Mike Rowe | Faith That Breaks Family Cycles | This Is Life

On this This Is Life podcast, we look at a real-life testimony of how you can grow up surrounded by addiction, instability, and broken promises and still end up living a radically different story. Mike joins us to talk about the real turning points that don’t always make headlines: a grandmother who quietly lived her faith, mentors who stepped into father-shaped gaps, and the slow decision to keep showing up for Jesus even when life felt messy and unfair.

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Transcript

Colton’s Kicking Dream Goes All In

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Well, what's happening, Mike? Is it Mike or Michael? Or what do you like? Mm Mike is kidding. I mean, I know on the in planning center it says Michael, so I just want to make sure. Yes, sir. Well, I got to spend a week with your son, Colton. Uh and uh and uh and I'm why am I thinking something else? But and um Leg Williamson, I guess I still have uh camp brain, and so but I I don't, but anyways. So, anyways, which was an incredible he's the baby of the family, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

He is, yep. Our last one at home.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

He's 17?

SPEAKER_01 0:43

He is going into a senior senior year.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Going a senior year. Yeah, he says to me, and I'll let you introduce your family in a minute, but sounds like he is attempting to be like go to college to be a kicker.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

That's correct. Yeah, it's all about kicking. We're actually Your whole house? Like this is he didn't say anything about it. We're actually driving out on Friday morning to make a 10-hour drive to Gatlinburg, Tennessee this weekend because there's a scholarship showcase cats in Gatlinburg. He'll be kicking out this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

So he's a punter?

SPEAKER_01 1:09

He does primarily uh kickoffs and field goals. He can punt, but that's not what he does.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

That's not his thing. Okay. So what um So when you say it's a family thing, is that families involved or is there some other family members that also do this?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

The last two or three years, our entire family has kind of been dedicated to his kicking. Um it's a family affair. From having the garage outfitted with the kicking apparatus and him taking over the downstairs, and we've been to Chicago multiple times. We've been to Gatlin Gatlinburg before, we've been to multiple kicking showcases across the country, a couple colleges here recently during the summer as well. So everything to kind of help him pursue his dream.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Aaron Powell That's very cool. Well, why don't you uh obviously we know that you have one son that likes to be a kicker, but why don't you take a minute to introduce uh your family

Meeting Mike And Finding LCC

SPEAKER_00 1:55

and how long you've been coming to Live Queen Church and and then how you even started coming here, like how it the journey began for you. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Absolutely. My wife, uh Jessica and I, we moved to Waterloo area last summer due to my time in the Air Force. I'm still active duty Air Force, coming up on retirement though, next year. And then when we got here, our uh other son, our oldest son, Christian and daughter-in-law Kyra, they had already started attending here. They they moved to Columbia shortly before us.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Great couple.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

My marriage small group. Since they were coming here, you know, we tried a few churches in the area trying to see what was what was right for us and our family. And we attended Life Community in around October of 2025 and really haven't looked back.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

That's awesome. So two two boys?

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Two boys and a granddaughter, Haven, who is now nine months old as well. So we're about 13 minutes apart from Waterloo to Columbia, where they live. So we're not going anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

No, you are here for the long haul. And so military, that's been your whole career life, like as an adult?

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Like it has, yeah. Essentially, I started out kind of as an adult when Jessica and I first got married. I was working as a correction officer for for about four years. Okay. And then joined the Air Force in 2005

Air Force Years And Retirement Horizon

SPEAKER_01 3:05

and looking to retire in the summer of 27.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

So where are you originally from?

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Originally we're from Georgia.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

Georgia, okay. How many how many different places, I guess, the where we would be stationed, or like how many different places you've been stationed?

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Yeah, stationed is correct. Yeah. So we spent um the first four years in Washington, D.C., which originally being from Georgia, as you can imagine, culture, culture shock for sure. Um loved it there, had a great time, right? Um once we were there and kind of got acclimated and being a part of the National Capitol region, seeing some of the monuments and participating in some of those things that you ordinarily don't do. And then we had the opportunity to live there, which was fantastic. And then we took a turn from there and went to Columbus Air Force Base in Columbus, Mississippi. Um stark departure from the National Capitol region, but we were there for a few years as well. And then we also went to San Antonio, Texas, and then we've also been in Monterey, California. We've been in Illinois twice now. We were also here before from 16 to 18. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Couldn't you like had to come back, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Yeah. We spent a couple of years uh in Marietta, Georgia as well, which was great because we got a chance to be closer to family and and make up for some lost time, so to speak.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

And then now we're here. And we knew coming here last year that this was going to be where we were gonna retire of and and hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Is that primarily because you had you know Christian here, his wife here, and you knew grandbaby was on the way? It was intentional.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

This is where we're going, and I saluted smartly.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

You can get a job here, move. That's it. Yeah, it's a great thing. That's incredible. So you're like on verge of re verge of retirement. That's it. You look too young to be retirement, bro.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

I know. I I'm not done done, but I will turn the page of your life, right, and enter a new chapter. And what that looks like exactly, I don't know. Um, thankfully, I'm not beholden to any particular thing, so I'm just kind of holding that loosely and kind of letting God show the way.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

So I'm sure that I'm gonna ask you a question, but you might not be able to answer this question because I know you're military. But like what is it that you do with the Air Force?

SPEAKER_01 5:06

So I primarily work law enforcement. So if you've seen a television show kind of like NCIS, that's primarily what I do for the Air Force. So we're the type that walk around in civilian

Investigations Work Behind The Scenes

SPEAKER_01 5:15

clothes, no one really knows our rank, and we do a lot of the investigations on the on the kind of the you know, the bad side of life, so to speak.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

So like civilian or like amongst the anybody that touches the Department of War. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

So yeah, our contractors, if they access an installation, you know, we're involved, all of those. And some of those, as you can imagine, are pretty pretty heinous acts, right? Um some of the more white-collar stuff as well, fraud and things like that. It's unfortunate, but the military is a pretty good sample of the just the general population. So while a lot of people think that you know the military doesn't have those things occurring, unfortunately they do, but but we're there to address them when they happen, to investigate them and and when we can just help make sure that justice is served.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Very cool. Very cool. So tell us about you, bro. Like when uh when did you come to know Christ? What does your walk with Christ look like? Have you I mean did you grow up in a Christian home, no Christian home? Like uh when did you find Christ? Or when did Christ find you and you realized it?

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, so it's uh it's an interesting kind of beginning, so to speak. Um I was I was born actually in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and to my mom and dad, and I had a younger sister as well. Um I have two older brothers, they're half-brothers. Um we have the same mom, but different dads. I didn't really have a close relationship with them growing up because they're about nine years older than me. When I came into

Childhood Chaos And Grandmother’s Faith

SPEAKER_01 6:35

the picture back in 1982, my mom had already actually given up my older brothers for adoption to their grandmother, and so they weren't actually living with us, so we didn't have a close relationship. Um my parents had a pretty rocky marriage the first few years, and they were divorced when I was five. And at the time my younger sister was one. So we stayed with my mom, and then for the next several years, my mom kind of bounced around in between relationships with various men, and typically what that would look like is that she would would find a new boyfriend and we would generally just move in with that person, right? So we had a lot of different types of men and father figures in our life from the age of about five to about nine. Um with that, of course, we had, you know, they suffered from addiction issues. My mom was a real bad alcoholic at the time, and would would do all the things that kind of came along with that with the partying and stuff like that. Um, we started kind of going and visiting my dad, my biological father, probably about the age of nine. Um, and kind of what led to that is I remember being we were living in East Lake, Tennessee, and my mom had probably for the last three days kind of been on a real bad bender. She was mixing prescription medication with alcohol, and she was laying in the bedroom, and her boyfriend at the time contacted my grandmother, who was living in Georgia, in Somerville, Georgia, and told her that she didn't think that my mom was going to make it. So she made the drive from Georgia to Tennessee, and I remember her, even though I was around eight or nine at the time, standing in the bedroom and basically crying and bl and begging my mom to get help. And so she ended up going into rehab after that. We moved to Georgia. My sister and I, while she was in rehab for about three months, lived with my grandparents. My grandmother was fantastic in the way of she was what I would say to me, and even to this day probably, is the epitome of someone who just really dedicates themselves and their life to Christ. She was married to my grandfather, who was an abusive alcoholic, both physically and verbally, and she was married to him for as long as I can remember. Sure. And every Sunday morning she was at church, every Sunday night she was at church, every Wednesday night she was at church. She attended a church, it was a you know a Southern Baptist church with about 30 members. And so whenever we were with them, we were in church as well, right? There was not a conversation about it. That's where we were. And on Sundays after church, we were doing potluck fellowships at the church as well. Um she would always invite my grandfather and he would never attend. Um but she was just a a pretty significant influence early on when there was a lot of chaos around us, and and that definitely kind of took hold on me.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

Yeah. Well, I mean, obviously I've known you for approximately a year and we've kind of had some conversation, but like what I know is that like you might have lived in this environment, but this is not how you're living at all. And so, like, what's been the difference? Like, how did you finally make that connection to Christ? Obviously, your grandmother was very influential. She made sure you were in church, those kind of things. But you know, I know that you know, your personal relationship with you is very uh important to you. Like you're you're living that out as a disciple of Jesus Christ. It's, you know, all those kind of things. You're not just a show up to church on Sunday morning kind of guy. And so, like, what is what when did that all happen for you?

SPEAKER_01 9:59

Like, was it in high school, college, like I wouldn't say there was a particular moment in time or maybe even a year or a period. I would say it's probably been a journey. That's awesome. Sometimes I'm walking forward, sometimes I'm sitting down. Very rarely have I moved backwards, which has, you know, binge a huge blessing.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Yeah. So I mean, most people that have kind of like your story in regards to like mom's, you know, got a lot of going on, absent, raised by grandma, even in grandma's home, grandpa is not a healthy person to be around. Like you see this direction of like drugs, alcohol, go wild. This is not your direction, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:43

You didn't know that that's correct. Yeah. And and when we moved to Georgia at nine uh when I was eleven, uh, we had just came back from and just kind of paint the scene here. We had came back from visiting my dad in Tennessee, and I remember I was around eleven at this time. I remember driving home with my mom and my sister. My mom had come up there to pick us up uh in Tennessee from Georgia. Um she uh actually stopped at a gas station and somebody got out of the car behind us, came up to the car and grabbed her keys and took her keys and gave them to the gas station cashier because he said he she was weaving so bad that she was in no state to drive, and he couldn't, in a good conscience, let us leave there for fear of what might happen.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Sure. Save your life potentially.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

Aaron Ross Powell That was the last time I saw my dad. Um just a few months later, uh when I was 11, I we did get the call, unfortunately, one night that he died as well from a drug overdose. He was injecting uh heroin and cocaine. And so um and that was in 1993. And so I didn't ever get to see him again after that.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

So, you know, during that period, I would say even when I wasn't really aware of it, you know, God was all around me and God had anointed me, so to speak, with purpose. Um I had my grandmother in our corner. We had my aunt and uncle, who are now, which I may get into in a little bit, our adoptive my adoptive mom and dad.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

And they've they've been together now about 38 years, and so they were just a fantastic, you know, couple marriage and influenced our life as well. And and then through that time, I think kind of what we're seeing, you know, even with with Colton now, um, relationships really matter.

SPEAKER_02 12:34

You know?

SPEAKER_01 12:35

Um I I've read a couple books, you know, Fathered by God and things of that nature, and worked a lot with other men along the way. And sometimes I don't think it's necessarily all about the heavenly or the earthly father that you have that really determines kind of your your path or your idea of manhood or a lot of the decisions that you make. I think God is very good if we open our eyes and we're willing to humble ourselves and engage in those conversations, engage in those relationships to put men in our life that can fill those gaps and fill those voids. And I've been very fortunate to have several of those men in my life through the years. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

So I mean, let let so what you're basically saying is obviously you didn't have that example, like in your father, obviously, nor in your grandfather, but other men that came along, and you were open to allowing that influence. That that influence has helped create who you are today.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Aaron Ross Powell Absolutely. I would, you know, looking back across the years and we've been going to church pretty regularly since I was I was fairly a young adult. I would say my wife and I kind of committed our family to a relationship with Christ and to belonging to the body of believers probably well since I I was probably about 23, 24 years old.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

It's amazing to me that like you made So was it your aunt and uncle that helps you stay the course? Like I'm I'm so like I mean I know already enough and know you enough that you're a very disciplined person, you know what I mean? But like I know, I mean, Christian, your oldest son obviously is in my marriage small group and we meet once a month, and this guy's like legit Christian. You know what I mean? Like he's legit, he's legit Christian, you know what I mean? Like that's and that's a compliment, you know, like and he's one generation away from being a part of this mess.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

You know what I mean? Like and so what you're telling me, like, so you went from like literally men that were not good men. Like now we're not even just talking about like Christian, they're definitely not Christians, right? Not good men, you know what I mean, did not know how to treat people or raise people or even anything good in society. Not I'm not trying to knock either one of them, you know. Right. One generation later, a Christian, you know what I mean, like your oldest son, right, gets it and knows how to do it. And so, like, and so like for me, you're saying like, hey, this is you would say to men, it's possible for the change to happen that quickly because of Christ, because of your openness to like have other men involved in your life. Did your you said something about your aunt and uncle, did they play a role? They adopted you, like when did that process happen?

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Like, absolutely, yeah. So so they've been an influential part of my life going back as long as I can remember as a as a small child, and and they've been around. Uh unfortunately, I would love to say that after my mom went to rehab, that all things you know were perfect and everything had changed, and that's not the case. There was a period of time in my teenage years, from about the age of nine when she initially went to rehab till about the age of 18 when me and Jessica got married, that she was for the most part doing pretty well. Something happened with her back, she experienced an old injury that kind of caused some pain, and so she started down that kind of addictive pathway of pills and prescription medication. She's kind of been on that road since that time. And so now she's, you know, 60, 66, and she's she's pretty addicted to pain medication. We don't have the greatest relationship. And there have been a few ups and downs through the years because I've as I've worked through my relationship with the Holy Spirit and what it means for me to be a man of God who honors his parents despite how they might act and the things that they might have done. I've I've tried to work through that relationship with her as best I could. Um, but there

Mentors Who Fill Father Gaps

SPEAKER_01 16:20

came a point in time where she kind of made a reference to, you know, someone adopting me. And so when I was so it was in 2025, I had talked to my aunt and uncle, you know, just sharing with my aunt what my mom had basically told me. And um that kind of sparked something in her, and she talked to my uncle about it, and they just wanted me to know that as a family unit that they were fully committed to me and loved me completely.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

How old were you when they said this to you?

SPEAKER_01 16:50

This was last year.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Last year.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

They adopted me at first.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

So you're not talking about like they adopted you when you were like 10 and helped you. You navigated just twenty-five. You and your grandma navigated this. She's your only consistent. The only piece of help that you had was your grandma. You feel like you have family because of your aunt uncle.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

Right. And so my aunt and uncle adopted me last year. That's as an adult. Right. And in court and everything. What did that mean in court? Like facial. Yeah. So I was in Arkansas before the military, and they were in Georgia. They went to court in Georgia. They allowed me to participate via a Zoom conference call. I zoomed into the courtroom, could see them, could see the judge. We did the whole thing, took all of about 10 minutes. My dad's sister. Okay. Dad's sister and then her husband. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: What did why why at why at this age? Tell help me understand why this is important to you at this age, this 2025, this happening.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: You know, going back to those relationships, and I think this is something that we as adults, probably more so as adult men, don't really understand the true depths of and it's the fractures that take place in some of those relationships that are the first relationships, the core relationships that we're introduced to on this earth. When those don't go well, or there's breaks in trust, or you're mistreated, there can be damages there that create roots and cracks in your foundation that just extend into so many different areas, especially into adulthood, because those are while you may get over them, they are never completely healed. And I think it's important, too, that through you know, through prayer, through consistent fellowship, and through mental health counseling and through all of the resources that you have available to you that you that you address some of those things head on as adults, because we all s we all carry those things around in some fashion or form. So for me, to have a family, family that I had known, you know, my aunt and uncle and their two daughters now who were my cousins but are now my sisters, hey, it's a it's a pretty slender family tree in my house, right? Yeah. To have them kind of say, hey, despite those relationships and those failed promises, and some of those people who should have been in your corner but never were, we're here and we want to be the stand-ins for that. And I will tell you, as a young person, too, who didn't get the love and appreciation from your mom and dad or the affirmation that you would expect, right? What that kind of did in me, oddly enough, is rather than turn me towards those things or give me a better outlook, it created a performer and a performer who went out of their way to succeed in various areas because in a way I was attempting to win the love and acceptance and affection of my mother who was still alive. Trevor Burrus, Jr. I see. And so when you have them in such a symbolic gesture that's real and tangible, but also real on an emotional level, kind of step into that gap. It it for me just it overwhelms me now to think about, and I'm just so appreciative of them and I love them to death. Um but they have been a constant for me, and it's just their way of helping me kind of heal through that and cover some of those gaps that were created early on.

Adult Adoption And Deep Healing

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Aaron Ross Powell So I mean basically, I mean one of the things that you're saying to me is like uh instead of responding this way, like in anger, instead of responding with drugs, alcohol, um, sexual morality, you know, these kind of things that would have a tendency to lead us with the type of life that you grew up in with a mom and dad that were struggling with that they were struggling, how you respond you more responded with like being an achiever.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

Aaron Powell That's correct, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Aaron Ross Powell Right. So how did that how did an achiever in regards, and I know a little bit of just your backstory in regards to achievement, but like obviously education, career, I would think you're, you know, you're tell us a little bit about achieving.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Yeah. So, you know, coming from a childhood like that, as you can imagine, I remember And too, how did God reconcile that?

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Like how did, you know what I mean? Because obviously, like when if we looked at you, if if you I'm expecting you to tell me, like, yeah, but I did drugs, I did alcohol, I slept with a lot of women that I finally met this great girl, and then I've met Jesus. You know what I mean? Like, but that's not the story, but like you are trying to fix it all through achievement, which in itself isn't bad, but if not surrender to Christ, could become could be very unhealthy and and on just as ungodly, correct? Absolutely. Yeah. And so how did how did God work through that? How did he make that whole? How did he use it for his glory? Like instead of it being something uh where you're packing in, trying just to work for mom and dad and family members to be seen, to be loved, to be known, to even fix things, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

How did he do it? Well, I don't really know. Sure. Probably a journey, probably. I think he's still doing it. Yeah. You know, but coming from such a crazy uh childhood, I didn't have a lot of structure and discipline. So I think that's kind of what led me into the path of law enforcement, right? Starting out as a corrections officer and then the military. Well, because I wanted it and hungered for it so bad as as any guy really does, essentially, especially a boy or a teenage boy or a young adult, I really flourished in that environment from basically day one, which was great. And then what I saw is the affirmation that I was getting, the feedback that I was getting was positive, and so I began to feed on it. Now, it didn't become my identity because I was already married to Jessica. I actually tried to enlist in the Marines in 2001, right after September 11th. And she's a small-town girl, born and raised in the same town, went graduated high school, who she went to kindergarten with, was like, absolutely not, we're not doing that. Well, I revisited it again a few years later and said, hey, I'd like to join the military. And she was very specific. She was like, you can't do the Army, you can't do the Marines. She's like, but we can consider the Navy, the Air Force. And so we went to the to the mall, to the recruiting station, and kind of started down that route. I actually went in to talk to a Navy recruiter and I think he was gone to lunch, but Air Force was in the office. They're like, come on over here and the rest of the state of the state. That's how that day is history. But yeah, as soon as I got in, you know, I I immediately kind of found my purpose, so to speak, at that time, at least from a vocational standpoint.

unknown 23:31

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

Found family and purpose. Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, absolutely. You know, the military is a great melting pot of individuals. And there is a lot of truth behind that kind of embrace the suck, you know, like Misery Loves Company, a lot of camaraderie and morale can be built, even doing hard things, which was something that I really enjoyed early on. And during that time, you know, God has has used military friends and families in life groups as mentors, as accountability partners, and just it kind of opened us up to, in a lot of ways, you know, things that we would not have been exposed to if we had stayed in Georgia, you know, people and places and experiences that we just have been blessed with that have grown us in such tremendous ways. You know, to to your your questions, yeah, I've actually never smoked marijuana. I had wooden speeding ticket when I was 16 years old. It was the first and the last, never been arrested. Um it is one of those things. You said you had two brothers? I do I do have two older brothers. Aaron Powell Have they pursued the same path that you have, or no? Well, uh unfortunately, going back to the kind of the the anointed by God in my family, it's it is still that way, I feel. Um my older two brothers, uh one they're nine years older than me. They're uh Irish twins, so to speak. So their birthdays are a year apart, but on the same day.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

One is 51 now, uh, who was the youngest. He's now the oldest. My oldest brother passed away in June of 2023 due to meth. He died unfortunately out in the woods after after doing some methamphetamines. My oldest brother now is uh is a robot alcoholic, and so uh he lives with family in Tennessee, uh. Doesn't own a car, you know, he does he's a tradesman, general contractor, so to speak. He does painting and cabinets and stuff like that just really to support his internal habits. And then my sister, who is four years younger than me, she lives with my mother now, and she has uh been to jail three times since December of last year, so we're talking

Achievement Without Losing Your Identity

SPEAKER_01 25:40

seven, eight months for for drug-related offenses. So again, out of out of all of them, my mom, my dad, both brothers, and my sister, I was the first one to graduate high school. You know, got to put a a love for education in me early on. I went on to get my bachelor's and two masters. It's incredible. And then you see that kind of play out in our kids when we talk about generations, right? So, like I I once heard it say that, right, um that when when you look at a house, you can kind of tell how successful they are by the number of TVs, kind of right? Well, uh and there's there's studies that that relate to family education and the educational pursuits of their offspring, what their children tend to do as well. And so we've seen that played out, obviously, in Christian, right? He went and got his uh bachelor's in preaching and church leadership, and then went on and got his went to seminary and got his master's in divinity as well. And so it's you you're right, you know, in in one generation, you know, albeit a few years essentially, because you know, Christian is you guys look like brothers.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

You know, he's he's not much younger than me. Right. Um we have seen God kind of create this paradigm shift where, you know, our kids, and especially their kids, you know, Haven and future grandchildren are never gonna know that struggle, you know, that that I endured and and kind of where that all started. But in a way that's good, in a way that's bad, right? Because God is the hero in all of it, right? Because you know, I come from a place of humble beginnings, but he has taken that story and has taken this journey. And where it's gonna end up, I still don't know. But I know it's been beautiful uh you know along the way, and I'm very thankful for it. Aaron Powell Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

What an incredible story of God's guess literally placing his hand on you and navigating you in probably ways that you probably still don't even understand today.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Aaron Powell Yeah. I oftentimes, you know, I I do feel for my family and their situation, you know, and I I truly believe God has a purpose to more siblings and you know I pray for them and I try to navigate those what you can imagine are difficult relationships, right? Because when you have the people, you know, especially close relationships like that that are that are kind of lost in the in those addiction mindsets, and after so many years, it it does kind of alter the mental state and creates you know neural pathways that didn't otherwise exist. So we have a hard time even talking, as you can imagine, because you know, I see the world this way, and this is kind of our family value, and they see the the world in a very different way. But I still have hope for what God can do uh in them and then ultimately through them.

SPEAKER_00 28:25

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah. What would you what would you say, and this isn't our closing question, but what would you say to

Generational Shift In One Family Line

SPEAKER_00 28:30

you know, uh Christians out there that are listening, you know, the body of Christ that's listening, and they too have uh family members that are far from Christ, you know, in similar situations, you know, what would your words of encouragement be to them, someone that's living yourself themselves?

SPEAKER_01 28:51

I would say look for those that are doing right and follow them. Right. Um I mean I I think we we kind of tell that to men nowadays, right? Like find someone who's further than you, find somebody who is doing what you want to do and pursue them. Um I mean, I I know we see that kind of you know scripturally play out as well. Um have someone that can be your mentor, have someone that you're mentoring, that you're discipling. Um I I think it's important too that we be honest, right? That we come to the table with humility, that we cast the pride aside and we say, hey, here's who we are, here's what we're carrying, you know, can you walk with me through this? And very rarely are they gonna have all the answers, but there's a lot of power in having somebody that will sit there, that will have your back, that will give you a shoulder, that will give you an ear, and that will walk arm in arm with you through, you know, life's worst. Um but then one also points you to God's faithfulness in those moments so that you remember that he is a good father despite what circumstances may come your way.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Yeah. What would you say? And I know your wife obviously is a big part of this as well, so it's not just you not just you, but you know, as uh the the father, the male figure in your home, you know, raising two two young men that both love the Lord, I've gotten to spend time with them, so I I see that, know that, you know, it's very clear to me. Um, you know, what would you say to dads out there that are raising uh sons in regards to just like raising godly men?

SPEAKER_01 30:22

I I know it's hard and I know the world provides a lot of pressure, but don't compromise and be your fa be their father before you worry about being their friend.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

So good.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

They've got friends. And then secondly, parenting is about evolution, right? Your kids start out one way, you start out one way, but then you grow and you evolve with them as they also grow.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

Aaron Ross Powell Both of you are growing. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

Both of you as well at the same time. And then as they get into those teenage years and their circle of influence and social circles begin to expand beyond the home, look at ways that you can partner with other men that are in their social circles, whether that be youth group leaders or other strong families that you're close to, in ways that you can surround them, kind of like you said on Sunday, right, with the right influences that are even happening outside of the home. Because I tell you, it's and I don't know why this this is this way, but I can tell you the number of times, um more than I can count, that Christian and now even Colton, you know, somebody can come alongside me or behind me and say the exact same thing. Exact same thing. And it maybe the emotional context or maybe the weight of it just hits

Hope For Loved Ones Far From God

SPEAKER_01 31:40

a little bit different, but it hits right. And so we need those relationships in our kids' lives. And we know those relationships in our lives as well.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

That's great advice. Yeah, I know for us, like we intentionally, you know, intentionally uh with the leading of the Holy Spirit, like, you know, um created environments for mentorship in our kids' life, people that we'd already approved of quit to a certain extent, you know what I mean? Like we were intentional about who those people were and we pointed our kids to those people, and I wasn't investing our investing already in those individuals. And so, because it takes a village, you know, uh to raise godly, godly kids, you know, and I think what is so cool about this is that like you did not have an example, Mike. You did not have an example, and uh the proof is when you lean into Christ, and like you said in the beginning, when you see your heavenly father as your father, uh you can raise incredible godly men. And so that's incredible, dude. Like that is incredible, like that in itself is incredible. Like that should be an encouragement to every man that says, I didn't have an example. You're saying like, hey, I didn't either. I do. The example is God, is Jesus Christ. And uh uh I can um yeah, that's incredible. That is incredible.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

Yeah, I I think, you know, um I guess one of my biggest successes and something I would encourage everybody is just to say yes. You know, sometimes you can say yes and busyness isn't the best thing, but I I think you need to when opportunities present themselves and relationships present themselves, we need to sometimes lean into that, right? We don't need to be dismissive because we never know what the next yes, what the next conversation is going to turn into for you or for that other person. Um and that's kind of what we've experienced in life groups, you know, since we've been here, started going here in October, we started leading a group in in around January. And I will tell you, like the the core families that we have now are people that I went up to and personally invited. Love it. Men that I met at whether that's uh you know the men's men's breakfast after pancakes, pulling them aside and saying, hey man, you know where you live at, and tell me about yourself. Well, hey, we've got this group. Would you be interested in joining? And you know, obviously we know personal invitations go a long way. Wow. Right. And inviting people into those into those conversations and it's just it's just really been awesome.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

Aaron Powell Yeah. Yeah. I know when we and you and I first talked about uh small group and then you life group and then you gave me some backstory. I'm like, oh, this guy's good. You're gonna have no problem, but because you're right. Like it's like and we need people to come s uh you know find us and pull us in. Uh but at the same time, we need to go find people and start pulling them in.

SPEAKER_01 34:23

Absolutely. That's you know, for the longest time now, I think God has kind of given me a heart for the for the men. 100%

Raising Godly Sons With A Village

SPEAKER_01 34:30

for the men of the church.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Um it makes sense on your backstory.

SPEAKER_01 34:33

I see it on Sundays, you know, and I know you guys see it from the stage as well, right? I think we've done a really good job as a church at like ushering the women into positions of just vulnerability and true worship. Whereas men, you know, we seem to be a bit more rigid. Sometimes we're a bit more isolated, you know, and I I I bear that as well.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

But I think military teaches you that, right?

SPEAKER_01 34:56

Right, absolutely. You know, to go somewhere just to do stuff, drop us in wherever. And you know, I just but there's so much power, you know, when you get a group of men together that are just honest and they're pursuing the Lord and they're pursuing relationships with each other, right? And they've got each other's backs and they're encouragers and they share faith, and you know, they're gonna pick you up, they're gonna support you, and they're gonna bring you their burdens as well, you know. Just to help them, remind them to take them to the Lord and to cast them off. Um, you know, cast them not like a rod and reel where we cast it and reel it back in, but to literally throw it, you know, at the feet of Jesus and set it down. You know, I think men need that. Um I think that's an area where we struggle as men. And so I'm just thankful, even through the life groups and and through what the church here is doing to be a part of it.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

That's awesome, dude. Hey, listen, I know you shared some like great things at the end, but is there is there anything, and you can say no, because you've given us some incredible nuggets, but anything you would like to share with your LCC family before we uh pray this thing out?

SPEAKER_01 36:06

I think we just talked about all of it. No, it's good. Um you know, uh just don't lose hope. Right. If if you read my story in a book or you just heard about my first nine years, there's no telling what assumptions that you might make about me and my life in the next generation. But God.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

But God. So good, man.

unknown 36:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:35

That's incredible, dude. I love I obviously we've talked, but I've not gotten to hear this whole part of your story. And uh man, that's awesome. What God can do in one generation, one individual, like literally. And we're I'm with you, man. We need to be praying for your your siblings and your mom and uh because no one's too far gone. Uh, but pray that like other people, you know, like obviously would uh invest in them and help them. And but it is so cool to hear about what God's done in your life and the fact that you are willing to be open to that. And um, you know, and man, the fact that like you can raise godly men, even if you didn't have godly men to raise you. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 37:13

Yes, very blessed. And my wife and I, Jessica, we've been married now 26 years. So it's awesome. So yeah, it's uh it's seeing how God is just doing working through all of these things, you know, to bring restoration and to do it, you know, kind of in that one generation. And we're we're a part of that story, and it's sometimes it blows our minds. So cool.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

You mind praying us out, bro? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 37:33

Do it. Heavenly Father, Lord, I just thank you so much, time. Uh thank you for so much uh today with this time with Pastor Sean, Lord, and just the opportunity just to share, Lord. I just you know, to to recount this story just ignites in me just a love and appreciation, Lord, and humility of of just a reminder of you have been there the entire time, Lord.

Don’t Lose Hope And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_01 37:55

You know, we look back and I look back and we discuss these things that we know cause pain and that we know cause sorrow. But as we step through those things, Lord, we realize that along the way, Lord, that you were there. That in the moments where things didn't go well or or or kids might not have been treated the best, Lord, you were there, Lord. You were also sorrowful, Lord, you were crying, Lord, you were you were there to support us even through the hard times, Lord. And then as we step in, you know, through my life and just thinking about all the times where things could have went one way, Lord, and your purpose was so much different, Lord. And and you brought me Jessica, Lord, you brought our kids, you brought so many relationships along the way, Lord, that have just been so tremendous and life-changing, Lord, from other people that said yes, Lord, and other people that leaned in when they could have, you know, chosen something different, Lord. I just thank you for all of them that I'm just thinking of right now along the way, Lord. I just I I pray, Father, Lord, that that this testimony of of your goodness, Lord, and your faithfulness, Lord, and your power just would touch, you know, another listener, another believer, anyone, Lord, and that, you know, that they would think about it and be reminded of you, Lord, and just how awesome that you are, Lord, and how faithful and how good, Father, Lord, that you are, despite, you know, what the world may have us believe. And that if anybody, Lord, would would feel like they needed to reach out or to make contact, Lord, that you would just use my story, Lord, use our time together and future conversations, Lord, just just to to counsel to them, Lord, and to help them through whatever they're going through, Lord. I thank you for this church. I thank you for the pastors that are represented here, Lord, and what they're doing, Lord. And I'm just so thankful and just I'm thinking about our future, Lord, and I just I'm excited about where you're going to take us, Lord. And I just thank you in these things we ask in Christ's name. Amen.