Identity

Ep.8 | Confidence In Your Savior

Hosted by Colin McFarland With Special Guest Heather Hippensteel

IN THIS EPISODE

• An athletic career that began on the balance beam and was nurtured in an athletic family | 1:44
• Settling in to your identity heading from high school to college | 7:01
• A family oriented, faith-based upbringing | 8:41
• What role does your faith play in developing new relationships? | 11:31
• Transitioning from being a collegiate athlete to a working professional | An intro into CrossFit | 15:33
• As you pick your friends and community, stay true to who you are in Christ | 21:36
• The ability to pursue what you’re passionate about with family | 23:39
• There’s times when we feel close to Him, and times when we feel further away | Stay Strong | 26:25

INSTANT TAKEAWAYS

1 | KNOW YOUR PRIORITIES

Heather is a wonderful example of prayerfully establishing balance in her life and leaning into where Christ is leading her when she makes decisions. Throughout this interview, she talks about choosing a school to make sure her academics don’t come second and when she’s choosing relationships she works her faith into it where appropriate. She is conscious of the fact that she is designed by a Loving God who has her best intentions in mind as well as a plan for her future, and she wants to fully embrace that and lean into it. When you are making decisions in your life, make sure the first place you turn is to the Father. Ask to join Him on His mission for you in your life, He’s in charge!

2 | PURSUE YOUR PASSIONS

An amazing thing about your life in Christ, and your Father as a wonderful Creator, is that He has designed us each, uniquely. Each and every one of us is designed with a special skill set, a different set of passions, and He wants us to pursue and embrace those. When we use those talents, skills and, abilities to honor Him, it is bringing Him glory. So make sure that you run after your passions, wholeheartedly, and honor Him in the process. Our Father loves us and wants to bring us joy. And, in return, we can honor Him with worship and praise through our unique pursuits. 

3 | IT’S ABOUT THE YES’S

Sometimes, as Christians, and also as people looking from in from the outside, can perceive Christianity as a set of rules that we have to follow. But our Father in heaven isn’t satisfied with us following a bunch of rules, and it’s not about giving things up for Him to love us. A personal relationship with our Creator is all about saying YES! Often times we think we have to say no to a bunch of stuff in order to adhere to a “Christian Lifestyle”. But that is completely the wrong emphasis. What we should be focusing on is, when we say yes to a personal relationship with our Father, it brings complete truth and fulfillment into our lives. Life with God is so much better than life without God. As long as we are true in our walk with Him, He will stay faithful to us. 

SHOW NOTES

Welcome back to Anchor + Waves for our final episode in our Identity Series. We’ve had basketball players, volleyball players, outdoors-women, coaches and everything in between. Today, we have a true athlete in every sense of the word joining us, Heather Hippensteel. Heather is a former collegiate diver turned Cross Fit Games champion.

Heather has an amazing perspective on being a Christian-Athlete in a multitude of sports and disciplines. She is unabashedly someone who embraces her faith, and her likeness to Christ comes out in all areas of her life. Listen in today as Colin and Heather talk about what it looks like to be raised in a Christian household and how to firmly grasp your relationship with our Father.

*And if you’re looking for another fun episode, her dad (Dave Hippensteel) is on our Men’s Podcast, Uncharted, this week.

You can also listen in to our newly launched Men’s Podcast Channel: Uncharted, as we’re currently running a sister-program on that channel for male athletes also called Identity.