067 - The Breakup That Brought Me to Jesus with Russell Reynolds

In this episode, Russell Reynolds shares his journey as a single father, engineer, and host of the Wildlife Outdoors podcast. He discusses his passion for fishing, conservation, and how being in nature connects him with God. Russell reflects on his childhood experiences, the importance of prayer, and how he navigated personal valleys in his life, ultimately finding faith and purpose through his struggles. In this conversation, Russell Reynolds shares his transformative journey of faith, exploring the depths of emotional pain and the role of relationships in spiritual growth. He reflects on how a significant relationship led him to discover true joy and purpose through Christ, emphasizing the importance of community and support in navigating life's challenges. Russell discusses his experiences with fatherhood, the impact of mentorship, and the significance of baptism in his life. He encourages others to embrace their faith journey, regardless of their past, and highlights the importance of starting small in their spiritual practices.

Gospeler Book - by Willie Robertson

Connect with Russell - 

Instagram - @Russellreynoldshookem

Wildlife Outdoors Podcast 

Transcript

McKenzie Smith (00:01)
On today's episode of My Valley, His Victory, we have Russell Reynolds. He is a host of Wildlife Outdoors podcast, a single father, early in his walk with Christ, but on fire for Jesus.
He connects with God through the outdoors, mainly fishing, camping, hiking, and kayaking. Thanks so much for being with us today, Russell.

Russell Reynolds (00:24)
Of course, thank you for having me. I'm excited for this.

McKenzie Smith (00:27)
Yeah, absolutely. So I know I just read your short bio, but why don't you go ahead and just share with the listeners a little bit more about yourself and who you are.

Russell Reynolds (00:34)
All right. Yeah. Like she said, I'm Russell. I run the podcast, Wildlife Outdoors. We are a wildlife podcast that focuses on conservation. We talk a lot about fly fishing, but we also venture into hiking, camping, kayaking, so on and so forth. But yeah, no, I love fly fishing. I love photography. I love videography. Single father and work full time as an engineer and just love being out in God's creation.

McKenzie Smith (01:00)
Yeah, absolutely. And you are based in Arkansas, is that correct?

Russell Reynolds (01:03)
Yes,

I live just outside Hot Springs, Arkansas in a little town called Royal. My co-host Jose, he lives in Texas. That's where I grew up. I lived in Texas for 18 years and that's where we met. And yeah, so we're kind of halfway based in Texas, halfway based in Arkansas.

McKenzie Smith (01:18)
Hey, that's cool that you guys figured out a way to do a podcast being in two different states. So how long have you been in Arkansas?

Russell Reynolds (01:23)
Right.

I think a little over five years now or maybe going on six Yeah

McKenzie Smith (01:30)
Okay, very cool. So

is Arkansas a hot spot for fly fishing? Do you get to do your favorite hobbies there in Arkansas or do you have to travel to do those things?

Russell Reynolds (01:42)
There's a lot of it here, but most of it isn't in my region. So I live in more of a warm water area. We have some trout stocked areas and most people fly fish for trout. And so we have the white river and the little red river, which has numerous world records caught out of those two water systems. ⁓ but those are about three to four hours north of me. ⁓ and I live in an area, it's the diamond lakes region is what they call it. And so we have so many lakes and rivers in my area. ⁓ so small mouth is a big thing.

And I love fly fishing for anything. I fly fish for carp and trout and bass and, pickerel. And I've caught redfish on the coast and Northern pike in Alaska. So I like fishing for weird stuff. So it works out great for me. ⁓ but fly fishing isn't as big in my region as it is a little further up.

McKenzie Smith (02:30)
Okay, very cool. And you mentioned you're an engineer. What kind of engineer? Telecommunications. All right. Cables and wires and maybe that kind of thing.

Russell Reynolds (02:34)
Telecommunications. So, internet.

Yep, a lot of mainline design and drafting stuff

and a of federal government grant projects going on and a lot of that stuff right

McKenzie Smith (02:49)
Okay, very cool. So talk to us a little bit about the podcast. I know you gave us a little bit of information about it, but kind of where did that love start? Are one of you guys, do you do conservation, you know, or in the past for a living? Does your partner do it kind of? Yeah, just talk to us about how that got started and just what a listener could expect if they caught an episode.

Russell Reynolds (03:11)
Okay, yeah. So, ⁓ we started, well, we've been doing it. so it's, what March 19th right now, April 28th will be our, our two year anniversary, doing this. The idea came when we were both, I think freshmen in college. So 2011, ⁓ we used to always just go out and end up hanging out with friends. And it was just him and I, by the end of the night, having conversations about dogs or wildlife or something like that. And we would just always just sit there and talk about stuff and

Our friend group would move on and him and I would just sit there talking. And one day we just kind of said, Hey man, we need to start a podcast. And 10 years went by of us saying that. And I had gone through a divorce and I sold my house in Texas. I was already living in Arkansas at the time. And, ⁓ I had a little bit of profit that I made from that. And I said, you know what? I'm just going to buy the stuff and I'm going to send it to him and we'll see if it goes. And that's where it started. We just said, you know, we're finally going to do this. And, ⁓ so.

It's just a passion of both of ours. He actually does work in the industry. He has his master's in range and wildlife management. And then had done some work towards his PhD before he left and got a job. so he also actually, unfortunately just got let go with a lot of the federal cuts going on. He had a job with NRCS out of Texas. So he's kind of dealing with those trials right now. But yeah, so he works in the industry. I never have. I've just always been passionate about it.

We just, both love fishing. both love wildlife and we want to have a voice for those that can't speak for themselves, you know? And unfortunately there's a lot of ballot biology as we call it, where people that don't study these animals or study conservation or ecology have the ability to vote on certain things on emotion when they really don't know the science behind it. And there's been numerous cases where animals have, you know, unfortunately got closer to extinction because laws that have been sent place.

you know, in terms of conservation. And so we just, want to be able to speak for those that can't speak for themselves.

McKenzie Smith (05:14)
Yeah, absolutely. Sorry to hear that he's going through some of that stuff with everything that's going on, but I'm sure he'll end up on his feet and he'll find something that he's meant to do.

Russell Reynolds (05:26)
Yeah, and he's a believer, so he knows that

it's all in God's will and it's all in God's timing, so...

McKenzie Smith (05:31)
Yeah, absolutely. So is fishing, is that kind of like your main thing? I know you've kind of said conservation. Do you hunt, fish, all the things or is fishing kind of your thing?

Russell Reynolds (05:44)
So fishing historically has been my thing. I didn't grow up hunting. I grew up, you know, with a single mother and she wasn't really in my life much past, you know, 14 years old. I think I've seen her five times in the past 17 years. So she's never really been a big part of my life, but she was the biggest part of my life growing up at a young age and I never had a father around. So I never really got into hunting or anything like that. And fishing was just kind of more accessible living in Austin, Texas at the time. So I grew up.

kind of fishing. And then as I've gotten older, I'm like a late onset hunter. I'm really interested by it now. And I started hunting a lot this year. I did a lot of dove hunting, you know, in college and stuff like that. But kind of starting to get more into the big game. But really fishing historically has been the thing that I've done the most. It's a little bit more accessible for me. I have a lot more knowledge about it than I do firearms. And I do have numerous rifles and shotguns. And I have a compound bow and

McKenzie Smith (06:23)
Okay.

Russell Reynolds (06:43)
And so I'm getting out there a little bit more, but it's always been fishing, kind of rolling more into hunting. Jose did hunt and fish with his grandfather growing up, but he's always done a little bit more fishing than hunting, but we're both getting more into it.

McKenzie Smith (06:58)
Okay, okay, very cool. Yeah, I feel like those things you usually do both of them, not always, but I feel like they kind of go hand in hand. And I think that it's cool that it's not something that you grew up doing, but you're getting out there and you're trying to figure it out now and learning a new skill. And yeah, just just following that that desire and that love for conservation and just the outdoors in that way. So it probably takes you to introduce some new experiences and some different places because I feel like

Russell Reynolds (07:03)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (07:27)
You know, a lot of deer travel on rivers, but chances are you're going to have to go somewhere else to find them. So, let's get...

Russell Reynolds (07:33)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

I actually found a public land spot that where I started hunting a lot this year and ironically enough it's on a river and so it's public land that is basically between a river and almost like a suburb area. It's like 349 acres and I was spending most of my time back closer to the river because that just felt more like home to me. So I ended up you know finding quite a few trees that I

McKenzie Smith (07:56)
Yeah.

Russell Reynolds (08:00)
could use my climbing stand over there along the river so I could also look at the river and see what the fishing was like and I found a couple spots that I need to go fish now that we're getting into spring so kind of worked hand-in-hand there but

McKenzie Smith (08:07)
haha

That's funny.

You're scouting for deer, but you're also scouting for fish and spots.

Russell Reynolds (08:16)
absolutely.

I always got to keep your eyes open.

McKenzie Smith (08:20)
that's funny. So kind of talk to us about how being in the outdoors, know, being out on the water, fishing, hunting, whatever it is that you find yourself out there doing maybe plays a role in your relationship with Christ.

Russell Reynolds (08:33)
it plays a huge, huge role. There's just so much craziness and so much noise, both spiritually and physically, like in society now, especially when you work in an industry like me, where there's always something to do and it's ever changing. has to do with technology. It gets hard to discern God's voice. And whenever I'm out in the woods and it's just so quiet or I'm on the river, it's just so quiet, so peaceful. And that's my time.

with God and I can discern the goodness and the truth from God's Word and from Christ just from being out there. And I actually have a little story I'd like to share of one time that I was on the river. so I'm very early in my walk with Christ, April. So I got baptized the day after my 31st birthday and I'm not 32 yet. So I'm not even a year in, but I'm on fire for Christ. And I remember last spring,

I had already gotten baptized and I started trying to incorporate Christ in numerous aspects of my life. And I was listening to a podcast, I don't remember which one it was, it was probably like George Janko or something. And somebody was talking about praying out loud, that you don't always have to pray quietly. Sometimes it's good just to say it out. And I like to film my fishing trips and I don't put very many YouTube videos out because I just, real hard on quality. And if it's not good enough for me, then I'm not going to post it.

But I was out there with the intention of fly fishing for smallmouth bass on a river here in Arkansas, and I wasn't catching anything. And I was getting hard on myself. And this was like during the cicada hatch that was supposed to be epic last year. And I wasn't seeing any fish. wasn't catching any fish. I was just getting kind of aggravated and not even enjoying my time on the river, but it was gorgeous. It was like 80 degrees. There was a slight wind. You could hear the cicadas. It was just a beautiful day.

And I come around this bend and I don't know what it was, but something reminded me of that podcast that I was listening to. And so I said, you know what? I'm not worried about filming. I'm not worried about content right now. I'm just going to be in the moment. And I go around this band and the river's just gently carrying me. And I come to this clearing and it's just very calm water. And there's these like ripples on the, on the edge. And then it goes to the shoals that are a little bit further down.

And I said, you know what, I'm just going to stand up and pray. So I just stood up. I'm out there all by myself. And I just prayed out loud and just thank God for having me there and giving me these experiences and keeping me healthy. And just, I was just very thankful in this prayer. I didn't pray for anything. I just prayed to pray. And I was just, I felt this immense peace come over me and I sat down and I picked up my fly rod and just, you know, flop my fly out on the water. Next thing I know, top water hit takes off.

start fighting it. It is my personal best smallmouth bass that I've ever caught. And I was just like, I literally just prayed for this, like not even expecting anything from it. Like it wasn't transactional. was just, you know, I was being real hard on myself and I wasn't enjoying myself in this beautiful place in God's creation. And then after praying, I got that. Well, almost every other cast after that in this one hole, I caught fish after fish after fish. I caught eight species in this hole, one of which was a four foot spotted gar, which I've never caught on the fly before.

I mean it was just an amazing experience just out there in God's creation and I I started to realize at that point that no matter what is going on you can be thankful but sometimes you'll get something from it.

McKenzie Smith (12:02)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I feel like we have talked about this. It comes up time and time again somehow and, you know, talking about praying out loud on this podcast. And I think there is just something so special. And I think, you know, for me, when I think about my own personal journey and the the times that I pray aloud, it's usually.

Russell Reynolds (12:13)
Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (12:29)
like I don't have something that I'm actually like praying for or seeking. It's just like a, you know, I want to talk to God. Usually when I pray in my head, it's like, Hey God, I really need something. You know, like, you know, it's, it seems like more in those moments, but when I take the time to actually speak out loud, it's just like wanting to have a conversation, just being thankful. You know, some of those things that you said and just, ⁓

Russell Reynolds (12:34)
Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (12:54)
There's there's something powerful about it. I don't don't know what it is and I don't know why why it works that way. But I just feel the same thing that you said, like just so grateful and so, you know, thankful in those moments for the time that I'm having and the just situation. And I think it also puts us in a posture because you weren't having a good time. You sat here and you're like, thank you, God, for, you know, just this place. And now you're in a better attitude about it moving forward.

Russell Reynolds (13:22)
Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (13:24)
You know, and so

Russell Reynolds (13:24)
Absolutely.

McKenzie Smith (13:25)
it's just sometimes even like good just to check yourself. Like it's going to help you be more grateful or get you out of a funk, you know, like when you're not saying they're thinking about the negative. So. Yeah.

Russell Reynolds (13:29)
Yeah.

Right.

Exactly. And as

humans, that's just something that we do. You know, we live in a world where, you know, and then in the secular world, the enemy is afoot and he comes to, you know, destroy our happiness and our joy. And just as humans, that's, we tend to kind of lean that way naturally. And of course, you know, there's optimistic people and pessimistic people, but just walking on this earth, we have a tendency to be a little more negative. So.

McKenzie Smith (14:04)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 
Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (14:27)
So Russell, I know you kind of just shared a story with us, but do you have another story that comes to mind about a way in which God has revealed himself to you through the outdoors?

Russell Reynolds (14:36)
⁓ yeah, like

I'm looking back on my childhood. I did have kind of a rough childhood and I've shared this on my podcast. It's funny looking back now, but it could have been really bad that how I really got introduced to exploring the outdoors by myself was I was getting away from the violence at home and I was living in Austin, Texas on the north end of Austin, Texas. And I was just walking to a creek off of, I want to say it was metric Boulevard or something. And this older gentleman was

staying under the bridge and came up and struck a conversation with me and we got to talking about fishing and I must have been eight years old, maybe nine years old. And he was telling me about how he's going through a divorce and all sorts of like sharing his life with me, which is very strange looking back now as an adult. the next, like the next day or a couple of days later, he was there again and he had this fishing pole. It was a Shakespeare fishing pole from like Walmart. Then he said, I have an extra, you can have it. And he gave it to me.

Luckily nothing happened, but that is how I started going out and fishing this little Walnut Creek is what it was called. And there was a goldfish, someone released in there that I tried to fish for forever and never caught it. But I just was out there catching brim and that's kind of how I started getting more into it. And now that I'm in my walk with Christ, like I look back and I found my solace in nature to get away from the violence at home. But now I realized like that is where I could always discern, you know, the truth.

and the joy and everything that was good in life. And it wasn't until now that I realized that that was Christ. Like that's God's creation and that's where I was and that's where I felt joy. That's where I felt at peace. At that time, I just thought I was getting away from, know, BS at home. But yeah, now like now that I'm deeper in my walk with Christ, like that was Christ with me this whole time. you know, throughout my life, I've been through a lot of hardships and I tended to look at myself like a victim, like, oh, why did this happen to me?

McKenzie Smith (16:24)
Yeah.

Russell Reynolds (16:39)
And then I would kind of turn it black. Okay, well, I must have done something to make this happen. I'm just not going to do that again and move on and never really dwelled on stuff. But I always kind of had that thought like, why is this always happening to me or why did this situation happen to me? ⁓ but everything's in God's will and everything happens for a reason. And I, I guess I just never really thought about didn't have the knowledge of Christ back then. And now that I do, it's like, he was with me the whole time. And that's why I always felt peace and joy when I was out in the woods or on the creek or on the river or on the lake, whatever the case may have been.

McKenzie Smith (17:09)
Yeah, yeah. Was that guy, was he homeless or was he just there often fishing?

Russell Reynolds (17:16)
I don't

know. He said that what he shared with me, and keep in mind I was a kid, he shared with me that he was going through a divorce and his wife didn't want him home. How true that was, I don't know. Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (17:25)
Hmm. Okay. Okay. Okay. But

still just like for, you know, I think that there's just something about that story. Like there's somebody who's going through a really hard time. Somebody who is in the midst of, you know, despair and you know, is having a really hard time with himself, but yet he's kind enough to give a little kid a fishing pole. And like, it's just, I think it's just like,

Russell Reynolds (17:39)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (17:54)
It's just a sweet story and like, I think that there's something special about that and like someone, you know, kind of like coming alongside you and like being kind to you and especially, you know, being in the situation that you said you were trying to like escape, you know, some things going on at home. And so to just like have that like little bit of love shown to you, I'm sure was super special at the time.

Russell Reynolds (18:12)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (18:19)
But yeah, I think it's so true what you said just about how you can look back on your journey now and, in the moment you didn't know that God was with you, right? You didn't even maybe know who God was, but you can look back on your story and you can see all of these things and how it was like leading up to everything that, you know, is going on now. And you can see God's faithfulness or, you know, God's hand in certain things.

Russell Reynolds (18:39)
Absolutely.

McKenzie Smith (18:45)
And I think that's so true. And I can relate to that with my own story. You know, I came to know the Lord at 25. And so I can just see all of these things where he was just like edging me into, you know, this path. And I sure didn't didn't see it at the time and sure didn't wouldn't have, you know, given given the the kudos to God for some of those things. But he really, really is using everything. And it doesn't make sense in the moment, but you can.

know, hindsight's 20-20. You can see how all of those things were just edging you in. So thank you. Yeah. Yeah. And even like, you know, getting you to a place where, you know, some people's stories, this was my story, pushing me to a place where I needed God, you know, because before I didn't need God. I was good. You know, like I thought I had it figured out. And so God actually had to like kind of humble me and chop me down and be like,

Russell Reynolds (19:19)
Exactly. Pointing where you needed to go.

Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (19:43)
No, you don't. You know, and so, you know, sometimes it's that too. And you wouldn't know that unless you come to know how much you really need the Lord. I know you live in Hot Springs, Arkansas, right outside of Hot Springs, which I wouldn't consider an urban environment. I know you grew up in Austin. So that's probably way more of that urban environment, but kind of talk to us about how

Russell Reynolds (19:44)
Yeah, yeah.

Exactly, exactly.

McKenzie Smith (20:12)
listeners can start to connect with God through creation on an everyday basis versus, you know, being out on these awesome fishing trips or, you know, whatever the case may be, because those are great and we love those times, but we maybe can't get up to those things every day.

Russell Reynolds (20:20)
Right.

Yeah. I mean, when I was in Austin, was, you know, Walnut Creek off of Metric Avenue or Metric Boulevard. It's a pretty urban area and I was able to find my own little piece of wilderness there, a city park or anything like that. Sometimes it's even when you're sitting in traffic on the interstate, rolling the windows down and getting some fresh air and just thinking about God and just being in the moment on

on his creator in his creation, whether you are in an urban area or you are in the woods or you know, even in the suburbs like when I lived in San Marcos, Texas, I lived in the suburbs is about 45 minutes south of Austin between Austin and San Antonio and we had these trails. were completely paved trails. They were like six or eight foot wide and they they built in that way so people could drive their go-karts within the neighborhood and stuff like that. And there really isn't much wildlife. You'd see squirrels and birds, but really nothing else.

But it used to be a ranch. They built that subdivision on what used to be a ranch. so occasionally you'd see the deer. But just being out in his creation, even if it's in your neighborhood or sitting in traffic, roll the windows down, get some fresh air. I'm lucky enough to where I'm kind of out of all that and I don't have to worry about all the hustle and bustle of the city. I do work in some bigger areas. I work in Longview, Texas and Little Rock, Arkansas and Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Vicksburg, Mississippi. And those areas aren't really.

know, suburban, they're kind of more like cities, but I can still find places to be in nature even if I'm not really in nature and think about God's creation and just experience it that way.

McKenzie Smith (22:02)
Yeah, absolutely. If you're sending traffic, roll down your windows and breathe in the pressure. I love it.

Russell Reynolds (22:08)
Yeah, yeah, which I know in Texas it's hard. mean, middle of

summer, it's 115 degrees. You want the windows up and the AC on, but yeah, sometimes it's even or we're just taking a walk right before dinner or something, even if it's just to go check the mail or I mean, that's something that we used to do. We'd walk out and our mailbox wasn't too far, but we'd take the kids and we'd just go for a walk and we'd walk past the mailbox, turn around at the end of street, come back, just spend some time out there.

McKenzie Smith (22:33)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Well, Russell, switching in to the title of this podcast, My Valley, His Victory, would love for you to share a valley or a season of wilderness that you experienced and just what maybe God taught you or prepared you for in that season.

Russell Reynolds (22:49)
Okay.

Yeah. So like I said earlier, I've been through quite a few things in my childhood. A lot of which I haven't spoke about, but some very difficult situations, life-threatening situations, a lot of situations that a child shouldn't be in, much less have their parents put them through. And I kind of always looked at myself like a victim-ish, but it wasn't until I was older, I was, you know, 28, 29.

and I had already been divorced and had kids and I started dating this woman which was essentially the one that led me to Christ. I started going to the same church with her just because I wanted to spend time with her. I'd never really been a churchgoer and her and her family always went to church and I just wanted to spend more time with her so I started going to church and just kind of became almost like a lukewarm Christian. I didn't really know the gospel. I didn't really know Jesus. I knew who Jesus was and I went to church every Sunday but

I didn't really know much, didn't, you know, do through, like do a lot of Christian things. I didn't live my life as a Christian, didn't call myself a Christian. I wasn't a bad person, I don't think, but I just, wasn't really living as a Christian. And as that relationship started to decline, I just felt like I was just in this major valley. I was never in a good mood. I was depressed. was physically hurting. My stomach was constantly hurting. I never really got sick growing up and

there was a period towards the end of that relationship that for three weeks straight, I was just vomiting for no reason. Like I would just get really nauseous and just throw up. Like I was just in a physically just horrendous place, emotionally horrendous place. And then this relationship ended and that relationship ending hurt me more than my marriage ending did. Like I was just in this extremely low place and her and I had joined a life group through the church and

Literally, I think it was a day or two after we had broken up. We'd just gotten back from vacation together and I was still wanting to go to this life group and she said she wasn't gonna go so I walked in and you know, the leader of the group said, you're alone today, you know, because her and I had been going together and he didn't know what had happened and I just broke down. I started weeping and he just hugged me and I've never really had, you know, another man.

be there for me like that emotionally. And he just walked me outside away from everybody else. So I wasn't embarrassed. And he just talked to me for 10, 15 minutes asking what was going on. And I told him, and I just felt better. And so I went in and continued this class. And it wasn't until that point that I was going through this class that I really started diving into the word and started listening to the lessons. And, you know, I was going through so much hurt because of the situation and it was, was a relationship that was ending and

I was getting pretty close with her family and I don't have a big family myself and the family that I do have is in Texas or in Alaska so I don't get to see them. So not only was I losing this relationship, I felt like I was losing a family and I was just in this very low place until I started spending time in the Word and started realizing that even though I was in a low place, I was going through this for a reason and I honestly truly believe that she was put in my path to lead me to the Lord.

Definitely happened and now it's at a point where okay I was hurt But I can see why I went through that and why I felt so low for what it was I mean, it was a relationship we didn't even date two years and we weren't married we weren't engaged anything like that But it hurt me so low and I feel like I had to be brought to that position I had to be put down there emotionally for me to understand what true love is I had to be that low to know what the joy and the glory and and

just everything that Christ has for me. would have never known if I wasn't taken that low. And now, even like I'm past it now, I'm way over, but even in the time that I was still hurt, like I still felt joy, like my sickness went away. Like the second that I got baptized, my entire life has changed. I haven't had heartburn. I wasn't sick anymore.

I wasn't getting headaches. had more energy. I wanted to be more active with my kids. Like my entire life was just way different, even though I was still hurting. And at the time I did miss her, I just had this new energy that I'd never felt before. And I feel like I was made to go through that valley. was made to meet her. She was made to bring me to Christ. And then she was made to go off and do her own thing. And now I'm on a completely different trajectory in my life. And the podcast has been doing better since then. I've been, you know, there with my kids and

My career has been going well, just things have been astronomically better in every situation in my life after that.

McKenzie Smith (27:29)
Yeah, yeah. Well, one, thank you just so much for sharing that and kind of walking us through that season because relationships can be really hard and they can create major emotional sadness and hurt and all the things. I think that we are so...

Russell Reynolds (27:49)
Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (27:55)
built for having relationship with people. so whenever those things don't go well, they definitely take a toll on us. And I think that it's interesting that you started going to church because you were just like, I just want to spend more time with this girl.

which is just cool. think God works in different people's lives in different ways. And so it's like, that's how he got you into the church was by having you date some girl. But then I think that it's really cool that you stuck with it. Because I think a lot of times people will do that and they'll be like, yeah, I'll go while I'm dating this person or yeah, I'll do this to appease this. But they're not actually there for the right reasons. so it's...

Russell Reynolds (28:24)
Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (28:45)
I think that, you know, that's exactly what happened in your story is once you kind of hit that low point, it was like, ⁓ like I actually need this place. And then, you know, you had a journey from there and that's how you really came to know the Lord.

Russell Reynolds (28:53)
Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (29:02)
I think what you said, you said something along the lines of like you had to get to that super low place in order to experience true joy and true love and all of those things. And I think that just reminded me of, you know, you can't have one without the other, you know, like in order for there to be like true love, like there has to be the opposite and extreme, you know, the extreme opposite. And so in order to have these really high things, there's also, you know, the other end of the spectrum. And so, um,

You know, if I feel like we just like coast in this like middle line, it's like, yeah, we have these little ups, little downs, but you like never really experience the high high or the low lows without experiencing, you know, one or the other. So there's those extreme, extreme opposites. I kind of just would love to hear you share about, you know, you walked into that small group, totally upset, you know,

Russell Reynolds (29:44)
Yeah, yeah.

McKenzie Smith (30:01)
Someone asked you what was going on. You have mentioned, you know, that you didn't really grow up with a father. I can just assume that, you know, you had also said, you know, you never really had a man to like, you know, lead your guide, your comfort you.

Russell Reynolds (30:07)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (30:19)
How did you go about like opening up to that person and like, what was that experience like? ⁓ because I think a lot of times what I've heard, and maybe you can, you know, talk, talk about this too, is like when your father, when you don't have a good idea of what a father is, it can be really hard to like trust God because you know, the Bible uses so much fatherly language. And so just like navigate that for us a little bit.

Russell Reynolds (30:42)
Absolutely.

McKenzie Smith (30:49)
if that makes sense at all, what I'm asking.

Russell Reynolds (30:49)
So, yeah, it does.

So I didn't have a father growing up. When I was about 10, my mom started dating a man that I call my dad now. And he has been a godsend. And he is as active in my life as he can be. He was a long haul truck driver and now he is a senior supervisor at like loading docks and stuff like that for wind farms. And so he's not home a lot, but he's always there. And so I...

I have had a male figure in my life through my teens and into my adulthood that was there if I needed him. I was never the kind to reach out and ask for stuff, but I knew if I needed him, he was there. So I kind of had a little bit of understanding of knowing that somebody's there but not there, which I guess kind of, you know, is how God is. Like, he's always there, but you can't always see him, you know? So I've had an understanding of that, but it was definitely different having a man.

be there physically and to console me because I'd never experienced that. And he was just very patient, very kind. And I don't know what it was that just allowed me to open up. And I just, just blatantly told him like, yeah, no, her and I broke up and I'm just really going through it and it hurt and it hurt more than my divorce. And then I told him that and he, you use scripture. can't remember exactly what he told me, but he used scripture scripture and it was, it spoke to me and it, kind of

brought me to a level where I was like, okay, I'm going to go into this class and I'm going to continue. And then we had been going through a section in this small group talking about forgiveness and letting stuff go and living in freedom with Christ. And I guess I was holding resentment towards my childhood and how my mother had raised me. And every time we were talking about forgiveness and

know, stuff like that and resentment. always just thought about my mom. Never thought about the resentment I was holding in the relationship that I was in. And it wasn't until that class that a lot of the things we started talking about started pointing to my relationship. You know, we went over, what is it, First Corinthians and it's talking about love is patient, love is kind. And I started realizing like all this stuff that love is, like I haven't been as a significant other. And so I started realizing like maybe all this resentment I'm holding is in my relationship currently that

I'm in in this chapter of my life and not really my mom that I've seen three times in the past 16 years at the time. it's ⁓ I wasn't really holding resentment on that. I was holding resentment on what I was living through at that time. And so I started letting go of all that and getting past the resentment and actually healing and learning how to live in freedom with Christ. But it was amazing having him there to help me through it because he knew scripture and

He just knew the right things to say, whether it was him or it was the spirit working through him. He just knew the right things to say and the direction to point me. And the next three weeks of class after that, leading up to the conference that they have at the end of that class was just, everything was just hitting the nail on the head and it resonated with me and it just made me on fire more. And I got devotionals and I started listening to Christian music and I started listening to Christian podcasts and it just, it ramped up everything leading to that conference. And then

That conference was a Friday and Saturday and I went in Friday kind of like, if they do baptisms, like I might do it. Like I'm feeling this kind of, this Christian thing is pretty cool. You know, I have people that care about me and they've showed that they care about me and this is pretty cool, you know? And I was just kind of on the fence. was like, I might get baptized. And after going through the Friday evening section of that conference, I was like, I'm all in. Like I'm getting in that water tomorrow. Like there's no ifs, ands or buts about it. And so we go through the day and, and

McKenzie Smith (34:34)
haha

Russell Reynolds (34:39)
The conference is pretty intense. Like you come to face with everything that you've been through in life and you leave it all behind and the whole purpose of it is to walk in freedom. And at the end of the second day, I was just like, yeah, I'm getting baptized and my kids were there. And so I went and got them and I'm just, shaking as we're getting up and there's, I think we had probably 20 something, 25, maybe even 30 people get baptized that day. And, ⁓

I was kind of in the middle of the pack and my kids were out there and some new friends that I'd made through the class were there and they were filming and taking pictures as I went in. And I just, you know, openly proclaimed that Jesus is my Lord and Savior and they dipped me and I came up and I just hear my youngest daughter say, daddy, I'm so proud of you. And she runs to the front of the auditorium and just embraces me and I'm soaking wet. And she was, I think she was six.

McKenzie Smith (35:27)
Thank

Russell Reynolds (35:36)
She was six and she just yelled, top of her lungs, she's so proud of me and ran to me and it just made me feel amazing. And she convicts me a lot. just so, she knows God at a young age and she knows what's wrong and what's right. And she's, mean, I'm a sinner. I do things I shouldn't and I say things I shouldn't and she's always on me about it. And she convicts me like every day. There's something that she's convicting me about. And she's just...

just, she's just so precious and her saying that she's proud of me and running to me and embracing me even when I'm soaking wet, like that's just, it was amazing. And then just feeling the grace and the joy and the peace and everything. It was just, I came out of that water a brand new man and I'm not going back.

McKenzie Smith (36:21)
Yeah. my gosh. I'm like emotional. I'm like, ⁓ I would have been weeping. I would have been weeping. ⁓ that's just so cute. And I think it's really cool that, you know, you said like your daughter, your six year old, seven year old, however old she is now, like daughter is the one that's convicting you, you know, like she's bringing to light things, you know, and it's, it's God using her, you know, of course, but it's, it's crazy to think that

Russell Reynolds (36:24)
⁓ I was I was

Mm-hmm.

absolutely.

McKenzie Smith (36:48)
you know, someone so young can make an impact in somebody's life, especially on like a spiritual level. You know, I think we think like, yeah, elders and older people and people to disciple me. it's like, sometimes you just need to pay attention to her relationships and the people that are around you on an everyday basis. But yeah, thank you for sharing that kind of just journey and that conference and kind of just all the things that kind of led up to that moment. I would love to just kind of hear

Russell Reynolds (36:51)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (37:18)
you know, from you a word of advice or a piece of encouragement for someone who, you know, you said you were 31 when you got baptized. Coming to faith at an older age can be challenging. You know, you have this life you've been living, you have this history of of of your past, you have some maybe habits and things that are active, you know, and it's like, oh, man, like I got to change my life, you know.

Russell Reynolds (37:33)
Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (37:48)
And so just for someone who's, you know, coming, coming into the faith and kind of is like, how could I ever change or I want to come to know the Lord, but I have all this, you know, stuff or whatever it is, you know, like someone's in that or they're just accepted the Lord, but their life, you know, looks, looks a little different. Like just what advice or word of encouragement would you give to that person navigating that new season?

Russell Reynolds (38:01)
Mm-hmm.

I would say don't be intimidated. I mean, everybody has a starting place. I've done a lot of things in my life that I would have never thought I would be a Christian, and I have been told by Christian friends of mine that they have seen major changes in my life, and they never wanted to be the pushy type of Christian, because there's a lot of people that have pushed people away from Christ, because they have that holier than thou, and

that mentality that like, I'm better than you, you shouldn't do that, what you're doing is wrong, you need to repent, and that pushes some people away. Some people need to hear that, but some people don't. And one thing I liked about the course that I went through that kind of started leading me in the direction I am now is they explained that Jesus meets you where you're at. And one of the big things that they did is, you know, 15 minutes a day with God, and that was five minutes of prayer, five minutes of reading the Bible.

and five minutes of worship music or worshiping in one way or the other. And I started to find that that wasn't enough time for me. Like five minutes is a song and a half and you start getting into Christian music. mean, there's Christian rap, there's Christian rock, there's Christian metal, you know, there's hymns, there's gospel, there's R &B. Like there is everything you can think of in terms of Christian music that can relate to the kind of music that you like. And two songs just isn't enough for me. And so it started with more worship music and then...

McKenzie Smith (39:28)
Yeah.

Russell Reynolds (39:42)
started going to, well, I'm curious about what this says in the Bible and what this says in the Bible, and then I got to study Bible, and it's like, okay, well, I'm reading this. Well, now it's referring to this. I got to go read that. And so then the five minutes of music wasn't enough, the five minutes of reading wasn't enough, and then you start getting better in your prayer life, and it becomes a little less awkward because when you're learning how to pray, you don't know how to talk to, you know, an omnipotent being that you don't physically see or physically hear.

It's kind of awkward at first, and then you start realizing like you have this conversation with God and you feel better. And so I just started noticing that 15 minutes isn't enough for me. And so now I pray a lot more and I read a lot more and I listen a lot more. And so everybody has to start somewhere. But also remember that Jesus didn't come for the healthy. Jesus didn't come for the rich. He came for the weak. He came for the poor. You don't go to a doctor.

you're feeling the best of your life, you go to the doctor when you're sick, you know? And that's just, he comes to meet you where you're at and to show you that there's way more to life and that there's this joy and there's this peace. And I just, can't imagine my life without Jesus now, but you just have to start somewhere. Even if it's, you know, five minutes a day, 15 minutes a day, he's going to meet you where you're at.

McKenzie Smith (41:01)
Yeah, yeah, no, I like that. I think that's really good. He's going to meet you where you're at and you don't need to clean yourself up or get your stuff together. Like to come to know him. I know that was something I really struggled with when I came to know the Lord was it was like my friend, you know, kept asking me like, are you, you know, are you, are you ready to declare? I'm like, no, like I still have all this, all these things I need to fix. And she's like, that's not how it works. Can't see me like, you know. So I think that's really good. He's going to meet you where you're at and

Russell Reynolds (41:09)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (41:31)
I think, you know, in your story specifically, but I think it's so true in anything in our life. Like what you feed will grow in your life. And so, you know, like you said, you're going to have more hunger for the things that you do.

Russell Reynolds (41:38)
Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (41:45)
good or bad, you know what I mean? there's a reason people come out. Because you like drinking, you're going to drink more. You know, the more you drink, the more you're going to drink, the more you're to want to drink. It works the same way and the opposite way. The more you read the Bible, the more you, you know, lean into God, like the more you're going to desire those things. And so you got to start somewhere and you got to sometimes like recalibrate those desires. But once you start doing it, the hunger will definitely come.

Russell Reynolds (42:11)
I will.

McKenzie Smith (42:12)
I think it's cool to see, you know, you're like, I got to the point where five minutes wasn't enough. Like I need more. I want more. you know, and I think that's, that's how we all like our posture should be. We should just want more of God all the time. But we also have to focus on him to, to make that and not focus on the world. Cause if we focus on the world, we're going to want more of the world. If we focus on God, we're going to want more of God.

Russell Reynolds (42:17)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yep. Exactly.

And one thing that I can say on that too is don't be scared of the work, you know, because you're not doing the work. The Spirit is doing the work. Jesus is working through you. You're not physically doing the work, and you know, you mentioned, I have so much more things I need to clean up before I can declare. No, that's not how it is. If you declare, it will come, because we're not saved by our works, you know?

McKenzie Smith (42:41)
very

Mm.

Yeah.

Russell Reynolds (43:06)
Our works are rubbish to God. It is us opening up the door for the Spirit to work in us and for Jesus to do the work. And the same thing where if you get to a point where you want to start speaking the gospel to others, it's not our job to lead people to Christ. It's our job to plant the seed and God does the rest. So it's not about works for your salvation. It's just trusting and having faith and understanding that I am a sinner. I'm a human. I'm always going to be a sinner. There's only been one man that's lived a person...

McKenzie Smith (43:21)
Mm.

Russell Reynolds (43:35)
perfect life and that was Jesus, but if I can do what I can to show that I have faith in Him, He will work through me and lead me the way that I need to be led. And your fruits will come from that. It's not the work that you have to do. You just need to be open and allow Him to work through you.

McKenzie Smith (43:49)
Breach it Russell, breach it. Breach it. Keep going, keep going.

no, that's so true. And I think so often, like, I know that's, that's a place where I get stuck when, you know, it's like time to share the gospel with somebody. It's like, well, what if they don't, you know, what if they don't whatever, what if they ask me a question that I don't know the answer to? And it's like, it's not my job. Like I'm here to plant the seed and to be obedient.

Russell Reynolds (44:04)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Exactly.

McKenzie Smith (44:16)
God will handle the rest.

But I think so often we like to take those things on. It's like, no, we have to convince them or we have to, you know, whatever. it's like, no, God's doing the work. I like what you said. We're just planting the seed. And you never know. That's the fun thing about the seed analogy. Whenever you plant a seed, you don't know which seed is going to grow. Not all of them grow. Some of them die.

Russell Reynolds (44:29)
Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

McKenzie Smith (44:44)
you just never know which one's gonna finally break through the surface and so you gotta plant more, plant more.

Russell Reynolds (44:47)
Yeah, exactly.

And I mean, sometimes like, do you know who the Robertson family is, the Doug Dynasty family? So have you seen The Blind, the movie? Okay, so I went through a small group where we read the book, Gospeler by Willie Robertson, and then he references the movie and we watched the movie as well. And I mean, that's one of the things where I mean, it took three decades for for the seed to take hold, you know, and it took his sister to send a pastor to his bar that he owned to speak to him. And that still didn't even do it. But

McKenzie Smith (44:53)
Yes, of course. Yes, uh-huh.

Yes!

It's a good book.

Yep.

Russell Reynolds (45:17)
I mean sometimes it takes a while but there's nothing wrong with planting that seed. God will do the work.

McKenzie Smith (45:22)
Yeah,

yeah. It's definitely a good movie if you guys haven't watched it. Go watch The Blind and Goss Speller. I have that one on my shelf. My husband was reading it and I haven't read it yet, but I've heard it's really good. But I know if it's, yeah, I know if it's from them, it's gotta be pretty solid. So, oh, well.

Russell Reynolds (45:29)
Yes.

Yep, that's a great book.

It's a really good read.

Yeah, it is.

McKenzie Smith (45:45)
Russell for those listening who maybe want to follow along with you find wildlife outdoors podcasts all the things where can they do that?

Russell Reynolds (45:55)
We are anywhere you can find a podcast. We are video on Spotify and YouTube. You can just look up Wildlife Outdoors podcast. We're also on Apple Music and I think you can even tell Amazon Alexa to look at Wildlife Outdoors and I think it comes up that way. We're on everything, every platform. Instagram, we're at wild.life.outdoors. We're on Facebook at Wildlife Outdoors. On YouTube, we have the Wildlife Outdoors podcast and then we also have Wildlife Outdoors, which is more of an adventure channel.

I'm trying to get more into the documentary style stuff and that's coming but I have a couple camping videos, fishing videos. I think I'm dropping a goose hunting video here soon, catching cook type things. So yeah, just you can find us anywhere. Just look at Wildlife Outdoors or Wildlife Outdoors podcast.

McKenzie Smith (46:38)
Thank you.

Yeah, and what about if they want to connect with you and on the podcast?

Russell Reynolds (46:46)
Yep. My handle is at Russ Reynolds Hook'em on Instagram. It's also in the Wildlife Outdoors Instagram page. You can find me there or just look me up, Russell Reynolds on Facebook and reach out. And I love talking to new people, especially people all over the world that have listened to podcasts I've been on or ones that I've put out and just love hearing from people. So don't be shy to reach out.

McKenzie Smith (47:09)
Yeah, well, thank you so much, Russell, for being here and for sharing your story and just for being so on fire for the Lord and just taking this new season of life and running with it. I think that that is super cool. I think the new places where people can either get stuck or they can thrive. And so I just love whenever people are are unashamed and just living up this new season of life. And just so thankful that you're here and that you share the story.

Russell Reynolds (47:38)
Thank you for having me. I enjoyed it.