Sidewalk Conversations

Finding Joy On The Way with Joe Remini

• Piet Van Waarde • Season 4 • Episode 12

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We trace a winding path from Little Italy to the Texas Hill Country as Joe Remini shares how mentors, the Air Force, and a leap into jewelry turned into a values-first business. Faith practices like Sabbath and tithing reshape his team’s rhythms and, to his surprise, growth.

• early family anchors amid a rough home life
• choosing the Air Force and finding mentors
• moving to Texas to parent and start over
• opening The Texas Silver Rush on a shoestring
• evolving from beads to full fabrication with a skilled team
• organic connections with musicians and creators
• honesty about near-closures and fear
• integrating faith at work through Sabbath and tithing
• seeing a 45 percent sales jump after those choices
• generosity as practice: veterans, community, scholarships
• maturing, accountability, and dealing with inner voices
• rededicating the store at 25 years with a blessing

Texas Silver Rush is located in Fredericksburg, Texas. Find them at their website or on social media and join the 25th anniversary celebration on February 16. “Whatever we do from year 25 and day one, let it honor Him and be done in love.”

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Piet Van Waarde:

Welcome to another Sidewalk Conversations. My name is Pete Van Ward. I'm your host today, and I'm very excited about the guests that we have to introduce you to. And the best way for me to do that is by sharing one of my favorite words these days, and it is the word serendipity. Now, uh recently I did a little work on the background of that word. Where did it come from? And it was actually coined in the mid-1700s by a man named Horace Walpole. And he came up with the word himself by uh reading a particular fairy tale, Persian fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip. And if you're familiar with the fairy tale, you know that these princes seem to come up with all these very interesting and joy-filled experiences, all by accident. And so in a poem, Walpole talks about that, that fairy tale, and he says, it's like serendipity. And apparently that's where the word comes from, because it does mean that very same thing, that once once in a while you find these things in life that surprise you with joy. They're totally unexpected, and they fill you with a sense of appreciation and even a sense of like God is at work in even the smallest things. And that's how I feel about my guest today. We met serendipitously. But before I introduce him to you, let me say a word about my sponsor. I want to say a thank you specifically for those who support this work through the Van Ward Foundation. So there are a number of people who take an interest in this work and all the things that we do, whether it's the newsletters or the podcast or the pocket prayers, and they say, hey, we don't necessarily need any public attention. We just want to be the kind of people that support the work you're doing behind the scenes. And so I just want to now say a public thank you to those who are part of that foundation work. So appreciate the work you do, and I hope that you feel blessed and encouraged by the things that you help produce. Now, without any further ado, let me introduce you to my guest, Joe Remini. Yes, sir. Hey Peter. Good to see you. Good to see you too. I, you know, in our introduction, I was talking about how um I came to meet you, and it was very serendipitously. I think we met through some things on Facebook. A friend introduced us, and you became familiar with some of the work that I was doing through the pocket prayers, and uh and you ended up uh purchasing some for the store that you run, uh Texas Silver Rush. And uh you were doing a Mother's Day thing, I think.

Joe Remini:

It was a Mother's Day. We wanted to bless our we wanted to bless all the moms. Just they didn't have to ask for it. You know, we were just gonna send one to every mom, grandmother, daughter-in-law, whoever.

Piet Van Waarde:

Yeah, and you just say, like, hey, could you send me a couple of cases of your bucket pears? I'm like, okay, who's this guy? And uh and over the time we we've had a chance to have a couple of conversations over uh Facebook and messaging, and uh and then I had the opportunity to do a podcast with you in Fredericksburg. And that was incredible.

Joe Remini:

That was so incredible. You talk about serendipity for us, and it was like we were brothers the minute that you and Carol arrived and we got to visit and everything. Um wow, it was just it was amazing.

Piet Van Waarde:

Yeah, it was just so such a it felt, you know, there are those people that you meet that it almost feels like we've known each other forever. It just it just so happened we met yesterday. Um all right, well, I want to I want to tell a little bit of your story. Actually, I want to have you tell your story because I just found it so interesting that when I got a chance to know you, because you just seem like this really well-adjusted guy who's running a business and doing all these good things. And then I found out that your story growing up was not necessarily so nice, neat, and clean. And so as comfortable as you feel to uh to share, uh talk talk a little bit about how you grew up, where you grew up, kind of some of the circumstances around your growing up yours.

Joe Remini:

Absolutely. And again, thanks for thanks for having me here. So I really appreciate it. Um, you know, I was really fortunate. Um, my grandparents, uh my mom's grand uh mother and father, and my great-grandmother, uh, they were all from Naples, Italy. And they were just absolutely the most beautiful people, you know, in the world. And um, and my grandparents and my dad's side also uh were the most beautiful people in the world. And fortunately, they were just a block away from each other in Little Italy, New York City, on Mott Street and Elizabeth Street, for those familiar with the city. Yeah. And um, so and you know, my home life, my mom had gone through a divorce early on, and with the divorce and then dating other men and you know, doing stuff like that, it just kind of created a really vulnerable environment. And, you know, I I've thought about it quite a bit, I prayed about it quite a bit. I, you know, I it was just a tough time. It was in everybody's childhood, you know, people experience things and all. But uh I was very thankful again, though, for my grandparents, you know, they always provided me a uh a safe place and a loving place and everything and all. So yeah, my uh my dad was um he was uh kind of a violent guy, you know. Uh and I don't necessarily mean that he was he was a tough guy. And that's I let me use that word, he was a tough guy, yeah, you know, and everything. But yeah, so and uh that was the early part. And I ended up doing my uh my mom moved to Staten Island, New York City and lived there. Unfortunately, my grandparents had a little summer house, and so they were around quite a bit. So wonderful. Yeah, so there was there was a lot of tough times and um a lot of times on my own. There were a lot of time on my own uh when I was around my grandparents and everything. And um yeah, it was just a little bit challenging not to go too deep into the.

Piet Van Waarde:

No, and and well, and the reason I want to bring it up, I and I you're you you every conversation we've had, you were always a little hesitant about it because you don't want to blame parents, you don't want to like but the reason I bring it up is because I've watched, or as I I've heard you share, um, and now have watched, that you have not allowed the difficulties of your upbringing to taint your future. I mean, like you went from you know, not an ideal setup, and then you go into the military and you start like excelling in in the Air Force. You want to talk a little bit about your experience there? Sure.

Joe Remini:

You know, and then growing up, my Uncle Anthony. So my mom's sister, my Aunt Brenda, and then her husband, my Uncle Anthony, um, he was always a really positive influence. I mean, he was the first time that a man said, I used a cuss word one time, and he said, We don't talk like that. Oh, wow. Yeah, and he didn't do it in any way that was mean. He was the first time that a man talked to me, and it wasn't like mean or ugly, or he was just truthful. Yeah, called me out on it, help accountability. Yeah. And my Uncle Anthony, uh, unfortunately, he passed away. You know, we talked about our own journey, passed away from brain cancer, was diagnosed in December, fairly young, maybe late 40s, early 50s, and passed away just three months later. And um, just a beautiful man. And anyway, the reason I kind of think about his name was I didn't want anybody in my family to know. I knew I wanted to join the Air Force, not to necessarily get away from something, but because I was excited about doing something. And you know, it was, you know, and so um he was actually driving the bus. He was a bus driver, and he was driving the bus to the um to the recruiting center, and I didn't want anybody to know. So I stayed on the bus even longer because you know, he saw me and we were talking, and I went like way past whether and then I walked back again and went and signed up, didn't tell anybody until about three weeks before I was about to leave. And then, yes, and so it's what I wanted to do. Um, and I really didn't have any idea of what I was getting myself into. Um, but I was bright enough. I graduated in the top of my class, and um, I really was given a great opportunity, you know, with the military. And and yeah, it was after that, it was like just men mentoring me, uh, the best education, the best possible experiences. And uh, we were working Air Force intelligence missions in the Far East out of Hawaii for most of my for the bulk of my operational career and all before I went to the schoolhouse. And so yeah, absolutely loved it. And it was it was the beginning of that journey stepping out on my own.

Piet Van Waarde:

And if I may ask, like um, what what did you take away from that experience? Like when you know you hear hear about people going to the military for all kinds of reasons, but what was the thing that you you took away from that experience?

Joe Remini:

Well, the first thing was I knew what I was missing back at home to have that consistent core group of people around you, say your nuclear family, your core family. But once I was in that environment, I bloomed, you know, to have healthy people around you to mentor, not only uh in our in our work environment, but also on the weekends, they'd have us come out and you know, the guys that were all Vietnam era, you know, way before my time, and the wives would be cooking and they, you know, and we'd have all this great yeah, out in especially in Hawaii too, on top of it, you know, it was just really great environment. So that was the first thing. The second thing was it kind of built up my confidence a lot that I had this ability in me, allowed me to start seeing things other than the pain. You know, I think when people are in pain, you it it can become your focus. Oh, for sure. You know, and it helped me to see other than that. And, you know, I I joke around like I was Johnny Hotshot all the time, but we were all Johnny Hotshot. They groomed us to be excellent, and I served with some amazing men and women, and it was just a great experience. And so what I took away from it was that I had more in me and I could be successful, and that gave me the uh appetite to go on and continue and further my education, and then that began the next season of my life.

Piet Van Waarde:

Which now I uh uh you have to help me with the timeline, but you uh did it was the next trip to Fredericksburg?

Joe Remini:

Is that when you and so yeah, I want to switch legs here for just a second, kind of falling asleep on me a little bit uh after we did our fit check before. And so, yes, and so I I separated to be a full-time dad, had gone through some life changes. Unfortunately, I'd gone through a divorce at that time, and her parents and uh she were located here, and the schoolhouse was in West Texas, and so you know the Air Force was really good with me to convert my retirement and to allow me an education program, uh, to uh go to grad school and to do all that, and that was transition to Texas and just living north of Fredericksburg. So that began that transition.

Piet Van Waarde:

And then you opened up the store. Yes, the silver rush. Yes. So I think you already did like did you uh anticipate like you were gonna be a business owner? Is that like in the cards for you early on?

Joe Remini:

You know, I think the influence there was my boy's granddad. He was a farmer and a rancher, he served in World War II and in Japan, as a matter of fact, after in occupied Japan and everything. And he was born and raised in the Texas Hill Country, which is where our store is located. And I just always loved the fact that he felt he was steward of his land, he was loved the Lord. He and um and Nani, as we call her, Pop and Nani loved the Lord. They were such a good influence on me. And it was really difficult too, because going through a divorce, I kind of felt like I left them down, you know, a lot and everything. And they just loved me and they just loved me and they just love me. And again, Pop held me accountable.

Piet Van Waarde:

Yeah, okay.

Joe Remini:

That was beginning in the Air Force. My Uncle Anthony, the Air Force, there was accountability from men, and that was helped me to grow, you know, as a man. And so, and um uh fast forward just a little bit, um, one day I was like, I need to have more income coming in, and um I was doing some things and I thought let's open a little store in Fredericksburg. It was literally Pete was on a whim. And um, so going go one more, just backtrack a little bit. I love the fact that the fact that Pop he worked hard and didn't have a traditional job. Yeah, you know, like tr but he was a hard worker, you know, and to run a farming and ranching operation like that, everything. And so I kind of had it in my head. The other thing was I knew that my career path in the Air Force based on continued education, both professionally and personal. And I didn't have a career path in the civilian world. I was like, how do I get to my goal? Right, which was more free time and independence and financial security, you know, and things like that. And that's when I opened up the store, literally drove to Fredericksburg, drove up to an empty storefront, called the number in the window, paid my $750, and I was in business.

Piet Van Waarde:

Now it's a very unique store. Um, we're gonna go ahead and link uh link it here in the notes. But uh you do very unique styles of jewelry. And so did you have some history in jewelry making or art that kind of led you into that direction?

Joe Remini:

You know, early on we were doing a lot of beaded jewelry and a lot of just basic silver jewelry. And then um, yeah, so I really had an eye for design and an eye for uh kind of creating, but really the heart of the silver work didn't come until a little bit later on.

Piet Van Waarde:

Okay.

Joe Remini:

And that's when Trish came on board, who you've got to meet, my operations manager, just beautiful, beautiful person. And she came on about nine years ago, and she can run circles around me when it comes to actual fabrication and design. And then Paul came on board and had a full shop, and then that just started like honing my skills from things I did early, early on, some very rudimentary and basic things. And so, yeah, so but I for you know, I didn't want to just have a store, you know, per se. I want to do some things that were more original, but that was also again an evolution and a process.

Piet Van Waarde:

Yeah, and so one of the things about your store that I absolutely love is that you have all these connections with different people. So you have your artists, your artisans that do the work, but then the people who end up purchasing your work are also very unique individuals. So you have connections in the music industry and uh authors and explorers and all that. So how how did they find out about your work? How did that connection happen?

Joe Remini:

Well, you know, it's interesting because I knew that we wanted to use social media somehow. First of all, this we put the store in, or I put the store in Fredericksburg because I knew we were gonna have built-in. If y'all are not familiar with Fredericksburg, it's the number two destination in the country for wine, home of the old country music venue, Lukenbach, which was made famous by all the outlaws like Chris Christofferson and Whelan Jennings and such. And so we had that. It's an old German community and it's pretty much a Hallmark town. It's it's gorgeous. So I thought, well, how can we go wrong? We have that built-in, we have that built in. I thought, you know, I invested $10,000 to start it. And, you know, for the first three years, I thought I was gonna get evicted every month, you know, and everything. And so um, anyway, I reached out to uh this wonderful young lady, a very well-known country music artist. I'm gonna mention her name, Brie Bagwell. And I called her one day or sent a message and said, Hey, I've got this little store, we're making some jewelry. Would you like to have some? You know, because I love music, absolutely love music. And she's like a lot of that. Oh, yeah. I wish we could have got a clip and you and I sing You're so vain by Carly Simon, you know. And I reached out to her and she said, Sure, come out to my show this weekend. So we went out there and she's just a beautiful person. And I think that was the link. All of the people that I've met, whether they're musicians, singers, songwriters, you know, whatever it is, it's all that everybody had a talent and a gift and they were creating, and they did it in a beautiful way, not a haughty way in any way. All the musicians I met. And then uh, yeah, so that's kind of how that started. And I began working with all these artists, and uh, I think, you know, uh met this beautiful guy, Greg Raleigh, and he's best known for you know playing at Woodstock and then um uh founding Journey and stuff like that. And he just came in because of a friend of a friend kind of thing and happens to live in Texas now, and just a really great guy. And Trish and I have loved hanging out with him, especially during COVID and all. And then that opened the door to do a little one-time deal for a Ringo Star. And um, you know, those were really, really enjoyable. And Trish and I really did the happy dance, you know, when we got that opportunity. But, you know, that still was just a moment that was then. You know, what you did then isn't as important as what you're doing now. Yeah, but it was a great place because I love music. I'm heavily dialed into to music and the music world.

Piet Van Waarde:

Yeah, I one of the things I love about your store is not only do you have great, uh, very interesting jewelry, but you have pictures all over the place of various people who wear who wear your stuff. And uh it's just a very quaint, interesting place. Um the other thing I wanted to talk to you in terms of your business is we've had a lot of conversations since we've gotten to know each other about what does it mean to be a Christian businessman? And you know, one you you kind of had this evolution where you're like experimenting and exploring various things to allow your your your practice of faith to influence how you do business. And I'm just curious, you you've said we had a conversation before we went on the air about like some things that have been changing for you and some some very interesting results that have happened as a result of some of those changes. So talk a little bit about kind of your evolution there.

Joe Remini:

Absolutely. I'm I'm gonna backtrack for just one second. So, just as in first my time you know with my beautiful family and with my extended family in New York City, and then going into the Air Force and each season just taught me something else, and that's true for all of us if we choose to see that.

Piet Van Waarde:

Right.

Joe Remini:

I um the whole time, like I said earlier, I thought I was gonna get evicted the first you know couple of years that I was in. And that that was a challenge. And then it was a challenge of what makes us different than every other business and how are we unique? And it was just always a challenge. And then there were so many times when I just thought, I have blown this thing, and I just felt so down on myself, you know, and I would beat myself up and kind of fall back into that old kind of you know line of thinking. And so it was that spiritual journey, and I share this quite a bit in the store that yeah, we're doing some really incredible things and we have some great opportunity, but it's been such a growing experience in my faith. So now fast forward, because I want to say that because there have been so many people that really supported me when things were tough, yeah, and when I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna make it tomorrow. Right. And we show up and we do it. I mean, there was a time literally when the doors were gonna shut, you know, and how are we gonna do it? And it just kept going. And so um fast forward and I appreciate it.

Piet Van Waarde:

Sorry to interrupt, but I appreciate you saying that because sometimes the the error we can get into, especially as people who are kind of sharing our story, we tend to gloss over, you know, the parts that didn't go so well. And in and and maybe part of it is just, you know, we're trying to be efficient with our language or whatever, but sometimes it's because we don't want to make it look as though like we were trying to be faithful with our faith and then the business didn't work. And I think we have to be honest about the fact that sometimes when you're faithful, it's not gonna go well. And then other times when you're faithful, it's gonna exceed your expectations. And that's just part of the journey.

Joe Remini:

Well, I think I think for me, God is always faithful. We know that. That's the truth, that's his promise. For me, I think it was me believing that because I wanted to I never thought I'd be the person to say I give up, you know, or whatever. But that was like kind of giving up when things were getting tough. And either a couple people poured into me, spoke some truth into me, sometimes even financially kind of poured into me, you know, where they'd come and say, you know what, we just need to buy all of our Christmas gifts for our family, boom, you know, there you go. And so, but where the challenge was for me is he was always faithful through it and he kept me going and gave me that opportunity because evidently we're here for a reason because we're serving in a different way. So now fast forward, I wanted to make sure that I didn't gloss over that like you know, like you said to use your word. So then fast forward, so I'm surrounded by some really great people, including Trish and Crystalin. I always say Crystal runs the digital store, Trish runs the hard store, and I'm kind of floating in between, and then we have some great other people, including like Grace and then Stephanie, you know, that are helping Pete. There's I can't give a shout out to well, I will give a shout-out to everybody, but so Trish and Grace both bring the sense of truth, you know. And Chris Chrislin was whispering in my ear, you know, about Sundays, you know, and everybody goes, Oh, you should close on Sunday, Chick-fil-A is close on Sunday, and God bless them, because they're doing it for that's their they're demonstrating their faith, you know. So I was like, Well, we have customers coming in on Sunday, you know, because we're in a resort town. They're coming from all over the weekends, all over the state, all over the state and all over the country to come in on the weekends, you know, and everything. And so we were doing everything we needed to do, and and it just built up to a point. And Trish was like, Yeah, you know, during COVID, we were closed on Sundays also. So there were two reasons to be closed on Sunday. One was from a secular standpoint, a worldly standpoint, well, you take a day of rest, you know, and you know, you just take a break, you need to recharge your spend time with your family and do all that. Then from the spiritual side, you know, by keeping a Sabbath, you know, and and make setting aside a day for worship and for fellowship. And so we decided to go ahead, I say we, because I've got Trish Chrysler. Maybe thumbs up to you two. Um and so we we closed. And uh one of my really great customers and friend Ann Ledger, I spoke to her on the way in. She's like, You got to take a day of rest. She goes, I'm gonna stay on you. You better stay closed. And we stay closed. And then there is a uh a pastor I've been following, and I've always we talked about this too, I've always tried to be generous. Uh it's that was my grandparents. Yeah. And then that's the spirit training me that this is not ours. We have to, we have to let it flow. We have to let it the money that comes in, we need to let it flow out where it needs to go to, being effective stewards of that. And so we did those two things. You know, I started tithing to uh support this one pastor that I'm really, really learning a lot from, and specifically tithing beyond just love offerings and you know things like that. And so we closed the store, started tithing, and now 90 days later, our sales are up 45%. And the numbers are so huge, like I was you and I talking about that, they're kind of mind-boggling to me. That's the only two things that have changed. I choose to see it specifically, like God is showing me. Follow this, follow this right here. And then what does it do? It it gives me the chance to really begin to focus even more on Him because when we're running the business that we're running and we're shipping hundreds and hundreds of boxes every couple of days worldwide, it can get overwhelming. And yet, and yet I'm surrounded with people who love the Lord, yeah, I'm surrounded with people who love me, and I'm surrounded with accountability. All the things I learned in each of those seasons, you know, and everything, and that has made the difference. And so if somebody goes, Well, yeah, you know, close on Sunday, that's kind of cliche Christian or something like that. No, it's powerful, yeah. It's powerful. I'm not gonna say it works, it's powerful. There's two different parts of that.

Piet Van Waarde:

Yeah, and uh one of the things I loved about our our lunch, because I think it was uh so we did the podcast together, we were overnight in Fredericksburg, and you took you took us to lunch very graciously, and we had a chance to talk about some of this. And you you said to me, uh, and I still remember because I've heard this so many other times too, where people say, Yeah, I've heard all this stuff, you know, like honor God with the tithe or honor God by keeping this class uh the store closed or whatever. And you said, like honestly, I was a little skeptical too. Like I heard the stories and I was like, eh. And then you just like said, All right, but I'm gonna I'm gonna try it. I'm gonna honor God in this way by faith. And then to hear the story today, just before you came in, about how God has just you know blossomed this, honored this, uh, this commitment on your part. And I just I celebrate it with you. I think it's just such a beautiful thing. And I'm I'm hoping that people who are hearing this are willing to say, you know, well, maybe there's there's something in this for me, because sometimes, you know, people they categorize their life. You know, one of the things I've noticed in in uh in my pastoral ministry is that people say, Well, you know, I have my church on Sunday and I do my stuff and I sing, but this is business, right? And they kind of try and keep those two separate. But when when people actually take the principles of truths that they're learning in scripture and from teaching and worship, and they say, No, I cannot just categorize that over here. I need to figure out ways to do this here. God blesses it. And and there are things that happen in your heart as a result too.

Joe Remini:

Absolutely. Absolutely. And you know, it's not you know, uh it's not so much that I didn't believe it was gonna work. My outs, my look was I'm responsible for these people that work for me. They have to pay rent, they have to pay car payments, they have to do all these things. We need to keep the cash flow going, and we need to do this, and we have to do this, despite being a successful debt-free company. And if I stayed in that vein, well, because I because I didn't stay in that lane, and I opened up my eyes because of the people I'm surrounding were to speaking the truth to me, which I knew what the truth was, and then it became a practical way of doing it said, Okay, we're gonna make this decision. And you know, so yeah, I could have easily just said, Well, I've got all these people, they're all counting on me, we've got to do this. That was I don't know if it was an excuse or it was fear. It was fear to keep me from truth. And the enemy will just keep whispering that in your ear, you know.

Piet Van Waarde:

And it all sounds so good, right? Yeah, you're like, I'm just trying to be responsible.

Joe Remini:

Yeah, oh yeah. And then you don't wonder why you wonder why you have conflict with your with your accountability partners. Because they're like, you know, because everybody we know what the truth is, or I'll say, but you don't have all these employees, you know, counting on me or whatever, you know, and everything. But yeah, no, so it's powerful. It's just not, it wasn't just a choice, it was a growing season. And the growing seasons right now are it's like I'm getting turned on to something or something's being whispered at me, and everything's happening so fast, like the results are happening so fast. And so it's just affirming in me and it's just building me up and building me up. And like we talked about before, you know, as young men, the things that we've experienced and all, if you if you just keep listening to those voices in your head, those voices are speaking death, failure, yeah, you know, just all that kind of stuff. And so these other voices, which are speaking truth, are speaking life, you know. And then more importantly, I'm more able to hear the message and the truth.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Joe Remini:

Because one thing I had really spoke this and promised myself, I remember my great-grandmother on my mom's side, big grandma as we call her, and um, she was just joyful. And I said, if I'm blessed to live as long as my grandparents and great-grandparents were, I hope that I can be full of joy the way they were, and without any doubts in my heart about who I was. And then at some point just hit me, why are you gonna wait until you're 80, like you're this great grandparent or something? How about today? What do you have in your heart that really needs to be dealt with? And that means, you know, past broken relationships, either with family members or whoever, um, anything at all. And so it's just like deal with it today, deal with it today, but deal with it with with God, deal with it with the spirit, you know, and be and then really begin to grow. And so this whole thing with tithing, closing on Sundays, and I'm almost embarrassed to say about the tithing part. I really am, because like I said, I've always been very generous to support ministries and and not only ministries, when people are hungry. You know, I was reading on Matthew, you know, the you know, did you feed me when I was hungry? Did you did you give me something to drink when I was thirsty? Did you clothe me? You know, and everything. And so, but to specifically be intentional about these things have opened up more doors for me. And to be honest with you, I don't care how much money it's just that's not the important thing, but it is a barometer. It's like, wow, this is really happening.

Piet Van Waarde:

Yeah, you know, yeah one of the things I've also appreciated about you, and new and this is like predates even our relationship. I've noticed things on Facebook and others, other places where you've just been very engaged in the community as a whole. Like you care about what's going on in Fredericksburg, but then also when you heard that I'm teaching this cancer course, and there might be some people who can't afford to take the course, you right away sent some money for scholarships, and and you're just very attuned to what's happening outside of your store. So your world is not just like, hey, I want to be faithful with this, your your world is larger than that. And do you see that as an expression of your faith? Like, where did that come from for you?

Joe Remini:

Um it good that comes, yes, it's an expression of my faith. And that's why I said before the intentionality of tithing and closing on Sunday was intentional. That came out of my heart, which is still a spirit, but I thought, like, that's the easy stuff to do when it's that's your skill set. Like my grandmother and my grandfather were very kind and loving. My cousin Vinny, um, he always wanted to play music. He's played music all of his life, and we always talked about these stories when you know he'd bring all these crazy rockers to his house, punk rockers too, to this Italian family, you know, and grandmother would feed everybody, you know, macaroni for everybody, you know, and everything. And so that was in me already. But then I thought, well, that's the easy thing for me. I I hear something come up and I just do it. But it was a skill that was building also towards being intentional about tithing and being intentional about clothing on Sundays. And so, yeah, I think part of that got built up. I worked with an organization called the Gallant Few. And uh, my son did multiple combat tours in Afghanistan as an army ranger, and um, he was really he really had a tough time coming home from combat. And the rangers are the best of the best in the army, and I'm so proud of him for doing that. I'm proud of my oldest son, too. Uh, he's doing some great things with his with his life, his wife, and his children as well. But that situation with Tyler was I leaned into these other army rangers and I got to meet two men who were beautiful Christian men in Fort Benning, Georgia. And they had an outreach program and they were helping Army Rangers transition, you know, out of combat. And so that's when I first started saying, let's let's support this organization. Let's kind of do these things. And so, yes, it was selfish in some ways because I wanted the best for my son. But then I got to meet Tony Main, who just got inducted in the Ranger Hall of Fame, which, if you're a Ranger, you're already, you're already a rock star. If you're in the Ranger Hall of Fame, it's like you're wearing the Superman cake, you know, and everything. And so, yeah, so then that was practice. All of this is practice. You learn it, you practice it. It's like reading, you know, and taking the word in. You learn it, you practice it. You got to do it. You got to feed yourself and everything. And so we started that. And then we became, we had this big community of people. And I was like, we're going to do Run Ranger Run to help raise money for these guys who are serving. You know, like I said, with your organization and your ministry, you know, you guys are doing the hard work. We write a check. To me, that's the easy part of it. And so then I leaned into that group of people that support the Texas Silver Rush. And uh I was like, hey, we're doing Run Ranger Run. And they were donating, you know, as we put a team together and help us raise funds and to do all that. And that was the early onset of this group of people that are so wonderful that support the Texas Silver Rush. And, you know, too. And so then it became not just us, it was all of us now doing that. And then when I became aware of you, like, oh my gosh, your post and a lot of your ministry has really, really impacted me, especially when we, you know, started sharing these journeys uh through healing from cancer, you know, and stuff like that. And so then it was just a natural part for me then to say, you know, there were two, I think it's the first time there were two folks that could needed a scholarship. I was like, Yeah, let's go ahead and do this. Yeah. Because you were already blessing me and everything you were sharing every day, you know, and so it was an easy step up to do that. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Piet Van Waarde:

Well, and I'm curious, uh this, and we didn't talk about this yet, so I'm sorry to kind of share a question we haven't discussed, but I'm curious now that we've been talking about this. Like one of the principles I think is true is that and I think it's even a biblical principle where to whom much is given, much is also required. But I wonder if it's like the other way too, where when you're faithful with some things, like God puts some things on your heart that you're faithful to do, whether it's like uh supporting this uh Army Ranger uh run or whether it's supporting the cancer course or whether it's supporting you know other things in the community that you do.

Joe Remini:

Do you feel like because you're faithful in these things, God just continues to open up other doors for you to do absolutely, absolutely, and I think it's building confidence, you know, because you know it's it's building that confidence within me, just within me. You know, I think since Philippians where we have to work out our salvation with fear and trepidation, you know. And um it's we we've got to know, we've got to know, uh-huh, you know, and and until then we act in faith. And so, yeah, and it's also almost like the chicken and the egg thing, you know, in some of that. But no, the more and I've heard it also said before, you know, when you're and I for I I forget exactly where in scripture it's at, but you know, when you're younger you drink milk, and then as you mature, you take on meat. Yeah, and so the only thing is I will tell you, I wish this all happened faster because it's so exciting now at in my early 60s. It's so dang exciting. You know, I just wish it happened sooner, but this is my journey. Yeah, you know, this is this is this is my journey, and I have this opportunity now to live fully in him, you know, and again, have that peace in my heart that what I don't like about myself, oh you know, but he kind of did this one time. Yeah, I did. You want to know what else I did that you don't know? You know, that sort of thing. But but that's it's more, not even what anybody else says, it's what's in my head. Yeah, that's the enemy whispering. You know, some people go, Well, you did it. The enemy doesn't have to whisper and all that sort of thing. So, no, I firmly believe, yes, as you were saying, that when he when this happens and the spirit moves, that it builds you to become stronger.

Piet Van Waarde:

Yeah, and and then he entrusts you with more. Yes. Like Joe's proven to be faithful with this. I'm gonna give him another opportunity, another challenge, another thing to do. And uh, and I I guess I just want to commend you because sometimes when you're living the life, you're not as aware of like how cool it is uh what you're doing. But you know, every time I'm I'm with you, I hear your story and I hear what you're doing. I'm just so inspired because it challenges me. Like it's like uh as I'm hearing you talk, like it's like, Pete, are you doing that? Are you willing to take those risks? Are you willing to kind of step outside of your comfort zone? And so I just want to say thank you for being an example in that way. I feel like you're you're very much an inspiration. Love how you do business, love how you trait uh talk about people and and do your life. It's just uh it's really inspiring.

Joe Remini:

Well, thank you. I mean, I I don't I'm even hesitant to say thank you, but thank you. I there's been, like you said, there's been so many amazing people that have been around me that this is just a reflection. You know, I just read this morning that uh in Matthew, I told you I was reading Matthew last night this morning, and it said, you know, we when we get to heaven, you know, we're all gonna be angels. You know, it doesn't matter about marriage and family, and you know, think we're we are all gonna be angels. And so in this world, we should be brothers and sisters, you know, period, across the board and love each other that way, you know, and everything. And so, yeah, everything that's happening right now is that reflection of all the people that poured into me. And they were spirit led because I can tell you where their walk is, you know, right now and everything. And like I said, I'm most excited that it's it's all happening right now because there's been a lot of really scary as a small business owner, there's a lot of scary times. A lot, there's a lot of scary times. And there's also this point, too, uh, I want to touch on earlier. There's sometimes when you don't know this, this is the time to pull the plug. Because you're being smart, you're being wise, or do you just kind of run this thing down into the ground? And so, but God always, always made a way. He always and it was sometimes demonstrated. I've heard it say before, you know, I lost my job and then I came home and there were checks in my mailbox to pay the rent, to pay the mortgage, you know, things like that. God will make a way, and he loves us and he cares about us and he supports us. So for me in this journey, which is the Texas Silver Rush, he's been growing up, he's been growing me up, he's been m maturing me. Um, excuse me, last February I had to go, my uh my Uncle Terrence had passed away, and his son, my cousin TJ, he's my first cousin, he's a man I highly respect. He's got a beautiful family and and everything. And so I made this trip to New York to go to the funeral, and it was a little awkward coming from a challenging family situation. But I had been with TJ the month before myself, my cousin Vinny and TJ and I were all together in the city in Lowerside, and uh so I knew I needed to be there for him, and that was bigger than myself, and that was God move me through. And I learned so much, you know, from that experience, you know, and everything as well. And so each season, there's are there will be challenging times, there will be tough times, there will be gut checks, and there are gonna be things like that. But I can literally say that by doing that, by making that trip to honor uh Michael Terrence and honestly, my cousin TJ, you know, um, because he is a good man, he's a man I admire. Yeah, and so I was like, I've got to, I'm gonna be at that, I'm at this level, and I'll be there. And you know, when I when he saw me in the church, first thing he did came hug and said, come sit with family. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, that's great.

Piet Van Waarde:

All right. I want to close with uh one thing that you have coming up in uh I think it's February. You're gonna be celebrating a big anniversary. You want to give us a little sneak.

Joe Remini:

Oh, I forgot all about that. What are you gonna be doing? Oh, yeah, absolutely. So uh February 16th will be our 25th year anniversary of being open. Yeah. So going back to it, I'm just like, how'd this all happen? And so um, so we're gonna have our 25th anniversary celebration of the Texas Silver Russian. I know I didn't talk about business too much, but uh, we're located in Fredericksburg, Texas. We're all over social media and everything. And so um I was just like, you know, we we've got to celebrate. And the actual reason for the celebration is the story in itself, but I was uh I saw this guy who was opening a new business on Kauai when I was there this summer, and he had a blessing ceremony before they opened the store. And it was in Hawaiian, it was a Christian ceremony, and they had the tea lay tea leaves on and everything, lays and all. And I was like, that's it was just again, I want to bless the store and rededicate it and repurpose it because yes, I opened it with integrity. I was like, I want to pay for college for the kids, I want to have this career and I wanted to do these things and all. And but I never did again, it was intentionality. And so I want to bless the store, whatever we do from day uh year 25 and day one, let it honor him and serve him and and be done in love. And so um decided to have this uh anniversary celebration. So we'll bless the store that afternoon, and then we'll open doors right behind the stores is one of the oldest halls in Fredericksburg, beautiful hall. And uh we're gonna have uh some great food and fellowship and music, and we're gonna have a great celebration. And you know, I totally forgot about it because I'm so focused on this on the big Christmas run and everything. And so, yeah, we're really excited, and I hope that y'all are around so you can actually come.

Piet Van Waarde:

Yeah, I I if I am here, I am totally in it. Absolutely, absolutely.

Joe Remini:

I look forward to that.

Piet Van Waarde:

Well, Joe, thank you so much for uh sharing your story and your life. It is inspiring, and I want to say thank you to all of you for joining us. Uh, we appreciate your participation. I hope that you were inspired by Joe's story, and I hope you join us again for another sidewalk conversation.

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Piet Van Waarde

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