Episode #25
Ep 25: When God Calls You to Leave Something Good: The Courage to Step Away with Kurt Bush (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Kurt Bush spent years in pastoral ministry, including launching a second campus of a church on January 1st of 2020 (If you know what happened in 2020, you can probably guess how that went!) What he found in that season was that his actual gift — the thing God had wired him to do — was not running an organization. It was coaching leaders through the hardest moments of their careers. Helping them name what was going on inside so they could still lead well even when everything around them was on fire. And when the culture he had built was finally healthy enough to run without him, he made the decision to step away. Not because anything went wrong. Because his work there was done. In this conversation, Dr. Lee and Kurt talk about what it looks like to leave something good — and how to hold the grief of that alongside the clarity of knowing you are walking into what God actually called you to. They talk about the beach ball, the exiles in the basement, why two things can be true at the same time, and why most of us resist that with everything we have. In This Episode, You'll Learn: The difference between building culture and driving forward — why the skills that get an organization through a crisis are not always the skills needed for the next season. The grief of a good departure — how to step away from a role you love when you know your work there is done, even when people don't understand. The Beach Ball Analogy — why trying to hold your stress, anger, or sadness underwater always ends with it exploding to the surface, and how to let it up gently. The Exiles in the Basement — how we lock away the parts of ourselves we think are unacceptable, and what happens when we finally invite them upstairs for a glass of lemonade. Why we resist "Two Things Are True" — the hidden pride in wanting absolute certainty, and how curiosity requires us to stop playing God. The "Where are you?" reframe — looking at God's question to Adam and Eve not as an accusation of shame, but as a gentle invitation to come out of hiding. Key Quotes: "There is something beautiful about being able to say, 'My work here is done. And now, if I hang on, it's going to make things worse.'" — Kurt Bush "Sometimes the most loving, kind, aligned thing is to step away." — Dr. Lee Cordell "If two things are true, it makes it a lot harder to play God. If two things are true, then I can't just decide how this is and cast off the rest." — Dr. Lee Cordell "Nobody wakes up and says, 'I want to have a catastrophic life failure today.' That's the beach ball coming out." — Kurt Bush "When the parts can sit on the couch and have a lemonade, now I know what 'Comforter' means." — Kurt Bush Resources Mentioned: Healing What's Within by Chuck DeGroat I Shouldn't Feel This Way and Boundaries for the Soul by Dr. Alison Cook Connect with Kurt Bush: Website: brimstonecoachinggroup.com Podcast: Live Fully, Lead Authentically Connect with Dr. Lee and the Regulated Roots Community: Discover your Primary Motivational Gift: www.growinyourgifts.com Join Our Regulated Roots Academy: skool.com/regulatedrootsacademy Explore our Agency services: regulatedroots.com/agency Follow on TikTok: @leechelseacordell Connect on LinkedIn: Dr. Lee Cordell
