This is a transcript from episode 10 of the 9 to 5 Faith Podcast with Paige C. Clark.
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Start of Podcast
Paige C. Clark 0:36
It’s Paige C. Clark, and you’re listening to the nine to five faith podcast. Hi, everyone. I’m so excited to have you today. And I’m even more excited to have my friend Cami on with me. How’s it going Cami?
Cami Aufdermauer 0:49
So good. How are you?
Paige C. Clark 0:51
Good. It’s also a podcast like so like waving might not be like we are videoing it as well. It’ll be on YouTube. So if you want to see Cami wave, just go over to the YouTube. How are you doing today?
Cami Aufdermauer 1:07
I’m so good. It’s just good to meet you and get to chat with you. So I’m excited.
Paige C. Clark 1:11
Yes, me too. So tell me a little bit about you and what you do. And I call this like the why I should care kind of thing whenever I do presentations. I said like, this is me now. Why should you care that I’m talking to you. So I
Cami Aufdermauer 1:27
love Well, cuz I’m awesome.
Paige C. Clark 1:28
No, are awesome.
Cami Aufdermauer 1:32
Well, my name is Cami. It’s and my last name is Aufdermauer. So it’s super hard to spell. There’s actually a song that can help. But we won’t go over that right now. I am a mom, I am a wife. I have two teenage daughters. So really right there. You should, you should want to hear what I have to say. Because I’m surviving. Let’s just say, I’m not just surviving parenting teenagers. I feel like I’m thriving in it. But they are 12 and 13. So check on me in two years. Yeah. But I, you know, I have lived I live in Oregon. So if you’ve ever heard of Tilamook cheese, I live until a mug which is the cheese capital of, well, I think the world but maybe Oregon. And my family has lived until a mug for over 100 years. So I was as born and raised in this community as you get. And I have just, I’ve grown up really loving my roots here. And yeah, I just I love I love I love getting to raise my girls here in this town too.
Paige C. Clark 2:38
That’s awesome. And 100 years, that’s crazy. And I think we’re gonna have some really angry Wisconsin errs listening. Don’t care, I won’t tell them that I have Tillamook cheese in my fridge right now. Thank you, there we go. We want to tell them I really do. So tell us a little bit about like your nine to five and what that looks like for you.
Cami Aufdermauer 3:02
Oh, man, well, I have to back up six months, because my nine to five now based on on six months ago is totally different. So for seven and a half years, my nine to five was that I was the executive director of Habitat for Humanity. So I’m sure you’ve heard of habitat most people have. So I ran that organization and our community and truly felt like that was the job for me. Like I was like, This is what God created me for, you know, really enjoyed the work we got to do with family isn’t just everything that I got to do in running in that organization. So that you know, that was your typical nine to five in the office every day even through COVID we had I think like three weeks where I worked from home. Other than that in the office, you know, balancing the life and what that looks like. Well, my town so I only had to drive a couple of minutes to work right? But really got pretty radically rocked. When I read a book called Dream I dare you about probably about seven months ago, I read this book, and it really opened my eyes to okay, like I I put myself in this position to really think that this particular nine to five is my forever. Like I’m like, Why would I go anywhere else I’m it’s a Christian organization, I get to do good work for people. You know, this, if I’m going to work anywhere in this community. I don’t see any other job in this community that I would want. And so I started reading this book and God just really started to stir my heart for bigger dreams like outside of my community outside of what I was doing in just Silla monk. And he really started to be like, No, I there’s something more here. And so I was like, Okay, but what is that? What does that even look like? And so, what happened is I got really curious because again, I’m reading this book that’s really rad. Literally like opening my heart. And I’m like, Alright, who is this author? Like, who’s this Julia Gentry? What is this all about? And so I did you know, like in a good researcher, I went and found her on social media and stalked her Facebook page, you know. And so I’m following along, and I’m looking in her feed, and I found out that she was hiring for a super part time, Director of Operations, like 20 hours a week, nothing I can leave my job for, like the salary was not there, all of that. But I was like, I’m supposed to be involved, even if at that point, it meant just being a volunteer, whatever, that look alike, right. And so I reached out to her, and I said, I think I’m supposed to be a part of what you’re doing your books, rockin my world. And long story short, I ended up after a lot of prayer, and a lot of, you know, talks with my husband. I ended up quitting my my nine to five as the executive director, and launching into full time work ministry as the director of operations for Julia Gentry, who wrote the book dream, I dare you. I mean, my family thought I was a little crazy. But it’s so far. So I’ve been working for him now for six months. And it has been completely different for me, because this is my first job ever. Where I work from home. I mean, I didn’t even know that was possible. Like, I know people do that. But I know it was possible for me. Yeah. And that’s been such a such a, such a drastic difference from being in an office.
Paige C. Clark 6:40
Yeah, yeah. And how accessible it now is. So cool, because I think before it was, like, only certain special jobs, and certain titles got like the privilege of doing work from home. And now I feel like it’s more like widely kind of applied to the workforce. Right. So that’s awesome. That’s a really killer story.
Cami Aufdermauer 7:04
And it’s my favorite,
Paige C. Clark 7:05
I’ll have to tell you a story later of some crazy thing that I, you know, crazy opportunities really happened. Just like just like that. So that’s awesome. And and so take me through a little bit of like, what your day looks like from not only from like, a work perspective, but also like, you’re working from home. Now you don’t have to commute but also like you’re not in an office, which makes wearing sweatpants really easy to to what your time with God looks like.
Cami Aufdermauer 7:39
I am so glad you’re asking me this now. Because I feel like even last week, it looks so different, like this week, this week, I’m really proud of what it looks like. So maybe, maybe I was just getting prepared for this podcast. But I think what I love and I say this to my kids all the time, as I’m getting ready to walk, I have a little cottage in my backyard. That is my office. So thankfully, there is a little bit of separation from my house. But I always say, all right headed to work. It’s a long commute. So I have fully again, I said I have teenagers. And so we’ve actually because I do believe that I want to be focused when I’m in my office, I’m working on work all those things. So we’ve actually created a color code system for my door. So they know when mom’s little sign is red, you know, unless you’re bleeding or the house is burning down, like don’t come in. So we have different layers of those colors.
Paige C. Clark 8:32
No, that’s a really good thing.
Cami Aufdermauer 8:35
Yeah, they know if it’s yellow, it’s like, okay, come on, and say hi, but then head on out. If it’s purple. Come on in. It’s a party. Yeah, no, I’m gonna be honest, it’s never purple. But if it were, they would be excited. Yeah. And so I I get out my cottage, I believe very much in creating a workspace that you love aesthetically. So like, you could see, you know, that’s just everything’s very mean like it when you walk into my office, you can feel me there. Like I got a dream on my wall. I’ve got this beautiful lie in here. Because I really want when I walk into my office, I want it to be a place that I enjoy. I also really like a clean space. So that’s important for me, always making sure there’s no piles, making sure things are clean. And then my day starts out here. Thankfully, I get to create my own schedule. Yeah, but I start every single day at 5am. And that’s because I want my morning time. I want my morning time. And so what I’ve done and what my schedule literally looks like right now is I get up at five. Again, this was not last week. So let’s just say it’s been two days, but I get up at five and from five to six my dog and I go for a walk. That way he gets out I get fresh air. I listen to a podcast because I really love personal development. And so I always put in a podcast that’s something that I’m working towards growing in right now I’m helping create a speaker business for Juliet. So I’m listening to all these podcasts about how to create a speaker business. And then from six to seven, I have it on my calendar, like, actually in my phone, but that’s my Jesus time. And so, again, today’s CIO will check on me a couple months to make sure it’s sustainable. But I do believe and calendaring things, and making sure that, hey, if I’m gonna put, I’m gonna put this podcast in my calendar and show up, I’d better be showing up for my Jesus time in the calendar. Yeah. And so my day doesn’t start until after that time, but what I’ve also pre I’m trying to create margin. And so from that seven to eight, that is actually my planning time. So that is me sitting down with my, you know, I’ve got my planners and like my things, that is me sitting down and going, what do I want to accomplish in this day? Because I found that when I do that, I get so much more clear and excited and focused on what it is that I’m doing. And I feel like I have a purpose in my day, rather than just like, Okay, what’s on, you know, what’s on my agenda? What meetings Am I a part of, because meetings are one thing? It’s what fill up all of the things between the meetings that are really where I want to be intentional about my time. Yeah, and that is what a typical day looks like for me this week.
Paige C. Clark 11:30
And hopefully, weeks in the future, or weeks
Cami Aufdermauer 11:33
in the future. I think that one of the things too, like my Jesus time, right. Yeah, I will be honest, that before this week that Jesus time was lacking. Yeah. And I, there’s a lot of reasons why, but I think it’s because, man, I’ve shared a little bit about like my transition, I’ve been this new job for the last six months. I am so fulfilled in my job. I mean, I know not everybody can say that. But I can, like, I feel like I truly am exactly where God has called me to be. And like, I am so fulfilled, which is great. And that can be a dangerous place to be because I’m so fulfilled in my work, that I actually don’t sometimes feel like I need God to fill me up. Because I’m just so like, like, loving where I am. Yeah. So that has been something that I didn’t really notice that, you know, it actually took, I watched some people around me kind of start to burn out. And it more came from a place of I don’t feel burned out. I don’t want to get there. Right, I want to make sure that I’m doing the things that create a life of margin, so that I am having places to rest. Yes, I can love what I do. But if I’m not going to the sustainer to be sustained, like it’s not sustainable. And so I’m really trying to create, like I want margin in my life, because I believe that God’s revelation is going to come in that margin. And when I put him first like, he’s going to redeem, I mean, even the hour that I’m giving him dedicated time in the day, he’s going to redeem that tenfold by direct revelation. One of the things is that I don’t want to circle the same mountain. I don’t want to keep walking around the same mountain trying to figure out these lessons, right. Like, I don’t want God to speak to my heart. He’s not if I’m not listening, it’s gonna be really hard to hear him.
Paige C. Clark 13:30
Yeah. Yeah. And also like, couple things there. One, I am with you on having a clean space if my office is not clean. It’s a little crazy. Now this might seem like a real like nitpicky kind of question, but for the work from homers, they might understand this. Do you do your Jesus time in your office or in your home?
Cami Aufdermauer 13:55
That is a really good question. I’d be curious what other people say so I do it in my office. Okay. Yeah, and I could do it in my home. But again, when I do my Jesus time, like everybody’s still sleeping like they’re still out there. For a while, I thought I would have to separate them. And if I didn’t have good boundaries, I might have to Yeah, because I can very easily get excited to get on the day. The one thing I’ve done I will not have my phone next to me during my Jesus time. So I’ll put it on airplane mode. I take my smart my my Apple watch off. Yeah, I don’t want any alerts during the hour. My I don’t know if you know the Enneagram but I’m a seven on the Enneagram dude. Yeah, so I can get very distracted. Yeah, so I have to take off all the distractions and really just be present in that moment. Because work, the excitement of what’s the what’s to work on will catch me and I it’s hard to rein it back in. Yeah,
Paige C. Clark 14:57
for sure. I call it the shiny object syndrome
Cami Aufdermauer 14:59
or just So are you are you a seven? Two, I’m
Paige C. Clark 15:01
a six wing seven. So. But yeah, that it’s funny because I think that, like, back back before COVID, and work from home became like really more broad scale, I feel like that these conversations that I’m having with you and having on the podcast would look completely different than they look now. Because that margin that we have to have when we work from home, like we need boundaries, even in our own home, because we’re always working from there. So for example, my husband, he works for himself, he’s always worked from home, he always has a dedicated office space. But when we first got married, we, we found his work kind of bleeding out into our relationship and our regular life and everything like that. And it was just like, Okay, we need to create a physical boundary. So like, when you’re not working, the office doors are shut. And I’ve had to do kind of the same thing, which is why I was asking of like, in my office, I work in my office, anything else, especially like, my Jesus time, or even my writing as part of my work? I can’t even write in my office. It’s too distracting. I have to go away to do.
Cami Aufdermauer 16:32
Yeah, yeah, I think that’s good to just kind of know what works for people or what doesn’t. And I think, I mean, he kind of, I had a little conviction come up, because I would not say that lately. Until this week, I have been very good at having those boundaries. Like when I leave there, because I was just thinking my daughter, she, I was texting on my phone. And she goes, Mom, you don’t always need to message Julia, which is my boss. She’s like, you don’t always need to be on the phone with Julia, because I am on the phone with my boss a lot. We do text a lot. We’re always communication. And thankfully, that time I actually wasn’t talking to Julia. So I was like, well, actually, I’m not talking to her. But it did make me kind of go, oh, you know, like, I gotta make sure that that I, I mean, how often are we calendaring time with our kids or our husband? So like, I think just, and I even made that intention. This week, I told my boss, which she’s used to me working. I mean, I’m in the bathtub editing videos. I’m right. And I can you know, it doesn’t matter. Because I love it so much. I’m always doing it now. And it’s easy to do it. It’s easy, easy, it is hard to not right. It’s a meaning
Paige C. Clark 17:42
not that the work is easy, but it is easy, because you like it and it is not burdensome to do well.
Cami Aufdermauer 17:49
Exactly. And so the hard thing is stopping. Because it’s again, so fulfilling. So like, where do I want my fulfillment to come from? And will I look back and think even though I’m having fun, and all these great things, will I look back and have missed out on time with my family? You know? Yeah, I just don’t I just believe it’s important for me to always evaluate where I’m where I’m getting my fulfillment from?
Paige C. Clark 18:17
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Gosh, there’s so many things, so many different, like, Bunny trails, I want to go down right now. Because you’re saying so many good things, but one of them is, is the reality of being able to work remote means we can’t, we can work from anywhere at any time. And that is not, it is both freeing and binding. Because churro because, like so I work in social media, social media is always happening. Right? Like things when things pop off in the world. They happen on social media, like just saying. And so for me, it’s really easy to justify kind of always being on and always logging on. So like, besides, you know, just being recently convicted of that, or do you have any ways that you try to create better margin around that of like your emails or you know, you talked about Trello, your Trello board?
Cami Aufdermauer 19:31
Challenge changed my life. Are we going there? Let me answer your question. Yeah, there’s a whole nother thing.
Paige C. Clark 19:36
Oh, that because
Cami Aufdermauer 19:40
my husband is so tired of hearing me talk about Trello I’m like, is there a support group for people because I just want to talk to people about Trello
Paige C. Clark 19:47
Trello if you’re listening, looking for sponsorships
Cami Aufdermauer 19:53
go for real. So I think I mean, if we just go that route, I think one of the things I know What about myself, is that in order for me to thrive, and again, you look at your Enneagram, like, I’m an Enneagram, seven, so can get super distracted, rabbit trails, all those kinds of things. Yeah, so I have to have systems and processes in my life, like I have to, not only do I enjoy them, I enjoy setting up systems, I enjoy running systems I enjoy, I love efficiency. And so I, when I got into this job, again, I come from a company where I’ve created the entire company, you know, like, I create the atmosphere, where I came in to now I have one boss, and I’m the only employee, and she’s been an entrepreneur for years. And so I came in, and I’ll never forget what I said to her, I said, so I’m going to need three days to set us up a system, and I’m going to use Trello, which is an organizational system to basically Task Manager days with your team, right, and she’s like, you’re gonna need how many days to do what, and we always laugh about it. Because what I didn’t know, coming into this job until I was in it was how much I needed structure. And so when I went the first week in the job, and every meeting I’d have with her, I’d come out of the meeting with five pages of notes, none of which were organized, all the action items were mixed in this, this notebook somewhere, I thought I was gonna die. Like I’m just like, I cannot function in this world. And so I had to create those systems for our company. And now we use them every single day, like my Trello board, runs my day. And I’ve been able to bring our other team members now into that world. And now what’s so much more productive, I believe, when you set up systems and processes, it gets you to the place where you create the margin. Yes, the person who showed me how to use Trello, he says, yes, it’s gonna take you time to set this up. But the amount of time that you’re gonna save on the back end is tenfold. And I believe that I’ve seen it in my own life. So by having these kinds of structures and processes in place, it allows me to kind of create space and areas where, you know, areas that I need to create space in.
Paige C. Clark 22:16
Yeah. And I think like, I think that some people might feel ashamed that they’re not able to manage certain, I guess I call them temptations, but like checking your email first thing in the morning, or like, you know, scrolling through your Slack messages in the night, or whatever it is, I call them temptations, because they’re taking me, for me, that’s what they are. As, like, people might feel shame around that as a sign of lack of willpower. But really, it is just adding the systems in our life to better be efficient at the things that we really want to be efficient at. Do I really want. Do I need to be efficient at managing my email? No. Like, I don’t, it’s not my, my work email. It’s my personal email. It’s fine. It can hang out. Okay, if I have 20 emails from Wayfair? Let’s see. All right. That doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. But I think there are some people might feel like a lot of shame and in kind of admitting to that but like adding adding timers on to your apps. If you have an iPhone or you an Android or iPhone user,
Cami Aufdermauer 23:37
oh, iPhone, and I use it I use all the time. Like if I know I have even a meeting coming up. I always I set my timers all day long. That way, I don’t have to think about those things. The number one thing I can say helps with what you’re just saying for me is my phone does not live in my bedroom at night. Yeah. And it hasn’t for probably a year and that’s been the greatest smallest. I mean, that’s a very small sacrifice. I still have Alexa. So I haven’t alarm you. Oh, Alexa is talking to me now. But But I definitely like that has been a huge game changer for me, because now I’m not distracted. I think sleep is important because I got a lot to do in the day. I want to have energy. And if I’m on there scrolling I will also say remember how this week has been like a good week for me. I will say that I a couple of days ago. I took Facebook because I don’t use other social media. It’s mostly Facebook. I took Facebook off my phone. Yes, I can still get on it on my computer if I want because I’m not going to sit there and scroll. Yeah, that has been pan that’s been free and sometimes to just take that space and say, but I never felt like I could do that. Like in my jobs. I’m like, but I need it for my job. And not you I know you feel me girl. Yeah, like doesn’t need to be on our phone. Could it just be on the Computer. I think those small tweaks have allowed me to say, Okay. And a lot of the time, we’re just bored. So like, if we’re Oh, yeah, you know, like I’m eating because I’m bored. I’m, you know, scrolling Facebook, because I’m bored. It’s a lot of the time, we’re just not, like, we’re just bored. So then really asking myself like, Okay, I’m bored. What else could I do here? To make it so that it’s not just productive? But filling? Yeah, we know those things. Don’t fill us. Like foods not gonna fill me Facebook, social media is not going to fill me. Okay, so what what is it that would fill me with the Lord? getting some fresh air outside? You know, doing something creative? I think we need to get back to creating
Paige C. Clark 25:47
math? Oh, gosh, yes, for sure. And what I was saying about the timers, I don’t know if you do this, but on each app, you can set a time limit. So like, if you’re like, I only want to spend 30 minutes a day on any of my social apps, you can set it and it’ll like shut down the app. Like, it’ll ask you to like, Are you sure you want to like when Netflix judges you? And it was like, are you still watching your apps? We’ll be like, Are you sure you want to? And you can do that. And here’s like a fun. I mean, it’s fun for me and my organizational brain. But if you want to how many times like have you opened your phone, just kind of like on autopilot and just like clicked on your social media apps? And like, you’re just like, oh, like, how did I get it? I get in here, right? One thing to do to combat that, that that I really love, is to move your apps around. Whoa, because if you move your apps, if you change where they’re at, you have to actively go looking for them. And it brings together mindfulness because like, you’ll like swipe and like click where your Facebook was, and you’re like, Wait, why am I on the CVS app? Like or like, I don’t want to, like work out why am I in my health app? Like,
Cami Aufdermauer 27:14
that’s where you like strategically put the vital app?
Paige C. Clark 27:17
Exactly. Anytime I click on this, just open the pipe. There you go. So there’s I mean, there’s definitely things that we can do to like help kind of create that margin. And I will say to, for anyone who’s listening, my my sage advice, I guess, is to set the expectations kind of upfront with your work. If your work is requiring you to use your personal cell phone, negotiate, you know, a cell phone stipend, and if that’s not part of it, then say like, I’m sorry, I will not have email on my phone, I will not have slack on my phone, like, I will not be available, you can call me. But I am not going to have any of these communication things because that’s your own boundary for your own life and your own well being and give an inch, take a mile kind of situation of like, Oh, if it’s just one slack that I’m answering on the weekend, they’re gonna, you’re gonna still get them.
Cami Aufdermauer 28:18
And it’s funny because I was I did take my phone in bed last night, not for like the whole night. But just because I was like, oh, I want to do this. And so like I was laying there and doing this, because I specifically told my boss, I’m like, Okay, go like I have yet to get your intentions out there. And I just said, Alright, I’m done with work for like, don’t let me keep working. You know, yeah, to cut this off, because I love it. I love working. And I checked my email, and I responded to an email to her at like, nine 930. And then I emailed her right back, I said, No, I’m not answering emails in my bed at 930. You know, we kind of wouldn’t have to joke with ourselves and be like, but it was so automatic. Yeah, when that email and like, respond, like, what? No, I can’t just wait to respond. What would that mean about me? But those are the questions I have to ask myself like, where am I going? Because I know that I’m in this for the long haul. Like I want to be in ministry doing what I’m doing for years to come. And if I can create healthy boundaries, hate that word, but if I can create helping, what would be another word, healthy habits and rhymes like that? Sounds good. But I can create healthy habits now. I believe that will make this more it is it’s going to make it sustainable for the long haul.
Paige C. Clark 29:39
Yeah, yeah, for sure. And like, I think what we undervalue as as Christians, I guess, is the ability to create habit and routine. Like it changes our brain chemistry. There’s a reason why I go to on my phone and I open Facebook every time and there’s a reason why you know you want on when you’re like, bored, you like go to food because it’s like, like on some chemical level, I don’t want to lessen the people who have serious addictions. But the chemical response in our brain is very similar and in smaller amounts to that that has, you know, dopamine, or I want to say serotonin, but that’s what puts you to sleep, but your dopamine and all your other hormones that go on in your brain, that stuff gets released when we see a notification pop up or something. But that can be reverse engineered for our faith. Totally. Totally, yeah.
Cami Aufdermauer 30:41
Can we get that app, like, let that happen, you know, true, though. It’s true. And just small changes, like when I say like, when I say my week has totally changed this week. These are not big changes, right? It’s just being more intentional. And I mean, like, this is not a sales pitch. But when I say this book dream, I dare you by Julian Kendrick, remember, that was a little sales pitch. When I say it, this book changed my life. It changed my life. Because not only did it give me a dream, bigger to live for, but it helps me really know how to take captive, my thoughts, and to retrain my brain, which is exactly what you’re saying. Yeah. Because I now know what beliefs like what limiting beliefs have kept me from moving forward in my life. And I now have a conviction that is super strong to put my whole life on, like, and so like, even today, when I was struggling through and like, I was noticing some big feelings. And I’m able to say, like, am I living chosen today, because that’s my conviction that I live a life where I am chosen. And if I know that to be true, I no longer need the world to tell me I’m chosen. I literally live from a place of being chosen. Yeah, there’s so much depth there. And that’s really what her books about is finding that conviction that you can say, at any point, like, am I living chosen? And if the answer is no, that’s always when it’s going to show up for me in, you know, it’s always when my fruit is not the fruit of the Spirit. I mean, that’s, that’s really what it is. Anytime I’m living outside of, like really seeing the fruit. It’s because I’m not living in my conviction. And I just have to check myself.
Paige C. Clark 32:25
Yeah, yeah. And like, also, when we are operating in kind of this autopilot, kind of state, I’m actually my own personal plug, I’m writing a book about this. And one of the chapters is on autopilot. And it’s when we’re operating in this kind of just like, I guess, stress response, where we’re just kind of going through the motions, like, where’s the room for the Holy Spirit in that? Right? Because the Holy Spirit, like, like, I think there’s very like, I think, within the Trinity, they all have very different personalities. And I think like, the Holy Spirit is one of like, spontaneity, right? We see him move, like in the moment. And and if, if we’re kind of stuck in this autopilot mode, like how do we respond to the Holy Spirit when he asks us to?
Cami Aufdermauer 33:17
I just have this vision. I know I mentioned the INIA Graham a couple of times, because it has been so helpful for me in my life.
I literally just when you were talking about the Holy Spirit, I was I have that Holy Spirit’s of seven.
Like I was like, and then I’m like, What would God the Father, what would you? Like? I was like, how fun would that be? To dig a little into that? I think they’re probably every number, obviously. But like, I really got my brain thinking.
Paige C. Clark 33:46
That’s really fun. Like, what Myers Briggs is the Trinity.
Cami Aufdermauer 33:51
Somebody needs to write that book.
Paige C. Clark 33:55
And Mark is struck by lightning. I know.
Cami Aufdermauer 34:01
They really, like, you’re gonna have to put the Enneagram test link like, oh, yeah, because it really is been so helpful for me. Yeah. And just understanding the why I do things like the man it’s been, and then I can count that. I mean, that’s, that is why again, we talked about systems and processes. Those literally keep me being able to function because I need them in my life. Anytime I meet another fellow seven, and I’m like, Do you have a Trello board? Do you have systems on there? Like, I don’t have any of that. I’m like, let me teach you. Because I’m telling you like, once you learn how to create systems and structure and processes, not to become this rigid person, but to be able to have it so that it can give you that margin. Yeah, changes. It changes the game. I don’t want to hold anything up here in my head. I want to have it so that it’s out somewhere and then when I’m off, you know, doing my things paddleboarding. riding my motorcycle like adventuring? You know, I don’t want to have to think about Monday and what I have to be doing, I shouldn’t have to, there should be a system set up so that the things that I’m working on are already there. And they’re just waiting for
Paige C. Clark 35:14
me. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Gosh, if funny, like little tangent about the Enneagram. I love it only and most mostly because it is, it has felt the most true to me. I’ve done a lot of like the Myers Briggs Strengths Finder. And I think they all have their place and all kind of do their own thing. What I like about Enneagram is it felt most accurate of like, okay, this is the root of how I’m acting out of this is my core fear. This is my core intention. And this is what I act out of. Funny side story, when I was in high school, senior year, they made us take a personality, like Job test, really long test, let me tell you like an hour long. And you got called out a class to go take it, and I went and took it. And then I like, got to the end of the test. And it was like, We’re sorry, your personality does not match anything in our databases. And I was like, okay, so then I just like went about my life. And then I come back. Well, then I get called back into the office. And they’re like, You need to take the test. Okay, I tried. I broke the test. I tried to take this test, and it didn’t work. They’re like, Nah, just take it again. Like, okay, like, sir. So I took it again, it got the same exact results. And I just remember feeling like being like, what does that say about me? Because all my friends were like, you know, it was so accurate. It was exactly what I want to do with my life. It was like 100%, just like right there. And I’m like, I wasn’t in their database.
So all that to say, I’m glad Enneagram has a number for me.
Cami Aufdermauer 37:19
But so have you discovered like in that, have you discovered why yet like now?
Paige C. Clark 37:25
Like, I can’t even remember what tests it was. It was like, I remember like what the format of it was like, it gave you two options, like two paragraphs, and you had to select which one you related most with.
Cami Aufdermauer 37:43
Wow, that’s fast. That was it. And I
Paige C. Clark 37:45
just, and I’m like the, like getting it one time. It was like, Okay, getting it two times in a row. I was like, okay, like, I guess I really am weird multiple times over. Wow. Wow, that’s awesome. I will drop a link in the show notes to the Enneagram test. Because it’s, it’s insightful, and it’s really helpful. Okay, like, let’s get back to the topic.
Cami Aufdermauer 38:16
So it’s gonna be productivity slash Trello. Board and Enneagram. Yeah,
Paige C. Clark 38:21
I even wrote down the name of this episode as we were talking. So you know, it’s gonna be all good. Because I was like, Yeah, Trello Enneagram. All the good stuff. So tell me a little bit about what like your faith extracurriculars look like? So you wake up in the morning, you have your Jesus time all set aside, you have your boundaries. What else do you do what else goes on in the life of Cami?
Cami Aufdermauer 38:52
Wow, what a good question. So I am really involved in our church. We started going to a new new church to us about No, I think it’s been about three years now. And we have always been my husband and I have for the past 10 years have been in some type of leadership role in our church, whether that was, you know, on the worship team leading Bible Studies. And so when we came to our new church about three years ago, I remember just being like, I’m not going to do anything. I’m just gonna show up on a Sunday and I’m gonna, you know, do that. Well, that didn’t last long, because that’s not who God created me to be. Right. And I again, back to reading Julia’s book. While I was reading that it started to bring up I had remembered that there was a ministry called Embrace grace, which is a ministry for unmarried moms and teen unexpected pregnancies. Yeah. And I was like, while I was reading her book, I was like, Oh, I forgot about that. Like, I wanted to start a group because it’s a nonprofit, but then you start groups in your own church, right? And I remember Calling my pastor and being like, hey, so I think I figured out how I want to be involved, like, because my pastor is really good about bringing people into their calling. And so he had asked me like, how do you want to be involved? And I was like, Well, I don’t really know. Yeah, I’ve done the worship team thing I’ve done that this thing, you know, I don’t know how I want to be involved. So I remember when you know that that dream was kind of awakened to me again, I reached out to him. And I said, I think I’m supposed to start this group. And he was just like, Great, let’s do it. And so that was about a year ago. And we ended up launching in about a month after that a month after I talked to him, we launched the first ever in our community, embrace Grace groups specific to single and pregnant moms. And so that when you live in a rural community, and you don’t have a lot of resources, we don’t even have a pregnancy center, we don’t have, we don’t have a lot of resources that you find in bigger towns. So this has been a really important, a really important program. And what’s really exciting is now we’re you know, a couple years later, and we’ve been able to take girls through this group and host really amazing baby showers. And I actually have been able to hand off the baton to my co leader who called me this was a couple of weeks ago, she called me and she said, Cami, I think I’m ready to take over leadership, which when we first started, she’s like, please don’t ever make me lead. And I was like, That’s amazing, Andrea, because I My schedule is super busy in ministry just in my job, right. And so part of me was like, I was thinking in my head, oh, man, like, I don’t know, if I have the time that I need to give to this like, and when she reached out and said, I’m ready to leave. I knew it was time to let that go. And then what got really exciting for me is that I’m like, Okay, God, but where do you want me? And he really showed me, he goes, I want you to mentor, that CO leader. Her name is Andrea, I want you to mentor her into her leadership role. And I was I love the thought of in the church, helping mentor people in their leadership roles, whatever that looks like, right? Yeah, like really driving people towards their purpose, which is also what I get to do in my daily job. But I was like, what if I could do that to help the church grow, too. And so that’s been kind of a new thing for me. And I think I’m 37 I might be 38 I’m not sure. I’m one of those numbers. I think I’m 38. And I don’t know if I ever considered myself like, you know, and I didn’t realize that, like, I can’t mentor people. Now. It’s not like you have to be old, you know, but it’s always kind of think like, oh, the older ladies are like mentoring. So I’ve never, I think it’s the first time that I’ve gotten to the place. I’m like, wait, no, I can start mentoring people like, I can start pouring into people. But I don’t. For me, I’m not interested in just leaving a Bible study or you know, that kind of thing. Like I’m interested in creating different kind of opportunities. So for example, I love to adventure like I am an adventurer. It goes with my Enneagram seven we’re literally called the adventure. And so I kayak paddleboard motorcycle like I love all those things. And so I started a women’s Adventure Club in my community. And it started as a small group through my church. And so I get like women signed up and once a month we go and we adventure. We go we go hiking. We go kayaking, we we went skydiving. That was pretty fun. I got any ladies, Pam, that was amazing. Wow. Wow, this I know, good. Group. Totally. So this group has grown from, you know, I mean, one, it’s from like, 10. To now we have over 500 women. Again, rural community. This has been a year only a year 500 women who are in now it’s a Facebook group, because I’m like, I can’t manage this, like Planning Center stuff. So 500 500 women and our community club, and all I do it’s so low key. All I do is the few days before our once a month we do at the first Saturday of every month. I just put where we’re meeting, and everyone shows up. I mean, the most we’ve had is probably like 4040 Women 40 Women kayaking, like I found kayaks from all over the community. But about we’ll get anywhere from about 15 to 40 will come but that is every week I occur every month. I’m getting to meet new women. I start every group out with a prayer. Like I’d say prayer for safety, you know, have a prayer. And it’s really I say we are here to build community. We are here to get to know each other. We are here to be in God’s creation and we do a name game every time so we’re learning people’s names. And as easy as it is because it’s really not hard like I literally post something on Facebook and we all show up the amount of ladies that afterwards are like, thank you so much for doing this, like people are hungry for community. Yes, sometimes it really is just as easy as saying, What am I already doing that I can bring people along? And I it’s been, it’s been so cool.
Paige C. Clark 45:18
Yeah, that’s awesome. And one thing, one of the ministry leaders who I’ve been involved with in the past, he just said, he said, you always have to eat. So why not bring people along with you to eat? And so like to what you’re saying, you’re already going kayaking, you’re already going on hikes, are already going skydiving, maybe. Might as well bring people along with that and create that community.
Cami Aufdermauer 45:47
I love it. And I actually it’s funny that you brought up the food thing. I don’t enjoy having meals together. I mean, that might be really weird. But I would much rather be outside. Yeah, like experiencing like, an opportunity. Like, if, honestly, like, if I were to hang out with friends, I would rather us always be doing something. Like it’s harder for me. Like, if I have the choice between like sitting across the table from you at a coffee shop, or just being outside on a walk or whatever, I’m always gonna choose the outside. And it’s just, it’s cool to be able to kind of meet people in like a more low key. I remember when I was with Habitat, especially during like, COVID time. Yeah, I was like, Hey, let’s get like, we don’t need to be in the office. Let’s go jump on the kayaks. I had so many meetings with people just on the kayaks. And like, that is how I want to live life.
Paige C. Clark 46:39
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I think just like, I think there’s something to say too, about like, feel like our world and our culture is so highly curated. I think there’s something to be said to what comes easy, and what comes naturally. And just incorporating that into a wider audience and into more people and, and then bringing God along with it.
Cami Aufdermauer 47:05
Well, I started thinking, it’s funny, because this has just been two days ago, because I literally work from home now. Right? Like so my, my kitchen tables right there. I could very easily open up to, you know, once a week where on the lunch hour, you know, or like 12 to noon, like bring your sack lunch come over, let’s do some dream storming. Let’s just really make this time about, like, what are you passionate about? What are your goals? Like, where are you headed? What’s God really put in your life? Because I want? Do I want those conversations and friendships. But I’m like, how easy for me to just throw it up on Facebook, create an event, you know, does a small group, like it takes no effort from me? Except for to just say, Okay, I’ll show up. Yeah, I mean, even if it’s just me, it shows up. Yeah, I think I used to have a lot of fear around starting something and nobody showing up. And that was based on the limiting beliefs that I was living in. And now it’s really like, God, if this is your plan, it is going to work. I truly believe that if it’s God’s plan it like you were telling me before we started this, like, if it’s God’s plan, it will work. The timing may not be ours. But I believe if he’s created me to create community, then he’s going to bring that community to me.
Paige C. Clark 48:24
Yeah, for sure. And you’re convicting me right now. Because so I just moved into this new community. And there’s maybe 50 people in here already. Very, very small community. And not all the houses are filled yet. They’re still getting filled. And we have this like community space, where there’s fire pits, and like a gazebo and a water fountain. And it’s really nice. And I’ve wanted to do like a weekly, like, weekly get together and just like say, Hey, I’m going to be in the community space with a bottle of wine. Anyone want to join, bring your own glass like that, that kind of thing. That’s something that I’ve been wanting to do. And like you’re convicting me of like, Just do it.
Cami Aufdermauer 49:12
Right. And think how I mean, and that’s going to, maybe we both need to check in on each other with this because again, not hard. Yeah, you know, we put it on your calendar by the bottle of wine show up, and then let God do the rest. And I think that’s what I’ve loved about Adventure Club. It does not feel heavy at all. Like I look forward to and I leave every single week just going like oh man that was good. Like this is this is what it’s all about, like connecting with people. And I think just God is so good to open us up like to open us up to really have the opportunity to say yes, and when he tells us to move, that we are obedient in that Yeah. Okay, it sounds like wine clubs happen.
Paige C. Clark 49:58
If it weren’t storming out All right now I would say like let’s do it Friday, but we are currently storming. There were hurricane force winds in the mountains. So, you know, yeah, casual, actually out here. So in the Arizona in the desert, you have to be careful when it’s windy. I like hope I don’t deter people from like coming out here I’m talking like, like 22 Like, winds remember half that 80 miles an hour. Okay, like so what happens especially during the summer when we get more wind storms, there’s this thing called Valley fever. And like, you can get it from breathing in like the dirt from like, the dust storms. So you know,
Cami Aufdermauer 50:44
really weird,
Paige C. Clark 50:46
right? I’m just like, there’s it’s just like a spore that you inhale that gets but like it’s not in the city or anything. What happens is the winds come from so far out of the city, it’s in the desert. Like that’s where this like, fungus lives in the desert. And it blows in and then like you get, you can get valley fever. Although my husband’s lived here for 30 Something he’s never got it never got it. It’s like the Oregon
Cami Aufdermauer 51:11
Sasquatch. Like is it real is not real,
Paige C. Clark 51:15
is definitely real, like people get really sick from it. But I personally have not and neither has my husband. So I I am just aware of the fact that like, Hey, don’t necessarily go run around in a dust storm. It’s you know, it’s not really good for your lungs.
Cami Aufdermauer 51:34
I wouldn’t even know what that is like because I live in a place that rains you know, 365 inches a year so Wow, all right, no dust here.
Paige C. Clark 51:45
I seriously, I have not only do we have the air filters in the ceiling, but we have like mobile filters in every room because it gets so dusty even inside the house.
Cami Aufdermauer 52:00
Well, you know what it must be nice page to have sunshine. I mean, it’s been a long winter here on the Oregon coast. Let me just say, remember what I was saying. Like, sometimes you started thinking about moving on, like never make a moving decision at the end of winter in Oregon. Because you’re just so ready. The sun will come but when when is my passion.
Paige C. Clark 52:23
And also wherever you want to move. Go visit it at the worst time of year.
Cami Aufdermauer 52:31
Right now in Arizona when there’s dust storms.
Paige C. Clark 52:34
No now’s not even the worst time I was gonna say like we’re still like three months away from the worst time which is August, July and August but I laugh one of my one of my neighbors she’s from California. And I the first year which was last year she was here. We had a bad dust storm and she was texting me like Paige I walked outside and there is dust everywhere. I was like yes. Like, this is a dust storm like this is what happens. They usually blow over in a few minutes, like usually takes like 15 minutes and they’re over with and then you can just go about your day. She texts me back. He’s like, it’s like frontier weather. I was like, Oh, like that is like the best thing I have ever heard because I definitely have a tumbleweed and my friend Yeah, right now my gosh, the wind. tumbleweeds are real thing if you like don’t believe the movies. They actually exist guys.
Cami Aufdermauer 53:36
Oh, when I walked out of the airport elevators in Florida, because I’ve never been I literally the ladies I was with. I was like, What is that like talking about the humidity? Yeah. And they’re like, that’s humidity. I’m like, Oh, good, Lord. That is not cool.
Paige C. Clark 53:52
No, nope. It’s like opening an oven door. Just like weird. Yeah, I don’t do humidity, which is why I’m in the desert. i My family lives in the South. I will not follow them there. No. Oh, gosh, so many good things. One thing that I’d like to talk about and this kind of like, I don’t know, I was looking over these questions. And I was just like, I’m like really like pushing people to kind of like tattletale on themselves and like, be a little bit vulnerable. But what’s your biggest struggle when it comes to practicing your faith and working full time?
Cami Aufdermauer 54:34
Oh, well, I think we did kind of touched on a little little bit, but I think it’s not like honestly, this is what God’s showing me is not finding fulfillment and anything above him. Yeah. Because again, I get that I am blessed that my job is so stinking fulfilling like, truly. But I don’t I don’t want anything to fill me up. except for, you know, to overflowing like nothing’s gonna fill me to overflowing like God can and will. And so I think that for me, I just have to always check where I’m getting filled up. Yeah, it has to be it has to be God first. And just really making sure again, asking myself that question of if I continue on this, even though I’m having fun, will I have missed out on something that’s important, like, well, I look back and think, Oh, I had the opportunity to spend more time with my kids. But I was so distracted by even good things, even ministry, right? I’m distracted by ministry that now I’m not going on date nights with my husband, or I’m not, you know, spending time in the evening with with my girls or watching movies with them. Like, I’m being so productive in these other areas that I’m not actually resting. And that for me, like one of the things that I just I was doing this Bible study that I’ve been a part of, and God gave me some major revelations, which I’ve never been like a picture person, but he showed me a picture of a roller coaster. And I was like, What is this, like this big roller coaster. And he basically I grabbed my journal and I, I have no desire to write a book. But if I did, I just wrote my first chapter. Right? It was like 10 pages. And it was all this word picture about how the way that I ride a roller coaster, is the way that I actually approached my entire life. So but the part that really struck me because right we are on the roller coaster, and like all this enthusiasm and all these word pictures, but it was what I do when I get off the roller coaster. And that’s that I get off the roller coaster after I’ve after I’ve basically wrote it 100 times. And all of a sudden, I look around, and I’m exhausted because I haven’t eaten. I haven’t drink any water. I haven’t taken care of my body. Like I’ve just been Go, go go. But the saddest thing was when I looked around at my family, or the people around me, this was the first time that I even noticed that they’re like, Mom, we’re exhausted. You haven’t sat us you haven’t, you know, like, we’re just because nobody could keep up at my pace, and I pushing and pushing and pushing. And that’s when I went, Oh, like I have to actually get it off the roller coaster and the roller coaster isn’t always bad. But I have to get off the roller coaster. You know, and actually, while I’m on it, I need to look around and evaluate the people around me is my drive. Where are they at? Like, where are they at? And also for me because, again, I got off the roller coaster. And now I’m like, I haven’t eaten. I’m thirsty. I gotta pee. You know, like all the times that I haven’t taken care of, because I’ve been so in it. And that just really made me go God, I want to do a better job of resting in you. So that when I’m on the roller coaster, it’s sustainable. Because I want to know that I’m stewarding Well, this season that he’s given me help. Like I’m healthy. I have, you know, I have a lot of great things going on in my life. But I want to keep those things and I don’t want to run things into the ground. And I don’t want to run those around me, you know, into the ground either. And I have to watch out for
Paige C. Clark 58:19
that. Yeah, absolutely. I think also, when you’re saying, only getting your fulfillment from God, and one thing that I’ve been just thinking of over the past few months in the past year, especially being like so engrained in like, the corporate world is also like, getting your identity from God and God alone. Because as you work, it’s really easy to say I’m Cami, and I’m the Director of Operations. Right? Like you ask someone like oh, like, who are you? What do you do? And it’s, I do this for for work, and that’s who I am. And, and really, it’s like, oh, I’m like a daughter of the king. Like I am a follower of Christ. Yeah, struggle identity, you should find bee bee in
Cami Aufdermauer 59:15
the switch from the executive director of habitat in my own community, right, where you are a leader in your community, that when I was getting ready to transition out of that role into the role that I’m in now, that was a huge because my identity was like I was Cami, the executive director of habitat. And I knew that when I went to this job, nobody’s going to know my name. I’m now working on a global scale. What I call nobodies like, oh, it’s cameo after Mauer, like in a small town, everybody knows you. So I knew like going over to this job that I was going to wrestle and it was almost like letting go of work. You know, just kind of what you’re saying like that identity and who you are. Are you know, and I think even living in a small town, it’s very easy to just think that’s how it is everywhere. But it’s not like, right, I have to go out. And now I have to introduce myself. And, you know, it’s kind of this whole different thing. And that was a big shift for me and one that I’m really thankful I went through because I now don’t believe that I identify myself. Like I, I think more just, I know, God’s using me in ministry in ways that he’s called me to and gifted me to, but I, I don’t see myself and in this job, making it my identity. Right takes up a lot of my time. And yeah, you know, there’s all that balance there. But I would say, I, that was a very stark transition from one job to the next.
Paige C. Clark 1:00:50
Yeah, and I think I think it’s seen a lot. I mean, I can’t really speak for more like blue collar jobs, but definitely in like, corporate kind of white collar jobs. It’s always about what’s your next step? What are you going to do next? How are you going to uplevel? I remember I was at a job and they’re like, oh, what’s your growth plan? And I’m like, hey, my bills, and have kids one day, like, like, my growth plan. And what I wanted for myself was not associated with my job. I’m gonna do my job with excellence. And I’m going to do it well. And whatever happens after that cool, that’s up to God. But like, my, my soul, I guess, like meditation, when it comes to my future is not about my job. And what I do?
Cami Aufdermauer 1:01:44
Yeah, no, I can’t relate to that. Because mine was, yeah, it definitely was, especially habitat like, and again, I was the director. So I mean, there was no position above mine. So nobody was ever asking, like, what are your goals here? I just had no idea that someday, I wouldn’t just be working in my own community. So I never had to think about the fact that, like, when I go knock on the door, this person has no idea who I am. So that was a very cool thing for me, because it helped me to get out of my own small, you know, mindedness. Really. I mean, that’s not a bad thing. Like my whole family’s been here. Like, they’ve had amazing careers in this one community. But I didn’t know that was possible for me. And so I’ve never had to think about what would that look like to start knocking on doors where nobody knows your name? You know, like, that was a that was a, it’s been really cool. Like, I haven’t hated it. At first, I was scared. But now it’s like, wow, I even told my husband, I’m like, I could change my name to Kamara and nobody. Please don’t do that. I’m like, Okay, I won’t do that. But all of a sudden, I was like, I could create like, this new identity, although I like who I am. Right? Like it does give you an opportunity to kind of that freedom. We were talking about the work that working from home, I will never forget, because again, brand new for me to work from home. I’ll never forget when I grabbed my laptop, which is like a MacBook Air. So super small, you know, then I held it up to my daughter in the car. I said, Do you want to know something cool. She’s like what I said, anywhere. This laptop can go Mommy can go. And she’s like, really? I’m like, This is my job in this laptop. And it just kind of opened up like, I could go anywhere. I haven’t gone anywhere. You could go somewhere, you know, come visit you and we could Yes. Go sit in the dust storm.
Paige C. Clark 1:03:37
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, like with your adventuring. I’m like we should definitely go up to page Have you have you like do you know what page? What is page Arizona? Is the city smelt like like a book page? Not like Right. And it’s on the like the northern most border of Arizona. Probably take like from where I’m at. It’s like a six hour drive. It’s a long drive. But it’s beautiful. Look up horseshoe Canyon. Look up Antelope Canyon. All of those are your so you’re gonna meet me there. Yeah.
Cami Aufdermauer 1:04:16
Okay. Sure. Sounds good. I’ll bring my laptop. Well, we’re
Paige C. Clark 1:04:18
gonna work party. Yeah, we’ll go up to the snow and like go anyways. Antelope Canyon. If y’all are ever in Arizona, go with you know, one of the tribes. They do the tours up there. And it is beautiful. And it’s crazy because I was like I heard Canyon. And I was thinking like, like, you’re on the ground and the mountains go up, and you’re in the canyon that you go down to the earth and that’s the canyon. Oh, yeah. It’s trippy like you there’s a crack in the ground and that’s what you climb. bid. How do you get out? You climb a ladder? Oh, wow. Yeah, it’s awesome. Anyways, Cami we should make that happen.
Cami Aufdermauer 1:05:09
I love it. I love even if I went nowhere, I love knowing that I can. And I know I will. But also in due season, right, so like, I just I love opportunity to look at what’s out there. And like, okay, where to next God again, I lived in this community my whole life. But that’s not to say I couldn’t go somewhere else right? Maybe someday I will. I never thought that was an option.
Paige C. Clark 1:05:36
I love that. I love that. Well, Cami, let’s wrap it up with what is one thing our listeners can do to implement a faith building discipline or practice in their life this week?
Cami Aufdermauer 1:05:50
Well, besides get a Trello board, because seriously, create some margin, honestly, like I, I again, I think it takes resources to get you to where you want to go. And so I’m just going to recommend a resource. And that, again, is that to buy the dream, I dare you book. Really, truly, this book is what catapulted me to where I am today, mindset wise, but also career wise, also how to dream all those things. So that would be kind of my, my one charge is get this book, because this book is really what changed the game for me.
Paige C. Clark 1:06:31
I can’t wait and your book is on
Cami Aufdermauer 1:06:33
your way, lady, it’s in the mail right now.
Paige C. Clark 1:06:37
Shut out. That’s exciting. I was gonna say I need to read it. I have actually on my desk, I have 1-234-567-8910 or 11 books that are on my list for the year. So that one will get moved to the top of the stack.
Cami Aufdermauer 1:06:58
It’s a small group study too. So it comes with a workbook. So I’ll send you the workbook as well. Oh, um, because that’s really where the depth comes in. Right. And I’m excited to see you take that journey because it’s, it changed the game. Changed it all for me.
Paige C. Clark 1:07:12
Awesome. Cami, thank you so much for joining us and we’ll catch you guys next week. 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.
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