We Stop Waiting And Step Into The Water

Late Night Recap And Big Feelings

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Today on Share the Struggle Podcast, it is a long awaited episode. We have had several conversations and tons of anticipation for Ali's baptism. Today we gather to celebrate and to recap the day that was. Let me tell you something. Everybody struggles. The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it. The choice is completely yours. Which one you choose will have a very profound effect on the way you live your life. If you find strength in the struggle, then this podcast is for you. Have a relationship that is comfortable with uncomfortable conversations. Uncomfortable conversations challenge you, humble you, and they build you. It all makes sense. Most disagreements, they stem from our own insecurities. You are right where you need to be. What it hot did it do? Gloud! Oh my am I so excited to be here with you? Oh it is true. It is damn true. Episode 308 and I just can't wait. Why? Well, number one, it's it's late. If I waited any longer, it'd be morning. And number two, I'm joined by the beautiful one. That's you. That's you. Oh, yeah, that's me. Good night. I'd like to be going goodnight. Me too. This isn't my fault. This is our child's fault, okay? Every time you make it go on this podcast, she wants to stay up till midnight. She does. Every single time. It's unbelievable. Anyway. Well, thankfully, we got a batch of cookies here from the Han of It. And uh I'm gonna take whatever sugar kick I can get. Get it. I can giddy up and get. I do regret, I'm just gonna say this, not not just because we're recording ultra late here. Yet again, I'd like to be sleeping at this moment. I do regret that we didn't record the podcast on Sunday, just coming off of the high of the day that we had. I think we should have just done that. But it was actually an emotionally kind of draining day. Oh my gosh. By the end of it, everybody was pretty well tired. Mm-hmm. I felt like I had run a marathon and I was just came home and just wanted to pay 10 toes up. Yeah. Sunday, the big day. Baptism day. Mm-hmm. A lot went into it. We've been talking about this for months on the um podcast. Actually, you had a random episode where you just like randomly said like you had a reveal at the end of the episode where you're like, you know what? I'm ready. Remember that? Just came to you, and I was like, okay, well, this is happening. Yeah, it was my mom's one year. We talked about Mother's Day, and I just said, I'm doing it. Let's get it. You came right out and put it out there, and then um you've also shared the story of going to um, you know, like the women's conference and um having uh a connection with Ashley, the uh head pastor Keenan's wife. And then Esther, the uh book author. Yeah, so these all of these um stones have kind of led you on this path. Um, and it's been it's been very exciting. And we've been sharing for a while now that Sunday was going to be the day, and we were accompanied by some great people, and that in itself was really heartwarming. So um Yeah, there was a lot of uh surprises and

Who Came And Why It Mattered

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yeah. Let's start by just kind of shouting out some of the folks that that came along because I just want to say thank you to them. So um from the moment that we even expressed an interest in like when you started saying you want to get baptized, Matt and Sarah Perkins from Ledgeway Farm said we absolutely want to be there. Matt called you after I dropped the truth bomb that I was doing it. He called right up after the podcast and said, I want to know when. You absolutely need to let me know when. And uh Matt and Sarah, they took the journey, which is I mean, it's an hour ride for them, you know. Um, and uh they actually beat us to church on uh on Sunday. In our defense, we have a one and a half year old. This is true. We were accompanied uh obviously by by little Paisley. My mom joined us at church, which was awesome. Yep, and my brother joined us, and he's been to this church with us a few times. He did not know you were getting baptized until we actually got to the church. And even then, it was like it was funny because we went to go sit down and there's a seat, say reserve for me. He's like, Well, yes, there's a reserve. And I was like, Yeah, no, we're with somebody that's and he's like, I'm not getting baptized. He's like, It surely isn't me. He did not understand what was happening. So um, that was pretty funny. So uh when we got there, also um, you're not Amy, right? I was Brianna. Amy and Brianna completely shocked they were there, had no clue that they were gonna be there. Yeah, because I'd shared the link with them because the nice thing about our church is that it's uh live broadcasted, um, so you can tune in to the nine o'clock or the eleven o'clock, whichever you choose, and watch it. And then you can also get like um like a replay on YouTube. Um, so I shared that link with uh a ton of people who couldn't attend, and they were one of them because she had asked me about it. Um, and so I was some surprise because they don't have a vehicle, like they take the city bus everywhere, and from where they live to the church is a good 20-30 minutes in a vehicle. Not only don't I didn't even think about the commitment there, right? But taking the bus, it doesn't drop you off at church. No, it doesn't. It's dropped her off at the main mall, which was probably a few miles. 10 minute walk is what she said. At least. And then they're gonna walk back and then they're gonna hitch a bus back because we already had a full car load. But the fact that they committed to taking the bus to get there and then to walk, you know. Um because if you think about taking a city bus, like it's not just like like, all right, I'm gonna pick you up and drive you to your destination. Like, I'm gonna pick you up, drop stop these here and drop these people off and these people, like it was, I'm sure, quite a I think she said she got on the bus at 8 30 in the morning. And the service was at 11. Mm-hmm. And they dropped typically a 20-minute ride. And they dropped her off, I think she said at 9 something at the main mall, and then they walked over. Pretty incredible. Yeah. Pretty dedicated. Yeah, I'm gonna be able to do that. I'm super grateful for that. Yeah, that was a true blessing. I didn't know if my dad was actually gonna make it. Um, I was hoping he seemed pretty excited, and you know, due to some recent health issues that he's been dealing with, sometimes he doesn't remember everything. Yeah, uh, but this is one thing that he definitely remembered. He was, you know, talking to my uncle in um Georgia who tuned in um and was, you know, really gung-ho about wanting to be there. So that was really awesome for him to experience that. Yeah. I don't know if I mentioned my uncle or if I moved that up, but my uncle came from uh from northern Maine, which was a couple hour drive. My aunt was uh not feeling so well, so she couldn't she couldn't make it. And uh that was a surprise because we called them and spoke to them, but you didn't know they were gonna make it. Yeah, my mom didn't know that uh her brother-in-law was gonna be there, so that was a cool surprise to see him um walk in as well. So we had this whole group of family that was there, and then also for me, uh Scott Lyons, who I used to work for and work with, became a partner of mine, was always a business mentor of mine. He's an elder at the church. I told Scott about this, and uh he said I wouldn't miss it. I'm gonna be there. It was incredible for him to show up and be right at the front. And then there was people that we've met from the church, um, previous customers of mine that I ran into that day that were super excited, and then the countless amount of people, like you said, that you shared the link with and were watching at home, like Lance and Jen from New York were watching. Um Shannon was watching, Aunt Janine was watching, um, Aunt Debbie was watching. Yep. Tons of people watched live or did a look back and had the opportunity to watch it after church. I know um that um Melissa got to tune in, Missy got to tune in afterwards. Um, so that was really awesome that they got to be a part

Esther’s Encouragement From Afar

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of it. I think that you know you spent a lot of time talking about um the lady from like the women's conference, right? And you um shared the link with her, so I wanted you to maybe take a chance to kind of just chat about that a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. So um, if you haven't listened to the episode um of me talking about women's conference, um I met a very wonderful author. Uh her name is Esther, and she wrote the book No More Faking Fine. And during the conference, she basically explained her life story and that she was faking fine for the longest time. Um, so listening to her story, I really resonated with her. Um, and so I purchased her book and had her sign it. And during um our small interaction, she basically um asked me, like, how did I get here? What's my story? And I basically gave her like the very short um detail about my testimony. And uh I said to her, I said, right then and there, I said, I think I'm ready to get baptized. And she said, she said to me, Let's do it, let's do it right now, right here. And I was like, Oh, no, no, no, no, like I'm not, I I need to talk to my family about it. Like, I want them to be there. And I just started backpedaling like so hard. Um, she was like, All right, well, do me this when you're ready and you have it like done, it's in the books, let me know. I'd love to see it, be a part of it, um, in any way, shape, or form that I can. And uh, so leading up to it, it was I think like Saturday night, Friday night, I pulled up her um her website and I sent her a message just remarkable if she even saw it in time, yeah, or even bothered to read it. You know what I mean? I think it was Friday night because then I got a message Saturday. Yeah. And then I had the opportunity to respond back to her. So it wasn't um Sunday yet. And she was like, um, so I sent her a message just saying, Hey, um, you know, I met you at women's conference, it was an amazing opportunity. Um, just giving her kind of like reminder points of who I am and you know the conversation that we had because she talked to hundreds of people that day. So, like, there's a chance that you know she was like, Yeah, share it with me, like, but would never see it. You know what I mean? Like, she walked around with an assistant the entire time. Um, so I just threw a Hail Mary and I just said, you know, this is me, this is my story. You and I talked about it. And um I think the the piece that sticks with anyone pertaining to my to my testimony is the fact that I leaned into God after my mom took her own life. And so I think that in the message reminded her of the scenario. Um I mean, and so um to my surprise, the next morning I woke up to uh email that said, Thank you so much for reaching out. Like, I will be sure to tune in. Thanks for the sharing the link. Um this is amazing. Um, I don't have the exact email with me, but I was like, I said you I was like, Oh my god, she messaged me back. Yeah, like this was her. And um so then I just like went about my Saturday, and then um I think I like responded back to her and was like, wow, this is amazing. Thanks for taking time out of your busy day. Um look forward to hearing from you, or something like just super nice. I think it was probably 10 minutes after I got baptized, like I was changed, sitting in the pews, watching the remainder of the worship um music, and my wrist went off that I had gotten an email and there was Esther. And like the message was so moving that like all I remember, and it just sticks with me is like, you did it. I'm so proud of you. Um, welcome to the sisterhood, you're no longer faking fine. And I was just like, wow, wow. Like she took time out of her busy day to stop for me. Yeah, like she didn't just say she was gonna do it, she did it, and she was on time, you know what I mean? Yeah, she watched it live. Like it was so moving, and like even now, just like thinking about it, you're like, No, she's not a celebrity, but she's an author, right? She has a life going on. She doesn't live in Maine, folks, either. I mean, it's not like this is her regular church or anything, so yeah. Nope. She was a guest uh speaker, and that's what she does is she goes around um to churches and women's conferences and does that. So just very moving that she um took time to just share a quick email with me, uh, because it meant a lot, a lot to me.

Pastors Step In For The Moment

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That's pretty, pretty incredible. And I think leading up to the the actual day of like the the actual baptism, we've also expressed the connection that we both feel with uh our pastor and his wife, right? Keenan and Ashley. And up until now, we've never even known that they do baptisms, right? Right. Because they're usually Keenan's on stage. Yeah. And um we found out that the morning service, Keenan baptized one of his friends, and then he wanted to make sure he was a part of this, him and his wife. Yep, so that was um really incredible. And our church, everybody's gonna brag about their church, right? That's just kind of how it is. I love so much about our church, and one of the things that I'm amazed by is when people share their story before they get baptized, we've been fortunate enough to be in the room and have a video pop up and watch somebody share their story. And when you spoke to Ashley, the possibility of you sharing your testimony came up. And when we discussed um, you know, doing this as a family, like this old conversations and how much it meant, um that's something that they gave you the opportunity to do. Do you want to say anything about how that came up and stuff like that? And then and then I think we can actually play that video that was played before you're baptized. But I just wanted to see if you wanted to kind of share how that actually came up because we've been keeping that as a secret on the podcast this entire time. You've actually had done this video weeks ago. Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I had talked to Ashley um at women's conference and just explained to her that, you know, I was ready to get baptized, um, and I wanted to talk to somebody about sharing my testimony and how I got here and why I'm here. And Ashley knows my story, and she said, Absolutely, I would love to be a part of this. Uh, please let me know when. Um, and I said, Well, I don't want to do it without you. Because if you've listened to the previous episodes, Ashley's the one that prayed over me during Good Friday. Um, so I felt it was only fitting for her to be there or be a part of it in some way, shape, or form, which it's the pastor's wife. I didn't anticipate like her to be a part of it because that's just not what they do. Right. But to be there to celebrate that moment with me um is what I asked of her. And so um she took down my contact information and then said, I'll have Annalise reach out to you. She schedules all of the videos, um, and you can go ahead and meet up with the um videographers and they'll be able to kind of take it from there. Yeah. Um, so I think it was like the following week or so. I ended up asking you, like, hey, are we busy on this day? And you're like, Why? And I was like, Well, um, I'm gonna go and record my video to be baptized. Yeah, so it was we didn't even know any of this was possible, you know. Yeah. Um I think it'd be cool if I pull up the service real quick, and then the people that didn't go or didn't get to hear it, I'll play that uh now.

The Testimony Video We Played

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I received a phone call that I dreaded, that I anticipated one day would actually happen. My mom lost her battle to addiction and took her own life. I didn't know what way was up. I didn't have the ability to be strong. I didn't have the ability to know what was next. Um, so I decided at that time it was the only option was to lean into my faith and find strength in God. My husband Keith has been on this journey with uh Jesus for quite some time. Um I just wasn't ready. When I lost my mom, he brought Jesus back into my life, kind of shared with me that it was time to maybe lean on God in order to kind of get strong. Um when things are uncertain, just give it to God. When my wife went on this journey, it inspired me and it motivated me to see her seek God, to see my wife seek God when I couldn't get her to do that. It was moving for me, so it motivated me. And on that Sunday, the most important thing we've done as a family was walk into East Point Church as a family. I think becoming baptized uh allows us to look at life with a new lens. Um, we have a new outlet look on raising her in the church. We have the ability to have a new lens on our marriage and dedication to one another along with Jesus. Um but it's mostly important for us to have a new lens on raising her in the church. I think that's very important. I'm Allie Liberty. I'm Dave Liberty. And today I declare and today I declare.

When Your Story Gets Compressed

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Just the excitement and the joy in everybody's face. Even uh seeing the joy um in Keenan and Ashley as well, and seeing Paisley so um amazed by everything. You just told the people. I think the video should have given him a clue. Oh, I wasn't even talking about you. What you just uh said the joy in Keenan and Ashley. They were there. They were there for us during that moment, which was amazing. They were it was the four of us in the um in the pool, basically. And uh Yeah, we had the privilege of being baptized by the pastor and his wife because my story um touched Ashley, and that's just absolutely incredible. That um that's what it's all about. It's just sharing your story in hopes to help just one person. And Um, I've re-listened to the video a bunch of times and I went back and forth that at first I was upset because that's not my full story, but there's a reason why it's not my full story because it's not about that. Um I listen and we watch the video and I hear all the people cheering, and that's what it's about. It's about being brought together in a in a family setting in the church and being welcomed in, and that's just what it felt like was just being your arms, the arms of God and the church family just being wrapped around you. Um and now I just listened to my story and just say like this is his way of saying it's okay, like just let go. And um you didn't need to tell your whole story at the church. I told my whole story on here, and yeah, I think that touched a lot of people. There's some there's some great things that you're saying here, and I want to say that I thought about this a lot too. Um I first want to say that I have felt guilty this entire time that I had any say in this video. And if people that are listening now, I'll help you understand that I was baptized with my wife um on Sunday, that I we walked into the church together and I wanted to walk into the water together. And that's literally all I wanted to say on this entire video, just so people would know that you know we're a family, and and um that and I wanted to say that I am inspired by you, and that you know, and for me, my story has been that I never felt comfortable in a church, and I always got my church from YouTube. And the night of your mother's service, you showed me videos of the churches you hunted down, and then Keenan spoke to me, and I said, That's the one that I would like to go to because you said, I'm good with any of these, you just put it together. So I wanted to give you credit for bringing me there. I wanted to give you credit for inspiring me, for motivating me to do things that I never felt comfortable to do. I wanted to confess to the church and to everyone that was there that I've believed, but I I never would be here without you. And you motivated me and inspired me. And the best decision we made as a family was walking into that church, and because we walked into that church together, I was not gonna let you walk into the water alone. That's all I wanted, and I did not think that it would take from your story, and I thought that what I needed to say was five seconds of your two minutes, you know, and that your story is completely powerful. I don't want any credit in bringing God to you, and it says that in the video, and to me that's not true. I don't I don't accept any credit in that because the truth be told, for years I did read my Bible and it never brought anything to you, you know. Um I mean, I think it definitely was it was basically laid out that they wanted me to say this so that they could segue into you. I don't think that it's completely false for the simple reason of like there's always been a Bible in the house, and you've always said to me that you have prayed and prayed and prayed, and I have prayed too, but never to God because I wasn't ready. And so I don't think that you should take all the credit away from you because if it wasn't for you having a Bible around, then maybe I wouldn't feel comfortable to want to go to the church because I didn't know if you would have wanted to do that, you know. So I don't think it's fair for you to say that you didn't I just know that I'm not that's not the story. No, I know that. I understand that. I feel like the confusion happened when they decided to speak to me after you had your call and say, like, do you really want to do a video? And I was trying to say, like, I only have a couple things to say, and I knew what I needed to say, but they're directing and editing and shooting this and trying to say, like, how do I segue to this? You know, how do you connect to this? And I tried sharing with them that like you brought this church to me, but I've always been interested, but I was never comfortable. And then they were like, Oh, so they made this connection that you know I've been on this journey and the data, and I want to I want to share this part of it because I think that it gives me peace and and how this came out, and it's gonna connect with what you just said a few minutes ago. So um, when I was interviewed over the thought of me doing um a video, I felt kind of um interrogated and um I was uncomfortable. And um I ended up going with you when um you did your video and we went as a family and um you recorded your part and you came to me and said that this doesn't feel right, doesn't feel like it's my my story, and I went in and what I said uh most of it because I was very brief, is what was on camera, right? That they just we just played. But the part about me breaking down wasn't even a part of my speech, I was just talking to them to convey to them that you have a powerful story. Yeah, and I said, I really hope that you gave her the opportunity to tell you her story, and um, they're like, Well, we want to know how to bring you into this, so you don't need to know how to bring me into any of this. If you don't need me, I don't need to be in this at all if it jeopardizes her story. All I want to say about myself is this, and it was the five-second clip, but they caught me raw breaking down and being proud of my wife, and um, they wanted to include that, then they wanted to talk about the baby and and bringing a family. We left there, and when we were in the car, convened on things and realized that you felt like you really didn't get to tell anything you wanted to tell. I didn't. We basically took hours upon hours writing down my testimony because I have been writing this since day one when I met with Michelle and she gave me my Bible because I wanted to share this one day with other people because she allowed me to share on her TikTok live uh my testimony. So I wanted to have all my facts kind of straight. So I've been countless hours writing this testimony. So much so that when we were driving there, I was like, let me just make sure in my head, and I brought a pen and a piece of paper, and I just started writing things down, and I was like, let's not forget something because this is my story, this is my testimony, and like this goes together with this to make me get here. Like there's a running. You have it all corona con uh chronologically lined up, everything's perfect. Yeah, and I'm like trying to make sure that I have everything, and then when I got in the room, it it was again like what what you felt like it was like an interrogation, like they just started asking all of these questions like where is your life before God and where is it now? And I was like answering all of those questions, and then I they were like, Well, how did you get here? And I got to share like a glimpse of what it was, and what you hear on the video is just that glimpse of what I said in my first um interview with them before you had walked in. So unfortunately, I didn't get to share my whole story. Um, I didn't go through any of the chronological order that I had run through my head, and I just didn't feel like the video was gonna come out with all of the information that it should have. I'll always take the blame for the fact that I was involved in this, caused them confusion in delivering your story. And I tried to talk them through how this should be, but um I didn't want to just show up behind you and then people not understand like and the impact of like like your story could motivate many, and it motivated your own husband. Like you know what I mean? Like I um but trying to get them to understand that I think took from your story, and I I ultimately feel really bad about that. Um I wouldn't. There's it's all God's plan that there wasn't. And I understand that, and that's that's why I the only salvation I take from this is the fact that we left there, we were pumping gas, and my phone rang.

Re Recording And Finally Letting Go

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And it was the church calling us and saying, Hey, we forgot to record the most important part at the end of the video. Yeah. And I said, Well, we'll be right there. But that's not a coincidence. I don't believe in coincidences. We drove back to the church, I ran in, did my recording piece, and they're like, Oh, do you want to say your the the you know the part for your wife? Do you like say it as a family? I said, No, my wife will be in here. Um, what happened when when you went in there? Uh, well, let's just say they put me through an interrogation, so I felt it was time for them to be interrogated. Yeah, that makes sense. Um, I walked in there and just told them that video is not at all my story, and I think that um if you could just give me five minutes of your time, I'll run through my testimony as quickly as I can. I said, but it's not fair for your videographer to make judgments on my testimony without knowing my testimony. Yeah. I said, and those questions that you asked me did not give you the information for my testimony. I said, so if you could just sit back and let me just tell you my story, real raw and honest, you can take as much of the this clip as you want and mesh it with the other one because I've seen your videos and you've done a phenomenal job. And they just sat back and said, Okay. But before that, I got a little pushback, and they basically said, like, listen, the first story that you gave out is all what God wanted you to put out. And I kept that in the back of my mind, but I just didn't feel that I didn't feel as good about that first clip that I did the feeling that I got when I did the second clip. And I went through everything, every chronological detail from start to finish, from the phone call to the TikTok scrolling, to getting my first Bible, to burying my mom, like every little detail, walking into the church, going to a conference, every detail that got me to the point of wanting to walk into that water and making that choice. And I wal walked out of there and I looked at him and I said, and that's my story. And the look on the videographer's face was like, Oh that's what he said. Oh what, pal? Yeah, that's my story. And when I left there, I just felt like a whole release was left off of my chest. And the only way that I can explain that release is if you would to go into a church back in the day and you would walk into a confessions room, and you know when you like, all right, I'm gonna make a confession, and then you feel better about yourself. I just shared my testimony in the church that we love so much that I just gave it to God. Yeah, I just gave God my testimony, and at that point I in my heart knew I just gave them all the information that they needed, and if that video didn't make it, that's because it wasn't supposed to. I agree. And that's okay, and that's okay because I had the opportunity, I gave them the opportunity, and if they didn't run with it, then it wasn't meant for them.

What The Room Needed That Sunday

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And I think what I've taken from this, first and foremost, I want everybody to understand the whole thing behind the baptism is giving all glory to God and all praise to God, and that's um what this whole thing's been about. Our desire to share your story is to bring more people to God, right? For people to understand the power and the comfort that you've received, the strength that you've received, and if people can hear that, that are lost, then that will bring them closer. What I've gained from this is the people that were in that room on Sunday needed that video. Yeah, they needed the video that was delivered that shows a family making their important decision to go to church together, yeah. That shows a family that is rallying around the loss and how that loss motivated you and inspired you. Yeah. And by you being inspired, it inspired me. And because of that, we're gonna raise our daughter in the eyes of God and in a godly way. Absolutely. And we decided to do this as a family, and Keenan and Ashley wanted to be in the water with us. That will inspire people in that room to further their faith, to maybe be baptized as a family. We were the first family to do a video as a family, right? Yeah, they didn't know what to do with that family. They didn't know what to do with this is new. We were the first ones to do that. That's the video they needed on Sunday. What I'm going to tell you is that someday in the near future, you will be speaking at a women's conference in that church, telling your testimony, giving your story to a room full of women that need that story. I can only hope. That's what it's supposed to be. That's the reason why this has come out this way. The video that was they, like you said, all the facts report on the table. The video that needed to be delivered on Sunday was, and your testimony will. And and it's gonna fall on the ears and the hearts of the people that need to find God, not the ones that are already in the room that found him that need the final push. You know what I mean? So I feel like that's that's the reason. Michelle actually said that to me. Oh, really? When I first started this journey and I shared my testimony with her, I said, one day I hope I'm brave enough to do this in a church. And she said, You will be. You've been delivering this speech for um a long time, and I think that give yourself some credit and take this idea as well, because I've been saying to you for the longest time, I want to write a book, and I think that you should know you're sitting on one. And um, if you are bold enough to start putting those things together, then you can have your own book, right? And you could be doing these um these conferences and doing those things and and doing book signings, and you can be the one getting emails from people saying, You inspired me, right? That's there for you. You need to remember that and think about that because I'm always talking about those things that I want. I want to speak in a church, I want to speak in an arena, I want to write a book. You can too, when you're sitting on a story, you're you're poised and powerful and ready to deliver that message to bring more people to God than I could imagine. So um I think you really need to give time and thought to that personally. I do. You inspired the pastor's wife to go on this journey with us. Your story has power, and that's the legacy that you want to offer for your mother. You know what I mean? Absolutely. So um keep that for you. And that's another way that we are good servants, faithful servants for God by bringing more people to him, and your story is gonna do that. What happened on Sunday wasn't was incredible.

After The Water, Support Rolls In

39:48

Absolutely. When um I came out of the water, I just started to cry, and then I we were surrounded by loved ones, everybody that came with us coming up, giving us hugs. Scott coming up, giving me a hug, telling me he loves me, former uh old customers of mine from my Harley days, their daughters and families gathered around the pool to have us, and you know, just I remember just hearing like the people cheer, and like that to me was just so heartwarming. It was incredible. Like, we've watched many of baptisms in there, and every single time you're just like hallelujah, you know what I mean? Like, I um I watch every single one of the baptisms while we're there, and it just brings tears to your eyes, and you're my most a favorite thing about going to church, period. Yeah, is when you see that happen. Yeah, yeah. So to me, it's really awesome that you know people were cheering for our video and cheering for us being baptized, and just for everybody to see us do it as a family. And that's what it was about was to do it as a family, and uh the fact that it was Keenan and Ashley in there with us, I'm just forever grateful for me too, you know. Me too. And um by the grace of God that I ran into her serious to be honest, it was and it was the night I was corraling the kid around the but there was a reason for that, yeah. Right, absolutely right. You were distracted so that I could be in the moment. And in all the tension of me being, you know, this emotional wreck dad, angry on the way home, like you're riding this high of amazement and glory, and it was like, talk about two different worlds right now. But um Sunday there was a fella, I can't remember his name right now, but like on our first month or so in church, when they tell you to turn and introduce yourself to somebody, we met and uh he was by himself, but I always see him there with his family, and he came up and gave me a big hug. And and then when we were leaving, people that seen us on the video were stopping me and congratulating me. And then as the day went on, the lady behind us, like two rows back, came up to us after we got baptized and was like, I knew you looked familiar. And I was like, Hi, how are you? Like, I don't know who you are, and she was like, Oh, I made made your Verizon business account like six years ago, and I was like, Oh, oh great, hi, nice to see ya. I had um people come out of the stands and say, like, hey man, I had no clue you even came to this church. Like, this is incredible. I've received so many messages from you know high school friends and stuff that were watching at home. Um, pretty incredible, and then just the outpouring of support and love from everybody after I just you know kind of shared what we what we did, and um it gives you comfort and safety in knowing how many people feel the way you feel and believe the way you believe. You know what I mean? Yeah, because it's pretty incredible to see that, like, for instance, like my Facebook, you'll scroll through and like I always post like you know, silly memes, but I also post things that are faith-based as well. And every now and again you'll see somebody and you're like, oh, maybe that's just a meme, or like maybe they do go to church. Right. But when we posted those things that, you know, like the photo of us getting baptized and everything, the people that come forward that you didn't even anticipate yourself, you're like, oh wow, like there are more people like me that are Yeah, because you don't know. And I and I think that I think because you've also been like with the media and the news and stuff, you don't talk about that. Like, you know what I mean? Like in fear of being shamed or you know, that's un that's the unfortunate piece. But I think that more people need to talk about it and be comfortable in supporting God and put bringing God in your life. People need to be okay. Saying, hey, I'm a Christian. And this is how I believe. And I think a lot of people are afraid of criticism. Just like you said, you have the news, you have the social media where if you post something, um, you're opening yourself up to debate, to criticism, to nonsense, to hate. Um, and that's unfortunate. But to put yourself out there and then have find that common ground you didn't expect from so many is unbelievable. Um, I have uh currently 241 likes and 111 comments on my picture. And I'm not talking about stats here. Those thoughts, those stats aren't aren't for me, it's it's for him, and it's belief because people see me and say, hey, I can that resonates with me because I'm a believer too. Because I I did that too. Most people that commented on there said I was baptized on this date. You know what I'm saying? So um that's common ground. I will remember this date forever. Wanna know why? Why is that? Because I got baptized 15 days before my birthday. The 15-day parts, what's gonna make you yeah, because my birthday is on the 15th. 15 days before my birthday. New era, new man. You know what I mean? Just kidding. Yeah, because June 1st is my birthday month, so I made that decision to get baptized. This whole thing has been incredible.

Raising Paisley In Faith Together

45:34

Um I've known that I was going to be baptized with you, obviously, but I wanted this entire thing to be the entire lead up to be about you. I wanted all of this to be about you and your journey and your story. And anybody that went to support you or was following and along to support you would see me support you as well, you know, and um understand that, you know, this is the faith of both of us. This is how we're gonna raise our family and how we're gonna live our lives. And um, there was people with us on Sunday that did not know I was gonna get baptized. Some did, some didn't. Matt didn't know, Sarah didn't know, my brother didn't know. Um and uh I thought that was that was pretty cool in itself for them to be um surprised by that. But I was also more encouraged by the fact that they wanted to come and support you, you know? And I wanted you to know that those people were coming there for you, um, for you to know that you're you're not on this journey alone. And uh this whole the whole experience on Sunday was way more rewarding and fulfilling than I think I've even could have imagined, you know? Yeah. I agree. It was it was a lot of emotions. It was like just happiness, freedom. I just felt like a Pegasus. Right? True story. We all went out to dinner after, and by the time we got home, man, I was just so emotionally spent. Yeah, like I expected myself to be like rejuvenated, energized, and ready to celebrate and and work and get things done, but I was like, You weren't working on that day. I'm like, I just I just want to sit here and just like take it all in, but I wasn't even like I wasn't even on my phone, you know what I mean? Like I was just like No, because the baby just wanted to keep watching the video. She did too. She wanted to watch our video over and over and over again on YouTube because she watched us in the water because she was live there for that moment, and she also watched us on the big screen and could not figure out how are my parents on the TV, yeah, and on the couch, and no, when at the service, like and in the pool, like what? And she just wanted to get in the pool with us like the whole time. So when we got home and we're watching it, all she just kept saying was Wawa, Wawa. Like we turned it off and she would be like, Wawa, wah wah. What an incredible time. Moving. Absolutely. Like she, I mean, she's just a sponge, but for her to just take it all in and be a part of that, and then we have that video forever that she can see again. Um, and then you know, in November we'll do it for her too. Yeah. Um, they do a dedication for the church, um, for all the children because they want the children to make their own decision that they want to be baptized at our church, and um, I think that's a great idea. So they do a dedication for the younger children that you're dedicating um you're dedicating your lifestyle um to bring God into their lives until they're ready to make that decision. Yeah, yeah, it was pretty incredible. So uh so blessed by the family, the friends, the circle that we have around us, the support we have, so blessed by the church that you found us, the relationship that's blossoming and growing with Keenan and Ashley that we never could have expected, and the confidence in knowing that the two of us will be more involved in the church, that we will find ways to help bring people to God, and that we will help bring people to to East Point as well. Um it's crazy to think that nine months ago we walked into the church for the first time. Has it even been that long? Wasn't it was October? So then um fast forward just a short time later, we're being baptized by the pastor and his wife, and we started this journey by watching him on YouTube, and you were moved by him, like he was like a celebrity to you, yeah. I've said that on the podcast too, you know. Um and then here he is in the pool with us, cheesing. Oh man, he was so happy. Like, yeah, he was straight up geek. Like it was awesome, and then like even talking to him like backstage before and after, like he's just shooting the breeze. Like, this is and then he's like, you know, telling us just life that's going on, and he's like, see, we're just real people, like we're just genuine people, and we're like, this is why we chose this church because this isn't the environment that you get in every church. He baptized us in the water and then ran up on stage in his shorts and no one, you know, like no socks or anything, and just like yeah, his bare toes were out and exposed on the stage. Unbelievable. Um strip drying. Forever grateful for this day. Absolutely, clearly, certainly, absolutely will never forget this day. And um, I owe this day to you because without you taking the commitment, without you um just being so dedicated and pushing and and then saying here we are, this is what I'm this is when I'm gonna do it. I'd still be thinking about doing it. Yeah, you know what I mean? Or if you were ready to do it. And this I kind of dropped some secrets on the podcast leading up to this about saying sometimes you just gotta do it.

No Checklist And The Never Ready Myth

51:35

Like you if you keep making excuses or you keep waiting for the optimum time for the perfect time to be ready, you're never gonna be ready. Right. And I was talking about this because literally, it's the advice my father gave me when we built a house, when we got married, when you started a new career, you're never ready. No, when you have a family, when you start your family, if you wait for the perfect time, you're never gonna be ready. Never. And when I had my conversation um with the church about being baptized, I said, I don't feel like I've checked all the boxes in the prototypical be a Christian checklist. Like I'm still working on checking those boxes off. And then it kind of hit me where they're like, hey man, there's no checklist, there's no checklist, and you you're you're making the commitment to him, you fulfill the checklist the rest of your life, you know. And um for me, I just that's when it it hit me where it was like, if I just keep waiting for this checklist, it's like I might never get there. You'll never do it. And if you keep waiting for the time to be right, you don't build the house, you don't start the family, um, you don't you don't do those things, and it's all in the same for me, you know. Um, so because you said this is the day, this is when I'm doing it. Um Yeah, I was just like talking with Ashley and the team, they were the ones being like, so I got an email that said you're gonna be baptized on May 31st, and here's why. Yeah, Ashley and Keenan both want to be a part of this, and my jaw dropped. Like I came running into your office, and I was like, um, so Keenan's not um the pastor that week, it's his off week, and I'm being baptized by both of them, and you're like, wait, what? Yeah, and I was like, Yeah, I'm just as like in shock. Like, what is happening right now? Like, I didn't think that I was that important, but I'm blessed. Pretty incredible. So it was pretty awesome to get. Everything about it was right because the next for the next like eight weeks, uh we're not even home on the weekend. No, not at all. I feel bad that we were baptized and they won't see us at church for two months. We're gonna have to like send them a thing as well. Yeah, but but um if they pick the following week, we're already on the road somewhere, you know what I mean? Yeah, um everything worked out the way it was supposed to work out, and um such as in life, it's not our plan. Right, you know, right for sure. But it feels like the right plan. It is the only plan, right? Right. Well, I just wanted to um come on here to recap the day and to say that I'm proud of you and um give yourself credit for all that you've um been through, all that you've shared, and all the people that you've brought to God by sharing your story. That's all I can hope for. Amen.

Closing Thanks And Where To Follow

54:34

That's what it's all about. Thank you for supporting our American dream. God's American dream. All right. Now go wash your freaking hands. Your Delta Savage. Please go wash your hands. Yeah, sure. That's it, and that's all, Biggie Smalls. If you're a loud proud American and you find yourself just wanting more, find me on YouTube and Facebook at Loud Proud American Face Page. If you're a fan of the Graham Cracking, you want to find me on Instagram for all the kids, the tickety talking on the TikTok, you can find me on both of those at loud underscore proud underscore American. Big old thank you to the voice of the gust truckers for the background beats on this podcast. If you are enjoying what you're hearing, please track down the gust truckers on Facebook adjusters, give that motherfucker a like. Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage.