Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: You're listening to the Known Legacy podcast, brought to you by Known Legacy Ministries. For more information, go to knownlegacy.org now here's your hosts, Bill and Travis.
Good morning.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Morning, Bill.
[00:00:18] Speaker A: Good morning, Travis. How are you doing?
[00:00:20] Speaker C: Gorgeous day out today. It is really pretty out spring in full swing here in dfw and it is just fantastic. Kyle in the corner, thank you so much. Hello. Hello. Letting us invade your sacred space here on the back patio. My pleasure. It is good, man. We're excited about today. We're excited about the conversation with Jay and Epic Warrior and all the great things that do for firefighters and police officers and the gospel and the good news of Jesus Christ and the healing they bring. And, man, we just, as always, we want you to wake up, gear up and come alive because we believe that God has so much more in store for you than just trying to fight against sin. It is about living on this amazing mission that he has for us. As always, you can check us out on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, if you like it.
Fantastic. Give us a rating if you want to share it. That always helps out the algorithms. And as always, if you ever come across one of the shorts that Bill's putting out, man, do us a favor, give us a thumbs up. Share it on your own page and just help get the word out of what God's doing through Known Legacy, the men's retreats, the speaking that Bill has a chance to do, and the book. You can get all that information on knownlegacy.org and if you have questions, comments, concerns, or you want to submit something for the question of the day, infoownlegacy or in the comments below, wherever you're seeing this or listening to this, those work as well.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And we also have a men's study we do every single Thursday morning, 6:45. We will put a link below in that as well. We want you to stay connected to other men and men. Help you wake up, gear up, and come alive to who God called you to. So that is one of our main starts. Make sure you do that as well as. Yeah, yeah. Follow the links. If you're interested in the book, we'd love to have you be a part of that, but, man, you are in a chipper mood today, Travis.
[00:01:57] Speaker C: You know, it's a. It's the weekend past Easter, so the long journey to Easter has been completed and much success.
Success, Much success. I want to make sure we have that, that word in there. Success.
And God's been good, man.
[00:02:12] Speaker A: So it's just we are not perfect. In our addiction.
[00:02:16] Speaker C: So anyways, let's get to it. Question of the day.
[00:02:18] Speaker A: Question of the day.
[00:02:23] Speaker C: This came out of nowhere. Except that, you know, sometimes you covet, sometimes you covet.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: Still talking about your slip up there, huh?
[00:02:32] Speaker C: You know what happens?
[00:02:33] Speaker A: We're like two 11 year old, 13 year olds. That's really what it is.
[00:02:36] Speaker C: By the way, have you heard about spooning words? Spooning words where, like, you take the first letter and the. The first letter of two words and you flip them on accident.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: No.
[00:02:45] Speaker C: Anyway, so it's something that I do from time to time.
[00:02:48] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:48] Speaker C: Probably a result of my dyslexia or whatever. Anyways, I had a group of about 20 high school kids, and we had just finished an event. We were all going to go out to eat afterwards, right? Okay. And so I hit the parking lot and I'm all fired up because it was just a great. One of those great events. And we're going to go to a hamburger place, okay. Called Fuddruckers.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: Oh, dear goodness.
[00:03:06] Speaker C: And I spooned that. Those two words, those two letters. And I'm in the middle of the parking lot and I, from the top of my voice says, who's ready to go to red?
[00:03:17] Speaker A: Oh, dear.
[00:03:18] Speaker C: And every kid just stopped. And I'm like, you will not mention this to your parents ever.
This is never going to be mentioned to your parents.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: Oh, dear goodness.
[00:03:27] Speaker C: And of course, every parent on Sunday, the next Sunday, they're like, ah, so you all went to Rud.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: And I'm like, no, back away, back away.
[00:03:35] Speaker C: I love the church sometimes.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: Oh, man. Gotta love it.
[00:03:38] Speaker C: I hate it sometimes and I love it. But anyways, I. I drove over one of the many lakes that we have in the DFW area, and I saw some people out there on boats. And. And in my. My covetous spirit, I was like, man,
[00:03:49] Speaker A: I'd love a boat.
[00:03:50] Speaker C: I mean, I don't have time for a boat. I would never do anything with a boat, but, man, I would love a boat. And so the question today is if you could buy a boat, if you could, what would you buy? Would you buy a speedboat that you could take the wakeboarders and the skiers behind? Would you buy a fishing boat? And a while away, the hours, would you buy a pontoon boat or would you buy a sailing boat? That is the question of the day.
[00:04:13] Speaker A: Ooh, okay, I'll go first. I think I would do like a speedboat, because I feel like I could do some of those same things on a speedboat. Like, I want to say Pontoon. But I just would be too bored for too long because you get out there and you're. You're on a piece of metal where the heat is all day and you're
[00:04:31] Speaker C: like Astroturf melting to your feet.
[00:04:33] Speaker A: Exactly. I'm on the water, but not really in the water, and I'm dying. And then I look at the water, I'm like, I don't really want to be in that water.
[00:04:39] Speaker C: Okay. So you and I have the same vision of what a pontoon boat used to be. Like a little 75 Johnson on the back. You know, the top is 5 knots or whatever. I don't know why there's a nautical term there. Like, I know what five knots is
[00:04:54] Speaker A: for like 600 miles an hour. You're, like, only going five knots. I have someone's like, these guys are idiots. Like, yes, we are.
[00:04:59] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:04:59] Speaker C: Yes. Yeah. But anyways, and so I went up and visited a buddy of mine, like 10 years ago. Yeah. And he's like, hey, let's take a ride on the pontoon boat.
[00:05:05] Speaker A: Like, okay.
[00:05:06] Speaker C: So I get a cigar and I'm sitting up front of the pontoon, you know, and. And enjoying the day. And. And he gets out of the. Kind of the inlet, and he gets out in the middle of the lake. He goes, hey, hold your hat on. I'm about to floor it. And I'm thinking, this has a 75, right.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: You're not going to go three knots.
[00:05:21] Speaker C: He floors it, and we are going 40 in this tritune. Right? It's a tritune. I look back, it's got 250 on the back now.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: He's.
[00:05:30] Speaker C: Since then he's upgraded and he's got two 75. Two 75 horsepower motors on his tritune. And that thing can go 60 on the water. It is fantastic. So. So mine's a tritune with.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: So now that you've. I. I was always thinking, like, you know, just sitting on the dock that kind of like, for like a pontoon. I would probably do a pontoon as well. Then if I could still like tow somebody on one of those. Oh, yeah. Like then now, yeah. I would go pontoon.
[00:05:58] Speaker C: You just don't have the cool wake that you can do all the tricks and everything, but at our age, we're not doing any tricks.
[00:06:04] Speaker A: I'm holding on. I'm barely just trying to get out. Get out of bed in the mornings. Okay.
[00:06:07] Speaker C: So, Kyle, how about you?
[00:06:09] Speaker A: What about you, boat expert?
[00:06:11] Speaker C: I would probably.
I'm gonna go with.
I'm gonna Go with pontoon too, because
[00:06:17] Speaker B: I think you can do everything else on it.
[00:06:19] Speaker C: Yes, yes, right. And you can have a grill on the back if you get the right one. You can, you can be barbecuing while fishing and towing someone on a lake.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: Which goes back to our main thing, food matters.
Food matters.
[00:06:33] Speaker C: Welcome to the Known Legacy food podcast. We're happy you're here today.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: We did this last time. The two fat guys on the radio.
There we go, man. Well, we do have a guest today who I might be able to give us an answer. This Jay Mayo of Epic Warrior. We're so glad to have you on today.
[00:06:50] Speaker B: What's up, guys?
[00:06:52] Speaker A: Man, we are so pumped to have you, man. So you yourself, are you a boat guy? And if you were, what kind of boat would you, would you get?
[00:07:00] Speaker B: You know, I'm not, I'm not really a boat guy. I. But my son in law, my grandkids, they love fishing. So I probably, you know, you almost got me talked into the pontoon. I was thinking bass boat. Yes, they love to do that. But maybe if we had the whole family, it'd be a great family time on the pontoon. And I'm the same way with Travis. I didn't know until recently. I had a friend that had one and he had three. I don't even know what size engine and that thing would. You could ski off of it and everything.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: So that's crazy.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Maybe some. But I think I go with the bass boat because my son in law is a big fisherman and we'd go out there and probably have a good time. Use it more. Yeah.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: Nice, Nice.
[00:07:40] Speaker C: I don't know, man. Fishing. I've yet to have a good time fishing. Maybe it's because I talk too much and I get skunked every single time.
Everyone around me is catching everything and I'm like, I got nothing. But they do give me a bobber with a worm at the end. So that might be part of the problem.
[00:07:54] Speaker A: Here, Travis, you go over here. Here, here, buddy. Here's a coloring book for you. You have fun. Just keep looking at that bobber.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:01] Speaker A: Hey, guys, is it done yet?
I got my bobber.
Oh, that's a wave. That's a wave. That's a wave. Never mind.
[00:08:09] Speaker C: Give me a loaf of bread. Put it on the treble hook. You know, as soon as it hits the water, the bread just dissipates. But they don't tell me. They don't tell you. Oh, this is great. Three hours later, sunburnt.
[00:08:19] Speaker A: You're making a Peanut butter sandw.
Anyways, Jay, we're so glad to have you back on the podcast, man. It's been a long time, but a couple of years.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:27] Speaker A: And man, we wanted to get you on to just kind of update what's been happening with Epic Warrior. And man, all those things. We will put a link to Epic Warrior in the bottom. But I mean, I love what you're doing, you know, as we had our conversation even a couple weeks ago, I'm like, I got to get this guy in the podcast again. So share a little bit about your story for the guys who don't know who you are and then what you've done with Epic Warrior.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: Yep.
Okay.
I have to say, first of all, I was. I was nervous listening to the. The intro because I thought this must be a podcast about sex addiction and spooning.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: I know, he's. Listen, he said spoon and that threw me off. I was like, bro, come on, man.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: He said sex and you said diction. Then I got derailed.
Then he started talking about spooning and I'm like, man, is this NC17?
Anyway, sorry, welcome to Deep Dive with
[00:09:19] Speaker C: known if you'd like to apply for the open co host position.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: You almost said ho. Coast. What's going on here? We're just a mess today.
Wow. Yeah, we'll make sure that we put the proper rating in this one. So.
Sorry, man,
[00:09:36] Speaker B: you need to have the guy pushing the beep button.
Bleep, bleep, bleep, beep.
Like a post production.
[00:09:47] Speaker C: Post production.
[00:09:48] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. We're just an episode of Orange County Choppers. That's all we are.
[00:09:54] Speaker B: He can actually dub in words. Like, today we're going to talk about the Lord.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: The Lord Jesus. Chin.
[00:10:03] Speaker B: Yeah, Rudd Farters.
[00:10:05] Speaker C: I hate you all. I hate you all.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: Okay, I'm sorry to get off track.
You remember we were talking the other day about V chips? Remember the day that you had. We had these things you put on your TV that cut out the cussing.
[00:10:19] Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: Remember those V chips or something? We had one that would actually replace words and. But it was so hilarious because it was just random, you know, like rud farters instead of, you know.
Anyway, I gotta get back on track. Sorry.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: Yeah, we love it. We're loving this. This is our mind. This is welcome to our brain.
[00:10:41] Speaker B: So what was the original question?
[00:10:43] Speaker A: I don't know. We've had a great time. Thanks for watching today.
No, I wanted you to just kind of update people of where you were, you know, who. Who you are. To our. Our new Listeners and then kind of your ministry Epic Warrior and what it, what it, what it does.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I, Bill and I known each other for a long time, served together in church ministry. And so I had spent most of my life in a lot of different environments, church planning, discipleship groups over the years, 35 or 40 years.
And then really kind of just along that path. The whole time I would, I did chaplain work, I did chaplain work also. And some of that was in hospice world, but some of that was also in first responder world.
And then I had, I shifted in late in the church ministry to be pastor of counseling. And I ended up having just a lot of interactions with first responders, primarily at that point police, police officers who'd been through critical incidents and my relationship with the local police department, they would just, you know, holler and go, hey, can you talk to a guy? He doesn't want to use the department counselor or whatever. He kind of wants it to be under the, under the radar. And I'm sure. And I just, I just began to kind of build this relationship or ended up talking to a lot of police officers who've been through critical incidents, shootings, car accidents, different scenes that just stuck with them. And along that whole time I was finishing my counseling degree because I needed more clinical training, shifting over that position in the church and ended up doing some training also in a trauma therapy called emdr, which is another conversation, but it's very prominent in the first responder world to help them process critical incidents. And so all that just began to unexpectedly come in front of me. And I kept, I remember thinking to myself, someone should do something about these guys, man. They're warriors, men and women that are warriors. And they, they, they, you know, the average person will see one or two traumatic incidents in their lifetime. In an average career of a first responder, that's 6 to 700. So it affects them spiritually, mentally, emotionally. It affects all the relationships, this interaction with traumatic scenes and critical incidents. So I remember thinking there should be more, that someone should do more, each department should do more. How come they can't do more? And one day I was like, okay, maybe I should just try to do something.
And that was kind of the birth of epic warrior.
Me thinking I was going to start this ministry to or this non profit for first responders to try to help them work through critical incident situations. And so that's kind of how it was born.
It's, it's gone in so many diverse directions these days. I have a kind of threads in multiple areas that I can update you on whenever you want me to. But yeah, that's kind of the birth of Epic Warrior.
I don't even know how many years ago we started it and we did three main goals. It was trying to get to the third, but we were like to provide funding for a lack of equipment and gear to keep them safe. So that was kind of an entry point. Is there any gear we could begin to fundraise to help you have to keep you safe as you go out and serve and protect? Second was training. Is there any training you could do that your apartment can't afford, like the best training to keep you safe? And then third, can we come alongside your department and be available to either A, provide critical incident counseling or B, pay for you to go to the closest partnering. That's, that's very.
That's a counselor that's familiar with first responders that does critical incident counseling so your department doesn't have to know. We'll pay for it.
Keep it off the record so that you can get the help you need. So that was the kind of birth of the three goals.
[00:15:03] Speaker C: You, you mentioned that this guy wanted to talk to you because he didn't want to talk to the, the counselor that was hired by the department. And I would love to find out more about that. What is the stigma? Because I got a few family members that are in firefighting and things of that nature. And what is the hurdle that keeps guys or gals from reaching out to the. The counselor that's paid for in house?
[00:15:29] Speaker B: It's a great question. I think it's getting better. But like, the dilemma is if, if you say, number one, you have to say to someone, your supervisor or your direct, who you directly report to, hey, I'm struggling and I need some help. And so there's, it's getting so much better, but there's so much more ground that needs to be taken. There's still this sense that, hey, I'm unaffected by this. It means to be tough.
I'm unaffected by critical incidents. I don't need any help. So it's first of all having to say to someone, can I use our eap? Can I get help? And they don't want to do that. They don't want anyone to know that they're struggling. Right.
And so secondly, I don't think this is a reality, but it's. I have this conversation with guys all the time that they're afraid that that counselor is going to talk to their chief or their captain or whatever. And so they want it to be confidential. I'm like, it is. I promise you it'll be confident. So they're not reporting, but they have this stigma that if I start sharing what's going on, they're going to communicate with my supervisor. Third, and probably I think the most prevalent is if I share that I'm not doing fine, will they take me off the front line?
Will they say, well, why don't you take a break? Here's the weird thing.
You may think that's the best thing for them, and it may be to some degree, but it's the only constant in their life. Like when they're out there protecting and serving on the front line, it's the one time they can set aside all these thoughts that they can't deal with because they could just go to work. So they don't want to be pulled off the front line. And sometimes that happens where you, you kind of, you know, make a plea for help and they're like, well, why don't we put you back on death duty? Or. And so they just, they, they just need that normalcy of being out in the middle of that. Now the sad part is it just stacks the trauma on. You know, if they're in a high, a high stress environment, it just keeps stacking it on. But those are the three main things. And so most of the time they'll, they'll maybe communicate with their direct supervisor and they'll say, but I don't want anyone to know. I just need some help. And they would end up reaching out to me for Epic Warrior. We're just saying I'm not going to report to anyone. And if it's a financial issue, which is why you would use your normal EAP through work, you know, they're going to pay for you six or eight sessions and. But they would say, I can't pay for it. I'm like, don't worry about it. We'll pay for it. We'll connect you with some counselors.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:11] Speaker B: And so anyway, that's the three things we've realized.
Keep someone.
They're still working on making it a better environment, but supervisors have to take the lead in all those situations to say, hey, that was a tough call. That affected me. What about you guys? And just normalize. You see things that you shouldn't see.
[00:18:37] Speaker A: Right, Right.
[00:18:38] Speaker B: And it's not normal. It's normal for you to feel some sense of, you know, impact from. Especially with children. They have a lot with children or a critical incident where there's a shooting, you have to take a life. So it's normal. That's normal to feel that way.
And anyway, that's. That's primarily the reasons.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: So.
[00:18:58] Speaker C: So I think there's a. Like, sometimes we can learn really valuable lessons in the extremes. And you're dealing with guys and gals that are living in the extreme, right? They're. They're facing evil within our culture in ways that we can't even imagine or begin to imagine. But I'd wager to bet there's some things that you've learned that could be applicable to a guy that's maybe listening, that realizes that he has some. Some trauma in his life that he's never processed through.
Where would you encourage him to begin that? You know, hey, listen, first off, you're not alone. Second off, keeping it inside, pushing it down, pretending like everything's okay is never going to bring healing.
What would you say to that guy that's listening?
[00:19:37] Speaker A: That.
[00:19:37] Speaker C: That's like, man, I got it. It's time I got to process through this trauma, whatever it was, whenever it was. It's time I got to process it. What would you tell that guy?
[00:19:46] Speaker B: And you're talking about just any guy, right?
[00:19:49] Speaker C: Correct. Yeah, correct.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yeah. I think there's.
The first thing I would say is there's.
We've long kind of lived under this misconception that big T trauma is the only thing that affects you. That meaning, like, well, I've never been a police officer in a shooting or. I haven't. You know, I'm in the fire department now. I haven't ever been on a terrible scene where I saw dismemberment or death. And you think it's only big T trauma, but the reality is they're finding out that little T traumas experiences loss, disappointment, can create the same impact. So I would first of all say, you know, to everyone listening guys, like. Like, doesn't have to be some dramatic thing in your mind for you to acknowledge this really hurt and affected me.
So give yourself a break. All of those things affect us. But first of all, I would say, you know, the first. The first step is to just realize that I need some support in this and to, you know, kind of push against the shame of the enemy, like, suck it up. And. And so I would say friendships, first and foremost, are a great place to start. Sometimes we don't know what to say to one another, but just opening up and talking about something to someone you trust that cares about you, and telling them, I don't need you to fix me. I just need to talk about this is the first step.
And then, you know, professional counseling, trained counselors that, that kind of understand trauma are just such a great asset to be able to access and be able to work through it on a variety of different therapy models. But like, you know, just give yourself grace and say it doesn't have to be some incredibly traumatic incident for you to feel like this thing hangs on and bugs me and messes up my relationships in the way I live in everyday life. You can't keep ignoring those things because they're just, it's like an open wound.
[00:21:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I love the, the response that is. I am not putting it in the same realm, but man, so many pastors are lonely, right? And, and then the first thought is they fall into a sin and they're like, well, then somebody removes them from the thing that they love the most ministry. And then you're like, so then go and go and fix yourself and come back and, and, and, and man, maybe there's a need for that. There might be a, a moment for that. But I love that there's at least, you know, this idea of building trust and building relationship is so important for them to. Then maybe, you know, scripture says a soft answer turns away wrath. So instead. So maybe as the six, eight, ten sessions go in, it's like, hey, maybe I do need some counseling outside of this. Maybe I do need some healing. But you're right, I feel like it becomes so just formularized like, okay, this trauma happened, you're out now. Like, now you're just staring at the blank wall. You don't know what to do. I can almost feel like that could be more damaging than, than keeping them in the line.
[00:22:46] Speaker C: Right.
[00:22:46] Speaker A: You know, and, and still doing some kind of normalcy.
[00:22:50] Speaker B: Right.
[00:22:51] Speaker A: Have you. So, so, you know, because you guys have been. How long have you been doing Epic Warrior for?
[00:22:58] Speaker B: Man, it's been years, but I don't know, maybe, maybe seven or eight years. Yeah, it's been, I've been back, I've been back here since 18, so probably was.
Yeah, almost eight years. Yeah, so probably eight years. That's a good question.
[00:23:19] Speaker A: What has been one of the, the biggest, like, takeaways you've had so far, doing this, like, that you would share with someone who's not a first responder. Because, I mean, I look at those guys and I'm like, you guys are heroes. You're doing all this. But what is someone that like the quote unquote normal person can do to support those guys on the day in, day out?
[00:23:40] Speaker B: Man, they're just a different breed of people.
But I would think appreciation, I would think first and foremost is just there's so much negative impact for, you know, the, that one out of a million first responders, that is a bad apple, you know, just like in every, just like in anything, pastors, whatever, leaders.
But this kind of whole defund the police, all of this ridiculous stuff has created this, this, this attitude or feeling from a first responder that I go and put my life on the line every day I experience all this critical incident stuff. It affects my family mentally, it messes me up. And, and then to feel in the day to day that society's against them, that society's like, yeah, criticizing. So I would say simple appreciation. I try to make a point every time I see man interact with law enforcement in my day to day, but like just go shake their hand and say thank you for what you do. Thanks for putting your life on the line to protect and say, I think that appreciation is all they need. They don't, they don't really. There's not really another avenue for the average day to day person to.
But that makes a difference because it just reassures them that day people are for us.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: And not against us. So I would say that's a huge one.
That's good.
[00:25:08] Speaker C: That's huge.
[00:25:09] Speaker A: So what's, so what's next for you? Like, like what's on the horizon for, for Epic Warrior and kind of where you're at with it?
[00:25:16] Speaker B: Well, again it's, it's, it's just merged and shifted over the years because the hardest part for us with Epic warriors has been how do you get into those departments? There's a level in the, in the first responder community and there's this kind of whole, oh, this guy's got, he's going to fix everybody, you know, this whole.
So we've had a hard time. We've done multiple different gear or training, provided that for departments as kind of a way to get our name in there to say if you ever need us for critical incident counseling. We've done a lot of gear and equipment things to try to build relationships. But we ended up thinking like, I don't want to just be a fundraiser for equipment. Like.
[00:25:57] Speaker C: Right.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:59] Speaker B: And so some of that has been me personally connecting with different avenues for critical insulin counseling. So since we started Epic Warrior, that's where all these other threads have come up. Become a part of chaplain support and a organization called Texas Line of Duty Task Force and any line of duty death fire or police department.
This often this organization comes alongside the families and then we may do critical incident counseling with departments. So I've gotten through that. I've gotten connected to multiple different departments to come in and say, hey, can you come and help us?
My serving in parks and Wildlife as a chaplain also was another thread of that where I would come alongside game wardens and state police, but that was also the thread that led me to get deployed to the whole Uvalde school incident for 14 days. And that was terrific.
Another one is there's a organization called Post Critical Incident Seminar. It's sponsored by Lehmit, that's a law enforcement organization out of, I think San Marcos. And so I'm a part of these critical incident seminars where they bring first responders that are, that have just gone through a critical incident to a three day retreat and they get counseling and one on one, like, we're not alone. They have great small group environments. So I serve as a chaplain and support to that too. So that's. So those threads have emerged for Epic Warrior. Rather than us trying to get in there, it's become the background organization that can fund right opportunities through these organizations for me to go and do critical incident counseling or just help that organization put their retreat on.
Then the other, the other fourth thing, I know I'm talking a lot, but.
[00:28:03] Speaker C: No, you're good.
[00:28:04] Speaker B: Four years ago, this whole midnight call with God, you know, I'm sitting there like, how can I, how can an Epic Warrior be more of an impact? How can I make a difference in first responders? And I'm sitting up in the middle of the night one night and I think about John, chapter one, where, you know, Jesus, he became flesh and dwelt among them. And Lord just said, just go be one of them.
Go be with them. And I was like, what are you. And at that point, I was trying to break into fire departments for the same thing, but they're so hard again.
Yes, they're. They only. It's a close community.
And so I was like, what do you mean? Like? Like, just go be.
I, I think I'd heard of volunteer fire departments, but in my mind it wasn't present enough. And I'm just like, just go be a firefighter. And so that night I got online and searched local volunteer fire departments and put an application in.
And within a few months I was doing an interview with the county fire department out here and stepped into that whole realm. And now I'm shoulder to shoulder at times with our municipal department, fighting fires with them. Went to fire academy to become a state commission firefighter, emt.
So that now I'm just in it day to day.
[00:29:22] Speaker A: Right.
[00:29:22] Speaker B: And I have more, I have more conversations with obviously firefighters as we're a fire department, but with the municipal ems, sheriff's department, pd, that's on scene. And I built relationships with them on scene.
That, that opens the door for me to, to just support it indirectly by having friendships and relationships with these people and then being in the first responder community myself. So.
So it's kind of spider webbed out.
[00:29:54] Speaker A: That's good.
[00:29:55] Speaker C: I love it. And as we're wrapping up my. One of the questions I have is I love your little. Like, just be appreciative and let them know.
What would you say? Let's say there's a church or there's someone at a church that's like, you know what? We have firefighters, we have police departments, and they'll always show up when the alarm goes off.
And how can, how can churches or small groups really invest in either firehouse or the police department in a tangible way that lets them know that they're known, that they're prayed for, and that there's people in that community that have their back? What would be some practical things that maybe a church could engage in to make that impact?
[00:30:35] Speaker B: Yeah, man, I would just, I mean, a really, really meaningful and simple practical thing is we done. The church I'm a part of, it's done this for years, but I would just say pick a time every year and do a.
Create these like first responder snack boxes.
You know, like we did with. I think we did it with the schools here, but the same way we just say, all right, every, every station, every fire station, don't forget dispatch. They're huge for dispatch. All the police departments and sheriff's offices and create these, these giant gift boxes that are filled with snacks because they're. Those shifts are crazy. And they're always like healthy snacks and different kind of things. You know, everything from, you know, vitamin C packets, but create these big bags and a note and just deliver those in person.
Split up with the group in your church and deliver them to Fire Station 5 and just come in and say, man, we appreciate you guys. Thank you for everything you do. We just have a gift box here that has all kind of snacks. And that right there is a tangible way they're going to snack off that, eat off that. But they know love one on one. Yeah, that's cool. You're from. So that's a cool way like every
[00:31:49] Speaker C: Church should be doing this. Like.
[00:31:50] Speaker A: Like, I know they.
[00:31:51] Speaker C: Every week they should be getting a gift basket from one of the churches in the community. And it's just a simple way to do it. And so churches, man, if you. If you're a member of a church, figure out a way to make it happen and just. It's. That is. That is like the easiest thing that can make the biggest impact for these. These guys and gals that are going out there sacrificing in crazy ways, missing numerous holidays. They may not even have time or bandwidth to be a part of a church, but we need to know that. They need to know the church is for them. And. And at any time, we got their backs. I love it. I think it's a great way to do it. And reclaimed church, if you're listening, this is going to be on our summer to do list for sure.
[00:32:28] Speaker A: That's awesome. That's awesome. I love it.
[00:32:30] Speaker B: It'd be showing up with barbecue or something for a meal, too, because most people don't know they pay for all their own food at the grocery store. They're not putting that on the fire department tab. They all pitch in and pay for all their meals. And so if you showed up to one fire station and said, you know, A, B or C shift, hey, we want to bring barbecue one night, what time do you guys eat supper? Number. Number one, it saves them having to pay for a meal. But that we've done that where we're just like, we're showing up with barbecue. How many guys? What time? And it's just a huge. They're just so appreciative of practical things like that.
[00:33:07] Speaker C: I think that's the sixth love language barbecue.
[00:33:09] Speaker A: Yes, I think it is.
[00:33:10] Speaker C: I. I definitely think that's the sixth love language. Absolutely.
[00:33:13] Speaker A: Especially in Texas here. I mean, definitely, like, if it's good
[00:33:16] Speaker C: barbecue, if it's bad, leave it at home, leave it on the pit. Don't. Don't even bring it out.
[00:33:20] Speaker A: Yeah, no, this has been great, man. I love it. I love it. And I do think there's. There's such a need. And you're right. A lot of times we see this. I mean, there's something tangible we need to do, so. No, no. Loving, Loving hearing this update. Grateful to have you on again, man. Any final thoughts before we. We move into the fast five? Anything that you would like to share or you know about the. Whether it's to a first responder who's listening or whether it's just to somebody else. Anything else you'd like to share.
[00:33:46] Speaker B: You know, this is close to my heart now. Like, there's over 70% of firefighters in the United States are volunteer. Most people don't know that.
[00:33:55] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:33:55] Speaker B: Roughly about 800,000 firefighters in the United States are volunteer. And so I would just say you drive bomb all the time. You don't realize in the small towns and counties, even like in our area, there's two county volunteer fire departments. So I would say consider your volunteer firefighters. They, they get up and protect and serve. A lot of them run ems. They're a completely self funded first responder community I never knew existed into it. So I would just say that. Yeah.
[00:34:28] Speaker C: And volunteer boys, if you need a little adventure in your life, get trained volunteer help. Share the burden and the load. For sure. Make it happen. And play with all the cool toys.
[00:34:38] Speaker B: Oh, it's so you pull up on a fire scene with driving a fire truck and it's just like your boyhood dream. Like, just go get some, man.
[00:34:47] Speaker C: I love it. I love it.
[00:34:48] Speaker A: Like, Jay, we don't need the Jaws of life tonight, but you can try it. You can use it.
[00:34:53] Speaker C: Running around with Jaws of Life.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: Exactly where do I need it?
[00:34:57] Speaker B: Let me break the door.
[00:34:59] Speaker A: It's a grass fire. It's a grass fire. I don't care. Is there a tree?
Oh, man. Dude, this has been great, man. Thank you.
[00:35:07] Speaker C: Good to have you on.
[00:35:07] Speaker A: So good.
[00:35:08] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:35:09] Speaker A: Well, dude, we're moving into our fast five segment.
There it is. There it is. Hey, man. You like that? Yeah, exactly. Every time.
It's a lot of fun. These guys. My add kicks in. I love that little zoom and Kyle found that for us. Thank you, Kyle, for your wisdom and. Yeah, and ingenuity. That's the word. All right. Hey, question number one. If you could tell people to support a cause or a ministry, what would it be and why?
[00:35:37] Speaker B: Well, other than non legacy, which is good call, good call, or epic warrior.
[00:35:43] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:35:43] Speaker B: What I just said yes. Support your local fire department. Give a donation. They're all donation supported. They, they protect and serve. Come out in all zero hours and out with full time jobs. So check out a volunteer fire department. Support them.
[00:35:57] Speaker C: Love it.
[00:35:57] Speaker A: Awesome. Love it. Awesome. Dude, if you could describe legacy with one word or phrase, what would it be?
[00:36:04] Speaker B: Love, I think love.
[00:36:06] Speaker A: Love it.
[00:36:07] Speaker C: Nailed it.
[00:36:08] Speaker A: So good. So much wisdom in this. If you had to change careers, what would you change it to?
[00:36:15] Speaker B: Man, I think I do full time what I do part, you know, on the, on the extra right now and be critical incident counselor and first responder community which is what I do, but I'd love to do it. So cool all the time.
[00:36:27] Speaker C: It's awesome that God has you right where he wants you and what he. What he wired you for, man. That's fantastic.
[00:36:31] Speaker A: Well, and we're not even getting into the full wisdom of Jay. Like, I'm a little biased, but he's one of the best preachers I've ever heard. I'm not joking. This guy can preach, man. Oh, stop. You're amazing. So, I mean, to have him there in front of these guys, hearing truth. Solid. So if you're in. If you're in Midland, I know that he preaches on the Stonegate Fellowship and their team, you know, as needed. And, man, just. Just a blessing. His wisdom is far above how he looks.
[00:36:56] Speaker C: Love it.
[00:37:00] Speaker B: Wait a second.
[00:37:01] Speaker C: Wait a minute.
[00:37:01] Speaker B: Wait a second.
[00:37:04] Speaker A: Which leads us into our most important fast five, which is if. What is your go to fruit if you had to pick one?
[00:37:12] Speaker B: Well, in light of some of the ways the conversation started, I would say a banana.
Just gonna leave it at that.
[00:37:22] Speaker A: We're just gonna move on to number five.
Oh, dear goodness.
We're all gonna get.
You know, we're gonna stand there, and the Lord's gonna be like, jay, Kyle, Travis, Bill, get over here. Right here.
Episode 280. What's going on here? Sorry, Lord. We just had a lot of fun. He's like, you're idiots. Come on in.
Good thing you're covered by the blood. He's like, thank you, Jesus.
[00:37:48] Speaker B: Thank you, Jesus.
[00:37:49] Speaker A: All right, number five. What do you want to be remembered for by those closest to you?
[00:37:56] Speaker B: Man, I. I have three phrases I. I try to. I do terrible at, but I try to live out. It's. It's meant to love boldly, to serve humbly into, and to give generously. And if I could be remembered, like, with those three things, I.
I feel like I've left an impact.
[00:38:14] Speaker A: Awesome.
[00:38:15] Speaker C: That's fantastic.
[00:38:16] Speaker A: I love it. I love it. Guys, we're gonna put a link down below for Epic Warrior. Make sure you click that link, follow it, support it if you want to give.
And I know that Jay is making a difference in the lives of first responders, so make sure that you are. Man, if you find a place. Where do I start? Start there. Yep. And then, you know, we will obviously have. Have links for all of our stuff for our men's Bible study, but we. Jay, we are so grateful to have you on today. Thank you so much for your time. And, guys, thank you so much for watching. Do us a favor. If you like it, share it. If you don't like it, share it and still lie. Lie to your friends. But we'd love to have you be a part. Want to build this community?
[00:38:51] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:38:52] Speaker A: Of men who want to wake up Europe and come alive.
[00:38:53] Speaker C: Travis Final thoughts Get involved in the adrenaline shot on Thursday mornings. No better time than now. And serve your local firefighters and police department. Get after it. God Bless.
[00:39:03] Speaker A: Have a great week everybody.
[00:39:06] Speaker C: Thanks for listening to the no Legacy podcast. We'd love to hear from you, so
[00:39:10] Speaker A: email us your questions or comments to infonolegacy. Org.
