The Family Business: Balancing Faith, Work & Family in Real Estate with Jordan Smith

How do you successfully build a family-centered business without sacrificing your faith and relationships? In this episode, Garrett Maroon sits down with Jordan Smith, a homeschooling mother of seven and real estate team leader, to discuss the challenges and joys of incorporating family into the business of real estate.

They explore how to teach children a strong work ethic, balance work and family life, and honor God in business decisions. Jordan shares her journey of prioritizing faith, setting boundaries with clients, and using real estate as a ministry while maintaining a thriving home life. This episode is packed with practical insights on integrating family and work while keeping God at the center.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Incorporating children into work teaches valuable life skills and a strong work ethic.
✅ Working unto the Lord should be the foundation of every business decision.
✅ Clear priorities and boundaries are essential for balancing work and family.
✅ Prayer and faith play a crucial role in business success.
✅ Trusting God’s provision frees us from the pressure of constant hustle.
✅ Transparency with clients about family values builds trust and respect.
✅ Modeling a positive attitude at work sets a strong example for children.
✅ Real estate can be a rat race, but focusing on eternal values brings peace.
✅ Inviting kids into work responsibilities strengthens family bonds.
✅ Not every client is meant to be yours—honor the Lord by setting boundaries.
✅ Your identity as a Christian should be reflected in every aspect of your business.
✅ Prioritize your marriage and children—business should never come first.
✅ Sometimes honoring God means saying no to business opportunities.
✅ God’s plan is always better than our own.

Episode Chapters:

⏳ 00:00 – Introduction to Family Business Dynamics
👦 03:01 – Teaching Kids a Strong Work Ethic
⚖️ 06:01 – Balancing Work & Family Life
🙏 08:55 – Setting Expectations & Grounding in Faith
📖 12:05 – The Role of Prayer in Business Decisions
🏃 15:05 – Avoiding the Rat Race & Focusing on Eternal Values
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 18:05 – Integrating Family & Work Responsibilities
📌 19:05 – The Power of Setting Boundaries with Clients
⛪ 24:03 – Viewing Business as a Ministry
💡 26:41 – Maintaining Connection in a Busy Family
🛠 30:34 – Honoring the Lord in Client Relationships

Resources & Opportunities:

📅 Join The Faithful Agent Retreat – March 25-26, 2025, in Virginia Beach, VA
🔗 Register here: faithfulagent.com/conference

📞 Want to be in Business with Garrett and Christian agents around the globe? Schedule a call to learn about the 2:10 Collective @ eXp Realty
🔗 210collective.com/podcast

🙌 Join Garrett’s FREE online community for Christian agents who want to sell 3-4 homes/month:
🔗 https://www.skool.com/servingnotselling/about

📩 Send Garrett your Hampton Roads & Richmond, VA buyer/seller referrals:
🔗 faithfulagent.com/referral

📲 Follow Garrett on Instagram for more insights and encouragement!

🔗 https://www.instagram.com/garrettmaroon/

Transcript

0:00

Hey, Christian agents, welcome back to another episode of the Christian Agent podcast. I am Garrett Maroon, your host. I'm so glad that you're here. We've got an incredible guest to for y'all today, Jordan Smith, and we're going to talk about the family business. How do we include our kids in your business? You all know that I feel like I have a lot of kids. Jordan has seven and they're all nine and under. So we're going to talk about how does she incorporate them into their her business? And what does that look like in a God honoring way? So I'm super excited for our conversation today. As always, I have a free online Christian community for Christian agents to learn how to sell three to four homes a month. Go check it out. School, S-K-O-O-L, called Serving Not Selling in the show notes. We want you there. I want to serve this community. So I hope you will join us in that space and we can grow and be encouraged by one another. We can become more excellent unto the Father. And I have a real heart. Christian agent, you know, if you've been listening, my heart is to help us all be more excellent, because when we're more excellent, when we are able to be more excellent in our work, we're able to be more present in our families. And ultimately, my vision is that all of us make more money so that our churches and the communities around us would be blessed by the work that y'all are doing and the excellence that you are showing. So I hope you'll join me in that community. But before I introduce Jordan, as always, I know you both hate this and love this. We are going to do a Christian dad joke to see i don't know i'd just look this one up because i feel like i've run through all of them so here we go why did god make adam before he's he didn't need the advice that done that would all of your so case here's one to be whoever wrote this policy is making up for it why did god make eve after adam because you always make a rough draft before the perfect copy that's a good one. He felt bad. that stick. Yeah, right. Exactly. But I like that. I've never heard that before. So, you know, Jordan Smith is here. It's going to be incredible. She's the managing broker at Keaton and Co. in Lynchburg, Virginia. She's been in real estate for four and half years. Most importantly, she's married with seven children from age nine to eight months, and she homeschools, which is an incredible thing. And so, again, we're going to talk about the family business. How do you include your kids in your business Jordan, so glad you're here. Thanks for joining me. Say hi and just tell us a little bit about who you are. Hey Garrett, thank you so much for having me. This is so fun. My name is Jordan Smith. I have been in the industry for four and a half years. I am married and we have seven beautiful children that we are just aiming to raise in the Lord. And so we're very thankful for that blessing. I'm also the managing broker at our Lynchburg office. And I get to grow a team of great agents and just teach and train them how to. work in real estate and be real estate professionals, but also my goal is for them to follow the Lord and honor the Lord in their business as well. Amen. It's awesome. Yeah, it's a, you know, I'm amazed that you even have capacity, right, to show up and do any kind of work, managing broker work, right? So that, I, you know, I gotta admit, I took a nap today. Hopefully my wife doesn't listen to this episode. She normally doesn't, but I'm like, I took a 30 minute nap. Like I just, you know, just need a quick break. I'm not afraid of the nap time, but okay. So you've got. seven kids, you're homeschooling, right, and you're managing brokers. So talk to me about that. You know, one of the first things you said is how do you include your kids in your business? What does that look like to you? Yeah, so I will say, a lot of times I will take one or more of my kids to, if we're going to a meeting, we had a sales meeting this morning, I had two kids with me. When we go to showings, if I know the client and I know they're okay with my kids being there, I'll bring some of them. Sometimes I'll bring all of them. It just depends. But a lot of it is I wanna teach them a good work ethic from the start. And it's not just about working, but it's working unto the Lord. It's making sure that what you're doing is not just beneficial, you're not idle with your time, but you're also doing something that honors God. And so I always want my kids, no matter what I'm doing, to know that, hey, you can work hard at this. Whether it's painting the walls, helping a client move, they can put stamps. If you have little ones, they can put stamps on your mailers. They can walk around the neighborhoods and... hang door knocker tags. They can do more than what I think that a lot of times we want them to do. And does it slow you down? Yeah. But is it worth it? 100%. Hmm. I think it's, I love that mentality, right? Teaching them the work ethic. Because I remember early on when I would, we, I was in real estate already and we had our first and we, know, kept having more kiddos. But I originally, when the kids would start saying, when they would get old enough, say, daddy, know, daddy's going to work. daddy, we're going to miss you. And I would say, I'm sorry, kiddos. Daddy's got to go to work. And I remember actively having to learn not to say, I'm sorry, I'm going to work. But instead saying, kiddos, daddy gets to go to work, which both honors the Lord and is how I provide for this family, right? And it's a blessing. It's not a burden. I mean, it is a burden. Sometimes we're real city, just right. We work with people and people can be awful sometimes, but it's a blessing. And I want them to desire and be excited about work. So I love the incorporation of bringing your kids in. So teaching them a good work ethic, right? Because I would argue that we need to teach agents a good work ethic first, right? You know, like, let's start there. But when you are trying to inculcate that, if you will, into your kids, what does that look like? Is it just going out there and working hard? Is it just, hey, here's how mommy balances, you know, my day to day, or why are they're in a meeting? Because mommy's got to do X, Y, and Z like... What is the dialogue going in there when you are bringing your kids into the work? What kind of dialogues are you having with the kiddos? Well, as you know, you have kids, they ask a lot of questions. And I think when I initially started real estate, I wanted to look like a real estate professional and I wanted to have this idea that I had it all together. And honestly, I'm just a real human and I don't have it all together, but I work hard. And so I wanted my kids to know that as well. And so when they ask a question, instead of being like, It's kind of complicated or I don't really have any answer. I just give them the answer. Hey, why do you have to go to a meeting? Well, I have 14 agents here and they need to learn how to write this contract. And we have to write this contract because X, Y, and Z. And just kind of go through all the different things and then make sure it makes me check myself. Am I doing it with a good attitude? Because a lot of times you can have a good work ethic, but If you don't have a good attitude when you are working, are you working unto the Lord? And I think that if that is your main focus is to work unto the Lord and to do things for the Lord, for the glory of the Lord, then you are gonna have a work ethic, a good work ethic. And that doesn't mean you can't rest, but it means that when you do whatever you do, whether it's pick up trash in the yard or if you're going to do the mailers with me or... whatever it is, you're doing it with a good heart attitude. Hmm. Which is just something I struggle with too, right? I found it fascinating as we raise our kids the same thing, the things that I tell them. like, wait a minute, I'm dealing with that too. know, kids control yourself. Don't get angry when things don't go your way. And I'm like, what was I doing earlier? You know, I'm getting frustrated because things aren't going my way. And it's these constant reminders. It actually, I've found it helpful, honestly, when I have my kids around. Mm-hmm. now you know in in total honesty transparency i struggled it still will but i struggled because when i when my wife would be gone or or whatever on a girls weekend whatever it is in i'm i've got the kiddos on a workday i would i started by saying i'm gonna work and watch the kids writing and all that happened was i was frustrated at them because they were in the way quote unquote of me doing work and i was frustrated wasn't getting the work done that i needed to and they needed stuff and whatever And I, and I had to come to this place to say, just put it away, bro. It's okay. The Lord is going to take care of what you need. You need to be present with your kids. And so, you know, I found it frustrating at the beginning to say, man, I can't, I'm watching the kids and doing this and all of these things. Like, I'm just frustrated because you guys are around. You need something. I need to get work done. I'm not getting worked on. What am I supposed to do? I'm going to fall behind, right? All of these things that we think we feel and Choosing, I hate to admit, but my natural inclination was not to, not originally was not to choose my kids. It was to choose the work. And there's times for that, right? Again, I'm not saying that you and I both, you know, chatted about this pre-show, but there's a lot of times agent listening where you're choosing to work when you should be choosing your kids, when you should be choosing your family, when you should be choosing your spouse or, whatever your situation is, you're choosing the work. I, and I honestly think if we drill down to that, it falls into a category of lack of trust that the Lord's actually going to provide. And number two, I think it's because that's easier for us to deal with, right? When it's emotions, when it's hard, when it's, you know, I know for me, it'd be, you know, let's say my wife and I had an argument, which is only ever my fault, babe, if you're listening, let's be honest. But if we have an argument or there's something hard, I'm like, man, I'm tired and to show up and like for us to figure that out, that takes a lot of work. So I'm just going to say, you know what, I got to get on the because that's easy, I can do that, it's work, it's whatever. There's an avoidance piece to that as well, right? So this is just me confessing now, but I think Jordan, what I'm curious for you is you are homeschooling, you're bringing them into your work, you're showing up for these meetings, you're doing all of these things, right? How do you even stay grounded in the reality of, and setting the proper expectation for yourself, you said it's gonna take longer, definitely, but. But how to go deeper than that. How are you setting expectations? How are you understanding, you know, when these frustrations arise, how are you going to deal with that? Like walk me through what that mindset is and that mentality. Yeah, I will say when I first started real estate, I was very much like, she'll have to be quiet. I'm gonna get on a call and everything was very, it had to be in line. And the Lord really convicted me about that, that I do need to give my business to him. So now I will say I have to go to the Lord for grounding a lot because they, a lot of kids, a lot of overstimulation, they're with me all the time. Like it just is what it is. But I will say one of the things that I have started doing this past year is in my buyers and sellers consultations, I am very transparent. And I say, listen, I am an excellent agent and I will serve you well, but my first priority is my family. And so I have seven children, I have a husband, like we have a life and my first priority is to focus on them. but I will still serve you well. So that means I'm probably not gonna answer the phone at 10 p.m. at night, unless it's an emergency. We're probably not gonna be having conversations at six o'clock in the morning. I have children that are getting up and getting ready for breakfast. They need things. And so I do, I feel the struggle, the pull to, I mean, what real estate can be a rat race. You can just continue and continue and continue, and the Lord has really convicted me this year. about that he will bring the business to me and to you that he wants you to have. And I was telling a friend of mine the other day that as I was just kind of recounting the goodness of the Lord in my business, over the four and a half years, I granted don't have much more capacity to do some things, but some of the things that I don't do, I don't really host open houses. I don't, there's a lot of, the grind work that a lot of agents do that they tell you, have to do to do well, you have to do to have this great business. And I haven't because I have to take time away from my family, but the Lord has honored that and has brought me incredible business to also be a full-time mother and a homeschool mom and a wife, and we serve in our church. And there's lots of things that we are involved in and my whole life does not revolve around. How much money can I make this month on this deal? So I think that really it's the Lord grounding me and it's, it has been the Lord so graciously bringing me back and saying, okay, like I am all you need. I will provide for you. And he truly has. It's amazing. mean, I, and again, I think that's totally true. It's this reality of when we, as agents, we are taught those things. You better go grind it out. You better, you know, I've never done an open house in 11 years and I've sold a lot of houses and Lord's kindness. And it, it's just cause I didn't want to, that was the original reason, right? Let's just be realistic about that. But, but it was also, it's continued to be because I just trust the Lord's going to bring the business and, and, you know, I don't want to, you're too far away from this, this family business idea, we'll swing back to it, but I'm curious this because I've, I've found myself in this conversation more often, Jordan. I love your perspective is when it comes to lead generation, right. Per se, the conversation I've continued to have is how much do we pray versus how much do we act? right. And, good. I'm glad that has an, because I want your opinion because, know, certainly we're not allowed to be lazy. That's, that's sinful and that's disobedience. Lord. But I'll tell the story again, but I had a buddy of mine from church who owns this nationwide fast food chain and they're launching into Egypt, which that's weird. And so we're sitting there having breakfast and I said, how's Egypt going? And he goes, well, we'll find out. Right. And I said, okay, well, have you learned anything or whatever? I don't know if I asked that question. And he said, Garrett, and if y'all aren't watching this on video, I'll explain it. But he looks at me and says, Garrett, here's what I realized. I thought about it this much, right? A lot. thought about it this much, and only prayed about it this much, very little. And he said that that wasn't the right approach. And so I've just kind of been, there's no one size fits all. There's no scripture doesn't flat out say it, right? So I'm not going to make a rule where there isn't one. But what's your take on that? Right. How much do we pray versus how much do we need to go grind it out? And do believers not need to grind it out? What does that look like for us? Yeah, so I do think that as human beings, we tend to overthink or overact or, you know, try to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and really, you know, do it ourselves. And that's truly not God's heart for his children. And I do believe that the Lord will provide, but you have to ask for the Lord to provide as well. I do think he wants to know, even though he does know, He wants us to tell him what our desires are. What would we like to do? What are our goals? And how would we use that to glorify him? And then I think that if you are praying, this is just my personal opinion, I think if you're praying over your business and you are praying over the clients that the Lord is gonna bring to you, then I think that you will also have a conviction and each person's is gonna be different as to, how much is too much? Is what I'm doing good? Should I be making these calls? Maybe you start making calls and doing your lead generation or paying for your leads and then you say, you know what, I'm not actually being a good steward of my time because I should be with my family or I should be spending that money doing something else. And so I think that truly there's not a one size fits all. The one size that fits all is to seek the Lord first. And if you do that, think that he will give each person the conviction that they need to run their business that honors him the best. Hmm. Yeah, that's so good. You know, it's funny. You made mention, I think earlier of the rat race, and it reminds me of the famous book, Who Moved My Cheese, if you've read that, but the book ends with you might win the rat race, but you're still a rat, right? It's like the way that ends. And it makes me think in this context that we're talking about is you might pursue this success and more homes and more sales and all these things despite or a apart from seeking what the Lord's will might be for you and you might kill it. But at the end of the day, it's all going to go away, right? There is nothing eternal that we do except the relationships with the Father and with one another. And so this reality for us, I think is as agents and it's so easy for us to get caught up into that rat race of the world and being, you you're on Instagram and you see they're selling more homes or whatever and you feel like I got to get on the phones. I better grind it. I better do this. You know, agent, if you're listening, some of you better get off your butts and actually do more work, right? Like you actually have to work. and that honors the Lord and it glorifies the father. but, but then something that's hard for me, Jordan is then, stop and be prayerful about it because I'm relatively hyper, right? And so my hyperactivity means if I'm sitting still, trying to listen to the Lord, I feel like I'm getting behind. And that's just an honest struggle and challenge. I, know, and we all have different. things, whatever. But I think stopping and sitting there and being prayerful about it, and even to tie us back into this idea of the family business, being prayerful to say, Lord, how can I bring my kids into this work? Now, I'm not homeschooling, right? I'm not a mom. So you have different challenges than I do, certainly. But stopping and saying, how do I incorporate X, Y, and Z into my business? Right? Lord, you've made it clear that my biblical responsibility, one of them for you, right, is to raise your kids well. in so it can't be that there's these two boxes and they never touch each other it lord how do i do this well how do i incorporate my children in well in a in a way that's going to bring glory and honor to you so if you're sitting down jordan you're talking to a mom or or you know cuz i hear this a lot honestly of that struggle that challenge that i think is relatively unique to moms right i have my own challenges as a dad as a husband as a leader of the family but moms have this pool on themselves that you should be able to do all of this stuff in real estate and you should you know also have all these kids and you should homes going to make sourdough bread and you know you should make your own yogurt at home right and and you should do all and do the laundry make sure the house again all of these pressures that are just difficult and challenging right if you're sitting down with a mom who's struggling with that what would you even say to that person that's a good question. First, I've been there and I know, like, I know your heart. I know how you feel. I do think that to kind of piggyback off of something you said earlier about actually having to do the work. one of the times that the Lord healed a paralytic man, he asked to be healed, but then he had to get up and walk. So you can ask for... the business, but you have to be willing to get up and do the work. And that doesn't mean that you have to do everything, but you pick something and maybe that is, hey, you are gonna do open houses and that's your lead generation. And once a week, every Saturday morning or afternoon, you're gonna host an open house and the Lord will bring you the business. That doesn't mean you have to host an open house Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That doesn't mean that, you still, you're, Family and the Lord and what the Lord has for you is still first so the Lord and then your family and then your business and I feel like when you Actually put it in the right order The Lord does bless it. Is that monetary all the time? No, but I had a conversation just the other day with a lady that called about a listing of mine She really felt like this listing was supposed to be her house, she was offering $40,000 under asking. It was, you know, yes, was quite comical. You're right, right. But she did say quite a few things to me that were just very encouraging. And I knew at that time, we were talking about kids and how many kids I have and how many kids she has and just to save her every moment. I knew at that time that the Lord brought her to my phone to encourage me in my motherhood because a lot of times I need to be encouraged in my motherhood. Garrett, I feel like you, it's easier to work. It is easier to work, but it is very glorifying to the Lord when you put the things in the right order. additionally, I do think for me with with the kids and with real estate, it should be, though it is your business, it should be your ministry. So whether it is that you are sharing the gospel with your client, you are showing the love of Jesus to your client, you are sharing the gospel, showing the love of Jesus to your children, they all, we should be desiring for each of them to be our brothers and sisters in Christ. So when I am on the phone, with a client that is very upset and frustrating and my kids are pulling on my leg, how am I handling it? Am I handling it the way that the Lord wants me to or am I frustrated and I'm also lashing out? I think a lot of it has to do with, am I going to be like Jesus in this moment? Am I gonna contain my sinful emotion and give it to the Lord? Easier said than done, but I agree. Yeah, no doubt. Yeah, no, we, know, I agree. I was interviewing someone it brought to mind and she was sharing, can't remember the exact context, but you know, this moment that hit her and kind of what you're talking about, I think it was with her husband, but she's on the phone with a client talking all nice and whatever. Then something happens. She holds her. She's like, stop bothering me. And then she's like, yeah, that's a great, you know, and she's like, I realized what am I doing? I'm putting on a face and I'm. allowing this anger to go towards you know that my my husband and for getting it like you said i think we kind of improperly are taught like there's boxes right i have my work box i have my kid box at my wife box at all of these these boxes as opposed to saying bro you're a christian you know your sister you're a christian did Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. just leave it at the door. And so whatever you're going to do, you better show up that way. You are a mom. That's your identity now. You are a mother. And what a blessing that is. It's not a burden. It's a challenge, but it's not a burden. And so you're going to show up that way, right? You're a real estate agent. You're going to show up that way. You're going to show up that way. And it's, we can't put these things in a box. We, it's not possible to do that. And exactly what you said, and I talk all the time that our, Matthew 28 is clear, our mission is the gospel. Our method happens to be real estate, right? Our method happens to be raising kids or having a spouse or being a neighbor, whatever, whatever that is for you listener. But the reality is, I love exactly what you said. This, we're here to be gospel witnesses. Every house that you ever sell will literally crumble to the ground one day. It just will. Yeah. the word of the Lord will remain forever and praise God for that. What an incredible truth that is. And I just, you know, when we talk about bringing our kids into it, you talk about rightly ordering, which I think is 100 % true. I think it's really easy. And my wife, so my wife grew up, her dad who passed away in 2018, but he was an incredible entrepreneur. He wasn't a real estate agent. He was better than that. No, he wasn't real estate. He was a developer. so they were, and they would build and they would build awesome things and whatever. was an incredibly brilliant man. But my wife would always talk about, but she only remembers him driving them to school and he's on his phone, right? They're on family vacations, he's gotta come home early because he's gotta work. And so that's what she recalls is that her dad, as much as she knows that he loved her, he was always putting work as the priority. And it was all in the guise of, but I'm doing this to provide for the family. Mm-hmm. it is very easy for us to convince ourselves, I can do anything. I could, you know, go travel and do some conference, whatever, and be like, babe, I'm doing this for the family. What do mean? And really deep down, this is about me. It's not about anything else, right? That's my excuse. That's my get out of jail free card for anything. And so there's all of these things that you talk about. Just we've got to lay these things down before the Lord and say, I want to raise gospel minded kids. and I'm working, how do I do that? Help me do that, Lord. Right? Be in community with people who will say, hey, why don't you go home? You don't need to be making these calls right now. Right? Go home and see your kids. Whatever that looks like for you. Right? But I think more than anything, remain grounded and rooted in your faith and who the Lord is and be surrounded by those people. Last question, because again, talking about the family business. So for you, Seven kids, you're working and you're married. How do you and your husband even maintain that level of connection? Right? And are you guys, actively just going on a date nights once a week or what does that look like? How are you even doing that? Cause I hear that question a lot too. Yeah, yeah, okay, so ideally, yes, I would love to go on date nights once a week, but we do have seven kids and the youngest are eight months. So I will say a lot of times we will feed the kids, get the kids in bed, and then we'll do a date night at home, order in Mexican, and just kind of sit and talk. We do really try every night after the kids go to bed to at least sit and talk, hey. What was the best part of your day? was the worst part of your day? How was work? Like, tell me all the things because he actually works in Richmond. So he commutes a lot. so it is kind of hard to connect when that's the case. But I will say he is home, when he's home, he's home three days a week. And we try to spend as much time as we can together and with the kids. And it's very important for us to also show the kids that, after the Lord, it's mommy and daddy first. And you are a blessing and we love you and we want you to be part, but hey, if mommy and daddy are talking, that's important. And so you need to understand that our relationship is important. And so I think a lot of times parents will put the kids first. And I don't think that that ordering honors the Lord either because you are a representation of Christ in the church. And so we should definitely be on the same page and seeking the Lord together and then bringing our children in because our children are also part of that. Spot on yes and agents listening don't miss that too right when we put things out of order like you were talking about earlier Jordan when we say well I've got to show I just have to show up for my clients well what am I gonna do I've got to be there for them well what if you're not there for your kids what if you're not there for your spouse the actual correct biblical order right the Lord your spouse and your kids that's the biblical order that your kids aren't gonna go get another mom but your client can go get another agent, whatever, and maybe they will. I don't think that will happen because the Lord is going to honor the fact that you're honoring him. But don't put those out of order, right? Don't say, got to, you know, kids take up a lot of space, right? Don't hear me say that. It's easy. But, you know, if you're, if you have kids and you're listening and you're struggling with that, when things get out of order, it gets harder. We feel like, I think in this industry, in life in general, but we feel like in this industry, things that work are hard. I really got to prioritize talking to all of my clients, even if they call whatever time of day, right? And what we don't realize is by going out of order and by showing up more for that, we're actually making the problem worse. It's not better. It's not, we're out of order. Something's wrong. Something's off, right? You just look around at the culture today of all the, all the single parents, all of the transgender things, all of this stuff, right? And why is culture struggling? Cause everything's out of order. it's all off it everything is often so if that's true it is easy for us as believers it's easy for us as agency well that's not that's not me right like i'm just working really hard for my clients and maybe you are but maybe just maybe you're going a little too far right maybe just maybe your daughter has been waiting to get picked up from school and you're not doing it cuz you're out showing houses again there's balances there's no one right away but no go ahead jordan Yeah, no, I was just gonna say that it is very interesting that you bring up just like the order of how we are supposed to be because when you look at the culture and what they say is important, what they say is important is, I've gotta do this deal, I've gotta make this money, like it's just deal, deal, deal, deal, deal, money, money, money, money, and that really is not how we are supposed to. be when we are honoring the Lord in our business. And as I said previously, I am very transparent upfront. I say, hey, listen, this is who I am. If you want to work with me, I'd love to work with you. If that's not going to work for you, that's OK. And I want to tell you, friend, agent, not every client is there to be your client. And there have been many clients that I have fired and said, listen, I cannot serve you. the best that you need to be served. In my current state, I don't have the capacity, whatever it is, you would be better suited to work with this agent. That is honoring to the Lord. When you say, listen, I cannot do this deal because I know it's gonna take too much time away from my family. If you have that conviction, follow the Lord in that conviction. Because when things start to get out of order and you start to say, hey no, this client's more important than my family, that is, that is. so harming to your family and it's harming to your relationship with the Lord. Amen. Say no to bad clients. I think what you said, go get more of them. Right, right, exactly, yeah. But it is, it is going in. I love this, again, the concept, I'll have you wrap us up here in a sec, but the idea of just thinking about a family business, right, is going in with clear expectations for yourself, for your kids, for your clients. you know i i also uh... would always tell clients and no one actually ever had a problem real problem with it but i would always say look if i you know here's my hours and you know i'm not free on wednesdays because date nights and i'm not gonna work on sundays unless it's urgent uh... in and uh... and if ever anybody pushback which is very very very rare i would say look if i can't take care of my family i'd definitely can't take care of yours right if you like that makes sense like Yeah. if you need something else exactly what you said Jordan, then I'm probably not the right fit. And that's okay. You know, we, Christian agent, can be totally honest because I'm not afraid the Lord, if the Lord wants them to work with you, they're going to stick around, you know, and if he doesn't, they'll leave. And all of that is good because he says these things are good and he's working for our good. So anyway, so many good things. Yeah, please. Go. that, even if you say, hey, this client's not for me, you never know the domino effect that that has for another agent, another believer who was praying for this deal. you know, all in all, follow what the Lord is leading you to do. Amen. Amen. And I got to share this super quick. So one of our faithful agent conferences, I think it was a panel and we were up in, I don't know where we were, but anyways, the panelists was sharing how he had just recently lost a really big listing and how tough and frustrating that was because he was confident he was going to get it. And he said, he remembers though, in the Lord's kindness to him, praying like, okay, Lord, I know that for whatever reason you had this deal for this, whoever else the other person was. Anyways, fast forward and he's still challenging, right? But fast forward, finds out it was some other agent guy and the guy had been really struggling financially and like desperately needed a commission check. And the Lord redirected that deal, you know, and, and I remember like, man, what a great perspective, what you just said, but like, a, what a reality check for us to say if they don't work with me, it's because the Lord has them for someone else and that's okay. and, not just, okay, that's good. Not everyone should work with me. Not everyone should it be on my team. Right. Right. Yeah. Exactly. And, guys, we got to recognize the Lord is sovereign over that and his plan is better than what you could ever come up with ever. so great reminder, Jordan, I should have just let you talk and not said anything. would have been awesome. but Jordan, so if they want to, if y'all are anywhere near Lynchburg, go check out Keaton and Co. Right. But. jordan how would they connect with you if someone to connect with you what's the best way for them to get in touch or or what do you on Instagram, Jordansmithrealtor, and just send me a DM. I'd love to talk to you. nice. I'm shocked that you got Jordan Smith realtor. Feels like how was that? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Got to get that in there. Right. That's awesome. Well, nice. That's awesome. And if you're in Virginia and the Richmond or Lynchburg areas and you're listening Keaton and Co. Right. We had Daniel Keaton on and now Jordan, of amazing people there. And so if you're looking for a place, maybe go check them out too. So Christian Agents, we love you. Jordan, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your heart with us. It blessed me. I know it'll bless them. And Christian Agents, we will see you next week.