031 - Tell Me About Your Relationship with Jesus with Dan Becker

In this week's episode, Dan Becker, a well-known backpacking YouTuber, shares his journey into backpacking and YouTube, his family's involvement, and the role of the outdoors in his relationship with Christ. He also recounts a life-threatening experience in the Grand Canyon and the impact it had on his faith and outlook on life. The conversation covers Dan's near-death experience, the importance of faith in the wilderness, and the impact of his father's passing. It also delves into the significance of sharing one's faith and the power of prayer. Dan shares practical ways to connect with God in everyday life and emphasizes the importance of evangelism.

Youtube: @danbecker
Course — Dan Becker Outdoors
Instagram: @danbeckeroutdoors

The Balance of Gray
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• 10:04 [Ad] The Balance of Gray
• 10:54 (Cont.) 031 - Tell Me About Your Relationship with Jesus with Dan Becker

Transcript

Kenzie Smith (00:02)
On today's episode of My Valley is Victory, we have Dan Becker. Dan Becker lives in Wisconsin and is more than just a name. He is a backpacking extraordinaire and YouTube personality and one of the most well -known names in the backpacking industry. So, so excited to have you here today, Dan, and thanks so much for being with us.

Dan (00:20)
Wow, I don't think I've ever had an intro like that ever in my entire life. That was awesome. Yeah. Well, fun to be here. Glad to be here.

Kenzie Smith (00:29)
Yeah, so why don't you go ahead and just tell us a little bit about yourself and who you are. We all probably know you through YouTube, but tell us a little bit more about who Dan actually is.

Dan (00:35)
yeah.

Yeah, I just I'm so not I feel like I'm so not anything you said the intro. I'm just a regular dude that lives in Wisconsin. A dad, three kids, and I just happen to film stuff when I go outside and upload it to YouTube. Yeah, that's pretty much what I do.

Kenzie Smith (00:56)
Yeah, so kind of talk to us about how you got into backpacking. I mean, is this something that you've done your whole life? I know you live in Wisconsin, so not, you know, super well known backpacking state. So walk us through that journey.

Dan (01:09)
Yeah, no, no, definitely did not do this my entire life at all. I started probably 10 years ago and yeah, we were just like the backpacking is not really a thing in Wisconsin. Like if you walk around and talk to people about backpacking, they're like, what is that? How do you? I don't even know what you're talking about. Like my kids wear a backpack to school, you know, like that's pretty much what it is. And so we like 10 years ago, buddies of mine were like, hey, let's go do something fun. Let's do something kind of manly. Let's.

put on a backpack and go into the woods with, you know, just see if we can survive for the night. And I just thought, my gosh, that sounds amazing. And so we did that and I was absolutely hooked. And I spent probably the night, I mean, prior to that, I spent probably 30 or 40 hours researching for that night, because I'm like a researcher by nature. So I went on YouTube, started learning and that was it. That was the hook. And I just started to backpack.

based on my experience with my buddies, but I had no one to go with because they didn't want to go again. It was just like me. And I didn't know anybody that did it. So I was like, I got to go on YouTube and learn this thing. And that's how I got sucked into the abyss of YouTube. Yeah. So.

Kenzie Smith (02:19)
Yeah, so they don't backpack now, the guys that you went with the first time.

Dan (02:24)
No. Yep. Matter of fact, the first the next time that I got out with both of them ever was last year. I they finally came to their like, will you take us on a trip? And I'm like, yeah, let's go. Let's like relive the glory days. And so we went to Wind River Range in Wyoming and we had to take home base. And and it was a it was a vastly different trip.

from the overnighter in Wisconsin that we hiked like barely a mile in. So they had a blast. It was a lot of fun.

Kenzie Smith (03:02)
I love that. That's so cool that you ended up getting to at least have another experience with them with at least one of you guys having an understanding of what to do and...

Dan (03:12)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. And they like used all my stuff like they're borrowing everything because I've got a pretty much an REI as a gear closet. So it's kind of fun.

Kenzie Smith (03:20)
Hey, that's not a bad setup to have. So is this something that I know I see you out with a lot of different guys and just having the best time, but is this something that you do with your family very often or your wife or where are they involved in kind of this world?

Dan (03:24)
Yeah.

That's a super good question because they were like me. Didn't I mean, you just don't backpack around here. So my kids, my youngest is 11. And so he's probably had like the most, I guess, the closest thing to growing up with this in his life. My my wife didn't. So she's gone with me. I don't know, maybe five times. And it's not it's not she doesn't not enjoy it. But it's not like, I can't wait to go backpacking.

And we just don't live in an area where you do it. And so in our kids, we're, you know, they're I got a 17 year old, a 15 year old and a 12 year old now. And so their lives are school sports, you know, all that stuff. And so, yeah, I'm I'm the backpacker, but they will come with me from time to time for sure. Like my oldest, we're planning a trip to Montana will probably be there at the end of July. We'll hike beaten path trail in in your Bob Marshall wilderness. And so, yeah.

Kenzie Smith (04:23)
Yeah.

Dan (04:37)
Where are you from?

Kenzie Smith (04:37)
Okay, I'm from Kansas originally, but I live in Utah now.

Dan (04:41)
That's right. Yeah, you're in Utah. Yeah. Yeah.

Kenzie Smith (04:43)
Yeah, yeah, so same, didn't grow up backpacking at all, but have gotten into it and kind of, you know, like you said, just trial and error.

Dan (04:52)
And now you like walk out your backyard and you're in backpacking territory in Utah. That's that's awesome.

Kenzie Smith (04:59)
Yeah, I haven't gotten to do it yet in my backyard. We've driven down to the desert a couple of times and did some stuff. We moved here in January, so snow is still melting. So haven't gotten out in my backyard yet, but, yeah, excited to definitely explore more of Utah this summer and the mountainside instead of the desert side. So, yeah. So, you know, outside of backpacking, let's just, let's go there. What?

Dan (05:08)
cool.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kenzie Smith (05:28)
What do you like to do? You know, what are some of your other hobbies? I know this is obviously your job now. But yeah, what do you like to do other than backpacking?

Dan (05:38)
What do I like to do other than backpacking? my gosh. Yeah. Well, the second, I guess the second world would be obviously YouTube. Like we live YouTube videos around here. But then I'm a drummer. A lot of people don't know that. I've been drumming for 30 years. So I've played in like a bajillion bands, traveled all over, played for like a bajillion churches, that kind of thing. And so both my...

Kenzie Smith (05:56)
Very cool.

Dan (06:07)
boys are drummers and so they play for churches and yeah that's yeah musician yeah people probably blown away to hear that but yeah.

Kenzie Smith (06:11)
Okay.

I love that. Always fun whenever you have that musical talent. I have zero, so kudos to you. I'm like, don't give me a musical instrument. It will not be good. Always been into sports and things of that nature, so not a...

Dan (06:23)
Yeah.

Yeah.

nice. Yeah, no, I do not. I do not do sports like at all.

Kenzie Smith (06:36)
Yeah, you do do a sport. You backpack. That's a sport.

Dan (06:39)
Yeah, I walk. That's great.

Kenzie Smith (06:43)
Yeah. So kind of talk to us about how the, I guess the YouTube channel started. I mean, so obviously 10 years ago you weren't a backpacker and now that's, you know, your, you know, thing you love the most and thing you do the most. Where, at what point were you like, I'm going to start making videos? Were they always gear videos or were they more just taking people along on your trips or kind of how did it evolve?

Dan (07:08)
yeah, great question. So be... Yeah.

Kenzie Smith (07:09)
or what sparked sparked the, you know, want to start documenting.

Dan (07:14)
Yeah. So because no one does this around here, I had to learn somewhere. So YouTube is where I learned how to go backpacking like quickly. Right. Like people back before YouTube just like trial and error. Like you go to buy all the gear. You talk to somebody maybe that knows how to do it at the outdoor store. You know, whatever. So I learned from YouTube.

And one day I was trying to figure something out. So I went to YouTube to try to learn how to do something. Well, there was no information on YouTube. So I go, man, I guess I'm going to have to figure this out myself. So I figured it out. And then I thought, man, I bet you somebody would probably want to know how to do this. And so I'm like, I guess I'll make a video. It's kind of weird. Like I was 40 like who 40 year old dudes making YouTube videos. So I made a YouTube video and I put it online and I.

I could not believe that people watch this video. Like it just blew my mind that I got a view. I've got a really addictive personality when it comes to that kind of stuff. So maybe I'll try to make another one. And I made another one. And then people watch that. And I just started that. And I actually didn't tell anybody I had a YouTube channel for a few months. Like nobody knew. Like other than people that were seeing me on YouTube, my family, like nobody knew. Like my kids.

Kenzie Smith (08:14)
You

Dan (08:37)
They found out when I left the laptop accidentally open. They were like, dad's got a YouTube channel. Yeah, it's funny.

Kenzie Smith (08:43)
my goodness. They're probably like, gosh, dad, what are you doing?

Dan (08:48)
Yeah, dude, it was so bad. I was so embarrassed. And yeah, so, yep, that's how it started.

Kenzie Smith (08:55)
Yeah, I find that to be really common is I feel like in the people that I've talked to in the YouTube space or that have even started any sort of channel. It's like I went and I looked for information and I couldn't find it and so I created it. And so I think that's really cool.

Dan (09:08)
Yeah, yep. Yeah, if anybody's looking to start a YouTube channel, that's how you do it for sure.

Kenzie Smith (09:13)
Yeah, no, it's so cool. And at that point, I mean, who were when you were watching YouTube videos, was there anyone who was, you know, I'll say, you know, a you at that time, like who was the person that was making these YouTube videos that you're watching to learn how to backpack?

Dan (09:28)
I think the big YouTube channels back then that were in the backpack and it was very different back then. Like it was...

There were very few of it's weird to say, but there are very few people like me on YouTube like that were the average dad that were still learning. But there were like the guys who had done it their whole life that, you know, live in Utah or Arizona or whatever. So Darwin on the Trail was the one that I watched quite a bit to learn from. Syntax 77. I don't know if you know recognize that name. Awesome channel. Loved watching his stuff.

Kenzie Smith (09:43)
Yeah.

Dan (10:07)
Another smaller YouTuber, he's no longer on YouTube, his name was Tim Watson. I learned a lot from that guy, because he was sort of the dad that kind of did this, but he sort of lived in Ohio, which has a lot more backpacking than Wisconsin. Yeah, I know. I was just like typing in backpacking stuff. I didn't really care who was teaching me. I just needed to learn.

Kenzie Smith (10:11)
Okay.

Interesting.

Yeah, right. Yeah. Very interesting.

Dan (10:37)
So yeah, that got frustrating. That got really frustrating because because you're like, you're like, I just want to know how to set up this tent and you're just having to sift through like 100 million YouTube videos before you figure it out. It's like, just give me the tent video. But.

Kenzie Smith (10:53)
Yeah, very cool. Yeah, it's a way different world now. I feel like I remember when it all started. I remember when YouTube launched and kind of the evolution and it's a totally different beast now.

Dan (10:57)
Totally, yeah, totally different world.

yeah, yeah, there's no more cat videos.

Kenzie Smith (11:10)
Yeah, that was my favorite part.

Dan (11:12)
Yeah, yeah, I missed the cat videos too. We should do that. We start making cat videos That's what we're gonna do. So forget backpacking. Let's go buy some cats

Kenzie Smith (11:17)
Yeah.

So funny. Okay, so obviously backpacking is really awesome. Being outdoors is really amazing. We love it. We both obviously do. Talk to us about how being in the outdoors plays a role specifically in your relationship with Christ.

Dan (11:36)
man, I don't know how anyone can go outside at any point. I don't care where you live, city, country, mountains, desert, doesn't matter where you live and look around and say that there is no God. It is astronomically insane to me that people that there's anyone that thinks that I just can't comprehend that at all. I see creation and.

the sun and the moon and the stars and the clouds and the mountains and the birds and the animals and everything that's out there. And how can you deny that there's a God that exists? So for me, I feel like it's a tangible like, you know, everybody's like, hey, God show up in my life somehow, some way. And they're expecting, you know, this God like just appear before them. Like this is the tangible way to have God appear before you. I feel like like you get outside and you're like, there he is. He's right there.

in creation, he's shown himself to us. And so that's sort of my connection to getting out and feeling that. I mean, that's not the only reason I go out, right? Like we all go out just to get away from life in general. But I feel that it is certainly that constant reminder in the storms, in the, you know, the hikes, in the, you know, the struggles of hiking, all of those things is relatable to seeing God in all.

Kenzie Smith (13:03)
Yeah, 100 % agree. And just, yeah, I'm absolutely blown away every time I go outside and I see something new and I'm just like, God, you're so creative. Like, you're so cool. No, I couldn't agree more with you. So do you have a story that you could share with us about a time in which maybe God has revealed himself or spoken to you through the outdoors?

Dan (13:15)
for sure.

Yeah, I mean for sure. I think anybody that follows my who has followed my journey probably knows about my my experience. But yeah, I I almost died in the Grand Canyon a couple of years, almost a year and a half ago. I had to get rescued. So we were hiking. We were supposed to do a rim to rim to rim.

So we were starting on the South Rim, hiking down into the canyon. And then it's about a 25 mile to get out the North Canyon, the North Rim. And then we were going to hike back, but we decided to do this in winter and we thought we were prepared. But that year there was massive snow on the North Rim, like the week before we got there. As a matter of fact, when I was flying out there, my flight originally was canceled because of the snow.

because there was huge snowstorms coming through. So we had to rebook the flight and the next morning it was just a really kind of a scary situation. But we thought, okay, it's gonna clear up, we're fine. If it starts to get bad, we'll turn around. Well, as we were hiking out of the North Rim about three miles up, and this is after already just a pretty grueling hike, we had to put snow shoes on. And if anybody's ever hiked the...

the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It's a very strenuous hike on a good day. And we were breaking trail, which essentially means that you're the one putting footprints in the snow. There's no one that's been there ahead of you. And we were hiking probably on average five to seven feet of snow, the entire five miles up out of the canyon that we had to go, four to five miles, and probably about

a mile from the top, maybe a mile and a half. My body, my body just shut down. So like if you've ever seen, if you ever watched a marathon race and the racer is running and they, they collapse, like their body just stops and then, you know, all our other runners will come and help them across the finish line. That's mainly because their body is just like, we're done. Like you're done. Like you can't go anymore. There's nothing more for us to give you.

and the body is now shutting down like all the energy is gone. That's what happened to me. And it's called rhabdomyolysis. It's where your your muscles begin to rip apart, and they begin to eat themselves essentially, and they release a toxic protein into your blood system, which then goes and attacks your kidneys. Because there's nothing left to give. And so yeah, so I collapsed, I shut down.

I was able to make it to the top, but by it took me like I could hike maybe 1520 feet and then I would collapse for 20 minutes. I can hike another 1520. So it took hours to get to the top. We were supposed to get out at like 5 PM and we didn't get out till 11 to hike that last mile. And so when we when we got to the top and there's a lot more to the store. I'm just trying to shorten it up for you, but when we got to the top because you know.

I had people helping me to get up there. They set up my tent for me. I collapsed inside my tent. I slept for maybe an hour. Everybody thought I was fine. And then I was just waking up all night long with the most severe chest pains I ever felt in my life. I thought I was having a heart attack. I didn't know what was going on. They heard me at about 4 .35 o 'clock in the morning. They called for rescue because we had a cell phone signal there.

and rescue came and then I spent the next like four days in a Kenab, Utah in a hospital. And yeah, so I think through that whole process, I felt like God just.

It was an experience for me to be able to, first of all, be at peace with knowing my relationship with the Lord. I don't know how many times we question our own faith. Like, okay, God, if I die today, what's gonna happen to me? Am I really gonna be with you? I felt such peace in knowing that I had a relationship with Jesus that I knew. I just felt like it was God's way of saying,

solidifying that in me and then also just being able to have sort of that different outlook on life to where we are 1000 % not promised the next minute. Like today is not promised to us. The end of today is not promised to us. You know, like we don't know what's going to happen. And I'm just so grateful looking back in a weird way that that whole experience happened.

Kenzie Smith (18:23)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Dan (18:38)
But yeah, anyway, I survived it. We came out on the other side. It was a long road to get out. I had I couldn't hardly walk for a solid month. I mean, I had lots of problems for several months. I didn't hike for four to five months after that. Chest problems, knee problems. But yeah, I've made a full recovery now. It's just. Yeah. I don't recommend it. I don't recommend anybody get wrapped in my lysis. Just throwing that out there.

Kenzie Smith (18:59)
Yeah, that's great. So, yeah, so thankful that you're okay and that you are doing better now and such a scary, scary moment. Like, you know, I think we all have worries about going out into the wilderness and then, you know, having something like that, that you have no idea what it even is or what's going on or, you know, you thought you were having a heart attack, like, you know, all the things, like how scary, but.

Dan (19:23)
for sure.

Kenzie Smith (19:28)
I know you guys carry satellites, communicators and things, so even if you would have had cell signal, hopefully you wouldn't have been able to get rescued. But, you know, thankful that...

Dan (19:32)
Yeah!

Yeah, I mean, we had the cells. We had the cell communicator and it was I was actually it's that's that's actually interesting because you think I'm going like I'm buying this device because it's going to I'm going to press it in the time of distress. Well, I discovered that my personality is I refuse to press that button. Like there's no way that I'm going to have somebody else help me out of this. Like I'm going to help myself out of here.

Like it's just not going to happen and that pride kicks in like your your your everything that that like that sort of instinct like I you know the guy instinct kicks in like I had to hand my head I had to hand my backpack to somebody else like to carry it for probably a half a mile and I I didn't even want to do that like no nobody's going to carry my backpack for me I'm going to carry my own backpack like forget that like I'm not that I'm not that big of a wimp well I think the discovery is is that.

Kenzie Smith (20:16)
Yeah.

Dan (20:36)
we all have a point where we break. And my point for sure broke. And I needed that help. And yeah, that's another God lesson, I feel like, you know, our breaking points that God has in our time of distress when we've hit the rock bottom and we think we've, you know, so we did have a, what's that?

Kenzie Smith (21:02)
Yeah, in our weakness he is strong, you know? But I said in his weakness we are, like, or in our weakness he is strong, like, you know, we have to admit we're weak, like, kind of for his strength to step in sometimes.

Dan (21:15)
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

Kenzie Smith (21:18)
Well, crazy story. So thankful that you are okay and that you got out safely and you know that you're doing better now. I think, you know, what you said though in that about, you know, being at peace and being content with, you know, your relationship. You know, I think a lot of us question a lot of times, you know, like, are we really saved? Like, what's going to happen? You know, I think a lot of us battle with that in some way throughout our life. And so to kind of be in a place where...

I could die and like to just put full trust in the Lord. Like, you know, obviously that's not a fun time, but it's a beautiful thing, you know, to do that. And.

Dan (21:59)
Yeah, no, no, for sure. I feel like if anybody's ever listening that's had a near death experience, it's it there is a there's a there's something that takes place where you you you depending on, you know, your relationship with God or whatever. But there was just a moment where I was like, I think I'm I'm OK with this.

Like there was a moment where I was just like, yeah, that's this is I'm okay with this. And to realize that, you know, the Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord was also a very comforting thought that kind of went through my mind that if it's getting really morbid. But, you know, I mean, when you die, you're it's it's way better than here.

Because this place is just a blank. This is just like a mist. This is we're here for just a moment in the span of an incredible eternity. Like this is like the sliver in the timeline. And I, you know, a thousand years from now, we're going to look back on this and be like, what was that? You know, I, I hiked through the Grand Canyon and that's where it ended. Well, all right, that's cool. I'm here now, you know? So I think those those thoughts sort of went through my mind in a weird way.

Kenzie Smith (23:00)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Dan (23:24)
And like it sort of turned me into like, yep, I think I'm OK with this. But no, God had other plans, right? So now we're back on the other side. And I think it also puts it in perspective like, OK, the sliver just got a little bit larger. Like I'm here a little bit longer now. I've got more time. I'm with my family. I have a platform. I've got this YouTube channel. I know that God's got these bigger plans for me. And I think it's time to maybe.

Find out what more God wants to do through me and use me with. And so like you with your podcast, like you're doing this whole podcast thing and it's phenomenal that you've focused on not just the outdoors, but God in the outdoors. Because somebody out there is listening and somebody is going to get a message and they're going to be in heaven one day and be like, Kenzie, I'm here because of your podcast.

You know what I mean? So I just think that's cool. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Kenzie Smith (24:22)
I'm just here to plant the seeds. I'm just here to plant the seeds. No, that's all good. Thank you so much for sharing that. I think there's so much good wrapped up into that. And thank you for the kind words. And I'm excited to see, you know, if that's what's on your heart right now, excited to see kind of how the platform shifts maybe a little bit. And, you know, thank you for, you know, one coming on here and sharing your faith. Because I know I reached out and I was like, Dan, I didn't even know.

I was like, I saw one of your videos and I was like, and then, yeah, now just blessed to have connected with you and learn a little bit more about you. But would love for you to share some practical ways. I know you live in Wisconsin, not a super outdoorsy state, but some practical ways that people can connect with God through the outdoors without being in these, you know, super grand places, being on these epic backpacking trips, you know, just kind of in their everyday life.

Dan (24:53)
Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, it's gonna sound super cliche. I just sort of think like, for me, because, you know, I live in, I live in a very suburban area, like I've got houses everywhere. I happen to have a small batch of woods behind my house. So anybody that watches my videos, I use my backyard as like a set for like camping and stuff like that. I film a lot of videos back there. But I love to like if if

I literally was outside this morning working because that's just what I do. I love to sit out on my deck and just I got my laptop or I got my computer, get my phone, whatever I'm doing. I try to work as much as I can outside. And I feel like for me, the moments where I can just, OK, I need to stop for a second. I need to turn off my computer. I need to turn off my phone. I got to not take a phone call. I got to stop and I can look around and I can constantly be reminded.

by looking around and just going, yes, this is another reminder that in this moment, I don't have to be like, God, where are you? You're right here. Because I can look around, I can see you absolutely everywhere. I just think that's so easy for everyone to do. I don't care if you're sitting in a high rise building right now or you're, you know, you're on a boat or, you know, you're slaving at work in an office somewhere. If you got a window, peek out it, you know, I just feel like God is everywhere.

Kenzie Smith (26:47)
Yeah, so true, so true and so good. Thank you for sharing that. Okay, so switching gears into the title of this podcast, My Valley, His Victory, would love for you to share a valley or season of wilderness that you experienced and just what God taught you or prepared you for in that season.

Dan (27:07)
Yeah, so I guess we can just kind of walk through this. This is pretty recent, but as first time I've shared it like publicly publicly. But yeah, my dad passed away about. Let's see, it would have been today is the June 4th, so almost a month ago he died on June 10th. And. I kind of feel like we're in the Valley right now, you know in.

I don't know that I can't really necessarily say that we've learned anything yet. I feel like I would love to be that person to be like have some inspirational speech right now. I don't really have one. I think I'm learning a whole lot right now because my dad knew the Lord but very late in life. We...

prayed for him for years and years and years and years. Matter of fact, when he was, we found he had, he died of cancer, but we found out that he had cancer back in October. And even then, I mean, I knew that he had been to church and done things and stuff like that, but he's never really vocal at all about it. And I had a conversation, several conversations with him over the last months, like, dad, I just need to have peace in knowing that where, where are you with God? Cause this, we both know this is coming.

And it was so encouraging to hear some of the things that he said to me because he's never been a very extroverted person when it comes to that kind of stuff. And he shared that with me. And I told him, I was like, Dad, we need you to be extroverted right now. Like this is I need you to be extroverted with me just to give me that confirmation. And he was. And he shared with me something that I never thought I would hear anybody. I never thought I would hear him say.

which was he shared the thief on the cross. And he said that even the thief on the cross, when he looked over at Jesus and was like, and he basically was like, scolded the, of the first thief, the first thief who was like, yeah, if you're God, just save us, get us off this cross. Like, come on, man. Like if you are who you say you are, like, let's go. And the other thief was like, don't you fear God? Like this guy hasn't done anything wrong. Look at us. We're the ones that are like,

hanging up on this cross like and he looked at him and he says remember me Lord like acknowledging Christ and he Jesus just looked at him was like look today you're gonna be with me in paradise and my dad sharing me that story was confirmation that he knew that his life hadn't really wasn't a bad life he wasn't a sinful terrible person but he wasn't you know

His relationship with Jesus really wasn't solid until just a few years ago. And but we needed confirmation of that. And so now we're sort of in this learning phase of like just dealing with the loss and kind of where does it go from here? But it's also given me this sort of, again, the sliver of time that I'm here.

Right? The moment that I'm on this planet is getting a little bit larger still. What am I going to do with it? And I feel like that's just kind of where that's kind of where I'm at in my in my valley, as you put it.

Kenzie Smith (30:41)
Yeah, well one, I know we talked about it before we hopped on, but just wanted to say, you know, that I'm so sorry and know that it's still a very new thing. And, you know, I can't relate in any capacity to, you know, the death of a parent. And so don't even want to try to, but just want to, you know, share my condolences and just, you know, know that I've been praying for you and just.

you know, just praying that God would comfort you guys and your family in this time. I know that loss in general is hard and it can be even harder when you're not sure, you know, where that person sits with God. And so what, you know, I'm gonna use the word cool. That's probably not the right word, but what a cool opportunity for, you know, God to give you guys the time.

you know, from the diagnosis maybe to be able to have some of those conversations that you may not have had, you know, if he would have passed away in a different way. And so, I just think that that's, very sweet. And I just had actually just released a podcast about a woman who talks about a friend who also had cancer and was going through, trying, trying to figure out where she was, you know, spiritually as well. And so, it's just,

I think it's really important what we do with that time and how we spend that time and making sure that he is going to go and spend time with Lord and doing our part and sharing that. And yeah, I would love for you to just share a little bit more about how to kind of approach that conversation with someone where you're not sure where their salvation lies and death may be close.

Dan (32:09)
Yeah, for sure.

Kenzie Smith (32:30)
What were you doing with your dad in that time? Were you having conversations? Were you guys praying together? Were you reading the Bible together? Like what were you guys doing as you were preparing maybe for that?

Dan (32:43)
Yeah, no, I would know it wasn't it wasn't like anything, you know, super. I wish I, you know. You know, we weren't we were like at some church praying together or anything like that. Now we were using the hospital and it was just conversations. And it was it was I think I think for anybody that's asking that question, right? Like you're like. Especially if it's even as a friend, like they're not really. It's got to be in a comforting and in a comfortable setting to where that.

individual is is willing to be open with you. And so in my dad's situation, it was like he responds very well to text messages because he doesn't have you don't have to. He's he's not he wasn't a very emotional person. He didn't like to share his social his emotions. So he responded more so like via text in a weird way. So I would text him in the hospital and then I would. When he was in the hospital.

we would sit together and there were just moments that I would look for as the sort of that opportunity to toss in something that may feel uncomfortable because you really don't have those kind of like my family was really didn't have those types of conversations growing up to be able to sort of lob that pitch and see if he swings. You know he did because I knew that you know.

when we're not in the room, I knew he was really emotional because he knew he was going to die. And I also knew that having those conversations as awkward as they are to start was also that desperate need that he needed to have those conversations with me that he didn't know how to start. And so it was just like, you know, I just I just came out at one moment. I just felt like it was like the right moment. I was like, yeah,

I just need to know how you are with Jesus. Tell me about your relationship with Jesus. Because it's one thing to say that you've got a relationship with a higher power or God, but Jesus is the way, the truth and the life that no one can come to the Father except through him. What's your relationship with Jesus? Like that's the reason we can even see God is because of what he did. You know, we and so and that was that was the conversation that we had.

And it was, they were always, they're always short conversations. They were never long conversations, right? They were always like bits and pieces, but it was enough to get that piece in knowing. And so.

Kenzie Smith (35:09)
Yeah.

Dan (35:21)
Yeah, looking back on it, I'm I'm I think God, like you're right, like God gave those moments to us and a lot of people don't get those moments. Now, I'm sorry if you if you're listening, you didn't get a moment like that where. You know, you don't. You don't have that piece that we were given in that time to have that conversation to know. But I think it's a good reminder that we should still ask those questions to people like that's.

why we have every single day. Like, what is the point of this day but not to share Christ somehow with someone? Otherwise, this is a lost day, in my opinion, right? No matter how you do it, whether it's through your work, your job, whatever, a podcast, you don't even have to say, you don't have to, you can just share it with your life in what you do, in your decisions, you know? And I think those are all testimonies. And then in that moment, you can lob that.

to hope that somebody swings where they are going to have that conversation with you. So.

Kenzie Smith (36:24)
Yeah, I think that's a really good reminder and piece of advice for us to take away is, you know, not all of us are given that gift of having that time and we are not promised tomorrow. And so today is the day. Like, you know, if you have someone in your life that you're unsure about their relationship with Jesus, I love that you clarified that. I absolutely love that you clarified that because I think God can be...

to some people, it's not a, you know, one definition. And so it's really good to make sure that we're talking and, you know, about the same thing. And I love that you added that in. But yeah, if you have anyone in your life that is, that you're unsure of, today's the day, like, you know, ask them, lean in, ask some questions.

Dan (36:56)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, for sure. And if anybody also if if anybody like one guy that I follow on YouTube that I think does this phenomenally, he's just like the expert. And I think he does it in a really biblical way. And maybe some people don't like him. Some people do. But his name is Ray Comfort. And he has a he has a channel. Gosh, what is it called? If anybody just YouTube, Ray Comfort, his last name is Comfort, you know, but he does all these on the street like.

Kenzie Smith (37:38)
Yeah.

Dan (37:42)
tells people about Jesus, but he does it the same way every time where he uses the Bible to show the blind spiritually blind person that they are not a good person, that none of us are good, that we have sinned our lives and that we absolutely need a savior and that the only way to get saved is through Jesus. And it's such a really good, simple, just like anybody could do it type of a starter conversation. So.

Kenzie Smith (38:11)
Yeah.

Dan (38:11)
If you're looking for like that first step of how to do something like that, I think it's really cool channel. So I'm just throwing that little shout out there. A lot bigger of a channel than me, that's for sure.

Kenzie Smith (38:17)
Yeah, no, love it.

I love it and I have actually, I feel like somebody has mentioned him to me recently and I haven't gone and looked so now is my time that you know it's been mentioned again I gotta go do it so I will definitely go check that out. Yeah anything else you want to share about this season or just encouragement or you know just anything for anyone listening before we wrap up?

Dan (38:32)
Yeah.

yeah, I mean, you don't need a YouTube channel. I mean, to do this kind of stuff, you don't need a podcast, like you don't have to be some public person to, you know, win people to Jesus. Like you could be, you could be the, like my mom who was a Christian since she was, she became a Christian when I was born. And she's like, you know, the, the, the rock, she's the praying grandma. Okay.

My mom is 82 years old and she's like the grandma that sends me Bible verses every single day. Nobody knows who she is. You know, she sits in her house, but the power of prayer, you can be that person. And I promise you, there are people listening that when we all sit in heaven one day, there's going to be that great, there's going to be me to be like, I had a YouTube channel. I told everyone about Jesus. And then God's going to be like, bro, did you meet the praying grandma yet?

because she is a superstar, you know? And you don't have to be some popular person. We're gonna be sitting there and meeting martyrs, right? The people that died for Jesus. Like, you know, I don't want to get there by the skin of my teeth, that's for sure. And so I wanna be able to lay down a foundation of knowing that I did whatever I could, whether it was a YouTube channel or just talking to somebody at work.

Kenzie Smith (39:51)
Yep.

Yeah.

Dan (40:17)
or whatever it is, but we're all going to give an account one day. We're going to be standing before God and he's going to be like, tell me what you did with your life. You know, I'm a legend, but I'm not too excited about how this all went down. You know.

Kenzie Smith (40:34)
Yeah, definitely, definitely. Well, Dan, thank you so much for sharing. I feel like you shared two vulnerable stories in this episode and just for walking us through those seasons and the season that is even still going on. And so I know that that's a little bit more fresh. And so I just thank you for opening up and sharing about that and for.

being on this podcast and just sharing your faith through everything that you're doing. And I know that I'm so thankful to know that, you know, there's someone else out there in the outdoors world that is on fire for the Lord and always love meeting people, people like that. So just want to say thank you so much.

Dan (41:18)
You got it. Absolutely. And there's a lot more of them than you think because a lot of them aren't vocal about it. But it's funny, whenever I talk about Jesus, the comments blow up. So. Yeah.

Kenzie Smith (41:26)
Yeah, yeah, we talk a lot about that on this podcast about that. They're out there, but they're like scared to talk about it sometimes because the outdoor industry can be a little bit of a scary place to be a Christian sometimes. But hopefully, you know, in a small way, trying to normalize that and trying to, you know, let people know that we're here and that we, you know.

Dan (41:38)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.

Kenzie Smith (41:52)
are on fire for the Lord and we love the outdoors and those two things can go together and they should go together because he created the world. So anyways, off my soapbox about that because I have lots of words to say about that. Where can our listeners find you if they don't already know who Dan Becker is?

Dan (42:05)
Yeah.

yeah, you could find me at just type in my name on YouTube. Type in like, how do I set up a tent? And I'll probably pop up on YouTube, Instagram. Same thing. Unfortunately, even Tic Tac. Yeah, I'm all over the place. Can I plug something real quick? Is that cool or no? OK, and I wrote it. I wrote a course. Anybody wants to? that's it. yeah, I was sure I'm sure if you're listening. Yeah, if you're listening. Yeah, I'm we're also recording this in video and like showing to the camera that nobody can see.

Kenzie Smith (42:28)
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

You gotta share, you gotta share.

Dan (42:40)
Yeah, I wrote a backpacking course and if they go to Dan Becker outdoors dot com and they want to learn how to do backpacking but not have to sift through a million videos. Yeah, I just launched it and I'm super nervous and excited about it all at the same time. And I would love for people to check it out. So thanks for let me plug that.

Kenzie Smith (42:54)
Yeah, absolutely. No, y 'all, Dan is super knowledgeable when it comes to all things backpacking. And I think that that is like the core whenever people are wanting to get into backpacking to trust the person that they're taking information from. And so you guys heard it here, he's been doing this for 10 years. He does this as his job. And so knows so much about this topic. And if there's anybody to learn from, it's Dan. So if you guys are interested in backpacking, wanting to get started,

definitely go check out his course. You can trust in his knowledge and that he is a professional and that he knows what he's talking about. So really important to trust the people that you're buying things from. So anyways, just thank you so much again, Dan, for being here and for being on this podcast.

Dan (43:32)
Thank you.

Yeah.

You got it. Awesome. Thanks for having me.