The L3 Leadership Podcast with Doug Smith
The L3 Leadership Podcast is focused on leadership development and personal growth. We are obsessed with helping you grow to your maximum potential and maximizing the impact of your leadership. We release a new episode every week to help you grow and develop as a leader. You will hear a mix of personal lessons from our Founder, Doug Smith, and conversations Doug has with world-class leaders from around the world. Doug interviews leaders like Pittsburgh Steelers Coach, Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Penguins Coach, Mike Sullivan, Tony Horton, Liz Wiseman, Brian Tome, John Mark Comer, Mark Batterson, Ryan Hawk, Nona Jones, Claude Silver, Ken Coleman, Christy Wright, Rachel Cruze, Mark Cole, and many more. Our hope is that you will not only learn great leadership lessons but that you will catch great leadership from the lives of the leaders that we expose you to.
The L3 Leadership Podcast with Doug Smith
7 Leadership Lessons I Learned at the Most Powerful Memorial Service I’ve Ever Attended
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What would people say about your life at your memorial service?
In this deeply personal episode of the L3 Leadership Podcast, Doug Smith shares the powerful leadership lessons he learned after attending the memorial service of legendary pastor and leader Jeff Leake.
For over two hours, story after story was shared about a man who finished his race with his faith, family, character, and calling intact. The experience forced Doug to ask a question every leader must wrestle with:
Am I living in a way that will lead to a life well lived?
⏱️ Episode Breakdown
00:00 – Why this memorial service deeply moved Doug
02:00 – Doug’s relationship with Jeff and the impact of mentorship
04:00 – The 2% principle: Finishing with family, character, and calling intact
08:00 – “Nobody has a dad like my dad” — intentional parenting that lasts
12:00 – Why family must come before success
14:30 – The urgency of spiritual fathers and mothers
18:00 – Becoming a spiritual parent to the next generation
20:30 – “Calm always wins” — emotional steadiness in leadership
25:00 – Teaching leadership lessons at home
27:00 – First Samuel 20 friendships: Anything, anytime, anywhere
31:00 – Your legacy is not what you do, but what you set into motion
35:00 – Resume building vs. people building
38:00 – Why documenting your content is a gift to your family
42:00 – One day it will be your memorial service
45:00 – What are you doing with your life?
48:00 – Long obedience in the same direction
50:00 – Don’t quit. Finish well.
In this episode, Doug breaks down the leadership principles he took away from that unforgettable service and how they can help you lead with greater purpose, clarity, and legacy.
If you want to become a leader who finishes well, this conversation will challenge and inspire you.
In This Episode You'll Learn:
• Why only 2% of leaders finish their race with their faith, family, and character intact
• The parenting goal every leader should pursue: “Nobody has a dad like my dad.”
• Why great leaders learn to live by the principle “Calm always wins.”
• The importance of spiritual fathers, mentors, and leadership relationships
• The powerful legacy principle: Your legacy is not what you do, but what you set into motion
• Why documenting your life and leadership content is a gift to future generations
• How reflecting on your own mortality can help you lead a more intentional life
It's finishing well.
Resources Mentioned
• Jeff Leek Memorial Service
• Jeff Leek – Allison Park Church
• L3 Leadership Podcast
Connect with Doug Smith
Follow Doug Smith for leadership content and resources to help you grow to your maximum potential and maximize the impact of your leadership.
Subscribe to the Podcast
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👥 Leaders Referenced
Henry Cloud – https://drcloud.com
Eugene Peterson – https://www.navpress.com
Jeff Leake (Legacy referenced throughout episode)
🤝 Sponsor
Andocia Marketing Solutions. Andocia exists to bring leaders’ visions to life. Learn more at www.andocia.com
🎥 WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrF93uIEB9BusYfpXUPIriU3evdBXjqaL
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Hey leader, and welcome to another episode of the L3 Leadership Podcast, where we are obsessed with helping you grow to your maximum potential and to maximize the impact of your leadership. My name is Doug Smith and I'm your host, and we recorded this episode live from our Burgo Realty Studios. Well, leader, in today's episode, you're gonna hear a personal lesson from me, and I'll share the lessons that I learned from the best memorial service that I've ever been to, and I'll give you more context into what that was as we dive into the lesson. So with that being said, let's dive right in. Enjoy the lesson. Hey leader, today I'd like to talk to you on the subject lessons that I learned from the most impactful memorial service that I've ever been to. And a few weeks ago here in Pittsburgh, we lost an absolutely legendary leader in Jeff Leek, who is the pastor of Allison Park Church. And Laura and I had the opportunity to go to his memorial service. And literally for over two hours straight, we just bawled our eyes out and were so inspired by hearing so many men and women who have just had their lives impacted by this man's obedience to the call of God on their life. And uh we were just so touched, and I actually felt compelled and convicted that I needed to write a lesson on the lessons that I learned from Jeff's memorial service and from his life and legacy. And so that's what I did. So that's what I'll be sharing with you today. Just a little bit of background on Jeff and I's relationship. So I first met Jeff actually for it from interviewing him for the L3 Leadership Podcast, way back in episode number 27, back in 2013. And I remember uh, you know, I knew he was a legendary leader in our city, so I reached out and he said yes. He was so kind to give me his time when I was just such a young leader. But that's who Jeff was. He would, if you asked for his time, he would give it to you and pour into you and encourage you and just stick with you. He was just so awesome with that. And so that interview was the start of a phenomenal relationship that lasted the last 13 years. I had coffee uh multiple times with Jeff where he would pour into my life and just let me ask questions and just pour wisdom into me. He ended up hosting our L3 one-day leadership conference at his church. I asked, and he wasn't even going to be there, and he said yes, like no strings attached. He just, that's who he was. He was so, so generous. And also with a nonprofit that I work at, Light of Life Rescue Mission, he and Allison Park Church through their Kingdom Builders campaign were extremely generous to the mission and just did anything they could to help advance what we were doing at Light of Life. And I'm just one person out of literally thousands upon thousands of people who've had that experience with Jeff that he was a mentor, he was a spiritual father, he was a sage, he was so many different things to so many different people, and he just added value to our lives. And so just want to give you some context of my relationship with Jeff as we dive into these lessons. So let's dive in. And again, these are specifically from what I learned, just from his memorial service. You know, if you know me, I often I tell people if if they're they need to design a life plan and they need to begin with the end in mind. They need to think about what do they want their life to look like uh when they get to their memorial service? What do they want to be able to say about the way they live their life? And for better or worse, you know, I had to learn the lesson that life is short at a very early age. I say it all the time, but you know, I lost my mom when I was 17 years old, she was only 55. Two years later, I lost my mother-in-law, she was 47. And uh, and then a few years later, uh, when my I was 35, I think, I lost my sister and she was only 32 years old. And so I always tell people, you know, if I only get as much time as my mom, I'm 40 years old at the time, I have 15 more years. If I only get as much time as my mother-in-law had, I only have seven more years. And if I only get as much time as my sister had, I'm actually living on borrowed time. And so the idea that life is precious has always been really, really important to me. And so, you know, I think often about legacy. I often think about what will my memorial service be like? And when I went to Jefferson Memorial Service, I looked around and said, this is it. This is it. Like, this is the best example I've ever seen of well done, my good and faithful servant, uh, making the impact that he made on his earth, finishing his course well. And I just, that's what I aspire to. And so all these lessons, and really my heart for leaders is I want to make sure leaders get to their finish line. In fact, that that's my first point that I drew away from Jeff's memorial service was that Jeff was part of the 2%. Jeff was part of the 2%. What do I mean by that? Well, when I was a young leader, my spiritual father, John Nuzo, said to me, Doug, I believe only about 2% of Christian leaders make it to their finish line with their families, their character, and their ministry intact, fully fulfilling what God had for them on the earth. 2%. And I've not been able to shake that stat out of my head. I don't know if there's actual statistics behind that, but I could tell you if it's not 2%, it's not much higher. And uh, Jeff is living proof that you can be part of the 2%. Jeff was 61 years old when he passed away, and his family was intact. In fact, I'll talk more about them later, but he raised an unbelievable family that is literally changing the world for God, that I aspire to have like a family like his one day. Uh, his marriage was intact to his wife Melody, his ministry was intact. There were no blemishes on it, no moral failures, nothing. And uh, and I believe he fulfilled what God called him to do. I mean, literally, hundreds of thousands of churches have been planted because of his obedience uh all over the earth and so much more. And so he's part of the 2%. And that's what I want you to get a vision for, leader is you need to be part of the 2%. You need to have a vision that, hey, I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it to my finish line. And hear well done and good, faithful servant with my marriage intact, with my family intact, and my ministry or business or organization or whatever you're leading intact. Like that is the goal. That should be driving you every single day and helping you make the decisions that you're making. And I'm so grateful that as a young leader, I have examples like Jeff, like a John Nuzo, that they're making it to their finish line intact and showing us that, hey, it is possible to live with a life of integrity and character and to make it. You can do it. And so get the vision leader. We can all lead like Jeff, lead our lives like Jeff, and we can make it to our finish line and be part of the 2%.
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Doug SmithI uh, you know, when I was when I first heard that Jeff passed, I started scrolling through some of his social media. And I thought it was so interesting. I don't think it was a coincidence. His last post on social media was actually entitled, What Keeps Me Going in Ministry? It was all about longevity and what a gift of a message to leave to everyone that you influence saying, Hey, I made it. Here's how you can make it. And I'd really encourage you if you don't follow him, Jeff Leak, uh, go through his stories and all of his posts. So, so, so good. But I'll make sure you check out that one. What keeps me going in ministry? It's how you can be part of the 2%. Number two, the second lesson that I learned was nobody has a dad like my dad. Nobody has a dad like my dad. And this was a quote from one of his sons. And man, did I ball doing this part? He had four out of his five kids share at the memorial service. And one of his kids made that statement. He said, You know, growing up, you just think your dad's normal and that everyone has a dad like your dad. But when you start getting older in life, when you go to college and then you get out of college and start getting around other people, you realize that, and in his words, nobody has a dad like my dad. Nobody. Nobody has a dad who's living for God, who's charging forward, who's filling me with vision, who's challenging me, who's current, encouraging me, who's spending time with me, who's prioritizing their family. Like, not many people have that. And that's absolutely true. And the lesson here for me was just I want, I want that, I I want my kids to say that. That nobody had a dad like my dad. Or if you're a mom, nobody had a mom like my mom. I I that is the vision, moms and dads. I know parenting can be hard, but that's why we have to be intentional. When I was listening to Jeff's kids talk about how he interacted with them, you know, they talked about all the one-on-one quality time. He had five kids, but they talked about the one-on-one quality time. That's what they remember most. His daughter shared how I forget what the show they watched, but they watched a girly show together. And um, man, it was just awesome. They remember his belly laughs when they were in the van driving 14 hours on vacation. Um they remember him challenging them. What I loved, one of the sons said that uh Jeff would always say to them, Hey, I'm more committed to your greatness than I am to your happiness. How is that for a parenting quote? I'm more committed to your greatness than your happiness. And I believe great parents fully know, love, and challenge their children. And that's exactly what Jeff did. And as busy as he as he was, as as many lives that he impacted, family was always first. And that was very evident in the way that all of his kids spoke about him. And so I just want this to be a reminder for all of us parents. Nothing is more important than your family. Nothing. There's nothing. I don't care how successful you are. If you lose your family at the end of the day, what do you have? You have a bunch of stuff to celebrate by yourself. Nothing is more important than family. Family is everything. So make sure you're investing in them. And one day, maybe you'll get to hear your kids say, Nobody has a dad, nobody has a mom like my mom and dad. So, so good. Next, number three, we all need spiritual dads and moms, and we should strive to become them. We all need spiritual dads and moms, and we should strive to become them. Um, Jeff and Melody, Melody's his wife, were absolutely spiritual fathers and mothers to so many leaders, hundreds, if not thousands, of leaders. And when Jeff passed away, one of the things that broke my heart the most is he was a spiritual father. He was a spiritual father to me, not as close as you know I am to some of my other spiritual fathers, but he fathered me every time we were together. And I realized it's like, okay, man, my spiritual fathers, they don't have much time left. And in just a few blinks, my spiritual fathers are and mothers, they're gonna be gone. And so what am I doing to extract everything I can out of them? Actually, when Jeff passed, I actually text uh another one of my spiritual fathers and I said, Hey man, I'm feeling urgency now. Like I want to extract absolutely everything I can out of you. Can we meet on a consistent basis, uh, maybe once a quarter this year? Because I just want to spend time with you and just literally have impartation take place where you just impart to me wisdom and everything that you've learned here on the earth. And so my my challenge to you is one, if you don't have a spiritual father or mother that you can actually name, you need to find that. And the great place to find them are in church. And so make sure you're going to church and connecting with older people. They have so much wisdom to impart to you and be intentional with that time. Again, their time is narrowing and narrowing, narrowing. Uh, and so we just, I can't encourage you enough, do everything you can, reach out to the spiritual fathers and mothers in your life, ask them for their time and be intentional with it and soak up everything you can before they are gone. You need that. One of my favorite quotes ever is from Henry Cloud. He said, We need both mothering and fathering to reach maturity and adulthood. And it often doesn't come from biological parents. Go and find it. That's what you need to do. But the other challenge I got there was we also need to strive to become spiritual fathers and mothers. We need to strive to become spiritual fathers and mothers. And again, I'm 40 years old and I realize, you know, for a long time I was a spiritual son, but and then I've moved kind of into the spiritual brother. And now I'm starting to move into where I am and will be a spiritual father in the faith, and my wife will be a spiritual mother to the next generation. And that's the way this is supposed to work. But it's like, okay, leader, if you've been leading for a while, who are you fathering? Who are you mothering? Who are the people in your life in the next generation that you're pointing to and saying, This is my guy or this is my girl? Like I am gonna do everything I can to pour it to them so they're prepared to lead well in the next generation. You're called to it, leader. So go be a great spiritual father and a great spiritual mother. The next lesson I learned was calm always wins. Calm always wins. And I never heard Jeff say this personally, but someone was speaking and they said, Hey, do you remember Jeff always said calm always wins. Calm always wins. And I felt like that was a direct word from God to me uh during the service. Uh something that I've been working on my personal leadership journey is just not letting my emotions control me. Uh, I can, I am definitely a feeler, I'm high emotion, and so I can swing one way or nothing uh or another. I'm all or nothing. And so again, my emotions can get the best of me sometimes. So I'm learning to control my emotions and my reactions and to not let them get the most of me. But why I'm bringing that up is I've been praying, God, God, show me like why do I, why do I snap back on my kids? Or why do I react with anger in these situations? And why, why do I let my emotions get the most of me when this happens? And I felt like this was an answer to something I've been praying for. It's like, man, I need to pray and focus on remaining calm in the midst of any storm, in the midst of any chaos, in the midst of anything going on. Like that is one of my goals. And what I realized was in thinking about Jeff's life, the leaders that I admire most in my life, they're calm. They're calm. Like they're they're going through things where I know the weight of the world is on them. I know it's like they're in situations where it's like, how am I gonna handle this? But yet they're calm. They're calm. And I'm like, how do they do that? And so that's one of my goals in my life is I want to be a leader who is known by and described as calm. Man, Doug is calm. Doug is calm and steady through the storm. That's how I want to be described. And I know it's gonna take a journey to get there, but that's what Jeff was. I I I never remember Jeff overreacting or anything. He always seemed, no matter what came his way, he was calm and steady. And uh, and I think as leaders, that's a word for all of us. I think it's an area that we all need to grow in. And I was reading, um, I just looked up a bunch of verses on calm. I was actually sharing this with my family, uh, this saying, calm always wins. And one of the scriptures that came up was this, Colossians 3.15. It says, Let the peace of Christ, and and then in parentheses in the Amplified, it describes that. It says, the inner calm of one who walks daily with him be the controlling factor in your hearts, deciding and settling questions that arise. And for me, that's going to be one of my life verses in leadership. I love that. What is what is peace, the peace of Christ? It is the inner calm of one who walks daily with him. And if we're truly walking with God, if we're trusting with God, trusting God in the middle of our circumstances and the weight of leadership and the pain of leadership, we should still have a calm and a peace that can only come from him. And I I feel like that's why Jeff was able to remain calm. And so many of the leaders I look up to, their calmness isn't because they're just naturally calm and don't feel the weight and don't feel the pain. They're calm because they walk with him. They're calm because they trust him. They trust be, they they're calm because they cast their care on God, because he cares for them. So it's just a great reminder. And this is more of a side note, but anytime that God teaches me something, I want to teach that to someone else, which is why I'm sharing it on the podcast. But I also want to encourage you, when God speaks to you something, teach it to your kids. This specific word I felt like was really important. And I have a few kids that are also emotional, like I am. And so I shared this during our weekly, we have a Sabbath dinner, and I usually share a small devotion after that. And and I shared this saying, calm always wins. And we started talking about it. And man, it really ministered to my kids. And uh two of my kids actually made posters that says that say, calm always wins. And they put it in their their rooms. And this week, actually, it's been funny. Uh there's been times where there was a time actually today, I think it was this morning, I got upset. Or no, it was last night. Uh, I got upset, and my daughter said, Daddy, can I can I say something to you? And I said, Sure, what? He she goes, Calm always wins. And inside I'm like, she's right. She's right, calm always wins. And so we're challenging each other as a family and encouraging each other to stay calm even when we don't want to. I think it's a great, great leadership principle. So calm always wins. The next lesson, it was about true friendship, which I'm super passionate about. I become more passionate about friendship every single day. And there was a time in the service where Jeff Leak's best friend who I'd never heard of or met before, spoke, and I actually don't remember his name right now, but he spoke and it was phenomenal. And he said that they went to Bible school together when they were young and in their 20s. And he said, when we were in our 20s and in Bible school, we actually made a first Samuel 20 covenant, which is the covenant between David and um Jonathan. And he said that was the kind of friendship that we wanted to have, that hey, we were going to commit to each other as friends to see each other through, going back to the 2%, to make sure that our families stay intact, to make sure that our ministry stays intact, to make sure that our character integrity stays intact. And that's what they did. And to the day Jeff died, this man was in his life and Jeff was in his life, and they were doing that. They had a first Samuel 20 friendship covenant. And and what I loved most is he exhorted and encouraged the the kids and then Melody at the end of his talk. And I bawled when he said this. But he said Melody, and then he named every one of Jeff's kids. He said, anything, anytime, anywhere, I'm gonna cry now. It is done. Anything, anytime, anywhere, it is done. And if man, if that doesn't define true friendship, I don't I don't know what does. And when I heard that, I immediately went home and I have a group that I've talked about, our pastor mind group. We're a group of brothers who are committed to seeing each other uh to our finish lines. And I sent them a scripture from 1 Samuel 20, and I said, guys, let's renew it. Like this is what we're in for. Like this is 1 Samuel 20 covenant relationships that we have. And I just want to renew my commitment to each of you as a friend that any to anything, anytime, anywhere, it is done. And guys, I'm just telling you, if you don't have relationships like that in your life, you have to find this. You will not last in leadership if you do not find uh 1 Samuel 20 relationships. You need it, you need it, you need it. I say it all the time, but you need a place in a community in which you're fully known, fully loved, and fully challenged. True friendship is anything, anytime, anywhere, it is done. Find you some good friends. Next, this was Jeff's legacy statement, I would say. Um again, when I first interviewed him for the podcast, he mentioned this in it, and uh it's stuck with me ever since. But our legacy is not what we do, but what we set into motion. Our legacy is not what we do, but what we set into motion. And again, Jeff was famous for this. I think he said he was gonna have it on his tombstone. I don't know if they actually put it on his tombstone or not. I think it'd be cool if they did. But what I love about Jeff is this is how Jeff lived his life. He lived his life to send other people to and encourage people to do what God called them to do. And just some of the stats I was here during the memorial service, I wrote them down here. Um, he pastored an incredible church for 35 years. So just think about the discipleship and the families impacted there and everything he set in emotion through that. He helped plant over 115 churches through his network. Again, that's 115 churches and all of the impact that they're making. Man, talk about setting something into motion. And then there was multiple leaders around the globe that said if it weren't for his influence, then thousands or because of his influence, thousands and thousands of leaders have uh planted churches all over the globe. And and then of course, there's the spiritual fathers and um, I'm sorry, there's the spiritual sons and daughters who the entire service was filled with. Just people that he impacted and encouraged to do what God called them to do. And I I just it's mind-blowing to think about the impact of what he set into motion through simple obedience and encouraging leaders. And so my question for you, leader, is are you just building up a ton of accomplishments that you can point to and say, look at my resume, look what I did, look what I achieved? Or are you building people? And are you building legacy through what you're setting into motion by believing in people and sending people and encouraging people and sewing into their lives and being generous with them? Jeff did that over and over and over again. And it's it encouraged me to double down and say, man, what am I doing to invest in leaders? What am I doing to encourage leaders? What am I doing to send leaders? I want to be a sender like Jeff was. I want to set all kinds of things in motion that'll last for generations before I leave here. And so that's my encouragement to you, leader. Don't worry about what you do, just set a bunch of stuff into motion and watch what God does. It'll be unbelievable. Two more lessons. Next is documenting content is a gift. Documenting content is a gift. One of the coolest parts of the memorial service for me was being able to watch these highlight videos of Jeff preaching. And they had videos of him when he first started the church, they had videos of him when they first got their first building and broke ground, and they had thousands of hours of him just preaching. It was just unbelievable to see. And I thought, what a gift. Like if you're his kid, you have access to see your dad preaching and giving wisdom pretty much for the rest of their lives, anytime that they want. And, you know, I'm a I'm a content creator, which is why I have a podcast like this. But that what a gift that could be to your children one day. What uh so what if no one listens to your podcast or reads your blog or whatever? What if your kids do one day? And what if that's the greatest gift that you ever give them is they get to see and hear your voice for the rest of their life, anytime that you want to? Or if they're struggling and they need wisdom on an issue that um they would have asked you about, but didn't, maybe they have access to it now because you wrote a lesson about it and uh put it on a blog, or you recorded a podcast about it, and they can go back and get wisdom from you for the rest of their life. And your grandkids can experience you. Like my whole point here is leader, if you don't document your stuff, do it. If you're afraid to document your stuff, who cares? Do it. What are you afraid of? One day you're gonna die. This is a gift that you can leave behind for your family. And for everyone that you influence. And so create content. Go, go, go, go, go. In the world we live in, there is no excuse not to be documenting. And the final lesson I learned from Jeff's Memorial Service is one day you and I will be where Jeff is. One day, you and I will be where Jeff is. And I don't know if I'll get one more day. I don't know if I'll get 25 more years or 50 years. Um, but what I do know is we're all gonna die. One day I'm gonna be a die, I'm gonna die, and one day I'll have a memorial service. And the question is, what did I do with my life? I had one life. And the first question I think Jeff would want us all to ask is, man, have you made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life? Is God the center of your life? And if you've never made that decision, I'm telling you, I've been walking with God for 24 years now. It is the greatest decision you can ever make in your life. I tell people this all the time that you could live a thousand lives living out your own plans, and it would never compare to the one life that God has for you. And so choose the life that God has for you. Follow him, learn what he's put in you, learn what he's called you to do. It is the most fulfilling life you'll ever have. And if you'll be obedient, you can live a life like Jeff lived and have a memorial service where people say, Man, the impact that they made. Man, they gave their life away, and it was just awesome. Guys, give your life to Christ. It is the greatest decision. If you've never made that decision or you want to talk about it, I'm always available. I'm super easy to find on social media or email. Please contact me. I'd love to talk to you about making Jesus the Lord of your life. Or if you have questions about God, would love to talk those through with you. Um that's first is yeah, is Jesus Lord of your life? And then two, what are you doing with your life? What are you doing with your life? Laura and I left for the memorial service and we looked at each other like seriously and we're like, what are we doing with our lives? And we feel like we're doing a lot intentionally to make an impact, but but it just caused us to double down and say, man, let's really pray. Like we're 40 years old. If we only get 61 years, like Jeff did, we have 21 years. That's that's our window to make an impact. What are we gonna do in those 21 years? Laura, let's get serious. Like, let's pray and hear from God. God, are we missing it? Are we focused on anything we shouldn't be? Are we focused on making money or business or something? Like, what do you want us to focus on? What do you want us to focus on? And we want to hear from him and whatever he says, we're gonna do because that's gonna make the maximum impact with our lives. And so that's how we left um impacted by Jeff's Memorial Service. And I hope that you'll uh take that into consideration as well. If you haven't, you can actually watch Jeff's memorial service, which I'd recommend whether you knew him or not. Um, I'll include a link in the show notes below, but really encourage you to watch it and just think about your life. What if you only have 20 years left? What if you only have 10 years life? 10 years left. What are you gonna do with your life, leader? What are you gonna do? What impact are you gonna make? What are you gonna leave to your children? What are you gonna leave to your spiritual children? A lot to think about. So, more than anything, uh, I just miss my dear friend Jeff. Um in the stages of grief, I'm certainly in stage one. I'm in disbelief. I don't believe it's true. Um, I can't even I can't even believe it happened, but he's gone. And unfortunately, I'm never gonna get to have coffee with him again uh here on earth, but I will see him again through Christ. Uh, and we'll get to have coffee anytime that we want to, and I really look forward to that. Um, but I'm just grateful. I'm grateful for a life well lived. I'm grateful for a man who uh displayed what Eugene Peterson calls long obedience in the same direction. I'm grateful for a man who crossed his finish line with his marriage, his family, and his ministry intact, showing us all that is possible. And I'm grateful for a man that was willing to take time with a young leader who'd had no clue what he was doing just to encourage him along the way. And uh, I'm just very, very grateful. So I hope these lessons encouraged you. I hope they inspired you and challenged you. And um, I just thought they were so important to share. Life is so precious, and uh, let's make the most of it. Love you guys. I'll talk to you next episode. Hey leader, thanks so much for tuning in to today's episode. I hope that it added value to your life. If it did, make sure you hit follow on whatever app you're listening to this on so you can continue to get our content. And also, if you've been listening to us for a while, it would mean the world to me if you would leave us a rating and review on whatever app you listen to podcasts through. That really does help us to grow our audience. So thank you in advance for that. I also want to thank our sponsor, Endocha Marketing Solutions. They are the producers of this podcast. And if your organization has any needs when it comes to marketing expertise, I'd wholeheartedly recommend their services. You can learn more about them in endosha.com. That's a nd-o-tia.com. And as always, leader, I'd like to end with a quote, and I'll quote Jeff Week one more time today. Again, his famous quote your legacy leader is not determined by what you do, but by what you set into motion. What are you setting into motion, leader? That's gonna wrap up today's episode. As always, leader, remember this don't quit. Keep leading. The world desperately needs your leadership. I'll talk to you next episode.