Welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast. I'm Kristen Kurtz, your host. I pray this episode is like a holy IV of hope for your soul. Please help me welcome Mick Weinholt to the show. I am so excited to have him here today. As you can see, if you're watching, he has a podcast as well, which we'll get into called Coincidence or God, which I had the privilege of being on because I love seeing God in all of the things. So, Nick, before we get into your story, would you just be open to sharing a little bit about yourself?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, absolutely. And Kristen, thanks a bunch for having me on. You have an awesome show, and it really is a pleasure to be here. And thanks again, as you mentioned, for being on Coincidence or God. So, yeah, as mentioned, you know, we'll talk a little bit more about that. That's the podcast that I host. I live in the Eastern time zone in the United States, in the state of uh Virginia, and I am married nearly two decades to a wonderful woman. We've got four kids, three of which are living. And I am a redeemed son of Jesus Christ. And I can say that with so much excitement because I know the disaster of a person that I used to be. And I'm so grateful that I'm not that any longer. So it's a real real pleasure to be able to be here and talk about hope and hope unlocked, you know, and and how hope was unlocked.
SPEAKER_00It is absolutely uh you the word that you used, disaster, really stood out to me. I I don't think I've ever heard anybody say that before. Make it could you take us back in time a little bit to maybe some of your formative years and and how you were led into a disaster in essence?
Yeah, absolutely. So I grew up in what most people would consider to be a Christian household. Okay. But I'm gonna air quotes Christian because I think it makes it a little bit more accurate. And what I mean by that is that I was in Christian-based education from first grade to twelfth grade across a couple different denominations. That's ultimately not really the point, right? But my folks talked about God and Jesus with some degree of regularity, and yet at the same time, there was a significant amount of chaos in my home growing up. I learned every four-letter word there is at the dinner table as my parents argued and fought like cats and dogs in front of us. And so without being able to really articulate it as a kid, I just sort of sense there's a there's a disconnect between what my folks talked about, like meaning this is what God expects, and those types of things, and what I saw exhibited. And so I was just like, I'm not really, I'm not really overly interested in this. And then there's a phrase that many of your listeners will have some familiarity with that goes like this rules without relationship equals rebellion. And I had a lot of energy as a kid. I'm still a relatively high energy type of person.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And while I didn't have a great relationship with my parents or my father in particular, I certainly got support from them. So I want to be very clear here that it is never that I felt as if I was unloved by any stretch of the imagination. But I'll I'll kind of define what I mean here by giving a quick example. My my parents took me to every soccer game that I basically ever played. But they didn't really have any interest in soccer.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_03So I got support, but I didn't get a lot of connection or investment emotionally from them into the things that I was interested in. Okay. No knock on them at all. I get the fact. I mean, I've got multiple children. That is a challenge, right? I was the last of four. My mom had me in her 40s. So, like, my parents did not have, you know, nearly the energy for me as they would have had for you know kids earlier along, right? So I'm just trying to be balanced with this, that it's not like, hey, you know, watch out, here comes the bus, and I'm throwing my folks under it. But at the same time, I'm also trying to be very clear that without the relationship with my parents, uh, of like we'll call it a meaningful degree, yeah, they had a bunch of rules as they disciplined me. And I needed the discipline and hated hated every moment of it, Kristen. Hated every moment of it. But I ultimately can see in hindsight that I needed it.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_03But without the relationship, I looked at all of those rules and was like, I'm rebelling against this. So I rebelled really hard against them. But then I also really rebelled against God too, because this distant and dormant God, as I understood him, I also saw another facet of him, at least in my perception, which was that he's a disciplinarian, like he's got these 10 commandments, you know what I mean? I'm like, I don't want to go anywhere near that. So I'm like, how about you stay up there and I'll stay down here and you do your thing and I'll do mine. And so to kind of answer the question of like, what does disaster really look like? Well, that was ultimately how I walked. Okay. My way. So it was pride and it was ego, and it was selfishness, and it was just all about me. Okay. On the outside, I was a great employee. Okay. Even even in my teen years, okay, I was managing a retail business. Like meaning I I was very interested in working hard, in accomplishing, in doing a good job, all of these types of things. And then, you know, when I moved into college and in sort of those early 20s, essentially, right? I have this strong goal to essentially climb the corporate ladder, like grow my capabilities, grow my ability to earn an income, all of that type of stuff. But I don't have any character.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_03Everything is basically about how I can be better. Does it benefit other people? Yes, but without question, not for any of the right motives. I mean, it's almost like the collateral benefit in a way.
SPEAKER_00So I'm I'm curious, do you feel like that came through just the way like you kind of had a lot of discipline and you had rules, and you were trying to kind of avoid being disciplined in these roles as an employee and then corporate? Like, what was it that you feel, you know, was it even sports? Because I feel like so sometimes sports, even that competitive edge, right? Was it tell us more? Like, what was it trying to kind of elevate in all of these spaces?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think it was driven a lot by my desire for approval. Okay. Again, not throwing my folks under the bus, but in hindsight, what I can see is that when I got good grades, I got, we'll call it a commendation from my parents. You know what I mean? Like, or some degree of like, hey, good, good job. And there wasn't much other than that. You know what I mean? Like my folks had a lot of of relatively high expectations and not a lot of encouragement and congratulations that went along with those. Most of the time, you kind of got to neutral with them, meaning you met their expectations. Or if you didn't, then you got all of the negative stuff, right? So if I could perform in the workplace, for example, then people were like, hey, we really like you. Like, great job. You know what I mean? Here, here's I'm just making this up, right? Like, like, well, I mean, I did get bonuses, right? But it's like, here's a bigger bonus, for example. You know what I'm saying? Um, and and then the other thing was, and this was exposed in my early 40s, but that was just the reality that I was so driven in the workplace to earn because without knowing it, I had made a commitment to serve mammon as a kid, literally as a kid.
The the the the baseline for that, just so that everybody is is probably a little curious, is really that at that exact same dinner table where I learned all these four-letter words, right? I also heard my father say things like this there's no money, I'm never gonna have a retirement. And I was like, you know, I'm not gonna let that happen to me.
SPEAKER_00Right. Yeah, you're gonna turn a different way.
SPEAKER_03Right. So I started working, like pushing the lawnmower around to cut cut grass at 10 years old, and then working under the table before I could get a work permit, and then getting a work permit, and then working, and then, you know, working all the way through college. You know what I mean? I put my myself through college and all that stuff, and then being very, very, very successful economically. And in hindsight, God showed me yeah, that was that that that was me being ambitious about the wrong things. And even more explicitly, he showed me that I was worshiping mammon all along the way.
SPEAKER_00Wow. For those who don't know what Mammon is, would you take a moment to share others can be enlightened? And maybe this might help somebody recognize, you know, because honestly, in my years of being in church since I was 25, it that word isn't mentioned a lot. Have you noticed that? At least in the churches I've been to.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, I get that. Well, I'll do my best non-theologian explanation of Mammon. So in Matthew, I want to say it's I want to say it's Matthew 6. You'll have to check me on whether or not it's actually chapter six. But Jesus talks about um seeking first his kingdom. He talks about how you can't serve two masters. Okay. And depending upon the translation, you'll see those two masters being you can't serve God and money. Okay. It's one or the other. Either you'll love one and hate the other, or vice versa. But there are some translations that will translate money to men. And as you get a little bit more under the hood of that, you'll actually see that it is actually the spirit of men, and that there's actually a living thing in that you would be serving it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And that's exactly what it was for me. And later in life, as mentioned in my 40s, in the midst of a block of prayer during an extended fast, God actually used that word with me, then, and exposed exactly what I had been doing. And so immediately, I was like, oh my goodness. I mean, I've I repented immediately, but I was mortified, mortified, and yet also blessed by the fact that he has actually revealed my deception. You know, now I can confess this and be forgiven of it and turn from it and repent and all of that stuff. But hopefully that answers the question. It is essentially the serving of the spirit of mammon, or perhaps maybe slightly more tangibly, the serving of money, or examining money, or thinking of money as the solution, the God, the idol ultimately that it is in the world.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Okay. So that was a huge turning point for you. I'm I'm curious, and maybe some other listeners are curious. Like, what were you doing in the corporate world? Like, what like you went to college? What did you end up going to school to do in the workplace?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, a bunch of different things. So my undergrad is in finance.
SPEAKER_03I have a bachelor's in finance. My master's degree is in human resources management and development. What I ultimately did was most of my career was in financial services. I did a little bit of time in staffing and then in business process outsourcing. But the primary theme that bled through all of those employers was that I was in operations and then towards the back half of my career, mostly in sales positions, because again, I excelled at being able to be effective and deliver results, whether that was operationally, or deliver results from a sales perspective and new revenue generation.
SPEAKER_01So I technically overlapped in a way with my degrees, and I say it that way because you know, so often somebody gets a you know a job with with nothing related to their philosophy degree, for example.
SPEAKER_03No knock on any of that, right? But I was in financial services, but was I really using my degree? No, you know, I did absolutely spend time as a human resources generalist, but was I really using that degree or the broad spectrum? No.
SPEAKER_00But you know so the driven Mick, you know, 18. I I gotta know what led you to chase those degrees specifically.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so short answer to that is that as I'm studying for my undergrad, I was going as a declared major initially for computer information systems. And this is gonna totally line up. But my motive for getting the computer information systems degree was because there were peers of mine, like mean just meaning like other 19-year-olds, right? That I knew about that I'm in class with. Because when you're a freshman, you know, it's all the basic stuff, right? So like everybody overlaps. You can be sitting in a in a room, right, taking a an entry-level business course, and you're you're there with like English majors, okay? So there, and talking to other, you know, kids my age and that type of thing, and they're doing help desk and they're making like 17 bucks an hour back in the year 2000. And I'm like, well, what do you do? And they're like, Well, you know, we'll go like set up the PCs and you know, plug them in. And I'm like, You're making 17 bucks an hour doing that. I'm like, I'm making $10 an hour. I'm like, I want what they have, and you know what it was? I want the money. Okay, so I'm like, I'll pursue a degree in communications, computer information systems. This will be perfect, right? Make a lot of money. I mean, because again, this is shortly after Y2K, this is early 2000s, right? And I get into my like second semester sophomore year or something like that, or first year, first semester year, something along those lines. My first like legit computer information systems degree type of course, and it was a programming course. And Kristen, we're having a little bit of fun with this because I'm like running red lights on memory lane right now. Okay. Yeah, but I literally got the syllabus, the professor's like talking us through the syllabus, and I was like, cool, never gonna happen. Got up, walked over to the guidance counselor people, and was like, I need to change my degree because I just intuitively knew I'm not a computer programmer. I'm like, this is not me, you know. So I ended up having a couple conversations with some folks, and again, this is just laugh out loud, funny, as far as I'm concerned. I went to this professor who I had a fair bit of respect for, and he was an attorney. And so he's teaching business law. And I was like, hey, I'm shifting my career. What do you think? I'm considering accounting, finance, that type of stuff. And he says to me, he goes, Everybody that I know that gets an accounting degree gets a job out of school. And everybody I know that gets an econ degree or a business degree or whatever doesn't get a job necessarily. And I was like, okay, great. So the moral of that story was from his perspective, get an accounting degree. And I was like, Yeah, I'm not an accountant, I'm gonna go get a get a business degree.
SPEAKER_01So it was just so funny, you know what I mean? Like, I thought this and then I went that way, thought this, then went that way.
SPEAKER_00Right. But isn't it cool to like look back and see, like, even though you were kind of rebellious at that point, kind of not necessarily at the I'm I'm gathering that you weren't necessarily praying to be like, God, which way should I go to college? Like, what should I pursue in college? What are you calling me to? You were pursuing your own path, right? And to look back and, you know, just gather these moments. I think it's just so incredible from time to time. So, listeners, like if you're listening in today, take a moment to, you know, maybe go back 20 years and just see how God has literally woven your story up until this point. I may not be able to talk to you, but let's get back with Mick and hear more about where he was led then. Because you ended up in the corporate world. How long were you there? Three full decades, basically. Three full decades. Okay. I I do know a little bit of your shift, and I know that you did have a shift. Tell us a little bit more about where God led you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So let's just clarify where do you want to go? Because I mean, there's there's a there's a bunch of big pegs along the way. Okay. Well, I think where where we're kind of going is that at the beginning of 2025, God moved me out of the workplace.
Okay. So this is this is now I'm in relationship at this point in my life with Jesus Christ for 13 years. Okay. When when we're at the beginning of 2025. And my wife is as well, and we have three kids. And I was on my way, Kristen, quite literally and tangibly, okay, between company A and Comp. So I have resigned from company A because I have accepted the job offer, formal job offer to work at Company B. And, you know, these are executive-level sales positions, right? This is senior vice president level stuff in in an international sales role for you know companies that have multiple thousands of people as employees.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_03And so there's a degree of sophistication to the process and all of that stuff. I resign Monday morning. By Thursday morning, excuse me, by Thursday afternoon, the job offer is rescinded. And my wife and I knew that these things don't blow up like it was blowing up unless it was God. Wow. So here I am thinking I'm moving into the most lucrative position I will ever have. It was certainly my largest base salary.
SPEAKER_00It would have been an elevation in your absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Yep. To a larger base salary, largest of my career, and the largest sales opportunities as well. So opportunity for comp essentially is as high as it has basically ever been. So naturally, I'm like, wow, this is amazing, especially how it kind of led up to it. And it was, you know, guy reached out to me, and that seemed like it was an answer to prayer. I mean, it was like, oh wow, this has all happened.
SPEAKER_05And we just knew together.
SPEAKER_03Exactly. We just knew though, that this was him. And so that Friday of this now same week, okay, yeah, I'm unemployed. And I call my buddy, who had had a similar unemployment uh experience years prior, and I called him up and I was like, Hey Joe, this is what happened. And his first response, Kristen, was congratulations. And okay, I wasn't exactly looking for sympathy, right? Yeah. But at the same time, I was definitely not expecting congratulations, you're unemployed.
SPEAKER_00What do we do with this?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And for context for everybody, I am the sole breadwinner in FM. Okay. So it's not as if we're like, ah, we're good, not that big of a deal, you know. We're kind of like, hmm, this is a problem. So my buddy very wisely suggests that we seek God through a
three day fast.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_03And he goes, Let's fast Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And how do that next week? Of the next week, exactly. I'm like, game on, dude, game on. Because I had fasted numerous times as an adult for health purposes. But and and it's so crazy to me as I look back on, I'd never fasted for spiritual purposes, even though I had a health practice of fasting, and I'm a Christian and genuinely interested in following Jesus' direction in my life, right? So to make a long short uh long story very short, in that fast and during a prayer block in the fast, the Holy Spirit revealed to me very clearly three bullet points. Or I can say that God gave me three bullet points is sometimes how I'll phrase it up. And the first one was sit and wait, the second was complete surrender, and the third was full trust. And what the sit and wait meant was that I was to stop looking for work because I had already been reaching out to my professional network and and all of this type of stuff, trying to, as a sales professional, you're kind of frantic, generate a new job. Yeah, you know, I wasn't. You weren't frantic. No.
SPEAKER_00Okay. That's good.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, there was a fair bit of peace in this process. Okay. I was totally not expecting the sit and wait, complete surrender and full trust. And that made me squirm. So I thought for sure that this was just like putting your kid in the timeout chair. And what I mean by that is like, okay, hey, like sit on the steps and chill out, or sit in the timeout chair, and in five minutes, I'm gonna let you up. And I I'm genuinely I'm thinking, okay, cool. Like, I don't know, by the end of next week or something, or even the beginning of next week, God's gonna be like, okay, go look, go, go back to looking for work. You know what I mean? Go exactly, go outside and play. Right. And no, I'm like, ugh. So I asked him, you know, like every couple days in prayer, and then I'd ask him every day or every other day in prayer. Are we there yet? 100%, yeah. And then every day, and then eventually, another fast, another prayer block in the fast. This is what the Holy Spirit says to me, Kristen. I don't believe I'll ever forget this. Quote, shut your mouth and stop asking me about this in prayer. Sit and wait means sit and wait.
SPEAKER_02End quote.
SPEAKER_03And I was like, I mean, I was equal parts blown away by the fact that he was so crystal clear with me.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And then equal part overwhelmed with this need to repent. Because I'm like, if he had to be that direct with me, I clearly have been out of line with my persistence with this. And so I repented and in the process of repenting, also thanked him for being so abundantly clear. I mean, that was just a massive blessing. Yeah, like I needed him to basically believe this clear, especially in such a massive transition, right? Yeah, oh absolutely. I mean, at that point, like you can't argue with that. Like when you go tell your wife that you're like, I'm like, honey, here's right. This is literal, this is literally what he said.
SPEAKER_00So was she involved in these bullet points? You know, how did how did she sit with them? Pun intended.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Well, you know, it's funny you bring that up actually, because there's a little bit of of irony here. Okay so that Wednesday morning, day three of this fast, okay, as mentioned, I'm in, I'm actively in the process of seeking inside of my network or through my network, new work, right? And I've been doing that literally the Friday, that was my last day. Saturday, took Sunday off, not to Sabbath, like just nobody literally wants to hear from somebody, right? Okay, and then Monday and Tuesday, and so Wednesday morning rolls around, you know, the kids are all having breakfast. I'm there, but I'm not eating because I'm fasting. And I'm telling her, as what I think like a good performing or performance-oriented husband would be like, hey, honey, this is what I'm planning to do today, because I'm literally out of work, right? That's in parentheses. But I'm like, so I'm gonna be reaching out to these people, reaching out to this person, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And she says to me, Kristen, she goes, you know, I think you've done enough. And I looked at her like she had three heads. I mean, I literally gave her a look. I'm not making this up, like you are out of your mind. I didn't say that, but for sure I communicated that nonverbally because I'm thinking to myself, and I actually believe I said this until I have a paycheck, not even a job, but until I have a paycheck, I haven't done anything. And she goes, No, I think you have. And I'm like, Okay, whatever. Okay, I don't think I said the whatever out loud, but I'm trying to be transparent here so that people understand like, look, this isn't all like sunshine and roses and all that kind of stuff. I don't think this is how so what we sort of did was at that point in our week, granted, we're only like halfway through, but we had developed a little bit of a rhythm that usually like dad would hang around the meals just to be part of the family because he's not working at this point. And then when everybody, you know, when the kids went to play or whatever, then dad would go and pray. Okay. So I'm like, all right, cool. Like we kind of just like shuffled that little bit of tension underneath the proverbial rug, and I go upstairs to our bedroom and pray. And it's in that prayer block, Kristen, when I got those three bullet points.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So then the hilarity of this is I then later, probably an hour or two, come downstairs and go, honey, get a load of this. This is literally what God told me.
SPEAKER_01So, in terms of like how she sat with that, I did not get and I told you so, but I I wonder with all due respect in her mind, I would totally give that to her. I would totally give that to her. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_03It's like, how amazing is that? And that's another thing that for both of us, because this is a grace, right? For both of us, when she says to me, you've done enough, and I'm like, you're out of your mind, and then within hours, okay, still the same morning, I come back and I'm like, God literally told me, sit and wait, complete surrender, full trust, and honey, the sit and wait means stop looking for work. If that doesn't give you confirmation for both people, yeah, yeah, I don't know what else you need. Do you know what I'm saying? Like wild, wild, wild, wild.
SPEAKER_00To cover you both, you know, within a very short period of time of all of this happening, right? Because as her, you know, being at home with the kids, I don't know how old your kids are, but are they younger?
SPEAKER_0312, 7, and 7, or if I just put by 11, 6, and 6 at the time.
SPEAKER_00So they're young, right? They need they need care. You can't just really leave them for a week and see what happens, right? I mean, it could, but probably wouldn't go very well. But for her to support you in that way, you know, I feel like part of what I really want to highlight here today is as a man, you know, I'm I'm not a man, obviously, but men tend to have that strong just inner core belief of, you know, providing for the family, right? What did that do, you know, prior to that word? I guess like how were you feeling as a man provider? And then after that word, like what did what shifted for you? Was there a shift?
SPEAKER_03Yes. Wow. I'm so glad you asked this because I think this is gonna glorify God.
What God has shown me over the last approximately 18 months is that in that period of time, I have not had a paycheck.
SPEAKER_00And he has you guys hear that, say that again.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Over the last 18 months, I have not had a paycheck. Okay, and I'm the sole breadwinner.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03But God told me at the outset of this when he said sit and wait, complete surrender, and full trust. Because we have to, I think, uh grab all three of those together. Okay. They are in they are independent and unique and distinct, but they are all linked together because he said them together. Okay, he didn't spread these out six months apiece. Okay. So that's why I continue to say them together. He said that he would provide. He told me, don't look for work, I will provide. Literally told me that. Okay. I'm like, okay. Well, here's what here's what has ultimately uh been revealed to me over the last 18 months of him doing exactly what he said. The first thing is not just that. He has provided, he has done exactly what he said he will do. And in that process, has revealed the second thing. Okay, and that is the man being a provider is a myth, it is deception, and I never saw it as such. I'm like, dude, I'm the sole breadwinner, right? Sole breadwinner. Clearly by yourself, clearly, I need to be and am the provider. Now, listen, just again, transparently here, okay. I would absolutely praise him when a sale was completed. I would be praying to him about who am I to contact, right? Or make a way, like so he was absolutely, from my perspective, involved in all of that, okay. Sometimes very, very directly. So I'm not trying to take credit for that. What I'm definitely taking credit for is the fact that I believed I was provider and that that was central to my role. And what I have realized is that it's him no matter what. And the relationship that I have with my wife and my kids, for everybody that's listening, hasn't changed. So why am I highlighting that? Because what was central, and I'm using your phraseology here, and I loved how you served this up without us even having like pre-conversation about this, right? That this this modern male, and now I'm gonna even call it the myth of the fact that the man needs to be the provider. Okay, I ultimately am not. And I literally can say I haven't for a year and a half. And my children and my wife don't look at me and they're like, You're a total scumbag. We don't have any respect for you, you don't provide for us. Right. I don't even have a W2. Do you know what I mean? Like, I'm not kidding. And because again, this is where I mean, forgive me if it seems like I've climbed up on my soapbox about this. No, this is good. It's like this this is what's being highlighted. He he has exposed it to me and shown me how it just needs to get turned into dust. This idea that I was provider that's central to the male role is provider. And it's like, no, he does.
SPEAKER_00So you you've learned a lot through this. Have you started writing a book about it yet?
SPEAKER_01No, I haven't started writing a book.
SPEAKER_03Okay, and I'm gonna say this right now for everybody that's listening and to keep myself honest with this because he has not yet told me to write a book. I haven't written a book, because you are not the first person to have suggested it.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Just saying, just put it on the bookshelf for now. So 18 months. Have you had I I guess I'd be curious, and and maybe my listeners are curious, with no paycheck, traditional paycheck, no W-2, you're you're not paying taxes technically. Like how has he provided for you? You know, maybe we can even weave in the name of your podcast is Coincidence or God. How have you seen him providing rather than you providing?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so he's he's given me some really specific instructions on this, okay. And the specific instructions is to not do what King Nehemiah did, okay? Meaning not show all of the treasures that he has provided. Okay. So the way in which he has provided that I can say with broad brush strokes, yeah, in honoring him and his direction is that there have been gifts that have shown up out of nowhere. There's been, you know, fight like checks that have shown up. I mean, it's it's just been incredible. Yeah. And he gets all the glory for it. Like we look at it like there's no possible way that that could have happened. You know, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I like to I call it like you can't make this stuff up. Those are like can't make this stuff up moments. Now, could you share like one of your most impactful moments that you've had over the last 18 months, or even that maybe kind of blew your wife's mind away, maybe even your kids like as a collectively, as a family, you're just like, wow, because your kids get to be a part of this, what I like to call wild adventure, right? With God.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so really appreciate you asking it that way. So, one of one of the best examples
of that would be how as a family we received a large check. Okay, yeah, totally out of the blue. And I mean totally, totally out of the blue. And so we were blown away as a couple when we looked at it, and then we gathered the family around our kitchen table, all five of us, yeah, and we passed the check around because I wanted our children to hold it. I didn't even want them to just look at it, I wanted them to hold it and look at it. And we talked about how, hey guys, you know how God has told dad sit and wait, complete surrender and full trust, because they've certainly heard these stories, you know. Well, this is an example of God providing. And look at this, we didn't expect this, we had no idea this was coming, totally out of the blue. So here we all get to sit and be amazed by how God provided for us, and again, wanted the tangible experience for them. Now, connected to that as well is that we have at the suggestion of one of the guests that was on coincidence for God, in fact, episode one. You could call them the OGs. This is like the the originals. One of the things that they talked about was having in their home a miracle wall where literally they posted artifacts from the miracles that God has done in their lives, their families' lives, on the wall. That way, in the event, which is totally normal, right? When we're like in a low point, low faith, whatever it might be, you know what I mean? Lots of attacks, whatever, they're like, we'll just go back over there. I'm like 6052. You remember he did that? You remember he did that? You know what I mean? Literally a monument, not to anything other than to God's miracles, right? And so we, again, at that suggestion, have now a similar wall and have for a while. And so what we got to do was it's kind of neat how, like before you used to have to take checks to the bank. Now you just deposit them right through the app, right? So the check literally is pinned to the wall and is a continual reminder, among many other artifacts, yeah, of God's goodness. You know what I mean? And let me tell one other quick episodic, you know, story here. So a handful of months ago, my daughter said to me, because we've got uh older daughter and then identical twin sons, okay? And so my daughter was like, Hey, dad, I'd love to go to King's Dominion, which is a smaller amusement park uh just north of like Greater Richmond. Okay. She's like, I'd love to go do that with you, just the two of us. And I was like, awesome, great idea. Let's totally do that, right? And I said to her, I was like, but you know what, kiddo, I was just reading an article a couple of nights ago about how when you and and and whomever you're with, when you do something totally new to both parties, the experience and then the memories are actually deeper. And I said, so you know what would be really cool is if instead of going to King's Dominion, we went to Busch Gardens. Okay. Now, Busch Gardens is a is a bigger, more nationally known, right? And it it happens to be that they're roughly about 45 minutes to an hour from each of us, just in different directions. Okay. We have absolutely no idea how we're gonna make this work. Literally, no idea, no plan. But I was like, I'm gonna put it on my calendar so that I'm not doing any podcast recordings or editings or any of my normal work, right? And we had it for a specific Friday. Okay. So we're like, okay, the Thursday before, literally the day before, Kristen. We still are kind of like directionally planning to go to King's Dominion, okay, the next morning, because it's not like the place is sold out, right? You just go up and buy tickets, okay? So meaning we don't have to have like some three-week plan in advance, right? Oh, the other place you would have. Well, no, probably not, but but point being is like we had the day planned and that was it, okay. 24 hours before, my wife says to me, she goes, Hey, some friends just reached out and said that they have free tickets to Busch Gardens. Do you guys want that? And I'm like, shut the front door. That is totally, totally God. Totally got, dude. Totally got this stuff up, can't make it up. So we literally went to Busch Gardens, the two of us, for free on the day that he showed me my calendar was open. I mean, just made it all work. And then again, just to bring this back to the miracle wall, my daughter enjoys doing a lot of creative stuff.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_03And I said to her, I was like, Hey, why don't you make whatever it is that we put on the miracle wall to make sure we remember this? And so in this case, she decided to design something in Canva. I thought she was going to do it a little bit more tactile. And so, you know, made it all in Canva and printed out, and it's on the miracle wall. And so it's been cool to be able to not only have that experience with her and for her to see the fruit of his provision, but then also for her to purposefully be involved in the creation of the artifact that we then put on the miracle wall.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh, so good. I mean, yeah, I love the coincidence or God just it there's no you can't even there's no question here. And I wanted to just capture, you know, you said towards the beginning that you were sitting at a table with your family and your dad was fretting, right? In essence. Right? Absolutely. And you are turning, like you've you've set the table for your family, literally, and they are seeing the miracles tangibly, and you're passing a check around to your children at the table, and starting a new generation of children who are now gonna go into their lives looking for miracles rather than looking for lack. I just had to capture.
SPEAKER_03that yeah all glory be to god with that that's totally him it's totally the the transformative
power and and how i'm a totally different person i'm not the disaster that i used to be and it's just because i've been i've been washed in his redemptive blood you know yeah he's grown me up he's grown me into a man over the last 14 years yes well thank you lord i would love for you to share you you started a podcast like when did you start the podcast tell us a little bit more about even how did how did this podcast come to be how did how did this podcast baby happen yeah so the the the podcast uh seed was actually planted in 2020 on a mission trip in Niger Africa I had an encounter with the Lord and he literally was like you're my guy for testimonies and I told him I was like I'm not your guy it was totally my Moses moment Christine I'm like I'm not your guy there's gotta be somebody else I joke I'm like I don't have a I have a brother but his name is an Aaron but I was kind of like Lord like what what about my brother Aaron you know what I mean like I cannot be your guy for this I'm totally not your guy and he was like you're my guy so third time I relented and then it really kind of got shelved and it was during essentially the job transition all blowing up that in the midst of hearing sit and wait, complete surrender full trust I also continued to get from him this giant series of green lights for the podcast. And it was just amazing how he started providing all of the technology that was necessary and including the hardware. Like a buddy of mine was just like oh you know I have a camera I'll just bring it over I'm like I'm not gonna buy multiple thousands of dollars worth of equipment he's like no I got it I'll just bring it over literally he's like I'll bring it over next Friday brought it over set it up I mean it's stuff like that. And then there were there were other times where every time I mentioned the podcast to people and I did it with a fair bit of hesitance. Okay. Wasn't like trepidation I wasn't like legitimately fearful but transparently again I'm like these people know me as like an accomplished person in the professional workforce right these people are gonna go a podcast you like have you lost your mind right that's what I'm that's what I'm imagining yeah and without fail in like the first 10 conversations the response was almost immediately okay so I'm not exaggerating when I say this like Kristen yeah I'm gonna start a podcast you know this is what it's called this is this is kind of how it goes the response wasn't oh that's cool it went like this I have a story for you no hesitation one after another I have a story for you whoa now again these are not random people on the street like these are people that I knew now granted I'm not saying I'm necessarily lifelong friends with them and I know all of their stories right but it revealed to me that wow there really are lots of people with stories and they ultimately have told like 10 people you know they haven't told enough people right because it and and it sort of makes sense right like one of them for example is this great guy named Sean he's episode I think he's episode six and he's in this incredibly dramatic car accident when he's 17 or 18 years old okay senior year in high school kind of thing. Of course when he and I are in our early 40s he's not going to introduce himself as like hey I was in a car accident that I was miraculously saved from when I was 17. So it began to make more sense to me right that like people aren't going to necessarily bring this forward but at the same time it was one after another I've got a story I've got a story and that was again another sign right that it was like this is what you're supposed to do.
SPEAKER_00Did you did you have any resistance from tangible people at all? What did your wife think?
SPEAKER_03Yeah truth truthfully no um and I credit every bit of that to God I mean there's no other way right I mean he's he had said in 2020 you're my guy for testimonies and so we call it coincidence or God because there's so many times in each of these stories that you could say something was coincidental. Like we even you know laughed about the the Bush Gardens tickets for example right you and I are both like of course it couldn't be right but someone else could be like dude it's just bush gardens tickets you know right but what it is always is someone sharing the story they were directly involved in aka a testimony right and then we leave it open for the listeners. So again I think the fact that every bit of resistance that wasn't there is totally a god thing totally a god thing in answer question about my wife she was very clear and very much at peace with it's obvious that God is directing you to do this. So we need to do it.
SPEAKER_00I love it. I love that you've had so much support I feel like you know when I've worked with some gals they've they've come across you know people that are like there's a lot of pushback right and to have you know people around you that really support you and actually are like hey I've I've got a story like I'll be a guest right you're like okay well let me put you on the calendar get you get you started what have you loved most about podcasting well you know I'll answer it this way because podcasting in general is is it's neat it's interesting as someone that I would describe myself as sort of a lifelong learner insofar as like I I do like gathering new information and data and kind of synthesizing things and frankly getting better.
SPEAKER_03Like I don't think I'm gonna ever get away from that performative aspect that that's in my core but
at the same time not spiritually I do not fall into this like works based theology in any way shape or form. So there's that that those aspects right at the same time the real thing that has been so exciting is the fact that much of what I grew up with has been shattered in the best possible way. Let me give a quick example to make the rubber meet the road yeah knock on no knock on my parents no knock on the churches that I was involved in or whatever. I just think in general I had this idea that it was probably better to be cleaned up before you went to church if we want to think of it in that way. Okay like not not that you have to take a shower. I'm not thinking of this in the physical sense right yeah but like get yourself together you know what I mean before you go to church right and what has been shattered about that is the fact that I have had one guest after another and we're talking nearly a hundred episodes released right yeah of where people are talking about the depths of sin the total depravity in which they lived and when they cried out to Jesus Christ it was all redeemed yeah and God then was like hey Mick says it right there in my word dude I came for the sick and then I got to see it over and over and over again of people that were like I was literally dealing drugs doing drugs overdosing cried out to Jesus in hopes that when I died I wouldn't go to hell not that I'd go to heaven literally that's what he that's what one of them said right not that I would go to heaven but that I just wouldn't go to hell dude is literally on fire as an evangelist for Jesus because his life was redeemed and transformed. And so really this idea of like I came for the sick yes has just shattered these preconceived notions that I have and I'm so grateful for that because it has now shown me that my sin and their sin and your sin is all the same and there's nothing that he is not willing to redeem.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Amen Mick you are dynamic and you've gone from destruction to dynamic like I just love you know everything you've shared today. I love at the end of every episode for you to think of the one that is listening in today obviously there's probably more than one
but if you could just get in mind that one who's listening do you have any other words of wisdom or encouragement that you'd want to share with that one today yeah Kristen for that one I would encourage them to give some real consideration to the fact that one God created them and he did it on purpose and he did it in love and so any shame that they might be feeling is not from him he would have never created you if he wasn't gonna love you and I can say from my own experience that I've absolutely felt the shame and I've also felt his love and I went from a guy who wanted nothing to do with God or with Jesus or the Holy Spirit a guy who actively rebelled and now I can envision God sitting on his throne in all of his glory and all of the light and me climbing up into his lap like a three year old I don't even necessarily go to four in my head like I I I can I'm like I'm just old enough just strong enough and just tall enough enough enough enough to climb into his lap and have him toss on my hair have him squeeze my leg and hold me tight and feel the fact that he loves me and that he's God and Lord and dad and I'm not the exception that's available to all of us he loves you he created you on purpose and he loves you thank you I I'm such a visual person and I'm I'm just imagining you know little Mick you know jump in and imagine yourself the one who's listening in today maybe when this episode is is done you know hit pause and and just go lay down and let the Lord show you a vision of you at that age or even now or whatever age he wants to show you. Thank you for that. Before we wrap up I would love for you to share with us maybe how people can find your episodes on your podcast and
how can they can contact you as well.
SPEAKER_03Yeah thanks Kristen this has been a true pleasure really really awesome to be able to chat. Coincidenceyorgod.com is a great place for people to start all the episodes are there you can get them through audio only or we're on Spotify as video and YouTube as video also. So you can go to Coincidence or God on you know YouTube or coincidence or God dot com and you can contact me through the website also.
SPEAKER_00Awesome well thank you for being a brave voice who's setting many free I'm going to close with the Hope Unlocked anchoring verse which is may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit
you may abound in hope. And that's Romans 1513. So thanks again Mick I will be back with another episode next week.
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