Feelings Versus Control

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Feelings are good identifiers, but they're poor dictators. Uh they belong in the dashboard, not the driver's seat. If you're drawing breath, your mission here on this earth is not over. It's time to get back into the fight.

Meet The Freedom Fighter Foundation

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Welcome to better voice. Your host.

Tom Faust 0:42

I'm normally here with my son Chris, but he couldn't make it today, so we are continuing on. Today we have with us Shade Bounds and Danny McDaniel from the Freedom Fighter Foundation. And I think what I want to do is let you, Shade, let you introduce your foundation and yourself a little bit, and then Danny can introduce himself a little bit, and we'll continue from there.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Absolutely. So my name is Shade Bounds. I'm with the Freedom Fighter Foundation. We are an organization that helps veterans, first responders, and their family members overcome the unseen war, help them identify cycles of dysfunction and break those cycles of dysfunction, and lead them and their families on to create generational legacy.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

Danny? Yeah, my name is Danny May Daniel, and I'm I'm the co-founder of the Freedom Fighter Foundation, along with Shade, our national director. And just a little bit about my background as I'm a third generation high school football coach. I'm not a veteran, although you know my dad uh served in the Navy, my grandfather fought in Iwo Jima. So I have family, you know, but generationally, you know, I have I have the military service in my ancestry, but I I didn't serve myself. But I'm honored to serve alongside of people like Shade and the other veterans and first responders that come come along with us. But from a background standpoint, other than coaching, I've been in the business world for 29 years. So I'm a business leader and I'm a professional speaker and communicator, and I'm an author and uh pastor, church planter, and heavily involved in missionary work and you know as it stands today. And so the Freedom Fighter Foundation is just another arm of where I get to extend my life and you know, helping veterans and first responders really come through post-traumatic growth.

Tom Faust 2:28

Excellent. And we will talk about that in a little bit, the post-traumatic growth. Um, Shade, um, before we uh get into what Freedom Fighter Foundation does, uh, you want to give us a little background on your military service and just what led you to do this work?

Shade’s Story Of PTSD And Alcohol

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Absolutely. Um, so I spent 14 years in the United States Army, um, a whole bunch of different resources that were provided to me, and and nothing seemed to help. And uh the Lord took me through this path of learning how to overcome some of these obstacles, and he put amazing people in my life to help me learn how to break these cycles of dysfunction that were in my life and to rise above above the trauma and the things that I saw and the things that we did and and had to go through. And um ultimately it made me a better person because I was able to go through that. I was able to heal from those things and set me back on mission to do what God's called me to do.

Tom Faust 3:22

So as you were uh you mentioned in our uh previous conversation that you were struggling with alcohol and uh trying to fix things yourself and all that. Um so what was going on inside you at that point in time? What and when did you realize that trying harder wasn't really the answer?

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Oh, uh you know, uh as a typical, typical man and also typical military guy, we just we always want to fix ourselves and we always were trying to fix the problem and and uh white knuckle our way out of it. And yeah, going through through the PTSD, the trauma, um I I couldn't find a release from it. I couldn't get out. So I did what everybody else did as they drank. And uh, and you know, after nine and a half years of being an alcoholic, still active duty, really just struggling with the process, and I I kept trying to fix myself, and the more I tried to fix myself, the more I spiraled out of control. More I spiraled out of control, the more I felt more terrible about myself that man, I can't fix myself. I can't get out of this hole. The more desperate I became to search for something more than than what it was working, than what I had because it wasn't working. And uh and ultimately, yeah, I I I got tired of not being able to fix me, and I had to reach out to something higher than me, higher than my ability, and that was Jesus 100%.

Tom Faust 4:46

So we all know that uh veterans are often trained really, really well to confront an external enemy. Um, but we talked earlier about a you know being poorly prepared for an internal enemy. I think Danny you described it as the battle within.

The Battle Within And Root Causes

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Yeah.

Tom Faust 5:02

So what does the battle within mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Well, I actually have a book called Freedom, and the subtitle is Winning the Battle Within. And we use that, we use that book as a resource, you know, within the foundation because it's a lot like you know, if you're at war and you s and you are on the battlefront and your enemy is out in front of you, and you know the enemy's out there and you have to confront the enemy, but and you're in the trenches. And and what happens is a lot of times what we don't realize is that we're fighting on two fronts. You know, we're fighting the we're fighting the enemy that's coming at us, you know, from a you know, from an emotional standpoint, spiritual standpoint, you know, because there is there's the there's the there's the seen realm and the unseen realm, and they exist with no matter what you believe. Um but that unseen realm is in operation and it's working. And you know, and if we if if the enemy gets in the trenches, then now you're trying to fight on the battlefront and you're trying to fight the battle within in the trenches and you get sabotaged. That's what happens to us as people when we experience trauma, when we experience things that affect our mind and affect the way we view things. You know, it's really you know, I've learned through my relationships with these warriors, you know, that we work with that have been completely healed spiritually, physically, you know, emotionally, I've learned that you know there's a there's a there's some common commonalities within you know the service. And the word fix is, you know, fixed is a fix or fixed is a common word and work the problem, you know, is a common thing. Let's work the problem. And and the thing is, is you can work the problem, but if you but if you don't know the root of the problem, you can't work the problem. And if you don't know the root of the problem, you can't get fixed. And so it's not about fixing someone, and it's not about working the problem, it's about helping helping veterans and first responders really find the root and the root cause of where that trauma lies so it can actually be addressed and and and and someone get healed, like completely healed, because a lot of people aren't told you can be healed from this trauma. You it doesn't mean you you forgot. You know, it's hard to it's hard to forget things that happen in our life, but at the same time, you can be completely healed from the trauma that affects those things that happen in our life. And it starts with winning the battle within. It's it's inside of us. The enemy is speaking to us, the any the enemy of you know, fear, you know, the enemy of anxiety, stress, worry, and self-defeat, and self-failure, and you know, all and terrors and night terrors and all those things that haunt us, it's it's from within, and that can be eliminated. And so that's what that's what we helped you know take people through.

Tom Faust 7:55

Yeah, and so what what uh what do you think are some of the warning signs that a veteran's fighting this battle and and why might they be uh trying to hide the struggles that you know that they're going through?

SPEAKER_01 8:07

I think the the biggest sign that somebody's struggling with it is that they're doing just that. They're trying to fix it. They're they're trying to like, oh no, I they they are aware that something's wrong. They're just fighting it on a battlefield that they have no idea even exists, and they're getting their tails kicked and can't figure out why. But the the big telltale signs is they're they're isolating, usually because when we can't fix something, we're like, well, let me get away from everybody else and let me try to deal with what's going on in me. Let me go try to to figure this out, right? And they'll they'll isolate, and uh, and that's the worst thing that we could absolutely do. There's you know, that's that's a tact military tactic one-on-one, isolation for annihilation. Like, we don't want to isolate, but that's what we tend to do. We tend to isolate, we tend to withdraw and just get into our own, like we'll we'll put all of our focus or emphasis on something that we're good at, and and that's where we'll just live in that place of like, oh, well, this is home to me. Like for me, I like to be out in the woods and because I like to go hunting. So that's what I did is I poured myself into the woods, and I was only comfortable when I was in the woods, but I was never um, it never fixed the problem because it was still the internal battle going on within within me. So a lot of us, you know, we'll we'll turn to other vices. So not all vices are are ter technically bad, you know. But some of the things like alcoholism, dropping into drugs, those are the bad ones. Those are the ones we always notice. Um, some of those outlets will be anger and rage, and they'll start just getting angry, and they want to just, you know, they'll they'll pick up a hobby of of some type of violence all of a sudden, or jump into violent video games, and that's the way that they're feeding that that internal battle as trying to suffice it, but we know it just grows and grows and grows, and eventually it overcomes us. So those are some of the big key signs that we typically see is you know, you know, withdrawal isolation, trying to throw themselves at a problem that they can fix and uh engross themselves in that, or they're just trying to displace the things that are struck they're struggling with with uh other distractions, and that that never

Isolation Warning Signs And Collateral Blessing

SPEAKER_01 10:10

works.

Tom Faust 10:10

So yeah, and I uh yeah, like you said, it never works. I guess that's they they keep trying and and and failing, so they need some other direction to be led into. And you describe like the trauma causing collateral damage, but the healing can produce collateral blessing that can reach the families in future generations. How how do you describe that?

SPEAKER_01 10:32

And the best way to describe that is is you know, I I think I think most of us are are aware of the term collateral damage, but when we stop and think about it, we see like somebody that was affected because they like let's say somebody died at war. Well, that affects the family back home. That affects everybody that knew that individual. And that, and then, you know, you know, after 9-11 and after um what happened on a 9-11 and what happened after all the wars that kicked off for 20 years or 21 years of war that we were at, every single person on the planet was affected some way, shape, or form by those war by those wars. Whether it was something that was somebody that they were close to or somebody that they know, somebody secondhand, but everybody was affected, every community was impacted or affected by that. And it was something that just seeped down into all of culture, uh especially the American culture, but all of our culture, right? There was times of pride, but there was times of also like, oh man, we lost so many men over there. And it had uh a relatability for a while for each and every individual. Well, that's collateral damage, and it does, it seeps down into every little facet of life that we don't even understand or or even fully see unless we really stop and and dig in and look at it. But we see how it begins to shift the entire culture of a nation. And um, but collateral blessing is when we step into the transformation that comes through healing from these wounds, the transformation that God brings when we step into this, you know, overcoming this battle and stepping into the place of healing, when these things happen, then there's a collateral blessing that flows through that. And I'll give you a practical example is when I was wrestling and I was struggling, and I was able to stand in and learn how to fight this in a new way, how to fight in this realm that I never even knew was possible, then that brought healing to my life. That bring brought transformation to me. That means that I was no longer the mean dad that my kids were scared to death of. That means that my wife now had her husband back. That and that meant that my mom now had her son back. That meant that my it changed began to shift and change the dynamics of my family, which in turn began to shift my wife. And then now she's she was walking through healing from secondary trauma, and my children were able to walk through healing from secondary trauma, and now my children are pouring into other kids where they're you know they're dealing with secondhand trauma from their parents or the things, and we watch this blessing just overtake far greater than than collateral damage ever did. So that's collateral blessing. It's something that just keep it's the gift that keeps on giving, if you will.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

And let me let me say this too, you know, Shade. I get to watch Shade and his family in action because we do all kinds of functions together in the Freedom Fighter Foundation. And you know, you know, Shade's married, has six kids, and you know, and before his healing process, you know, he had anger, he had rage, he had all this pent-up stuff, and it was affected, he was on the verge, not even knowing if he's gonna have a wife anymore and a family anymore, because he was destroying his family. His kids through his anger and rage, his kids didn't want to be around him. And now he's got six kids that follow him everywhere. He's got six, he has got a wife that does this found that operates in our foundation as as you know, the top female leader in our foundation, and their kids are an extension of our foundation. They're our their kids are transforming other kids' lives as a result of working with the freedom fighters. And it's just amazing to see that.

Tom Faust 14:15

That that does sound amazing. I I love

Post-Traumatic Growth And Healing Scars

Tom Faust 14:18

that. Um, let's talk about something you mentioned a little bit earlier, uh Danny. You mentioned uh post-traumatic growth. And we all know, you know, we hear about PTSD all the time. We're familiar with that, uh, the problems that that can cause. But uh tell me more about the uh PTG or post-traumatic growth.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Okay, well, I'll start and then I'm gonna hand it to Shade to bring the real definition. I'm gonna just set it up with actually a thought that I've never even talked about before, but as Shade was talking earlier, this was what I was thinking based on our conversation today. It's a lot like that old movie Predator with Sylvester Stallone, you know, and in the Predator, that you know, you there's an enemy and you couldn't ever find him, he couldn't locate him. And he had to come up with he had to be creative, you know, in unique ways of how to, you know, how to defeat that enemy. And so that's what most people, most people that have trauma, they isolate because they think no one else in the world knows what's going on with me, no one cares, uh, no one can help me anyway. There's not a real answer, there's not a solution. But yet, and this predator is is lurking around them all the time, and they're just waiting for the gloom and doom. They're just waiting for everything to crater because they don't know how they don't know how to identify that enemy. They they know he's there, but they can't put their finger on it. And all and so they live in this isolated mode, just hoping that it doesn't get them today, hoping that it doesn't kill them right now. And because deep down they don't want to die. Deep down they they really do want to live, and they want to live with fulfillment, but they're but they're too gripped by the predator that is consistently attacking them from every angle through a different trauma they've experienced that they don't they don't even know how to confront it because they can't even see it and can't even identify it. So now here's where you know post-traumatic growth, you know, really can kick in because that's what we're teaching. So, Shane, you got it.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Yeah, absolutely. I I like to I I liken it to a wound or to an injury, right? If we wash, you know, if we get a cut on our arm and I wash that cut and I just keep it clean, after about a week or so it begins to scab, right? It begins to heal. And if I break a bone, the doctor sets it, splints it, and then after about nine to 12 weeks, it it heals, correct? So we were created to heal. We were created to heal as long as we were in an environment that's conducive to healing. The the cut has to be kept clean, the bone has to be joined back together and and uh splinted and braced, right? And that creates healing in us. Our minds and our hearts are no different. The problem is most of us don't know how to put our minds or our hearts in an environment that's conducive to healing. But when we do this, when we put our minds and our hearts in an environment that's conducive to healing, then the healing process is natural. It's how we were functioned and or how we were created to function. It's how our bodies were created to to put themselves back in order. And when we come into alignment with these things and these environments that are conducive to healing, then the the healing happens naturally. Now, you know, my my mind and my body are riddled with scars from from physical combat and from things that we we got to do and and things that we experienced, encountered. Now, you know, scars are something that's beautiful because the toughest part of your skin is scar tissue. The the place in your body that's least likely to ever the you know, the bone in your body that's least likely to ever be broken is in the spot that it was once broken and then healed back together. Like we were created this way to heal and to be stronger through the healing. Now, I still have scars, but they don't hurt anymore. It's just evidence of the healing in my life. And and this is this is in essence what post-traumatic growth is it's the fact that we can actually become stronger and we can actually become better when we heal from the things that hurt us, and we can grow through these things and actually become a better person on the other side of it.

Tom Faust 18:21

Um, so what would you say to a veteran who believes that uh like before they've reached this growth point, you know, that this is just who I am now and I have to deal with it? What would you say to them to get them moving toward growth?

SPEAKER_01 18:35

When you're done exhausting every other way and trying to do it on your own, uh it's better when you just give in and and give into the process that is functioning in all of creation the way it was set up. Yeah.

Tom Faust 18:50

Yeah, I'd hope that they could uh reach that point before they've exhausted all the ones that aren't going to work, you know, the sooner the better.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

Oh, I hope so too. I just had to stop depending on myself for for my own healing.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

And Tom, one thing that I'll add to that that you know that maybe will help is because you know, because a lot of times I know there's there's women in the service too, and women that are first responders. Uh so there's plenty of females that could be watching this, but even the females know that a lot of times males, you know, we're the hardest nut to crack because of our own pride, you know, and our own isolation. And it's so easy when we're wounded, we isolate. And just like an animal, what does a deer do when it's wounded? It isolates. I mean, a a coyote will isolate, a wolf will isolate. So they isolate because they want to get healed. And so God's designed ways for them to get healed, but but but not a human being. God didn't design human beings to isolate when they're wounded. And so it takes community. And and so what has to has to happen is is we we have this saying that we teach, you know, when we when we do any kind of ministry or leadership training or anything, and it's that everything starts with trust. You know, if you tr if you can trust if you trust somebody, then you'll feel safe. And if you feel safe, then you'll become vulnerable. See, vulnerability is the hardest thing for an isolated human being. They don't want to be vulnerable because you they they don't want to expose what the battle that's really happening within. But but if you're if you don't feel safe, you won't be vulnerable. And so if you're vulnerable though, you can be transformed. So now let's backtrack it. Everybody wants transformation, everybody. There's not a person on the earth that doesn't want to be transformed, that doesn't want to live a life of fulfillment. But to be transformed, you have to become vulnerable. And to become vulnerable, you have to feel like you're safe. And you because you'll never be vulnerable if you're not safe, and you'll never feel safe if you don't trust. And what I love about Shade and our other warriors, absolute warriors that lead this foundation and lead the charge, they make people feel safe in our environment. And that allows them to become vulnerable, knowing that you know, we you we can be trusted here because this is your life. This is your life on the line, this is your family, this is your generational legacy. And if you can trust us and you can feel safe, your vulnerability will lead to transformation, and that's that's the key.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

100%. Yeah, my if I could tag on to that. You know, my last my last tour in Afghanistan, I was on the Medevac. And, you know, when when these guys were wounded and and we had to pick them up on the Medevac, like they knew that they were in a place where they were just like, okay, they just lay down and I'm like, hey, this is gonna hurt, but we're gonna attend to you. We're gonna take care of this. And they would just lay there and they'd be like, okay, they are transparent, vulnerable. Like, hey, what's your where's your pain at, man? What you feeling? Like, and we would we would have to they would have to be vulnerable to expose the areas that are hurt that are injured so we could actually help them in that process. Of getting them plugged up or getting them wrapped up and into a place of healing where they can start the process of healing. It's no different with our minds. It's just getting past that place of pride and um and pulling that down and allowing ourselves to be transparent and vulnerable. Because we say transparency plus vulnerability equals true accountability, and true accountability equals transformation.

Trust Leads To Vulnerability And Change

Tom Faust 22:24

So I want to I want to talk about the uh you have a combat trauma healing process that you talk about with Freedom Fighter

Combat Trauma Healing Process Explained

Tom Faust 22:32

Foundation. So it it uh addresses things like what PTSD and understanding the trauma, et cetera. You want to give us some more information, a little idea of how that process works?

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Yeah, absolutely. So what you're talking about is the uh it's a book called The Combat Trauma Healing Manuals, written by Chris Adsett. And he covers a lot of the things that we're talking about in this is it it all comes back to a place of us needing to step in to realize the process that we were created to function and operate in, the process of healing that God created. And it takes us step by step through like knowing where God was in those situations. Like, where is God when when bad things happen? And being able to understand that He's not the author of all the bad things that happened to you, and that there is an enemy out there that does seek to kill, steal, and destroy. And it tells us, like it under, it shows us the sociological and the and the the physical aspects of trauma and what does that do to our bodies. And then it takes us to a place of actually cultivating and and um creating this environment that's for healing, and then it walks us through a process of like dealing with things that are in our heart, like forgiveness. Uh forgiveness was a big one for me. I I was able to forgive the enemy, I was able to forgive everybody that did me wrong. There was the the hardest person for me to forgive was myself because I held myself at such a high standard. And until I was able to step into like forgiving myself for things, then I wasn't able to fully heal. Like going back to the wound analogy, it's like having debris, you know, still having debris and junk in the wound. Until we debris that wound, then we're gonna continue to suffer and struggle and it's not gonna heal.

Tom Faust 24:11

And so if I if a veteran comes in, he's struggling and doesn't know where to begin, where where do you start? What do you tell him first to get to get moving in the right direction?

SPEAKER_01 24:22

It's kind of it's gonna some of that depends on like where they're at when their background, but mostly it always is gonna start with um, you know, what are the lies that they're believing about themselves? We're gonna we're gonna start out in that area and help them begin to renew their mind, debris the wound that's in their mind, like the lies that they believed about themselves, that they thought, well, I'm no longer worthy, or I'm not good enough, or I'm all alone, I'm isolated, there's nobody else struggling with this, and we help combat some of those lies. And then we'll take them to a place from um from you know dealing with the lies to learning how to step into their identity. Like who who are they? Who and you know, who they are is not a sum of what they've done. It's not the title that they wore on their on their on their uniform or the patch they wore on their uniform, it's not um what the military called them. Who they are is um established by God and and by their creator. The creator gets to define the object he created, and that's us, right? So we help them re-re-engage into that. Um and then from there we'll help them like continue to debree the wound with like some of the old mindsets and wrong thought process that they had, and then identify those cycles of dysfunction that are in their lives where they keep turning back to the bottle or they keep, you know, turning back to the wrong thing, and we help them identify those things and help them break free from that.

Tom Faust 25:42

You think that um losing their uh military identity, the camaraderie that they had before once they get out, uh does this complicate the healing?

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Uh it it can. It can if they let it continue to be that way. You know, really and truly, a lot of the identity issues that veterans and first responders tend to struggle with didn't start in the military or when they left the military. Most of them started in their childhood. And um, they were always trying to grasp for something or reach for something more than likely. It's not to say that that's the only reason why we joined the military. Like a lot of us have felt this drawing or this calling on our life to do so. But a lot of times um we find it very, very common that they were lurk, they were looking for something, they're looking for a place of belonging. And when that thing was gone, then yeah, they're absolutely like feel like they've lost every part of them to include their identity because that's what they had their their life rolled up

Forge Freedom Fight Fulfill Framework

SPEAKER_01 26:40

into.

Tom Faust 26:40

All right. Well, you you uh talked about the uh four phases that you go through the forge, freedom, fight, and fulfill. Um let's start with freedom and and what does that mean in this context?

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Oh, come on. I love it. So freedom's my favorite part. I I it is the place where we are helping them understand that unseen realm. We're helping them understand that there's a whole nother war out there that they have no clue of that's going on, and that's the area they're getting their their tail kicked in. And when we pull back the curtain and explore expose to them, like, hey, look, you're you're fighting a spiritual enemy, you're you're fighting uh a heavenly enemy that is not a good thing, right? It's it's uh it he is planting seeds of lies and doubts constantly in our minds. And when we understand that, we understand to distinguish between the the voice of our commander in chief, Jesus, and the voice of the enemy, when we learn how to understand that, see that reality of what's going on, and then now we're like, oh, cool. It's you know, I love Danny gives the analogy of uh of night vision goggles, you know how we you know, for the longest time the United States military, we owned the night, right? Because we had night vision goggles. Now everybody's got them, but uh, but we got some other cool tech out now too. But but the thing is, is we own the night. It's like for years we fought in darkness, and then now all of a sudden you drop down your nods or your night vision um goggles, and now you can like, oh, I can see the enemy. It's very plain and simple. The freedom stage is where we help peel back those old things, and we we we help identify the things that are going on in our heart, the things that are attacking our minds, and we help them see those things through new lenses, a new, a new capacity to be able to be like, oh, there's a whole nother war here. And then when they see that, they're like, okay, game on, it's time to go. So I don't know if that helps bring some clarity to it.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

Yeah, it's it's really like spiritual night gear. You you know, if you're suffering from trauma and things that you can't that you just can't overcome, you you have you don't have spiritual night gear. And so the enemy is stalking you just like a predator. And because you can't see it, you don't know how to deal with it. And we help we help you, I like we help you get the spiritual night gear and utilize it to your advantage so that you're so that you can operate 24-7 now in victory.

Tom Faust 29:10

So let's move on to fight. I think you said uh at some point freedom requires discipline. Um what so but what do you mean by that? Like I can't just do whatever I want to do now or or what?

SPEAKER_01 29:24

Yeah, it's uh that's it's it's kind of the the funny thing about freedom and our our interpretation of it, you know, just as a society, a society that's free, or mostly free, we'll say, right? Um there's still confines of like, well, you know, you can't technically, you don't, I mean, you you have the freedom to go make wrong choices, but those wrong choices are gonna get you in a world of trouble, right? So in the same in the same way, like we have freedom of will. We have our will to use, and when we surrender that will over to Jesus, we walk in a place of freedom. That's amazing. It's like there's laws of this country that we have to abide by. And if you don't abide by those things, you're no longer free. You get put in prison or in jail, right? It's the same mindset. Like, so yes, we have to when we're walking in freedom, we have to be disciplined to walk in the level of freedom that God's given us to function and operate in. The cool thing is, is it's not restrictive like a lot of us think. Oh, well, I can't go and you know, do this, or I can't go and do this. It's like, no, I don't want to go and do that because that's gonna put me back in a place of freedom or in a back in a place of bondage. I don't want to go against um what I know is right because that's gonna put me back into a place of imprisonment. Like I I spent you know, too much of my lifetime imprisoned in my mind and my heart because I was broken. And I don't want to go back to that place. I don't ever want to go back. So my desire is to walk in the freedom, and that takes discipline of me having to continually renew my mind, continually check my heart and go, oh, I don't want to be in that place. And that's where it leads into the fight stage that you were talking about is how do I fight? How do I fight for my family? How do I fight for my freedom? How do I fight for their future by continuing to to grow in this area? And how do I continue to walk this out? So um, you know, I can give you a practical application for for fighting is um it's it's going against some of those mindsets that we know that aren't truth. They're they're they're lies, you know. It's like one of my kids, they were struggling one time and they're just you know, their their attitude was way off. I'm like, hey, well, what's up? Like, time out. Let's let's let's have a conversation. So I sit down with them and I was like, what's going on? And they're like, oh, nothing. I'm like, no, no, no, no. What what like what's up in your mind? What's going on in your mind? And they're like, well, you know, like, well, my brother did this, and like, so there was a little squabble. I'm like, okay, so would that, you know, he's done that before, and you haven't gotten this kind of attitude or acted like that. So, like, what what is it about that that's really bothering you? And they're like, Well, when he does this, I I feel like nobody likes me. And that, and I'm like, okay, cool. Well, all right. So, so how when you when you feel like nobody likes you, then how does that make you feel? And they're like, Well, I I feel all alone. I was like, okay, great. So are you alone? No, okay, cool. So we're identifying like some major issues, and and something that we we walk a lot of people through is we talk about feelings. Yep, it's fun to get a whole group of guys together. We talk about feelings, and I tell them that feelings are good identifiers, but they're poor dictators. Uh, they belong in the dashboard, not the driver's seat. And it's something that God has given us to identify something wrong in us, right? And we combat those feelings. We have to go to war with those things, we have to fight those things and replace it with truth. So, how do you know when you step on a thorn? Because you feel it. It sends an impulse up your up your spine to your brain to go, hey, something's wrong. And when we identify that thing, we're able to go, oh, I need to go tend to that. So when we when we it's not that we suppress our feelings, but we go, oh, hey, I need to I need to fight that negative emotion or that negative feeling I got. Let me let me expose that thing to the truth, because that's how we fight it, right? And we expose that thing to the truth um of of the reality of what God says about us, who we are, who he speaks. You do you know, do you know why a printer is called the printer?

Tom Faust 33:34

Uh because it prints.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

Because the because the guy that the guy that created it named it that. The creator gets to define his creation, right? And it's the same thing as our creator gets to define us, and he's the only one that gets to define us. So if we're feeling lost or alone or unworthy or not good enough, like we have to go back to what the creator said, and that's how we function in our in the the capacity that we are intended to function in, right? If our heart is stirred up with all this um, this heaviness and this bondage that we're in, and like depression and anxiety and fear and worry, then we need to expose those things to the truth and the reality, and then we need to replace that and fight against that and replace it with the truth of what Jesus speaks. And when we do that, that's when we walk in and step into that transformation.

SPEAKER_00 34:25

And you know, Tom, very quickly, just to just to kind of even summarize some of what you know Shade said is you know, the the word fight is paramount in our foundation because we're the freedom fighters. And you know, these guys and gals, you know, that are listening in, watching, you know, that you were trained, you were trained to fight. You were many of you were trained to be a killing machine. And so every all of your training, all of your experience was training ground for the rest of your life. So it's not that it any of it was bad, it's training ground to continue into a new journey and to a new season of fighting. And and so we're not we don't train guys and gals to fight to survive or to fight to get by. It's this is about fighting to win. And so we we're literally focused on teaching you how to fight for victory in your life and fight to win. And if you if you stick around us, you're gonna be a winner because we train you to fight to win in every area of your life.

Tom Faust 35:26

All right. Yeah, but you you answered my next question, I guess, really, because the the military does a really good job of training us to fight and to to stick with it and to just you know whatever we need to do to get the job done that we're assigned to do. And um, yeah, that makes just perfect sense. Just take that same focus and and energy, but redirect it in the right in the right path.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Yeah. You have to see your past experience as training ground for the rest of your life. You know, because we've all been through things. We've all things have happened to us and we've had life experiences. And many times, you know, that's that's that's just training ground for you know where really God's taking us in our life, because hadn't he we not been through that, we wouldn't be, you know, now we're getting to forged. We you know, we wouldn't be, we wouldn't have, you know, that fire, you know, has now forged us for really what our true purpose is and what our higher calling is. So I'll let Shay deal with that one.

Tom Faust 36:25

Sure. Yeah, I think the yeah, the next thing we were gonna talk about was fulfill. Is forge in the list, or did I miss something?

SPEAKER_01 36:31

Yeah, forge is the beginning phase. That's where we that that's oh, there it was.

Tom Faust 36:35

Yeah, I I I skipped over that. Sorry about that. No, that's okay. Yeah, go ahead, continue, please.

SPEAKER_01 36:41

Yeah, so so ultimately I'll I'll just I'll just kind of recap them and then I'll launch into fulfill. So forge is the is the place where you know we are created to be relational beings. Like we we need relationships, we need to develop those things, that camaraderie, right? And first and foremost, like we have to forge a relationship between us and the creator, and then we horizontally forge a relationship between us and other brothers in our brothers and sisters in arms. This is the place where we um we have community around us and we have a direct um covering through our commander-in-chief, right? We have that connection with him, our spiritual commander-in-chief, that is. And then we go from that, we go into that, into the freedom stage, and that's where we learn how to walk through the process of freedom. We we um break down old mindsets and we break down all these cycles of dysfunction that are holding us back and keeping us stuck. And then once we're free from those things and we're stepping into a place of healing, we teach them how to maintain that, and not only maintain that, but then to go and fight for others on their behalf. And then that leads us into the fulfill stage is so many veterans and first responders, like they are um, they are they get to a place of healing and they get to a place where they're you know there's been an awesome transformation in them, and now I don't want them to go sit on their butt on a couch and receive a uh a monthly stipend and check. I want them to engage in what God's called them to do. If you're drawing breath, then your mission's not over. Your mission here on this earth is not over if you're drawing uh drawing breath. It's time to get back into the fight. It's time to go fulfill that which you were called to fulfill. And we see so many anointings and so many uh callings and fulfillments on people's lives, and and they're not engaging. You know, I've heard it said once that that the graveyard is the richest place in the in the world because it's full of talents, abilities, skills, and and uh dreams and visions that never got fulfilled because people went to the grave with them. They just took them to the grave with them instead of advancing and launching into what they were called to fulfill.

SPEAKER_00 38:55

I was in a leadership training one time with a former Navy SEAL, and he talked about we took some serious notes because he he was training on the men, the mission, and anything that opposes the men or the mission. And we operate a lot like that because you know you you know, forged is it's you know, becoming forged is you're you're you're becoming forged for a reason because you're you're on mission. And so you you have a you know, you were you're you're still called to be on a mission. It's just now we're gonna help you navigate that and point you to where your real mission is now. You had a mission and you were surrounded by men had a mission and you fought to oppose anything that that opposed the men of the mission. And that same principle still applies today in our regular life. You know, who you know, who are you and what mission are you on? And are you fighting to oppose anything anything that opposes that the men of the mission? So it's who are we hanging around? You know, you're you're a summation of the five people that you hang around. And I used to be a party animal. And I mean, I was the life, I was the I was the guy that bought the keg. I was the guy that tried to bring everybody to my house to get hammered all the time. And so the culmination of my life was was in a serious spiral downward because I was I was in a I was a high school football coach with two kids, and then all I could think about was partying. Yeah, I was in bankruptcy, couldn't afford rent, had no money because of my actions, and the people who are hanging, the people I were I was hanging around weren't contributing to me and and and fulfilling my mission in life. So we got to identify these things, and we've got to get back on the right mission. You have a mission, you have a calling, and we're gonna help you identify what that mission is because at freedom fighters, we wanna we wanna help. We're not we're not trying to clone you, we're trying to help you through the relationships with other men or women, identify who those people are that you need to be in community with to get you on the mission, and then learn how to fight anything that opposes the men or the mission.

Identity After Service And Community

Tom Faust 41:01

I'm gonna move on to the next part here that I had in my notes, which is uh losing the military family. Uh, you know, like someone, you know, you know your mission, you know your objective, you know where you belong, what unit you're in, all that stuff. And then civilian life, and uh, you know, we kind of touched on it a little while ago, all that disappears. You you're let out, and it's like, goodbye, you're on your own. Um, so how much of what the the veterans struggling with after separation and losing their unit structure and all that is simply combat trauma or something else that they need to deal with?

SPEAKER_01 41:38

And like we mentioned a little bit earlier, I think a lot of a lot of the trauma that people are struggling with is you know, it it didn't start in combat. It usually started at childhood, and then combat just blew it up and made it worse. It just it just exposed the reality and the depth of of those things. So, and and some of that is like it's losing your identity, it's losing what we know is our tribe, you know, or our unit, that I was a part of something and now I'm not. And all it does is it it hyperfocuses and that brings to the forefront the the reality of we're lacking something, that there's something that that is a deficiency in us. I don't think PTSD is as much a disorder as it is a deficiency, that there's something that we're lacking that we need. And when we step into um, you know, back into community, back into camaraderie, back into a place where like um I I have other people around me and I have a mission, that is so helpful. It's so amazing. But if we don't first heal the thing, the initial wound that caused all the pain that's associated with why we need that, then we're gonna continue to to struggle. Like if you don't, if you don't heal from what hurt you, you'll bleed all over everybody that didn't. So we have to actually go back to that place of healing, re restore that place um with the Lord, and then step back into fulfillment of what He's called us to do. And we do that only through community.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

Yeah. Yeah, it's all about community. It's all about being surrounded by the right people and people that are speaking into your life because you know, we sometimes we coming out of the arenas that you've been used to, there's a lot of hyper-sarcasm, you know, there's a lot of negativity, down talk, and tearing the mind down because they're building you up to be a fighting machine. And that's all you're programmed for that. You're not programmed to think necessarily like a champion, you know, to think uh positively all the time, you know, to think that you can that you can you know overcome anything in life. And so it's really about getting getting in a group of brothers or or sisters, getting in a group that are are not only just encouraging you, but speaking life into you, helping you understand that you are a mighty warrior, helping you understand that you are a champion. helping you understand that you are successful, that you're that we're you're going to be successful in what your mission is, whether it's the business world or whether it's the or whether it's in a certain career or whether it's in ministry or whether it's you know serving other veterans, no matter what it is, it's about being being in the midst of the right people that are actually speaking life over you that reprogram you. It's really about reprogramming because we're all programmed. And we we've been programmed since birth. And some programming is really good. Some program is some programming is is not essential for us. And it's actually detrimental to us. And so what we what we want to help people do is get reprogrammed, not from a religious standpoint. This is not about religious programming. This is about programming you to reach your destiny. This is about programming to live a life of fulfillment. This is about programming to become the champion that you were called to be and to win in life in every phase of life yourself, your you know your business, your profession, your ministry, whatever it is, your marriage, your parenting, your you know, your generational legacy.

Tom Faust 45:11

So in this community, in these groups, um you mentioned that the the pain, the, the whatever it is that's causing this problem that joining the military is enhanced and made worse starts in childhood. And do you go back in these groups and deal with, you know, talk about well what happened before and try and dig that up a little bit to so that you can deal with that or does it just get resolved along the way? How how does that get worked out?

SPEAKER_01 45:40

It's a little bit of both. I mean it comes back to that place of transparency plus vulnerability equals true accountability and true accountability equals transformation. Like we have to bring it back to that place of like hey like what's really going on and we we pause and we really do some internal work on like what what are the some of the things that really messed us up over our childhood where or what are some of the things that really messed us up over life. And some people you know they had a great childhood and it was you know combat trauma that they were exposed to for the first time and and a lot of it was like they couldn't answer the the where was God question and we help identify that. So it it would depend on the person by person but we're always into doing some of the heart work and getting into the you know we call it in the military we called it a hearts and mind campaign and in the way in the same way it's a little bit of the same is like like hey what are the lives that you've been lean believing and where did that start? Like where where did that wound that you you know that that moral wounding even the VA describes PTSD as as a moral wounding like where did that moral wounding first start? Did it start in combat? Okay cool let's let's go to that let's go to that that root cause like Danny was talking about and let's deal with that root. But if that started you know earlier in childhood where like you know we had some hurt that we never dealt with well let's go identify that and deal with that let's go back and debris that wound so now we can start the environment you know create an environment that's conducive to healing so that thing can begin to he to heal.

Tom Faust 47:14

What what have you seen happen when a veteran finally discovers what what it was and works that out and they they find their next mission what what what have you seen happen in these cases?

SPEAKER_01 47:24

Oh it's like a country song in reverse they get the wife back the kids back the dogs back the house back the uh the I it's it's total transformation in every single area of their life like and that's I can I can show you evidence of by by you just connecting and talking to you know people that have come through and and gone through this journey of transformation and and you get to see this thread of just blessing this is the collateral blessing that it goes through and affects them and it affects their their uh their family and it affects their external family and it affects it affects their friends and their communities and like every one of these guys they get healed up trained chain uh trained up and sitting back out on mission they are decimating the kingdom of darkness they are decimating all of the of hell that has tried to plague our communities and our areas and you're watching these guys go these guys and and gals these these families it's it's the cool thing is is they just turn around and create their family to be their own fire team and this fire team goes out and does what it need what what God's intended it to do and they transform their entire region that they're around. And we're watching this happen time and time and time again and it's nothing that it's nothing short of a miracle because it is 100% God that does this healing. We just help arrange

Wilderness Intensive And Mountain Lessons

SPEAKER_01 48:57

the environment to create an environment that's conducive for the healing and train up and send out. And and so uh somewhere along the line of of this journey that you're taking the veterans through the first responders that you're taking them through there is a wilderness intensive of some kind can you uh let's let's talk about that intensive uh seven days of backpacking oh yeah absolutely it's it's one of my favorite things i i I love I love getting out into the wilderness and uh so every year we take 12 veterans up into the backcountry of the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana and uh we go seven day backpacking with just what's on your back and we go through some of the toughest terrain that that you know North America can throw at us and we have an absolute blast um we put in a lot of miles a lot of effort a lot of energy but it's so amazing to get away from the noise get away from the cell phone get away from all the junk to put in a lot of blood sweat and tears along your brothers and um and you know get you know knock the rust off of your land navigation skills and they gotta you know get them out there with a map and a compass and go okay cool so you're leading us today and we assign a leader of the day each day and they have to lead their team to get to the objective by the end of the day and there's a lot of growth areas that happen in this there's a lot of leadership training and there's a lot of um I mean you know the leadership training for these guys is United States military and and and first responders are the best trained in in leadership all around I mean they have millions of dollars poured into each and every one of them every year just to you know in leadership training and and ability but the cool thing is we get to transfer that mindset that that that knowledge that they already have and we get to help them understand that there's an aspect for that for them to be able to lead their families well to lead their communities well to lead well those that God has stewarded around steward them with with the the sphere of influence of the people that are around them. And uh and then also on this mountain trip they get an opportunity to grow into like hey I don't have my distractions here nor that I normally would have and now I have the capacity to to sit and undistracted and really work on and process some of the things that are going on inside. So um and then they get to do it with a whole group of brothers in arms at the same time.

Tom Faust 51:28

Assuming everything goes well or even if it doesn't always go according to that particular leader's plan, uh they have the support of everyone else around them still at least I would hope so in that situation.

SPEAKER_01 51:42

What happens when a veteran completes something that's really physically difficult for them uh maybe they you know they're out of shape by now or who knows what but uh I imagine that has a a real good effect that they've you know accomplished something that they maybe didn't think they could absolutely yeah absolutely it's putting them right back into that diff those difficult situations that they remember from long ago you know and they're going oh wow I'm uh less in shape than I thought I was and then and then the fears and the thoughts and the doubts begin to creep in and our our team and our leaders are there to go okay cool you've acknowledged fear that's a mind enemy so let's deal with that and let's let's let's evict fear and let's get going with with the truth is the truth is is you're not alone out here we're not gonna leave you um that we're gonna do this together as a team and we overcome those things and we help them like you can't cheat the mountain it's gonna reveal anything that's in you it'll expose and that's a beautiful thing because it gives us the the opportunity and the ability to address those things head on to fight those things and teach them how to fight those things so when they get back they can transfer what they've learned on the mountain back into their everyday life and go, okay, it it's okay to do hard things. It's okay to be confronted with all these these negative emotions because I can overcome them and I know I now am equipped to fight these things and to walk through that process.

Build The Bow Build The Man

Tom Faust 53:10

And then another program that you uh or part of the program you have is called Build the Bow Build the Man where you actually make a reflex deflex long bow.

SPEAKER_01 53:23

Correct yeah I know you showed me uh you had one I don't know if you have it here but you when we had our previous little planning session you showed me the bow it's beautiful um yeah so what what is that how does that help the the veteran as you do that so it's a lot of the same the same thing that we do on the mountain is um it gives them an opportunity now it's no longer in the on the mountain but it's in the woodshop because we got some veterans that just they can't do the mountain they can't do seven day backpacking trip with 50 pounds on their back anymore. So um we we have the wood shop for that and that's where they come into the woodshop we spend an entire week um going through the process of building a bow and while we go through the process of building the bow it's a leadership course it's a discipleship that we walk with them through it we help them identify the frustrations at any point in time somebody wants to take a piece of their bow and throw it through the wall because it's not turning out the way they want it to and we help them like okay cool so like we can fix that um so let's let's work on that right and we help them uh you know the the biggest thing about the the wilderness intensive and the bow intensive are they are opportunities for us to be able to have hands-on learning and work through a process of doing something beautiful and at the same time we get to be worked on inside of us and that process that we go through it all has applicable trainings and teachings to not only the physical aspect of what we're dealing with but also dealing with the heart and mind that that we're able to overcome some of these difficulties and these struggles. Yeah and then I guess that helps build the resilience uh so they can carry this forward 100% yeah um so we are uh as you mentioned uh healing the family as well is part of what your plan is uh the marriage you do men's retreats conferences women's conferences the wilderness these are all family oriented programs that are in addition to the specific veteran community that you deal with yes sir yes sir so we will we'll do family retreats and uh well family family conferences i don't like retreating i don't like paying for the same real estate twice we like to advance we like to go forward um name of that to a men's advance then yeah what's that say that again change the name of it to a men's advance then I guess there you go there you go oh that's what Shade does oh good you know the men's the men's function is called forged advanced so yeah awesome for forged men's advanced we don't retreat i don't i don't like retreating um but we do we do take ground we do go and and we advance but uh you know we we have we have the conferences for the men we have conferences for the women we have conferences for the whole family where they can bring their children and we pour into them and help them overcome some things and we do really a lot of the the forage and freedom stage in these two and then we touch on the fight stage and follow it up with trainings and classes afterwards and then we have these intensives to just help these individuals go to that next level um we do marriage like we're in the middle of a marriage tune up right now where we're helping these families um that are you know struggling with some marriage issues or just wanting to grow their marriage

Family Programs Zoom Options And Faith

SPEAKER_01 56:40

to the next level and uh we're we're in the process of doing these um weekly meetings with with these couples and helping them grow and advance to that next level so these are just these are some of the things that we do on top of just uh normal like groups where where we have veteran and first responder groups and we have spouse groups that are meeting up and uh or not just spouse groups but ladies groups. So we have groups for men and women that are going on um not only in person all over the the US but also over Zoom uh on a weekly basis.

Tom Faust 57:12

So and so um a lot of these things you talk about sound like they are uh in-person events is is everything in person where where you're located or in the wilderness or whatever or some of this stuff on available online that people can join from a distance and still get the help they need so absolutely so like yeah things like the wilderness intensivism I'm sure there's per some people that would rather do that virtually rather than hike your mountain with us.

SPEAKER_01 57:39

Right. But unfortunately that one's in person um but like the marriage tune-ups those are over over Zoom uh every single week and then we also have group meetings that that aren't in a local area that where people can receive so we have them over Zoom as well and uh you know those are led by some of our amazing leaders that they they they walk through this process of transformation and healing themselves and now they're turning around to fulfill what God's given them to fulfill which is to be a freedom fighter and to fight on behalf behalf of others. So yes to answer your question we have them both in person and over Zoom for those that can't attend.

Tom Faust 58:15

All right and so um this is uh your Freedom Fighter Foundation's approach is uh seems fairly although I mean I know Dani you mentioned it's not a religious thing that you do but it is faith based. Exactly um and uh my notes say unapologetically Christian which is fine with me. Um and so but where does where does faith fit into this healing process?

SPEAKER_00 58:38

How I mean you touched on it some of it already I guess but is there anything else you want to mention on that aspect yeah I mean I I just know this from personal experience and seeing it with thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people that um you know true healing comes through the blood of Jesus Christ. And so you know I was 33 years old before I accepted that fact. And it's not you know I was just fighting that based on my own rebellion because my background was sex, drugs and alcohol and absolute rebellion. And it was leading me to a dysfunctional family and and and like I said bankruptcy and being basically in poverty. And so when I when I finally came to my wit's end and God brought me to my knees, you know, I looked up one day and said God apparently your my plan's not working. Maybe you have a better plan for me. And I started going back to church and that led to a 15 month process of you know actually surrendering my life to Jesus and then I started going through the healing process where I was set free from anger set free from rage from alcoholism from my profanity from you know every every every foul thing that had been pent up inside of me for you know 32 years prior was released, you know, and I got healed through that. So you know true healing comes from one source and one source only and it was the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross how he shed his blood you know for us. And regardless of what someone whether they believe that or not at this point, it's still the only truth. You know Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life and no one gets to the Father except through me. And so we have to go through that gauntlet. We have to go through the gauntlet of the blood and receive the blood of Jesus that heals our wounds. And so we understand it's a process for some people you know it was 15 months for me where I had to unravel and get deprogrammed of things that were centered around my heart that caused me to have a hard heart and a lot of pride and a lot of stubbornness. And so we love people where they're at on the way to where they're going. But we do unapologetically professed and we are Christians. We are believers. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and his lordship. And that is how we can help point you toward your destiny because your destiny is in him and your destiny is fulfilling God's calling for your life and God's plan for your life and we want to help anyone anyone and everyone get to that point you know where where they're on the fast track to victory.

How To Get Help And Volunteer

Tom Faust 1:01:17

So if there's a a a veteran listening to this podcast now and they're interested in finding out more about this or a family member of a veteran who would like their veteran in their family to get the help that they need what what is the best way for them to go about getting started?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:38

Yeah the absolute best way would for them to be be able to go on the website freedomfighterfoundation.org and click the get help link button there's a little button on there that says get help click on that and fill out that profile and one of our team will get back with you within 24 to 48 hours.

Tom Faust 1:01:56

Is there a cost to the veterans to do this?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:00

No not at all. We we do charge for some of the intensives just to cover the cost of those intensives um but we don't charge anybody for mentorship for the the group meetings that we do um none of that is is charged for all right and and uh you've already mentioned that the uh spouses like the wives or the husbands and the family members at some point in this process participate as well absolutely 100% so like if if you're a spouse of a veteran or a first responder and you're struggling you can hit that get help link just as much as the veteran or first responder themselves. You know if you're a child of a of a veteran or first responder that's struggling you can hit that get help link just as much as anybody else. We're here to help you overcome these unseen war get through this battle and come out on the other side better and healed and equipped for whatever you have to fulfill. And uh is there a way for people to volunteer to help 100% that would be going to the same website Freedomfighterfoundation.org and you would select the contact us link and you just connect with us on that link and just say hey I want to volunteer my time and we would have a conversation with you and talk about where what that's going to look like and where that would go.

What’s Possible And Closing Story

SPEAKER_01 1:03:21

All right um well as we start to uh wrap this up here um you know we've seen uh we talked about experiences and and things that uh veterans have overcome and uh so what do you believe is possible for the veteran who thinks the best part of his life is already behind him anything is possible anything is possible there's a scripture says anything is possible for those who believe there's nothing that's impossible for you to step into and grow into and fulfill you the fact that you're still breathing air means that God's not done with you yet you have capacity you have opportunity you have gift skift skills talents and abilities don't take them to the grave with you exhaust them on this on this battlefield called earth and continue to fulfill your mission.

Tom Faust 1:04:11

So is there we've talked about a lot of subjects is there anything that you want to just bring up mention that uh you know before we close uh I'll go first I I'm just you know if you allow me to Tom I I just like to you know I'm I want to boast about shade and our organization and his leaders and so the best way I can sum that up is is to paint you a picture.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:37

I'd love to tell you five or six life transforming testimonies right now because I've got testimonies racing through my mind of veterans that their life was shattered and they're completely whole today in their marriages and their families. But the best way I can sum it up is I want to tell you a very quick story about one of our good friends John Arroyo who is a green beret and John is a green beret that he's an author he speaks all over the nation he he's highly intertwined in tons of veterans groups and foundations all over America he's done everything through the firearms retreats to the fishing retreats to the mountain retreats to I mean you name it John gets to go because he's a green beret and and he's come through a lot in his life and so John was at our retreat a couple years ago and and he's on our board now as a matter of fact but before he was on our board he was there speaking at our men's retreat and John stood in front of all of our veterans and first responders and said guys I've been to almost every veterans foundation in America I've been on all their trips I've been in everything they've done I've been I've been in it in it all so I'm paraphrasing a little bit but but he said I've seen it all he goes there is not a foundation there is not a veterans foundation in America that even comes close to to doing what the Freedom Fighter Foundation does and changing the lives of veterans like the Freedom Foundation does. He goes there's nothing nothing even close and that just that sunk in with me so hard when I heard that and I was the only regret I had is I didn't have that on video because it's a reflection of Shay's leadership and his team's leadership and what these what these guys do to literally you know do what we you know everything we said happens happens but it takes it takes you surrendering. It takes you coming to the point of vulnerability where you feel safe enough to be you know in a group of men that actually care about you and that care about you progressing forward in your life to live a life of complete victory and to reach fulfillment in life because like Shade said if you're breathing then you know our job is to point the spear and you know where you're the you're the spear and we're gonna point you you're the tip of the spear we're gonna point you to your where you really need to be on mission now to fulfill your destiny.

Tom Faust 1:07:08

All right well I'm really I'm glad that you're both able to show up here and and share with me today and with our listeners and I would hope that our listeners would uh share this share the link share this video and just carry this this word on this is great stuff I really appreciate you being here with us today. And I say Tom thank you Tom You're welcome yeah I say us because I usually have Chris here with me and but I'll well I'll include him anyway. So anyway yeah it's great to have you and uh until the next time