Work is Calling

The Guy Who Just Picked His Career (And Found His Calling Anyway) - Ryan DeKoekKoek

Ryan DeKoekKoek (also known as DK) grew up in Chino, California, surrounded by dairy farms, eventually found his way to Notre Dame's Dort University, and spent two formative years teaching at a missionary school in Japan before settling into what would become a 23-year career at Timothy Christian Schools in Elmhurst, Illinois. What started as a job he "just picked" has quietly become a deep calling lived from the inside out. In this episode of Work Is Calling, Wayne and DK explore the long, unplanned road from career to calling, including a pivotal moment in Japan when God redirected DK's plans through an unexpected email. They discuss the danger of building your identity around status and ladder-climbing, what it looks like to find contentment before chasing achievement, and why John the Baptist may be the most underrated model of vocational surrender in scripture. DK also shares the small, daily habits that keep him anchored to the reason he shows up.

From Pro Hockey to Chaplaincy - Rob Globke

Rob Globke spent years in one of the toughest environments in sports: professional hockey. But his story is not just about competition, travel, or life on the ice. It is about how God slowly redirected a gifted athlete’s love for the game into a deeper calling. From growing up in Michigan, to playing at Notre Dame, to pro hockey in North America and Europe, Rob shares a life shaped by discipline, sacrifice, and the quiet formation of faith. Along the way, mentors, scripture, and one unforgettable bus ride in Germany helped him begin to see that the game he loved could also become a place of ministry. In this episode of Work Is Calling, Rob and Wayne Kuna talk about what it looks like to follow Jesus in a hockey culture that often feels spiritually lonely. Rob reflects on why the sacrificial love of Christ both comforts and challenges him, and how he learned to live as a quiet witness rather than force faith on others. He also shares how Hockey Ministries International became the place where his love for hockey and his love for Jesus finally came together, why he believes there is no real divide between “spiritual” and “secular” work, and how seeing work as a calling gives you the endurance to keep going when success, money, or comfort fall short.

Calling Is Who You Are In The Room - Kari Meyer

Kari Meyer’s story is a tapestry of bold transitions: Chicago roots, decades spent in the DC area, a career that began as a temp role and grew into global consulting leadership, and a later-life shift through grief into new arenas of real estate leadership and professional coaching. Along the way, she’s carried a consistent thread: an insistence that leadership is relational at its core, and that people flourish when they feel seen. Grounded in Psalm 87, Kari frames her energy, resilience, and purpose as something sourced in God rather than performance or outcomes. In this episode of Work Is Calling, Kari and Wayne Kuna discuss what it looks like to treat work as a calling when you’re solving real problems, leading teams, and navigating uncertainty. Kari shares how her sense of calling formed early in her consulting years, why she believes the image of God in others should shape how leaders build teams, and how coaching becomes a “container” where truth can replace fear and limiting beliefs. They also talk daily practices (prayer, gratitude, and speaking truth before the day begins) and why curiosity is one of the most powerful tools a leader can bring into complexity.

Telling the Truth in a World of Lies - Brian Godawa

Brian Godawa has spent his life living in two worlds at once. A screenwriter and novelist, Brian grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago in a religious home. After coming to faith in high school, he began to see film and story differently, not just as entertainment but as powerful vehicles for truth and worldview. Along the way he was shaped by voices like C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, Greg Bahnsen, and Michael Heiser, all of whom helped him wrestle with how art, theology, and apologetics intersect. In this episode of Work Is Calling, Brian and Wayne Kuna explore how a love of movies became a sense of calling to be a “truth-teller” through story. Brian talks about Ecclesiastes 12 and the tension between endless books and simple obedience, why he thinks both head and heart must be converted, and why the Sermon on the Mount, especially loving your enemies, remains the hardest part of following Jesus. They also dig into his craft: how he uses appendices like Michael Crichton to ground “fantastical” biblical fiction in research, why he reads exhaustively on controversial issues, and why lies, propaganda, and the erosion of free speech grieve him so deeply. It’s a candid look at what it means to see writing, film, and imagination not as escapism, but as a serious calling from God.

Lessons from a Lifetime in Ministry Leadership - Greg Thornton

Greg Thornton thought he was headed for pastoral ministry, right up until God made it clear he wasn’t. What followed was a decades-long journey in publishing, administration, and leadership at Moody Bible Institute, all shaped by a simple desire: to be known as a servant of the living God. In this episode of Work Is Calling, Greg and Wayne Kuna talk through the unexpected ways calling takes shape over time. From feeling out of place during his exploration of pastoral studies to discovering a love for Christian publishing, Greg shares how God slowly revealed the work he was made to do. Along the way, they discuss the power of Psalms in leadership, emotional honesty in worship, what it means to carry a posture of servanthood into the boardroom, and how a childhood shaped by hard work and Scripture laid the foundation for a faithful vocational life.