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- [00:01]
A
Good morning. This is the JP Donanelle podcast, episode 120. I am JP Donnell, and as always, I have Lucas with me. What's up, buddy?
- [00:07]
B
What's going on, man?
- [00:07]
A
How are you, bud?
- [00:08]
B
I'm. I'm doing okay. A little tired. Yeah, you had to replace my alternator this morning and.
- [00:14]
A
Oh, man.
- [00:14]
B
Yep. And then, wouldn't you know it, the. The problem I thought I fixed happened again. So it's like, all right. Just chasing gremlins, so. Yeah, but all good.
- [00:27]
A
I mean, you've been working on vehicles.
- [00:30]
B
Most of my life.
- [00:31]
A
Most of your life. So it's just a kid you figure out, and that's why you have your, the vehicle that you have. You told me he likes it. Yeah, I love. And dude, it's an awesome little truck, man. Yeah, it's super reliable.
- [00:43]
B
Job done.
- [00:44]
A
It gets the job done. And I remember when you told me that you're like, I love this truck because one, it's reliable and I know how to fix it so I can.
- [00:54]
B
Get all the, the tools to, to work on it. It's just irritating when you have to fix it, you know? Yeah, just one of those things.
- [01:02]
A
Maybe we'll call Justin Anthony afterwards. You know, our buddy from Jesus in Jiu Jitsu trains at Double Five.
- [01:08]
B
Yeah.
- [01:08]
A
Our fisherman buddy.
- [01:09]
B
Yeah, Just ask him to light it on fire. Send me the insurance paper.
- [01:14]
A
No, he has a shop at his place. Oh, cool. Like, he was a, he was an auto mechanic for a long time, and he has a full. I sent him a reel the other day on Instagram about. It was a. It was one of those, like, real memes where, like, it says wife, like, what are you doing? What takes you so long? In the shop, it says me, and it's some, like, it has a shop in the background and it's like a, like a video imposed onto that, like, picture, and it's a guy, like, singing or, like, just dancing to some music with, like, tools in his hand. And he goes, that's the story of my life.
- [01:48]
B
It's amazing how often that really happens. Happens.
- [01:50]
A
Yeah.
- [01:50]
B
Yeah.
- [01:50]
A
Well, I, I, He. He responded. He's like, story my life. And I said, well, this is why I need a shop.
- [01:55]
B
Yeah, that's it, man. It's a. I was finding last night and this morning as I was doing it that the amount of times I'm looking for something I have in my pockets is unbelievable.
- [02:07]
A
That is one of my goals is to be able to have a shop. Like, I used to be, like, pretty decently mechanically inclined because My dad taught us a lot of that growing up. And we had vehicles that we worked on and we'd buy vehic able to work on. And now that I realize it as an adult, I'm super thankful because I realized some of the vehicles that we bought, my dad bought just so that we could work on them, so he could teach us that skill set. And we would use those vehicles or we would just turn around and sell them and make a little bit of money, you know, which is pretty cool to be able to do that as well. But it's been so long. I mean, it was cool, like, being able to go to, like, autozone and buy the. The book for the vehicle that you had y and just going through all those different steps or whatnot.
- [02:58]
B
So that's fun.
- [02:59]
A
So your church just kicked off a fast on Sunday.
- [03:02]
B
Yeah, 21 days.
- [03:03]
A
Nice. Okay. And you are. Sorry, let me think how to phrase it. All right, what. What's the. Obviously, I understand the intent behind fasting.
- [03:15]
B
Yeah.
- [03:15]
A
But what is the intent for your church to do 21? Because I know some will do 21, some do 40, some do three.
- [03:24]
B
Yeah.
- [03:24]
A
Some do seven. You know, there's a lot of different amount of days that people do.
- [03:30]
B
Yeah, you typically, you see like 1, 3, 7, 21 and 40 are kind of the main ones because that's what we see biblically. So, like, our intent with it and the reason we did 21 is because the 21, when you look at Daniel fasting is Daniel was fasting for God to move. And so that's. That's what we're doing. We're using the acronym road. So restoration, just like restored relationships, whether it's an individual with God, whether it's, you know, maybe somebody struggling with their marriage or, you know, family issues, those kind of things. So restoration orientation, like finding direction for our lives, adoration, doing out of devotion to the Lord, and then finally desperation, you know, praying for people who are sick and are in need and those kinds of things.
- [04:17]
A
So you said that was restoration.
- [04:20]
B
Yep. Restoration, orientation, adoration, desperation. So that was our. Our acronym for. For this one. Make it easy for everybody to remember.
- [04:33]
A
Nice.
- [04:33]
B
I say that. And then I went and used like multi syllable words that are difficult to remember. So, yeah, I might be working against myself there.
- [04:40]
A
We'll see. I'm just glad my laptop has spell check. Lots of little red underlines right there. So dive into restoration.
- [04:49]
B
Yeah. So restoration is, you know, when. When we look scripturally, there are a few things that, that we see kind of happen over and over again. And the. The restoration piece is a big one. Like when people stray away from the Lord or stray away from the things that they know they're supposed to be doing, a lot of times what we see in the scripture is that they realize their sin and then they fast and pray. One of the best examples of that is in Nineveh. And so when you look at what happens in the city of Nineveh, they. And this could be used for restoration and desperation. But what happens in the city of Nineveh is that they have been. It's just, like, completely godless. The prophet Jonah comes to him and is like, hey, listen, God says, you guys are under judgment if you don't change. And so immediately, the people call a fast. The leadership follows in fasting, and they repent of their sin. They fast. They sit in sackcloth and ashes. The other place that we see it, and the one that, from the sermon standpoint that I really honed in on for this one in particular, is in the book of Joel. And Joel is talking to the people of Israel and letting them know that God is going to restore them, but only if they. They fast. And that, you know, the fast that the Lord is. Is looking for is one of a contrite heart. So a heart that, like, realizes that we are as good as we want to be, that we are nothing compared with God's holiness, that we're never gonna be able to match that. And so that instead of comparing ourselves to each other, which is something that we so often do, we compare ourselves to the goodness of God and say, hey, you know what. What I. What I really need to do is take some time and press into the Lord so that my relationship restored through to repentance and fasting and prayer. So.
- [06:38]
A
Yes.
- [06:39]
B
Yeah. So restoration, that's. That's the big one there.
- [06:41]
A
That's cool. Our church does an event called Prepare every year.
- [06:47]
B
Yeah. You guys are, like, at the tail end of that, right?
- [06:49]
A
Yeah. Tonight will be, as we're recording, this Wednesday will be the. The end of it. And it's, you know, starts on Sunday, the service, and then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And it's pretty crazy. I didn't. Our church has a lot of things that they host where they'll have, like, different, you know, people in or whatever. I mean, I might be quoting this wrong, but I'm pretty sure, like, this is what Amanda was saying. Like, we had leaders from 250 to 300 different churches at our church this week, just that we're hosting and, you know, pouring into and everything. And you know, so they, they do prepare every year, which Yesterday was our 14 year anniversary for Amanda and I of being married 15 years. A meeting. So we met at 15 years ago yesterday and got married 14 years ago yesterday. That's awesome.
- [07:37]
B
Congratulations.
- [07:37]
A
Yeah, thank you.
- [07:39]
B
Yeah.
- [07:39]
A
Shout out to my wife for just last 14 years. Actually, last 15 years has been awesome. And as people know our story, you're probably like. Wait, hold on. You celebrate? Yeah, we do. Even though we were divorced.
- [07:51]
B
Yeah.
- [07:51]
A
And we got remarried. That we celebrate that. And we also celebrate the other marriage date as well. Yeah, good. But you know that, I mean, talk about restoration, like what God was able to do in our marriage. But anyways, going back to prepare. And so they bring in, you know, different leaders and pour into them and you know, really focus on, you know, just fasting, the intent behind fasting and just, you know, for restoration with. Whether it's with healing or in your business or all these different things. And you know, it's just really, really cool. I talked about this with you on the way here is just. It's always nice being reminded of like the power of fasting and why we should fast from a spiritual aspect. Now I know there's a lot of people fast health benefits, which are great, but just having the ability to fast from a spiritual side, to lean closer into the Lord, to surrender your physical, you know, desires and demands. Like, I know a few years ago, Stephen and his wife, their church did a 40 day fast. I think they switched church. I think they're now under Matt Chandler. Yeah, they're at the village. But when they were going to another church, they did a 40 day fast. And I was impressed. Like Steven, 40 days, liquids only. And his whole thing was now it wasn't just like protein shakes and water. I mean, he was, he got to the point where he's like, all right.
- [09:14]
B
You know, he's blending chicken salad. Yeah.
- [09:17]
A
But the whole point was to deny your desire to like actually chew food, you know, and it was just like getting like potato soup and blending it up and, you know, drinking that. So he still was getting the calories that he needed. But it's just really cool. All the different reasons why people fast and the levels that they pick and it's, you know, we were talking with our kids. It's. It's about what you feel you need to do. This isn't like, hey, if, you know, someone's doing water only and you want to, you know, do the Daniel fast, it's just the same. Correct. From a Heart, posture, standpoint.
- [09:58]
B
Right? Yeah. And there's. There's so much to, you know, that it's the getting rid of anything that interferes with your relationship with God.
- [10:05]
A
And that's social media. Yeah, social media.
- [10:08]
B
There's a lot of people that.
- [10:09]
A
Alcohol.
- [10:10]
B
Yeah. And one of the things that we talk a lot about is that it. It has to be denial, not replacement. So if you want to say, oh, I'm gonna. I'm not gonna drink Cokes anymore, but you decide you're gonna drink Diet Cokes instead of, like, that's. That's a replacement. Right. If you delete all your social media apps, but then you download one of those, like, free to play games, and you're spending the same amount, if not more time on your phone, like that. That kind of stuff, you know, okay, you don't want to see somebody that's like, oh, I'm not gonna do coffee, but now I'm loading up on, like, really awful for you energy drinks. So those. Those types of things. It's important that we realize that, hey, it's. It's not replacement. It's. It's self denial. And, you know, we. We see a lot of things like this that we do pretty naturally in other areas of our lives. When it comes to, like, in particular, our relationships with our spouses or with our significant others is, you know, they're part of the. The marriage vow is forsaking all others. Right. Like, all right, that's part of it, right? You're. You're denying those urges that you have for anyone else of the. Of the opposite sex so that you can save yourself for your spouse. And then the same thing, you know, as your relationship grows, that there are might be my natural tendencies that Kirsten just doesn't like. And so I've got to learn, okay, is there a reason that I'm doing this? Is this purposeful? Is it something that's causing hurt in our relationship? Like, what do we need to do to talk through that? And then what do I need to do in order to, you know, not do this thing, which has become habitual for me, Whether it's, you know, leaving clothes right by the foot of the bed, right? Because I get home and I want to change into some comfy clothes. And, you know, that's often a thing for me. Or if it's that I just need to stack everything up on one side of the sink because she wants one side of the sink clean Those, like, little. We're denying our natural habits in order to grow closer or to show appreciation or to reconcile relationship with our spouse. We do the same thing in a lot of our other relationships as well. Whether it's the word choices that we make or the way that we talk about things because we want to respect somebody, we just kind of put this barrier up whenever it comes to our relationship with God, where we're like, no, I don't need to do that. God already knows everything about me. Like, why. Why does it matter? And it does for all the same reasons, is that it shows adoration, it shows appreciation. And, you know, one of the examples I used was when Kirsten and I first started dating. And I think maybe this is the. When it comes to the adoration piece, this is the easiest thing to kind of see. I mean, you're the father of a couple young boys and. And a couple of teenage girls now. Right. So if they have somebody that they like, the world stops.
- [13:03]
A
Yeah, we're dealing with that right now.
- [13:05]
B
Yeah. Right. And it's a. And it's a struggle, you know, and everybody around you is like, you've changed. You're like, no, I haven't changed. I've just found the one. Or, like, whatever it is. Right. And, you know, one of the things that you and Andrew Paul mentioned was that, like, Seth loved being in love and that there was this, you know, if. If there was a girl that was, you know, adored by Seth, like, she got all of him and everybody else kind of got a lot less Seth during those times. And that's one of the things that, you know, you. You can write it off as, like, romantic, but every one of us, when we start to fall in love with someone, we. We go through that. That stage in that phase.
- [13:40]
A
Everybody does.
- [13:41]
B
Yeah.
- [13:41]
A
It doesn't matter who you are. And I know there are some people listening, like, oh, I've never done that.
- [13:46]
B
Yeah, go ask your friends from high school.
- [13:47]
A
Exactly. Or your parents or, you know, anybody.
- [13:52]
B
Yeah, yeah. And one of the things, you know, when. When Kirsten and I first started dating was that she was just coming around all the time, and. Which was great. Right. I had just had ACL surgery, so I'm not traveling very much, and definitely not, like, going for a run or anything like that. So she was coming over and. And hanging out, and our roommates were like, she's here all the time. Like, yeah, she is. And actually, to be perfectly honest, you guys, I'm. I'm just gonna warn you, y' all are probably gonna have to move out of this house soon, because I think we're gonna get married. And they were like, what? What are you talking about? I was like, no, like legit. Right? And there's, you know, there's all of those things that, that change because you have adoration for this person. And it's easy again, you know, to see in our relationships. It's easy to see in our, our friendships. It's easy to see oftentimes in our business relationships how much we, we morph and, and do things in order to show appreciation to the, the other companies and other organizations that we work with in order to maintain those relationships. And often enough we neglect it when it comes to our relationship with God. And so it's just one of those ways that we can show him, hey, listen, I'm going to give this up and in the time that I would normally do this, I'm going to go and intentionally spend time with you because I want more of you, even if it means not having some of this right now.
- [15:04]
A
So yesterday I was just thinking about, you know, I'd watched a video that Marcus Lutrell did when he's talking about fasting.
- [15:12]
B
Dude, this is so good with Dale Brisby. Yeah, Yeah. I use that example in my. And I think once you tell him about it. Yeah.
- [15:18]
A
I don't know if we're talking about the same thing, but when he's talking about, you know, we're not. So he, Marcus did a 40 day fast. I, I feel like we talked about this recently.
- [15:28]
B
Him and his brother both did.
- [15:29]
A
Yes.
- [15:30]
B
And they're, they're big dudes.
- [15:31]
A
Yeah. And I, I feel like, I legitimately feel like we just talked about this recently. But anyways, the thing that I went back to mentally the last few days and you know, today and I don't know, I mean, man, I might keep push. I might change my fast a little bit, you know, and it just might be something different moving forward. But anyways, him talking about every time he'd feel hungry or that desire, he'd go wash his face.
- [15:57]
B
Yep. Wash his face and comb his hair.
- [15:59]
A
Wash his face and comb his hair. What a really cool. Just like reset. What would you call that? Like a. Not like a trigger. Not like I don't know if you think you know what I'm talking about in the comments. Like.
- [16:11]
B
Yes. Dropping the word that we're looking for here. Yeah.
- [16:14]
A
Well, I thought you're conditioning yourself.
- [16:16]
B
Yeah.
- [16:17]
A
Yeah. So I don't know what the, the actual term that I'm looking for right now is, but I really thought that was cool. And like, so yesterday I went into my bathroom and just put some cold water. And I was just like, all right, cool.
- [16:28]
B
And it's. It's interesting, too. Like, in. In the book of Matthew, in Matthew 6, Jesus talks about how we shouldn't be like, the hypocrites whenever we fast that make themselves look gloomy. And what that language can mean is not just, like, making themselves look sad, but it also may mean that they're, like, legitimately, like, putting on makeup to make themselves look more gaunt and to make themselves look like they're really suffering for the Lord. It's crazy, right?
- [16:51]
A
That's crazy.
- [16:53]
B
But then instead, what he says is, you know, you should kind of, like, hold your head up high and do what you're supposed to do. And so I loved what Marcus said about that, and he used that in our sermon on Sunday. I was like, hey, some of us, we'll need to just go splash some water on our face and comb our hair. And there are some of you that, you know when you're fasting, because the amount of times you're washing your face and combing your hair, it might actually be an improvement. So, you know. Well, I have to have to. That. I was. I was told afterwards by my wife, she was like, you could have left that out. And I was like, but it's true. It's true.
- [17:26]
A
It wasn't wrong. And I don't think you deliver.
- [17:29]
B
You know, I wasn't rude about it, but.
- [17:31]
A
But her feedback is also very.
- [17:32]
B
Yeah, it's also good.
- [17:33]
A
Yes.
- [17:33]
B
I mean, I don't have enough hair to comb anymore, so I don't know.
- [17:35]
A
It's all good.
- [17:36]
B
Yeah, I'm fine with it. This is kind of nice, actually.
- [17:39]
A
Remember when was training MMA and fighting one of the things our coaches would tell us, you know, Jake Underwood, Zach Underwood, Andy Urich, Joe Pass those guys. Dave Ferguson. Rest in peace, man. I think we're coming up on the year when Dave passed away, which is heartbreaking. The guy who's in the Tennessee MMA hall of Fame, like, he just. He fought Dan Severance back in the day.
- [18:02]
B
That's cool.
- [18:03]
A
Just took it in. There was a drastic weight difference between them, and he was just like, cool. I'll take it. And I remember when we. I. We ended up training under Dave because Zach and Jake had gone over there because Andy was over there and so was Joe, and just. Dave was just an awesome human.
- [18:23]
B
Yeah.
- [18:23]
A
And he was just such a nice human, like my buddy Donnie, who I've talked about a few times, who. Firefighter, paramedic, you know, He's a black belt there, and he's one of the head instructors now, and they've really carried the torch since. Since Dave passed away. My buddy Eric Mahone, he's actually. I don't know if he still is, but he was the mascot for the Memphis Grizz.
- [18:46]
B
Oh, was he really?
- [18:47]
A
Yeah, the dude that did all the crazy stunts. Yeah, yeah, that's my buddy Eric.
- [18:51]
B
That's right.
- [18:51]
A
And we're. We would. We'd always joke and call us part of, like, the. The old time MMA guys, because we're the old guys. All these young kids are like, trying to, like, I want to be in the ufc. And Erica and I are like, bro, we're just training and fighting as just something to do. We're not. But anyways, like, so training under all these guys are incredible. Oh, by the way, Eric's now a referee in the ufc, which is crazy. Like, I'll be watching UFC fights, and I'm like, that's my buddy I used to train with.
- [19:19]
B
You ever text him and you're like.
- [19:20]
A
Hey, man, every time. I know, I haven't seen him make a bad call yet. I'm sure he will. Like, every ref does, but I always take a picture and like, I'm like, but anyways, so being under those guys, like, every single one of them, like, you know, and Dave was really big on this, and so was Zach and Jake and. And Andy and Joe. But this also came from Dave. Everyone looked up to Dave as this awesome fighter and coach and trainer and was his whole thing. I remember we would talk a few times. He's like, you can never let your opponent know that you're tired or hurt.
- [19:53]
B
Yeah.
- [19:54]
A
So keep your head up in the round. Like when you're sitting in the chair, head up, and if you don't have to sit down, stand up.
- [20:00]
B
Yep.
- [20:00]
A
And it was just this. It also, the big part to that isn't so much for your opponent, but it's for you to realize, like, no, I'm not tired. I'm not weak. I'm not hurt. I'm not broken. I'm still good. I'm strong, you know, like, yeah, I'm in the fight. It's similar to what Sarah was talking about, you know, last week's episode. Like, get up and run. Like, dude, get. Get back up, bro. And dude, that episode was. Sarah was.
- [20:23]
B
It was great. And one of the things that I've noticed is how often my toddlers do that. Like, I'm.
- [20:30]
A
Once she said it, you probably were.
- [20:32]
B
Like, oh, my God, you're now seeing.
- [20:33]
A
It all the time.
- [20:33]
B
Yeah. And. And now it's stressful, like, because I'm noticing how much they're falling down, which I think is why God made him so close to the ground. Because it's. It's just. This is so like, Scotty this morning was running by. He's running by something, a toy, and he wanted to pick it up. And instead of like stopping to pick it up, he tried to pick it up mid stride. And he just doesn't have the dexterity to do it. And so he. At. And just immediately there's like this thud. And I'm watching and he's like, I'm fine, and just picks up the thing, grabs it, and then takes off running again. He's like, mike, got it.
- [21:07]
A
Yeah. It's the same thing with Sarah's son when they were visiting us. They say about a little. About a week with us. And he would just. Do you just hear that, bro?
- [21:17]
B
And they hit. You just hear so hard. Yeah.
- [21:20]
A
And then you look and it's their head against the table or the floor or the wall or the couch, and.
- [21:25]
B
They just smoke to themselves.
- [21:26]
A
They look at them and they look at you. And if you. If you freak out, they freak out. And so we're like, yay. You know, And I'm not gonna say his name, but he's. Because he's two brothers. Yeah. Yeah, buddy. Yeah, Butter Bubba. And he just looked, and then he'd be good. And there's other times you knew he was not good because it didn't matter how much cheering you do. He's like, no, I'm in pain right now.
- [21:45]
B
Yeah, it's. And it's wild too, because they. They know. And with. With their 3 year old. So we. We reupholstered. And nobody in the audience cares about this, but here you go. Anyway. We reupholstered some our dining room chairs, and so now they have like a vinyl on them so that when the kids color on them, it's easier to wipe off.
- [22:04]
A
Ah, smart. Very smart.
- [22:06]
B
They're also slick. And whenever the kids wearing shorts all summer, it's like, not a big deal. Now that they're in wool socks and sweatpants, they're like sliding all over the chairs. And so our oldest, like, ate it, hit the ground, hit his. He slipped out of the chair, hit his head on the table, then hit his head on Kirsten, who was sitting next to him. She was holding our other kid and couldn't get him, and then he hit his head on the ground. And he's like, starts crying. And she said, give him a hug. I'm like, I'm not giving him a hug. I just sat him on the table. I was like, take a deep breath. And he just looks at me, and he's, you know, starts getting himself worked up. And he did. He took a deep breath and was like, are you okay? And he's like, yeah, I'm just a little scared. I was like, cool. You're not hurt? No. All right, now you get the hug.
- [22:49]
A
Being scared is okay.
- [22:50]
B
Yeah, that's it, bro. You were not the only one scared to watch you just do that, like, jackass fall from the chair. Yeah. I was like, yep, this is. This is either like, we're fine, or, you know, get the. Get the stuff ready, grab the insurance card. We're going to the er. But no, all. All good. And, yeah, just the amount of times they just get up and then, you know, he hopped back in the chair and started putting his puzzle back together.
- [23:16]
A
Yeah. Yeah, I'm.
- [23:17]
B
Puzzles were full contact sport.
- [23:19]
A
I know. Yeah. Who knew? I know you and I have talked about this before, and I'm. Man, I bet everything I have in savings that you've talked about this with your church and or with people when you're doing counseling. Kind of going back to what we're talking about for fasting, the power of prayer. Last night, one of the pastors that was speaking, he was talking about, like, our prayers. Our pastor Tyron said this because he was kicking it off with the prayers for different things, like, and as a church, we were praying these things together. And he's like, hey, you know, there's different segments like, hey, if you are wanting, you know, if you've been praying for conception, to have a baby, stand up. And so all those people would stand up, and it was like, hey, if they're close to them, if they're close to you, put your hands on them. We're going to pray. If they're not, like, put your hands out towards them. Pray for them. And to see the amount of people stand up and just be weeping, because that's all they want.
- [24:14]
B
Yeah.
- [24:14]
A
And just us praying as a congregation over them and then praying and declaring like, hey, Lord, if it's your will, like, you know, and one of the things Pastor Tyron said is like, our. Our prayers don't stop at the ceiling of this building. I'm phrasing what he said, meaning we can intercede and pray on behalf of people. And so we did that. And then the other one was like, hey, if you have a parent that's not saved, you know, stand up, and to see people standing up, it was just heartbreaking. And then, you know, hey, if you have a kid that is lost, that you are praying that they will come to know the Lord and receive salvation. And that one bro, that I just started crying when I was seeing all these parents stand up, because every single one of them that I saw when they said that and they stood up, they just started crying because you could see their heart for their children. And it just made me, you know, my heart, I just could feel it for them. But it was also this joy that I had knowing that all four of our kids, love the Lord, are saved, are going to heaven and have that. And same with my parents and Amanda's parents, you know, they're saved. And it was just. It was really cool to see that and be a part of it. And then, you know, yesterday we did one for healing and same today for healing, you know, and we, you know, we were praying for Nola, and then obviously my dad as well, with all of his health stuff, and, you know, my dad's back in the hospital again, like, working through stuff right now and just, you know, being able to pray and intercede on behalf of my father and of Nola and other people that we know that are going through stuff. And then, you know, we did it for business owners and leaders within companies that, you know, you may not be a business owner, but you're also, you know, a senior leader helping grow that company. And it was just. It was a really cool thing, but it was also a good reminder of, you know, as we're praying for other people to come to know the Lord, like, if I'm praying in my room or in my house or at church, like, those prayers don't stay there. Like, that's the power of prayer, which is beautiful and which. Which we have. And it was also a good reminder. I'm like, man, I do not pray enough. I just don't. I don't. And it's, you know, something I want to be more intentional with this next year of just, you know, praying obviously, for my family, my friends, you know, you know, your family, this podcast, your church, our church, you know, just different churches that, you know, I know are out there delivering impact that I have friends and families connected to and different businesses, and it's just. Okay, cool. I just. I need to set that time aside and be very intentional with those prayers.
- [26:58]
B
Yeah.
- [26:58]
A
So, sure.
- [26:59]
B
It's. It's a good wakeup call.
- [27:01]
A
Yeah.
- [27:01]
B
You know?
- [27:02]
A
Yeah. One of the things one of the pastors last night said, and I love to hear kind of your insight on this, at first when he said, I was like, huh? And then as he dove deeper into it and I was like trying to listen and trying to take notes on my phone. And so I want to go back and I'm going to listen to his recording and also day one's recording. But last night he said, the enemy of faith is not fear, it is clarity. And I was like, oh, that is good.
- [27:25]
B
That's interesting. Yeah.
- [27:27]
A
He said. And then this is what I wrote down. I know God can. I know God will. I'm just not sure when or how he's going on to say God doesn't give it all. God doesn't give us all the details because he knew we wouldn't take the step of faith, right? He. He gets us into something because of our faith that we wouldn't step into normally, especially if we had all of the details. And he was giving some examples from the Bible and it was like, really funny the way he said, he's like, yeah, hey, you're going to be a king. People are going to bow down to you. But he's, I'm gonna leave out about 13 years of things, strife and heartache and all that stuff.
- [27:59]
B
Yeah, yeah, for sure. And, you know, it's the same thing in a lot of just leadership stuff. And we recognize this, that if you, if you bring on somebody that, you know, you, you've brought them on to be a, maybe an executive, right. Or you know that they're gonna be a high level leader in your company, that as soon as you bring them on, you don't just hand them the reins and say, here, go for it. Like, you got to go through some training and with a new hire, you know, on the front lines, you do the same thing. You don't show them everything at once or else they'll be like completely overwhelmed. Right. If they took you guys straight out of Buds and skipped sqt, threw you into a platoon and then shipped you over to Radi without a workup, you'd be like, what the heck is going on now?
- [28:42]
A
That would be a problem.
- [28:43]
B
It would be a problem, but it would. You guys would be stoked about it because you would be thinking like, this is exactly what I wanted to do and now I'm getting to do it. Not realizing, yeah. Not realizing how ill equipped for everything that you were just because you, you know, had. Had the ability to survive weeks of surf torture and you know, just have. Have the guts to make it through all those things. The actual, you know, separation and turning you into what you needed to be in order to accomplish the mission happened after all of that. Yeah. And I think we get impatient, and so we. We think that we have it all figured out. I am one that will, you know, I'll use an example from, From a couple of weeks ago. I. I do a lot of research and study for my job.
- [29:30]
A
Yes.
- [29:30]
B
And for pleasure. Because I'm just. I'm a weird guy. And so.
- [29:34]
A
Well, that's why you're in the position you're in, because the way you're wired, that's what God's like. Cool. Boom. Boom.
- [29:39]
B
Yeah. And. And I. I love it. We were having a discussion about something. Well, two other people were having a discussion about something. I came in, in the middle of the discussion and just gave this huge knowledge dump. And it was one. It was the inappropriate thing to do. I did not read the room at all. I wasn't listening to what anybody else said. I just gave them all of the information that they needed in order to, you know, have the. And have. Have the knowledge to make the proper decision, which, of course, is the decision that. The conclusion that I have come to. So congratulations, all of you. I'm gonna go fill up my coffee cup. You guys marinate on this. And then I realized about 10 minutes later, I was like, I really mishandled that. And I think that I upset one of our leaders. And sure enough, and I called him afterwards. He was like, yeah, yeah. I felt like. I said, you know, I apologize. I realize that I, I, I offended you. As I was thinking about one of the things that you said, I was like, this is out of character for him. He's like, yeah, I felt totally dismissed and condescended to. And I was like, well, I apologize. And he's like, cool. I appreciate that. I'm too mad to talk to you right now. Like, all right, fair enough. Right? Like, you, you don't. He's just not in a place where he feels like he can have that conversation. Wants to, you know, appreciates the apology, wants to think about it a little bit. And then within 24 hours, he called me, we chatted, and it was all good.
- [31:06]
A
When he said, I'm too mad to talk to you about this, what was your initial response to that?
- [31:12]
B
My initial response to that was, was, hey, I understand.
- [31:14]
A
Okay, good.
- [31:15]
B
Right. You know, because as it's. It's a tough thing, man, when you are, when you're a Leader. And then you've got somebody who is, as a leader, that's, you know, under you, but also a really important leader in your organization. What happened was someone had asked a question to another one of our leaders. And I came in, and instead of trying to figure out what was going on, I jumped in with this massive knowledge dump and just got way ahead of where this guy was. Got it, and didn't let him work through it. Right. Didn't let him work through it. And because of that, it really came across as though I was dismissive of this other leader. And so I completely understand why he was. When he was angry, I think that was, you know, he was. He was hurt, he was offended, all of that. And that's not typically the way that I conduct myself, nor is that normally, like, his posture and all of that. To say that, you know, getting to. To the end of it, whenever you're looking at things like why. Why clarity is oftentimes the enemy of faith is because the. The way that I handled this situation, first off, the. I hate that I put myself in this situation. Yeah. And that I put our other leaders in this situation. Massive mistake on my part, but took ownership of it. Talked about the consequences. Right. Went through the hard conversations framework. And now there are a couple people who have come up to me and they've been like, hey, listen, I saw the way that you handled that, and there's some. There's some things that I need to do. So even in those moments where we feel like, oh, man, this, I. I butchered this, or I really botched this or whatever, that if we handle it the right way moving forward, then what we can actually do is set a really great example to help other people get to. To those next steps so that, you know, they don't have to make the same missteps. All that say, he and I don't get to the place that we are right now unless I, you know, kind of make these missteps and determine the right way to handle it. Because in the end, what was something that could have broken trust actually ended up something that built trust. So it was pretty cool.
- [33:24]
A
Yeah, there's. There's an opportunity. If we do the right things for the right reasons, that good can come from a bad situation. Yeah. That's awesome, man. I'm looking forward to this year, 2026. I just, you know, last year was a good year. There was ups and downs, like every year.
- [33:43]
B
Yarp.
- [33:44]
A
I mean, but that's the thing. Every single year is gonna have good, good days. Bad days, good weeks, bad weeks, good months, bad months, good quarters, bad quarters. I mean, in your marriage with your family, you know, But I'm. I'm looking forward to this year because I think it's just going to continue to be good opportunities, and, like, that's the way I like to look at life is all, right, cool. Like, this is going to be a good year. And that's not one of those, like, oh, new year, new me things. Like, no, I legitimately think it's going to be a good year. Like, last year when it started, I felt like it was going to be a good year, and overall, it was a good year. And even the bad days, bad weeks, bad months, bad quarters, bad years are good compared to what it could be. You know, one of the things I know we've talked about before and I try to remind myself is my worst day is somebody's dream. Like, the bad days I have, the bad weeks I have, you know, even a quote, bad year for me, However, I would categorize that other people like, man, that's a pretty dang good year.
- [34:46]
B
Yeah.
- [34:47]
A
So I'm excited, you know. You know, one of the biggest blessings this last year was just being reconnected with Hayden and just having the opportunity to have him be back in his life and him come into my family and experience just the relationship with the kids, the relationship with Amanda, the relationship with me, and then us as a family navigating that. And Amanda and I were talking today about, hey, we need to sit down and plan out the year for what we're going to do. And we have to be very specific with planning the stuff with Hayden because there's a lot of logistics behind that and timing of his schedule with him and his mom and his school and his sports and all those things. And just an added thing that we have to be very intentional with, and I want to make. Make this next year even better when it comes to the time with him and the time as a family together. So. And I'm excited to see where God takes this podcast this next year, and excited to see where things go with Echelon front and on the path printing and bruiser arms and everything else. Like, I just think, you know, there's a lot of cool things, and I know you have some cool stuff going on with the church and your family, and I'm just. I'm excited. I'm healing from the injury extremely fast.
- [36:04]
B
Which we've got some questions about. Whenever we get to our Q A portion.
- [36:07]
A
Let's go and kick it off of that right now.
- [36:08]
B
Yeah. So here's some rapid. Well, I'm gonna do some rapid fire stuff. First off, how much longer before you start training Jiu Jitsu?
- [36:22]
A
29 hours.
- [36:24]
B
29 hours.
- [36:24]
A
Tomorrow night I'm going back.
- [36:26]
B
Oh, right. So tomorrow night you release to go back.
- [36:29]
A
Tomorrow night I'm going back.
- [36:30]
B
Okay, nice. All right, fair enough.
- [36:32]
A
I would say release, yes. Because when I went in for my last appointment, he was like, you are months ahead of schedule. That's what I'm talking about. And I'm not going to be stupid. Obviously, I can't train with that brace on. I've been thinking about it, like, for a while. I was like, oh, the brace fits over my gi. I'll put it on. I wouldn't be able to do a lot of stuff. So I'm going to see. See, I'm a test. I'm gonna see what Victoria says. You know, Formiga and his family are still gone. Yeah, it was his birthday the other day. Or, you know, his birthday is coming up. Sorry. When this is out, I think his birthday. Anyways, happy birthday, Coach. And so they're still in Brazil because they went there for the holidays, and it was such an expensive trip. They're like, no, we're gonna stay as long as we can to make. Make it worth it. Which is great. So Victoria is leading all the classes, and so I'll see what she says tomorrow night. Like, I'll show up, obviously. GI belt, everything for GI class with the brace on the outside. And if I'm able to drill with it on. Cool. If I need to take it off, I can also do that. I'm just gonna have to be very intentional with who I drill with. And if I'm able to lightly roll, just be very smart. Probably tuck my arm in, not use it, or, you know, just. They're gonna be things that I can. I cannot do. Which is crazy, because, you know, I think this week is 11 weeks.
- [37:47]
B
Yeah, it's been a while, man.
- [37:49]
A
But which is crazy is compared to how long it should take for a complete tear and detachment. Should be a couple more months before I'm actually able to train. But when I went in for my appointment, he said I'm. I'm very well ahead of schedule.
- [38:06]
B
Right on. That's good to hear.
- [38:08]
A
Yeah.
- [38:08]
B
All right, next thing. And this is a question that I've asked before, and now I want to be more specific. Is that arm now your bruiser arm?
- [38:16]
A
My bruiser. My bruiser.
- [38:19]
B
All right, I'll skip it.
- [38:21]
A
Give Me a little more clarification.
- [38:22]
B
No, because you know, you're in bruiser arms. Is that your bruiser arm?
- [38:25]
A
Well, it's not bruised.
- [38:26]
B
Yeah, not anymore. Which is good.
- [38:28]
A
Sure. I mean, actually it really wasn't bruised from the beginning.
- [38:31]
B
Yeah.
- [38:31]
A
I took a week's worth of peptides and put it into the tear the night it happened. Put a week's worth of peptides the next night. Went in for surgery on Wednesday. So it happened on a Monday. So I believe today is 11 weeks from the date of surgery. Of surgery. Because Monday was the injury. Yeah, Wednesday. I had surgery on Wednesday. When I went in for that surgery, the, the surgeon was like looking at both arms. He's like, is this one right? I'm like, yeah, there's no inflammation, no bruising. And we talked about what I did with the peptides again. And he goes, yeah, that's really smart. He's like, I wish more people understood the value of peptides and what it does for healing, recovery and not just from injuries, like for just general health and longevity, which, which is cool. I believe in the next few episodes we're gonna have Nick and Johnny from Relive Health and Flower Mound on to be able to talk through what they do. And you know, that's who we get our peptides and testosterone from. And you know, the guys that they have at their clinic are just so incredibly intelligent and understand what to do and how to do and the doctors and everybody. But yeah, that I will tell you, man, the, the, the, the TRT and the hrt, I guess you would say package that I'm on from Relive Health has been absolutely critical to my recovery and being ahead of schedule for sure. So I feel good. I mean, I know this is like not a lot, but I was stoked. I told you before we recorded yesterday, I was able to do 10 hammer curls with 25 pound dumbbells.
- [40:02]
B
So it's massive.
- [40:03]
A
I'm supposed to at this point only be lifting two and a half, five pounds max and be able to do 10 reps. With 25 pounds, I was able to do a dead hang from the pull up bar.
- [40:15]
B
Oh, wow.
- [40:15]
A
I've been able to do the ski erg. No issues. No issues, no pain. Like I can't do that.
- [40:21]
B
Healthy.
- [40:24]
A
Echo bike rower is a little like, I just, I'm not pulling hard on that. It's just movement and then just moving dumbbells and kettlebells around and, and sandbags and you know, because Aiden's been training hard for the fire academy, he he passed his physical assessment test. Starts the fire Academy on the 12th.
- [40:42]
B
Congrats, Aiden.
- [40:43]
A
Yeah, absolutely. So I'm. I'm stoked it's coming along. And, I mean, obviously there's a good amount of.
- [40:50]
B
There's some size difference. Whatever. You'll. You'll get back. I. I lost at ACL surgery. It took six weeks before I could straighten my leg out. We were having some serious issues with.
- [41:00]
A
With.
- [41:01]
B
With my quadricep, and I lost, like, 4 inches off my left quad. And it's still.
- [41:06]
A
Bro, that would frustrate me. So.
- [41:08]
B
Bro, we've got all these videos of me trying to straighten out my leg, and my entire leg is just, like, spasming. But we finally, finally figured it out. So you'll. You'll get there. Next question. If somebody was gonna get one product from Jocko Fuel, what product would you say they need to start with? Oh, I think I know the answer to this one, but I'm gonna let you do it.
- [41:32]
A
Any one product from Jocko Fuel.
- [41:35]
B
Yep. They're like, I want to try Jocko Fuel product. What's the. What one thing should I try?
- [41:41]
A
Oh, creatine 100. Because. Well, because that is a universal man, you know, male, female thing. And I was like, well, is it. You know, is it a male. Like, what do we want? I would say the testosterone booster. I was like, but wait, universal between men and women. Creatine 100%. And the new collagen peptide one.
- [42:03]
B
Yeah, the. The collagen and colostrum.
- [42:05]
A
Yes, thank you. Collagen, Colostrum. When my sister was staying with us, her and her husband Brian, they're looking through that and they're like, oh, my sister, like, this is awesome.
- [42:15]
B
Yeah.
- [42:15]
A
And my buddy Jackson at Jockofil had sent me an extra one. I was like, merry Christmas.
- [42:20]
B
Here you go.
- [42:20]
A
She's like, what? I'm like, yeah. So they flew back with it. But, yeah, I would say absolutely. The creatine and the. The joint warfare is a game changer. Krill oil and then the sleep stuff is awesome.
- [42:33]
B
Yeah. If you're struggling with that, it's. It's not a bad get.
- [42:36]
A
Yes, it's not.
- [42:37]
B
But I think you're right. Universal recommendation. I'm the same there.
- [42:41]
A
I wish. I wish we would have made a priority when Sarah was here and we could do it over zoom, but just to have a full episode of her, just breaking down the Jockey Fuel products, like, talking about it would be awesome.
- [42:52]
B
But, yeah, very cool.
- [42:53]
A
So if somebody wants to get Jockey Fuel products and support the podcast, go.
- [42:56]
B
To jockofuel.com use code JP Pod20. It'll save you 20% on checkout. And we a little bit of a kickback to make sure that, you know, my. My alternator gets put back in the pickup.
- [43:07]
A
Yes. So go make a large order.
- [43:10]
B
There you go.
- [43:11]
A
Hashtag support Lucas's alternator.
- [43:14]
B
The same question, but this time for origin, which I think this will be a little. A little tougher because there are a lot of different ways that you could go. I would say let's exclude the Jiu Jitsu line.
- [43:27]
A
Okay.
- [43:28]
B
Right. So sorry, Dennis, but we're gonna. We're gonna take all the Jiu Jitsu stuff out of it. Let's go with a lifestyle or, like, daily wear thing.
- [43:35]
A
Okay. As I'm thinking about that, I'm gonna show you a picture that Dennis sent me last night. He said, I designed this. Not sure if we're gonna launch it. And I said, if you don't launch it through origin, please tell me. And I'm gonna have Josh and I print it through on the path.
- [43:51]
B
Nice.
- [43:54]
A
I. He sent it to me. I was sitting in church last night next to Mike Mitchell, and I showed Mike, and Mike was like, oh, yeah, and he doesn't train Jiu Jitsu.
- [44:02]
B
And he was like, just wants it.
- [44:03]
A
All right, so this is what the front of the rash guard would look like.
- [44:06]
B
Okay, nice.
- [44:07]
A
You already know where I'm going with that color combo.
- [44:09]
B
Yep. That's so sick. I 100 want that.
- [44:15]
A
Yeah. Kent.
- [44:15]
B
Yeah.
- [44:16]
A
I want to say anything.
- [44:17]
B
Yep, There you go. Dennis, find out if. You find out if. Yeah.
- [44:20]
A
Dennis, if you do not do this through Origin. I said. He goes, as a joke, I designed this. I said, that will sell. He goes, haha. I was like, I need one. He goes, I think I can make it happen. I said, if not, I will print that through on the path. Printing with Josh on a different colored shirt. That is so sick.
- [44:38]
B
Yeah, that's awesome.
- [44:39]
A
I want that so bad. Okay.
- [44:40]
B
I am really stoked for the. The BJJ line because they always do something cool for Independence Day. And this being the 250th anniversary, I already told Kirsten. I was like, listen, in July, we're gonna. We're gonna make, like, a substantial purchase of new Jiu Jitsu gear. And she was like, oh, okay. I was like, so you'll. You'll get stuff. I'll get stuff. But, well, how clean is that? That's sharp, man.
- [45:06]
A
That gi Again. This is. Nobody knows about these things.
- [45:10]
B
Yeah, but I'm I'm stoked about that. Or the. I. I can imagine. For the 250, it's booth. They'll. They'll go all out, I bet. And I gotta get that George Washington rash guard. So, anyway, now that we've talked about that. Yeah, yeah. Lifestyle or, you know, work. Work item.
- [45:27]
A
That is a really difficult question. Because their boots are unreal.
- [45:32]
B
Yep.
- [45:32]
A
The mocto boots that I have are just my absolute favorite because they're super comfortable.
- [45:37]
B
Nice wide toe box.
- [45:38]
A
Yeah, I. I've worn those when I've been traveling. Speaking. Traveling, come home, do stuff. Like, literally, if worn my moc toe boots from Origin for 18 hours and, you know, feet weren't fatigued. They felt great. Super comfortable. I mean, the Delta 68 jeans are. I mean, you're wearing a pair right now. They're super comfortable. They're hoodies. Like, that Kilo hoodie is so warm, yet lightweight. The Maverick, the jacket is awesome. That is a super comfortable jacket, man. I don't know that. That lightweight hoodie, that lightweight RTX hoodie that has been very popular on the news. I mean, that's. To me, I think that would be a good start because you can wear that while you're working out. You can wear that when you're doing stuff around the house, if you're working around your property, if you're going out to dinner. I mean, you can literally wear that. That little lightweight RTX hoodie for everything.
- [46:52]
B
Yeah, they're. They're pretty rad. And, you know, you're talking about the footwear. Like, I've got some of the. The carbon Coronados that I've had for a couple years now that are, like, when I ride my bike. They're working. They're. They're stellar. Yeah. The RTX hoodie, it's pretty cool. It's a great way to go. I've been a huge fan of the, like, if I'm going to get something for. To really, like, show off origin, I'm either going the cotton shirt or cotton jeans because it's. It's something that. It feels like. It's sturdy. Feels like something that you could work in, that you could play in. And they're. They're super cool. And having something like that that you could, you know, use or put on with anything. Yeah. Is. Is pretty rad. Yeah, I've dug that. Yeah. The core T and then the new 100 cotton jeans.
- [47:46]
A
Mike. So, Mike, last night was cool. We saw each other at church. We're both wearing origin stuff. He's wearing The. The ninja hoodie for the hunt from the Hunt line that we use when we go backpacking because it wicks away the sweat. It's lightweight, keeps you warm. And he was wearing that yesterday, you know, when he's outside working all day, and then came straight to church. And, I mean, that line is incredible as well. So it's really hard to pick something. But, yeah, I could see, like, the. The. The. The cotton jeans are pretty sick, and that's pretty cool.
- [48:17]
B
And there's a lot of people that are, like, pushing for 100% cotton material and stuff now, and seeing that it's all come from the USA was pretty rad.
- [48:23]
A
Why is that also a pretty cool thing?
- [48:25]
B
Well, so there's a ton of research behind it, particularly cotton wool and linen, that if you make something 100% out of those materials, that there is an electrical charge component. And some people are actually using the word charged as part of their marketing for this, that there's an electrical charge component in the way that it reacts with your body, that it actually can improve performance and all kinds of things that especially that have to do with the ability to conceive and all kinds of stuff. So what. What we noticed about it that was really interesting is that, you know, scripturally, there's this prescription of don't blend fabrics, where something's either 100% cotton or linen or 100 wool. And now, you know, a few thousand years later, there's scientific about scientific evidence that shows, like, hey, this is a really good plan.
- [49:14]
A
Weird.
- [49:15]
B
Yep. Okay, so we've got those. Now, some of these questions I'm going to allow you to abstain from answering because there are no.
- [49:30]
A
Let's go.
- [49:30]
B
It's not a long way to get into murky waters. Okay, so, number one, not a long.
- [49:34]
A
Way to get into murky water. I like that.
- [49:36]
B
Yeah.
- [49:36]
A
Thank you.
- [49:37]
B
There's a. There's a lot of anniversaries coming up this year. Okay, Which. Which anniversaries are you. It's 25 years for 9. 11. This year, it's the 20th anniversary of the passing of Mark Lee and of Mikey Mansour.
- [49:58]
A
Yep.
- [49:58]
B
You guys are coming up on a big anniversary for just Ramadi in general.
- [50:03]
A
Yeah. Next weekend. Yeah. Yeah.
- [50:05]
B
It's crazy, right? So you know which of which of those anniversaries. And I'm sure they all hit you in different ways, but, like, which of those anniversaries do you think you're most. I don't know if excited is the. Is the right word.
- [50:18]
A
Yeah, excited wouldn't be the right word, but just more of a. I don't know.
- [50:22]
B
Yeah. Which one do you think is going to be the most impactful? I think that's probably the best way to put it because you're in boot camp when 911 happened.
- [50:30]
A
Yeah, I was in boot camp when 911 happened. And that changed the trajectory of my career, which affected everything, which affected, you know, my first deployment, my second deployment, my third deployment, what I did at trade at. And then even when I got out, there's still the effects of other deployments of guys are going on and, you know, the war machine still pushing forward, you know, I mean, yeah, 911 changed everything in my life. The anniversary of, you know, the Battle of Ramadi kicking off, I mean, that was extremely impactful. Being a part of the Battle of Ramadi because of what our task unit was, was a part of what we learned, what we endured, the burden that we felt from that, the lessons that we brought back from that, that changed how we trained and equipped guys in the SEAL teams, which changed the, you know, maybe the trajectory of the teams as a whole. Changed the trajectory of my path and my career and just my life in general because of now what I'm able to do with Echelon Front. But I would say the most impactful ones will probably be the anniversary of. Of Mark and Mikey passing away just because of the relationship with those guys and the connection with those guys and. Yeah, 20 years, man, it's crazy. 20 years. And it. I, like, even as you said that, I'm thinking back, like, I can feel like, you know, as I think about memories of Mark and Mikey as you, as you say that, and they all just quickly go like through your brain, you know, I can feel the, like, the sun, the heat in Ramadi. I can smell the dirt and the dust from rooftops and being the back of the Bradley fighting vehicles and, you know, tasting the sweat, you know, and the smell of the uniform, the smell of the diesel fuel from those tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles and. Yeah, so I think, I think those will be the most impactful for me this next year, for sure.
- [52:35]
B
100%. Keeping it in. In this realm. So you have talked often about how when you got out, you had some struggles with it.
- [52:47]
A
Yeah.
- [52:47]
B
And we've talked about the reserves.
- [52:52]
A
Yeah. Yep. Yeah. I wish I would have gone into the reserve.
- [52:55]
B
So what would that have looked like?
- [52:58]
A
Well, that is a good question. And my answer is going to be very vague because I don't know. But had I just, as I was getting out All I had to do was sign a piece of paper that would have transferred me over to the Reserve SEAL team units, and I would have been in the reserves this whole time. Now, would I have deployed? I don't know. Could I have deployed if I really wanted to and pushed it? Yeah. And I wish I would have done that because it would have given me an opportunity to still be able to give back to our community. Like Andrew was saying as a reservist, like, he would go and help with training. So, I mean, how awesome would that be? Yeah, you know, I'm not gonna try to jump in on a deployment like I have priority over any of those guys, which I clearly would not have that priority, and I do not have that priority. But if I could have been able to help contribute to training. If they need an extra body for a block of training, man, I wish I would have been able to do that. Let's say they're headed overseas and they just need an extra body. They need. We call them strap hangers. That would have been cool to be a strap hanger. Now I know I'm most likely not going to be going in and kicking open doors. Well, you know, maybe I could have been a part of some of those missions because of my relationships with guys and being able to prove yourself. Like, yeah, hey, I'm still capable. I'm training. I'm. You know, that might have happened. But guess what? I mostly would have been done. I would have been back at the fob, Ford Operating Base. Yeah, like, doing operations and working in the talk or helping with gear, you know, I mean, I'm fine with that. Like, being a support to the active seals would have been pretty awesome.
- [54:30]
B
Yeah, that's right.
- [54:31]
A
You know, and I'm good with that. And I would have been good with that. Like, I don't. Dude, you get out of the SEAL teams, you can't expect to be able to still do what active duty SEALs do. And there's a lot of guys that have that feeling like they should. And I. I never had that. And it would have been. It would have been cool. And, you know, I would have been, you know, 25 years of service at this point. You know, between a blend of active duty and reservist, which I. Man, I really, really wish I would have done that.
- [54:59]
B
If you, like, if you were to enter into the Reserves today, if you were to sign that piece of paperwork, would they count all of your previous time towards your retirement or would it start to clock over?
- [55:12]
A
I don't know. The official Answer on that. But it would count my active duty time. Obviously not the gap.
- [55:18]
B
Right.
- [55:18]
A
But it would. My active duty time. And then, like, there's a. Like a table that they judge all that stuff off of retirement. It's active duty plus reserve time, and there's like, some formula that they have. So I would have my active. Active duty time, and then I would have my reserve time.
- [55:33]
B
Gotcha. All right. These next ones.
- [55:37]
A
So I could tech. Okay, so sorry. So technically, yeah, if I wanted to go in the reserves, I don't know the process, but let's just say I was able to. I'd probably have to go back through sqt, which would be awesome.
- [55:48]
B
Yeah, I'd be.
- [55:49]
A
Dude, I'd be down to go through sqt. In my 40s, I had a guy in his late 30s, maybe close to 40.
- [55:55]
B
Yeah.
- [55:55]
A
In my SQT class that came back in and he went through sqt. That's radio. Yeah. And he was a stud. I remember, like, man, dude is old. And he was just crushing us on basic things.
- [56:09]
B
Yeah.
- [56:10]
A
Because it just comes back to you. You know, I remember the shooting. He was just. I was like, who.
- [56:16]
B
Who is this guy?
- [56:17]
A
And we knew that he had been. Prior service and broken, you know, broken record and was coming back in, but he came through SQT with us, and it was pretty cool.
- [56:24]
B
That's cool. All right, here's the one that. That you may not want me to ask, but this is the.
- [56:29]
A
Ask anything.
- [56:30]
B
This is the one that I've been.
- [56:31]
A
I've been getting a lot of questions recently, so I think I know where you're going with this.
- [56:35]
B
This is the one that I've been getting asked. Does JP have any insider information on a conflict that's currently happening between a SEAL senator and a SEAL podcaster?
- [56:48]
A
Oh, geez. No, I have zero.
- [56:54]
B
All right, cool. Yes.
- [56:55]
A
Zero insight. But I do know that sometime this year, I am slated to be on Sean Ryan's show.
- [57:01]
B
That'd be red.
- [57:02]
A
So it happens. If it happens next year. Cool. Like, I'm good with whatever I was.
- [57:07]
B
That are asking me. They're like, do you know if he's like. No, there's nothing the. And here's texting JP asking for his opinion on things.
- [57:15]
A
No, that is not. That is absolutely not happening. And. But here's the thing. If I did have any inside thing, I wouldn't share it because it's not for me to share, and I'm not going to do that to our community.
- [57:29]
B
Yeah.
- [57:29]
A
I'm not going to do that to Dan. I'm not going to do that to Sean. Like, I'm not going to do that. And the legitimate, honest answer is I have zero information. I have zero insight. Because to your point, it's not like they're reaching out to me. I'm not reaching out to them right now. I will say I. I do hate seeing it.
- [57:48]
B
Yeah.
- [57:49]
A
It's kind of just crappy for our community. And it's. You know, I will say this publicly. It's crappy on both of their parts. And if they were here with me right now, I would say that. If I was on the phone with them, I would say that. If it was in a text message, I would say that. I just. I wish that it did not have to be what it is right now.
- [58:13]
B
Yeah.
- [58:13]
A
But I also only have my perspective, and my perspective is flawed. I don't know either one of their sides, and I just. I'm gonna stay out of it.
- [58:25]
B
Yeah.
- [58:25]
A
Unless I had to be pulled into it, which the chance of that is about.
- [58:29]
B
Yeah. I was gonna say one scenario does that.
- [58:31]
A
There's a 1% chance.
- [58:32]
B
Yeah. Yep.
- [58:34]
A
I don't even know what that would be. And that's why I said 1%.
- [58:36]
B
Yeah. There you go. Yeah. I. I think that it's. It's interesting, though, that I'll. That's one of the questions that I get. As soon as there's, like, anything that goes on with. With SEALs, they're like, you know a Navy SEAL, right? Like, former Navy SEAL. Yes. They're like, what do you think about this? What does he. Do you have any. I was like, no. No. First off, I don't know if anybody's talking to him, but he is darn sure not calling me and telling me the. What is the. The new terminology. He's not spilling the tea to me about what's going on in the SEAL community.
- [59:02]
A
I mean, you and I talk about a lot of stuff.
- [59:04]
B
Yeah. It's just not happening.
- [59:05]
A
Yeah. It's not. Out of respect. Yeah.
- [59:08]
B
1.
- [59:08]
A
You don't want it to. Again, going back to. Out of respect for the SEAL teams in our community, I wouldn't share it. And I still stand by this. I think it's very unfortunate, and I wish it wasn't happening, because could you imagine for a moment if they decided to bury this BS and unified to work together, what they could do?
- [59:39]
B
Yeah.
- [59:40]
A
I'm just gonna leave that right there. That's all.
- [59:42]
B
Yep. 100. Last one that I've got on my list is there was recently a guy that was photographed wearing a hoodie that I've seen you wear. I've not seen you doing the double thumbs up yet. This is another question I know both of us have gotten is, you know what, what do you know about it? And then what opinions do you have on it?
- [60:04]
A
What do I know about it? One, it's not AI. Two, Jocko did not call that unit and say, hey, put this hoodie on him. Because that's. I've had a good amount of people.
- [60:16]
B
Asking if Jocko made the call, like.
- [60:17]
A
Well, because a lot of people didn't realize that hoodie had already existed.
- [60:21]
B
Oh yeah, because it's on pre order right now. Because it's not coming back out until the spring because they do, they cycle through.
- [60:27]
A
And so it wasn't available on the website manufacturer. And so I was wearing it Monday on our all hands call.
- [60:35]
B
What was the reaction from the team when you were wearing your.
- [60:37]
A
I could see when people recognized it was me and they just started smiling and laughing and then all of a sudden you see the chats and the, the zoom. And then Jaco recognized it and he highlighted me on zoom, pinned me, pinned my video, whatever. And so everyone saw it. And then Leif gave some, some explanation behind it. And dude, seeing Leif and Jocko laugh and smile like that, I was like, oh, that's well worth it 100%. But so yeah, I, Jocko did not call out, call that unit and send it to him and say, hey, put this on him because we're getting ready to launch this. It had already been around. I've, you know, I think I've had it for a year or two.
- [61:17]
B
At least a year.
- [61:18]
A
Yeah, yeah, at least a year. I know that for sure. But yeah. And whoever was in the process of handling this guy before he came to the United States, they put that origin hoodie on him.
- [61:33]
B
Hysterical.
- [61:33]
A
And it is hysterical. And I also love just the publicity that it's given to origin because so many major news networks are sharing, you know, you know, small, small main company that's 100% American made, you know, and so it's been giving them the good press that they need.
- [61:57]
B
And yeah, regardless of what you think about that, it's.
- [62:00]
A
Yeah. In regards to the event itself, I don't have enough information.
- [62:09]
B
This is also not a text group that you're a part of.
- [62:12]
A
Yeah, it's really weird. I wasn't in that text message group or Signal group or WhatsApp group about the mission going down in Venezuela.
- [62:20]
B
Oh, it's crazy.
- [62:23]
A
So I have, I have no insight. I have no, Yeah, I have none of that.
- [62:30]
B
Do you. Is it weird to you that there's this association that people automatically, like, think that you probably.
- [62:36]
A
Well, and the reason why is because there's a lot of veterans who will go on the news and give their insight. And some of them are very valid because of their background, their experience. You know, when Jocko and Leif have been on the news, when things have gone down, it's because these guys study these things. They, you know, like they know what's going on with the world and they've been a part of those types of briefs and those missions and those intel said or they have, you know, that higher. I mean, you have to remember when I was in SEAL teams, I got out as an E6. I never was a part of a lot of those things at a high level.
- [63:12]
B
Yeah.
- [63:13]
A
And so for me, still, this. I just don't know what's going on. I don't know why things are being done the way they are. And, you know, like, I was just talking yesterday, or no, two days ago on Extreme Ownership Academy thing, we're talking about the currency of trust. I trust my leadership.
- [63:33]
B
Yeah.
- [63:33]
A
And I trust my. That my leadership is making the right decisions for the benefit of the organization. And so I feel that way about our president and the administrative administration that we have. Again, I don't have enough information to give a good response and answer to that. And that's going to be my answer.
- [63:53]
B
Yeah.
- [63:53]
A
It's like, cool. You know, we'll see what happens.
- [63:55]
B
Yeah. And I think some people are going to be like, oh, that's the safe answer. But in truth, it's the right answer. It's the honest answer. Yeah. And that's one of the.
- [64:02]
A
You know what is always a safe answer? The truth.
- [64:05]
B
Yeah. I do think that's one of the things, though, on the Internet that gets so many people in trouble is that they hear one thing and they take it as like, no, this is the absolute truth and they do no research on it. They don't do anything. It's just one guy on TikTok who's just really fired up about it. And then that becomes their stance on an issue.
- [64:22]
A
Like how many people with the whole Charlie Kirk thing were like, this is a hell I'm gonna die on. These are the facts. This is my background, blah, blah. And then two weeks later you're like, because it was. Because more information came out. This happens all the time. That's one of the things, you know, we talk about Echelon front, and I know Jock and Leif have talked about this a lot. Like the first reports from the, from the field are usually wrong, if not always wrong, because it's the first initial emotional response of information and we don't have the full picture. So, yeah, be, be slow to give your opinion and be slow to, you know, draw a line in the sand if you don't, if you haven't done your research, if you haven't gathered information, different perspectives because. Tends to get us in trouble.
- [65:11]
B
Yeah. There's an ancient Near Eastern book that says be quick to listen and slow to speak. So you can take that for what it's worth.
- [65:20]
A
I've heard that before.
- [65:21]
B
Yeah, thanks a lot. The Proverbs. So that's all I've got for you, man. This has been a fun episode. We covered a lot of ground on this one. Thank all y' all for listening, for subscribing, for telling your friends about the podcast. That's still the number one way that people find out about what we're doing is word of mouth, letting your friends know. And so we appreciate everything that you guys have done there and support of us and the show. You can be part of the conversation. Go to YouTube, click something in the comments. There's still some words that we're searching for. And if you've made it this far in the podcast, then go follow us on Instagram. I'm LucasPinker. JP is @jpdonella, 2Ns, 2L's and then the P. Dennell Podcast has clips from our podcast that are coming out, as well as some New Year's health hacks with Jonathan and Ann. From first in Nutrition, if you go to firstendnutrition.com jppod they will give you four free weeks of nutrition coaching. There's a lot of folks that are getting ready to get off the path with their nutrition plan. You started it. It was your New Year's resolution. But Quitters Friday is coming up. Don't be a casualty of Quitters Friday with your resolutions. Go check out what the folks over at first in Nutrition are doing. JP talked about on the Path Printing. For all your printing and apparel needs, go check out nthpathprinting. Shoot them a DM if you want to have something done or if you too have come up with a fun design for something like Mr. Dennis Eiler if you need some after skin care, we know that it's getting cold in a lot of areas of the United States, even if it isn't here in dfw, that there is nothing better for your skin than all natural products. Go to Littlecattle co get that beef tallow to put it on your skin to make sure that you are hitting these winter months with the proper care and stuff that you need. Man, there's nothing worse than being out in the cold and having cracked or chapped skin. And there's nothing better for your skin than the beef tallow that they've got there with those all natural products. We got an organization we belong to called Jesus and Jiu Jitsu. We got a big event coming up on January 24th. Jocko Fuel is going to send some some products and some folks out there, which I'm super stoked about. Victor Hugo is coming to put on a free seminar at Six Blades Jiu Jitsu over in Eulis. We get 6,000 square feet of mat space so we can house a bunch of folks to come and to check that out. If you want to go check out more about that, go look at Jesus and Jiu Jitsu usa. And then, you know, we've, we've talked around it, we've talked about leadership, but leadership is the solution to so many of the issues that we were talking about. If you want to learn more about how to become the best leader that you can possibly be, go check out echelonfront ashlonfront.com if you want JP or Leif or Jocko or Dave Burke, whose new book the need to Lead is a is a national bestseller and quickly climbing up the charts in other areas. So go check them out. Email infochelonfront.com and check out the Extreme Ownership Online Academy. There's a Monday call where we cover topics. We're allowed to do some Q and A, which is really fun. I get to be a part of that periodically as my schedule allows. And then there are online courses that you can do. JP's got a couple of them that he's done. Dave Burke, who we mentioned before, if you want to learn how to apply extreme ownership, go check it out. There is a course on that exactly on how to implement extreme ownership, which is absolutely invaluable once you get on the path there. JP talks a little bit about his bruiser arm, but the truth is Bruiser Arms does more than just make quippy comments from the seat across from him. Bruiser Arms is a company that JP Lafen Jocko partner with. Together they create custom gear packages and custom training. Go check out at Bruiser Arms to go look at some of the stuff that they've done as well as shooting them a dm. If you've got some stuff to protect your home and yourself. And then finally over to the people at Jocko Fuel and Origin. Big shout out. Big thanks to Pete and Amanda Roberts for everything they've done there. Jocko Fuel for keeping us fueled. And remember jockofuel.com when you go get that creatine and that colostrum or that Krill oil, go use code JP Pod20 to save yourself 20% and help me fix my alternator. JP you got any final thoughts?
- [69:18]
A
Yeah, final thoughts. You know, I was looking through the notes from yesterday, actually two days ago at Perpet Prayer for one of the pastors I speak in and this is my interpretation of what he's saying in the notes. And I just, I think it's fitting for all of us to think about as you know, this year starts and what we want to go do. Preparation is what allows us to win and what it is what gives us the winning edge. This requires discipline and being intentional with the work that we put in daily. You have to be able to execute the fundamentals consistently. So I hope that we all take the take a moment to think about what that looks like for us, how we can actually implement those things into our lives and ultimately takes discipline to go out there and execute those things. So I hope this episode has been a reminder to go do the work that is needed to put in the effort to build your legacy into never settle. This has been the JP Donnell podcast, episode 120.