A Badge Can’t Heal a Father Wound (Officer EZ Zimmerman)

Officer Ezekiel “EZ” Zimmerman grew up without a father, was adopted at nine, and later discovered a calling to ministry—while wearing a badge. In this raw and hope-filled conversation, EZ shares how God turned anger and identity wounds into a life of service as a deputy sheriff and school resource officer.

You’ll hear the adoption story behind his name change, why the word “chosen” reframed his identity, and a jaw-dropping account of an arrest that became a redemption story. EZ also issues a heartfelt challenge to law enforcement across America—inviting officers to find healing, purpose, and community in Christ.

What we cover:

• Father wounds, anger, and early faith through his grandparents
• The courtroom moment that changed his name and future
• Ministry “behind the badge” and how faith changes policing
• A real story of addiction to freedom (and how a single question sparked it)
• A challenge and invitation to every officer listening
• Life verse: Jeremiah 29:11–13 and the promises inside it
• Resource: Wild at Heart by John Eldredge (men’s discipleship)

Connect with Officer EZ:
• Facebook: search “Ezekiel Zimmerman” (ambassador page)
• Email: ezimmerman80@gmail.com

• Agency: Howard County Sheriff’s Office, Kokomo, IN
• National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (Indiana Ambassador)

🙌 Subscribe and join a community of men who are breaking cycles, healing from the past, and building strong families through faith.

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Connect with the Show:
• Share this episode with an officer or someone battling addiction
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Hashtags: #Adoption #Faith #LawEnforcement #Testimony #IdentityInChrist

Chapter Markers (Buzzsprout Timestamps)

00:00 Intro
 00:18 Early years & father wounds
 02:10 Realizing what’s missing
 04:45 Big brother’s influence
 07:00 Brother leaves for the Army
 09:00 Anger, loss & coping
 12:00 Faith through grandma’s church
 14:00 Meeting John (the future “Dad”)
 16:00 Adoption & name change to Zimmerman
 18:00 What it means to be “chosen”
 21:00 Advice for would-be adoptive parents
 23:00 Identity in Christ, heritage & DNA
 27:00 Calling to law enforcement + ministry
 33:00 Can a cop be a minister?
 36:00 The warrant, the planned attack… and a miracle
 42:00 Addiction to freedom: chapel, banquet, job, church
 46:00 A charge to officers in America
 49:00 How to seek God & find a church
 52:00 Life verse: Jeremiah 29:11–13
 56:00 Where to find Officer EZ & final challenge

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:49

If you can give a man clarity in community, you can start to live out with generational curses of alcoholism.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Welcome to Dudes Without Dads, the show that trains men how to become the dad they never had.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

When I was born, I was born as Ezekiel Navarro III. I was named after my biological father, who was named after his dad. As you can probably tell with the last name Navarro, that's a very Hispanic background. And I know for a fact that my dad was born and raised at Mexico City. And how he found his way to Coca Mundiana, I'll never really know. But things I know about him are very minimal. I know he spent time in federal prison. I know that he met my mom, but at the age of six months old, he left my mom and I. And to this day, if he would walk into the room I'm sitting in right now, I wouldn't know who he is.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

When you think back. How old would you say that you were when he left?

SPEAKER_00 2:07

I know I was six months old. There's a photo that I can't really find that it was me at six months old and he was holding me. So that's the only picture and the last picture I have of me and my biological father.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

When you look back at the beginning years, what did it feel like? What are your emotions on growing up without a father?

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Obviously, that young, there's not a lot of memories that young. My earliest memories that I have is of my grandfather, my mom's dad, taking us fishing. I had an older brother, he's 13 and a half years older than I am. And I didn't know that that wasn't normal. It wasn't until later on when my brother joined the army and went away that I started to realize that other kids my age had a dad and I didn't. She did. There was some times, and she just would kind of make off-the-cuff comments about him and his time in prison. And I think it was over drug-related cases. Well, in fact, I know it is, but that's really the only thing I can remember. It kind of felt weird, but I didn't really have any real knowledge of how to receive that because I did have an older brother for a short time that lived with us, and he did take over that role of being that male role model for me. And he's the reason, you know, today that I'm the fan of Notre Dame that I am, that he lived in Tennessee for a time. It's the reason why I'm a fan of Tennessee Titans. I really kind of followed in his footsteps, even to the point when I joined the Army Reserves while I was a junior in high school. He doesn't like to think he does, but he did a good job of laying some great male role model foundation for me. And that's kind of what I remember early on in my life.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

How would you have defined or described your relationship with your mom when you were young?

SPEAKER_00 4:06

It was a lot better than when I was older. It was great. I mean, she was a hardworking lady. I remember her working two jobs while she was trying to go through college, which she ultimately didn't complete because I was her priority. And that was taking a lot of time away from me. She worked two jobs. I remember her working at a local village pantry here, all while she was going to Ivy Tech. I know she was a CNA. I don't know if she was actually going for anything other like nursing, but I know it was in the medical field.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

How old were you when your brother ended up leaving for the military?

SPEAKER_00 4:49

I believe I was about six, maybe seven-ish. It was still kind of early. I remember him going away. He went to Fort Leonardwood, Missouri for basic training. I remember going with my mom and John to watch him graduate from basic training. I remembered when he got married here locally. He asked me to be his ring bearer. And it was early on, but I do remember those small things the day he left, the tears that were shed because I didn't know anything other than what we as boys did is play army, and that, you know, you used your fake guns in the backyard to shoot your enemy dead. So it was kind of that thought process of that I'd never see him again. But you know, he ultimately got me to understand that that wasn't always the case and that he wasn't going to go to war right away. It's but that it was a possibility.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Yeah. So your father your father left when you were super young, and then your brother ends up leaving when you're around seven, eight years old. What? You know, and I I'm assuming that's like losing your best friend, you know, when you're you're young and your older older brother that you play us your play buddy and also almost like a father figure. When he left, what what all changed for you or the dynamics?

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Oh man, sometimes I felt like I didn't have that person to look up to. I lost my pro wrestling buddy. We watched a lot of pro wrestling together on Saturday mornings. And you're right, I felt like I had lost my best friend. Knowing what I know today, I know that I'm probably acted out on that. And with the such an age gap and him leaving early, it it kind of let me made me feel as if I was the only child. And I know a lot of people kind of think the only child in the family is you're the only child that you're spoiled and you're just you know can be a brat at at some times. And sometimes I didn't know how to share my toys or anything, but I I had a mom that was strict and putting those good things in my life, like learning how to share, learning about God, learning about you know your emotions and how not to act out. So, but yeah, it was tough. It really was. I'd be lying to say it wasn't.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

When you look back at that moment, can you recognize any pain, any addictions on how you know, anything that you tried to hide or cover up, or what kind of fruit did it produce? Can you recall any?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

No addictions at that age, but I mean, yeah, I was kind of angry, angry at the army, real quick.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Do you have a story of growing up without a dad, or you had a destructive or distracted father? If you think it'd be of value to share your story on the dudes without dads podcast, I want you to pause, go to the link inside the bio, and apply to speak on the dudes without dads podcast. Now back to the show.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

But uh my mom did have, and this is kind of also a a great story at some point, but my mom had a really close friend who had a grandson that I grew up with. And so, you know, I found a lot of times, you know, them getting together and letting us play in the backyard, you know, putting towels around our our neck and acting as if we're, you know, Batman and Superman. And that kind of filled that that void pretty well. But other than that, I mean, just anger sometimes misplaced, obviously. And at that age, you don't know anything else. But my mom, you know, she was really good at comforting me and just telling me that everything would be all right. And she uh let me feel my emotions too. She didn't try to correct me, and I think that kind of helps me with my emotions today.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Did you ever have any emotions or any thoughts that this is God's fault, you know, or was there any anger towards God?

SPEAKER_00 9:13

I can't say that I had those those type of emotions. My mom, so my mom was she ended up becoming Catholic, and her mom, my grandma, who was really truly a best friend of mine, she was Christian. As we were young, my mom gave my brother and I both the option do we want to be raised in the Catholic church or if we wanted to be Christian. My brother chose the Catholic route, and I found myself over at my grandma and grandpa's house quite often. So I went to church with them on Sundays, and I just chose the Christian route. And I I don't ever really recall that I felt angry towards God, but I had a lot of great input from my grandma and my grandpa before my grandpa passed away, which really he passed away sooner than all of this took place. And but he did the memories I have of him are just phenomenal. And then my grandma's church, where I actually grew up and and received Christ and was baptized, they did a great job of. I think it they knew the situation I was in, and they just helped me just really learn about Jesus and what he meant. And I think with that foundation, I didn't find the anger in God and in that.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Was there a moment inside your life where a man came into your life?

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Absolutely, and it's amazing. So about the same time, eight or nine years old, um, my mom met a guy named John. She met him while she was working at the village pantry. They hit it off and they kind of started dating. It was a whirlwind relationship, which is funny because that's really kind of the relationship my wife and I had. But it was shortly after they started dating that they married. John had another stepson, Jeff, but he wasn't around a lot. Jeff wasn't around, and he's not biologically John's son either. John couldn't have children because he was in a very horrible automobile accident when he was in high school. But when they got married, he took me in as his own. He loved the fact that I was involved in baseball, football. Eventually, as I grew older, I got into wrestling, and he loved that. I mean, he had the son that he always wanted, and his son was active, and that led to the age of nine, April of would have been 88. So I would have actually been, well, no, it would have been April of 89. I was nine years old. We'll backtrack just a little bit. In late 88, I remember the conversation that came up of John adopting me. And it should be known that before this all took place, I had been calling John dad for a long, long time. He's what I knew as a father. And he did all the things that the stereotypical American dad did. We would be out in the yard, you know, playing catch, found my wrestling buddy, and come to find out he really didn't like wrestling all that well, you know, pro-wrestling. But anyway, so the conversation came up with him adopting me. And my mom and him asked if that would be okay. And that the fact that that would change me being Ezekiel Navarro III to Ezekiel Zimmerman. And I was like, Yeah, that sounds amazing. Another part of the story is as that conversation took place, obviously we included my brother in that conversation. And my brother said, That's great. However, I would like to add that he takes my last name because my brother and I have the same mom, different dads, but he asked that I take his last name so that way, even though there is blood there, there was also that middle name. So April rolls around, you know, through all the stuff that you have to do when it comes to adoption, you know, putting in the paper in case somebody wants to object to it. And of course, his family couldn't object to it. They were stateside, but they weren't around and um they wouldn't have objected to it anyway. But that led to April when I went before the judge, it was a very cool situation. You know, it was very, even though I was in a courtroom, you know, judge talked to me like a like I was a nine-year-old and basically asked if this is what I wanted. I said yes. Next thing you know, April of 89, I was born again for a second time as Ezekiel Schrader Zimmerman.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

When you think of that name change and it being connected to the powerful picture of adoption, what did that teach you about love? And then do you remember a time where you ended up calling your new dad dad for the first time? And what was that like?

SPEAKER_00 14:20

And what I do now, I run into a lot of kids that are adopted, and a lot of kids are angry because they don't know what they don't know. I get the opportunity to share my story a little bit, and I get to tell them that that is really the ultimate sign of love outside of Christ dying for our sins. That is either a dad or a woman that has adopted uh an unwanted child or somebody out of the foster system. Or so, in my case, you know, mom marrying another guy and he asked to adopt that kid. That's the ultimate sign of love. Outside of him laying his life down for me, the only thing that he could give me was his last name. And it's just a remarkable, powerful thing.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

I'm gonna interrupt the podcast. Hope it is adding value to you. I'm Josh Cobrown, founder of Dudes With Dad. I'm a dude who grew up without a father. And he actually often paid for my board to not be my life. His birth out of my desire to be the dad I never had, and then encouraged other man to become the dad that never had, and it individuals to believe in this ministry that believes that other man to become the dad that never had is a worthwhile person. And I've got to give my QR code on the screen, we can go inside the show notes and just click on support of the dudes without dad. I'm gonna send you our season one dudes without dad shirt. Just let us know what size you wear, and I'll mail it to you. But that's all I've got, and uh again appreciate you taking time to listen to this podcast and now back to the show.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Like I said, even before I called or before John adopted me, I called him dad. But I do remember the first time after I was adopted calling him dad as a Zimmerman. And he has three brothers and a sister, and you know, they accepted my mom and I with open arms. His one brother just passed away earlier this year, and uh Don was Uncle Don was a he was a character. I called him mean Uncle Don because he loved to play pranks that some would think would be mean, but they were fun. He gave me my love for card tricks because they were those foolers and and it was just it was something special. But yeah, I remember that moment in that courtroom calling him dad as Ezekiel Zimmerman, and it's just it was kind of life-changing, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

If somebody's chewing on right now, just listening to your story, and they're thinking about adopting somebody else's child, what advice do you have for them?

SPEAKER_00 17:14

You gotta have that conversation, especially if you're married to their mother, have that conversation with them and express your love and desire to have them as your own. Uh, and that was something that was said to me. Now, it was also said that hey, we know that you may not know that John can't have a kid of his own, and you know, we've been in our lives now for forever till death do his part, right? And so this is what he wants. But I would say that you could not give a kid that doesn't have a dad anything more than a dad at that point, and you will make an impact in their life. Don't be scared to be a stickler on manners, on behaviors. Be that dad that they need. It's life-changing and it can do wonders for their morale, for their faith, uh, for their education, for their adult life. It it goes beyond words and how much it will impact their life.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

How did the change of your last name, if any, did it change your identity?

SPEAKER_00 18:32

I feel like I was always Ezekiel Zimmerman. The only thing is because it's uh unique that I'm half Hispanic and half Caucasian, my mom wanted me to know my heritage. I do recall having conversations with my biological father's sister down in Laredo, Texas. They were mad at him for what he did. There was always thought that my biological father was Aztec Indian. As I grew older and in my adult life, I did the DNA testing, and that's 100% actual. I mean, it's you know, Aztec Indian heritage and Hispanic, and that doesn't change it. I don't I don't use it for like that that crutch to get me a promotion or get me a job, but it's that's who I am. That's who God created me, and that's exactly what I think took place. I think I well, I know God created me for a purpose, and that's the heritage and the bloodline he gave me, but my identity really never changed. Other it the only thing that I think changed was I was like, okay, now I know for certain I have a I have a dad.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

The word that comes to mind is the word chosen. You know, there's so many that are walking around that haven't been adopted. And there's this emotion of nobody loves me. What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_00 20:04

You're chosen, plain and simple. If you're walking around and you're hearing this and you don't have Christ in your life, you don't know who Christ is, and you don't have God or don't know, just know you are chosen. You were chosen first and foremost by God Himself. If you don't know about Him, learn. Otherwise, you're gonna fill a God-sized hole with earthly things that will fill that hole temporarily, whether it be drugs, alcohol, sex addiction, porn, it will fill it temporarily, and it will fill it for the moment, and it may last a day or two, but eventually it goes away. And then that God-sized hole remains. The only thing that will fill it is God Himself, and He has chosen you, He has chosen to give you life. In fact, the Bible says, I knew you as you were formed in the womb. He knows every hair on your head, he chose you for a purpose, uh, whether it is to find the cure for cancer, whether it is to be uh a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, uh law enforcement, uh, a military, he chose you for a reason and he breathed his life into you the moment you were conceived. You are loved, whether you feel it or not, you are loved and you are wanted in this world. You're needed in this world.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

So powerful. And when I was a child, Psalms sixty-eight five was something that meant a lot to me.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

And our listeners you'll have to refresh my memory.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Yeah, and if you're listening to the pot or you're processing what does God's feelings and emotions say, you know, about you, is Psalm sixty eight five says that he's a father to the father. Fatherless. And for dudes who never had a dad, it's like, Man, I need a father. And when you don't have someone that stepped up to resemble the father's love that chooses you and adopts you and loves you and mentors and just validates who you are, it creates these father wound experiences. What do you do now? And what type of individuals do you work with?

SPEAKER_00 22:29

I am very blessed to be a law enforcement officer in my community. Specifically, I am a deputy sheriff and I deal with everything. I deal with addiction, I deal with suicides, domestics, I deal with all walks of life. We just had a battery factory built here, and it brought an influx of people from Korea to help get that started. And so it's a constant learning process for me in a melting pot. And I mean, we're talking dealing with Christians, Catholics, agnostics, Seventh-day Adventists, unfortunately, some Satanists, people that just haven't really heard the name Jesus before. But also with that, I'm also very blessed to be a part-time school resource officer. And you talk about just a rewarding job. I typically work in the elementary school at the school district I work for, the grades kindergarten through second grade. My daughter goes to the school, and it's just a rewarding job to hear, hey, officer easy. And I don't know, we're just getting blindsided by hugs and even outside of school, seeing those kids and then remembering seeing me in the hallways or me interacting with them. And again, all walks of life in the school, too.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

When you look through your career as an officer, there's stories of those who didn't turn out right. They ended up going directions that you would have advised them other ways. You love them, you try to encourage them. Can you think of one or two individuals that you loved, you tried to speak life into, or stories that you know of, and it ended up they didn't listen, or they ended up turning out in a way that's not the story we want anyone to go? Sure.

SPEAKER_00 24:28

Let me share that I didn't always want to be a law enforcement officer. When I got bit by the bug, I was actually touring Christian colleges with my pastor because I felt like I had a call in my life to go into the ministry. I remember in high school I did a ride-along and man, I was hit. I was like, man, this is what I want to do, but I was torn because I knew God wanted me to be in ministry. I'll shorten it. I remember the day that I was I was in my car and my radio had stopped playing. And I was just really at struggle with the fact that, man, I I want to be a police officer, but I know I got to go into ministry. And so that my radio started going to static, and I decided, well, this is a great time to pray. And I know we should always, you know, the Bible says we should always be in prayer, but this is where I really prayed. And it was at that moment that I heard that still small voice that said to me, like, I do want you to be in ministry. Some people may say you don't have a conversation with God, but this was a conversation. And I said, What do you mean by this? How can I be a minister? And how do you want me to be a minister when I have this struggle on my heart to be a cop? And he, I remember him saying, easy, not all ministers are behind a pulpit. Not all ministers work in a church. I want you to be a minister in the place in the trenches where it's needed the most. And I'm like, oh, oh, okay. And he said, if you're a believer and you accepted Christ, we're all ministers. The people we see on Sundays or we see and on Wednesdays, those are our pastors. That's who feeds me and keeps me going through the week. But we are all ministers. And to that, I said, This is brilliant. This is awesome. I get to be a cop. And that goes to the fact that, you know, when you're faithful to God, he gives you the desires of your heart. And it took a while to get to where I am today, but it eventually did. Now, to answer your question, early on in my career, I met this at a local on our local YMCA every Wednesday.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

For someone who says you can't be a cop and a minister at the same time, what would you say to them?

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Oh, that's a bold-faced lie. Um it used to be in my profession years and years ago, you could be a Christian, but you never really claimed it because it was a sign of weakness. You may see your fellow brothers and sisters of the badge at church, but when that badge went on your chest, you didn't talk about it. It was a sign of weakness. And I will tell you right now, the place in this community I am now, it is more of a badge of honor that a bunch of us claim to be Christians and police officers. And it absolutely changes how you interact and how you talk with people. I cannot begin to describe the ways that that opens up to be able to have that conversation. And I do have to be careful because some people don't want me to jump right into that faith talk. But I'm telling you, those doors and those windows get opened really quickly. And I always ask because I don't want to push it off on them because we are in a society that is very Sue happy, and I don't want to put my family in that mess. But I asked them, I said, I can give you an answer. But you may not like it, and you may not want to hear about it, and that's fine. All you got to do is tell me to keep quiet. I don't want to hear about it. But I can give you the answer. And it's not because I know the answer, it's but because I know who does have the answer. And but yeah, it's it's a it's a crock of you know what to say that to the point that my sergeant on my shift is a pastor, not just a minister, but he's also a pastor. And my sheriff is a very Christian man who serves in our local grand banquet community, and that just feeds me so much to know that I work for and with men of faith.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

Can you give me examples of how you use your platform as ministry?

SPEAKER_00 28:59

Yeah, absolutely. I have I want to tell this story because it's so impactful. Um, our department really don't have a lot of calls for service, and because of that, you know, we have things to do, and in that is warrant service. And so I remember one specific day that I found a warrant that I said, hey, this needs to be served, and I I rallied the troops. And that was a female, and I can tell this story because she has told me I could. We have a great relationship. She goes to my church, she knows my wife really well. But anyway, I go to serve this warrant. I knock on the door, say, Hey, I'd like to speak to so-and-so, and they let me in. And I go in, and you can tell that this lady is in the midst of an addiction. She's currently high, and I just have this conversation, very cordial, very uh soft conversation. Hey, you have a warrant and we need to take care of this. Her kids were present, and something I don't like to do as a cop is to arrest a parent in front of their kids. And I told her, I say, Hey, as long as you cooperate with me, well, I'll let you say goodbye to your kids, or you know, give them hugs and kisses, and we'll step outside and we'll handle our business. What I don't know is at this point in time, and I just learned it maybe a year ago, is the whole time I'm there, she is she is trying to figure out how she can attack me. She wanted to fight. And her last name in this community is very synonymous. Her brothers are known to be fighters and resistors of law enforcement. So I don't know any of this going on. And needless to say, it that never takes place. And to her credit, I talked to her when she tells me this. She says, like, I watched you walk up and I knew. I told all my family the whole entire time, the cop that comes to serve this warrant, I knew I had a warrant. The cop that comes to serve it, I'm fighting him. She goes, I saw you walk up and I knew today was the day. I said, Okay. Now, mind you, at the time I'm serving this warrant, I don't know any of this. But I asked her when when she told me this and she shared this with me, I said, What kept you from doing that? And she goes, I had made the decision. You were looking at my kids, you're looking at my mom. The next time you looked away from me, I was just gonna land blast you. And she goes, and you did. And she goes, it was at that moment like the dope wore off of me. And had this thought, or this thought was laid on me that this isn't the guy, this isn't what I should be doing. And here you are talking to my kids, you're being kind, polite to them, you're not telling them what's going on. And I I just complied. And I said, Okay, well, I thank you. I don't want to fight a female, but I've also got a family I've got to go home to. We go outside and we do our do our thing. I had a female officer search her, placed her in cuffs where kids can't see her, told her kids, hey, mom's gotta go with me, she'll beat back, which is not a lie because I don't like to lie, but I I also don't want to kind of put that bad taste in her mouth. Anyway, we get in my car and I always have K-Love, or now I have Shine Fm on in my car. And on our way to jail, she's singing every lyric to what's on K-Love. And it's like, hey, I just happen to know these lyrics. And I just asked her, I said, ma'am, I I I'm not trying to be judgmental. I'm just curious as to if you know these songs, know these lyrics, why are you in the position that you're in today? And she goes, Oh, uh, oh, my sister-in-law, she's she's a devout Christian, and anytime I go visit her, she's she's got these on. I just happen to know these lyrics. And I said, Okay. And it was a short trip, so I didn't get a chance to go much into it. Fast forward, she tells me while she's in jail, she's talking to that very sister-in-law and saying, Hey, I'm going through faith, faith counseling, I'm going to chapel, I'm just really trying to do what's right. And she, the sister-in-law says, Let me ask you a question. If you know this is the right thing to do, why are you in the position you're in? And she, for her to tell the story, she goes, I got angry. I was so mad at her. And she asked me, Why are you so angry at me? Well, the cop asked me the exact same thing. And she goes, her sister-in-law says, Maybe that's a sign. This lady gets out of jail. She goes through the great banquet here. It's a 72-hour retreat. They have men's and women's where you just hear people's testimony on what God's done in their life. She gives her life 100% to Christ. She goes, I'm done with addiction. I'm I'm getting rid of the meth. I'm getting rid of everything. I've got to get my kids back. And this is where it's at. She comes out of that weekend, and then the last Tuesday of every month, we have what's called the gathering of that great banquet community. And she was walking out. And she says, She was in tears. She needed a job. And she's just praying. And out of nowhere, this lady comes over to her and says, Hey, God just put you on my heart that I need to come talk to you. And what can I do for you? And she goes, Well, unless you have a job, that's really what I need. And this lady goes, I do, and you're hired. And she goes, What? She goes, When can you start? And she goes, I mean, I could start tomorrow, but I really need to get some affairs in order. And the lady says, Fine. Next Monday, my office, be there. And to this day, she still has gainful employment there. She has worked her way up to supervision. And then we actually reconnect on a different, different call. And as you, as you know, you know, an officer standing there taking notes. And I keep kind of looking at her like I know who this is. And so a moment comes where you know it's just her and I in the room, and she goes, Hey, officer easy, you know who I am. And I said, Oh, really? And she gives me her name, and my jaw hits the floor. And I said, You've got to be kidding me. She goes, No. And I said, Okay, for what? She goes, for asking me the question that you asked me in the car. And I mean, I ask a lot of people in my car a ton of questions. Fast forward, I lose contact, and one day I'm walking through church with my wife, and I hear, easy, and I get blindsided by a hug. And it's this lady. I'm so overjoyed, and I'm hugging her back and kind of forget temporarily, like my wife's there, and so I catch her out of the glimpse of my eye, and she's kind of like, What's this weird woman that's about our age hugging my husband? And then it dawns on me. And I introduced them and I tell Brooke, you know, that I arrested this lady, and she begins to tell Brooke, like, hey, who is Brooke's my wife? She goes, I just want to say thank you for your husband. Thank you for what you've done. Because if it wasn't for him, I don't think I would be where I am today. And he started that planting that seed, as I always call it, planting that seed that eventually got watered of God. I don't ever take credit to God be the glory, but this is where I put it. But I do know that God used me in that. And simply tell her, like, hey, I was just a small cog in the machine that God built for that moment. To this day, her kids come up to me at church, give me hugs. They know a hundred percent. She said I had to be honest with them about what took place. They know what you did. They love me. They call me, they don't call me officer easy, they call me by, you know, easy. I see her. I've we've gone to our they had a faith-based or faith family fun night at a local semi-pro baseball game. My wife and I and my daughter went, and I unbeknownst to us, this lady went and she ended up sitting right behind us, and she feels broken on the bigger story. And that's where I learned that she was going to attack me that night. So, with that being said, tell me God's not real. God can work a miracle in somebody in the midst of an addiction's life, but then use somebody like me. And I'm thankful, I'm humbled, I'm honored to really have a ministry that has that. And I will tell you, Joshua, right now, if my career would come to an end tomorrow, because this lady has said, you know, in a moment of darkness, you were just this speck of light that just started to grow. I would tell you I had had a successful career.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

So powerful, so powerful. Officer easy. I want you to imagine that you are speaking to every single officer in America, and you are going to commission them with a challenge. What would you want to speak inside their lives?

SPEAKER_00 38:45

I know that a vast majority of you have not accepted Christ into your life, and with that it becomes a lot of different things, addictions to nicotine, alcohol, sex. And all it does is it sollies who you are as a law enforcement officer. Many years ago, I had somebody tell me that you need to remember two names that you wear on your uniform the one that's on your pin that says your name, and the one that's on your patch that says who you work for. And with that, you have to present both of them with the utmost dignity. Because if you don't, you solely both of them. So I would tell you this I would strongly encourage you to seek out a relationship with Jesus and with our Father. Because here's the thing He wants a relationship with you. Just like I chose my wife, I wouldn't, and she chose me. I would not, if I had the power to make her love me, that's not real love. That's not anything but I just made somebody love me. I wanted her to choose me, and she did. And God wants that. You're gonna need it. We see things that most human beings aren't ever made to see. We are cut from a bit of a different cloth, but we're no better than the people we serve. We're no better than the sinner that Christ met at the well. We are all the same. But with Christ and with God in your life, you can overcome those images that haunt us to this day. You have an outlet in prayer, an outlet in His Word, an outlet in your church family, and you will be surprised who you will find in your church that you can talk to that can understand what we are going through. My pastors are the same way, they deal with so much, so many of the same people get called to the scenes because they are a pastor of somebody who selfishly took their own life, and they see that too. But they can help you and guide you through studying his word and just being that ear to listen to. If there are any officers out there right now that happen to hear this, and you seek and you want to seek a relationship with Jesus Christ and His Father, you can reach out to me. I'm not hard to find. If you Google search Ezekiel Zimmerman, you're gonna come across a Facebook page that is my ambassador page. I'm an ambassador for the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial to the state of Indiana. And I created that page just so other officers can reach out to me because, as ambassadors, we do have access to mental health things for us. But reach out to me on that page, and I would be so humbled and honored to talk to you about my faith, give you my story, walk you through what it's like, help you to find a church in your area. And if through that God uses me to lead you to Him, I would be honored to have that prayer with you and help you accept Christ into your life. I am here for anybody in this profession. I've solid it myself and I'm not proud of it, but that's part of my testimony. I'm here for anybody in this profession that needs an ear to listen. I'm also here for anybody that wants to seek out a relationship with Christ Himself. I challenge you and I charge you, just give a couple weeks to a church in your community, and you may have to bounce around to find one that maybe fits you, but find that church. Seek him out, open the Bible, find somebody that gives you verses because I'm gonna tell you right now, you're gonna read a verse and you're gonna have to look into some contextual stuff, but you read that verse now, versus five years from now, and you'll garner something different because you're in a different season in your life. And that's what I love about this word. That's why I believe my personal belief, why that's called the living word, is because it means something now, but it also is going to mean something different five years from now.

SPEAKER_01 43:53

That was so good.

SPEAKER_00 43:55

I want to share with you what I have adopted as my life verse, and a lot of people. Use this verse, but there's so many things uh in it that I I love about it, and the promises that are given to us there, and it's Jeremiah 29, 11 through 13. And I'm gonna read it because I don't want to do it disjustice. And and it and in that it says, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and I will listen to you, and you will seek me and you will find me, when you search for me with all your heart. All these promises in this that he's given to us, a promise of peace and a future of hope. And the only thing that he's asked us to do in this and all this stuff that he's gonna give us is just to seek him with your whole heart. I'm telling you, that has resonated with me so much that I've accepted that as my life versus.

SPEAKER_01 45:08

You're literally leaving me speechless into what to say. I do my wife. I want to call you prophet Ezekiel because you just spoke into the heart and the lives of so many of our listeners. And I do want to close on on this. Where can they find you again? Let them know that spot. If they're interested in learning more, visiting, maybe you know, tapping into your head a little bit, where can they go?

SPEAKER_00 45:36

Yeah, Google search Ezekiel, just the biblical spelling Ezekiel Zimmerman. It's probably gonna link you to two different pages. It should link you to a Facebook page that says Ezekiel Zimmerman. I'm wearing a similar black shirt like this, a polo shirt, as my profile picture. And then it'll also link you to the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial page. It'll probably also link you to the Howard County Sheriff's Office to which I'm employed, Howard County Sheriff's Office here in Kokomo, Indiana. If you can't find me and reach me that way, I will personally tell you, I'm gonna give you my voicemail. I'm gonna give you my email, my personal email address that anybody can reach me on. And I'd be happy to have a conversation with you. I'll pray over the situation and hopefully eventually elite us, you know, connecting on the phone, whatever the case may be. That way, or you can contact e Zimmerman80 at gmail.com. Just put in there that you heard me on this podcast. Joshua was God ordained. I remember being in the YMCA where I met you, and I will have that conversation with you. I will help you in any way, shape, or form. I will tell you, I can if we're long distance, you I will help you as best I can, but it's always good to get connected into a community of like-minded believers where you are. That's where you're gonna get your bread and butter, that's where you're gonna get fed the most. But I will do my best to talk to you and have that conversation with you, you know, via email or whatever the case may be.

SPEAKER_01 47:10

That's so good. And I want to challenge anybody that's listening, share this with an officer you know, share it with someone that's an addict that you know, and let's change the image of what it looks like to be a pastor or a prophet or an evangelist, and let's turn ministry into the marketplace. And I want to thank you, Officer Zimmerman, for giving your time.

SPEAKER_00 47:31

One last thing. We're talking about dudes without dads, and it just so happens I'm currently working on a Bible study called Wild at Heart by Eldridge, right? I'm hoping to be leading that in church in the next few weeks. Men, whether you don't have a dad, you are a dad, maybe you're even thinking about giving it all up and walking away from your child. Don't do it. Find this book. We are wild at heart. It explains so much that, like, man, light bulb, and this is the first time I did it, and it's been out for a while, I think since 2005. Explain so much about us as men, and it will help you. There's uh a woman's version too, and I don't know the name. Women, if there's any any lady out there that is listening, find this Bible study. If you are a believer, find this Bible study, it will do wonders for your heart. I'm not a paid spokesman, but I hope you can hear earnestly the passion I have to speak about about my God, about our God, about my Jesus. This will help you.

SPEAKER_01 48:45

You're an evangelist and a prophet, and I appreciate you being a guest on the Dudes Without Dads podcast. If there's anybody wanting to find out more information, more help, make sure you check out the show notes, make sure you visit our website. And our goal ultimately is to help each one of us become the dudes, the dads we never had. Officer Zimmerman, thank you so much for being on the show, and I hope you have a great day.

SPEAKER_00 49:11

Same to you, Joshua. Thank you for having me. Love you, my friend. Love you.

SPEAKER_02 49:17

For giving us air for the first time in my life. It's just easy.