Dec. 18, 2025

From Rape to Redemption with Matt Badgley

From Rape to Redemption with Matt Badgley

Have a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here. 378: Matt Badgley's life began with unimaginable trauma - conceived through rape to a drug-addicted mother. His childhood was marked by poverty, abuse, and abandonment, leading to a suicide attempt at 14. However, God intervened through Young Life ministry, where Matt encountered the unconditional love of his Heavenly Father. Today, he's breaking generational cycles by raising godly children with his wife Brittany....

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Season 4

Have a question or comment for Pastor Plek or one of his guests. Send it here.

378: Matt Badgley's life began with unimaginable trauma - conceived through rape to a drug-addicted mother. His childhood was marked by poverty, abuse, and abandonment, leading to a suicide attempt at 14. However, God intervened through Young Life ministry, where Matt encountered the unconditional love of his Heavenly Father. Today, he's breaking generational cycles by raising godly children with his wife Brittany. His story demonstrates that no situation is too broken for God's redemption, and our worst experiences can become the foundation for ministry and hope for others.

Text your questions to us at 737-231-0605 or visit pastorplek.com. We talk faith, culture, and everything in between.

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00:00 - Meet Matt And His Backstory

01:09 - Conceived In Rape: Choosing Life

03:25 - Early Childhood: Addiction And Prison

06:10 - Motel Life And A Violent Home

10:41 - Collapse: Jail, No Utilities, CPS

14:12 - House Fire And Removal To Seattle

17:24 - Mom Returns, Relapse, And Homelessness

21:40 - Suicide Attempt And Numbing With Drugs

24:30 - A Friend, YoungLife, And The Gospel

27:00 - The Prodigal Son Moment At Camp

30:00 - New Roots: Mentors And School Year

33:10 - Meeting Brittany And Marriage

36:15 - Learning Fatherhood Without A Model

39:10 - Family Discipleship And Homeschool

42:20 - Sports, Community, And Grit

44:40 - Calling, Homelessness Burden, Next Steps

WEBVTT

00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:07.679
Welcome back to Pastor Plex Podcast.

00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:13.199
I'm your host, Pastor Plex, and joining me today is someone I'm very excited about.

00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:15.839
Matthew, I want you to give us Matt.

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Matt.

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Yeah.

00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:17.679
Matt.

00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:18.079
Yeah.

00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:22.160
My wife calls me Matthew, and uh it's a term of endearment, or I'm in trouble.

00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:23.519
So Matt Matt's the way to get it.

00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:23.839
All right.

00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:25.359
So get tell us who you are.

00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:27.120
Tell us where you came from.

00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:31.359
Tell us like um just the basics of of how you came to the church.

00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:36.479
And then we're gonna I want to get into because once I heard your, I don't know, real true story, whole story, whole biography, yeah.

00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:37.280
It's pretty wild.

00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.159
Yeah, well, I'll do the uh the abridged version.

00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:43.920
So uh I've been a uh Christian for 15 years now.

00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:46.880
Uh been with my wife since high school, or high school sweethearts.

00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:52.240
I've got two kids, uh Jackson, he's six, and Peyton is eight years old.

00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:54.560
And we've been in Texas since 2019.

00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:55.679
We moved here from Seattle.

00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:56.399
That's wild.

00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:58.079
Okay, and your wife's Britney.

00:00:58.399 --> 00:00:59.520
Yes, Brittany Badgley.

00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:00.799
And she's so great.

00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:09.439
So, okay, so Matt, what the thing that struck me about your life is, and I want you uh, you know, share as much as you feel comfortable.

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You you shared even this morning that you were conceived in rape.

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Yes.

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So, like that to me was mind-blowing.

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Because usually what people say in an argument um for abortion, yeah, is what about somebody who uh rapes someone and then they should or that mom should have the ability to terminate that pregnancy.

00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:43.439
Now, so can you tell give us like the background of like of your story and let's get into that a little bit?

00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:43.920
Yeah, yeah.

00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.000
So that's something I've I've thought about a lot, as is it's been really prevalent in our culture.

00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:53.439
And I've only seen one example online where someone's actually talked about their story and how they were conceived through rape.

00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:55.840
So I would imagine it's it's probably more of a rare thing.

00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:58.239
But I think I saw it on a Charlie Kirk video of all things.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:01.680
Um, but that that's my story.

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That's that's where uh my relationship with Christ starts, believe it or not.

00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:06.159
Okay, yeah.

00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:10.159
Um yeah, it's pretty wild to think that, but um I think everything happens for a reason.

00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:12.080
I really do, and that's a story that God gave me.

00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:13.039
So it goes like this.

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My mom, uh, she's she struggled with drug addiction her entire life.

00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:24.960
And so um, she told me uh that she was in a rehab clinic and she met this man, and that man ended up being my biological father.

00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:27.039
Um and they became really good friends.

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And uh while they were in the rehab clinic, they had agreed that uh when he got out, uh he would come pick her up once her date ended.

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She was gonna be there a little bit longer than him.

00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:39.360
And so they made this arrangement.

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She gets out and she meets him, she gets in his car, and they start driving, and she realizes that he's high on something, she doesn't know what.

00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:56.240
But he starts going off and and he's talking about this plan that he has to go rob this guy and how he's gonna use her to sleep with him.

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And while that's happening, he's gonna sneak in and steal all this stuff, and they're gonna make out, you know, with all this money.

00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:04.639
And and he had this whole scheme planned.

00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:10.240
And she's, you know, she's now sober and she's thinking, What the heck are you talking about?

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I'm not gonna do that.

00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:14.879
And so she tells him, No, I'm not doing that.

00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:19.680
And he said to her, uh, Well, you're gonna pay for this ride one way or another.

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And she told me that he pulled over and he raped her and he left her on the side of the road.

00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:26.560
Yeah, it's wild.

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And so she is going, What do I do?

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You know, um, she finds out later that she she uh is pregnant with me, and uh her first thought was abortion.

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You know, I think that's probably anybody's first thought in that uh situation.

00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:48.639
And my mom is, you know, at least at that time, I did not think she was uh a strong Christian.

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However, my grandma is like a hardcore Catholic.

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So thank God for the Catholic grandmaster that are out there because she told my mom, you cannot have an abortion.

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That that baby is a gift uh to you, and it does not matter how he was conceived.

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And so she then thought, okay, well, I'm not gonna have an abortion.

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Maybe I'll give him up for adoption.

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And it just so happened that there was uh a family friend of ours that she knew.

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Uh he was a doctor, the wife was a lawyer, it would have been a great setup, and they wanted to adopt.

00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.560
At the last second, she decided not to go that route.

00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:21.600
She uh gave birth to me and then decided to keep me.

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The reason why I say my my story with God starts there is because she named me Matthew, which means gift from God.

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And she prayed uh before she gave birth to me.

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She said, God, this boy's not gonna have a father, and I need you to watch over him and protect him and be his heavenly father.

00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:39.519
Wow.

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And so that's that's where it started.

00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:42.959
That is wild.

00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:52.480
Okay, so then so you know, she she's out of drug rehab, she gets pregnant with you, you know, nine months later, you're born.

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Is she drug free at that point?

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Or does that great question?

00:04:56.399 --> 00:04:58.879
So, yes, she's it's wild.

00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:10.160
So she be she was sober, but when you typically when you get on drugs, it's not because you just wake up someday and you're like, I'm gonna get on drugs, it's because you're around bad association, right?

00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:15.199
And so when she was 14, uh, she told me that she was around uh bad association.

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A guy that she was babysitting for came home one day, he had drugs, gave it to her.

00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:22.480
That's how she got hooked on methamphetamines, very hardcore drug.

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And so she, yes, she was sober when she had me, thank God.

00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:31.120
Uh, but being around that association, now she's a single mom, she's got no one to help raise this kid.

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What do you do?

00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:37.439
She starts dealing drugs, she starts getting into trafficking, and so she Wait, wait, trafficking.

00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:38.720
You mean drug trafficking?

00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:43.839
From what I understand, it was drug trafficking, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was any sort of trafficking.

00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:46.720
Like human trafficking, yes, but drug trafficking for sure.

00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:46.879
Okay.

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And when I say human trafficking, I don't mean that she was trafficking other humans, but she might have been prostituting herself.

00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:53.360
I I don't know that for a fact.

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But um she was selling drugs nonetheless.

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That's what she got caught for.

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So she ends up actually going to prison when I was about two or three uh years old.

00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.160
And uh my grandparents uh took me in.

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So she went to prison for I think it was about one, maybe two years.

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Yeah.

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And so um Wow.

00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:15.600
So yeah, my grandparents took me in at that at that point.

00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:18.240
Uh, we were living, it was kind of a crazy setup.

00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:26.720
If ever anyone's ever seen um The Sweet Life of Zach and Cody, it's like this old school Disney show where these kids grow up in this really uh swanky five-star hotel.

00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:32.079
Uh, my grandparents were managing a one-star motel in in Reno, Nevada.

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Uh that's where I was born, that's where I was raised until I was 10.

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Um, and so they were managing this, you know, this uh motel that was right off of Fourth Street, which is where you go to find hookers and drugs and Reno.

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And uh my grandparents, God bless them, if it wasn't for them, I I wouldn't I wouldn't be who I am today.

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Um they were a godsend of my life.

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And so they took me in and and I, for a period of my uh childhood until my mom got out of prison, I was living in a motel and it was a really crazy cool kind of a situation, despite it being, you know, not a good environment uh in terms of the quality of the hotel, but uh cool in terms of being with my grandparents, being in a in a loving situation, and uh just getting into experience something most kids don't get to experience.

00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:22.560
Okay, so your t your mom's you comes back, I guess comes back early into your life, you move in with her at 10.

00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:27.600
So she gets out of prison and she moves into the motel.

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And uh uh it got okay for a while, things get bad uh later.

00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:40.720
Um she moves in this motel, and uh I remember um being in there with her in it, you know, it's a motel.

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It's and it's a it's I mean you can picture it in your head in a place that you'd probably go uh uh sleep with a prostitute, do drugs, just you're there one night, you know.

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You're not making reservations for this place.

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Uh-huh.

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This is where, you know, I'm living with her, it's just me and her.

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Uh and then myself same room, or you're like same room.

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It's it's one room and a bathroom.

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That's it.

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Okay.

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One bedroom or one bed.

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And my uh stepdad, he comes into the picture at this point.

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Okay.

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Uh, I think right before she had gone off to prison, they had made a connection, and they must have been talking through prison because he comes into the picture as soon as she gets out.

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So now he's living in this motel with us.

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All three are in the same room.

00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:19.519
Yes.

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And it it was uh it was kind of a a traumatic experience to start just because I remember like my earliest memories of is of them having sex right behind me.

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You know, I'm three years old, and that's what I remember.

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And uh I was told this guy's your dad.

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And I didn't find out until I was 10 uh that he wasn't.

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And for a period of time, um he was just this this dad in my life.

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He was kind of absent in a way, he worked nights.

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Uh, we ended up getting out of that motel situation.

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He got us into an apartment, and it was like, hallelujah.

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You know, we're living in an apartment now.

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This is this is incredible.

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This is amazing.

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Yeah, we're living big.

00:08:58.559 --> 00:08:59.919
Did your motel have a pool?

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It did have a pool, but the pool had a crack in it, and there was no water in it.

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So it was just concrete.

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Dang it.

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Yeah.

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Okay, so you're you're living in the apartment upscale.

00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:11.759
Uh still see your grandparents?

00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:15.759
Yeah, I would still see my grandparents, but we moved uh across town.

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So we were living in downtown Rena.

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We moved to Stead, which uh I recently visited last summer, and I looked it up on uh on livability, and it's the worst place you could possibly live in the Reno area.

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So that's where we moved.

00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:29.039
Okay.

00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:32.960
So does your mom stick it out marriage-wise with the new dad?

00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:34.559
So yes.

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Um things were okay.

00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:42.399
They were both sober until I was about seven, maybe eight years old, right around there.

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And uh that's when things started going way south.

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Um, they had my my uh little sister, she was five years younger than me.

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That was their biological kid together.

00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:51.279
Right.

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Uh, this whole time again, I'm thinking this is my real father.

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And so um, the story goes like this that uh one day uh his brother shows up into town, he's he comes to visit from Iowa, and uh my stepdad's working nights.

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And so uh I had asked my mom, how did you guys get back on drugs?

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What happened?

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And she told me that uh when this uncle came to visit, he brought some methamphetamines and they were sitting there one night after we're in bed, and and he goes, Hey, if you take this, you can stay up all night long and hang out with me.

00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:21.840
Because my stepdad was working nights and he was tired.

00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:23.360
And that's a great idea.

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Let's do that, you know.

00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:35.600
And so if you know, if if you're a recovering addict and someone puts that right in front of you, temptation is great, and uh they they took that bait, and it was like overnight things got awful, things got terrible.

00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:39.919
All right, so how did he tell you that he that he wasn't your biological dad?

00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:40.960
He he never did.

00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:43.120
I didn't find out until I was I was 10.

00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:48.000
So once the drugs started happening, um everything started to unravel in the house.

00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:51.279
Uh it was it was constant fighting every single day.

00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:57.919
Um, lots of abuse, uh, abuse from my stepdad uh to my uh my mom and to myself.

00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:04.320
Um and one day, uh uh my mom and my stepdad got in a big fight physically and ended up in the front lawn.

00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:04.799
Yeah.

00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:12.559
And so the neighbors call the cops, the cops come and arrest the stepdad, and he goes off to jail for I think about six, seven months.

00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:17.840
So I'm about uh I was nine years old at this time in fourth grade.

00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:21.600
And uh while he's in jail, we don't have any income.

00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:26.240
My mom wasn't working, and she's all she cares about right now is how to get her next fix.

00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:28.960
You know, I remember finding needles in our house.

00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:30.879
Um, it was wild.

00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:35.200
We had no power in the house, there's no water for six, seven months.

00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:40.639
And uh what ends up happening is right before my grandparents were they so they're they're in Washington right now.

00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:42.720
They're they're living up in Seattle, they moved.

00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:46.080
I don't remember exactly how old I was when they moved, but they were up in Seattle by this point.

00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:47.120
That's where they're from originally.

00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:50.080
Reno was just like a place they were at temporarily.

00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:52.799
Seattle was was where the family was from.

00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:56.159
Okay, so you're you're living without power.

00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:01.039
Yeah, you're you know, do you I don't know, are you the smelly kid at school at this point, I guess?

00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:01.840
Absolutely.

00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:03.600
I had one pair of pants.

00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:04.799
Uh I remember my mom.

00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:09.679
I told her I need I need uh I need uh clothes for school.

00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:10.960
And she gave me$20.

00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:13.039
And I was like, what am I gonna do with this?

00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:15.279
I have one pair of good jeans, that's it.

00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.240
And at the same time, I'm still trying to be a you know, a kid that's trying to be cool.

00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:21.120
So were you parenting your mom as like an eight-year-old?

00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:21.679
Oh, 100%.

00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:22.080
Yeah.

00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:26.000
I was taking care of my little sister, and I was I was cooking, I was cleaning, I was doing everything.

00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:33.120
I remember uh I would cook um food in our backyard using the barbecue because we didn't have any power.

00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:45.600
And the food that we were eating was uh given to us by the neighbor who was also on drugs, but he would go to the store and all of their perishable items that they were throwing out, he would get those and then he would bring them to us.

00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:48.240
So you know, we were eating stuff that was expired.

00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:49.279
Wow.

00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:54.240
Okay, so like uh eventually you you know, you you don't die.

00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:58.799
Uh was you serious in any gunfights or anything like that with your mom and drug the drug world?

00:12:59.120 --> 00:12:59.919
No, there were threats.

00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:14.720
I remember one time um they pulled up to get drugs, and uh my sister and I were waiting in the car, and all I remember is seeing my stepdad do like this Kung Fu like front kick uh to knock a uh uh it wasn't a gun, it was a knife out of somebody's hand.

00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:20.559
And then there was another time where a guy uh threatened to come to our house and shoot us uh because it was drug related.

00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:20.960
Wow.

00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:26.399
Okay, so eventually you get you know you survive, you make it to high school, right?

00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:36.639
Or like what are you still with your like you're now a teenager, still living in the in the So let me go back to uh this house instead.

00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:39.759
Um everything came to a climax in that house.

00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:43.039
Uh dad's again in jail, mom's focused on drugs.

00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:45.039
She's got a boyfriend now at this time.

00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:48.159
Um what ends up happening is Did he officially adopt you?

00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:49.279
No, he never adopted me.

00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:51.039
Okay, so my last name's Badgley.

00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:53.360
That's the same last name as as my grandpa.

00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:53.919
Got it.

00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:54.159
Okay.

00:13:58.080 --> 00:13:59.600
You just get to choose what your last name is.

00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:01.200
It doesn't have to match your dad.

00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:02.639
Yeah.

00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:08.720
So um I'm in this house, no power, and we're using this fireplace that my stepdad had made right before he went to jail.

00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:13.759
And it was like a potbelly stove, and and uh it was a metal chimney that went to the roof.

00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:15.679
And so I fall asleep that night.

00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:19.759
Uh, it's very cold in the wintertime in Reno, and I'm next to my baby sister.

00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:24.480
Uh, she was four at the time, and I wake up and there's fire across the ceiling.

00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:28.960
And I wake up in a panic, I look at the couch, there's some random guy.

00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:30.240
He's strung out on drugs.

00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.679
He's literally staring at the ceiling, not doing anything, just tripping out.

00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:38.159
And I get up, I run to the back of the house where my mom and her boyfriend were at, and I'm pounding on the door.

00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:39.440
We gotta go, we gotta get out of here.

00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:40.559
The house is on fire.

00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:41.840
She doesn't believe me.

00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.200
I end up like, I don't know how I got her out of there, but I got her out of there.

00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:49.840
We get across uh to the neighbor's house across the street, and my house is just on fire.

00:14:50.000 --> 00:15:09.279
And I remember that night watching firefighters put out uh the fire at my house, and I had this overwhelming peace because I'm like, there's been nothing but nightmares in this house for the last, you know, three, four years because of all the addiction that my uh parents were going through and and all the turmoil and the trauma.

00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:15.120
And I wake up the next day, go to school, and I get called to the office, and they're they said, Bring your backpack.

00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:16.480
And I'd been in the office a lot.

00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:19.039
I was a troublemaker and I was I was always seeking attention.

00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:23.759
But CPS had been coming to school nonstop, and this was the first time they said bring your backpack.

00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:25.919
I show up to the office, my mom's there.

00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:30.639
She just looks, you know, strung out and and you know, going on a bender, that type of a thing.

00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:33.360
And she said, You're you're gonna go live with your grandparents.

00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:35.120
And I'm so confused at this point.

00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:36.399
I'm like, what is going on?

00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:40.720
I go out to the parking lot, my aunt's there in her uh in her truck.

00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:45.279
It was uh a two-door, uh, very, very tiny truck, might have been like a Ford Ranger or something.

00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:51.679
My baby sister's in the middle seat, our bags are packed, one-way ticket to to uh Seattle, Washington to go live with my grandparents.

00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:53.840
And the next day I'm in a different school.

00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:57.519
Uh, my birthday, my 10th birthday is like, you know, a week from that point.

00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:04.000
Okay, so at 10 years old, at your grandparents' house, that's when you find out your that wasn't your buttons, your mom was raped.

00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:10.240
So, no, I don't find out that truth of of how it was conceived until my freshman year of high school.

00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:13.360
Um, I found out from my mom after all of this.

00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:14.879
I went to go visit her that next summer.

00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:16.320
I was about 11 years old.

00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:21.120
And uh she told me, you know, hey, uh Rick's not your not your dad.

00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:24.799
And she's she's bawling, she's crying, she's thinking I'm gonna hate her for this news.

00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:27.200
I remember being I was relieved.

00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:28.799
I was like, thank you, you know.

00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:34.559
Um there's some things I can look at and say, you know, I'm I'm very thankful for him.

00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:41.279
Uh like I I I'm involved in wrestling, I help coach wrestling, and uh that wouldn't be in my life if he hadn't got me involved in it.

00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:50.799
Um he gave me a lot of examples of what not to do, and he was at least someone that was willing to be there as a father, uh despite all of his abuse and everything else, you know.

00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:52.240
But but yeah, I was relieved.

00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:56.000
Okay, so you're now you're now with your grandparents in your 10.

00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:56.480
Yes.

00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:57.519
In Seattle.

00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:58.000
Yes.

00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:00.000
And did things sort of get normal from there?

00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:01.039
Yeah, they do.

00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:02.639
It was uh it was a trip.

00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:05.279
You know, I went from Reno.

00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:08.720
Uh I was one of the only white kids in my neighborhood, you know.

00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:13.759
I remember like um yeah, like going through lots of bowling because of that.

00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:18.559
I had a guy hold a knife to my throat one time when I was a kid, yeah, uh, just because I was white.

00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:26.240
Um, but I go from that situation to now I'm living in Oso, Washington, which is this tiny community in the middle of nowhere.

00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:32.400
The like their claim to fame is that they had this mudslide happen in uh 2013, I think it was.

00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:36.319
Um, but other than that, you wouldn't even uh have ever heard of this town.

00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:39.839
I mean, it's a tiny, tiny population out in the mountains in the middle of nowhere.

00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.400
So I go from this very, very, you know, large city to the the middle of nowhere.

00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:45.920
Okay, so things start to normalize.

00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:47.119
So things start to normalize.

00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:47.839
Your sister's with you?

00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:48.880
Yes, my sister's with me.

00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:57.359
Your grandparents are there, and uh Okay, so so then tell me like, does your mom come back in the picture at all?

00:17:58.079 --> 00:17:58.480
Yeah.

00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:00.640
So man, you ask great questions, Plek.

00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:05.599
Um so yes, that this is a pretty uh crucial part of of how I came to Jesus.

00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:11.680
Um the whole time I was praying, from 10 all the way up until she did come back in my life, my freshman year.

00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:12.960
You were what, 14?

00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:14.640
Yeah, probably 14 at the time.

00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:16.160
I'm praying this whole entire time.

00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:18.079
I I wouldn't have called myself a Christian.

00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:18.880
I wouldn't have.

00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:21.200
I didn't even know what it meant to have a relationship with Christ.

00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:22.880
My only influence was for my grandma.

00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:25.839
She's Catholic, and we would, she's like uh, what do they call them?

00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:29.279
Uh cradle Catholics, you know, like they just don't go to church that often.

00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:31.440
Uh but she is a firm believer.

00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:32.319
And so that was it.

00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:34.319
I didn't know you could have a relationship with Christ.

00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:39.039
But I knew, like, man, if you prayed to this God, uh, he's gonna answer your prayer.

00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:40.160
That's what I did.

00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:46.079
And I thought, if my mom could come back in my life, this hole in my heart would get filled again.

00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:50.480
Because I remember when she was sober as a kid, she was an awesome mom.

00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.880
She was a soccer mom, she was just great.

00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:55.519
The drugs uh is where everything went went bad.

00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:58.960
So I just prayed, man, if she can come back in my life, get off drugs, things would be good.

00:18:59.119 --> 00:18:59.599
She does.

00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:02.319
She ends up coming back into my life at 14.

00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:02.799
Yeah.

00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:07.599
It's like a scene out of a movie, long driveway on this country road.

00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:10.240
This random car comes down, out comes my mom.

00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:14.000
She gets dropped off all the way from Reno, Nevada, out of nowhere.

00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:16.079
And again, she looks strung out.

00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.079
She looks like she's been abusing drugs, you know.

00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:19.440
You can just picture that in your head.

00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:21.839
And I'm thinking, my my prayers are answered.

00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:22.720
My mom is here.

00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:23.119
Yeah.

00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:26.000
She quits methanthetamines, cold turkey.

00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:27.680
That's like insane.

00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:28.240
That's insane.

00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:28.720
That's insane.

00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:33.039
So I watch her go through withdrawal, the withdrawal, the sickness, everything.

00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:34.720
And the whole time I'm just waiting.

00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:38.880
My mom, like this picture I had, my mom's coming back into my life, things are gonna be good.

00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:40.640
It was the complete opposite.

00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:46.880
The drugs had totally impacted her brain, dopamine levels, serotonin levels shot.

00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:50.319
Um she wasn't the same person, you know.

00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:59.759
And and not only that, but you juxtaposed that next to the fact that I'm a teenager, I've got all these hormones, and this lady wants to be my mom again and is trying to be like my mom.

00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:00.480
Mom.

00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:01.839
And I fought that.

00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:03.599
I had a lot of anger towards her.

00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:04.559
All of this.

00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:09.279
One day we get in this big argument, and uh and it just hit me.

00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:11.039
You know, all this hurt that I had bottled up.

00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:13.599
I'm thinking that didn't solve it.

00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:15.440
Her coming back and sober didn't solve it.

00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:19.039
And in fact, things are worse now because she's in the picture living with my grandparents.

00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:21.519
There's a lot of conflict and tension now.

00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:23.279
It all culminated.

00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:26.640
And I remember grabbing a rope and I went out to uh the woods.

00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:28.160
My grandparents had four acres.

00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:34.000
I go out to the woods, I tie a rope around my neck, I tie it around uh a branch, and I try to hang myself.

00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:36.799
And that branch broke.

00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:50.480
And I remember just sitting there on uh on the ground looking up, just going like there's there's gotta be something better than this out there.

00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:52.160
You know, there's gotta be a God out there.

00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:58.240
I remember like light shining through the branches, and I'm thinking, I I know that I just got saved.

00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:00.319
But I didn't have an answer for it.

00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:03.519
I didn't have anybody in my life, you know, tell me about Christ at that time.

00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:06.880
So I just thought, uh, shoot, I give up.

00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:08.400
You know, I'm gonna I'm gonna go.

00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:13.759
This sounds crazy, but I'm like, I'm gonna go party, I'm gonna go pursue women, I'm gonna go pursue drugs.

00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:23.920
And I had some buddies of mine um that uh they were already getting into pot and weed and doing all that kind of stuff and drinking and partying, and I'd been telling them no up to this point.

00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:26.799
And uh I was like, you know what, I'm gonna go do that.

00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:34.319
And it was around that same exact time that my mom told me uh about the truth of of her getting raped and how it was conceived.

00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:45.839
Um we were driving with my new stepdad, and uh and he he made some sort of comment about it, and uh my mom was like don't say anything.

00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:47.839
And and he's like, You haven't told him?

00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:49.759
And I'm like, Told me what?

00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:51.839
And she goes, No, I haven't told him.

00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:53.599
And he's like, You need to tell him.

00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:59.359
And she told me right then and there in the car that uh you know she was raped, and that's how I was conceived.

00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:03.119
And it was that night that I was like, Okay, yeah, I'm definitely gonna go smoke some weed.

00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:08.400
I'm gonna go get drunk, and I got more drunk and high than I've ever been in my entire life.

00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:08.960
Wow.

00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:09.440
Yeah.

00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:16.000
Okay, so then at what point is the like the message of the gospel come to you?

00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:18.079
Yeah, thank God for Jesus.

00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:20.559
Um association's everything.

00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:20.799
Yeah.

00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:24.000
And I start getting around a different uh different group of friends.

00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:24.799
Um how?

00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:27.759
Like, how did you say, I'm not gonna hang around these drug addicts anymore?

00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:29.680
I'm gonna hang around Jesus people.

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:30.960
Like who thinks like that?

00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:32.160
I mean, how does that happen?

00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:35.759
I I can't even remember exactly how it happened, to be honest with you.

00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:36.720
It's just a school thing.

00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:47.039
I remember just, you know, um going into my junior year and uh different classmates and uh become really good friends with a guy I'd known for a long time, but we weren't really close up until this point.

00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:50.960
And his family was a Christian family, and he wasn't yet a Christian.

00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:54.799
Ironically, he's a pastor now out uh oh out in Paris, Texas.

00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:55.359
Oh, nice.

00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:56.640
He moved from Seattle to Paris, Texas.

00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:57.680
He's what's his name?

00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:59.759
We have we we have an audience out in Paris, Texas.

00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:01.119
Hey, shout out to Corbin Anderson.

00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:02.799
Corbin Anderson, yes, thanks for listening.

00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:03.839
Calvary Chapel.

00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:04.400
All right.

00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:08.559
Um, so it his family was just beautiful.

00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:09.119
Yeah.

00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:13.119
Um, he had a similar story to me, and he was being raised by his grandparents.

00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:16.240
And I remember going over to their house and being like, this is different.

00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:18.240
This isn't this is a really cool family.

00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:19.359
They got together all the time.

00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:22.720
They went to church on Sundays, and I was like, I really, really like this.

00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:24.240
He was involved with young life.

00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:24.799
Nice.

00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:26.079
That's how I became a Christian.

00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:27.119
Nice through young life.

00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:28.240
Yeah, young life's awesome.

00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:28.559
Yeah.

00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:29.119
Okay.

00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:34.720
So was it like a young life where you go to Colorado, or was it young life where through like the school, or what was it?

00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:35.200
Yep.

00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:39.920
So we're up in Seattle, Washington at this time, and uh uh I'm 17.

00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:42.319
It was a summer between my junior and my senior year.

00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:48.559
I'd been going to Young Life now pretty consistently for a year, but had not gone to their camp during the summer.

00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:50.559
Nice the summer before I'd missed out on it.

00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:51.920
I'm like, nah, I'm not gonna go.

00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:58.000
This summer, uh the leader went up to me and he's like, Hey, look, someone paid for you.

00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:00.480
Uh you got a scholarship and you're you're going.

00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:00.799
Wow.

00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:02.319
And he said, it's gonna be the best week of your life.

00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:03.119
What year was that?

00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:05.440
This was oh gosh, this was 2010.

00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:06.000
Nice.

00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:06.480
Yep.

00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:08.000
Okay, so you go to Young Life.

00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:08.400
Yes.

00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:12.720
I go to this camp up in uh uh what was it, British Columbia?

00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:13.440
Up in Canada.

00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:13.759
Okay.

00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:15.119
Yeah, it's called Malibu.

00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:15.599
Oh, wow.

00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:18.720
It's on the Princess Louise Inlet in the middle of nowhere, beautiful.

00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:21.759
You gotta take like three buses and three ferries to get there.

00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:22.400
It's insane.

00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.119
So I go and I'm thinking, this is gonna suck.

00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:27.599
I'm on, you know, I'm on this trip with all these Christian kids.

00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:28.559
I thought they were all Christian.

00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:30.799
I found out, you know, later that they they weren't.

00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:33.200
Um I'm like, this is gonna suck.

00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:36.559
But I hear the story of the prodigal son.

00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:46.720
And uh I'm sitting in front of uh a pastor, he's telling the story, and it's just like this scene right here on this, you know, we've got the stage here, we've got your your auditorium here.

00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:49.119
I'm sitting like somewhere over by that pole, basically.

00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:50.000
I'm off in the distance.

00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:50.400
Yeah.

00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:52.799
And uh he starts telling the story of the prodigal son.

00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:57.039
And I'm listening going, what's gonna happen to this, this son?

00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:04.720
You know, he goes off and he has his crazy adventure, squanders all of his wealth, tells his dad, F you, I'm out of here, I'm gone.

00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:06.960
And I'm thinking, I can relate to that right now.

00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:08.480
I'm kind of doing the same thing.

00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:16.400
But I had felt this tug from Jesus by going to Young Life, you know, and I'm like, maybe this, maybe this Jesus thing is is right.

00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:26.799
Well, it was in this story that I realized that I could have a relationship with Jesus because as I'm listening to the son going back to his dad, I'm relating it to my relationship with my stepfather growing up.

00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:29.440
And if I did the wrong thing, I got beat for it.

00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:29.920
Right.

00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:34.799
I'm thinking, this son's gonna get beat, you know, his dad's gonna show him what's up.

00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:36.880
And uh this is gonna be a bad situation.

00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:39.839
That's the last place you should go if you're in trouble.

00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:49.920
And then I hear the dad runs to him with open arms and embraces his son with joy and throws a big party.

00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:52.160
And I'm thinking, this is insane.

00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:59.440
And it clicked right then and there, and I could hear God tell me, that's what I want to be to you.

00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:02.000
I want to be your father, I want you to be my son.

00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:11.440
And I was a kid over there, just like bawling, man, like demons coming out, just like hurt coming out, all this bottled up hurt.

00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:18.880
And I remember the uh guy that was talking, he he like made eye contact with me, and I could tell he was like, What is happening to that kid over there?

00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:21.279
And that day I gave my life to Christ.

00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:22.319
Okay, that's exciting.

00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:25.039
Okay, so you give your life to Christ at 17.

00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:31.519
Uh do you head back to Seattle and like everything's you know different?

00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:34.000
Like you tell your mom, what what do you do?

00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:38.400
Yeah, um, I I kind of left something out of the story here.

00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:43.359
So just before I go off to this young life camp, I'd actually uh I was homeless.

00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:44.640
What do you mean by homeless?

00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:48.880
So my sophomore year, so freshman year mom comes in the picture.

00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:51.119
Um, she ends up getting custody of me.

00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:53.119
Don't ask me how that happened, but she did.

00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:56.960
And she's with my new stepdad now and my uh little brother.

00:26:57.119 --> 00:26:59.920
And so they have a lot of conflict with my grandparents.

00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:04.640
They end up leaving and they go into a homeless shelter and they take me with them.

00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:07.200
So my sophomore year, I'm living in a homeless shelter.

00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:09.680
So could you not stay with your grandparents?

00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:13.039
I don't know how I didn't end up staying with them.

00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:18.079
There was conflict um that they had, and uh, I just ended up going with them.

00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:20.720
You know, it was like they told me one side of the story.

00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:27.200
I didn't hear my grandpa's side of the story at the time, and they were like, you just got to come with us, and they just took me and away I went.

00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:30.960
So I'm living in this homeless shelter for a period of time during my sophomore year.

00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:36.559
Uh, into going into my junior year, they end up getting into section eight housing, transitional housing.

00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:43.119
And uh it was that summer, right before I go off to camp, uh, that uh I find uh my mom's drug staff.

00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:45.599
She got back on drugs, she relapsed.

00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:52.640
I took a picture on a little flip phone that I had, printed it off, and I said, I wrote on the back of this picture, I'm I'm leaving.

00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:53.920
Uh, don't call the cops.

00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:57.119
If you do, I've got this picture on my phone and I'll show them what's going on.

00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:03.119
And I packed up my stuff in a uh a plastic uh garbage bag and I left.

00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:04.079
I took a bus.

00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:08.640
Uh I went from uh Evert, Washington to Arlington, Washington, where I was going to school.

00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:14.720
And uh my friend picked me up and I spent that summer at my friend's house, and that was that same friend that took me to the Young Life camp.

00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:15.119
Wow.

00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:15.920
Yeah, wow.

00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:17.759
So I come back from camp.

00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:20.960
That was your question, and uh I become a student leader.

00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:24.799
Um at this time I'm now living with a different friend of mine.

00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:27.039
Uh his dad becomes like a dad to me.

00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:28.319
In fact, I talked to him today.

00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:30.000
Shout out to Dale Shipman.

00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:34.720
Um and uh I I lived there my senior year and finished out my senior year there.

00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:38.319
And they just so happen to be next door neighbors to uh my wife, Britney.

00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:39.440
Oh, wow.

00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:42.799
Okay, so you are 17 when you meet your wife.

00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:43.759
Yes.

00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:47.119
And then is she your same age?

00:28:47.359 --> 00:28:48.799
Or is she like one year younger?

00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:49.200
Younger.

00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:49.440
Okay.

00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:53.519
So she was, I guess, a sophomore when you were junior, or you were a senior, she's a junior.

00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:56.079
Yeah, I'm going into my senior at this time, and she's a junior.

00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:58.480
Okay, so then you you guys start dating then?

00:28:58.640 --> 00:28:58.960
Yes.

00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:01.440
Okay, and then when do you guys get married?

00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:04.960
We got married, uh, we were in college.

00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:06.400
This was 2014.

00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:08.799
So I was a junior in college and she was a sophomore.

00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:09.279
Nice.

00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:09.599
Yeah.

00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:17.039
Okay, and so you guys get married, and then uh like was she a believer her whole life kind of thing, or what was her story?

00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:17.519
Yes.

00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:19.359
So she's been a believer her whole life.

00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:21.599
Um, her both of her parents are are Christian.

00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:23.440
She was raised in a Christian home.

00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:26.400
Um and uh she started coming to Young Life Club.

00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:27.440
That's how we ended up connecting.

00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:28.319
Oh, cool.

00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:31.599
It's I hate telling this part of the story, but it's the truth.

00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:36.640
Um, I I originally met her when I was 16, but I was dating a different girl, and this was before I was a Christian.

00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:37.519
Yes.

00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:40.960
And and she was witnessing to this girl that I was dating.

00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:46.720
And I remember meeting her for the first time, Brittany, and I shook her hand, and you've met her, she's just got this way about her.

00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:46.960
Yeah.

00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:48.799
And I was like, I'm in love with this girl.

00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:53.599
And I was I remember thinking, I wish I was a good enough person to date somebody like this.

00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:54.559
Oh, that's cool.

00:29:54.720 --> 00:30:00.240
And then a year later, I became a Christian, turned everything around, stopped doing drugs, stopped partying, became a student leader.

00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:04.480
She starts coming to Young Life Club, and I'm like, there's that girl again.

00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:06.640
And uh, we became friends at first.

00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:11.599
Um, I asked her to prom and uh she said yes, which was surprising.

00:30:11.759 --> 00:30:12.960
She had a lot of guys asking her.

00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:15.039
I don't know how why she chose to go with me.

00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:17.119
She thought I'd be fun, is what she said.

00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:20.000
And uh I remember thinking, I want to marry this girl.

00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:23.039
And and I heard God's voice tell me, like, that's gonna be your wife.

00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:23.519
Wow.

00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:23.839
Yeah.

00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:24.240
Wow.

00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:26.000
Okay, so you marry her.

00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:30.160
Like, how have you like with your mom?

00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:32.480
Like, did she is she alive?

00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:33.200
Did she pass?

00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:34.960
Like, what what happened?

00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:41.839
Yeah, so uh she ended up moving to Mammoth, Arizona years ago.

00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:48.240
Mammoth is like uh in the middle of nowhere outside of Tucson, like an hour and a half outside of Tucson, middle of the desert.

00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:51.759
It's a small little blimp on the on the radar.

00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:53.279
She's been there ever since.

00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:54.880
Um, I think she's doing a lot better.

00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:57.599
I don't talk to her as much as yeah as I used to.

00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:00.480
Um or you know, there's nothing strained between us.

00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:04.079
I love her, and I know that you know, deep down she she really loves me.

00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:08.720
Um, but it's just uh just not a relationship that I've kept up with.

00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:09.519
That's hard.

00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:10.480
Yeah, it's very hard.

00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:19.440
And and I felt challenged about that because you had talked recently on on uh on the uh one of your podcasts, your other podcast, about uh honoring your mother and your father.

00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:21.599
Yeah, you know, and so I've been really wrestling with that a lot.

00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:33.119
Oh, it's a it's so hard to wrestle with, especially when there's so much pain and hurt and just all of that um to not have bitterness sort of sink in and to really honor and love your mom.

00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:36.720
You know, I always say this forgiveness is given, trust is earned.

00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:46.319
And so you can give forgiveness, but the trust to have your you know, your mom have access to your kids, that takes yeah, you know, like you know, she doesn't have that trust.

00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:46.559
Right.

00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:47.359
And that's okay.

00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:47.680
Right.

00:31:47.839 --> 00:31:56.400
Um, but but that's that's the part where um allowing the Lord to work and redeem the years the locusts have stolen kind of thing.

00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:02.880
Um okay, so talk to me now about what it's like for you to how many kids do you have now?

00:32:03.119 --> 00:32:03.440
Two.

00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:13.279
And so you have two kids, and tell me what it's like to without having a background of knowing what you're supposed to do as a dad.

00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:17.200
You didn't see it, yeah, you didn't uh experience like this is what dads do.

00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:28.400
They lead devotionals or they do play guitar and sing Christian songs, or like without that experience, what how what have you, you know, as as I think you're not alone in this.

00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:35.759
I think a lot of men uh they get saved, they don't have a background of how do I raise a family to follow the Lord?

00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:37.119
What are you doing?

00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:39.519
And if you don't have an answer to this, that that's totally okay.

00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:42.799
Uh, what are you doing now to sort of lead your family towards Christ?

00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:45.839
And maybe that's part of like, you know, we're going, I'm leaving the church, which is huge.

00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:48.079
But what what and how old are your kids?

00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:54.960
And and what are you doing to kind of train them um to fall in love with Jesus without having the crazy story that you have?

00:32:55.279 --> 00:32:55.759
Yeah.

00:32:55.920 --> 00:32:57.839
Um, my kids love Jesus.

00:32:57.920 --> 00:32:58.079
Yeah.

00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:00.960
Like if they were right here, they'd tell you all about Jesus.

00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:09.759
Uh I remember we we played a game recently, we're just kind of role-playing, goofing around, and uh, I was this uh this principal uh that they they told me this whole story.

00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:15.519
Like, you got to be this bad principal, and Jackson's gonna be the new kid in school, and and and Peyton's the teacher.

00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:18.640
So she brings him into the office, and I'm acting like this mean principal.

00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:23.680
Well, you know, off script, he he stops and he goes, Do you know who Jesus is?

00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:28.960
You know, and he starts telling me about the gospel, and and then I, you know, find Jesus and become this nice principal.

00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:31.119
Uh so you know, my kids love Jesus.

00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:31.680
That's great.

00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:35.359
And I'm I I wish I could give anyone who's listening to this.

00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:36.880
Like, how did you reproduce that?

00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:37.839
How did you produce that?

00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:38.720
Like, what did you do?

00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:40.400
Oh, God is good, Pleck.

00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:40.960
God is good.

00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:42.000
That's all I can say.

00:33:42.160 --> 00:33:46.000
Um intentionality, I think your example's everything, you know.

00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:51.519
And uh I've always studied uh those that I want to exemplify and be like.

00:33:51.920 --> 00:34:04.000
And I've had uh uh if outside of God, I think I've had the blessing of having good men in my life that I've been able to uh go, you know what, I'll I want to take a little bit from from you and a little bit from you and a little bit from you.

00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:20.159
Give me give me one of those things that like you know, uh one of the men in your life, you know, maybe it's Dale Shipman, like you you look back, one thing that he said or did or whatever, and then you don't even maybe not even till you think of it now, like I do this because I saw him do that.

00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:26.800
Um yeah, Dale Shipman, uh how he treats people, you know, how he carries himself.

00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:28.079
Uh he's always giving.

00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:28.400
Yeah.

00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:33.519
Ironically, a lot of the the men I had in my life, uh, they weren't they weren't ever strong Christian men.

00:34:33.840 --> 00:34:35.199
Uh it's the weirdest thing.

00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:48.400
But you know, as I'm I'm journeying this, you know, the this journey with Christ and and and uh trying to be a man after his heart, like God throws these these men in my life and and gave me great examples from them.

00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:55.599
So Dale's one of them, and how he treats other people, um, how he loved his his kids um unconditionally.

00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:59.920
Um there's a lot of Christ-like characteristics that that man has.

00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:03.039
Um Keith Dumb, what a great last name.

00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:03.440
Dumb.

00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:04.159
Dumb, yes.

00:35:05.119 --> 00:35:06.400
Yes, yeah, D-U-M-M.

00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:07.119
Yes.

00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:08.000
D-U-M-M.

00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:11.039
That's might as well be as I mean, uh, you just imagine his life in school.

00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:11.679
All right, go ahead.

00:35:11.840 --> 00:35:12.639
Yeah, exactly.

00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:16.000
This guy, again, not a strong Christian.

00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:19.920
Um, he he uh actually died recently, uh, but lived an amazing life.

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:22.159
He was an older man, he was my first boss I ever had.

00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:24.079
He was he owned a landscaping company.

00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:26.079
Yeah, and uh this guy was a character.

00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:28.719
We were working out in Bill Gates' neighborhood, landscaping out there.

00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:30.079
That was one of my jobs in college.

00:35:30.239 --> 00:35:30.400
Wow.

00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:37.440
And he would come and pick me up every single morning in his van, and we'd sit in trap in Seattle traffic, which is crazy.

00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:43.119
And uh for you know, an hour and a half in the morning, hour and a half in the evening, I would just learn from this guy.

00:35:43.199 --> 00:35:45.280
And just he had tons and tons of wisdom.

00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:48.719
He had a lightheartedness about him, he treated people amazing.

00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:50.559
Um, and so I I learned from these guys.

00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:51.280
That's awesome.

00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:51.599
Yeah.

00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:52.559
No, that's really good.

00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:57.519
Is there anything specifically that you do now as a dad uh to invest in your kids?

00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:01.440
Like, like for them to know anything about Jesus means you had to have an intentionality.

00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:03.280
Was that like you send them to Christian school?

00:36:03.679 --> 00:36:04.719
I mean, what is that?

00:36:05.119 --> 00:36:07.920
They've always, I mean, again, it's your example.

00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:13.280
Um, and your example Like you're telling them about Jesus clearly, because they're wanting to evangelize to the bad principal.

00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:14.480
So, like, what is that?

00:36:14.719 --> 00:36:20.159
I I don't think that an example comes from necessarily the words that you speak as much as your actions and what they can see.

00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:27.599
And so just even showing up to church and making that a priority, I think that's that's a huge first step.

00:36:27.840 --> 00:36:34.079
Um they've always been involved with things at church, you know, whether it was a wana or kids club or what have you.

00:36:34.159 --> 00:36:37.119
Yeah, um, the the Bible is the center in our home, you know.

00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:39.920
We we do uh consistent Bible reading together.

00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:41.039
Oh yeah.

00:36:41.119 --> 00:36:41.840
So talk to me about that.

00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:45.760
How do you what what by like what Bible are you reading and what plan are you following?

00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:46.480
What are you doing?

00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:48.400
I wish I could say we're following a plan.

00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:50.400
Uh but we just open it up, we kind of read.

00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:57.920
We we open it up and and we start reading, you know, and and um like very similar to how we do it in our men's group.

00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:58.639
Yeah, same thing.

00:36:59.199 --> 00:37:04.960
Open up the Bible, we're going through Proverbs, and so it's like we're reading a chapter a day to get the devil away.

00:37:05.199 --> 00:37:06.559
Shout out to a chapter a day.

00:37:06.639 --> 00:37:08.719
That's a that is literally one of the best podcasts ever.

00:37:08.960 --> 00:37:10.000
Listen to that every single day.

00:37:10.079 --> 00:37:11.360
So I follow that same format.

00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:13.119
It's just a chapter a day with the kids.

00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:19.920
We go through it and uh and it most days they they probably hate it, but I think deep down they love it.

00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:28.159
Uh and I say they hate it because I'll wake them up at seven o'clock in the morning and get them out of bed and and we're open up the Bible and we're reading together, and then you know, hey Jackson, what'd you get out of that?

00:37:28.400 --> 00:37:31.199
Ah, dad, I'm still, you know, open up my eyes, that kind of a thing.

00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:33.039
But uh and you guys are homeschooling.

00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:33.440
Yes.

00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:35.440
And talking Brittany, Brittany's homeschooling.

00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:36.079
Right, right, of course.

00:37:36.159 --> 00:37:38.159
Uh I'm the substitute teacher every once in a while.

00:37:38.400 --> 00:37:38.800
And the principal.

00:37:38.960 --> 00:37:40.000
Yeah, and the principal, that's right.

00:37:40.239 --> 00:37:42.320
Okay, so uh talk to me about that decision.

00:37:42.480 --> 00:37:44.000
Give me like your your uh your thoughts.

00:37:44.320 --> 00:37:44.480
Yeah.

00:37:44.719 --> 00:37:46.480
I never thought we were gonna homeschool.

00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:47.920
I think it's made all the difference.

00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:48.320
Yeah.

00:37:48.480 --> 00:37:51.119
Um because clearly you have godly kids.

00:37:51.280 --> 00:37:51.599
Thank you.

00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:54.159
And you clearly your wife has had something to do with that.

00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:54.880
Absolutely.

00:37:55.039 --> 00:37:57.280
She's been a huge, huge, huge influence.

00:37:57.519 --> 00:38:01.360
Um, I think they see our relationship too, you know, and that speaks volumes.

00:38:01.519 --> 00:38:04.480
So as far as homeschool goes, I never thought I'd homeschool our kids.

00:38:04.559 --> 00:38:07.280
Uh Brittany was in violent opposition to it.

00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:07.760
Really?

00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:08.559
Oh, yeah, yeah.

00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:14.159
Growing up, uh, you know, when we had always talked about having kids and when that was gonna happen, that was the last thing on our list.

00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:16.000
We wanted to to put them in private school.

00:38:16.159 --> 00:38:16.239
Right.

00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:16.880
And we did that.

00:38:16.960 --> 00:38:18.719
We we moved to Texas, we put them in a private school.

00:38:18.960 --> 00:38:19.840
Which one do you go to?

00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:22.639
Uh I won't say because we had a bad experience.

00:38:22.800 --> 00:38:23.519
Yes, fair enough.

00:38:23.760 --> 00:38:26.559
That experience uh kind of turned into a a weird scam.

00:38:26.719 --> 00:38:26.880
Okay.

00:38:27.039 --> 00:38:29.920
Uh so I I won't uh won't shout out that name.

00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:33.920
Uh, but because of that bad experience, we're like, well, let's let's try homeschooling.

00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:36.320
And we got into Was it during the pandemic?

00:38:36.480 --> 00:38:36.719
Yeah.

00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:37.199
Yeah, yeah.

00:38:37.360 --> 00:38:38.800
Because I everybody gave homeschool a shot.

00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:39.519
Absolutely.

00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:42.639
Yeah, you're your your bacon bread and your homeschooling kids.

00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:44.880
You become a sourdough expert.

00:38:45.119 --> 00:38:46.800
Every woman now is a sourdough expert.

00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:47.280
I love it.

00:38:47.519 --> 00:38:48.079
Yes.

00:38:48.320 --> 00:38:52.880
Um, and and so uh we picked up uh I think it's called the bold and the beautiful.

00:38:53.039 --> 00:38:53.920
Okay, that's what it's called.

00:38:54.079 --> 00:38:54.320
Uh-huh.

00:38:54.400 --> 00:38:55.920
Um, it's an amazing curriculum.

00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:58.559
Nice and uh it's very easy to follow and it's fun.

00:38:58.719 --> 00:38:58.960
Yeah.

00:38:59.119 --> 00:39:02.320
I'm I'm look I go through and I'm like, this is more fun than school.

00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:03.039
This is crazy.

00:39:03.199 --> 00:39:04.719
But they teach them amazing things.

00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:06.960
It's it's uh uh it's a Christian curriculum.

00:39:07.039 --> 00:39:07.440
Nice.

00:39:07.679 --> 00:39:10.480
So um they just glean a lot from it from a Christian perspective.

00:39:10.719 --> 00:39:14.159
Okay, and then how socialization, uh your kids play sports.

00:39:14.400 --> 00:39:14.559
Yes.

00:39:14.800 --> 00:39:17.360
Or is that is that what they're yep, yep.

00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:19.599
So that's kind of the homeschool stigma, right?

00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:21.440
It's like how are you gonna socialize your kids?

00:39:21.679 --> 00:39:22.639
We are a busy family.

00:39:22.800 --> 00:39:25.920
Yeah, we we're always doing stuff and we're always with people.

00:39:26.239 --> 00:39:28.239
So they're constantly around people.

00:39:28.400 --> 00:39:30.559
Um both of them play baseball and softball.

00:39:30.719 --> 00:39:31.119
Oh, fun.

00:39:31.280 --> 00:39:32.719
And uh they're really darn good at it.

00:39:32.880 --> 00:39:34.320
They that's their sport, they love it.

00:39:34.480 --> 00:39:36.079
And then I make them wrestle.

00:39:36.239 --> 00:39:38.960
Uh they would probably choose not to.

00:39:39.039 --> 00:39:41.360
Although Jackson, he's he's starting to fall in love with it.

00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:45.920
Uh, but I make them do that just out of just to have discipline and and uh and grittiness.

00:39:46.159 --> 00:39:48.559
And where do you guys go uh train for wrestling?

00:39:48.719 --> 00:39:49.119
Yeah, yeah.

00:39:49.199 --> 00:39:51.840
Shout out to Nick Janowitz, uh Patriot MMA.

00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:52.880
Um, that's where we go.

00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:56.000
I've I volunteer there as a as a coach and the kids go there.

00:39:56.239 --> 00:39:56.400
Yeah.

00:39:56.559 --> 00:39:57.280
Oh, that's awesome.

00:39:57.440 --> 00:39:59.760
Okay, so now talk to me about like.

00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:02.000
Just a vision for your family now.

00:40:02.079 --> 00:40:18.400
Like with the past that you've experienced and the brokenness that you've experienced, is there any part of you that says, like, you know, ministry-wise, I want to, I want to speak into some teenagers' lives or speak into kids' lives or speaking to addicts' lives, uh, children of addicts.

00:40:18.480 --> 00:40:27.760
I mean, like, is there is it have you ever thought like through like the unbelievable untapped resource that you are for the amount of people out there that are just in crazy situations?

00:40:28.079 --> 00:40:30.079
Yeah, yeah, I absolutely do.

00:40:30.159 --> 00:40:35.599
And I appreciate you uh even giving me a platform pleque and and thinking so much about my story.

00:40:35.840 --> 00:40:42.480
Um I I would love for God to use me wherever he wants to use me, you know, and I don't know what that looks like.

00:40:42.639 --> 00:40:44.719
I I have a heart for for students.

00:40:44.880 --> 00:40:47.280
I thought for a long time I'd be involved with young life.

00:40:47.440 --> 00:40:53.280
If you would have asked me, you know, 10 years ago where I thought I'd be at, I thought I'd be probably involved in something like that at this point.

00:40:53.440 --> 00:40:56.320
Or I'd even thought about being a pastor when I was in college.

00:40:56.480 --> 00:40:58.639
Um, life just kind of took a different turn.

00:40:58.800 --> 00:41:01.840
Um, but uh I'm at a season now where I'm definitely looking for it.

00:41:01.920 --> 00:41:03.360
I'm definitely wanting to get more involved.

00:41:03.760 --> 00:41:07.039
There might be a recruitment involved shortly after this podcast.

00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:13.119
Well, you you did tell me about solving the homeless crisis, and that's been constantly on my mind.

00:41:14.159 --> 00:41:18.559
Oh yeah, just for in case anyone was wondering, I had this weird, it was just weird.

00:41:18.639 --> 00:41:20.559
So and I told I told you about it.

00:41:20.719 --> 00:41:23.920
I don't even know, like I don't know if this is the podcast to share about, but here I go.

00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:27.280
Uh a couple, about a month ago, I I had this dream.

00:41:27.440 --> 00:41:33.199
And the dream was I just I was like, you know, I was messing with my ear, and all of a sudden earwax started pouring out.

00:41:33.280 --> 00:41:38.239
Like, I don't know how earwax can pour out, but it was like all over the place and it was gross and orange and yellowy.

00:41:38.400 --> 00:41:40.880
And I was like, wow, that's a lot of earwax.

00:41:40.960 --> 00:41:42.559
That feels I'm so glad that's out of there.

00:41:42.639 --> 00:41:43.360
And I wake up.

00:41:43.519 --> 00:41:45.119
That was that was a dream.

00:41:45.280 --> 00:41:48.320
And I've and I and normally you just go, huh, weird dream.

00:41:48.400 --> 00:41:48.960
And I'd forget out.

00:41:49.039 --> 00:41:50.800
But the problem was I kept thinking about the dream.

00:41:50.880 --> 00:41:52.480
And it's like, why do I keep thinking about this dream?

00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:57.440
I was like, I don't know, maybe that means that you know my ears need to be cleared out to hear something from the Lord.

00:41:57.760 --> 00:42:17.119
And then last Wednesday, uh, so it was what last one week ago, I uh have this um, I wake up in the morning and it's like a louder than audible, you know, it just it, you know, I didn't hear a voice, but just like it was just solve the homeless crisis.

00:42:17.199 --> 00:42:18.880
Now, solve the homeless crisis.

00:42:19.039 --> 00:42:20.159
I don't know what that means.

00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:21.920
I just was like, what a weird thing.

00:42:22.079 --> 00:42:31.360
And then of course that morning, my in my quiet time, it was, you know, um, the woman at uh Simon the Leopard's house, and she starts anointing Jesus' feet.

00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:32.960
And then Judas gets angry.

00:42:33.039 --> 00:42:34.559
It's like, this could have been used for all the poor.

00:42:34.719 --> 00:42:36.559
And Jesus is like, hey, what don't mess with this woman.

00:42:36.639 --> 00:42:37.840
What she's done is a beautiful thing to me.

00:42:37.920 --> 00:42:39.119
You'll always have the poor among you.

00:42:39.280 --> 00:42:41.280
And I was like, what does this mean?

00:42:41.440 --> 00:42:42.079
You know.

00:42:44.079 --> 00:42:46.000
And so that's why I thrust it upon you.

00:42:46.079 --> 00:42:46.159
Yeah.

00:42:46.320 --> 00:42:46.960
And so there you go.

00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:48.320
You might have to do, I don't know.

00:42:48.400 --> 00:42:55.199
I I I just I'm I'm just now just like telling people, so waiting for the next step of solving the homeless crisis, if that indeed is what I'm supposed to do.

00:42:55.280 --> 00:42:56.320
It was just a very strange.

00:42:56.480 --> 00:43:00.880
It could have been just I had pizza the night before and it just kind of hit me in a quick nonetheless.

00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:02.719
At this point, I'm I'm open to the next step.

00:43:02.800 --> 00:43:09.440
So if anybody has a plan for the solve the homeless crisis, and people keep saying, maybe it's like solving the spiritually homeless crisis.

00:43:09.519 --> 00:43:11.119
I'm like, okay, here, come to church.

00:43:11.440 --> 00:43:11.760
Take it.

00:43:11.840 --> 00:43:12.000
Yeah.

00:43:12.159 --> 00:43:12.480
Take it.

00:43:12.639 --> 00:43:12.800
Yeah.

00:43:12.880 --> 00:43:13.679
So I don't know.

00:43:13.840 --> 00:43:24.400
Um all that to say, yeah, I I I feel like the Lord has great plans for you, and I can't wait to see what uh that will look like as we move forward, getting to know each other.

00:43:24.480 --> 00:43:34.800
And I'm just really grateful you've been at our church and uh really looking forward to the ministry that you and Britney collectively have um because of the just the vibrance you guys bring.

00:43:35.039 --> 00:43:35.280
Thank you.

00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:35.840
Wherever you go.

00:43:35.920 --> 00:43:43.039
It's just I I would say to go back to your question, like probably one of my main uh focuses right now in my heart is just bringing more people to this church.

00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:43.599
Okay, yeah.

00:43:43.760 --> 00:43:44.719
Well, hey, that's a win.

00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:46.880
This is an incredible church.

00:43:47.039 --> 00:43:54.639
Um and uh uh I've got a uh like a list on my phone of like when I meet a new person, if I can invite them here, I do.

00:43:54.880 --> 00:44:03.760
And uh if they don't come, I keep them on the list and I and I pray for them and I and I reach out to them weekly to either try to get them to the men's group or to try to show up on Sundays.

00:44:03.840 --> 00:44:08.400
And so that's that's like my main uh mission right now outside of you know raising kids.

00:44:08.559 --> 00:44:09.840
All right, now let's talk this one sec.

00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:24.719
I I want there's this is gonna this is gonna pass around to someone's gonna get this podcast, and um either it's a mom who is strung out on drugs, they think they're complete failures, um they're they're just like I ruined my kids' life.

00:44:25.039 --> 00:44:30.960
What challenge, what encouragement could you give to a mom like that?

00:44:32.159 --> 00:44:39.039
I think if anyone uh is listening to this and is in that situation, um I'd want you to hear God's voice.

00:44:39.280 --> 00:44:46.239
I'd want you to hear Jesus telling you right now that I love you, I'm proud of you, and you are mine.

00:44:47.039 --> 00:44:48.559
Um I think that's where it starts.

00:44:48.719 --> 00:44:48.880
Yeah.

00:44:48.960 --> 00:45:10.239
That's and uh if they are in that situation and and y you are a mom that's struggling with that, or uh maybe you you've been on the the tail end of it, um but healing doesn't happen overnight, but uh man, it you would be amazed at what Christ can do in your life, and uh that's where healing starts.

00:45:10.559 --> 00:45:17.679
Okay, then on the flip side, what about um a young man just feeling abandoned by parents?

00:45:18.239 --> 00:45:22.159
Um what would you what advice, what what challenge would you give him?

00:45:25.599 --> 00:45:27.119
I tell him the same thing.

00:45:27.360 --> 00:45:31.199
Um But I'm telling I would tell him it's gonna be alright, you know.

00:45:31.519 --> 00:45:41.760
I tell him um there's great people around you that really want to help you out and it's okay to ask for help.

00:45:42.880 --> 00:45:53.360
It's okay uh to be vulnerable and uh you are loved and and you can get through it, and you've got a bright future ahead of you.

00:45:53.599 --> 00:46:02.480
You've got an amazing opportunity to turn things around for your family and to to change a legacy.

00:46:02.639 --> 00:46:02.960
Yeah.

00:46:03.199 --> 00:46:12.719
Um your kids, your grandkids, your great grandkids never have to go through what you went through uh if you make the right decisions and get around the right people.

00:46:12.960 --> 00:46:14.159
That's awesome, bro.

00:46:14.559 --> 00:46:15.679
Man, that's encouraging.

00:46:15.840 --> 00:46:18.559
Can't wait to hear how the story continues to unfold.

00:46:18.719 --> 00:46:19.920
Hey, thanks so much for watching.

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:23.840
If you got any questions, you can text us at 737-231-0605.

00:46:23.920 --> 00:46:25.039
We'd love to hear from you.

00:46:25.199 --> 00:46:31.840
Uh, we can bring Matt Badgley back at some point and be like, tell us a follow up on like how you're continuing to transform the world.

00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:35.280
Uh, we'd love to hear from you as we talk faith, culture, and everything in between.

00:46:35.360 --> 00:46:36.480
Thanks so much for watching.

00:46:36.719 --> 00:46:38.239
We'll see you next time.

00:46:38.320 --> 00:46:41.440
But until then, have an awesome week of worship.