The Narrow Road Podcast
The Narrow Road Podcast explores what ministry really looks like—inside the church and out. Hosted by two leaders at different seasons of life, we dive into biblical topics, share real ministry stories, and feature guest speakers, offering insight, encouragement, and honest conversations about following God’s call.
The Narrow Road Podcast
A Real-Life Conversation w/ Special Guest Justin Downs
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This week, we had the privilege of hosting a good friend of ours: Mr. Justin Downes! Tune in this week to hear about Justin’s story, how he came to know Christ, how Jesus is working in his life now, and his passion for education!
Is it recording? Yeah. It's recording. Test, test. Hey everybody! It's Blake. And Sam. And Justin. Justin Downs. My best friend. Hello. I hope Justin would say that I'm his best friend. Justin? Indeed. Okay, good. Alright, sweet. That was gonna be awkward. If he said no, the episode was gonna be over immediately. Anyway, this is our first summer episode of the Narrow Road Podcast. We have been off for, I don't know, about a month, Sam? When was our last episode? Yeah, we've had like a month off. I'm excited to get to be back. After a little bit of time off, we've been a little bit more on social media trying to be engaged with you all through some uh just more Instagram engagement. Um, but our summer plan, as we've been telling you all, is to have some guests on the podcast. So our first guest ever on the podcast is Mr. Justin Downs. Justin is a co-worker of mine. Uh Justin is a father. Justin is a husband. Justin is about a year younger than me. Is that right, Justin?
SPEAKER_01Thereabouts, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Justin has a beard. Uh, it's a pretty impressive beard. Um, if you want to look him up, I don't know, you can probably Google him. Justin Downs, you can find a picture of him. Probably like an academic picture.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, perhaps you could uh tag. I think you already did actually on the Instagram page. You tag the my Instagram, which is downs.education. So there you have it.
SPEAKER_02There you go, downs.education. If you want to find Justin Downs, give him a follow. What kind of things do you put on your Instagram, Justin?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um, so for the most part, it's related to my academic and professional development journey. I talk about my experience as I'm coming up as a uh uh doctoral candidate in education leadership. I talk a little bit about or post a little bit about my work and my um experiences in higher education.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So Justin's a doctoral candidate. Smarter than me. And me. Definitely Sam. Just kidding. Especially Sam. Um yeah, so we're excited to have Justin on today, um, hanging out with us. I think this is gonna be a fun episode, something a little bit different than just hearing from me and Sam, because yeah, we've done that a lot. So I'm excited to mix it up a little bit today. So the plan is gonna be for us to just ask Justin some questions, and we'll just have some conversation in this episode. Um, and hopefully you all will get a lot out of this. Um, but before we do that, I want to ask Sam and Justin. What hearing something. I want to ask Sam and Justin what their summers have looked like so far.
SPEAKER_00Hmm. Great question, Blake. What does my summer look like so far? Hmm. Great question, Blake. I uh I I went to Panama City Beach with a few high school buddies a couple weeks ago. Um never been there before. And I'm sorry if I offend anybody that likes Panama City Beach, but it was the worst week of my life. Maybe not the worst week of my life. Um it was extremely crowded. So if you're thinking about going there, don't. Um other than that, I'm uh I'm just trucking along at at uh in Grace Students and um and Sunrise, Sunrise Surf. That's that's another ministry I'm involved with where we're just out on the lake having a good time, fellowshipping with each other, talking about Jesus, and uh I'm enjoying this beautiful weather.
SPEAKER_01So awesome.
SPEAKER_00That has been my summer. What about you, Justin?
SPEAKER_01Well, um, I'm sure Blake can attest to this as my co-worker, but the summers are a little bit slower. Um, they're a little bit for me, it's been more of a time to be more reflective and um contemplate my own performance at work, but also from a spiritual perspective and a personal perspective, to really take time and reflect on uh who I am and um who I aspire to be. That's been kind of the theme of the summer so far, as some of the uh days in the office is uh have been uh felt longer than they needed to be, but ultimately um ultimately I'm kind of taking this time to uh uh unravel a little bit some of the uh some of the stress from the spring and previous fall semesters and just kind of kind of kind of be more reflective in that in that respect. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's good. Yeah, summer is definitely a good time to um reflect a little bit. It kind of naturally slows down, like you said. So yeah, it makes sense to to try and do that. It's hard. I mean, it's hard for me to slow down, to take time to do that, but yeah, I think I think that's good that you're doing that, Justin. And you went on a trip recently too. Do you want to see that? That was technically the summer. Yeah. That was summer.
SPEAKER_01I went, um, I went, I've had the privilege of going overseas again. Last year I went to South Korea as part of a study abroad uh experience in my doctoral program, and this uh summer, call it summer break, um, I was privileged enough to go to a few countries in Europe with a few friends and just sightsee and explore and have some good experiences. Uh so I was privileged enough to travel abroad once again, which I've I do not take for granted. I think that's a wonderful, um, wonderful opportunity for anyone who's ever had the chance to travel internationally. I would say absolutely give it a go if if you have the means and the opportunity, the time to do so. Awesome. How many countries did you go to? Um I think it was about 12. 12 countries in a couple weeks. So it's pretty crazy. It was pretty hectic, um, pretty tiring, but we had a driver, so a designated driver. So it was nice. Wasn't so uh wasn't so troublesome in the end. I would I would fall asleep in the passenger seat a lot and uh would wake up and I'd be very grateful that um for all the jet lag and all the travel and time zone changes and border patrol that we experienced, that I was able to just unwind a little bit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Awesome. Um, my summer so far. What have I done this summer? The pool. Uh the kids love to go to the pool, so we've done a lot of that. Uh Millie teaches, so she has been out of school with the kids, so she's home with them, which has been nice. Um, them being home more, they're all able to slow down, so that's been good. Um, what else is happening this summer? That's pretty much it. Pretty boring. We're going to Gatlinburg in a few weeks. Not overseas. Not even close to overseas.
SPEAKER_01Still pretty fun, though. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Basically the Europe of the United States. Interesting comparison. Yeah. Okay. That I've heard it called that.
SPEAKER_03Who?
SPEAKER_02Who said that? Uh New York Times. Okay. Really? Yeah. They they talked about Gatlinberg. Yeah. Gatlinburg is the Europe of the Europe of the US. Yeah. With all the what I heard. In what ways? With all the like spray painted shirts and they have that rednecks. We're gonna have to fact-check you on that. Yeah, we'll be able to do that. Well, yeah, don't fact-check me if that's true. Anyway, we'll be going there early July, uh, close to 4th of July, actually, so it could be interesting. To see what happens in Gallenberg 4th of July. Pretty busy. Yeah, it probably will be. Um, so anyway, that'll that'll be fun. Um, but it's too, it's too quick. I've realized how long college summers are and how short everybody else's summer is. Um, it's pretty unfortunate. Yep. Anyway, let's jump into it. Justin, you ready? I'm ready. Ready for us to ask you some questions? Let's do it. Alright. We good? Mm-hmm. Okay. Cool. Alright, so Justin, let's start. You've told us a little bit about yourself, um, just kind of in the conversation so far, but tell us, you know, maybe take four or five minutes, just tell us some of your life story up to this point. Okay. Hit some of the high points. You know, if there were some things that we need to know about Justin Downs, that the listeners need to hear, lay it out for us.
SPEAKER_01You know, I will have to start with a low point or immediate low point because I feel like that's the only way you can really reach a high point is to introduce the low and how you climb your way out of those kind of uh that kind of cellar. Um, and I'm not gonna get too dramatic, but in a nutshell, um I did not have a good school experience. Uh, in middle school and high school, and even the beginning of college, um school and learning and disability were things that I struggled with, they were challenging, and I was not sociable, and I was in a bit of a rut. But ultimately, um persistence and resiliency led me to be in a blessed position now where, as you said, you know, I'm a doctoral candidate, I'm uh working full-time with a beautiful family. Um, things I never would have imagined as little as 10 or 15 years ago have come to fruition. Um, but ultimately, yeah, to tell a little bit more about me as a as a person, as a personality, is now someone that significantly values open-mindedness and learning and education in all facets, and constantly wanting to know more, to learn more, to be a better person, and how to execute those kinds of things. Um and yeah, I think I I do have a wife and one son who's five years old, um, and that yeah, I'm sure we'll get into that at some point. That was a a turning point for me in my realization that um I feel like I'm living a dream these days. And um something that was not very apparent to me just a few years ago. So that's a quick two-minute rundown, but yeah, I I think uh ultimately those are those are a lot of my high points. Um other low points consist of being a long-suffering Miami Dolphins fan for the past 30, 31 years now. Um that is yet to reach a high point because we are still struggling in in the cellar of the AFC East every year. So uh that's about it from my perspective.
SPEAKER_02Okay, okay. Yes. That that's you said at the very beginning of that, you know, kind of going through that low point to get to a high point, and that, yeah, I mean, I think that's really true. Um, I know that resonates for me in my life for sure, and I'm sure that rings true for a lot of people. I'm curious if there was like a moment for you or an experience, a conversation, or I don't know, maybe a time in your life where a switch flipped, or you know, something happened that kind of got you on the right track, maybe. Because you were, you know, it sounds like you were, you know, in a place where you were just not things weren't going well. You were struggling, you were having a hard time, and then you started to turn it around and head in a more positive direction. Was there, you know, something, was there a moment that caused that?
SPEAKER_01I think for me, it was more of a collection of moments in consistent with what I mentioned about being persistent and resilient, because I can think of seven or eight or twelve different moments in my life that felt like small turning points that built into something greater. That you know, and I I I think the underlying theme would be my support system, my friends, my family, my relationships would not give up on me. And those kind those led to greater outcomes where I would slowly wake up one by one, one day at a time, and I would say, you know what, these people have my back, and frankly, not no one's gonna have no no living being is gonna have my back like me. Um on the flip side, I'm um I am my own greatest critic, and I think we are uh that way for um a lot of us that exist, that we're hard on ourselves harder than we should be, but also we have to recognize it from the full part of the glass where we are our own support system in a sense, and we need to lead by example for others, but also acknowledge that we need to have our own back, and just it it's all about getting back up after you fall down. It's you know, it's not how many times you've fallen down. I know that's cliche, but it really is truly about how many times you you stand back up and you uh you you you brush the dust off and the dirt and you um just get back to work and uh in discovering yourself.
SPEAKER_02So you mentioned there kind of that support system, like you talked some about that, you know, having your own back, being able to support yourself in certain situations. I think there's for sure truth in that. And you talked some about that support system too that was there. Do you think, you know, having those difficult experiences in your life, did that kind of help you realize even more like how much that support system was there? Like, do you do you think maybe like do you think you took that for granted at all? Like until and then realize like how much people were there for you, like when you were struggling and you started to see, oh, these people really are here to support me, because even when I'm really kind of down and having a hard time, they're still around or they're still trying to help me.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, I think there's a lot of truth to that. For from my own personal experience, I was I've been blessed enough with uh parents and a sibling and uh good good friendships and relationships that um have been consistent throughout my life in a lot of ways, and uh like anybody else, some friendships and some relationships come and go, but ultimately those that stick around, it just feels like it's meant to be, and so long as you reciprocate those kinds of interactions and emotional and even the highs and the lows, right? I think reciprocating that kind of um those kinds of uh interactions is important because you know everyone has their own struggles and personal battles. But I do think, yes, ultimately, for me, having a strong support system throughout kind of helped helped me climb that mountain. And um I would go so far as to paint myself as a you know, like the comeback kid or s maybe even a success story, you know. I mean, just to just to still be standing here today and being able to uh uh to acknowledge my past and be better for it. So I I I credit my family and my friends a lot for that. Yeah, yeah, that's cool.
SPEAKER_02Um do you attribute, you know, give any credit, um, see any element of like the spiritual side of your life? Like where do you see kind of that that aspect of your life? Or do you, you know, where do you see that part of your life kind of playing in to some of what you've been talking about, um, like with that support, with the difficult parts of your life, with where you are now, yeah, kind of with some of your journey that you've been talking about, how does how does maybe the the spiritual side weave into that?
SPEAKER_01It's a great question. So the way I interpret the way I interpret my spiritual side is that God was always um present in my life, and perhaps the inverse was not true where I felt lost, I felt confused, um, but again, kind of um in the spirit of the underlying theme in which we have these small uh but significant breakthroughs, turning points that kind of build into something greater. I was digging deep mentally and spiritually and looking for something greater, something um, you know, a greater power, a greater sense, and eventually it was found. And uh from my vantage point, um we did we did have a conversation and that was that was absolutely the the the turning point, the turning point. That was the for me the peak of the mountaintop was when I was able to have that conversation with Jesus and um that was ultimately uh yeah it it it it changed my perspective and it helps me to this day acknowledge where I come from and where I'm going as well as where I am in the present. And all those things were lost on me before those kinds of conversations.
SPEAKER_02What uh what point at what point in your life did you have that conversation?
SPEAKER_01Um to be frank, it was very recent. Um it it is uh very recent, but um and you know you spend a significant portion of your life searching, um trying to figure out which way is up, and it's not exactly evident until it it hits you all at once for me. That was my experience, and um I would just yeah, I would I would say it's it's been a a recent uh revelation for me and um it it puts everything in perspective and frankly it's been integrated into my everyday living. Um just the just the the um the acronym itself, what would Jesus do, right? And we find ourselves in a world that is increasingly now. This is my you know my own perspective, my own vantage point, but I feel like it's by and large falling apart society, and um we see people that are straying from what what we define as the path all the time, um, and we you know the the the tablet And the news headlines and the horrible stories, and sometimes I will catch myself. Um, to be frank, I catch myself like if it's wishing ill will upon something or somebody, and there's there's something that holds me back and says that is not Christ-like, and that presence was not there for many, many years, and it it's almost reinforced to the point that it's automatic at this point, where okay, you know, this per I don't agree with this person or this topic or this um this perspective, or I don't agree with this action, um, taking away this, not providing that, um, and I have to dial it back, um, or I choose to dial it back, and I say, you know what, what would Jesus do or say in this moment, and how do I honor him um through through love and acceptance and forgiveness, and those are three elements that um I will admit as a as a recent consider myself born again. Um those are I still consider myself in the infancy of being a Christian, and that is something I don't shy away from. That is something that but I am more motivated and inspired to be the best version of me and honor his image as much as I possibly can, and I can my plan, a life plan, is to continue to grow and develop those skills.
SPEAKER_03Hmm.
SPEAKER_02That's yeah, that's pretty powerful. I appreciate you sharing all of that. Um one of the things that you said kind of integrating Jesus into your everyday life. Yeah, that's yeah, I mean, I I kind of heard you hit on that a lot. That's a lot of what we've talked about on the on this podcast is you know, how do you, you know, not just say you're a Christian, not just say you follow Jesus. Yeah, how do you live that out day in and day out? How do you make that a part of your everyday life? And you said several times, you know, you have to choose to do that every day. Choose those kinds of things like love and forgiveness and setting aside those other things that are not Christ-like, like you said. See, a lot of the things that you just said are really powerful um and really cool to hear that you have had that experience with Jesus, have experienced some of that life change and are starting to live that out is really cool um to hear. And yeah, I mean that's that's what Jesus wants everybody to experience. You know, that that sort of recognition of like, hey, this is this is who I am and what I came to tell people about. And this is what I want for you and for the world. So share it with people. And that, yeah, I mean I yeah, I think that's pretty cool that that you had that experience and and shared that with us. Um and yeah, are gonna be able to share that with your wife and and with your son and and all of those things. Um anyway, um so as you are kind of uh in your day-to-day life, you know, you you just talked about you know kind of having this recent born-again experience. You consider yourself kind of uh you said infant almost, uh, as far as being a Christian, kind of in that infant stage. So, you know, as you think about your day-to-day life, because you've mentioned a lot of things, you know, you're a doctoral candidate, you are a father, you're a husband, you are working a full-time job, you are doing all kinds of different things, as we all are. So in your day-to-day life, as you continue to move out of the infant stage where this is newer, you know, it's going to become less fresh, probably less exciting, it'll be easier to forget about it, those sorts of things. How do you continue to make Jesus a priority in your day-to-day life?
SPEAKER_01I think you bring up a great point in that the freshness of anything in life tends to wear off over time, the excitement, right? The initial excitement of hey, this thing is happening to me, and or I experienced this, or I got this job, and over time it just kind of tapers off and becomes normalcy, and it's easy to get lost, and as we kind of discussed earlier, take it for granted. Um that therein lies, and this is for me the next step as I kind of graduate from infancy, from newborn to infancy to toddler experience in being a Christian, is more of I need to nail down a steady commitment to to Jesus and to honestly self-discovery. Um, I think that's a large component, and I I recognize, I acknowledge to myself from that very moment that we had that conversation together, that there is going to be there will be highs and lows, just like anything else, but it's it takes a firm, steady commitment from me as an individual to maintain um to maintain consistency surrounding my beliefs and also being just a better person, a better neighbor. Um those kind of things, I just have to be, I think just staying staying aware, awake and aware that this kind of thing it's life-altering, but it's gonna take it's gonna take um you gotta put in work, you know, you gotta put in the work just like anything else. And that's kind of where I stand now, is okay, this the the the thing happened, I'm going through the the all the emotions. Um now it's time to start putting in work personally, and some of that is leadership at home, some of that is uh just personal identity and prayer. Um, I think is a consistent, um, a very important piece of this. So I think that's honestly the first step into the rest of my life is figuring out, um figuring that component out that it's really important to uh to to keep at it and know that there may be moments that uh are less glamorous than others in my own in my own existence, but we have to keep keep on trucking.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, you mentioned a couple things there, the leadership at home, prayer. I mean, that yeah, those are a couple of things that um are very important, you know, to to continue to grow in, you know, as you keep keep on this journey with with Jesus for sure.
SPEAKER_01And um, and if I may, yeah, um, you're touching on something, or at least reminding me of what I said about leadership at home, and leadership extends into the workplace and into my spirituality, and honestly, that's what I'm getting my degree in, as I mentioned, education, leadership, and I think leadership by definition is the most important, one of the most important components of being um for me, that's a that's a very important component of being a Christian and being Christ-like and guiding others and helping others, and um that is that that word and its uh reverberating meaning is very important to me. I think it should be important to a lot of people because we have to lead the way and pave the way um for our own friends and families because just to take it full circle, that's what they did for me. That's what my support system did for me, is they dug me out of this hole and I was able to find Christ. And um honestly, I feel like if I can do it, anybody has that capability if they want it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. That's cool. Yeah, it's cool to think of it that way. You know, people in your life helped you in that way, so you yeah, you are helping others in the same way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, to me does bring it full circle. Yeah, to me that's what what this is all about, what we're here for. Um, that's my interpretation, is paying it forward. Um, that's an important aspect of this for me. Um, and of course, family, you know, leading by example, um both, you know, through through prayer and existence and just being a good role model for others in any in any facet is uh a value I hold dear.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So you mentioned uh, and we were just talking about, you know, that idea of of leadership, you know, in in the home and outside of the home, but I'm curious specifically, you know, in the home, and not not even necessarily with leadership, but I'm just curious what you love most about being a husband and a father, because we've we've touched on that some. Um, and you've talked about how that's important to you. And you mentioned earlier uh when you first got to talking about your journey, about how that was a big point for you where things changed, you know, when your son was born. So, yeah, I'm curious just what do you love most about being a husband and a father?
SPEAKER_01I think beyond the comfort that they provide me on good days and bad, high moments and low moments, I love being that provider of comfort um for my child, for my wife. I want them to be to feel safe and secure, and I want them to live a happy and hopefully spiritual positive existence, and I just just being able to contribute to that um in any way I can, whether that's you know, monetary contribution, going to work every day, or if it's just a matter of being an emotionally sound person, and we all, you know, we all have our moments, but trying to be as stable a resource as possible, especially as my son uh grows up in an uncertain world, um, I think it's as important as it is rewarding for me to be that crutch to lean on when needed. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's it's kind of that, you know, again, it's that reciprocal you being that support system for them, and you mentioned them kind of being that comfort for you sometimes too when when you need it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I think that's just the foundation of a healthy system, right? Is reciprocating those kinds of things uh back with each other. I think uh you have to have your spouses or partners back just as much as they do yours. And perhaps that was something that was missing earlier in my life where I couldn't reciprocate those kinds of things or struggle a little bit with uh had you know, my personal challenges were too deep or too intense to really um be grateful or gracious for for their contributions, but um that just comes with maturity and uh just just growing up and realizing that you need to be there for them as much as they're there for you, and it's it can be beautiful harmony.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, definitely. So you kind of staying on this track of things that are important to you, that you love. I know, and and you've talked a lot about this too, kind of you're getting your doctorate and leadership, you are big into like the research world, the academic world. I want to know too, and this is deviating some from what we've been talking about, but that's okay. I want to know, kind of with the research, the academics, you care a lot about those things. Why? What got you interested in that world? Um when I talk to you, you use a lot of big words, you love to research things, verify things. Um yeah, you have been in school for a long time and seem to thrive on it, uh, are pursuing higher ed. A lot of people don't do that or want to do that. What's kind of that motivation for you? You know, what's yeah, what's caused that love of like that research, academics, higher ed, all of those things?
SPEAKER_01You know, I love this question because I do feel like with my spiritual transition that it has evolved quite significantly. Um, in the start, it was a matter of my hard-headedness when I str when I told you I struggled in high school and didn't do so well and didn't have a good time. It was more of a okay, you know what, I'm gonna take this to the next level. I'm not gonna let this thing beat me down. I'm going to do everything in my power to, you know, I measure myself by grade point average and my performance. I was trying to be competitive with others, and it slowly evolved into okay, you know, I'm pretty good at this. Um what I want to be. Now it's about finding the narrow passion point instead of just like, okay, I'm I'm I have a 4.0, who cares? So I have a 4.0 and I want to invest time and effort and resources into something I'm passionate about. So it was kind of it kind of fell into place uh over time in terms of, you know what, education in itself is interesting to me because what an interesting pathway I've had from initially struggling and not enjoying it to okay, um now I'm clearly thriving academically in terms of performance. Um and now it's like, okay, maybe this in itself could be a path, but specif picking a more specific, narrow field. I just I like the concept of leadership. I think I've I've demonstrated it and have been exposed to good leadership for the most part throughout my upbringing. Um so that's where a lot of that came from. But I think the evolution is still taking shape as I uh navigate through this infancy, as we call it, because now it feels like it's a service, um a service to and from God to uh onto others. Um because I think we should all remain, just as we are compassionate and um empathetic and understanding human beings and Christians, I think about how we also need to, again, like pay it forward and um but remain curious and constantly in check in terms of our emotions. I think EQ, emotional intelligence, is a significant component of not just research interests, but also from a practical standpoint. I I take that very seriously as far as keeping emotions in check and always being level-headed as much as possible. Um, but I think there's definitely some spiritual undertones now that maybe weren't present there before, but if anything, it strengthened my interest and passion for education and leadership.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. Yeah, that's yeah, that's cool. It's encouraging that that spiritual side has strengthened that instead of it being like uh uh I don't know if I want to do this anymore, yeah, type of thing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So that's the yeah, that's that's encouraging.
SPEAKER_01And I was very careful, probably too careful when I was selecting a graduate program that aligned with my interests and my passions, because I wanted to avoid that pitfall of like, okay, no, suddenly this is not for me, or this is not working out. Um, so I wanted to pick something broad enough that I could touch on multiple subfields or multiple points within education. You know, we can look at policy or uh leadership or um higher education versus secondary versus K through 12, for example. Um so it's a broad subject, but it's one that I find myself, I I take pride in the fact that I can enjoy and uh also perform well at what I do and what I study, and the third leg, the third component of that being, okay, this brings me intrinsic meaning and um a little bit of uh a little bit of uh passion and uh uh it it just it it it fuels me to know that I can make an impact on others too that way. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So staying on the again, on the track of things you care about.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You're a sports guy. I am. You mentioned the Dolphins earlier. Yes. You're also a Phillies fan. Uh I don't know what other teams you like or don't like.
SPEAKER_01Uh I'm thinking You know, that's that's the bulk of it. I want to call myself a Carolina Hurricanes fan, but I did not watch the Stanley Cup finals when they won, so I feel I'd feel like a bit of a hypocrite if I just out when I said I was a Hurricane's fan.
SPEAKER_02So, sports. Did that start when you were young? How did the love of sports come about?
SPEAKER_01So that sports was from the get go. It was like come out the womb wearing a Dan Marino jersey or something like that. Um, lifelong. Uh always watched on TV, went to a few games, was I was three years old when I was at Peyton Manning's inaugural NFL game in Indianapolis. Of course, they did not do well that day. Which is fine because the Dolphins were playing, so they they won. But um, yeah, sports has always been an integral piece of what I'm into. Um I think it kind of fueled that competitive spirit that I was mentioning, that I was referencing earlier in terms of like, okay, I really didn't perform well in high school, and now I'm gonna try and turn it on like an athlete. Uh the collegiate performance. That was one that's okay, let's channel my inner football player and just get the highest score in the class or the highest grade. And it kind of did kind of pan out that way, to be honest with you, and turned into a bit of a domino effect. So his sports has driven me both as a spectator and I played a lot of sports in high school. I played golf, baseball, football, soccer, a little bit of rugby in college, but I got hurt very quickly, as you can imagine. So, yeah, sports is uh of of great importance to me as well. And I like to say I would watch competitive paint dry because I watch anything. And I'd like to say I'm well versed in a lot of it too, including some some that may be lesser known or more obscure to your American audience, but yeah, I I'd like to think I'm I love sport and I'm uh all about it. Uh so there you have it. Alright.
SPEAKER_02You say your American audience, as if you're not also American.
SPEAKER_01Am I?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I am. I think so. I think so. Are you yes? Oh, okay, okay. Just making sure. Um, alright, so as we wrap up, we're at about the 45 minute mark. Um as we get close to the end of the episode here, uh is there anything else, Justin, that you would want people to know about you? Um any fun facts, any crazy stories, anything embarrassing? Um anyone you want to thank, like for where you are in your life at this point, anyone sitting next to you, uh anything like that at all, feel free to just throw it out there.
SPEAKER_01Well, I would like to start by thanking Blake and Sam for having me. Um sincerely. Uh thank you so much. And also, you're welcome. I'm not great at talking about like little casual, uh light-hearted factoids about like, well, I guess the most interesting thing that always comes to my mind is I had a cat that lived to be 21, 22 years old. That's pretty impressive. Yeah. Um, so there's that. Uh, but otherwise, I would just provide the advice for anyone that's listening that may be able to draw something from my story or is still in that searching mode and is trying to find themselves or trying to find God. I would say just keep keep grinding and just um be be persistent, as I probably use that word a lot today, um, because it's gonna pop up when you least expect it. Uh, at least in my experience, that was you know, you you keep working at something and you're about to give up hope, and then suddenly it's there, and uh it's life-altering. So it could change everything. That's all I got.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. Well, I think that's a great place to stop. Um, Justin. Thanks for joining us today. This was great.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, great to hear some of your story, um, yeah, some of your insights, and yeah, just some of your journey to this point. Um academic life, family life, how Jesus has been working in your life. It's really cool to hear um Yeah, a lot of your life up to this point in 31 years. Um, and hopefully you've got a ton more life left to keep doing all kinds of cool things. Let's hope so. Yeah. Um, I hope we can have you back on at some point in the future. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Um, yeah, that'd be cool. Um, Sam, we haven't let you say anything this entire episode. Sorry about that. I forgive you. Would you like to say anything before we end?
SPEAKER_00No. I uh I appreciate you coming on, Justin. And um, yeah, it's just it's it's cool to see sort of the big picture of your life and um and then what was going on before you had that conversation with Jesus. And um and it sounds to me that um you know he's he's just sort of been wiping some of the fog away, and and you've been making some sense of um of how you got to this point and and you have a sense of accomplishment. Um uh and and you just seem, you know, you seem joyful and and you seem um grateful at this point. And um it was refreshing for me just to hear about your honesty and about um and about your whole life. So I appreciate you sharing with us today.
SPEAKER_01Thank you both. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, awesome. Alright. Well, this has been another episode of the Narrow Road Podcast. We'll be back uh in about a month. Again, our summers look a little different, so we'll be back in about a month with another guest. Don't know if it's gonna top Justin. We'll see. It's gonna be hard. Yeah, it's gonna be hard to top Justin, but we will see. Maybe we'll get Justin Bieber. Ooh.
SPEAKER_01Does that really top me, though?
SPEAKER_02Justin Timberlake. Okay, Timberlake tops me. Justin Trudeau. The Canadian guy? Yeah, okay. That'd be that'd be interesting. He's dating Kenny Perry. Did you know that? No. Are they engaged?
SPEAKER_01I don't know. I don't know. It's going somewhere.
SPEAKER_02Justin Verlander.
SPEAKER_01I would like that. That'd be my favorite Justin to date.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Okay, if you can think of any other Justins we should have next month, let us know.
SPEAKER_03Yep. Alright.
SPEAKER_02See you guys.
SPEAKER_03Bye.