BeTempered Episode 93 - When Detours Become Lifelines with Dennis Liming

What starts as a foggy morning hike with his daughter turns into a life saving chain of events Dennis never could have planned. At 69, the firefighter, EMT, chaplain, and tool and die craftsman found himself facing multiple iliac aneurysms on the brink of rupture. What followed was a series of moments that felt anything but random: a hurricane delay that shifted their trip, swelling that refused to be ignored, a chiropractor who kept asking deeper questions, a rare Saturday scheduling call, and a surgical team suddenly available after a last minute cancellation. Hours later, Dennis woke up with rebuilt arteries, grafts, and stents and a story that reframes coincidence as something far more meaningful.

Hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr walk with Dennis through the full arc of his journey. From childhood loss and the early roots of faith, to decades of steady service helping others navigate their worst moments, Dennis shares what first responders carry long after the sirens stop. He opens up about the mental discipline required in chaos, the quiet rituals of grief and prayer, and the peace that grounded him when he heard the words, “go to the ER now.”

This conversation reaches beyond survival. It explores how purpose evolves, why community matters when seconds count, and how the interruptions we resist can become the very lifelines we need. Dennis offers practical wisdom on advocating for your health, listening to your body, and seeking answers when something does not feel right. More than anything, he speaks to a deeper calling that did not begin after surgery, but was clarified by it: serve more, love more, and show up where people are hurting.

If you have ever questioned whether a detour in your life might actually be direction, this episode will stay with you. Listen now and share it with someone who needs hope today. If the conversation resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and join the discussion. Was it coincidence, or was it providence?

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Transcript

Sponsor Message & Community Patreon

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Show Open And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Patron, clear choice.

SPEAKER_05 0:29

I want to share something that's become a big part of the B-Tempered mission: Patreon. Now, if you've never used it before, Patreon is a platform where we can build community together. It's not just about supporting the podcast, it's about having a space where we can connect on a deeper level, encourage one another, and walk this journey of faith, resilience, and perseverance side by side. Here's how it works. You can join as a free member and get access to daily posts, behind-the-scenes updates, encouragement, and some things I don't always put out on other platforms. And if you feel called to support the mission financially, there are different levels where you can do that too. That support helps us keep producing the podcasts, creating gear, hosting events, and sharing stories that we believe can truly impact lives. And here's the cool part Patreon has a free app you can download right on your phone. It works just like Facebook or Instagram, but it's built specifically for our community. You'll be able to scroll through posts, watch videos, listen to content, and interact with others who are on the same journey. And at the end of the day, this isn't just about content, it's about connection. It's about building something together. Not just me and men putting out episodes, but a family of people committed to growing stronger through real stories and real faith. So whether you just want to hop on as a free member or you feel called to support in a bigger way, Patreon is the door into that community. Because at the heart of Be Tempered has always been simple. Real stories, real truth, resilient faith, so that even one person out there that hears what they need to hear, and Patreon helps make that possible.

SPEAKER_07 2:09

Welcome to the Be Tempered Podcast, where we explore the art of finding balance in a chaotic world.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Join us as we delve into insightful conversations, practical tips, and inspiring stories to help you navigate life's ups and downs with grace and resilience.

SPEAKER_07 2:22

We're your host, Dan Schmidt, and Ben Sparr. Let's embark on a journey to live our best lives.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

This is Bee Tempered.

SPEAKER_07 2:30

What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Be Tempered Podcast, episode number 93. Great job, Ben.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Thank you. Seven away from a hundo. We're close. Very close.

Dennis’s Childhood And Faith Foundation

SPEAKER_07 2:41

That's coming. Amazing. Hey, there are moments in life that divide everything into two parts before and after. Dennis Lemming is a man who knows exactly where that line exists. At 69 years old, Dennis has lived a life rooted in service, faith, and purpose. A longtime resident of Zenia, Ohio, he spent decades serving others as a firefighter and chaplain, running towards danger while helping people find peace in their most uncertain moments. He's also dedicated his career as a tool and die maker, quietly building a life defined by discipline, consistency, and care for others. But Dennis's story isn't just about the emergencies he's responded to, it's about the one he never saw coming. What was supposed to be a backtack backpacking trip with his daughter was postponed due to circumstances outside of their control. When they finally returned to the trail, something didn't feel right. What began his discomfort turned into a series of events guided by listening, discernment, and the urging of those around him, that ultimately led to the discovery neither Dennis nor his family expected. Within a matter of hours, Dennis went from simply trying to understand what was wrong to realizing his life had been spared for something that could have ended very differently. Moments like that change a person, they deepen your gratitude, they sharpen your perspective, they remind you that none of us are in control the way we think we are. This story is a powerful reminder that purpose doesn't end, faith doesn't waver, and sometimes the interruptions in our plans are the very things that save our lives. Dennis Living, welcome to the Beatempered Podcast. Thank you. It's nice to be here. Thanks for making the trek this morning on this foggy morning. Here we've got, we we just came out of the freezer, right? We were in the zeros, negatives, cold, and then I think this week was supposed to be 50s and 60s. And so the snow's melting. We've got a nice fog in the air. So nice drive over from Zenia.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Yes, it was just a little foggy.

SPEAKER_07 4:56

Yeah, I've seen worse, but it wasn't too bad. Well, good. Well, thanks again for being here. I know um your story that I know of is remarkable. And uh, you know, and that's basically what's just happened in the last year of your life. And I don't even know anything beyond that. So I'm excited for you to share with us uh your wisdom, your faith, and all the things that helped you get through, uh, especially this past year. But how we like to start every podcast is start from the beginning. So if you would tell us what life was like for you growing up as a kid.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Uh, my life growing up as a child uh was for me, I didn't know any different. I mean, it was just to me a normal life. Uh, it was challenging in the aspect of uh it was me and my dad, my mom and my brother. My brother's five years older than me. And uh my dad uh passed when I was four years old. And so that left me and my mom and my brother. I had a half-sister uh that uh played a large part in our family and was very helpful. But growing up without a dad uh had challenges. Um we didn't have much money. Matter of fact, uh, after our dad passed, the only thing we had to live on was Social Security, and my mom went to doing housework. And so it uh I don't look back on my life as a child and have any regrets uh is uh I know God always has a plan and is always in control. Do I question God of why my dad passed when I was four? I don't. Uh I trust God fully and completely and 100%. And what it made me do as a young boy at four growing up, uh, you have to learn to do things. You have to learn how to fix things. Things today that most people wouldn't even dare to begin to do, they would just call a professional. And so we didn't have that income, and we didn't have to do those types of things. And so uh it it had its challenges. Um we uh, you know, times the house was cold in the winter, uh, especially back when I was a young boy, we started off heating with coal. And so it it had its challenges, but like I said, God was good and God watched over us and kept us and always met our needs. Um I remember as uh time went on, a few years later, my mom started me and my brother back to church on Sunday school on a Sunday school bus. And as a young boy, I didn't know it, but that's where my mom and dad, and we all went as a family. Because what happened when my dad passed, my mom didn't know how to drive. So the only way we had any traveling was to have somebody else do it for us. So the Sunday school bus picked us up, took us back to uh to Sunday school on Sundays, and that was a big important part of my life, plus also growing up in the southern part of Ohio where my mom's family was from. Uh, I remember as a young boy, my one of my mom's brother, uh my uncle, he uh kind of took that place of my dad and taught me a lot, and I spent a great deal of time with him. Um matter of fact, I grew up on his sawmill a lot in the southern part of Ohio. I don't remember, I was, of course, I didn't go there when I was four, but I remember I was probably eight or nine years old, and I started on the sawmill helping them. And I think back today, and I think, you know, if uh I wouldn't let my child do what my mom allowed me to do, but back then it was quite custom. You know, you're riding on a bulldozer up in the woods and your feet dangling over these tracks to pull logs out of the woods, and you're barking railroad ties and doing various things like that. And you might say by today's, they'd call that child labor. But back then it was just normal. And I had so many wonderful experiences doing that and spending time with my uncle. And uh the big change in my life happened uh when I was 12 years old, uh which happened to be March the 2nd, 1969, when I give my heart to the Lord at a little church there on the road. They all lived on at Chenis Fork Road in Pike County, Ohio. It's no longer a church, it's a house, but the building is still there. That's when God really did a work in my life and changed me completely. Uh, because I remember as a young boy, uh I had a very bad temper. I would get upset very easily and lash out. And uh sometimes my mom had to use the rod of correction to teach me that wasn't the way to behave. But when I was 12 and I gave my heart to the Lord, the Lord just did a marvelous work in my life and he became my closest friend, which he still is today, and just made an impact in my life that um has changed me forever. Because I, even as a young man growing up, even after that, temptation still showed itself. I mean, the devil's always trying to get you to uh turn his your back on God and follow him instead. And I had those challenging times in my life when uh the devil would come at me and I always give thanks to the Lord about it because he spared me so many marks of sin as a young boy. Uh I uh had an unusual uh opportunities in school because I went to the elementary school in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Then I went to their junior high school. And it uh when I was getting ready to leave there in the eighth grade and go into high school, they asked me about going to uh the vocational school in Yellows outside of Yellow Springs. It was part of Green County. I said, sure. So I went there in the ninth grade and uh started in the machine shop tool crib working there. And so I did that in the ninth grade. Well, for some reason or another, and always say God has a plan. By the end of that year, they come and want to know if I wanted to go into the junior machine trade class in my junior year. So by the time I finished my sophomore year or junior year, I apologize, in school, I had taken the juniors and senior machine trades class and graduated at the age of 16.

SPEAKER_07 11:09

Wow.

Service As Firefighter, EMT, And Chaplain

SPEAKER_02 11:10

And I'm like, you know, that's awful young to go into the workforce, but that's what I'd done. And God blessed me and watched over me. And I worked at a small factory for a year there, uh, in a little town called Cedarville. And then I gave them the opportunity to go back to Yellow Springs and work at another company there called Vernae Labs for 31 years before they closed the door. And of course, between all that time, there was a lot of events that transpired. I got married, had two children, um, had bought my second home by that time. And so there were a lot of things that changed during that period of time. And so uh my wife and I, we'd been involved in church uh for many years. Um, I've uh pastored church and also am a minister besides that. I got involved in the local fire department uh where we live now. And my mom came and lived with us after we moved into our new home and was there a chaplain and a firefighter EMT for 18 years and saw a lot. Some things you should never seen. And at the same time, some things you're really thankful for that she was able to help people because you just never know the circumstances you're going to get into and how God will bring them about to help other people and minister to people. And that's what life is all about is ministering and helping one another. So God has really blessed me in so many ways. And of course, my mom has passed on. My wife and I are still there. A few years ago, one of the gentlemen from the fire department called me and wanted to know if I wanted to come back. And so at the age of 68, I went back to the fire department. Now I'm a firefighter and their chaplain once again. So God's been good to me and done a lot of things in my life, and I really appreciate all he's done.

SPEAKER_07 12:53

Uh, that's amazing. Uh, I always have questions for you know, EMTs, uh, uh police officers, firefighters. Because, like you, you had you had briefly mentioned, uh, there's things you've seen that you wish you hadn't seen, and there's other things that you're you're glad you were a part of. So a question I always think of because I I know there's you know, there's things in my life that I've seen that it's like, man, I wish I wouldn't have seen that because you, you know, you have that locked in your mind. As a as an EMT, as a firefighter, being a part of uh, I'm sure some some pretty horrific scenes that you've seen. How do you work through that? How do you get through when you come upon a scene that is just devastating? How how do you get through that in your mind?

SPEAKER_02 13:34

Well, one of the things is they they train you on the fire department how to deal with that. You deal with the moment. Um as a firefighter, an EMT, whichever it's uh, whichever one of those type of events it might be, and sometimes you're involved in both, whether it's a car accident, you might be ministering physical uh aid to somebody, and also the next thing be open helping to open up a car to get them out. They train you to put your emotions behind you. You focus on that moment to minister care to that person. Uh and uh thankfully, uh with the training and the Lord's help, I've always been able to do that. It's afterwards when you uh those emotions hit you that um once again I've found that just go away and me and the Lord talk about it. And uh a lot of times that requires um tissue from crying uh and weeping before the Lord and uh thanking God that you were able to be there to help people. Uh you may not always seen the end of like you wanted to where somebody has survived, but you're thankful that you're still there to be able to help the family. As a chaplain, that's a lot of what it amounts to. I can't change the events, I can't change what has happened, but I'm there to speak to them, to encourage them, to pray with them, or whatever the need might be. So to get through that is that's a big thing is you put your emotion aside, you focus on that moment, helping that individual, whatever it might be. And I've always found that works. Uh, it's later when the emotions hit you. I'll never forget the first, well, we call it code that happened, happened on Thanksgiving Day. It was my first event to ever go out on like that. And I remember going to the home, we worked the gentleman, um, got him in the squad. He got we got heartbreak back, got him to the hospital, um, and took him into the hospital, and then we went back to the department, and I went back home and I got home and I walked through the door, and my wife spoke to me and I said, I need a moment. And that's when I went and the tears flowed, and our prayers went out. And so you never forget, I've never forgot my first one. And so you uh that's how you get through it. That's how I get through it. That's where I don't people that don't have Christ in their life often wonder how they deal with it. We do have what they call critical stress debriefings that we can also go to when it's a very tragic event where specifically it might have been a child that has died and we've had that to happen. Uh, that's that's the most tragic thing of all that you'll experience. Uh so you do have those where you can get together and you have counselors that come and meet with you and help you to re help you to deal with the your emotions, your feelings, and look through the circumstances and and you learn from that too, of what you may be able to do different uh in other circumstances. But the thing is, no two events is ever the same. So everything is new, and that's where you go back on all your training because we we continuously train monthly uh on how to handle circumstances and things to do.

SPEAKER_07 16:47

Well, not only for you to you know, to be able to rely on your faith to get through those those difficult times, but as a chaplain, I'm sure there's times where you're not just comforting that family or or whoever was in that situation, but some of the men and women that you're working with, you know, the DMTs and the firefighters and things like that.

SPEAKER_02 17:06

You do.

SPEAKER_07 17:06

And um, you know, I commend you for that because that's uh no doubt not an easy thing. So thank you for that.

SPEAKER_03 17:13

Glad to do it. Yeah, happy to do it. What what made you want to do from tool and die over to the fire department?

Coping With Trauma On The Job

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Well, the fire department has always been a volunteer. So uh, and people may say, well, you're just a volunteer, but it it's uh challenging the fact that you're always a volunteer. When you're on a full-time fire department, you have a shift, you work, and then you go home. As a volunteer to your community, uh, I've left my wife standing at gas stations. Uh, I've uh jumped off the moor in the yard to go. Uh, you get up out of bed in the middle of the night to go out on an EMS or fire run. Uh, so it it was just to be a service to my community, uh, is what it was. And uh my brother, he kept trying to get me for years. He was a firefighter before I was. He tried getting me to do it, and the timing just wasn't right. And once we got our home built and kind of got established in the community, um, I decided it was time to do that. And like I said, uh, when I went on originally, I was just uh a firefighter, then I worked myself into EMS, and then later on, our chief came to me and wanted to know if I wanted to be the chaplain. And so I, yeah, absolutely. And of course, then it got really um tough with time and everything when I'm still working a job. Uh, and of course, the they do have laws that protect you from losing your job if you are missworked because of doing service to the community and the fire in the fire service as well. So uh that's kind of how I got into it. And uh it's been a tremendous experience. They teach you things that you would never uh know otherwise. Uh it teaches you how to deal with uh you know circ emergency circumstances, it builds your confidence, it just helps you in so many different ways to deal with everyday life experiences.

SPEAKER_03 19:05

Yeah, that's awesome. It's even more impressive that it's volunteering. I mean, you know, you're working a full-time job and then raising a family. Raising a family, and then anytime you can get that call where it's time to go. Yeah. No matter how tired you are from work or any of that. It's yeah, somebody's life depends on it.

SPEAKER_02 19:20

Yeah, we've had so many calls in the past. I don't do the MS right now, uh, where in the middle of the night we'd get a call, uh, get back to the fire department, tone would drop again. You get back home, tone would drop again. And you have your your specific squad night. So that squad night, you've made a commitment to be home and to run those runs. And you're absolutely correct. Yeah. And uh, you know, a lot of times you do those runs and you go to work the next day. And so um it it's just a wonderful blessing to be of service to other people because people in an emergency situation that don't know how to handle things, uh, you know, they depend upon you and you get there and you help them and whatever. And it just brings a calmness to people that you're there. When you walk through the door, they know help is there. And so it is a tremendous blessing. It truly is.

SPEAKER_07 20:11

Servant leadership. Yep. That's exactly what that is. That's amazing. So at some point in your life, we were talking earlier, you started getting into backpacking. And you'd mentioned you'd always been uh pretty healthy and pretty fit throughout your life. Um, but but backpacking came into your life. Uh talk about that and and uh and and then we'll get into um the story where I learned about you. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

Backpacking actually got into backpacking in my very early 40s. Our daughter was going to a private school in Zenia, and uh they were selling magazines. And I looked at magazines, and of course, being a hunter, you know, when you've read one hunting magazine, you kind of read them all. So I'm like, I don't want so they had this one called Backpacker. And uh got that prescription or subscription to them, and then I took a started looking through the magazine and saw these beautiful pictures and various places you could go and see things that I had never seen before. And so that really instilled a hunger in me to go. And um, I can't remember exactly how. I probably seen a picture of the boundary waters in Minnesota, which is 1.2 million acres of nothing but pure wilderness. And the church we were attending to at that time, I went to this one young lady in the church. I said, I'm looking for somebody to go backpacking on a canoeing trip as well, where you have to carry your gear from one lake to another. And she pointed me to this young man, and we're still very close friends today. And so our first trip was a backpacking canoeing trip, uh, where you carry your gear, like I just said, between portage and spots spots and spots, and you uh uh paddle the large lakes of in Minnesota, which are very big lakes. And so uh I got involved in that and just that uh continued. To getting into backpacking trips with other guys from the church as well. We had a group, it was called the Clifty Wilderness Boys of men. And we just had so many wonderful experiences going different places into West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, back to Minnesota several times. Just God so blessed us with a friendship that I had not known like that before. Where you go out and you stay with this group of guys for days on end or a week on end. And you talk about God, and he just what's so amazing to me through all of the trips that we were on and the hours that we spent together, we never had no spats, no arguments, no nothing. And so it was just a God-given experience to me to be able to go to the places and do the things I have with these uh my buddies that uh there's still talk about going. Uh, but unfortunately, life has its way to catch up with us at times. And uh so today we find it's a little bit more challenging than what it was back uh 30 years ago. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 23:06

What was what's your your favorite place you've been backpacking?

SPEAKER_02 23:10

Well, just straight backpacking would probably been uh Shenandoah National Park. Yeah. Uh we've been to uh Dali Sodge in West Virginia a lot. It that's a wilderness area, just a true wilderness area, which has a tremendous history to itself. During World War II, that was a bombing site where they went in to test bombs, and you still can't find unexploded bombs out there, so they warn you of that. That was a beautiful, rugged place. You just kind of camp in anywhere you want to. Of course, uh, you know, you have to drink creek water. There's no uh bathrooms out there, so you pretty much know how you figure out to take care of that. Uh, so those have been some beautiful places that we have gone. But Shenandoah National Park was actually the first backpacking trip we all took together for a week, and it was just beautiful. We went to uh uh the water uh falls they have there in the park, those are gorgeous, just such a beautiful park.

SPEAKER_07 24:08

So you're hiking on the Appalachian Trail there?

Why Volunteer Fire Service

SPEAKER_02 24:10

Yeah, on the Appalachian Trail there. Now, when you go to like places like Dali Sods, no, you're hiking on established trails, but then not the Appalachian Trail.

SPEAKER_07 24:18

Yeah, yeah. It's amazing. I I've been there. It is a beautiful area for sure, Shenandoah National Park. So get into um, you know, uh the backpacking leads you into this this last year, and talk about kind of the progression where you you got your daughter involved to start backpacking, kind of how that came uh came about and then what came from that.

Discovering Backpacking And Wilderness Community

SPEAKER_02 24:43

Uh my daughter and and I, of course, um she's always been somewhat of a daddy's girl. Uh growing up when she was very young. If I was outside, she was right on my heels. If I was in the garage working on a vehicle, she was right out there with me. And so her and I have always been extremely close. And uh the guys and I went on the backpacking trips, we kind of had a rule. It was a guys only. And so uh as time moved on, and um, as I said, um, life has its challenges where your health's not what it used to be. Some of the other guys couldn't go like uh I still wanted to go. I mean, I still have that same hunger and desire to go as I did when I first started. That's never left me. And some of the other guys, uh, different changes in their lives, and I was looking for somebody to go. Um, my son-in-law, my daughter's husband, he'd gone with me several times. And I just, you know, one day I said, I'm gonna ask her because I knew she likes to be outside and enjoy things, and she was always very interested in it and uh asked me questions. So I asked her, and um, of course, without hesitation, she said yes. And I said, Well, you know, we have to get in physical shape for this. And she did. She worked very hard at it. And uh uh she started joining the Y and uh various things, and I was working out during this period of time in my basement in the gym, getting myself in shape to go because I knew it uh, you know, it's it's a challenge. It's not just you know, you're not walking through, you know, a mall or someplace like that. So uh her and I had planned on going uh in um uh September of uh 24, in the night in 2024, which was the same year that Hurricane Helene came up through uh the United States and up through uh the Carolinas and into Virginia. And so uh I remember I sit down on my workbench that Monday morning before we were going to leave later that week, and I seen that the hurricane was coming up through there, and I'm like, oh Lord. So I knew I had to call her and let her be known, you know, this is something we need to consider. So, you know, she said, well, let's just watch it and see. Maybe it won't come that far. Of course, everybody knows that it did. It did a tremendous uh devastation up in that area, which her and I found out later on. So we postponed it. And uh, you know, during that period of time, we were both very much disappointed. We'd bought a lot of gear and spent a lot of time getting in shape, physical shape to go, and knowing that that really would be the last opportunity we would have that year to go. And based upon the devastation, the trails were closed. Uh, and so they weren't going to open back up for quite a while. So that's what caused us to postpone it till uh April the following year.

SPEAKER_07 27:40

Well, not only were the trails closed, but I mean they had interstates completely bridges completely torn out. Um we interviewed the guy that hiked from uh for his daughter's wedding uh that happened the next the wedding was like the next day. Yeah. I can't think of his name. Uh you probably can't either.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

I read the story.

SPEAKER_07 27:58

Yeah. So you saw the story. So we interviewed him and he wow he went into the details of the the devastation. And uh so yeah, not just the trails, but yeah, the interstates, all the roads, I mean the all the uh mudslides, all those things that that occurred from all that. So it gets postponed to and you decide you're going in April?

Father–Daughter Trip And Hurricane Delay

SPEAKER_02 28:19

Yeah, we uh we was going to go to the lab latter part of April of uh of uh 25. And uh so me and her, once again, we stayed prepared, got prepared, you know, even more so, give us a little more time to you know work out more and and uh get ready. And uh, we very much worked on our gear to get our weight down because uh when you're young and you know you're you you don't really think so much about the weight. I remember when I first did it, my pack weight was at 60 some pounds. Yeah, and you know, you're young, so I'll carry it. So you did, but it was hard. Well, when you get older, uh it even becomes harder and and uh new um equipments come out and various things. So you you spend a lot of money and it can be very expensive uh to go on. So her and I, we planned it out, excuse me, we planned it out to go to uh Grayson Holland State Park, which is the same place we were gonna go uh in 24 because that's where they have the wild ponies. And she wanted to see the ponies. She's always so much loved animals. So uh we went there and we left on a Wednesday. We drove down and stayed at a little town called Damascus, uh, which is referred to as, I believe, the friendliest town on the Appalachian Trail. Yeah. And we so much enjoyed getting there. Of course, in April, not everything is open. So we stayed there in the night uh at the very old hotel that's there. I think uh there was her and I, our two rooms, and there was, I think, two other individuals there. So they only had four rooms occupied in this hotel. So they they keep it open like that for early, early people to come out. So we got up and left on a uh Thursday morning to go into Grayson Highland State Park and to uh Mount Rogers recreational area. We had it all planned out. The majority of it was going to be on the Appalachian Trail. And so we we got there. I felt great, she felt great. Uh, like I said, it was her actually first backpacking trip. And so we started off, and of course, it it rained. And it rained, and it rained, and we're like, oh Lord, you know, of course, we had we had rain jackets and and various things, you know, you put on and rain suits. And but I found if you put them on after it starts to rain, you're still wet. So, and the the the little the trails that you had uh turned into little streams. And it's what's so wonderful about going out like this is based on Neapolis Street, you meet so many different people. And everybody you meet pretty much has a smile on their face. And where we were at, I think it's a little over 500 miles from um, I think it's Springer Mountain in Georgia, where it starts. And these people have got a smile on their face. They're so happy to be out there. And it just the views are wonderful there where her and I was at. Even though it was raining, it was a slight drizzle for the most part, a little foggy, which uh I'm just one of those individuals. It can be a cloudy day, a sunny day, rainy, or snow. I it's just beautiful. Uh, I don't say this just to fill in, but it's part of God's creation. And I just love it. And and there it was, and here we were, and we we uh hiked that first day, did about 16 miles, and was trying to find someplace to stay. And so we got into this one wooded area that was flat, and uh it was late in the day, and I was beginning, my legs are swelling, and they were getting both of them beginning to hurt, which was never had ever happened before. And I'd never had any trouble at all hiking before. So uh we found a camp spot and we set up camp, and she was fairly damp, and of course, our our sleeping bags got a little damp as well. So uh she came out of her tent. We'd only been there about half an hour and got our tents up, and she had this uh look on her face that uh she was a little had some anxiety. And it was it was very, we were there all by ourselves in this spot, nobody else around for miles. And and so I got a fire going and warmed us up, and that really made her and me both feel good, you know, better. It it just does. And so we got a fire going, got a warmth around the fire, dried out our clothes a little bit, and and uh got a bite to eat, and so all that made feel better. So uh I was telling her about how my legs was bothering me, and she said, Well, dad is probably your sad nerve. And so I did some stretches there and various things, and it uh it was a little painful, but not really too bad. So we had a decent night's sleep and got up the next morning and and uh got everything packed up and off the trail we went again. So the next day, even though uh some of it was downhill, which if you've been on the application trail very much, uh at least in uh Virginia, you're either going up or going down. There's really no level spots anywhere. Uh and uh you can go off on some side trails and they might be, but most of the Appalachian Trail in that area is either up or down. It's very rocky. And uh I was concerned about her uh naturally and my daughter, you know, I don't want you to fall because, you know, you fall and could really hurt yourself. And uh thankful the good Lord, neither one of us ever fell. And she did just absolutely wonderful. Kind of uh I was a little embarrassed because this is her first trip out and she's doing better than I am. And uh so uh the next day was even more challenging, and we hiked down the Appalachian Trail, crossed and come up another side, and then we came up to uh a um uh one of the huts you stay out. I I don't remember the name of the hut, but I was in so much pain with my legs just hurting. I it got to the point my left leg was hurting so bad I could not use it to lift my body. Every time I come to a spot, which is every other step, I'd have to use my right leg to lift my weight. And of course I had a uh uh hiking uh pole or a hiking stick, however you want to call it a trekking pole. And uh she had hers as well, but I was having to stop to rest my body because it was just so painful and hurt so much. And I was taking ibuprofen and things like that to help deal with the pain, but it really wasn't doing no good. They swelled up so so bad that I couldn't hardly even bend my knees, uh, which once again had never happened to me before. So uh we stayed there that night uh at Trail Hut, which on the Appalachian Trail is required. It was a very nice area. Uh her and I got our tent set up just before there came a big downpour of rain. And uh we we didn't see any animals to speak of on the Appalachian Trail or anything like that. Uh, you've seen some squirrels and various things, but we got up the next morning and started off. And of course, it was all uphill. That would have been on a Saturday, our last day. And so as we're hiking out, same thing again. Uh, I couldn't hardly use my left leg for anything uh because of it. It's just uh very, very painful. So we was able to hike out that day. I think we did about five miles, and we got out for a total of I think 34 to 35 miles, uh, which is uh quite a waste to hike. But also when you're in the pain that I'm in, uh I did a lot of praying, a lot of praying uh with that. And so we we got out of there and got to our vehicle. Of course, it was good to be able to sit down, you know, and uh so we had kind of planned originally just to drive on home that day, but her and I both was very tired. My legs would bother me. We decided we we found this uh hotel and we got separate rooms that night and we stayed there in the room. And uh I notified my wife and was telling her about you know what was going on with me, hadn't you know at that point no idea uh that there was something else more than just my legs hurting that was causing me some problems.

SPEAKER_07 36:08

So you head home.

unknown 36:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 36:12

And your wife obviously, I'm sure, is concerned because and you're concerned because you're the one feeling the pain. Did the swelling go down like the the next mornings you would you'd start back up? Did the swelling go down or did it stay the same?

Grayson Highlands Trek Turns Painful

Escalating Symptoms And Uneasy Hike Out

SPEAKER_02 36:24

No, it really didn't. It go down very, very little. Uh, and it so it just continued to get worse and worse. Uh we got home and uh went to a couple doctors, uh, and um they the unusual thing about it was they never really checked me over. Uh they never palpated my abdomen. And uh there's uh so in the process of them not palpating my abdomen, they they didn't really find or detect anything else. They uh uh one doctor surprised me Celebrex, which is an anti-inflammatory, another doctor subscribed me a water pill to try to get rid of the swelling, which still didn't help. And so uh I have like, you know, kind of my wet's end. Uh the swelling did eventually go down, but my leg hurt so bad once I got home, because we live on a tri-level, excuse me, uh going up the stairs was like my muscles was just pulling apart, just ripping apart. Uh, couldn't hardly work. I mean, I'd go to work and it was I just it was embarrassing to try to walk in and out the door because it was just in so much pain. So uh, in talking with my daughter, and she has some medical training as well, she said, Well, Dad, why don't you go to my chiropractor and see him? And uh, she told me about him, and even though he's 50 miles away, uh, she just recommended him so highly. I'm like, you know, and she told me, she said, Well, he's a Christian man too, which you know is a plus. So I went to him, and in the process of going to him, he did an evaluation of me. And um so after three visits, things didn't get any better. It it just uh nothing seemed to get better. I wouldn't say it got worse, but nothing got better. I was struggling to, it was really difficult. And so at that same time, it was when Kettering Health Networks had our cyber attack, and of course, they was just almost shut down. So I went to him and I can't remember if it was on a Thursday or Friday. He had made comments. He said, Well, what about doing an MRI? I'm like, yeah, whatever. I mean, I need to figure out what's going on here. He said, Well, I know there's a place in Kettering or Centerville that does MRIs. Uh, it's an independent place. Uh, you pay for it out of pocket. And he told me how much it was. I said, Well, that's probably cheaper than insurance. So he he put in the order for that. Once again, I said, I can't remember if it's a Thursday or Friday. I'm wanting to say Friday, but what was really unusual, I was out in my garage doing some things on Saturday morning, and I get this telephone call. And okay, so I picked it up, and here it was this uh company that does MRIs. And so I talked to him on the phone and I said, This is really unusual. You know, I'm getting a call on a Saturday. So he said, Yeah, he said, I'm in here just cleaning up and doing some things. He said, trying to, you know, get things ready for the first of the week and wanted to know about getting you scheduled. And he said, Well, what about Tuesday morning? I said, That's great, you know. And uh, so I'm looking for some relief. I'm looking for some answers. Um, hadn't, you know, went to two medical doctors. I was going to a chiropractor, and nobody really seemed to know what was happening. So I went to him on Tuesday morning and uh went to went on to work. Uh, they were very close together, went back to work and finished my day out of work and went home and uh still hurting quite a bit, nothing any better. And and me being me, uh, we had some trees on the property that needed to be cut down for firewood. So my brother, he came down and helped me because I needed to pull them with a uh pull them with a vehicle because of the way they were landing. And uh so we cut those three trees down. I cut one of them up, which is uh probably two-foot diameter cherry tree, wild cherry tree, and cut that up, was rolling it some and uh still hurting, and got up the next morning and went to work, still hurting. And about 9:30, I got a telephone call that really changed everything. And uh so I went and got the call. I didn't recognize the number, but I was expecting a call because of the resulted the MRI. When I had the MRI, he gave me a DVD disc uh that had pictures on it, which you know I knew that was to take to somebody else. I couldn't look at him. So I got the call and um the individual told me who they were. And so I uh went outside the tool room and into the hallway where it was quiet, and he shared with me that he had just gotten a telephone call from the radiologist uh because they found uh three large aneurysms in my abdomen, one on my right and left iliac artery, which at that time I didn't even know what the iliac artery was, which you have your aorta that goes down, then it splits off in that, which is called the iliac arteries, which goes down to your femur arteries. And he shared with me that uh one of them on the right was very large. And uh your iliac arteries are typically around seven-eighths of an inch to an inch in diameter. I had the aneurysms, the arteries where they were, the aneurysms were at, which is like a uh a bubble on these, uh, was up to two and a half times larger. And it was very dangerous, chance of rupturing. And he said, you need to go to the ER right away. And I sit down on the bench there and kind of gathered my thoughts. That was one time my firefighter EMT training did not help me. Uh it did not, because that that was personal. That was personal, and I knew the dangers of them from my training. And I knew that uh an aneurysm, depending upon where it was at, if it burst, they're almost 100% fatal always. And in my case, it would have been because nobody would have knew what it was, nobody knew would have known where they were at to put pressure on that. And I I would have been I'd have been gone in a matter of minutes. So I sit down there and you know, I said a prayer, and I got up and uh got off the phone and he asked me for my cell phone or my friar, my email address, and I give that to him so he could have the radiologist send me the report. So when I got to the hospital, they could see what he saw and read on that. So I uh I called my wife and um probably not the most wisest decision I ever made, but God was looking out for me. I'm like, I'm not going to the hospital smelling and dirty. So I drove home, took a shower, changed clothes, and her and I went to the hospital. And we went into um sewing hospital over in uh Fairborne. I took the disc that had the images on it, and give them the uh results, written results from the email that the doctor had given me and shared that with them. And they went and did a CAT scan. And I was in the bed laying there, and the ER doctor come out and pulled up a screen. He said, This is the artery, uh, your right iliac artery. And he said, I want you to look at this. He said, This is where the artery is separating on the inside, and it is falling down like a flap and is creating a blood clot behind it. He said, You need surgery immediately. And he didn't anymore get those words out of his mouth. I looked down to the end of the room and there stood the squad and uh the people from the squad, and he said, We're gonna send you down to the Main campus for them to do surgery. He said, I don't know whether they'll do it tonight or tomorrow, but you need surgery, which I pretty much knew that was what was going to happen. Of course, my wife is in the room with me and heard all of this. So she uh uh is there with me in the room, and I see the people from the squad. And uh, so they take me down to the end of the room, put me on the cot, and I couldn't say how many times that, you know, I've been in the back of the squad to help people. This is the first time I was ever back there as a patient. And even though I was talking to them and kind of laughing, and they were trying to get Ivy started, and they were going lights and siren, I said, Why are we going lights and siren? I felt fine, other than my leg. They said, You're in critical condition. He said, We need to get to the hospital. My wife is falling on her vehicle, and uh, she did not know uh exactly what was transpiring. So they get me to the hospital there and they push me through the door, and I met a group of people standing in their surgery uniforms, and I was not expecting that. And they said, Mr. Lyming, I said, yes. I said, uh, and who are you? He said, we're getting ready to do surgery on you. And I took a swallow and I said, I need a cell phone so my wife can tell my wife. And uh we did not know at that point, but that surgical team was there ready because they had another surgery that was supposed to happen that was canceled. That's the only reason they were there waiting on me. Wow. So I uh got a cell phone, called my wife, and I told her what was happening. And uh she said to me, she said, some of the surgeon or somebody I can talk to. So I handed the phone to the surgeon. And I remember my wife asking, Can I see him before he goes in? She said, No, you cannot. She said his right iliac artery is separating. He said at any moment it could rupture and he could die right in front of us.

SPEAKER_04 46:00

So uh You heard him, yeah. What's going through your mind?

Dead Ends With Doctors And A Crucial MRI Order

SPEAKER_02 46:05

Uh, you know, that was a time I had no fear. Uh and the only thing I can think of is, you know, the Bible tells us in the book of Psalms, the 23rd, 23rd chapter, very popular scriptures. And the Bible tells us that, yea, though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. I had no fear. And that was had to be the grace of God. Uh, I had been in operating, I remember going when I was doing my clinicals uh for my EMS training. I was in operating rooms when they was operating on people. Uh, I seen them putting chest tubes in a young woman, seen a lot of things happening. Uh, and uh at that time it was entirely different because it was me. But yet I had no fear. Um course I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if I was to die that day, I knew where I'd go. I had no question about that, no question whatsoever. But more than anything, I was concerned about my family. That was my number one concern. I remember they pushed me into the into the operating room, which was very close, and they began to work on me. And of course, you know, the first thing to do, they go taking everything off of you and doing various things. And they were trying to uh get instruments into my veins to monitor my blood vessel or to monitor my blood pressure. And uh then a moment later, lights were out. And uh after that, it was all in God's hands. I told the surgeon later, I told her, I said, you were God's hands working on me. And uh that was about 3:30, 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and around 10 o'clock that night, between 10 and 11 o'clock, they finished the surgery. And they had to go into both uh of my groin areas, make incisions. They worked frantically. Uh, she told my wife after the surgery just to save my life. The other thing they were concerned about was me losing both legs, because if the arteries, which the right one was the worst, it was separating. She got in there and she referred to it as rupturing. And uh they told my family, said he wouldn't have lived another day, would not have lived another day. Uh so they worked on me, and now from my aorta down into the ziliac arteries, I have cortex lining, and I am filled full of platinum stents. She told my wife and family that they didn't, at that point, they didn't have no idea how many stents they put in me because they were putting it just opening them up on the paper on the floor, putting them in me as fast as they can to keep me rupturing out on the inside. Uh, because if they had a rupture, then they would have had to clamp off the artery to save my life. But then there would have been no blood going to either one of my legs, which would have then resulted in the amputation of my legs, which I cannot imagine what that would have been to woke up and both legs have been gone. I'd have looked at it and said, Why didn't you just let me die? But God was graceful. And uh after the surgery, I didn't wake up till sometime around 2:30, between 2:30 and 3:30 the next morning. I woke up and my back was hurting so bad. My back was killing me. I told myself, my back is hurting me so bad. Uh, because they, at that point, they knew nothing about the herherniated disc in my back that they found during the uh MRI, uh, that wasn't like the second or third paragraph down, that they never got to that. They were more concerned about the aneurysms that saved my life. So it was um it was a life-changing event uh in the aspect that every day uh realizing that if if nothing, if something, one thing had happened outside of the way it did, if I'd went to another radio, another chiropractor that I believe, under the impression of the Holy Spirit, called for the MRI. When he called for it, if the individual at the MRI center hadn't called for me on a Saturday, they got that taken care of, and I'd had it done on a Tuesday, they'd have never found the aneurysms. If my daughter and I had postponed that hiking trip again, they'd have never known about the aneurysms. I we had no idea that I had those three aneurysms in my stomach. I still have those in my abdomen. Uh, and that's because of uh two endo leaks that has fed those with blood. They have worked on them to uh seal those off, and we believe they have, and prayerfully they're shrinking now. Uh but that's what got me to that point where God was in control of every circumstance. If anything at all had it changed by maybe hours or even as much as a day, the surgeon said I would not be here now. It's unbelievable. Yeah, that's the only way they found him. It's because they went looking for what was wrong with it, like the pain in my leg. They brought it about. Now, everybody can say, believe that life is just uh a life of chances and circumstances. I believe personally, with without a doubt, God can ordain circumstances in our lives to happen so that we are aware of certain conditions, like I had to do that. Uh I believe totally, firmly, 100% with everything in my heart, God spared me for a reason. God brought this to our attention that I'm here today. Uh I can't say that I've got any marvelous revelation from God yet as to what that is. He hasn't shared that with me as of yet. Uh, but God has a plan. And as long as I stay in that plan, I have nothing to worry about. I had shared with my uh surgeon, we'd went back to see her after I uh the surgery, and I looked at her, I said, Do you know I could have been with the Lord in heaven right now? And uh she just looked at me and I told her how much I appreciated her, her and her surgical team, and how they were a gift from God to save my life. Uh my wife and and family uh all laid out letters and thanking her and presented it to her when we went back and seen her later on after the surgery and everything, let her know how much we appreciate uh what they were doing and how they were there for God's uh God's will to be be done in my life to save my life.

SPEAKER_07 53:04

Well, and here here's the um so here here's where I come into this picture a little bit because while all this was going on, yeah, I just happened to be on vacation with your chiropractor. And though uh, and that's Dr. Matt Roberts with Preble County Chiropractic, who is a very good friend, and we happen to be in Florida, and uh you know he he's not talking about patients or anything, but he's receiving phone calls as you're receiving phone calls. And um, so I had a front seat picture of what was going on. Don't know who you are, don't know anything about it, but he he explains the MRI and and these these circumstances that were going on. And uh I mean I I'm I got goosebumps right now sitting here because I remember where I was sitting when when all that was going on, and then all of a sudden now here you are.

SPEAKER_02 54:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 54:00

Sitting here recording a podcast alive.

SPEAKER_02 54:04

Yeah. Only by the grace of God.

SPEAKER_07 54:07

It it is by the grace of God, and and it's amazing how when we when we take time to get out of our busy lives and we actually see what God is doing, there are small miracles every hour of the day. There is you know. You you had no idea you were, I mean, you could have been just a couple minutes away from death. Could have been, yeah. You know, if that hurricane hadn't hit and and done the the the devastation that it did to to close all of the roads and the the trails, and you wouldn't have postponed your trip, and then you get back out and you and you go with your daughter on you know an amazing trip that you had prepared for. Yeah, the pain in your legs, you know, all these circumstances start to happen. She recommends going to see Dr. Matt. Yes, he did. And uh, you know, he's he's I'm sure, like, hey, let's try this. And then all of a sudden, I mean, just down to the MRI calling on Saturday, scheduling for Tuesday, and then uh the um with with the surgery getting canceled, yeah, and they wheel you right in, everybody's there waiting. They are, yeah. You know, I mean, that's a miracle.

The Call: Multiple Aneurysms Found

SPEAKER_02 55:23

It is, yeah, it is. So there's so many circumstances that happened and fell right in line uh for to get the results that God wanted. Uh, you know, you there's no way you can deny this wasn't, you know, God just can't happen. Uh, because it just uh it just things happen so much in in a process. Uh at the hospital, they kept coming in and they would ask me, said, because you know, they couldn't figure out why I had these aneurysms. They said, Do you smoke? I said, No. Have you ever smoked? No. And I said, why? He said, because this is usually what we see in people that smoke. No, never smoked. And um, they said, uh, they made a comment about Dr. Robertson, they say, we understand your chiropractor asked for the MRI. I said, he saved your life. And so when uh my wife and I went, uh, after everything had gotten straightened around, I went to see Dr. Roberts. She went with me, and um, and I I stood up beside a uh Dr. Robertson. I put my arm around him and I looked at my wife, I said, This is my savior, not my spiritual savior, he's my physical savior, because he's the one that called for that. And uh so he he played a he played a part uh by God in this uh adventure that uh brought me that to that point. Uh the thing is, uh I think about now since all that had happened. If things hadn't happened the way God ordained them, say my daughter and I had gone in September of 24. Uh we'd went someplace else. Uh I'd maybe my legs would have never bothered me. I can't say they would or wouldn't have, but I may have never known about the aneurysms at all until they would have performed an autopsy. Because when aneurysms happen, nobody knows where it's at, nobody knows what's going on. So they don't know how to stop it, they don't know how to put pressure points on, they don't know how to be, because and you'll be gone in minutes. So everything. Uh I'm not saying that the hurricane was God's doing. Uh I'm just saying if we would have moved differently, if our emotions, our steps, anything we had done had been different, I wouldn't be here today. That's why every day is a gift to me now. And I treat it that way.

SPEAKER_07 57:44

So, what do you feel like your purpose is now moving forward?

SPEAKER_02 57:51

Uh I once again, I can't say that God has given me that my purpose has really changed. I think it's just a new dedication to that purpose, to be more dedicated than ever, uh, to share this through this podcast at church, uh, to be able to witness to other people's, we call it in the church field, our testimony of what God has done for me. A lot of people have wonderful testimonies about how God has changed their life. Um, I mean, I can say, and I don't feel like myself, I'm anybody spatial. I realize we are all spatial in the eyes of God because we're all his children, but for me, Dennis, I'm not spatial. I'm only spatial because of who Christ is. I feel like that I have a testimony to share with other people about God's grace, God's love, putting our trust, our confidence in God, living for God, letting God direct your heart and your life, let him show you the path he wants you to walk on and the things he can do in your life to minister and to help other people. Uh, as we stated earlier, I've been on the fire department a total of around 20 years. You people call you when they're hurting, when they need your help. And so going out and helping them, we we go to church not to uh so much be ministered to, but Christ in his ministry, he said, I didn't come to be ministered to, but to minister, to be a servant to other people. Even in our churches, we have the opportunity to minister to other people, to share with them your testimony, how God brought you through this, to give them confidence and strength that they can do it too, because God is no respecter of persons. And what he does for me, by his word, he's required to do it to other people. And I would say, if anything, that is just a new commitment of a greater dedication, because most people, when they get my age, you know, they want to retire, you know. Uh I don't, I don't want to do that. I've spent over 53 years in a shop. Uh, I'm still doing that part-time, but I don't want to continue to do that. I want to be a service to my community to get more involved in the local church that we're involved in to be able to help other people.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:05

It's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:07

Do you have any like Bible verses or anything that you'd want to share with a guest? I mean, you figure you're you can tell when you walked in about like how strong in faith you are, and then hearing your story, you know, you have anything for us?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:20

Well, I think uh Proverbs chapter three, I think it's verses five and six, it says to trust in the Lord with all your might and strength, put your confidence in him and he'll direct your path. I think the thing is is putting your trust in God. Um, you know, the book of Psalms, uh, David writes so many times about putting your trust in God. People in today's life, we put our trust in people, and unfortunately, we're all human. We fail. People will fail us, people will let us down, but God never will. And so when you put your trust in the Lord and put your confidence in him, God won't let you down. Uh, we live in a society today where people are hurting, people are addicted to various things in life, and uh they feel like there's no hope, no reason for living. Uh, but I have found in Jesus Christ, He'll give you that reason and that hope for living. Uh, you know, the thing is, this life is not just the only life we live. Uh, whether we have a life after this that we will live eternity in some place or another. And this life is a dressing room, it's a place where we prepare for that other life that we live after this life. Uh, people can deny that afterlife, but uh, I've been a Christian for so long that there's no way anybody's going to change what I know to be true. Um, so I think that would be the thing is that people need to put their trust and confidence in God. I feel I feel I see what's going on in our society and around the world today, like everybody else. It troubles me, it bothers me. Uh, and I'm sure it keeps a lot of people awake at night. But I can say when I go to bed at night, I say my prayers, I can lay my head down and know that I know the one that's in control, and that he's gone away. The Bible tells us in John uh chapter 14, I go away. Christ says, I go away to prepare for you a place, that where I am, there you may be also. And he says, In my father's house is many mansions, that he's want to prepare us a place. And so that's what I'm looking forward to. Um, life is like a book, it has a beginning and it has an ending. And that's the way our life is. Our life is made up of chapters. Uh, but I am persuaded that uh in the end actually becomes the beginning of our uh eternal life with our Lord and Savior. And so that's why I'm living the life that I live today, because he's done that for me. Yes, we have trials, we have tribulations in this life, but Christ says be of comfort, be of cheer, because he said, I have overcome that. So our life and our and our our process of being spiritual in him should be putting everything we have in him because he says, I give you a peace that this world can't give you. You know, people will have uh peace only in this life. And the Bible says there's pleasures in sin for a season, for a short period of time. But in this life, there's a lot of turmoil, a lot of hurt, and a lot of pain. And Christ felt that. That we would not have to go through that. And then he went to heaven to prepare us a place. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:45

Amazing, amazing story. Last question. If you could sit on a park bench and have a conversation with someone living or deceased, who would it be and why?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:03

That's a very easy question to answer. My earthly father. Uh as I said, he was four years old, or I was four years old when he left this world. My dad saw a lot of things in life that uh few people probably no people left today living had seen. My dad was born in 1901. And of course, you can do the math. He'd be approximately 125 years old. His birthday is coming up March the first. And uh just to be able to sit down and have a conversation with him, because uh I don't know at what point he took uh my mom and my brother and I to uh it was a church in Zenia, Ohio called the First Pentecostal Church of Xenia. And the pastor there was Reverend Bruce Brooks. And I even yet at home, I have newspaper clippings from 1956 and a Bible from that church. And I see so many familiar faces I knew as a young boy because that's the church I grew up in. Uh, as when my mom started sending my brother and I back there on the Sunday school bus, and then people would stop and pick me up. And after I got my driver's license, I continued to go there for several years and see people, and people knew me. Uh, they remembered me before I remembered myself. They remembered my dad. And that's the person I would want to sit down on the bench just to have a talk with him. Knowing that it won't be in this life, but it will be in the next.

Stents, Recovery, And What-Ifs

SPEAKER_07 1:05:57

There's no doubt your dad is proud of you. The man that you are, the family that you raised, your faith. I mean, it's your your story is amazing because of you know not having that father figure growing up, but your uncle took that place, right? And and helped to to guide you and to shape you and to mold you, and your mom sounds like an amazing woman. She was and very committed so much for you and your older brother. She was. And uh, you know, that that that you could have that faith growing up and and just continue. I again you talked about we all face temptations in life, and we all probably do things we shouldn't have done, but we still maintain that faith. Yes. You raise your family, you got a loving wife, you do all these things in life. You give back as a chaplain, as a firefighter. Um, you are a servant leader. And and that's what I uh that's what I strive to be is a servant leader, because it's easy to not be that. It's hard to be a servant leader. It's hard to give up your time beyond work and your family to go out and to take that call at one in the morning when there's an accident that you have to go and tend to, and then come back, maybe sleep for an hour and get up and go to work the next day. You know, that's that is a um that's a remarkable thing that you've done throughout your life, and it's and it's amazing. And I think through all that, God blessed you. Oh, he has, he has tremendously, but he really blessed you in this last year, you know, by those those circumstances and uh to show you that, you know, hey, I'm not done with you yet here. Yeah, yeah. And uh it's a remarkable story, and uh, you know, I I'm I'm you know, again, I have goosebumps sitting here because uh, you know, I it's just it's just amazing to have you sitting here when I remember sitting on the front porch hearing what was going on. And it's like that person, yeah. Yeah, I don't know who that guy is, I don't know what's going on, and I I I um I felt the concern and and Matt's voice just hearing the conversation and uh and here you are. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:15

You know, it's it has got God has been so good to me. I mean, um I have uh uh the best wife. I mean, I I feel like the best wife in the world. She is to me, very loving, very compassionate. Uh I I was on a my bicycle, um going towards Yellow Springs on the bike path um at one time, and uh it was a very peaceful morning. And I I prayed a lot when I was on my bicycle and praying about my wife. And I remember how God spoke to me and told me so that she was my gift from him. And uh I shared with you about my daughter, which uh she's uh she's a lot like me in uh good ways and bad ways. And uh she's so special, she runs her own daycare and and our son, uh he's a tremendous blessing to the whole family. Uh he went to Lee University in Tennessee, uh, got a bachelor's and master's degree both. Uh he's a pastor, churches. Uh he is a minister, and uh he just uh God's really anointed and blessed his life with uh such a great knowledge of uh of God's word. I mean just uh really blessed me. God has just been so so, so good to me. More than what better than what I deserve. And once again, that all goes back to his grace. It's all his grace.

SPEAKER_07 1:09:36

That's amazing. Anything else you got to add?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:39

No, I just can't thank you enough to share your testimony. And I appreciate the opportunity. I love the fact that you say it's a testimony, not your story, you know. Because that's how that's how I always view it as yeah, we're just a testimony of God, and that's the way we should live it. And exactly. You know, you talk about servant leader, and who are you following in that, you know, Jesus, the ultimate service leader. And the more that I feel like we serve your community and everything, it opens up opportunities for for more people to know the gospel, over more people to know about Jesus through the way we live and act. So thank you for coming on here.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:10

Oh, it was my pleasure, and I appreciate you guys allowing me this opportunity. I just hope and pray that people hear it uh are blessed as as much as I have been with it through this. Um and uh just want them to know that uh God loves us all. He loves us all the same. Uh he died for us and he will uh bless our lives and just minister to us and keep us in his grace.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:36

Yeah, it's amazing. Uh thank you again and and um for sharing this. And I'm I'm excited to see what comes for you because it's always it's it's always a uh an amazing thing for us to interview people and then for the episode to air and uh and just to get that feedback because it's it's not only amazing how many people it helps, because we're just we're just hope that that one person that needs to hear it can hear it. But it's amazing the the benefit that you will receive, yeah, you know, from uh people reaching out. And it's it's just a it's an awesome experience for for Ben and I and Sean and Kevin just to be able to have this platform to share amazing stories like yours. So thank you again. You are thank you. All right, everybody. Be sure to like and share and to do all those things. We appreciate all the love and support and go out and be tempered.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:27

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SPEAKER_00 1:11:53

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Purpose, Testimony, And Renewed Dedication

SPEAKER_05 1:11:56

I want to share something that's become a big part of the Be Tempered mission: Patreon. Now, if you've never used it before, Patreon is a platform where we can build community together. It's not just about supporting the podcast, it's about having a space where we can connect on a deeper level, encourage one another, and walk this journey of faith, resilience, and perseverance side by side. Here's how it works. You can join as a free member and get access to daily posts, behind-the-scenes updates, encouragement, and some things I don't always put out on other platforms. And if you feel called to support the mission financially, there are different levels where you can do that too. That support helps us keep producing the podcasts, creating gear, hosting events, and sharing stories that we believe can truly impact lives. And here's the cool part Patreon has a free app you can download right on your phone. It works just like Facebook or Instagram, but it's built specifically for our community. You'll be able to scroll through posts, watch videos, listen to content, and interact with others who are on the same journey. At the end of the day, this isn't just about content, it's about connection. It's about building something together. Not just me and Ben putting out episodes, but a family of people committed to growing stronger through real stories and real faith. So whether you just want to hop on as a free member or you feel called to support in a bigger way, Patreon is the door into that community. Because at the heart of Be Tempered has always been simple real stories, raw truth, resilient faith. So that even one person out there that hears what they need to hear, and Patreon helps make that possible.