July 17, 2025 • 35 mins
What happens when you retire at 47—and you're not even sure what's next?
In this episode, Dan Simon shares how stepping away early wasn’t about escaping work, but about faithfully following God’s redirection. Discover the faith it takes to retire early—and the purpose that unfolds when you trust God with your next season.
Dan walks us through his journey from climbing the ranks in education to launching a charter school, and eventually stepping into Christian education and consulting.
Through challenges and unexpected turns, Dan discovered that God's plan was far greater than he could have imagined—he simply had to trust and hang on for the ride.
We never really know what will happen when we take a leap of faith… but that's half the fun!
Tune in to hear how Dan navigated his courageous journey, and don't miss his top advice for those contemplating retirement.
Connect with Dan at:
www.DanSimonSolutions.com
Dan@DanSimonSolutions.com
Ph: (919) 760-1400
Quotes:
"We're gonna end up where God is calling us and wherever it is that he's preparing us for. The question is how do you want to get there?" Dan Simon
"Grace with accountability. Like, yes, I'm still gonna love you through this. Yes, but you did something you aren't supposed to do. And there's a consequence for that. So, who am I not to forgive you?" Dan Simon
Scripture:
Read the story of Joseph's life in Genesis starting at Chapter 37.Read the story of Jonah and Nineveh in the Book of Jonah.
00:00 Introduction: Rethinking Retirement
00:46 Meet Dan Simon: A Journey of Faith and Courage
02:00 From Principal to Superintendent: Career Highlights
03:19 The Unexpected Call: Opening a Charter School
05:31 A New Path: Joining a Christian School
09:49 Lessons from Joseph: Embracing God's Plan
14:14 Personal Reflections: Trusting God's Timing
18:10 Filtering Life's Distractions
19:19 The Importance of Prayer and Scripture
19:51 Hearing God's Voice
20:51 Loving Our Neighbors
25:03 Grace with Accountability
25:59 Taking the Leap of Faith
31:44 Finding Your Nineveh
33:38 Concluding Thoughts and Encouragement
I'd love to hear from you! Send me a text message!
Thank you for stopping by today! Remember to Engage Your Faith and Live Your More as you reap the benefits of Courageous Retirement!
To watch the video, check out my YouTube Channel!
Learn more about the show, author Vona Johnson, and more at vonajohnson.com!
Schedule a free 15 minute Your Path to More call with Vona.
Join ClubMore @ clubmore.live
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Many of us have been led tobelieve that to get the most out
(00:03):
of retirement, we stay that safeplace, that comfy job, until we
hit that perfect age ofsomewhere between 62 and 70.
But sometimes God has adifferent plan.
And today's guest took hisretirement way before the
traditional early retirement.
And his journey wasn't exactlythe way he planned it, but God
(00:26):
had a better plan.
It was so much better thananything he could have imagined.
I hope you'll join us for thisexciting conversation on how we
can answer God's call to more insome of the most unusual ways.
Stick around till the very endwhen my guest, Dan Simon shares
his best tip for those who arethinking about retirement.
Vona Johnson (00:46):
Welcome.
I am so glad to have you herewith us today.
I've been really excited to hearyour story.
you know, courageous retirementand when somebody retires at the
age of 47, that had to havetaken some courage.
And, so from what I understandfrom our earlier conversation,
after 25 years in education, youdecided that the Lord was
(01:11):
calling you away, and I wouldlove to know what was it that
helped you know, that it wastime to, to take that, that
step, to make the leap and, andanswer his call.
Dan Simon (01:23):
Mm, well that's a loaded question.
The reality is that the firstpost-retirement gig I think the
Lord intended it to be the wayto break me out of my comfort
zone.
Hmm.
To get me to where he wanted meto be.
Because I would have probablystayed where I was forever.
(01:43):
I mean, it was kind of in thatcoasting mode, right?
I knew what I was doing.
it was great.
I was working in the same schoolsystem at that point that my
kids were in.
And it was like everything wasrowing in the same direction.
The story is you know, keep itas, as simple as possible.
But I had started my career ineducation as a teacher, moved
(02:03):
very quickly through the ranksof supervision and
administration.
Earned two master's degrees atone point to get my
certification as a school leaderas well.
And I got my first principal jobat 31.
And I was in a district.
That was a very high performingdistrict.
My high school at one pointduring my 10 years at the head
(02:27):
was ranked the number one highschool in the United States.
Wow.
we were a powerhouse in terms ofacademics and, I had always kind
of felt that the greatest way toinfluence kids.
Was to continue to move up theranks, right?
Was to continue to have a newtitle with more power and in a
sense, right.
And more influence.
(02:47):
So what I found was that at thepoint of 10 years as a high
school principal, I felt, well,next would be superintendent.
And so I got a job as asuperintendent, and I hated it.
I mean, I just completely, itwas all about politics and
becoming like a figurehead.
And I realized that.
Best way to influence kids is tobe with them every day.
(03:08):
So I was like, this isn't forme.
I went back to being a principaland that's where I found myself,
like year 21.
I was there working in thedistrict my kids were in.
And then a couple years intothat last principalship I had
somebody reach out to me aboutopening a charter school in New
Jersey in an area that was.
(03:29):
Receiving a lot of financial aidand was one of the lowest
performing schools in thenation, let alone in the state.
And the reason that I was,initially drawn to it was
because the recommendation camefrom a parent of that school
where I was principal for 10years.
This was a relative of his, thatwas seeking the opportunity.
(03:49):
And I guess when he was like,Hey, do you know somebody?
He's like, oh, I know somebodylike, you wanna start this and
do this.
I got the guy, he's the rightguy for you.
And so the pursuit came throughand, and there was a, you know,
again, I was in a good place.
I didn't wanna, I didn't wannago anywhere.
I didn't wanna do anything.
And so I, I was spending a lotof time with my pastor and I was
(04:10):
talking a lot about it, askingthis question, how do I know?
Yeah.
I mean, if I retire early,right?
I, take a penalty on my pension,you know, by age.
'cause I was eight years shy ofage at that point.
I was like, but how do I knowLord if this is from you or not?
I mean, you know, and then therewas the appeal of the money,
right.
And, you know, collectretirement, make full salary
(04:31):
like six kids, you know, like,you know, some, some of'em in
college, some of them about togo to college.
And ultimately, I felt at peaceabout the decision.
And so I went forward with theretirement and fast forward
within that year I got theschool open.
(04:51):
but there was just somethingabout it that didn't feel right
to me.
It just, it, it wasn't, well,first of all, I, I would say
that opening a charter school inNew Jersey when you talk about
like.
Political positions like thatwas nearly the death of me.
I mean, it was really a very,very stressful, very difficult
place to be, but got the schoolopen and it was running
(05:12):
successfully, but there was justsomething about it.
Like the Lord was giving mealmost kind of a sick kind of
spirit saying, okay, I got youout of your comfort zone because
I've got something else for you.
And now maybe, you know you'reready for it, right?
Yeah.
And so the quick transition fromthere when I stepped away from
(05:36):
the charter school was I wasinvited to join a Christian
school in the area as anadministrator to support the
existing administration.
It was a church that I wasaffiliated with.
They knew my background.
They had actually beenrecruiting me for a number of
years to take on a leadershipposition.
I just couldn't support a familyof six children on a Christian
(05:58):
school salary at that point.
But now look at what the Lorddid.
He set me up with a pension.
Yeah, right.
Yeah.
So that reduced salary comingtogether was now manageable.
My wife my incredible wife justtook the budget.
And just made everything work.
We were actually better offfinancially making less within a
(06:19):
year of that timeframe.
And that kickstarted so manyother things.
my foray into Christianeducation and Christian school
consulting.
It also opened the door to mycollege and career advising.
Yeah.
Which I've now been doing forthe last eight years as well,
and speaking across the nationand focusing my.
(06:40):
Time and energy and expertise onChristian schools and military
children because I have now avery personal stake in that as
well.
So I look back and I say, youknow, Why did the Lord bring me
through that season where Ithought like, Lord, I thought
this is what you wanted me todo.
I prayed, I spoke to my pastor.
(07:01):
I had a peace about it.
And now in retrospect, lookingback, Vona right, we all do
this, right?
Yeah,
Vona Johnson (07:07):
we do.
Dan Simon (07:08):
In the season it was so challenging and so difficult.
But looking back now, I knowexactly why I had to go through
that season.
Yeah.
Because of what he was preparingfor me.
Here I am, you know, 10, 12years later, thriving in a
market that I would never haveeven seen myself in at the time.
(07:30):
So, that's that.
You talk about that courageousleap.
I mean, I always had faith thatthe Lord knew what he was doing,
but definitely question attimes.
Vona Johnson (07:38):
You hit on so many things.
One of them was, and it'sinteresting because I believe my
path is similar.
I mean, God showed me a paththat looked so amazing and it
was the only way I would've leftall of the comfort and all of
the things that I had in myprevious career.
I have learned so many lessons.
(07:58):
I mean, you know, even justthat.
Fear of not having enough money,enough of everything.
And him just stripping all ofthat away and saying, have I not
provided everything you need?
Dan Simon (08:11):
Our needs, not our wants necessarily, right.
Vona Johnson (08:14):
But our needs.
Right.
But I truly haven't even givenup many of the wants that I want
in life.
I feel like sometimes the world.
Makes a, you know, you thinkabout financial advisors and I
have nothing against financialadvisors other than when they
sit down with you and across thetable, they're, they're telling
you about all, you know, yougotta have this and this and,
(08:35):
and if you wanna do, and, andit's like you have to have
millions of dollars to do allthat.
And now on the other side ofretirement, I'm like, I kind of
love my life.
I don't need to travel threemonths a year to, to enjoy my
life.
Right on God has provided somany things right on.
But one of the things thatjumped out at me when you were
talking is.
(08:57):
And I've experienced this, therehave been times when, you know,
we, we get this sense that, oh,I, I took the wrong step.
I didn't, you know, it didn'tlast.
So it could, it must have beenwrong.
And I heard you say definitelynot.
Mm-hmm.
So to me, he gives us, even,even when we do something that
doesn't feel like it was exactlythe right step, he gives us
lessons in there.
(09:18):
Right.
Dan Simon (09:18):
Right.
I try to teach that as well to,again, from my own life
experience, translating that toadolescents in, the private work
that I do, and even small groupsthat I meet with.
You know, you've gotta, I saythe only guaranteed no.
Is the question you don't ask,right?
The only way it's guaranteed notto happen is if you don't even
(09:41):
try.
And so I talk a lot aboutexperience and risks and
learning the lesson throughwhatever that season is.
Yeah.
We talk about, I use it as abiblical example.
I'm always talking about Joseph,right?
I mean, there's no greaterexample, right?
Of, you know, 40 years of.
I mean, I think it's 40 yearseven.
(10:02):
I'd have to go back and do themath on it, but from the time of
being a child, right?
Yeah.
To these seasons of, okay, Ithink you're taking me through,
and then Nope, nope.
Now, now I'm, thrown in a pitand then I think you're taking
me through and then nope.
Now I'm thrown in prison and nowno, but all of that, right?
you don't think through all thattime that Joseph was saying,
Lord, why am I still here?
(10:23):
Right.
Why haven't you, I've beenfaithful.
I have never cursed you.
I've never given up on asking,and yet I'm still here.
But in God's timing he wasequipping him to be number two
in the land to save the entirenation and his family in the
process.
Right.
And, you know, you shortcut anyof that, you take any different
(10:44):
route to any of that.
it doesn't happen.
The way that God intended it tohappen.
So we don't have to love thatseason that we're in, right?
But it's a season and knowingalready that from my past
experiences, God has alwaysbrought me out of it and showed
me why I was in it.
It allows me now while I'm in itto recognize, Lord, you're
(11:07):
preparing me for something, andif this hasn't happened yet,
there's a reason for that.
Vona Johnson (11:11):
I love that you brought up Joseph, because when
we talked the other day, youmentioned that you've been
toying around your tagline.
Are you willing to share thathere?
Dan Simon (11:23):
Yeah.
So I don't wanna,
Vona Johnson (11:24):
I don't wanna force you to say something that
you're not ready
Dan Simon (11:26):
to expose.
Well, maybe we'll get somefeedback and people can tell me
whether they like it or not.
Vona Johnson (11:31):
Well, yeah, but there's a beautiful correlation
I wanna share with you only ifyou're willing to go there.
Dan Simon (11:35):
No.
Sure.
So right now, as I had mentionedto you, my LLC is my name, you
know, Dan Simon Solutions, and Iwas always told like, you have
name recognition, then you knowyou're gonna wanna stay with
that.
But I've always beenuncomfortable with that.
Like my, I don't want my companyto be my name.
And so I was exploring someresources trying to come up
with, and nothing was reallysticking.
And then, I came across thisline that really stuck with me
(11:58):
and it was made for more.
And made for more to me waslike, that's the work that I'm
doing.
whether it's in Christianeducation and trying to help
counsel students or whether it'sfor children and military
families who either have anactive service parent, have lost
a parent to service a parentthat's wounded in service you
know, they tend to find theiridentity through that
(12:21):
circumstance.
And the reality is thatcircumstance may have been.
Allowed to happen for whateverit is that they are going to be
prepared to do.
In their own life.
And so this made for more ideafor me, is just, it's just
stuck.
And so unless somebody goes andgrabs that name before I can
make it official.
(12:41):
It's probably gonna be myrebranding at some point.
Vona Johnson (12:45):
Well, I encourage you to go get the website today.
It's cheap.
But what I love about it, ofcourse, is that it aligns with
my tagline, which is live yourmore.
Dan Simon (12:55):
Mm.
Vona Johnson (12:56):
and the tagline for courageous Retirement is
answer God's call to more.
Dan Simon (13:02):
Yes.
Vona Johnson (13:03):
The reason I brought it up is, and I hope I
don't have this wrong, but Irecently did a Bible study about
Joseph that was called Meant forMore.
Dan Simon (13:15):
Mm-hmm.
Vona Johnson (13:15):
And as you were talking about all of the things
that he went through, God meantevery bit of that.
For good and for Joseph.
Dan Simon (13:25):
even just for Joseph, right?
Right.
It was all the lives that Josephwas going to impact.
And I think that's what we tendto miss sometimes, right?
Yes.
it's not just about what I wantand getting what I want, but God
is preparing to use us to impactother people for the kingdom and
we can't see that.
We can't possibly see that
Vona Johnson (13:44):
and probably won't ever in our lifetime.
But what came up for me as youwere saying that is think for a
minute of how different ourworld today would be had Joseph
not been in the place he was andsaved his family.
And I mean, you know, there wasjust a huge part of history and,
(14:06):
and a huge part of the Bible andyeah, it's kind of mind blowing
when you think about how he canuse one person to impact.
Dan Simon (14:14):
Right.
and I think the other piece ofit that impacts me about
Joseph's story is that both ofthe major, you know, if you
wanna say life events, that sethim back was not something he
chose.
Right.
I mean, being thrown in the pitand then being thrown in prison.
He was, he was doing the rightthings.
Right.
I mean, he might have bragged alittle too much to his brothers
(14:36):
about his coat.
Right.
But besides that, like.
He was doing the right things.
He was walking with the Lord.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, the whole reason he wasthrown in prison was because he
avoided sin and yet God allowedhim to be imprisoned.
I mean, what a, powerful image,right?
For this idea of how can Godallow bad things to happen,
(15:00):
negative things to happen togood people, to Christian
people, like how can he allowit?
Because God is sovereign.
God knows, and we don't.
Vona Johnson (15:09):
Well, and I love that because I think there's a
misperception out there in theworld that if I just become a
Christian and follow the path,my life is gonna be, you know,
just all roses and.
Said, no Christian ever.
Yeah, and it just doesn't workthat way.
And I mean, even in the worldtoday with all of the things
that are happening around usthat could be extremely scary.
(15:32):
we know.
That God can use even thisseason for good.
Amen.
We just need to trust him andyeah.
You know, it was funny'cause Iwas gonna jump in along with you
and even though my path hasn'talways been exactly in alignment
with where God would've wantedit to go.
And we aren't gonna go into thedetails about that.
It's all in the book.
(15:52):
It's not like it's a secret.
I just don't wanna waste thetime today.
But he used that to turn my lifecompletely around.
Having an unplanned pregnancy.
When I was in college, Turnedout to be one of the best things
that ever happened to me.
and so many people make choicesbecause they feel like this is
(16:13):
bad.
It's gonna ruin my life, and Wejust have to trust him.
Dan Simon (16:16):
right.
Vona Johnson (16:16):
That's right.
Mm-hmm.
So, yeah.
Thanks.
I love all of that.
And I think, what I love aboutyour story is that, you know,
it's like you retired.
He took a path.
It wasn't wrong, but it wasn'tnecessarily the path.
Dan Simon (16:34):
Right.
Vona Johnson (16:34):
But it was okay because God will redirect us if
we get on a path that's notexactly where he wants us to be.
We don't have to be afraid thatit, it's there,
Dan Simon (16:43):
forever's.
Right.
Vona Johnson (16:44):
He will, you know, so when I retired eight years
ago shortly after that, I was.
Approach to fill a position onour city council.
the councilman had just beenelected mayor, and so he called
and asked if I would fill hisplace, which was a huge honor.
and I said yes.
And literally today as werecord, this is the last day.
(17:08):
Of my seat on city council, andit's been a joy to serve and I
know that it's been an importantpart of my progression, but I
also know that God has just puta longing in me that it's time
to move on.
there's more to what he wants meto do.
So retirement doesn't have to beforever.
It doesn't have to be sit backand just do nothing and eat bon
(17:31):
bons all today.
It just means opening ourselvesup to the next step, whatever he
might be needing us to.
Dan Simon (17:38):
Well that's, that's, that's so well said.
Yeah.
In fact, I think we can also getcaught up in.
Filling our plates with toomuch, right.
'cause we, you know, we're, youknow, you and I are the type of
people who are doers, right?
We always have to have somethingto do.
And, you know, you talked aboutyour city council position.
I had just relocated from NewJersey to North Carolina and I
was like, you know, I wannaserve my town.
(17:59):
And, you know, I got elected toa committee.
And I recently stepped down fromthat because I found through a
sermon that that was, and it wasconstant.
It wasn't just the sermon, itwas other messages I was
listening to.
Were saying the same thing,like, right, you gotta begin to,
to really filter.
What we're spending our time on.
Amen.
Does it, does it help usaccomplish what we believe God
(18:20):
is calling us to do?
And if it doesn't, then it justtakes away, it just distracts.
And as a result, it actuallyhinders our ability, right.
To do what God's calling us todo.
So I stepped away from that.
I'm trying.
To say no to things that don'treally matter.
My wife is a tremendous partnerin that you know, I have to say
(18:41):
I have, I have learned moreprobably in recent years than
ever before, to trust herperspective as well.
Just to say like, Hey, you know,here's this, what do you think
about this?
Vona Johnson (18:54):
Because
Dan Simon (18:54):
like, you know, the voice of of God doesn't always
just come directly, you know,into us through our ears and our
eyes.
It comes, sometimes, through thepeople he's given us, right?
The love on us and surrounds uswith.
So right.
Yeah, we could, it could be theopposite too.
Sit on the couch, you know, andwatch Netflix all day or get out
and just stay so busy.
(19:15):
Right.
That we still have never reallyfound what it is that God's
calling us to do.
Vona Johnson (19:19):
In my book, equipped For More, I give the 10
habits that help us boldly,fulfill our calling for him.
And I think top three are soimportant.
We need to be in the word.
Yeah, we need to be in prayer.
And we have to stop and listen.
Mm.
And so many of us miss thatthird one, or they pick two of
the three.
it just seems like, you know,there's all kinds of people out
(19:41):
there.
I pray all the time.
I pray, oh, he's talking to me,I'm listening.
But they haven't opened theirBible to see if it really aligns
with what he wants.
And it's just critical that wedo that.
Dan Simon (19:52):
and that's something you always said reminds me.
I do hear people often say.
I was in prayer and the Lordspoke to me.
The Lord said to me, and there'sa while there, I thought like,
what am I doing wrong?
I don't feel like I've everreally had that audible voice of
God, you know?
And I say, now, is that becauseI'm not sitting still long
enough to listen?
Or is he just speaking to me inother ways?
(20:12):
And, you know, it's that, samething with the gifts of the
spirit, right?
we don't all have the same gift.
But if we seek him and we,humbly come before him and say,
Lord, just.
Send me the right people, Ithink to me, that's one of the
most significant things is thepeople, you know, just you and
me meeting, you know the waythat we did through an
organization that I chose to getinvolved in and that you were
(20:34):
there to speak and we met, Wecould never have planned or
orchestrated that, right.
The Lord's hand was in that.
And so the people we meet are, Ithink one of the most
significant ways in which hespeaks to us and points us in
the direction he wants us to go.
Vona Johnson (20:50):
I agree with that.
And I also I'm a huge followerof Del Tackett.
He did the Truth Project andthen the Engagement Project.
And in the Engagement Project,he talks about loving our
neighbors.
That God was very physical aboutwhere he put us and who our
neighbors are.
And sometimes we get thisperception that you know, it's
(21:13):
like what the guy in the Bible,well, who is my neighbor?
And We have this tendency tothink that we have to go across
the country, the world orwhatever.
And sometimes that person isright in our backyard and they
need to know Jesus more thananybody.
And you might be the personthere to talk to them about him.
(21:34):
But first you have to developthat relationship.
You can't just lead with.
Right.
You know, I mean, maybesometimes that works, but I
mean, I,
Dan Simon (21:43):
a phrase Vona that I, and I think it's been attributed
to Augustine I really shouldresearch it since I use it so
much, but the idea that, youknow, preach the gospel and when
necessary use words, my prayermore than anything else.
Yeah.
Is to let my actions and let theway that I treat people, speak
to people, react to people,respond to people, point them to
(22:03):
him, but at least to open thedoor to a conversation to say,
you know, no one's ever spentthat kind of time with me or
spoken to me that way, or comealongside me in that way.
What's your inspiration or yourmotivation for that?
And then the door is open.
And by the way, that happened, Imean, first 25 years of my
education career was in publiceducation.
(22:24):
I've had more than oneconversation that bore out
because of that.
You know, again, we don't shedour rights, our religious rights
at the, at the schoolhouse door.
If as long as we are not theones that are provoking or
promoting, I have a right toanswer that question if it's
asked.
Vona Johnson (22:41):
Absolutely.
Dan Simon (22:42):
it was asked many times and it opened up the
opportunity for me to have thoseconversations.
So that to me, more thananything, because we, know
people are always watching us asChristians.
We've been wanting to see usslip up, wanting to see us fall,
wanting to say, aha.
See, you're just like everybodyelse.
And that's where I really findmyself wanting, you know, to
(23:03):
just always have the full armorof God on, you know, just in
watching.
Yeah.
Because it's, you never knowwho's watching and you never
know who's listening, and younever know who's gonna be turned
off because of something thatthey heard me say here, but then
watch me do over here.
Right.
So.
Mm-hmm.
That's significant, I think.
Vona Johnson (23:22):
Absolutely.
And you know before we startedthis recording, we prayed Yes.
And what you just said remindedme of that prayer.
And that is pray for wisdom,pray for discernment, and I
added pray for courage.
Yeah.
And if we do that before we walkinto any room, any workspace,
(23:42):
anything like that, thatdiscernment will help us to know
if and when it's time to share,bite our tongue, whatever,
because in today's world,sometimes biting our tongue is
way more important than anywords we will ever share.
Right?
Dan Simon (23:57):
Absolutely.
Right.
have friends from high schoolgoing way, way back.
We get together pretty much oncea year and they know my
religious beliefs and they knowmy political beliefs.
But when we get together, wehave great conversations.
Yeah.
And they've said to me before,you know, you're the only person
(24:18):
from that side of the aisle, ifyou will, that I've ever even
been able to have a conversationwith.
Because it's typically about,you know, let me shout louder
than you.
Right.
I believe that in order to buildrelationship, you have to be
open to understanding whysomeone believes what they do.
and to connect with them on thatlevel, to make them feel heard.
And in the end of the day, if wedon't agree, we don't agree.
(24:41):
But I'm gonna respect where youcome from.
And I'm always gonna be here tobe able to support you and come
alongside you if you need me.
I mean, that is, that's Christ,right?
that's what he modeled for us.
and who are we To deviate fromthat in the way that we treat
one another, you know?
And, everyday, interactions.
Vona Johnson (25:01):
So true.
Truth in love.
Dan Simon (25:03):
Mm-hmm.
And I call it grace withaccountability.
that was always my thing,especially when I went from
public school to Christianschool, like Grace with
accountability.
Like, yes, I'm still gonna loveyou through this.
Yes, but you did something youaren't supposed to do.
And there's a consequence forthat.
So, who am I not to forgive you,Right.
I mean, every day I'm gratefulthat God forgives me for my
(25:23):
continuation of sin andwhatever, that might look like.
So of course I'm gonna forgiveyou, but there's gonna be an
action that has to be taken, andit's for the betterment of
yourself and understanding thatdown the road.
So, yeah, that, grace withaccountability phrase came up.
when I started in Christianeducation, and that has been my.
Motto, ever since in anyorganization that I lead or that
(25:46):
I'm part of.
Vona Johnson (25:48):
I love it.
This has been wonderful.
I really have enjoyed thisconversation and I think we
could go on for a very longtime.
Dan Simon (25:55):
Okay.
Vona Johnson (25:56):
I do have one last question for you.
if someone is listening to thisand they're at that point,
wherever it is, whatever age itis or whatever, and they're
like, should I, shouldn't I?
What's your best advice forsomeone who's debating about
whether they should take thisstep, go where God's leading
(26:17):
them or not?
Dan Simon (26:18):
Hmm.
I call my Gideon moments, right?
even with starting the chapterof C-Suite for Christ in Raleigh
Durham I kind of felt like animposter.
Like I don't have a businessbackground, I don't have the
understanding of, sales andrecruitment and, if I just wanna
love on people and minister, whythis?
so I kept throwing out thefleece, like, Lord, if it's from
(26:39):
you make the dry fleece wet andthe next morning there was an
answer to a question that Ididn't expect.
Oh, okay.
Well that's great.
But.
Now I'm gonna put out the wetfleece.
And if it's dry in the morning,then, the next piece.
There came a point where I waslike, like Gideon.
I'm gonna stop testing you now.
You've made it clear to me Thatthe concerns that I had, the
(27:01):
uncomfortableness about certainthings are gone.
And so at that point, I don'tknow exactly how it's gonna
work, and I'm still figuring alot of it out.
But I have faith that Godbrought me for a purpose to meet
people, to impact people and Ihave had, I've always struggled
with that idea.
And I think people who arethinking about stepping away and
(27:22):
starting something, there's thatquestion about the ideal client,
right?
The ICA.
Mm-hmm.
I started with, ah, I'll helpanybody.
Right?
And I was told, that's great,but that's not an ICA.
Right?
I mean, you've gotta have, youknow, the exact who's sitting
across from you?
How old are they?
what's their name?
Yeah.
Have a name.
(27:43):
I'm not there yet.
But I'm getting clarity and I'mgetting closer.
Yeah.
Because I'm, I'm really startingto focus on opportunities where
he opens a door and I've alwaysbeen a believer if he opens a
door, I'm gonna step through it.
Yeah.
And I'm gonna pray that heeither opens it further for me
to step further in, orpreferably, doesn't slam it,
(28:04):
but, you know, kind of gentlycloses the door so I back away.
And I know there's a differentdoor for me to walk through.
Right.
But I'll never know that.
If I don't trust him enough tostep through the door in the
first place.
So I think for me it's that Ithink, you know, you have to
have a period of time of, youknow, the pros and cons.
Yeah.
What are the sacrifices that Iwould make?
(28:25):
How would this impact my family,my spouse, my children, my
relationships?
You know, what, what are theskills that I don't have that I
think I need to be successfulhere?
And who can I surround myselfwith?
That are going to perhaps helplift me up, you know?
Mm-hmm.
Be Aaron to raise Moses' armsup.
Right?
I mean, who are those peoplegoing to be?
(28:47):
And I think when those peopleshow up and you start
recognizing the clarity to someof those things that you feel
like you're lacking, then that'sthe place where we know it's
just, it's been the enemy thewhole time.
And I always tell kids this too,especially ones who've gone
through a lot of trauma, theenemy won't bother you.
If you weren't gonna have somekind of impact for the kingdom,
(29:10):
right, he'd leave you alone.
I mean, if you're not gonnaaffect or impact the kingdom,
Why would he bother you?
So when you begin to have doubtsabout something that you think
you're gonna do, and you'regoing to serve God in it, and
you're gonna give God the gloryand you're gonna lead people to
Christ through it, you couldprobably expect that you're
gonna run into doubt and you'regonna run into challenges.
(29:31):
Which just for me, it furthersolidifies the idea that.
this is where the Lord wants meto be.
Vona Johnson (29:36):
Yeah.
Oh, that's really beautiful.
So, if someone is listeningtoday and they're in that
Raleigh Durham area and they'reintrigued by this C-suite for
Christ idea, how could they getahold of you to learn more about
it?
Dan Simon (29:51):
Sure.
Well we have a LinkedIn page.
The C-Suite for Christ has anational, and then we have our
separate chapter pages.
So C-Suite for Christ RaleighDurham can be found on LinkedIn.
I have of course, a personalcontact on LinkedIn as well.
And then I would say if there'sa place in the podcast to, to
put my contact information Iwould love to share my cell
(30:13):
phone.
My, email address and not evenjust about C-Suite for Christ.
I mean, anybody who's in thatplace of like, I am on the fence
and I just don't know if I'm tooyoung.
I, you know, I actually was justhaving this conversation with my
best friend earlier today.
Like, he saw something and he islike, I think I'm ready and I'm
just not sure.
And I said, well, the firstthing you gotta do is put your
(30:35):
hat in the ring.
Because if it's not meant to be,it'll be No.
But now you're taking that leapof faith in a sense of, but I'm
stepping outta my comfort zoneto something else.
And that may be all you need todo for God to say, oh, now
you're ready.
Alright, well I have somethingelse for you.
So, I'd love to just talkanybody through that, that place
where they are, where they'renot sure or they just have
(30:56):
doubts and maybe just wanna chatabout it.
That's where I believe God hasled me at this point in my life,
in my professional and personallife.
And I'm ready to answer the callwhere, wherever God points.
Vona Johnson (31:09):
I love it.
I will absolutely put yourcontact information in the show
notes, so anybody that's, andthis is gonna be both video and
audio, so it'll be in bothplaces.
Dan Simon (31:20):
I just got my hair cut then.
A great job of that too, so,yeah.
Vona Johnson (31:23):
Yeah.
No, perfect.
This has been wonderful, and Ijust wanna thank you so much for
taking the time to visit with ustoday.
There's so many words of wisdom,gold nuggets here that we can
take.
And I'm gonna finish with onethought that you shared the
other day when we visited.
And I thought it was reallycool.
(31:44):
And you talked about getting toour Nineveh.
Right.
Dan Simon (31:48):
want me to reiterate that again?
Vona Johnson (31:49):
Would you do that one?
Dan Simon (31:50):
I use this with kids 'cause I think it's a visual
that they can understand.
You know, when I do my vocation,college and career training in
Christian schools, particularlybecause I can use scriptural
references there, you alwaystalk about starting sooner than
later, right?
To try to explore what has hegifted me with What am I good
at?
What do I like spending my timedoing, Because so many adults,
(32:12):
change jobs multiple times,takes them sometimes three or
four decades to find that placewhere they wanna be, but you
know, eventually they find it.
And so I always like toreference, Nineveh and say, look
he, you know, Jonah had a chanceto go to Nineveh through the
route that God told him, I wantyou to go.
And he could have, taken a camelor taken wherever and he could
(32:34):
have ended up in Nineveh, right?
He chose not to.
Yeah.
But he still ended up in Ninevehwhen the whale vomited him out
of his mouth onto the shores ofNineveh.
Right.
So no matter what.
God is a calling on our life.
Right?
we're gonna end up where God iscalling us and wherever it is
that he's preparing us for.
The question is how do you wantto get there?
(32:54):
Right?
And so to me that visual is agreat way to say, I feel like
God might be calling.
Alright, well what's the firststep towards Nineveh that you
need to take, Right.
To see.
And if you are going the wrongdirection, you can be pretty
sure there's gonna be a whalethat's gonna swallow you up.
Spit out where you belong andwhere you should be.
Vona Johnson (33:16):
Yeah.
Beautiful, beautiful analogy.
And I think it's a great placeto end our conversation.
So thank you so much Daniel.
I have enjoyed this so much andI look forward to additional
conversations in the future.
Dan Simon (33:29):
as well.
Thank you so much for havingVona.
I really appreciate it.
And thank you again.
Glad to be a point of contactfor anybody who just wants to
chat.
Vona Johnson (33:37):
Perfect.
This conversation reallyreminded me of chapter 14 of A
Different View called theExpectation shift.
And in that I talk about a lotof things and how sometimes we
get dissatisfied or we havedoubts in our life and we start
making changes and don't realizethat God doesn't always let us
in on his plans or we don't getto see his perspective.
(34:00):
And the one of the paragraphsthat relate to that is I've
learned that God doesn't alwayswork in the way we think he will
or how we would do it.
We have a tendency to thinkwe'll take the direct route from
where we are to where we want togo, but God often will lead us
around obstacles and challengesWe cannot see.
(34:20):
Or he will allow us to take theroute with numerous barriers so
we can learn lessons to grow inour faith.
We often forget that he seeswhat is along our journey and
prepares us for the challengesahead.
There's so much more in thischapter that I felt really
related to my conversation withDan today, but I wanted to share
that with you.
(34:40):
I also wanted to share with youa verse that came up.
It's Ephesians 2:10.
We are God's handiwork createdin Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared inadvance for us to do.
You see, just because we retireddoesn't mean that we are truly
done with the work that Godcreated us to do.
(35:02):
He has meaningful work preparedfor us to do throughout our
lives, including and beyondretirement.
Just remember finishing wellmeans continuing to walk in the
purpose that God has laid outfor us, even when the path looks
different than we think it will.
I pray that this has blessedyou.
I just wanna thank you so muchfor stopping by today.
It's always so good to have youhere Stop back in two weeks for
(35:24):
more of courageous retirement.
Until then, engage your faith,finish well and always, always
live your more.
Many of us have been led tobelieve that to get the most out
(00:03):
of retirement, we stay that safeplace, that comfy job, until we
hit that perfect age ofsomewhere between 62 and 70.
But sometimes God has adifferent plan.
And today's guest took hisretirement way before the
traditional early retirement.
And his journey wasn't exactlythe way he planned it, but God
(00:26):
had a better plan.
It was so much better thananything he could have imagined.
I hope you'll join us for thisexciting conversation on how we
can answer God's call to more insome of the most unusual ways.
Stick around till the very endwhen my guest, Dan Simon shares
his best tip for those who arethinking about retirement.
Vona Johnson (00:46):
Welcome.
I am so glad to have you herewith us today.
I've been really excited to hearyour story.
you know, courageous retirementand when somebody retires at the
age of 47, that had to havetaken some courage.
And, so from what I understandfrom our earlier conversation,
after 25 years in education, youdecided that the Lord was
(01:11):
calling you away, and I wouldlove to know what was it that
helped you know, that it wastime to, to take that, that
step, to make the leap and, andanswer his call.
Dan Simon (01:23):
Mm, well that's a loaded question.
The reality is that the firstpost-retirement gig I think the
Lord intended it to be the wayto break me out of my comfort
zone.
Hmm.
To get me to where he wanted meto be.
Because I would have probablystayed where I was forever.
(01:43):
I mean, it was kind of in thatcoasting mode, right?
I knew what I was doing.
it was great.
I was working in the same schoolsystem at that point that my
kids were in.
And it was like everything wasrowing in the same direction.
The story is you know, keep itas, as simple as possible.
But I had started my career ineducation as a teacher, moved
(02:03):
very quickly through the ranksof supervision and
administration.
Earned two master's degrees atone point to get my
certification as a school leaderas well.
And I got my first principal jobat 31.
And I was in a district.
That was a very high performingdistrict.
My high school at one pointduring my 10 years at the head
(02:27):
was ranked the number one highschool in the United States.
Wow.
we were a powerhouse in terms ofacademics and, I had always kind
of felt that the greatest way toinfluence kids.
Was to continue to move up theranks, right?
Was to continue to have a newtitle with more power and in a
sense, right.
And more influence.
(02:47):
So what I found was that at thepoint of 10 years as a high
school principal, I felt, well,next would be superintendent.
And so I got a job as asuperintendent, and I hated it.
I mean, I just completely, itwas all about politics and
becoming like a figurehead.
And I realized that.
Best way to influence kids is tobe with them every day.
(03:08):
So I was like, this isn't forme.
I went back to being a principaland that's where I found myself,
like year 21.
I was there working in thedistrict my kids were in.
And then a couple years intothat last principalship I had
somebody reach out to me aboutopening a charter school in New
Jersey in an area that was.
(03:29):
Receiving a lot of financial aidand was one of the lowest
performing schools in thenation, let alone in the state.
And the reason that I was,initially drawn to it was
because the recommendation camefrom a parent of that school
where I was principal for 10years.
This was a relative of his, thatwas seeking the opportunity.
(03:49):
And I guess when he was like,Hey, do you know somebody?
He's like, oh, I know somebodylike, you wanna start this and
do this.
I got the guy, he's the rightguy for you.
And so the pursuit came throughand, and there was a, you know,
again, I was in a good place.
I didn't wanna, I didn't wannago anywhere.
I didn't wanna do anything.
And so I, I was spending a lotof time with my pastor and I was
(04:10):
talking a lot about it, askingthis question, how do I know?
Yeah.
I mean, if I retire early,right?
I, take a penalty on my pension,you know, by age.
'cause I was eight years shy ofage at that point.
I was like, but how do I knowLord if this is from you or not?
I mean, you know, and then therewas the appeal of the money,
right.
And, you know, collectretirement, make full salary
(04:31):
like six kids, you know, like,you know, some, some of'em in
college, some of them about togo to college.
And ultimately, I felt at peaceabout the decision.
And so I went forward with theretirement and fast forward
within that year I got theschool open.
(04:51):
but there was just somethingabout it that didn't feel right
to me.
It just, it, it wasn't, well,first of all, I, I would say
that opening a charter school inNew Jersey when you talk about
like.
Political positions like thatwas nearly the death of me.
I mean, it was really a very,very stressful, very difficult
place to be, but got the schoolopen and it was running
(05:12):
successfully, but there was justsomething about it.
Like the Lord was giving mealmost kind of a sick kind of
spirit saying, okay, I got youout of your comfort zone because
I've got something else for you.
And now maybe, you know you'reready for it, right?
Yeah.
And so the quick transition fromthere when I stepped away from
(05:36):
the charter school was I wasinvited to join a Christian
school in the area as anadministrator to support the
existing administration.
It was a church that I wasaffiliated with.
They knew my background.
They had actually beenrecruiting me for a number of
years to take on a leadershipposition.
I just couldn't support a familyof six children on a Christian
(05:58):
school salary at that point.
But now look at what the Lorddid.
He set me up with a pension.
Yeah, right.
Yeah.
So that reduced salary comingtogether was now manageable.
My wife my incredible wife justtook the budget.
And just made everything work.
We were actually better offfinancially making less within a
(06:19):
year of that timeframe.
And that kickstarted so manyother things.
my foray into Christianeducation and Christian school
consulting.
It also opened the door to mycollege and career advising.
Yeah.
Which I've now been doing forthe last eight years as well,
and speaking across the nationand focusing my.
(06:40):
Time and energy and expertise onChristian schools and military
children because I have now avery personal stake in that as
well.
So I look back and I say, youknow, Why did the Lord bring me
through that season where Ithought like, Lord, I thought
this is what you wanted me todo.
I prayed, I spoke to my pastor.
(07:01):
I had a peace about it.
And now in retrospect, lookingback, Vona right, we all do
this, right?
Yeah,
Vona Johnson (07:07):
we do.
Dan Simon (07:08):
In the season it was so challenging and so difficult.
But looking back now, I knowexactly why I had to go through
that season.
Yeah.
Because of what he was preparingfor me.
Here I am, you know, 10, 12years later, thriving in a
market that I would never haveeven seen myself in at the time.
(07:30):
So, that's that.
You talk about that courageousleap.
I mean, I always had faith thatthe Lord knew what he was doing,
but definitely question attimes.
Vona Johnson (07:38):
You hit on so many things.
One of them was, and it'sinteresting because I believe my
path is similar.
I mean, God showed me a paththat looked so amazing and it
was the only way I would've leftall of the comfort and all of
the things that I had in myprevious career.
I have learned so many lessons.
(07:58):
I mean, you know, even justthat.
Fear of not having enough money,enough of everything.
And him just stripping all ofthat away and saying, have I not
provided everything you need?
Dan Simon (08:11):
Our needs, not our wants necessarily, right.
Vona Johnson (08:14):
But our needs.
Right.
But I truly haven't even givenup many of the wants that I want
in life.
I feel like sometimes the world.
Makes a, you know, you thinkabout financial advisors and I
have nothing against financialadvisors other than when they
sit down with you and across thetable, they're, they're telling
you about all, you know, yougotta have this and this and,
(08:35):
and if you wanna do, and, andit's like you have to have
millions of dollars to do allthat.
And now on the other side ofretirement, I'm like, I kind of
love my life.
I don't need to travel threemonths a year to, to enjoy my
life.
Right on God has provided somany things right on.
But one of the things thatjumped out at me when you were
talking is.
(08:57):
And I've experienced this, therehave been times when, you know,
we, we get this sense that, oh,I, I took the wrong step.
I didn't, you know, it didn'tlast.
So it could, it must have beenwrong.
And I heard you say definitelynot.
Mm-hmm.
So to me, he gives us, even,even when we do something that
doesn't feel like it was exactlythe right step, he gives us
lessons in there.
(09:18):
Right.
Dan Simon (09:18):
Right.
I try to teach that as well to,again, from my own life
experience, translating that toadolescents in, the private work
that I do, and even small groupsthat I meet with.
You know, you've gotta, I saythe only guaranteed no.
Is the question you don't ask,right?
The only way it's guaranteed notto happen is if you don't even
(09:41):
try.
And so I talk a lot aboutexperience and risks and
learning the lesson throughwhatever that season is.
Yeah.
We talk about, I use it as abiblical example.
I'm always talking about Joseph,right?
I mean, there's no greaterexample, right?
Of, you know, 40 years of.
I mean, I think it's 40 yearseven.
(10:02):
I'd have to go back and do themath on it, but from the time of
being a child, right?
Yeah.
To these seasons of, okay, Ithink you're taking me through,
and then Nope, nope.
Now, now I'm, thrown in a pitand then I think you're taking
me through and then nope.
Now I'm thrown in prison and nowno, but all of that, right?
you don't think through all thattime that Joseph was saying,
Lord, why am I still here?
(10:23):
Right.
Why haven't you, I've beenfaithful.
I have never cursed you.
I've never given up on asking,and yet I'm still here.
But in God's timing he wasequipping him to be number two
in the land to save the entirenation and his family in the
process.
Right.
And, you know, you shortcut anyof that, you take any different
(10:44):
route to any of that.
it doesn't happen.
The way that God intended it tohappen.
So we don't have to love thatseason that we're in, right?
But it's a season and knowingalready that from my past
experiences, God has alwaysbrought me out of it and showed
me why I was in it.
It allows me now while I'm in itto recognize, Lord, you're
(11:07):
preparing me for something, andif this hasn't happened yet,
there's a reason for that.
Vona Johnson (11:11):
I love that you brought up Joseph, because when
we talked the other day, youmentioned that you've been
toying around your tagline.
Are you willing to share thathere?
Dan Simon (11:23):
Yeah.
So I don't wanna,
Vona Johnson (11:24):
I don't wanna force you to say something that
you're not ready
Dan Simon (11:26):
to expose.
Well, maybe we'll get somefeedback and people can tell me
whether they like it or not.
Vona Johnson (11:31):
Well, yeah, but there's a beautiful correlation
I wanna share with you only ifyou're willing to go there.
Dan Simon (11:35):
No.
Sure.
So right now, as I had mentionedto you, my LLC is my name, you
know, Dan Simon Solutions, and Iwas always told like, you have
name recognition, then you knowyou're gonna wanna stay with
that.
But I've always beenuncomfortable with that.
Like my, I don't want my companyto be my name.
And so I was exploring someresources trying to come up
with, and nothing was reallysticking.
And then, I came across thisline that really stuck with me
(11:58):
and it was made for more.
And made for more to me waslike, that's the work that I'm
doing.
whether it's in Christianeducation and trying to help
counsel students or whether it'sfor children and military
families who either have anactive service parent, have lost
a parent to service a parentthat's wounded in service you
know, they tend to find theiridentity through that
(12:21):
circumstance.
And the reality is thatcircumstance may have been.
Allowed to happen for whateverit is that they are going to be
prepared to do.
In their own life.
And so this made for more ideafor me, is just, it's just
stuck.
And so unless somebody goes andgrabs that name before I can
make it official.
(12:41):
It's probably gonna be myrebranding at some point.
Vona Johnson (12:45):
Well, I encourage you to go get the website today.
It's cheap.
But what I love about it, ofcourse, is that it aligns with
my tagline, which is live yourmore.
Dan Simon (12:55):
Mm.
Vona Johnson (12:56):
and the tagline for courageous Retirement is
answer God's call to more.
Dan Simon (13:02):
Yes.
Vona Johnson (13:03):
The reason I brought it up is, and I hope I
don't have this wrong, but Irecently did a Bible study about
Joseph that was called Meant forMore.
Dan Simon (13:15):
Mm-hmm.
Vona Johnson (13:15):
And as you were talking about all of the things
that he went through, God meantevery bit of that.
For good and for Joseph.
Dan Simon (13:25):
even just for Joseph, right?
Right.
It was all the lives that Josephwas going to impact.
And I think that's what we tendto miss sometimes, right?
Yes.
it's not just about what I wantand getting what I want, but God
is preparing to use us to impactother people for the kingdom and
we can't see that.
We can't possibly see that
Vona Johnson (13:44):
and probably won't ever in our lifetime.
But what came up for me as youwere saying that is think for a
minute of how different ourworld today would be had Joseph
not been in the place he was andsaved his family.
And I mean, you know, there wasjust a huge part of history and,
(14:06):
and a huge part of the Bible andyeah, it's kind of mind blowing
when you think about how he canuse one person to impact.
Dan Simon (14:14):
Right.
and I think the other piece ofit that impacts me about
Joseph's story is that both ofthe major, you know, if you
wanna say life events, that sethim back was not something he
chose.
Right.
I mean, being thrown in the pitand then being thrown in prison.
He was, he was doing the rightthings.
Right.
I mean, he might have bragged alittle too much to his brothers
(14:36):
about his coat.
Right.
But besides that, like.
He was doing the right things.
He was walking with the Lord.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, the whole reason he wasthrown in prison was because he
avoided sin and yet God allowedhim to be imprisoned.
I mean, what a, powerful image,right?
For this idea of how can Godallow bad things to happen,
(15:00):
negative things to happen togood people, to Christian
people, like how can he allowit?
Because God is sovereign.
God knows, and we don't.
Vona Johnson (15:09):
Well, and I love that because I think there's a
misperception out there in theworld that if I just become a
Christian and follow the path,my life is gonna be, you know,
just all roses and.
Said, no Christian ever.
Yeah, and it just doesn't workthat way.
And I mean, even in the worldtoday with all of the things
that are happening around usthat could be extremely scary.
(15:32):
we know.
That God can use even thisseason for good.
Amen.
We just need to trust him andyeah.
You know, it was funny'cause Iwas gonna jump in along with you
and even though my path hasn'talways been exactly in alignment
with where God would've wantedit to go.
And we aren't gonna go into thedetails about that.
It's all in the book.
(15:52):
It's not like it's a secret.
I just don't wanna waste thetime today.
But he used that to turn my lifecompletely around.
Having an unplanned pregnancy.
When I was in college, Turnedout to be one of the best things
that ever happened to me.
and so many people make choicesbecause they feel like this is
(16:13):
bad.
It's gonna ruin my life, and Wejust have to trust him.
Dan Simon (16:16):
right.
Vona Johnson (16:16):
That's right.
Mm-hmm.
So, yeah.
Thanks.
I love all of that.
And I think, what I love aboutyour story is that, you know,
it's like you retired.
He took a path.
It wasn't wrong, but it wasn'tnecessarily the path.
Dan Simon (16:34):
Right.
Vona Johnson (16:34):
But it was okay because God will redirect us if
we get on a path that's notexactly where he wants us to be.
We don't have to be afraid thatit, it's there,
Dan Simon (16:43):
forever's.
Right.
Vona Johnson (16:44):
He will, you know, so when I retired eight years
ago shortly after that, I was.
Approach to fill a position onour city council.
the councilman had just beenelected mayor, and so he called
and asked if I would fill hisplace, which was a huge honor.
and I said yes.
And literally today as werecord, this is the last day.
(17:08):
Of my seat on city council, andit's been a joy to serve and I
know that it's been an importantpart of my progression, but I
also know that God has just puta longing in me that it's time
to move on.
there's more to what he wants meto do.
So retirement doesn't have to beforever.
It doesn't have to be sit backand just do nothing and eat bon
(17:31):
bons all today.
It just means opening ourselvesup to the next step, whatever he
might be needing us to.
Dan Simon (17:38):
Well that's, that's, that's so well said.
Yeah.
In fact, I think we can also getcaught up in.
Filling our plates with toomuch, right.
'cause we, you know, we're, youknow, you and I are the type of
people who are doers, right?
We always have to have somethingto do.
And, you know, you talked aboutyour city council position.
I had just relocated from NewJersey to North Carolina and I
was like, you know, I wannaserve my town.
(17:59):
And, you know, I got elected toa committee.
And I recently stepped down fromthat because I found through a
sermon that that was, and it wasconstant.
It wasn't just the sermon, itwas other messages I was
listening to.
Were saying the same thing,like, right, you gotta begin to,
to really filter.
What we're spending our time on.
Amen.
Does it, does it help usaccomplish what we believe God
(18:20):
is calling us to do?
And if it doesn't, then it justtakes away, it just distracts.
And as a result, it actuallyhinders our ability, right.
To do what God's calling us todo.
So I stepped away from that.
I'm trying.
To say no to things that don'treally matter.
My wife is a tremendous partnerin that you know, I have to say
(18:41):
I have, I have learned moreprobably in recent years than
ever before, to trust herperspective as well.
Just to say like, Hey, you know,here's this, what do you think
about this?
Vona Johnson (18:54):
Because
Dan Simon (18:54):
like, you know, the voice of of God doesn't always
just come directly, you know,into us through our ears and our
eyes.
It comes, sometimes, through thepeople he's given us, right?
The love on us and surrounds uswith.
So right.
Yeah, we could, it could be theopposite too.
Sit on the couch, you know, andwatch Netflix all day or get out
and just stay so busy.
(19:15):
Right.
That we still have never reallyfound what it is that God's
calling us to do.
Vona Johnson (19:19):
In my book, equipped For More, I give the 10
habits that help us boldly,fulfill our calling for him.
And I think top three are soimportant.
We need to be in the word.
Yeah, we need to be in prayer.
And we have to stop and listen.
Mm.
And so many of us miss thatthird one, or they pick two of
the three.
it just seems like, you know,there's all kinds of people out
(19:41):
there.
I pray all the time.
I pray, oh, he's talking to me,I'm listening.
But they haven't opened theirBible to see if it really aligns
with what he wants.
And it's just critical that wedo that.
Dan Simon (19:52):
and that's something you always said reminds me.
I do hear people often say.
I was in prayer and the Lordspoke to me.
The Lord said to me, and there'sa while there, I thought like,
what am I doing wrong?
I don't feel like I've everreally had that audible voice of
God, you know?
And I say, now, is that becauseI'm not sitting still long
enough to listen?
Or is he just speaking to me inother ways?
(20:12):
And, you know, it's that, samething with the gifts of the
spirit, right?
we don't all have the same gift.
But if we seek him and we,humbly come before him and say,
Lord, just.
Send me the right people, Ithink to me, that's one of the
most significant things is thepeople, you know, just you and
me meeting, you know the waythat we did through an
organization that I chose to getinvolved in and that you were
(20:34):
there to speak and we met, Wecould never have planned or
orchestrated that, right.
The Lord's hand was in that.
And so the people we meet are, Ithink one of the most
significant ways in which hespeaks to us and points us in
the direction he wants us to go.
Vona Johnson (20:50):
I agree with that.
And I also I'm a huge followerof Del Tackett.
He did the Truth Project andthen the Engagement Project.
And in the Engagement Project,he talks about loving our
neighbors.
That God was very physical aboutwhere he put us and who our
neighbors are.
And sometimes we get thisperception that you know, it's
(21:13):
like what the guy in the Bible,well, who is my neighbor?
And We have this tendency tothink that we have to go across
the country, the world orwhatever.
And sometimes that person isright in our backyard and they
need to know Jesus more thananybody.
And you might be the personthere to talk to them about him.
(21:34):
But first you have to developthat relationship.
You can't just lead with.
Right.
You know, I mean, maybesometimes that works, but I
mean, I,
Dan Simon (21:43):
a phrase Vona that I, and I think it's been attributed
to Augustine I really shouldresearch it since I use it so
much, but the idea that, youknow, preach the gospel and when
necessary use words, my prayermore than anything else.
Yeah.
Is to let my actions and let theway that I treat people, speak
to people, react to people,respond to people, point them to
(22:03):
him, but at least to open thedoor to a conversation to say,
you know, no one's ever spentthat kind of time with me or
spoken to me that way, or comealongside me in that way.
What's your inspiration or yourmotivation for that?
And then the door is open.
And by the way, that happened, Imean, first 25 years of my
education career was in publiceducation.
(22:24):
I've had more than oneconversation that bore out
because of that.
You know, again, we don't shedour rights, our religious rights
at the, at the schoolhouse door.
If as long as we are not theones that are provoking or
promoting, I have a right toanswer that question if it's
asked.
Vona Johnson (22:41):
Absolutely.
Dan Simon (22:42):
it was asked many times and it opened up the
opportunity for me to have thoseconversations.
So that to me, more thananything, because we, know
people are always watching us asChristians.
We've been wanting to see usslip up, wanting to see us fall,
wanting to say, aha.
See, you're just like everybodyelse.
And that's where I really findmyself wanting, you know, to
(23:03):
just always have the full armorof God on, you know, just in
watching.
Yeah.
Because it's, you never knowwho's watching and you never
know who's listening, and younever know who's gonna be turned
off because of something thatthey heard me say here, but then
watch me do over here.
Right.
So.
Mm-hmm.
That's significant, I think.
Vona Johnson (23:22):
Absolutely.
And you know before we startedthis recording, we prayed Yes.
And what you just said remindedme of that prayer.
And that is pray for wisdom,pray for discernment, and I
added pray for courage.
Yeah.
And if we do that before we walkinto any room, any workspace,
(23:42):
anything like that, thatdiscernment will help us to know
if and when it's time to share,bite our tongue, whatever,
because in today's world,sometimes biting our tongue is
way more important than anywords we will ever share.
Right?
Dan Simon (23:57):
Absolutely.
Right.
have friends from high schoolgoing way, way back.
We get together pretty much oncea year and they know my
religious beliefs and they knowmy political beliefs.
But when we get together, wehave great conversations.
Yeah.
And they've said to me before,you know, you're the only person
(24:18):
from that side of the aisle, ifyou will, that I've ever even
been able to have a conversationwith.
Because it's typically about,you know, let me shout louder
than you.
Right.
I believe that in order to buildrelationship, you have to be
open to understanding whysomeone believes what they do.
and to connect with them on thatlevel, to make them feel heard.
And in the end of the day, if wedon't agree, we don't agree.
(24:41):
But I'm gonna respect where youcome from.
And I'm always gonna be here tobe able to support you and come
alongside you if you need me.
I mean, that is, that's Christ,right?
that's what he modeled for us.
and who are we To deviate fromthat in the way that we treat
one another, you know?
And, everyday, interactions.
Vona Johnson (25:01):
So true.
Truth in love.
Dan Simon (25:03):
Mm-hmm.
And I call it grace withaccountability.
that was always my thing,especially when I went from
public school to Christianschool, like Grace with
accountability.
Like, yes, I'm still gonna loveyou through this.
Yes, but you did something youaren't supposed to do.
And there's a consequence forthat.
So, who am I not to forgive you,Right.
I mean, every day I'm gratefulthat God forgives me for my
(25:23):
continuation of sin andwhatever, that might look like.
So of course I'm gonna forgiveyou, but there's gonna be an
action that has to be taken, andit's for the betterment of
yourself and understanding thatdown the road.
So, yeah, that, grace withaccountability phrase came up.
when I started in Christianeducation, and that has been my.
Motto, ever since in anyorganization that I lead or that
(25:46):
I'm part of.
Vona Johnson (25:48):
I love it.
This has been wonderful.
I really have enjoyed thisconversation and I think we
could go on for a very longtime.
Dan Simon (25:55):
Okay.
Vona Johnson (25:56):
I do have one last question for you.
if someone is listening to thisand they're at that point,
wherever it is, whatever age itis or whatever, and they're
like, should I, shouldn't I?
What's your best advice forsomeone who's debating about
whether they should take thisstep, go where God's leading
(26:17):
them or not?
Dan Simon (26:18):
Hmm.
I call my Gideon moments, right?
even with starting the chapterof C-Suite for Christ in Raleigh
Durham I kind of felt like animposter.
Like I don't have a businessbackground, I don't have the
understanding of, sales andrecruitment and, if I just wanna
love on people and minister, whythis?
so I kept throwing out thefleece, like, Lord, if it's from
(26:39):
you make the dry fleece wet andthe next morning there was an
answer to a question that Ididn't expect.
Oh, okay.
Well that's great.
But.
Now I'm gonna put out the wetfleece.
And if it's dry in the morning,then, the next piece.
There came a point where I waslike, like Gideon.
I'm gonna stop testing you now.
You've made it clear to me Thatthe concerns that I had, the
(27:01):
uncomfortableness about certainthings are gone.
And so at that point, I don'tknow exactly how it's gonna
work, and I'm still figuring alot of it out.
But I have faith that Godbrought me for a purpose to meet
people, to impact people and Ihave had, I've always struggled
with that idea.
And I think people who arethinking about stepping away and
(27:22):
starting something, there's thatquestion about the ideal client,
right?
The ICA.
Mm-hmm.
I started with, ah, I'll helpanybody.
Right?
And I was told, that's great,but that's not an ICA.
Right?
I mean, you've gotta have, youknow, the exact who's sitting
across from you?
How old are they?
what's their name?
Yeah.
Have a name.
(27:43):
I'm not there yet.
But I'm getting clarity and I'mgetting closer.
Yeah.
Because I'm, I'm really startingto focus on opportunities where
he opens a door and I've alwaysbeen a believer if he opens a
door, I'm gonna step through it.
Yeah.
And I'm gonna pray that heeither opens it further for me
to step further in, orpreferably, doesn't slam it,
(28:04):
but, you know, kind of gentlycloses the door so I back away.
And I know there's a differentdoor for me to walk through.
Right.
But I'll never know that.
If I don't trust him enough tostep through the door in the
first place.
So I think for me it's that Ithink, you know, you have to
have a period of time of, youknow, the pros and cons.
Yeah.
What are the sacrifices that Iwould make?
(28:25):
How would this impact my family,my spouse, my children, my
relationships?
You know, what, what are theskills that I don't have that I
think I need to be successfulhere?
And who can I surround myselfwith?
That are going to perhaps helplift me up, you know?
Mm-hmm.
Be Aaron to raise Moses' armsup.
Right?
I mean, who are those peoplegoing to be?
(28:47):
And I think when those peopleshow up and you start
recognizing the clarity to someof those things that you feel
like you're lacking, then that'sthe place where we know it's
just, it's been the enemy thewhole time.
And I always tell kids this too,especially ones who've gone
through a lot of trauma, theenemy won't bother you.
If you weren't gonna have somekind of impact for the kingdom,
(29:10):
right, he'd leave you alone.
I mean, if you're not gonnaaffect or impact the kingdom,
Why would he bother you?
So when you begin to have doubtsabout something that you think
you're gonna do, and you'regoing to serve God in it, and
you're gonna give God the gloryand you're gonna lead people to
Christ through it, you couldprobably expect that you're
gonna run into doubt and you'regonna run into challenges.
(29:31):
Which just for me, it furthersolidifies the idea that.
this is where the Lord wants meto be.
Vona Johnson (29:36):
Yeah.
Oh, that's really beautiful.
So, if someone is listeningtoday and they're in that
Raleigh Durham area and they'reintrigued by this C-suite for
Christ idea, how could they getahold of you to learn more about
it?
Dan Simon (29:51):
Sure.
Well we have a LinkedIn page.
The C-Suite for Christ has anational, and then we have our
separate chapter pages.
So C-Suite for Christ RaleighDurham can be found on LinkedIn.
I have of course, a personalcontact on LinkedIn as well.
And then I would say if there'sa place in the podcast to, to
put my contact information Iwould love to share my cell
(30:13):
phone.
My, email address and not evenjust about C-Suite for Christ.
I mean, anybody who's in thatplace of like, I am on the fence
and I just don't know if I'm tooyoung.
I, you know, I actually was justhaving this conversation with my
best friend earlier today.
Like, he saw something and he islike, I think I'm ready and I'm
just not sure.
And I said, well, the firstthing you gotta do is put your
(30:35):
hat in the ring.
Because if it's not meant to be,it'll be No.
But now you're taking that leapof faith in a sense of, but I'm
stepping outta my comfort zoneto something else.
And that may be all you need todo for God to say, oh, now
you're ready.
Alright, well I have somethingelse for you.
So, I'd love to just talkanybody through that, that place
where they are, where they'renot sure or they just have
(30:56):
doubts and maybe just wanna chatabout it.
That's where I believe God hasled me at this point in my life,
in my professional and personallife.
And I'm ready to answer the callwhere, wherever God points.
Vona Johnson (31:09):
I love it.
I will absolutely put yourcontact information in the show
notes, so anybody that's, andthis is gonna be both video and
audio, so it'll be in bothplaces.
Dan Simon (31:20):
I just got my hair cut then.
A great job of that too, so,yeah.
Vona Johnson (31:23):
Yeah.
No, perfect.
This has been wonderful, and Ijust wanna thank you so much for
taking the time to visit with ustoday.
There's so many words of wisdom,gold nuggets here that we can
take.
And I'm gonna finish with onethought that you shared the
other day when we visited.
And I thought it was reallycool.
(31:44):
And you talked about getting toour Nineveh.
Right.
Dan Simon (31:48):
want me to reiterate that again?
Vona Johnson (31:49):
Would you do that one?
Dan Simon (31:50):
I use this with kids 'cause I think it's a visual
that they can understand.
You know, when I do my vocation,college and career training in
Christian schools, particularlybecause I can use scriptural
references there, you alwaystalk about starting sooner than
later, right?
To try to explore what has hegifted me with What am I good
at?
What do I like spending my timedoing, Because so many adults,
(32:12):
change jobs multiple times,takes them sometimes three or
four decades to find that placewhere they wanna be, but you
know, eventually they find it.
And so I always like toreference, Nineveh and say, look
he, you know, Jonah had a chanceto go to Nineveh through the
route that God told him, I wantyou to go.
And he could have, taken a camelor taken wherever and he could
(32:34):
have ended up in Nineveh, right?
He chose not to.
Yeah.
But he still ended up in Ninevehwhen the whale vomited him out
of his mouth onto the shores ofNineveh.
Right.
So no matter what.
God is a calling on our life.
Right?
we're gonna end up where God iscalling us and wherever it is
that he's preparing us for.
The question is how do you wantto get there?
(32:54):
Right?
And so to me that visual is agreat way to say, I feel like
God might be calling.
Alright, well what's the firststep towards Nineveh that you
need to take, Right.
To see.
And if you are going the wrongdirection, you can be pretty
sure there's gonna be a whalethat's gonna swallow you up.
Spit out where you belong andwhere you should be.
Vona Johnson (33:16):
Yeah.
Beautiful, beautiful analogy.
And I think it's a great placeto end our conversation.
So thank you so much Daniel.
I have enjoyed this so much andI look forward to additional
conversations in the future.
Dan Simon (33:29):
as well.
Thank you so much for havingVona.
I really appreciate it.
And thank you again.
Glad to be a point of contactfor anybody who just wants to
chat.
Vona Johnson (33:37):
Perfect.
This conversation reallyreminded me of chapter 14 of A
Different View called theExpectation shift.
And in that I talk about a lotof things and how sometimes we
get dissatisfied or we havedoubts in our life and we start
making changes and don't realizethat God doesn't always let us
in on his plans or we don't getto see his perspective.
(34:00):
And the one of the paragraphsthat relate to that is I've
learned that God doesn't alwayswork in the way we think he will
or how we would do it.
We have a tendency to thinkwe'll take the direct route from
where we are to where we want togo, but God often will lead us
around obstacles and challengesWe cannot see.
(34:20):
Or he will allow us to take theroute with numerous barriers so
we can learn lessons to grow inour faith.
We often forget that he seeswhat is along our journey and
prepares us for the challengesahead.
There's so much more in thischapter that I felt really
related to my conversation withDan today, but I wanted to share
that with you.
(34:40):
I also wanted to share with youa verse that came up.
It's Ephesians 2:10.
We are God's handiwork createdin Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared inadvance for us to do.
You see, just because we retireddoesn't mean that we are truly
done with the work that Godcreated us to do.
(35:02):
He has meaningful work preparedfor us to do throughout our
lives, including and beyondretirement.
Just remember finishing wellmeans continuing to walk in the
purpose that God has laid outfor us, even when the path looks
different than we think it will.
I pray that this has blessedyou.
I just wanna thank you so muchfor stopping by today.
It's always so good to have youhere Stop back in two weeks for
(35:24):
more of courageous retirement.
Until then, engage your faith,finish well and always, always
live your more.
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