The Moon Was Real But So Was Jesus

Ryan and Darren reunite after 10 years and share a deep connection. They reflect on their past beliefs, including a humorous shared belief that the moon was fake. Darren reveals his newfound faith, leading to a significant moment where he confesses his allegiance to Jesus to Ryan. Their bond strengthens through shared experiences and faith, highlighting the importance of comfort and testimony in their Christian journey. They acknowledge the impact they've had on each other's lives and express gratitude for their connection and growth. Come in. How you doing, man? I haven't seen you in like 10 years, man. I feel like the room just like received an upgrade when you walked in here. It did. What happened? Man, this is impressive. I tell you, you need, he's got like seven drinks in his hand. If he was born as an octopus, this would be all right, but it's a little tricky. You can put that anywhere you want, right? I can. This is your side. Absolutely. And this is my side. Just don't cross the line. I won't. I'll respect the line. That's cool, man. Go ahead and put your stuff there, anywhere you want. You sure? Absolutely. I'm gonna hook you up with the mic. This is a first. Is it, we're live? Anywhere you want. We're on air? We're live. We're live. Coming at you live. Over here is probably better than that. Go on, sit down. Get comfortable. Yeah, man. Get comfortable. It's good to see you, dude. Good to see you, too. How you been? I've been good, brother. We're gonna go straight in. Check this out. Hello. Are you comfortable? I'm comfortable. All right. Come on. I'm comfortable. I like your outfit, man. We're gonna sit right there. Is that good on the mic? Sing me something. We'll see if you've got a good singing voice. I'm excited to see you, man. Man, that's music to my ears. I'm excited to see you. I've been pondering this all week up until the moment is here. And I'm excited to see you. In this studio right now, in Legacy Studios in Mandeville, Louisiana, I have this, the best way I can describe Ryan, this is, his name's Ryan, Ryan Campo, but he is literally a megalith of a man. And I'm not just talking bodily, but that would describe him if I didn't want to talk about his brain, his mind, his kindness. But I'm gonna tell you guys right now that Ryan is literally a megalith of a man in all good ways. I want to say one thing. I'm not sure where you got those muscles, whether you stopped off at Walmart and picked those up on aisle six. I don't think they sell them. But anyway, welcome, Ryan, to the studio. Darren, thank you for having me and thanks for the compliments. Kind of in shock right now, man. It's been a long time since I've seen you, but the megalith, what'd you call me? Megalith. Megalith. Like Stonehenge, like those stones at Stonehenge. Yeah, absolutely. Like massive, like impressive. You see them from miles away. Even birds are afraid to land on them. Like it's like this huge thing. I've been working hard, man. Yeah, but Ryan's smile is as big as his muscles. I gotta share that with you. Once I had teeth like him, they seem to have gone by the wayside a little bit, but the man is, you're a beautiful human being. Thank you, Darren. Thank you. You are as well. You're like the older brother. You're the bigger brother from England I never had. You're amazing in so many ways. And you taught me so many things. You've led me, how to say, you've led me closer to Christ than I've ever been. This is just surreal being in here with you right now. It's breathtaking. I feel very comfortable. I feel like I can see our lives together flash right before my eyes. It's been a nice long journey and amazing things have happened. I'd be right probably in saying, and tell me if you don't say ditto to this, if you were removed from my life, I would absolutely have had a different existence on planet Earth. That's how important and essential our relationship has been over the years. Absolutely. It's always been a connection. There's been a connection that I can't explain other than God. Knowing you before finding the Lord, to Darren I know now, without saying too much, I've left, I've come back, I've left, I've come back. And every time I come back, it's, what happened to this guy, you know? And it's awesome to see. Well, we're here to say it all. That's it. We're gonna say it all. There's a scripture in the Bible, and I'll read it to you. It's from 2 Corinthians 1, chapter one, verses three through four. And this one, I think, is quintessential to remember and live by for all of our Christian brothers and sisters that are going through life. Because as believers, our testimonies are so important. It says in scripture that we're saved by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. But just listen to what this one says right here. It's really, really important. It says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. And the key thing there, obviously, being that we're able to comfort others who have been and are in trouble. And I know that you have a pretty jolly mouthpiece on you, just like me. We love celebrating what God has done in our lives. We use words that allow people to lean in. I think that's where you and I have a lot in common. We don't have any fear in sharing our tribulation with others, because on the other side of that is always victory in Christ. Amen. Yes, sir. That's awesome. I was thinking about that this morning. Being the mouthpiece through this journey and through our experiences together, I've learned a lot of things from you and like I told you not long ago when we spoke over the phone, you've shown me God. And through my experiences recently, God speaks to me through people and through my everyday life's experiences. This career with you and your business has been life-changing lately. Going through these experiences up until now, it's like a lot of unanswered questions have been becoming answers. And why do I do the things I do sometimes and I do it so much? I do it because I have faith, but I do it for myself and I do it for you and I do it for our guys. I do it for the other people out there who need us. It's like a calling. Do you find that you walk by faith and not by sight more than you ever did before? Absolutely, absolutely. I don't need to know why anymore. Which is very interesting that you say that. So before we go any further, there's a phrase and we'll say it together exactly at the same time. I already know. One, two, three. The moon isn't real. And that is the funniest. You know, if there's ever a sad day, that brings a smile to mind immediately. We share this story with one another because for many years, we walked definitely not with God, let's say it that way. We were both off in the deep end. You know, you see these divers that dive down to 50, 60, 100 feet. We were probably 1,000 feet. There wasn't much air down there. And what we found down there, no one else really understood. But Ryan and I, we'd have these amazing conversations together about the most unreal things because they were literally unreal. And we had both decided and agreed upon the fact that the moon was indeed fake. It was like a manufactured project by some human beings or space cadets or someone from Mars. And they were spying on us. That was our conclusion, right, Ryan? Absolutely. And we believed it. Did we not believe that? We believed it. We talked about a lot of different things. You know, as a young man or boy, I was always curious. You were the first person to actually speak into my life something that I'd always wondered and was curious about, which was the Illuminati exposed, which drew me into this rabbit hole and brings me to where I'm going with this back to the moon isn't real. And one day I came into your office and you had said, Ryan, the moon is real. I would like to say I'm sorry that I poisoned you with that fault. But we know that God uses all things for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose. And so even that connection about falsehood has now brought us together under a different connection. It's a connection of faith. And so God doesn't waste anything. But that very specific moment, I'll always remember it. It's literally one of my favorite stories of all time. I'm gonna just, I gotta share it. And so Ryan used to walk past my office in the morning. And we had this thing where he would walk past and look in and I would look out and he would say, the moon's not real. And I would say, yep, it's not real. And that was it. That was our interaction. He'd grab his coffee, head out the door. And that was brilliant. It was great. It was a great day. And then what Ryan didn't realize that one weekend I'd given my life to Jesus. And I kind of had kept that very hush-hush because I was scared to death as to what that might mean to our relationship and our relationship with others. But one day, the next Monday actually, Ryan walks past the office and he says, the moon's not real. As he looks in and keeps going and about eight foot past my door, I had this like, the Holy Spirit like hit me and bumped me and I was like, oh no. Ryan, I said, the moon is real. And it was like I heard like tires screeching on the pavement. And the next thing you know, I see this head peeking around the corner. And it was like he was saying, what you talking about, Willis? It was like that. It was at different strokes. I can't remember. That was a terrible impression, by the way. No. But you do better than that. What are you talking about, Willis? That's why I needed Ryan in my life. And then he looked in and the next thing you know, he's sitting down right in front of me and I'm having to confess my allegiance to Jesus. And I would say, Ryan, you were literally, I mean, you were literally the first person I had ever confessed Jesus Christ to. Amen. What was that light coming from me? I was shocked. I felt like maybe you were calling me out or something. And you know, so it was just, I didn't know what to think in the moment. If it was nighttime, you would have gone out and looked at the moon. I'm pretty sure that's fake, but it wasn't nighttime. It was like a waking, you know, like a wake-up call, too. It stopped me in my tracks. It also gave me time to think. I accept your apology about the exposure to that, but at the same time, you've also shown me God. And to watch you come from that man to where you are today has made me more of a believer in my walk in faith with Christ than ever. And you may not realize this, but I've learned more just by being a student and watching you and having you as a mentor about God and the reality of God in my life and what He's done for all of us and what He's doing every single day. There's nothing to explain other than He just is. And it's faith and walking with Him and watching Him through you and through others and how you've touched and shared God and had Him in other people's lives. It's not one of the most impactful things in my life because it's made me want to be a better father. If I'm ever in another relationship, marriage, and if God wills it in my life, I have an opportunity to do it by God. You've taught me that, to be a better brother, to be a better friend, to build better relationships, to be a better leader, to overcome challenges, adversity, to persevere. You know, watching you on this journey, it hasn't been easy, but it's been inspiring. I'm seeing an image right now of two hands and they're open. And it's an impression of your mind and the fact that you've been transformed by the renewing of your mind. You have been touched by the Holy Spirit. There's absolutely no doubt about it. And for a man of your stature, which people already discussed, that's hard because in your own strength, there's literally nothing that Ryan Campo can accomplish. It takes humility. It takes literally laying down everything you might do in that moment and asking God to come in. And the old cliche about taking the wheel is one way to say it, but to let God come in and literally construct in front of you the proper answer and direct you in the process. How has that transition been for you? As far as being more Christ-like, following the Lord? Yeah, allowing your thoughts to change to where you lay down what you would ordinarily do and say yes to his way. It's been incredible. It's been life-changing. It's been difficult, to say the least. It's like a renewing of my soul, a cleansing. Every day, it's been one of the most fascinating experiences. It's hard to explain. It's hard to break down. Great word, fascinating. I'm not afraid to talk about God to people anymore. I'm not afraid to evangelize and speak God into people's lives through my own experiences. So I'm trying to put it into words to answer the question. It's been incredible. It's been life-changing because now every day I wake up with purpose. I wake up wanting to do something for myself, but also, it's not about me. It's about others. It's about serving others, you know? And I'll always look up and pray, like, God, what does he want me to do today? Just talk to me, lead me, guide me. And man, it happens every day. And sometimes I feel like I'm overdoing it, I'm overworking it. No, I'm not, because every time, God speaks to me through other people. It's great, Ryan. It's the journey that never ends. You know, Ryan, what you're describing is something that I kind of felt early on when I became saved. And it was like, I remember I used to go to work, and then I was saved, and then all of a sudden, I remember walking into the company for the first day, and I had a decision to make. Would I take off my Christian suit and put on the suit that I used to wear, or would I walk in and be exactly the new creation in Christ? And it took me not long to figure out what I was gonna do, because I'm a very convicted guy in terms of when I decide to do something, I'm all in. You've known me for that. And there's something really freeing about being able to exist, whether you're at home, at the grocery store, at work, whatever circle you happen to be in, your identity is in Christ first. I think that's what you're saying. I'm saying. You have that freedom. Of course, it's nice with our company to be able to express it. Absolutely, but being able to do it in every aspect of your life, it's always God. It's always the Spirit. It makes life have purpose while we're here on Earth. It makes you a more positive person, and it also gives you the ability to take a negative situation and turn it into something positive. I'm great, and then you have that one person with all the toxic stuff just pouring down on you, and it's like, all right, I can stop talking to this person, or I can take this and ask him, hey, what's going on? It gives me an opportunity, or in general, to help somebody else in that respect. What I love about you, Ryan, is you've come from a very different field. You were in the Navy, and for anyone that knows Ryan, you could give him a subtitle of shock and awe. Like, I wouldn't have been surprised if the department he worked for, the place he worked for in the Navy was like the explosive department, right? Because there's something about Ryan that is exactly that way. When you give Ryan what they call in the Bible really dutimous power, and that's explosive power in the Holy Spirit and in God, I can tell you right now firsthand, this man is gonna use it. And I've heard stories where he's walked into restaurants and he's used that dutimous power, right, from the Holy Spirit, and it's explosive. It's been shock and awe. There's been life change. I've heard the reports. And if I was to say to you right now, Ryan, you can't do that anymore, would it feel like all of a sudden you had had the most valuable part of your entire life today stripped from you? Absolutely, and I wouldn't listen to you. Yeah, no, look, that's exactly why I love Ryan. That's why I love Ryan. He's absolutely all in with his faith, and it's just been an amazing transformation. He's literally a man after my own heart, but he's a man after God's own heart. That's awesome, D, and it really is. And I would listen to you out of respect, but I would find a way to not listen to you without disrespecting you just to show you, okay, well, this is why I do this. And it's just because, one, I love you, and number two, it's okay to agree to disagree, right? That's right. I don't agree with that, but I'm grateful to have had your leadership in my life because it's taught me so many things and applying the things you've taught me and I've learned through the experiences that we've shared together have made me this person that I never knew I would become, and that's where God really comes into play because I don't know where I'm going, but I know God's leading me, and so I'm going somewhere great. You know, it's really cool to have these experiences because the more you lean into God, the more consistent blessings start pouring into your life, and that's what's been happening. It's been like one or two days a week, a little nuggets, right? And now it's like every single day, four or five times a day to every single experience because of that, the do-to-miss, whatever, do-to-miss, do-to-miss? Yes, am I saying that right? There's this person, there's that person, they're leaders, right? And I introduce myself, and they feel the God, and then they get into the conversation with you about what's going on in their lives, and the next thing you know, boom, you build that relationship, and now you can open up more and maybe find out what's possibly bothering them or share something that happened on the way, and then ultimately, it's about that experience that you can share with somebody, and they never forget you because of that. I'm so grateful to you, Ryan. Likewise. I'm so grateful to you. The way you handle your life, there are few people I can even compare it with. If you don't mind me sharing, you have a beautiful daughter. Amen. You've been an amazing father for her, in not so easy circumstances. Early, your marriage was terminated. That beautiful, beautiful, smart, intelligent, capable person. She has all of your attributes and more. Amen to me. Exactly, but I just want to tell you how proud I am of you. You didn't desert her. It says in the Bible, that God will never leave or forsake us. You mimicked exactly how he responds to us. You did it with love. That's right. You are such a lovely example of a father. Thank you. And I use your circumstance in many conversations as an example of how to live life as a single dad and really nourish your children in the process. You are an amazing father. Thank you. That means more than you. That means so much coming from you, and I know you mean it sincerely. I got to thank you in return, because whether you realize it or not, you've taught me a lot about being a better father by watching you with your kids. Over the years, I've asked you for advice, and you give me some of the best advice I could have ever gotten. And a lot of times, if I'm being completely honest, I would say I've let you down in your advice you've given me, but I haven't really, because that's how we learn. Just recently, I caught myself questioning it. Am I letting my daughter down? Am I letting my baby down? So thank you for that encouragement, because it does mean a lot. As a father, single or not, as a good father, we hold ourselves to a higher standard, and we never want to let our kids down, because we love them unconditionally, like God loves his children. And that's back to you. Noticing that means a lot, because I have questioned my integrity as a father and leadership, and haven't made the best choices with my circumstances. But looking back, I don't have any regrets, because it was just how it was supposed to be in my heart and my mind, I believe. That's God's in control. God knew it was gonna happen just the way it happened, so it happened just like that. Now I can lead her to success. I can lead her to the Lord. I can show her the way still for the rest of her life, and the rest of my life. And I'm gonna instill everything I can to where I will be in her heart forever. So thank you. I take you seriously, Ryan. And the reason for that is because you take your responsibilities seriously, and you steward well over things. Like, for example, your daughter, you steward well as a father. Your finances, you steward well there. You steward amazing with your job. You steward incredibly well with your friendships. And so I take you seriously because of that. So when you call, I answer. When you text, I answer. By the way, if you've never texted with Ryan, you might wanna try it. I'll give his number in a minute. But if I printed out all the heart emojis that I'd received on my text, I could probably cover Covington with them. It's really a beautiful thing. And Ryan leads with his heart. And so I think it's fair to say that when someone treats their life seriously, then others tend to look upon them in that regard too and wanna help. But in many ways, I look at you like, it's almost like you're my son. It's almost like God's given me jurisdiction over being a part of making sure that you're cared for. That makes sense. That's powerful. And it's not a obligation at all. It's actually a joy. And I feel like God chose me, especially in this time right now where I'm going through cancer, and I'm obviously battling it. I'm not sure if you saw me when you came in the door because I'm only 127 pounds. You kind of walked past me. I was like, hey Ryan, I'm right here. He's like, oh wow. So sorry I walked past you. But God has given us, like he gives us people to care for. I believe that. And not in a way that's demeaning at all, but in a way that we're supposed to do life together. Amen. And so I'm so grateful. And I will say this one thing that Ryan has always been for me, he's been my Christian training ground. What do I mean by that? Ryan's had a pretty interesting life since I've known him. I mean, we're transparent right here on the Daily Bailey Legacy Studios, slow enough to see podcasts. Right. And so I'd like to talk a little bit about what I've been privy to. And I would like to do it with the idea that scripture that we read earlier, which, and I'll quote the main line from it real quick, that we may be able to comfort those who are in trouble. Ryan, I'll let you share a little bit about your past. And I would really appreciate it if you did. Addiction. Would you mind opening up about that? The reason why we'd open it up is not only so we can help others, but so people can really understand how something like that can sneak in almost unannounced. And before you know it, it can take control of not only your decisions, but absolutely every part of your life. I want to give people a handout of that pit. No, thank you, Darren, for bringing it up. It's, you know, sometimes it'll creep in without even knowing. And when you're stuck, you lose your purpose. You lose yourself. It's a horrible place to be. You don't feel good enough. You don't feel worthy. You're stuck in this depression. Not what I know now is there's so many other outlets, but when you're stuck in that addiction, the only thing to turn to is your addiction. Because the only thing that makes sense in that moment, but it really doesn't make any sense at all. It's wild. You know, my addiction was alcohol. And I didn't feel like my life had value or purpose anymore. You know, it really wasn't until coming back. It's very special to me and you. And specifically, it's never given up on me and always believing in me. You saw a side of me that I didn't know I had. I've always believed in you, Ryan. Back to you talking about the father figure, that God chose you to be that. You've been that. And I'm forever grateful. You know, it's a big part of my comeback. If I were to write a book, that would be a big chapter to talk about. My comeback from addiction and the people that influenced me, that gave my life a sense of purpose again. In the Bible, it talks about leaving the 99 to save the one. Yeah, well, I mean, in a really awesome way, you saved my life, you know. But, you know, the addiction was, you know, I was married, not once, not twice, but three times. And every outcome was not good. And every time there was an outcome, that would go to my addiction. And the third time, it was so bad, I didn't see any way up. I went and got some help. You guys came and visited me, which meant a lot. And y'all gave me an opportunity again, back to humility. When the opportunity was, I did what I could do for the time I could do it, but I started back from the bottom. And part of that, and overcoming that addiction was finding purpose in life again. Finding it through God and the people that really loved me and really believed in me and really opened my eyes. I was lost and now I'm found, you know. And my eyes were closed and now I could see. Back with my daughter, I always questioned myself, why wasn't she enough? She was, but it was always, it was like it wasn't enough to be completely transparent. It was weird. And she's everything to me. And that's, you know, now it's, she's my, on top of my purpose, she is my purpose. My comeback from addiction, it's been two years now. And where I'm at now, mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally is unbelievable, but very believable. And I look forward to the future because just six months from now, I can only imagine where I'm going to be. I will stay on this path. I'm not going to drift from it. Nothing is ever going to take me from my faith anymore. I don't know where I'm going, but I know where I've been and I'm never going to be there again. You know, and it's the most incredible experience at 43 years old I've ever experienced. You know, I started accepting the narrative that I would never be the 34 year old me again. Back to the fitness, my life was firing on all cylinders. And one day it was like, God spoke to me. And I went to the gym for an hour, ran 6.8 miles and did 750 pushups. And that was my journey back to this redemption, you know, and getting my life back. I want to get onto that fitness bit in just a second. I want to share something with you. I don't even think you know. Because you went to a place for recovery. You made that choice to do that. And you'd gone from really a chiseled human being in your body to someone that had an incredible amount of weight hanging off of them. And what you don't realize is this, is Josh was keeping me very up to date on your circumstances. And every time he would mention your name, the Holy Spirit would place this desire in me to be a part of your recovery and your comeback. And there were times where I just wanted to come and see you, but the Holy Spirit hadn't given me the green light. And it was so hard for me not to come and see you. And the day I came to see you, where you were, I already knew exactly what I wanted to transpire because I wanted to be part of your success story. And so that conversation we had about coming back to the company was really breathed right out from God, the Holy Spirit. And I've said it to you before, I don't care what you do. I don't care what you've done. I don't care what mistakes you think you have made. In my eyes, you will always, past, present, and future, always be deserved of another chance. Amen, thank you. I can't help but to thank you so much. That's really cool, man, and it means so much. I can't stop thinking about when you came to visit me. You and Josh made fun of me with my shorts. I was proud of my shorts. I never had shorts. I had shorts, and y'all picked on me. But it was just having you guys there, you know. Me and Josh actually had to talk about those shorts. We were wondering if they actually were shorts, or we didn't know what that was, you know. But anyway, go ahead. I had put on a little weight, you know. I was eating good. Just you guys there meant a lot, man. And that day, it's one of those experiences I'll never forget. And it was like, hey, Ryan, we're gonna give you a chance to come back. You know, I didn't wanna bring the job place too much into this podcast, but I will, because I feel like it's all part of, I know it's God's plan, but there's something really special about this business, about you, about Josh, about our team, about our guys, where we were, what we've been through, and where we're at now. I was a diesel mechanic in the Navy, by the way. There was none of this there. None of this due to Miss Fowler, huh? No, it was, but I was, oh, I had some stories I'm not gonna get into, but. And by the way, I know exactly where he worked, because about 10 years ago, he grabbed me and my children and my wife, and we went into the ship, and we ended up going down about 10 decks into the hull of the ship, and Ryan, illegally, by the way, because we weren't supposed to be down there, showed us the bottom of the ship, and suddenly the sergeant showed up and said, get out of here before I, I don't know, hang you off the right side of the deck. We had to quickly grab the kids and head upstairs somehow. You know, up until just now, I forgot about that. You're one of few people that are close to me that got to see that, but I got y'all in there to show you a cool part of my experience in the Navy, because it was all a show, you know? I wasn't the same as if you were to come see me in Virginia. I could have taken you anywhere on the ship. All in all, they didn't have God involved, you know? It's a lot of godless people out there in this world, and knowing you, watching your testimony, hearing you grow, listening to you, how well you know the Bible is something I yearn to do in my life. It's on my must-do list, not just to-do list, is studying the Bible better. It's something I lack a lot of. I think I have a lot of attributes that come directly from the Bible that were given to me through experiences from you and other people and God, but it's just one of the things that fascinates me about it. It's one of many things that fascinates me about you, and these experiences are important, and every moment of every day is so valuable, and if we don't have time to waste, I know that's my mission in life is slow down, but make the best of every moment every single day. Tell me this, Ryan. You not only have overcome your addiction with Flying Colors, by the way, and I know during that it wasn't easy at all. I mean, I'm on a fast right now. You probably don't know. This is day 12 water only. I'm inspired by that. In fact, you make me want to do it with you. I'm going for 28, brother. I'm going for 28, but your journey has inspired me too. I think when you're endeavoring to go on a journey like this, and of course, plenty of people have done fast, but when it's your first really long fast, you have to kind of grab as much confidence as you can, so I've gained confidence even through your story about losing weight. When we met Ryan in that recovery place, I didn't know if I was looking at, you know, Rouse's giant supply of Jell-O with a head on it. Ryan was so enormous that I didn't know they made shirts that big. You know, it's like, I think he might have had them custom made. It was just this, yeah. It was just the shorts. Yeah. Just the shorts. Just, it was amazing, amazing sight to behold. I can only imagine what you would just. It's like, how is it possible that a skeleton could actually hold that much blubber? Like, I didn't know how that was gonna happen, but there it was. Anyway, so, right now you're so much, you're chiseled. You've shed all that weight. I know that's important to you, but would I be right in saying it's also equally as important to your mental state? 100%. Do you connect the two together? It says in the Bible that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. You know, why does it say that? Well, the purpose behind that is not only mental acuity, but it's also because we need to be able to go places and do things without questioning whether the body's gonna be able to do it. Tell me a little bit about why it's so important for you to stay in shape and why it should be important for others too. Okay, good question. First thing that comes to mind is it's about pushing yourself to the edge, to where you don't believe you can go and doing it anyway. And for me, you wanna get in touch with your Heavenly Father and your higher power, then you gotta do something that most people aren't willing to do. For me, that's the most important thing because it's a challenge. I couldn't agree more, Ryan. And you can't do it if you don't believe you can do it. It's just like the faith. I see myself as this person that's like an action figure, bodybuilder or whatever, but I'm doing it even when I don't feel like doing it is pushing myself to the extreme and it's keeping me in touch with my higher power, which is God. So faith is huge and it's the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen. That's the definition of faith. Actually, that's a scripture in the Bible. Yeah, and another big variable is my health and wellness, being here for my daughter as she gets older, being here for my family, being here for you, being here for our clients, being here for somebody else that needs to hear my story, somebody else that I can save their life that may be struggling with the same problems I was struggling with, they're not feeling good enough. They're feeling just unworthy, like you're a complete failure and your life is just a ball of you know what, and it's not. And we all fall short. I still fall short, but I fall short a lot less than I did two years ago, a lot less than I did, and I'm getting stronger and better every single day, this morning, I was listening to something you share with me and it had me in tears of just like joy, but like I can do more, I can do better. I can always do more. I can always do better. Nobody's gonna tell me I'm doing too much because enough is never enough, right? You can always take one more step. As long as I can take one more step, I'm gonna take that step and some. And my mind, my thinking, my vision, my mouth, the things that come out of my mouth have gotten a lot better. I've started listening to audio books again. I think I've mentioned that to you. And all in all, it's not about my image, but it's the influence I have on other people. It grows me strong with my faith. It grows me stronger in touch with myself. When people, random people reach out to me that I haven't spoken with in forever, like, dude, you saved my life, man, or you changed my life, or you, I'm like, what? I'm like, thank you, because that's a reminder of why I do it. It's not about me. Does that make sense? Well, you touched on it. That's it. It's a great, it's bigger than me, you know? And I'm not stopping. And I'm not, God willing, I'm gonna keep rolling until I can't roll anymore. In fact, I was running a lot. You saw me running on a lakefront one day. Thought you were gonna make fun of me. You remember that? I do. Yeah, I hope you feel bad about that, by the way. I thought they just let an animal out of the zoo. He was running like a gazelle. I pulled my hamstring, though. I'm sure you did. And I was scared. I thought that was it, you know? I thought I was gonna be done, because that was my little secret to shedding, burning fat, just running, cardio. But then I got into intermittent fasting. You know, that's why, back to you, fasting. I wanna do it. I wanna do it because of you. But all in all, fitness is life. It changes the way you treat yourself, which in turn, you treat other people. It's the energy you put out. When you feel good about yourself, you're putting out good energy. Fitness is mandatory. It's, yeah, it's a lifestyle. It should be. It's like eating food. No one gives up the breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but we give up working out. We give up fitness, actually, I should say. Fitness in every aspect. I mean, you can even look at your brain as a muscle to exercise. But you, I mean, I can imagine you running, and you're not just like zoned out. You might be listening to a podcast, but, you know, it's just like me cutting the grass. Sometimes I cut it twice because it's just good me time. That's right. We have time right there. It's rest, and the Bible speaks about rest and how important that is. You feel yourself. Exactly, exactly. Because we can get lost in our day, like seven hours, eight hours, nine hours, 10 hours at work. It's plenty of time to get lost in. Like you said, I was lost and now I'm found, obviously, in Christ. But there's an element of that that needs to be applied to our physical status and also our mental status, too. I agree with you 100%. For me, the main story here, transformation of you and why you've done it, the catalyst being God, the purpose really surrounding being with your daughter and being capable as a dad to be able to serve her, also to be able to help others. I mean, you've taken every aspect of your life and you now treat it with seriousness. That's right. And you're aware of its value. You can't ask any more of anyone than that, I don't believe. Nothing in life happens without intention. So I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you. I'm gonna ask you right now, since I'm going through all this stuff, because Ryan's great at firing people up. You know, the Saints team, the football team, the one that used to be around and it was once good, when did they win that, by the way? 2009. 2009, that was when Drew Brees was like coaching everyone up. So Ryan, before we finish, I would like you to inspire me. He had no idea this was gonna happen, but if you're going through a struggle and you're listening to this right now, I'd like this man to coach you up. And so Ryan, take the mic, say whatever you want. Let's coach the people up, man. Absolutely, thank you for the opportunity, Darren. I just think anybody out there listening, if you're going through something, if you're facing challenges, if you see yourself as less of a person than you wanna be, have a burning desire to win and never quit. Never stop believing. Know it's okay to fail. That's how we learn. And also know that you're not alone. There's always somebody else going through similar struggles, similar situation. One of the hardest points and my lowest points in my life was I thought I was alone and I found out I wasn't. So just forgive yourself for whatever got you to where you are and dig deep into your faith and dig deep into the Lord and seek good people. Search for goodness and find goodness in yourself. And I promise you, if you just do those simple little things and you work on yourself every day, invest in yourself every day, you're gonna be okay and you're gonna get through it. And 100% will work every time. I know it will. It's gonna be easier for some than it is for others, but I know because I've experienced it and I'm here to tell you that it's possible and your life's worth it. And there's somebody out there someday that once you get through your hard challenge or your time you're going through, it doesn't mean you're never gonna face it again. It's gonna be stronger and there's somebody out there that's gonna need your help. And you'll be equipped and prepared to help those. So that's pretty much it. And thank you for asking, Dean. Thank you for saying that. You know, the last bit, there's someone out there needing your help. Biblically speaking, that's a testimony. You know, you got the opportunity to speak it out. There's no point in having a story that you place on the tee on a golf course as a ball, but you never strike it. That's right. So we gotta strike the testimony. We gotta speak it out. We gotta encourage others with that. So thank you so much, Ryan. Is there anything else you'd like to share in closing? Anything at all? Anything that we haven't spoken about? I always got stuff to share. I wanna thank you for having me. I wanna say I miss you. I've missed you for a little while now, and this is respectfully overdue, but I'm thankful that we're here. And if anybody that knows Darren or has known Darren or has just met Darren or even has this opportunity, if he asks you to come here, definitely come here and share this moment with him. What he's doing, it's not about him. And I know that because I know him, but he's bringing people to God. And I really just wanna encourage anyone out there listening to this, that if you get an opportunity to meet Darren and hear his story, take a minute to embrace it and apply it to your life and learn from it because he's a great man. He's one of the greatest men I've ever met. And he's a great father, a great husband, and just a great leader. One thing he left out, I watched this man be obsessed with control to letting go of control. And once upon a time, me and this man almost got in a fight in the parking lot in our shop. I gotta say, that's one thing that we didn't talk about. I still think I would have won. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. He would have flattened like a pancake, I think. I would have, I love you, Darren. I would not have, I'm glad we went through that. It was a moment that I can look back on now and see the person you are today. It's really cool what God's done in your life. That would have been a David and Goliath story. That would have gone completely the opposite. I would have rewritten the Bible right there. That would have been funny, but the neat thing is we can look back and laugh about it on countless occasions. It was definitely a moment to remember. But I'm just grateful to know you, Dee, and I think that what you're doing is so powerful. It really is, man. I think you realize it. I believe you're doing it intentionally, but you're just doing it. I'm doing it because I wanna leave pathways to Jesus. Amen. I don't want any residue to be left on me, not a single stitch. And I am gonna live for many more years, but let's pretend that for some apparent reason God wants to take me early. Then I wanna know I've done all I can on this earth to leave those pathways to him, and that's why I'm doing this. There's an urgency in my spirit to do things of this nature. No more excuses, no more, hey, Ryan, come to the studio on Thursday, and then all of a sudden I'm tired. I call Ryan, hey, can we do it tomorrow? Tomorrow never comes. That's right. And so it doesn't matter how tired I am. It doesn't matter what I'm going through. Those are all poor excuses. I'm doing these things with God and for him. Amen. And I'm so glad that we're a part of this together. Likewise, I'm grateful. I think it would be right to finish up in prayer. I'll lead us in prayer. If you wanna add anything, you're more than welcome. I think we should honor God in this moment and just pray this thing out in the way that he would have us do that. So Heavenly Father, first off, I'm just so grateful for my faith, but I'm so grateful for the hope that I have in you, Jesus. I wouldn't give it up in a heartbeat, just as Ryan had mentioned earlier. If I was to ask him to give up his faith, he'd say no. I feel the exact same way. We're so honored to have you in our lives, Lord. You know, we have you in this earth, but we'll soon have you, one day everyone will, in heaven, to honor you, to give you all the glory in this life is our pleasure. I'm grateful for friendships, for Ryan. I'm grateful that his life hasn't been a blank canvas. I'm grateful that it has been full of mystery and some uneasy things to travel through, not because I wanna see him go through pain, but because, Lord, you would have me be a witness to that and come in and help wherever necessary, Lord, to improve my life, my skillsets. It's the upward call of Christ Jesus. We're being sanctified on this pathway, Lord, that leads to you. So I thank you, Lord, for every anomaly that we may look at and wonder why, Lord, even cancer, I thank you that you're allowing me to go through this, Lord, allow me to see the things that I would otherwise be blind to. And Lord, they've enriched my life truly right now as I say these words. Lord, I'm grateful for this studio, for this platform. Lord, I pray a massive blessing right now over every single person listening to this. Please let them know that you go before them. And if you're for them, Lord, who can be against them? Lord, let them know that greater is he who's in them than he who is in the world. And that the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives inside of them. Lord, that your son was sent here as our salvation, that through him we can have eternal life and we can absolutely do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Lord, I would encourage everyone right now to get into the Word, get into the Bible, write these scriptures on their hearts and to walk them out daily. I pray for everyone right now going through addiction, Lord, that they would hear the words that have been spoken in this podcast by Ryan, hear his overcoming story, the power that he has on the inside of him because of Jesus, that dude of his power. And Lord, I pray right now in the name of Jesus that all addictions will fall to the devil. They will fall, Lord. They will crumble. They will collapse. And that every man, woman, and child, Lord, would no longer be slaves to those things, but would indeed be free. In Jesus' name, amen. That was beautiful, man. I'm gonna openly pray for you and your family. Darren, I love you. Thank you. God, thank you for this moment and this day you've given me with Darren in this time in his life. It means everything to me. And everything I do and all of my works, I'm so thankful because Darren's a part of it. He's always in my heart. He's always in my mind. And what he's done for me, Lord, is he's shown me the way to you. And I'm forever grateful of that. And for him and his family, it's absolutely beautiful. And I pray that this journey for him keeps going and going and influences and impacts as many people as possible and brings them closer to you, Lord, because I know in my heart that's exactly what it's doing. And I just continue to lift him up in prayers, family. They've all endured so many things, but I know it's part of your plan, Lord. And I just wanna thank you for making me a part of his life and he a part of mine and being the influence he has and the things he's given me, Lord. And I just ask that you continue to watch over him as he goes through this difficult time. Continue to give him the strength through you, Lord. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Amen. Ryan, thanks a bunch, man. It's been amazing. Maybe we'll do this again. I would love to. I think I'm gonna widen that doorway, though, so you don't have to kind of walk sideways when you come through it. I'm gonna be a little bigger next time. I think your pecs are remarkably large. They're getting there. They're getting there. I could show you a thing or two about that. City dance? We won't even go there. I can't. I love you. I love you and I'll catch you soon. Absolutely, thank you, brother. Bye.