: 0:06

Welcome to the Leading Conversations podcast sponsored by the Excel Leadership Network. On each episode, jd Paring will have conversations with church planting pastors and leaders from around the country. You can learn more about how to connect with Excel at the end of this podcast. Let's join JD now and listen in on this leading conversation.

J.D. Pearring: 0:29

Hey, welcome to another edition of the Leading Conversations podcast with Excel Leadership Network. Today we are thrilled, exuberated excited to have the great Dom and Allie Simmons with us. It's Dominique and Alexandria, right? Yes, they are from Dallas, texas, and we're so happy to have you guys here today. Come on, it's a pleasure, it's an honor, it's an honor. Now, where in Dallas are you?

Dom Simmons: 1:02

So we are in Fort Worth, so we're about 30, 45 minutes away from, uh, from dallas forward. No, dallas, we're forward.

Allie Simmons: 1:12

So is your church in fort worth yes, yeah, we're like at the very tippy top of fort worth the north fort worth area.

Dom Simmons: 1:20

we're about. We're about an hour away from Oklahoma. Go down 35. Oh wow, we're 15 minutes from Buc-ee's and 45 minutes away from Oklahoma 15 minutes from Buc-ee's.

J.D. Pearring: 1:33

Hey, will you explain what is the deal with Buc-ee's? What is the draw? I've been to two Buc-ee's. They just put one in Colorado it's the largest one for about 15 minutes until they build a bigger one in Texas.

: 1:48

You walk in people are happy.

J.D. Pearring: 1:50

I don't understand.

Dom Simmons: 1:52

It's the restrooms, it's really the restrooms. They have good restrooms. They literally clean somebody. As soon as one person walks out, somebody goes in there and cleans it, so you can trust that it's clean. No, but they have good. They have good food. Um, it's a big place, so, though it's crowded, it's still spacious. Um, I think bucky's got it right by being big and doing it right, but also being clean.

J.D. Pearring: 2:18

Yeah and so you know, I still don't get it. I I've just I've never. So I I've never seen so many happy white people in my life.

Dom Simmons: 2:30

That is true, not a lot of me in there, but it feels good.

J.D. Pearring: 2:38

Yes, the bathrooms are clean, just crazy. So anyway, hey, tell us your story.

Allie Simmons: 2:48

How did you come to Christ? So I grew up in church. It was kind of just what we did and you know, church was always a thing, not an option. On Sundays, even as we grew older, it was like, nope, the one thing you're going to do is go to church. And so I came to know Christ at a pretty young age. Definitely, you know, just served and was involved in all different capacities, whether it was kids ministry or, you know, greeting, whatever that looked like.

Allie Simmons: 3:15

In college I definitely drifted away from that walk and, you know, just kind of went on the partying scene and doing all the things. I think I had my freedom so I felt like I could stretch my wings and figure out what this crazy world had to offer. And so life was definitely pretty crazy for a few years and just not really walking with the Lord as closely. And then I actually found out that I was pregnant with our oldest daughter. I actually found out that I was pregnant with our oldest daughter. This was before Pastor Dom and I met, but we quickly became a single mom and I think that was just kind of a wake up call for me of like, holy crap, I have to get back right with the Lord. And so just walking through being a single mom, going through domestic violence, you know just a lot, of, a lot of those things, that was a wake up call of like, okay, you know, I'm tired of trying to control my life and figure out how to do things. It's not going well. And so um really just turned back to the Lord and got super plugged in in a church.

Allie Simmons: 4:19

Um started, you know, just finding community and small groups and things like that and other women that had similar stories or were just encouragement and accountability of being able to walk out, what it really looked like to have a true relationship with the Lord. I think, growing up, a lot of it was more dependent on my parents or grandparents and they have a relationship with the Lord and they pray for me, so I'm good. And so it was really that moment of like I know who is Jesus for Allie and what I need in this season. Um, and so, yeah, got my life back on track and just really dug deep into ministry and church and that's what opened up the doors initially for me to go on staff at a church and just I knew I was called to ministry. I think I just ran from it really hard for a while, and so it kind of just hit me head on once, you know, once things started to get into order. So, and then that's where we actually met in St Louis on staff at a church.

J.D. Pearring: 5:19

So yeah, meet me in St Louis. Huh, is that how it happened? Yes, it is. I want to get back to the call, but first I want to hear Dom's story.

Dom Simmons: 5:30

Yeah, yeah. So for me, I did not grow up in church Kind of. I mean, my mom would take me, take us, to church when we were younger. However, there was. I remember very vividly. There was a time where, you know, um, there was a statement made at church on a sunday and my mom did not like the statement, so therefore we never went back. Um, and uh, and I remember I was in, I was in third grade at that time and uh, we ended up moving to a different part of fort worth and started hanging out with the wrong, wrong group of people, um, and gangs selling drugs, just making really terrible, bad decisions. Um, at a at a young age.

Dom Simmons: 6:11

And um, it wasn't until my sophomore year of high school that I walk into this church, a youth group, on Wednesday night, and, um, football was my, my love. Like anything physical was my love language. Um, I loved fighting. I love all that. Like anything I got to do physically my love. Anything physical was my love language. I loved fighting. I loved anything I got to do physically. I loved, and so, football.

Dom Simmons: 6:33

I became really good at it and I remember walking in with my friends on a Wednesday night to this thing that I got invited to about 100 times, but I never. I always said no. But she's actually. This is actually kind of crazy. My sister-in-law, my brother, is married to the woman who invited me to church. That, ultimately, is the reason why I gave my life to christ. It's actually kind of crazy. Um, so in high school, she kept walking up to me handing me flyers and I would always say, no, I'm not going to that. That's dumb, that's stupid, nobody wants to go to this church thing. And um, I remember the last time she just handed me a flyer. It had a pink elephant on it and it said a chance to win $100. And so I was like, okay, we're going to go, we're going to go.

J.D. Pearring: 7:14

There's cash, there's cash.

Dom Simmons: 7:17

And we walked in, there was just Christian hip-hop on Lecrae and music. They had free food and there was games everywhere and it was like, okay, this is what I thought church was like the norm. And so the message comes on and the message happens. And he preached a message. He said some of you feel like a pink elephant in the room, like everybody can see your flaws and your imperfectionsions and everybody can see everything wrong with you. But that's not how God views you. He's your father, he loves you, he wants to relationship with you.

Dom Simmons: 7:54

Now, mind you, I grew up with a single mom, with three boys. I never, there was never a father figure in my life. For the, for the early days of my life, it was always, um, my mom's and and so to to to have this, this, this thought of a dad that loves me was like. It intrigued me and I remember started crying that night, gave my life to Christ and still um, dabbling in in the things that I I was dabbling in before, but there was just a little by little chipping away. I started rapping at the church I was going to and writing music.

J.D. Pearring: 8:31

You're a rapper.

Dom Simmons: 8:32

I mean, there are some videos out there. There are some videos out there. We won't go dig them up. We won't go dig them up.

J.D. Pearring: 8:42

Allie, will you send the links to that so that?

Allie Simmons: 8:45

we can get that, no problem, yeah the next excel update.

Dom Simmons: 8:49

We need to highlight oh Dom the rapper oh so we, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just, we just. And it was what we did at the church. But we had one foot in, one foot out. And I remember our student pastor my senior year of high school. We thought we were coming up for rehearsals because we always had rehearsals on Monday nights. We thought we were coming for rehearsals. He locked the doors and he made us go through a different door and we walked into the room and it was a circle of chairs and it was just a spotlight on those chairs. We sat down. He was just honest with us. He said, man, it was a group of us, me and my brother and some of our other friends. He said y'all are living one way here and one way in the world, and so you got to make a decision Either you're going to continue to live that life or you're going to start living this life. And he took us off stage for three months, didn't put us on stage for three months and it was like dang, like we, we, we felt the, we felt the longing for what we, what we normally did, and the text of what we were doing was no, we no longer wanted that. And so I remember my mom moved and and and again.

Dom Simmons: 10:02

When you're a part of the things I was a part of, you can't just there's certain, there's certain criterias and stuff like that that just aren't the norm to do. And so God just really had his hand on me in that season to pull me up out of that and to put me in a place and space where God got to cultivate something new out of me and in me. And I remember I went to summer camp and the Lord was like um, it was beautiful exchange. And the Lord was like hey, I'm asking you to take one more step. And um, I was like man, I, I'm, I've already, I'm what, what do you want me to do?

Dom Simmons: 10:37

Like I'm, I'm like I can't go to certain spaces and places. I'm doing this, I'm doing that. God, what are we talking about? And lo and behold, it was this step into ministry and I became an intern. And yeah, that's kind of my life story, really, my senior years when I fully, fully, fully dove into what it looked like to be a Christian. But my sophomore year is when I gave my life to Christ. I remember getting baptized and everything, and so that's my kind of story.

J.D. Pearring: 11:14

Wow, those are both pretty dramatic. Hey, you both mentioned single moms being raised by a single mom. Allie, you were. What would you say to single moms out there?

Allie Simmons: 11:59

no-transcript, isolated, and you know the questions of what did I do to deserve this or what did I do wrong, even if it's not your fault if the other person chose to not be in the picture, you know. But I think it's just clinging to Jesus in the, you know, in the most intimate and vulnerable way of just being able to open up to him.

Dom Simmons: 12:25

So you know what's. What's interesting is, um, I'll share this funny, uh, funny. Not in the time it wasn't funny, but nowadays looking back. We were on staff at the church and um, and, and the pastor of the church pulled me in a meeting and didn't really know my story. He just really hired me.

Dom Simmons: 12:44

I'm a student pastor and he saw Allie and I dating and he pulled me aside in his office and he said hey, I don't think you should be dating her. I said hey, I don't think you should be dating her. I said why? Because she's a single mom with two kids. Who else knows her life story? And it's just some other things.

Dom Simmons: 13:07

However, he didn't understand or didn't know that I was a byproduct of a single mom with three boys, single mom with three boys, and, and, um, the thought I had was man, I wonder if, um, he would tell my mom a guy trying to date my mom that's a good guy. If, if she was not worthy enough. And I think what I would tell single moms is is is you do deserve everything that God has for you, and I think that oftentimes it's easy to that we don't or think that we're products of a bad decision or a mistake that we made. But the truth be told, man, you're a part of God's story and he's still in your life. Well, he's still a part, like he still has a story and a plan for your life, and I think that you deserve it. And so don't run away or shy away from the truth that comes with being close to Jesus and knowing who God is and what God has for you, because God, yeah, he has amazing things for you. You're his daughter. He loves you.

J.D. Pearring: 14:12

I appreciate that. Thank you so much for sharing about that. Let's get back to both of you. Kind of alluded to your call to ministry.

Allie Simmons: 14:22

Yeah, I think I definitely remember growing up, and probably in middle school, just having dreams of sharing my story, which at the time I didn't know what that was going to look like. But just, you know, really seeing these visions of what the Lord was going to do one day, and I think at the time I was so young that it didn't really make sense. Um, and then, kind of as I grew up and having that season of running from just anything that was familiar, um and really to do with the church, I kind of had just like thrown that idea away. I was like, ah, you know, it was just dreams when I was younger, it wasn't anything that was going to apply to the future, but really just having this moment with the Lord of I remember vividly. It's probably one of the only times I can say like I know I heard the Lord's voice clearly. But he just asked me was I done, being in control because of how things were just looking? And I was crying out and like, lord, will you change this? Lord, will you help me with that? And it was really just I had to die to myself and surrender to him.

Allie Simmons: 15:28

And I think, just in taking those steps of obedience, as uncomfortable as it was, it started to just pave the way to seeing how I was going to be able to help other women and just come alongside the church and ministry that I was a part of at the time and doors just began to open. Where it was, you know, they needed a front desk receptionist and an open opportunity for my kids to go to preschool, you know, and different things like that. And so, just kind of taking one step at a time, I think I began to see that calling unfold more and more and where I thought I was totally unqualified, you know, I had leaders and pastors in positions that were like no, I think you're capable of more, like you're actually really good at this, let's see, you know what God is doing. And so, um, it was definitely just steps of obedience and God just continuing to show me like no, there's more inside of you and there's more that I want you to do.

Dom Simmons: 16:22

If you'll say yes, so, for me, I never would have thought in a million years that I would be, you know, encouraging people to to live in the way, the truth and the light of who Jesus is. And you know, when I was at camp and this one more step, it truly wasn't until I came home and I remember again, there was this song that we had all wrote a verse to, and it was only three verses, but there were four of us rapping at the time and we were all going crazy. But we realized, hey, somebody got to sit out and I remember me, I, I was the least of them all and so, um, I got booted and kicked off, um, and it hurt. It hurt like I literally went back and like I remember like my feelings literally being hurt. And um, but that same week, the student pastor says, um, hey, do you want to? You want to host with me instead? And I just let up and I was like, yeah, I'll host. And so I did the announcements, walking in greeting people, and they were like, man, you're really good, like you need to, we need to do this.

Dom Simmons: 17:34

And I don't know, maybe it was a plot to get me off from rapping, like, move me from rapping. But I just started hosting more and then I got asked to speak at our student takeover weekend on Sunday morning and I just remember the Lord like kind of impressed on me of like this is where you're supposed to be, and so became an associate student pastor and then became a student pastor and then just been, had been running that for about seven, eight years and became a campus a young adult pastor, campus pastor, then the outreach pastor and just starting to see the fruit of what it looks to just be obedient. But for the first couple of years it was hard. It was tough, but I think it was a lot of what's the word? A lot of circumcision happening in my life, but the Lord was moving around. So that's the call. That's how it came about.

J.D. Pearring: 18:34

Well, I can relate to both of you because I too, have been kicked off a rap squad, so we need those and we need that.

Dom Simmons: 18:43

We need that video that's.

J.D. Pearring: 18:47

That's pretty fun, but I love what you said, ali, about are you tired being in control? Because I just remember thinking. You know you're trying to live this life and the best you could possibly do. If you did everything, it would be like a B plus and God has this A plus life for you. Why are you running from him? So thanks for sharing that.

Dom Simmons: 19:09

How did you guys get to St Louis Are?

J.D. Pearring: 19:11

you from there, Allie? I mean, how did you end up in?

Allie Simmons: 19:14

Oh, so my sister had actually moved to St Louis a couple of years before I had gotten there and then, when life had just gotten crazy and you know I found myself as a single mom, she had offered for me to move excuse me, move up there, um, just really kind of for a fresh start, of just getting out of the town and the city that I was in. It was a really small town in Florida, so it was kind of like everybody knew everybody and I was just looking for something more. So I moved there with her for a couple of months and then got my own place, got on my feet and all of that, and so that's kind of how I ended up there. And then, you know, I know I'm like I got a frog in my throat all of a sudden. No, so, yeah, so my sister was there. That's what initially brought me to St Louis and then found the church and everything else.

Dom Simmons: 20:08

I moved there for ministry. I was, and I just I had gotten fired from a job in McKinney for not making good decisions and I was just like, okay, I don't know what I'm going to do. And I went to, I interviewed in St Louis and back in April, but I turned it down and then a year later the position was still open and so they brought me in as the student pastor at the church in St Louis, and so that's, and then we met, and that's where we met.

J.D. Pearring: 20:46

How'd you guys?

Dom Simmons: 20:46

meet, she tell the story completely different. I'll tell you right now. I tell the truth. She kind of jades it a little bit. You know jades a little bit. So I'm going to let her tell it. But then I'm going to give the truth. I'm going to tell the truth.

Allie Simmons: 21:03

So at the church we were at, they would film testimony videos and kind of play those, you know, after worship and like before offering and that kind of thing of just life change stories that were happening at the church. And so they knew, you know, I had been on staff for a few months at this point and kind of knew what I was walking out of, and so they had asked me to do a testimony video. So I was like, yeah, cool, no problem. So it was early one morning before the office opened yeah, it was, yeah, it was very early. So, um, but there was a guest house on the property. So they're like, hey, we're going to shoot your testimony video over at the guest house. There's somebody staying there, but it's totally fine, just go knock on the door, they'll let you in.

Allie Simmons: 21:44

And I was like, okay, cool, like not thinking anything of it. So I go over and knock on the door super early in the morning, like I said, and uh, he came to the door not so happily, you know like who's who, who are you? And I'm like, oh my gosh, there's this huge black dude like about to bite my head off because I woke him up, you know. And so I'm like uh, what are you doing? Like, what are you, what are you doing?

Dom Simmons: 22:10

like what is going on now. Mind you, I I, they had just put me in a hotel close to the church that I had to move out of because they were like it was just dirty, there was roaches and it was just. I was already annoyed by that and I don't have a place yet. I'm trying to find a place to live and can't find a house, but I'm still there working, so I'm in the guest house, and so I was already kind of annoyed a little bit, and so I was in the guest house, and so I was already kind of annoyed a little bit, and so I was like man, what in the world are you doing? This is it probably, was probably like more like six, seven probably about seven o'clock, but needless to say he was very intimidating.

Dom Simmons: 22:50

Three am in the morning. That's what it felt like. Yeah, um, and then, uh, we ended up. I ended up seeing her in the lobby and I walked up to her and I apologized. I said, hey, I'm super sorry about this morning. This morning was not a good first impression. I apologize. She's like, oh, no, worries, and she had our daughter and our son, braylon and Kisum. They were playing and I remember going in for service and sitting down and I was like standing by her and then this dude walked in and sat in the middle of us. So I was like, oh all right, cool. So, excuse me, I didn't think anything of it, I was just all right, cool, blah, blah, blah. And then a couple weeks go by and I made the decision that I wanted her to be my wife.

J.D. Pearring: 23:37

So I kind of In two weeks, you decided you wanted her to be.

Dom Simmons: 23:42

No, no, no, it was like September. It was at the end of September and we had met in July and she had walked. We weren't even talking, we weren't even anything. We were just friends.

J.D. Pearring: 23:57

And you decided at that point you wanted her insulin okay, she walked through the lobby.

Dom Simmons: 24:03

she was wearing this pink um, what is it called? Kimono, and it was like, it was just like she. I don't know why the thumbs up we have it but she literally walked through the lobby and I remember looking yep, that's my wife, that is my wife.

J.D. Pearring: 24:18

And hey, six years later, that was six years ago, or it took you six years to no, no, no that was six years ago.

Dom Simmons: 24:29

When we make our mind up, we close quickly. Okay, we don't play too many games, there's not too much stalling, Anything. To add Allie to that.

J.D. Pearring: 24:35

There's not really too much Stalin.

Allie Simmons: 24:40

Anything to add Allie to that. No, I mean, I think it was just definitely a God thing of our paths crossing. And you know, walking out of what I had been walking out of with two kids me kind of notice him even more is because the kids were very like, friendly and interactive with him, where most people they were very standoffish and especially men they did not trust at all. And so I'm like, okay, why do you guys like this dude? What's the deal?

J.D. Pearring: 25:06

I love the kids yeah, what happened to the guy who was sitting between you? He in a rug somewhere okay, okay, he's in a rug somewhere that's not true. That's not true okay, well, we'll have to do some investigating. How did the church planting bug bite you guys? Man, man.

Allie Simmons: 25:40

I think that was one of the first things that we really discussed of, I feel like just kind of getting to know each other. Like it was already something that was on his heart from the very beginning. And so we had our first date was six or seven hours long, like literally of just talking, just talking, and I mean from that moment on we decided that we were going to do this thing together, um, but there was just a lot initially that we felt like the Lord was doing in us individually, and then as we came together, it just kind of was like the puzzle pieces coming together of like no, I really think the Lord is calling us to more in ministry, of not just being on staff somewhere but eventually, you know, starting our own thing.

Dom Simmons: 26:25

Yeah, and I remember. So we do this thing every every year, um December 27th, every every year, we'll sit down and we have a uh kind of like a uh uh end of year like, kind of like debriefing dinner meal or something. We'll go somewhere, we'll sit down and in that time, man, it's like, hey, we just ask questions about the year. How'd you feel, what'd you think, what'd you like, what'd you not like? What do we need to change stepping into the new year? What do we need to shift? What are some things we need to take from this year to the next year, for them to take? And we're supposed to both come to this meeting, kind of mid or dinner, with those things already answered.

Dom Simmons: 27:08

And I remember the first time we did it, we sat down and we both had said at the end, like what do we think God's calling us to step into? And it was to plant the church and it was kind of like a cool thing to happen. Um, I think we still have somewhere and um, but we didn't know, we and this was back in 2019, um, and so, yeah, 20, 2018, going into 2019, and so we had thought that where we would be would be a good place to send us. We thought that, man, this would be a cool opportunity. However, it did not work out that way. We thought the next place would be a place. I remember being on staff at a church and I told the senior pastor, like our dream, like what we believe the Lord's told us to do, and I said, hey, in three years, like this is not a today thing, and he didn't. It just that's not something he was wanting or willing, or even necessarily in a season of wanting to do, and so we knew that it would be 2023, 2024 at time, but we just didn't have a space in place that would develop us and pour into us.

Dom Simmons: 28:25

Because, really, where we did ministry at, for the most part and again I don't say this to be petty or I don't say this to be any kind of way, but I do say this to be truthful and honest Church has become more of a competitive sport and there's a lot of competitiveness in it that, I think, taints the truth of what it looks like for God to really use what he's trying to raise up and bring up a lot of. Because we co-pastor, we don't look like a lot of other churches in the area that we pastor in, we are technically, we're young, you know, and so there's a lot of people that because, well, not a lot of people, there's just spaces and places. We've been in that because we don't want to, because we don't look like them or talk like them and sound like them, whether it's their agendas or whatever it may be.

J.D. Pearring: 29:18

We kind of had to get it out the mud and figure it out. So you launched I Am Church.

Dom Simmons: 29:22

Where'd you come up with that name? I'm trying, I'm working on a branding for our church. I'm working hard on this. Okay, so we praying from be praying for me, um, but it's exodus, chapter 3, um, verse uh 14, where god tells moses I am who I am, um, and basically our church is, is a place where we believe that and we, we don't want people to have an encounter with Dom or Allie, or or or or the people in our church. We want people to have an encounter with the great I am, and so we think our church I am, because we believe that this is a place where, um, god is going to be what you need him to be in the seasons you need him to be, it, um, it, um, if, if and some seasons you need a comforter. He's that, um, he's your provider, um, and and, and. So it's. There's just. There's just there's a cool concept with the name of our church um, the one, it's the power of the name I am.

Dom Simmons: 30:17

You see it in genesis, but another time in john, when, when they go to arrest jesus and they say, hey, we're looking for this jesus, we're looking for the king, the king, hey, we're looking for this Jesus, we're looking for the king of Nazareth, we're looking for this guy, and Jesus says I am he.

Dom Simmons: 30:30

And the moment he says I am, they fall, they all fall, and the same people that came to persecute Jesus couldn't even stand against the name I am, and we want to be a place where people know that they go to a church where we believe in the miraculous powers of who God is and what he can do, speaking the name, but also, too, we want people to have ownership of the name. When you say what church you go to, I am church, you are embodying that. What happens in the four walls don't just stay in the four walls. You are a product of the outpouring that God has delivered us, has given us on Sunday, whether it's for worship, the word, and we want you to go and tell people hey, take pride in your church, I am church. I am, but I am church man and you are a part of the body, and so it's a cool, unique way we landed on it.

J.D. Pearring: 31:21

Yeah, that's great, and if you don't like it, you'll end up in a rug somewhere.

Dom Simmons: 31:26

Hey, we know some people.

J.D. Pearring: 31:30

Well, I know you.

Dom Simmons: 31:31

That's all I need to know, listen, I tell people I've been unsaved longer than I've been saved.

J.D. Pearring: 31:41

Hey, give us a leadership tip.

Dom Simmons: 31:48

Man. I think in this season, I think something that the Lord is really dealing with me on is two things One, as he elevates us, as he elevates what's happening around us, we should also be elevating how we just do things in life, in a sense of our level of maturity and wisdom and understanding, and the seeking of the coaching and the reading of the Bible, reading books, our knowledge Like we can't walk into the next season smelling like the last season. Um, there's a newness to what he's doing, and so we got to get ready and prepare for that. And the second one would be um, man, um, dying to your flesh is good and necessary and important, and it should be something that we're all doing every day. With that being said, guard your heart. It should also be something that you're doing every day as pastors, as leaders.

Dom Simmons: 32:51

It's so easy for us to get so caught up in the everyday that we expose our heart to things and we begin to get offended or hurt by the people we're leading or the things around us, and we strike the rock and we begin to respond out of the pain and the hurt that's in our heart and we end up being disobedient or we end up not leading well and we end up compromising in areas we shouldn't compromise. But it's not due to a lack of willingness. It's just a testament of being overwhelmed and being hurt because people leave, people are going to talk, people are going to say things like things are going to hurt. But if we're guarding your heart and protecting your heart, then you don't lead from emotions. You lead out of wisdom and discernment.

J.D. Pearring: 33:41

Great. How about you Allie?

Allie Simmons: 33:44

Oh great, how about you, allie? I definitely piggybacking off that. That second point thick skin and a soft heart is something that a leader told me in the very beginning of us kind of starting this journey of church planting and it's just stuck with me. You know she's like, hey, people are going to come and go, things are going to happen. Life is not going to always make sense. You know you guys aren't untouchable just because you're stepping into being lead pastors and all of these things.

Allie Simmons: 34:10

You know God's call is on your life but you always are going to have to have thick skin and a soft heart and I think that's just something I've continued to pray daily of just being able to still have that tender heart and compassion for people and being able to see them the way that Jesus loves them, but also having thick skin to wear when those rocks come and those stones, and people say those things and it hurts, or somebody comes and they leave and you don't know why, or you know just all the different things. I mean, even on a personal side, just you walk out difficulties with family and what it looks like to be, you know leading different lives and sometimes people don't understand. But to be able to just have thick skin and a soft heart has really been a huge thing for me. To kind of recenter and refocus when those hard days come.

J.D. Pearring: 34:59

That's wonderful, that's a really good word. So, hey, thank you guys. That's wonderful, that's a really good word. So, hey, thank you guys. Thanks for who you are, thanks for what you're doing, thanks for sharing with us today. We believe in you, we're excited about I Am Church. We don't have to be thrown into a. I don't need to go into any rug, so I'm really for you. So if you need some help, if you need somebody that needs to be put in a rug, contact Dom Simmons.

J.D. Pearring: 35:32

Dom Simmons Rug Company hey, llc, you know thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you for having us.

Dom Simmons: 35:45

It's a huge honor. Thank you for everything you do and how you move and how you do Oftentimes you are sacrificially pouring, meaning there's no gain in return for you and what you do for not just us, but hundreds of others and pastors and leaders, and so thank you for believing in us, investing in us and also being a place where those who are crawling can crawl too and not just stay where they are but be lifted up and encourage you, pastor Paul, pastor Luke, the whole team, everybody, man, thank y'all so much, thank you.

: 36:22

Thank you so much. Thanks for joining the Leading Conversations podcast. We hope that you found it both helpful and encouraging. At Excel Leadership Network, our focus is on the church planter rather than the church. If you'd like to find out more about us, visit our webpage at excelnetworkorg. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss any future episodes. See you next time with another leading conversation.