she said chemical engineering. And I said, Okay, great. I’m gonna be a chemical engineer; I had zero idea what that meant. Zero, I did not actually have any idea what it meant until I went to start doing my college visits and went to a couple of college campuses and toured the department. And they explained to me what it was. Because you know, back then we didn’t have the internet to go look up these things. And all right, right. We didn’t know all that wasn’t happening. All I did know is that whenever I told people that I was going to be a chemical engineer, they all would say, Ooh, that’s cool. You must be really smart. And my Enneagram three hearts, I just love that, you know? Yeah. So that’s how it started. I didn’t really know what it was until I got into it and got into school. And thankfully, I did find that I loved it. I did love it. It was a great combination of the two subjects that I loved. And then, after I got into the workforce and I started working for a while, I realized that I loved and liked the technical part. But I also love organizing people and things and schedules and plans. And that’s where that whole planning thing kind of came into my life. And I moved into more of a project management role rather than an actual technical role. So that’s what I’ve been doing for more than 30 years.

Paige C. Clark 7:07
Wow. That’s incredible. And also, like, kind of keeping the same discipline for that long, I feel like you don’t really see that with many people anymore.

Christa Hutchins 7:17
Yeah. And 27 of those years were with the same company. I just, in the last five years, changed companies, but yeah, 27 years with the same company. That’s

Paige C. Clark 7:25
That is incredible, too. Yeah. I just want to like marinate in that for a second. Because also I’m like, jealous of that. Because, like, I always said, like, if it were up to me, I would be at the same place for the rest of my life. Yeah. It would be to me,

Christa Hutchins 7:43
I thought I would be as well. And then it just got to be not the right place. Yeah, God moved me into the perfect place to be able to do what he wanted me to do on the side. And, so, I’m just really grateful for that. But it’s been a great career and supported our family and all those good things. So yeah, I’m grateful for it. And you

Paige C. Clark 8:05
have done a new thing. Tell me about, like, the birth of that into your life. And, like, what that journey and process was? Well, I

Christa Hutchins 8:15
had I was interning started when I kind of was entering my empty nest years, and beginning to look at, you know, Lord, what do you want me to do with all of this time now because I had done all the mom things in addition to my job. So I was used to doing more than one thing. I had done the youth group things, the high school Color Guard things, all those things, right? So I was going into my empty nesters. And I said, Lord, what do you want me to do now? And he, very surprisingly said, led me to Proverbs 31 Ministries, online Bible studies to be an online small group leader, which is really hysterical, again, because I had spent all of my life in a male-dominated career. And I am terrified of large groups of women. And if you had told me that I would become this involved in women’s Bible study and serving women in this way, I would have laughed at you because it was the farthest thing from my mind that I ever watched it do. Okay, though, so I was working with them. And that’s when I realized I began to be introduced to women, very creative women, communicators, who had wild ideas and dreams for the Lord they wanted to do. But they didn’t know how to sort it out into a plan and actually do it. And they were very frustrated. And so that’s how a new thing was born. I just began serving whoever the Lord brought across my path and helping them figure out their next right steps. And then it’s just gone from there. Yeah, so seven years, okay. I

Paige C. Clark 9:51
I was going to ask how, so how many years? So seven years of doing that, and starting teaching, that’s kind of funny because I’m like, yeah, the people you hear From the women who grew up with all brothers, that they’re just like, I just have dude friends, like, What are you talking about? Like, you know, but I definitely understand, kind of, there’s definitely the stereotypes of women. Yeah, women’s ministry versus, you know, any other kind of ministry, and stepping into that when you don’t fit that mold can be by imitating or

Christa Hutchins 10:23
that thankfully, kind of a whole other tangent of that is that the way the Lord used me within that ministry has He used my skills in technology and planning and structure and systems to do back-in type stuff for that ministry. So that was the first time that I really realized that ministry and work, my professional skills, can be used in ministry, and it’s all the same thing. Ministry is not just, you know, we think it could be just teaching Sunday school to, or working in the nursery, or all those things, but we can use our professional abilities in ministry as well. And also kind of kept me behind the scenes with another kind of techie-type people. And out of a lot of the drama, which, which there wasn’t, there’s not a whole lot of drama, obviously hasn’t been, but it’s been kind of quiet on the backside.

Paige C. Clark 11:20
Yeah, yeah, for sure. And also, when I think there’s this idea, and I’ve talked about this a few times, but there’s this idea that your job has to be ministry, right? And that’s not necessarily always the case. I feel like there’s a headspace this mindset that people say, I either have to have a ministry or I can’t do anything. Right, like, like, yeah, I, in order to serve God, I have to have some kind of ministry, right?

Christa Hutchins 11:51
I think, yeah, no, it’s not true. I mean, you’re finding you’re serving God, and whatever work that you have to do, you’re honoring him, if you’re doing the things that He has given you to do, and, and so I really believe that, and I just think it’s a really, I think it’s a sweet gift from the Lord when He allows us to use our professional abilities, our skills, our talents, our gifts, that things that people in the workplace recognize, when he allows us to use that in ministry is just a special sweet spot that is so satisfying. And an opportunity is honoring to him.

Paige C. Clark 12:25
Yeah. And also the job that you may be at maybe prepare you, yes, skill set, or personality or character development in a way that, like you, you can’t really anticipate, but God has, you know, a plan for how he’s gonna utilize those skills as he did with you.

Christa Hutchins 12:44
Yeah, for sure. For sure.

Paige C. Clark 12:47
So let’s talk about the balance. And I say that term so loosely because I had someone say, Paige, there’s no such thing as balanced is more harmony, because like, you can’t balance it all. So let’s talk about the balance slash harmony,

Christa Hutchins 13:02
harmony. Rhythm, I call it a rhythm.

Paige C. Clark 13:07
That’s actually one of my words for this year. So let’s talk about the rhythm of doing the nine-to-five thing, as I call it, working for the man, and having this other passion, this other thing that you’re like, No, but God also built me for this. And it’s not; instead of this, it’s and this.

Christa Hutchins 13:30
right? Yeah, I love living in that space. Because I think, you know, women who have these big dreams to do things for the Lord. They feel like they listen to all the Guru, and they all say, oh, you know, if you just quit your job and work really hard and hustle longer, you can, you know, God will take care of it. If you just have enough faith, then, you know, it’ll all be okay. And, I do believe there are some people that God calls and says, Okay, I want you to walk out on the water with me with no safety net. And let’s go do this thing. I believe that there are lots of people that the Lord does that with, but he doesn’t do that with everybody. And if he hasn’t called you to that, then just saying, Okay, well, I’m just going to quit my job and hope this all works out. That’s not faith. That’s irresponsibility if God has not called you to that, and so I love God has not called me to that. I’m very confident and clear that in my relationship with him, he has not called me to just step away from my job. And so, in the meantime, the place of living in that end is just appreciating my job for the blessing that it is and the opportunities that it gives me and the way the Lord has structured my current role that allows me to do some, some freedom to do other things along with it. And so I think that’s just such an important place to Be when you’re in that season.

Paige C. Clark 15:02
Yeah. And I, I want to add to that of, there’s bravery and courage, right? There’s the stepping out into the water. So to say. But then there’s also wisdom and stewardship. Yes, exactly. Yes, yes. We all need to find, right, but they all go hand in hand. And sometimes, sometimes, it’s not stepping out of the boat, but approaching a system with, with wisdom and with good stewardship, and my, so what does that look like for you?

Christa Hutchins 15:34
Well, it looks like realizing that at this stage of my life, and in the stage of my career, I’m, you know, I’m done climbing the ladder, you know, I don’t have any desire in the Lord. That was a big desire for a long time, you know, especially in the technical fields, they find a woman who can, who is smart and can operate in that environment. And they, they tend to, especially in the era that I was in, they tended to like to push and say, oh, okay, great, well, you’re going to be the one, you’re going to be the one that we promote, you’re going to be the one that we

Paige C. Clark 16:08
met up like the token woman, yeah, in my industry.

Christa Hutchins 16:11
And I think there’s something there was; I was kind of in that space, where there was a mix of that tokenism versus I truly had skills and there truly appreciated those skills. And so I was in that pushing and growing and wanting the corner office and all that kind of thing. And I, you know, I kind of got pretty close to that at one point, and then didn’t, and it was hard. It was a hard season of a sort of failure of a project and, in some, just damage to my reputation to the company’s reputation. It was a hard season. But coming out of that, the Lord just really showed me that’s not what I wanted for you long term anyway. Yeah. And so now it looks like being in a role that’s comfortable that I that using my skills, I’m a significant contributor, but I don’t have all the responsibility and stress that I had before. And so I’m just in a different role. And in this season of my life, that’s the role that the Lord has for me, and I’m totally fine with that. And a lot, as I said, it allows me some freedom that I wouldn’t have if I was still trying to push and have that corner office job, right?

Paige C. Clark 17:30
Let’s talk about that a little bit. Because I’m in the tech space. And I have found that a lot, not necessarily of like being the person who’s wanting to be pushed, but even in the corporate environment of like, I remember, like, I had to fill out a growth plan. I had to; I couldn’t be happy with where I was. I had to always be thinking about the next thing and what my future career goals looked like. And that always felt weird to me. And so I’m going to ask you this question. And there’s no right answer because I don’t even have the answer. But for you in that season, like, what was God saying to you about that? If anything?

Christa Hutchins 18:19
I think at that time, I believe the Lord was opening opportunities for me, and he was my favorite, giving me his favor and His blessing during that time. I think part of it was to learn things that I’m using now; part of it was, had I not done those things, I would not have the job that I do now. They’re connected. And so, as you said earlier, during that time, he was preparing me for something he had for me that I had no idea about. And so my answer to him was always I’m just gonna keep stepping through the doors that you open. And then, I tried a few times to push a few doors. And that always didn’t work out quite so well. So I just kept saying, Lord, I’m just going to open walk through whatever doors you open. And until they stop opening, and he just they’ve continued to open, sometimes they open going forward, sometimes they open going off to a hallway off to the side, right? They open in different directions. And so it’s being sensitive about which direction God is opening doors for me and in which direction he’s closing them. That has been just a comfort and a peace, and I can not let it gnaw at me, you know, that inner turmoil that, Oh, I really wish I could be there. I don’t have that in my career because I’m just thankful and grateful for where the Lord has led me through the doors. Yeah,

Paige C. Clark 19:56
for sure. So let’s talk to Both people. Let’s talk to the person first who wants to climb. And someone who may be fine like Lebanon, Jesus, and you know, live the best Christian life. But they’re like, yeah, like, I have high career aspirations. Let’s talk to them for a second. And, like, how do we keep that in check with like God and His plan and His, his voice?

Christa Hutchins 20:26
Yeah, I think there’s, there are so many people out there right now who are speaking to that woman; I think that one who, who, who wants to glorify God through her work, but as ambitious, that that’s okay. God does never, never said that we couldn’t pursue the things that we do with excellence. And I think when you are excellent at what you do, that kind of growth and that kind of advancement is going to come. And so I think that woman is just continuing to recognize that all of this is of the Lord. And he is going to bring the increase is again, as you open all, she walked through every door that he opens, he’s going to bring the increase and take you as far in your career as he wants you to go. And you don’t; it’s not on you. It’s on you to work hard and be a good of good employee and a steward. It’s not on you to make the opportunities happen that he is going to bring that.

Paige C. Clark 21:27
Yeah, and I think to in, I guess, as a cautionary word of checking where your identity sits, yes, and all of that. That’s the thing that I just keep saying culturally, but then also like in the workplace of like, Where does your identity sit? Does your identity sit in your job title? Does it sit in how much you make? Or does it sit in Christ, like we’re called to do?

Christa Hutchins 21:55
Yeah, and I think one great way to do that is to stay involved in your local church and with your family, obviously, because I think sometimes I would do that person at church would not recognize me if they saw me at work, and people at work would not recognize me if they saw me at church, because it’s just a different environment. And it’s, it’s, it keeps you in check to realize I’m really not all that, you know, I remember being on a mission trip one time, and there was a man that was there, something needed to be done on I was in charge of the trip, something needed to be done. And I asked him to do it. And I’m used to it at work; I was the boss I was used to when I asked people to do things, they do them. And so when I, when I, when I did, and he didn’t do it, he didn’t think it was important and didn’t think it needed to be done. So I just didn’t do it. I was like, what, what is this, you know, what you should be doing when I say, but again, that was where the Lord reminded me, I’m there as a servant of him, not as the boss. And, so that carries over having that servant attitude, even in the workplace, in the professional even as you’re growing and, and having more authority and having more responsibility in the workplace, you’re still serving. And having that servant attitude is also something that keeps you from getting too high on your horse there.

Paige C. Clark 23:20
Yeah. Now let’s talk about the opposite end of the spectrum, which I feel is like your sweet spot, and like a lot of the women you work with, kind of fall into this spot of the dirt. They’re just like, you know, I’m cool with where I’m at. I don’t need to climb the ladder; I’m happy to be providing for my family, or for myself, or just my spouse, you know, whatever their situation is. But then, like, there’s also, I guess, a god dream involved in all of that. What does that look like?

Christa Hutchins 23:55
You know, I think it looks like taking the tiny steps that you can, I think we tried, we see other people who are maybe they don’t have the job, or they don’t they’re not, you know, teaching homeschool or they’re not doing whatever it is that occupies us during the day. And they are pursuing their god dream, and they’re seeing all this kind of growth, and they’re getting all these things done, and they’re getting all these opportunities. And then they get frustrated, and they lose their joy. And they’re working really hard all the time. They feel like they’re always working and not making the progress that they’re made that they want to. We just need to relax a little and realize that we can, if we put everything in its proper place if we, build our life around our dreams and not build our dream around our life, right we just if we build us build those things into what’s happening; then we can take small steps of obedience. We can make small steps of growth; we can grow Are relationships and not feel like we have to keep up with everybody. Once you make that step, that’s the hard step to make. Because you feel like you’re comparing to everyone else. Yeah. But once you make that step and realize, okay, I don’t have to keep up, I just have to take the next step and do the next faithful step. And then the next one after that, and then see where it goes. Because you just can’t, I can’t physically keep up with other things I see people doing right. It’s hard. It’s nice to be.

Paige C. Clark 25:34
Yeah, one. One thing I’ve heard just, you know, a funny commentary on is when, you know, Scripture tells us like, Thy Word is a lamp to our feet and a guide to our path. And I’ve heard people say, it’s not a floodlight, it’s a lamp like it is showing you the next step is showing you the entire road. Right. And so sometimes our journey is, you know, it’s, it’s what you said, just taking that next step and doing that new thing.

Christa Hutchins 26:06
Yeah, I think the other piece of it, too, that’s really helpful is finding a community of other women. Because there, I promise you, there are other women out there like that. There are a lot of them. And you need to find those people that you can be; you can link arms with, you can work on things together, you can hold each other accountable. Because if you try to do it alone, you know, we’re not made that will do things alone, especially women; God’s made us for the community; he’s made us for connection. And we will be much happier working on all those things if we’re working with a friend.

Paige C. Clark 26:43
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And, when we’re doing all of these things, I think it’s coming to the understanding that we can absolutely do both. Yes, as you said earlier, it’s in the end. In the and for those who need to hear it again. You know, not a grammatically correct sentence. But over the way it sounds, though, I know. So, you know, being able to be in that space where you know, two things can be true at once. Now, I’m not saying there’s; there’s no ultimate truth. There is; as a Bible-believing Christian, there’s absolute truth. But also, as we live our life, two things can be true at once. You know, you can be sad about something and experience happiness at the same time. And you can work full time and still pursue your good dream.

Christa Hutchins 27:42
Yeah, yeah, you can. It’s possible. And it is very satisfying, especially, it’s very hard when you’re working full time, and you have younger children, you know, that’s very difficult a very season. And what I say I say to those women is during that season, God may not have given you that dream for you to act on it right now. He may have given you that dream, so you can prepare for it for the time when you can act. So you may be gathering resources, making connections where you can network with people, and learning while you’re caring for your littles and working full time. And then the day will come where you’re you will have you it will come you will have some freedom sometimes. And in that time, then you’ll be prepared. You’re not starting from scratch. Because that’s the time God wants you to actually act on that dream. Yeah,

Paige C. Clark 28:35
that’s something I’ve been struggling with. But also surrendering to God right now. He has given me some really big dreams. And I just, I don’t feel like it’s the appropriate time to pull the trigger, so to say, and I have a really bad habit of like a fear of missing out, not necessarily of like an experience or something. But like, like, right now is the right time to see it. For example, this podcast. I’ve been sitting on this podcast idea for five years. And I’m like, no one’s doing it. No one’s doing it yet. Should I start it? Yes, I started it. Yeah. And then, finally, it was time to start it. And so I think like giving yourself permission that like if it is God ordained in your life, I always like to say there is nothing you can do to stop God’s plan.

Christa Hutchins 29:32
Right? Right. It’ll be completely obvious that it’s time for you to be doing that. It feels like a constant burden, a constant struggle, a constant heaviness. It’s causing breakdowns in your relationships. I like to always ask people to think about the cost to count the cost is the cost of doing this right now. Higher than your relationships can bear, and if it is, It’s not time, and you just need to sit back, keep dreaming, keep learning, and keep preparing. During that five years, you probably thought of 500 podcast topics, and you have podcast topics from now till eternity. And because you were prepared, you know, yep. And so God will use that time as a preparation. It’s not like you’re doing nothing with that dream; you’re still actively doing something. It’s, but it’s preparation and foundation work, not necessarily the big flashy thing.

Paige C. Clark 30:30
Yeah, I’ll give you a sneak peek of how I’m preparing for like a big God dream. I’ll give you a sneak peek of it. But part of it is, you know, vacation rental-esque. Like, it’s in that, I have a spreadsheet with like the cost breakdown of what it would take to furnish a place from beginning to end. That is how I am preparing. Yeah,

Christa Hutchins 30:55
yeah, right. It’s not, but you are prepared. You

Paige C. Clark 30:59
never read it. So when the time comes, I will have my spreadsheet ready with my budget. And that’s also.

Christa Hutchins 31:07
giving you some measure of satisfaction that I’m not just sitting on this stream. I’m not just sitting; I’m doing something. And there’s some it keeps that fire burning, right? I haven’t forgotten about it. I’m still on fire for it. And it just keeps it smoldering until it’s

Paige C. Clark 31:24
time. Yeah. I love that. One thing I wanted to come back to that you had mentioned is kind of this, this idea of Comparison, and, you know, there’s the saying, you know, Comparison is the thief of joy. And I totally believe that. So what, when you’re working with these women in these spaces, who are constantly comparing themselves to maybe some of the big voices out there, because when you say like, oh, that, you know, big voices that influence our voices, I’m like, yep, like I can think of, you know, 10 right off the bat of, of those big voices in, in our world, who are telling us, you know, just take the leap, just do it, you know, just go quit your job, or whatever it is. What are you saying to those women when they’re like comparing these two situations with themselves?

Christa Hutchins 32:29
Well, the first thing I tell people when you are comparing yourself to someone else and coming up short, there’s a reason, you know, you can’t always say you can say the fluffy word and say, Oh, you’re just as good as them. You’re just as, you know, whatever, you’re just as smart as them. There’s something there’s; there’s a level of that. But there’s also underneath, there’s a level, there’s a nugget of truth, and that, that, you know, she was she is farther ahead than you are, she is making more progress, she is getting more opportunities. So instead of internalizing that and saying, Well, it’s because I’m bad, and I can’t do it, look and see what you can learn from her. She’s obviously doing something different than you are. And you may find that there are some things she’s doing that you can do. And you can implement, and you can make some additional progress, you may see, oh, well, she’s able to do that because she can afford to hire somebody to do all the design for her. Right, I can’t do that. And so now it’s not about me; it’s not about what I can and can’t do. It’s about I don’t have the same resources that she does; I don’t have the same time that she does. So or it could be; I just never thought of that. And I can do it, too, right? So instead of immediately going to that place of saying, Well, you know, I’ll never be successful because it because look how great she’s doing. And I’m not going to that place of what can I learn from her. And you may learn things about yourself; you may learn things about skills you need; you may learn things about her and reach out and celebrate her, congratulate her on how great she is doing, and develop a relationship. I think that’s another thing that I’ve done consistently over seven years as I look at people who are able to make more progress than I am. And I intentionally reach out and connect with them, celebrate them, support them, encourage them to become part of what they’re doing. And I’ve learned so much by doing that, that it all becomes Comparison and then becomes a whole learning opportunity instead of something that’s dragging you down.

Paige C. Clark 34:49
Yeah. And the other encouragement I would add to that is there are no two situations that are exactly alike. All right. And I encounter this. So, my husband, he’s a lawyer, and he runs a practice very successfully. But then he looks at, you know, he’s single person practice. It’s him and no one else. I’m not even, like, an admin, or he is, he keeps the lights on and the wheels turning, and he always sees, you know, maybe colleagues or former, like former students he went to school with, they always compare them and I just like, I like to remind him, and I say, you don’t know what their marriage looks like, right? Yeah. You don’t know if they’re taking vacations or what their home life looks like, right?

Christa Hutchins 35:45
Or what their kids are into, or whatever. Yeah,

Paige C. Clark 35:49
yeah. Cuz I’m like, you know, not not to say like, yours is better and you know, not to point fingers and or wish bad ill. But I think also we tend to only see what people are willing to share. Right? And we’re not willing or and we don’t see what people aren’t willing to share. Which, a lot of the time, is the sock of life. Right? Exact suck, right? Yeah.

Christa Hutchins 36:15
Yeah. Yeah. There’s always everybody’s got a bit of life. That’s not perfect. And yeah, we don’t. We only, as they say, often only see somebody’s highlight reel instead of seeing all the bloopers as well.

Paige C. Clark 36:30
Yeah. I like that. I like the bloopers. I like that. Because also a random side. Now I was thinking I, like, I should like to start a series on social media of, like, calling it like the sock. And, like, it’s like the ugly parts. People like posts like being all cute at brunch. But really, like, I’d rather be like, at home in my, like, stretchy pants.

Christa Hutchins 36:56
In my jammies. Yeah.

Paige C. Clark 37:00
It’s like the less glamorous part, but I like that the bloopers. So if you were able to tell this woman or this, you know, it could be due to, I know, you work specifically with women. But our dude friends out there also might have a big dream. If you were to tell them kind of one thing. What would it be like to try to manage their regular day job and their good dreams?

Christa Hutchins 37:33
I think it’s it’s accepting the season that you’re in. And being grateful for the blessings that God’s given you. Being grateful for that job that he’s giving you, write them down, notice them every day, how that job is a blessing. Because we can easily get it when we have a big dream. And we want to pursue it with all our heart; it is so easy to become bitter and resentful of that job and say, I hate getting up and going there. I hate being there all day. Now, I will never get to the point where I don’t hate getting out of bed at 430. And getting ready to go to work, I will always hate that. But once I’m there, I love what I do. And I love the people that I work with. And I’m it’s a blessing. And so I know that that’s not a situation. A lot of people are in toxic work environments. It’s not even in those places, you know, find the ways that God is blessing you, find the ways he’s using your job as a blessing in, in support of your dream, and not let it become because once that seed of bitterness and resentment gets in, in that one space, it will grow into all the other spaces of your life. So you have to work really hard to keep that bitterness and resentment out.

Paige C. Clark 38:59
One thing you mentioned earlier, too, is that I’m finding it really true in my life, and hopefully, the people listening are finding true in their life of the things that feel draining. Versus the things that are life-giving. Yes. And I mean, I’m sure you run into this too when people are like, oh, so what do you do for work? You’re like, Well, buckle up. Let me start the list. Which title do you want first? And I find myself in a similar position, but one Comparison is that I’m not in the same life circumstance that a lot of other people are. I don’t have kids, so you know, I don’t have to deal with that. I just get to be cool Auntie page like, that’s my job right now. But also yet, like things like this podcast. Does this keep me busy? Yes, but it is a life source for me.

Christa Hutchins 40:00
Yeah, a lot of people don’t believe me when they, you know, I had somebody at one time I posted it on on social media on my stories. I posted a checklist on my to-do list on a Saturday. And it was all these work things for my business, and somebody was like, Oh, I’m so sorry. I mean, you really should learn to take a break; you really should learn to rest. Because that’s what you know. I’m like, this is rest. This is how the Lord restores me. This is how he feels me and fires me up now. Do I have to be careful about not letting it become so consuming? Yes, I have to battle that. And I have to write; I have to make sure that I’m getting enough time away from both jobs. Right, right. But at the same time, you know, my husband is down at his shop all day Saturday, and my grown kids are off doing their things on here, doing what is restful and restorative to me. And it’s okay. I’m okay in order. Okay, with that.

Paige C. Clark 40:57
Yeah. And when you feel it, you’ll know it. If you’re listening to this, and you’re like, I don’t know what you’re talking about; then you might not have encountered it yet.

Christa Hutchins 41:12
Yeah, yeah, there are times when I get that way when I don’t have any podcast ideas. I gotta come up with something, and I’m frustrated. And I’ve over it’s usually because I’ve overextended myself. Yeah, I’ve committed to too many things. I haven’t given myself enough margin. And I and I do need to back off. That’s always a sign for me that it’s time to chill it out a little bit. Finish what you’ve started. And then what comes next?

Paige C. Clark 41:38
Yeah, yeah. And I was, as we were just talking, I was like, it’s like using your phone. Your regular day-to-day stuff is just like your regular work. It’s your regular nine to-five of, like, you just using your phone. But every now and then, you need to plug it in. And sometimes, it’s on when it plugs in. And it’s just getting that energy, and I love that. But then sometimes you have to turn it off. Yeah. Right. Like sometimes, it gets glitchy to restart it to reboot.

Christa Hutchins 42:11
Yeah, I love that. I love it. Feel free to use

Paige C. Clark 42:13
that that is yours, Christa?

Christa Hutchins 42:15
No, I will credit you for sure if I use that.

Paige C. Clark 42:19
So as you’re talking, I was like, yeah, sometimes the phone needs to be off to, like, get back on track, which is like our, you know, maybe like, go and like lock yourself in a cave for

Christa Hutchins 42:31
and it charges it charges faster. And if you are using it while you’re charging it, it’s not gonna charge as fast. Right? Yeah. All that’s a great analogy. There’s a lot to unpack there.

Paige C. Clark 42:41
Thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah. I look forward to seeing a blog post about that. Or maybe I’ll do one too. Well, that’s awesome. And as that takeaway, we kind of, like, jumped to the end a little bit. But that takeaway of writing down your blessings? Yeah.

Christa Hutchins 42:59
Yeah, I think that’s the way one of the ways that I incorporate my faith into my work is, is making sure that I am always looking for the blessings of my job. And then I’m recognizing them in the moment, you know when I have a young engineer come to me and ask, you know, how do I do this? Or how do I approach this? Or how do I get this person, you know, and I have the opportunity to mentor them and encourage them? I just need to stop and say, Thank You, Lord, for that opportunity to use what you’ve taught me. That’s why I’m still here. That’s why you still have me in this job because you’ve got people here that you want me to touch, as well as the people in my business.

Paige C. Clark 43:45
So this is a really nerdy question. But where do you write down your blessings? Like, do you have a journal? Do you write them like on your mirror on a Post-it? I do phone?

Christa Hutchins 43:56
I do have a journal. Okay, journal, I actually I’ll put a link to it on my page for you. Yeah, I actually, I have a journal that I sell. It’s called the move forward journal. And it is a line-a-day journal that is only for one year. So it’s got a page for every day of the month, and then I cycle through every month. So on the first of the month, the second of the month, right? And so you can look back and see all those blessings when I’m writing down. Today, on the 31st of March, I can see all the blessings that I’ve had on the 31st of February versus January. And it’s just a really cool way to see how God moves and works throughout your year.

Paige C. Clark 44:37
Yeah, that’s cool. I am. I’m just such a dork and such a nerd like that. And I, I found it. I’m finding, though, if you don’t ask the questions, and you just assume, Yeah, like you’ll never grow in that way, and you’ll never have new ideas in that way.

Christa Hutchins 44:53
Yeah, I keep my little journal by my bed, and at night, I write down the things that you know, whatever thing the Lord has blessed me or, yeah, it’s not like not necessarily strictly a gratitude journal. I know a lot of people who keep gratitude journals. I saw somebody the other day who has been keeping a gratitude journal for years, and she’s numbered every one of them. And it was like 21,000 in something, you know. That’s my gosh, that was cool. But that’s not the

Paige C. Clark 45:18
the way that I’m way too flighty to do.

Christa Hutchins 45:20
Yeah, me too. That’s why this, you know, I just kind of keep it by my bed, and at night, I write down the thing. Yeah, I’m either grateful for the Lord’s teaching me that day, or it’s something about that day I want to remember. Yeah,

Paige C. Clark 45:31
I love that. So anyone listening, this is your common date commendation, to go and do this. So find someplace to write down your blessings, to be able to like, have both, and be able to live in the and

Christa Hutchins 45:47
live in the end? Yep.

Paige C. Clark 45:49
Any final thoughts, Christa? No, I

Christa Hutchins 45:51
think I just appreciate so much what you’re doing, and I’m glad that after five years of thinking about it, you’re doing it. Right, and God’s blessings on your ministry, and on your business, on your work, and just really thankful for

Paige C. Clark 46:06
you. I appreciate that. And where can people find you?

Christa Hutchins 46:10
They can go to do anything.com. We’re gonna make a special page, right doing thing.com/nine to five faith, and they can find some resources there. And my podcast is called just one simple thing, where we look at just one problem that Christian entrepreneurs and ministry leaders face, and we solve it.

Paige C. Clark 46:31
I love it. I love it. What’s the most recent episode of that? The most

Christa Hutchins 46:35
the recent episode was about creating community as an introvert. So we’re

Paige C. Clark 46:43
seeing, so if that piques your interest, yep, hop on over to the podcast. And we’ll link all of these in the show notes. Christa, thank you so much for joining us. That hour just flew by; looking at the time right now. Like, Wow, where did that go? But we’ll definitely have to chat again. And thanks so much for joining us.

Christa Hutchins 47:01
Yeah. Thank you. I’m glad to be here.

Paige C. Clark 47:04
Thanks for joining us. If you liked what you were listening to, make sure you subscribe and hit those five stars, and we’ll catch you on the next episode.