Cole LaBrant: 2 Dads.10 Kids.1 Conversation

I wanted to sit down with Cole LaBrant and talk about parenting because he is one of the most intentional dads I know.

Two dads. Ten kids between us. Both of us in the middle of it. 

We talked about what it actually means to show up for your kids. The fear every dad carries but nobody says out loud. Why connection has to be built before it's needed. And the moment my daughter looked at me and said — Dad. I trust you.

Juice boxes included.

This one's for the dads.

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Follow The Labrant Fam → https://www.youtube.com/@ColeAndSav

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

There are some moments that change everything. For Cole LeBrandt, it was the six-second vibe. He was 16 from a small town in Alabama. And tens of millions of people never looked away. The LeBrandt family built one of the largest family platforms on the internet. But that's not why I wanted to sit down with Cole. We're both in the middle of it, trying to build something that lasts. Two dads, ten kids, one table. At least I do. At least I'll just say that about me. There's always that tension.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

It was almost hard for me to say yes to this podcast when they get older and they actually need it. I'm getting emotional extinct because I trust the hardest thing that I've been through as a dad.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Ah, bro, this has been so good. This one is for every dad who's in it. Try building showing up, even when it's hard. Welcome to another episode of the Talents Podcast. I'm Cody Williams, and today I have a guest that I'm very excited about, and been looking forward to this for a long time. In a few minutes, uh you'll understand why. But there's one thing I want to set straight as we start. A lot of people probably don't know this, but this guest today and I combined have over 40 million 3,990 followers combined between the two of us. So, ladies and gentlemen, Cole Lebrandt, Cole Lebrandt. He may have the 40 and I have the 39. But um Cole, I'm so I'm so grateful that you've sitting down and just having a conversation today. Um honestly, not because of the numbers that I'm talking about, but because of your heart around family and faith and um just your journey as a creative entrepreneur. Uh you really reflect um the type of people that I challenge people to become. You know, and I don't mean that, you know, in numerically, but I just mean that in terms of just like what's anchored you and the way that you're living your life and the vulnerability that you you carry, as well as just um the the faith that uh you don't really shy away from, you know, is it's super respectful, so um respectable.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

So man, well, I could say all the same things about you. I know that we haven't had a ton of conversations, so I'm looking forward to having this one. But we definitely just hit it off the first time that we met, I think, just um on the family front more than anything. Yep, you know, I know that we're entrepreneurs and growing a lot of cool things for the kingdom, but it was family that uh I think we kind of merged at so yeah, that was that was that common connection that was like, all right, I like this guy, he loves his family, yeah. Likewise.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Um so I uh we actually have a little bit of a challenge that we're gonna do today that uh everyone will hear about in a minute, but I want to start with just going back to really as a creative entrepreneur. Your journey started as a teenager. Was it the Alabama boys?

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Yeah, it was called Dim White Boys. What was it called? Dim White Boys.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Dim White Boys.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Yeah, it was.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

I don't even know if that would work today.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

No, it wouldn't work today. Again, this was back in 20, I don't know, 13. So uh this is back in the Vine days. Yeah, that's the the OGs remember Vine. Some people every now and then will come up and be like, hey, I've been following you since Vine, and I'm like, I look at my watch because it has the date on it, and I'm like, man, that was like what are you doing? 13 years ago. What is Vine still around? I don't even know that. No, Vine died. Um, R.I.P. Vine died, like it was short-lived. I think it lasted like a year and a half years, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

I didn't realize that.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Yeah, they uh got like in copyright trouble and they didn't like it got too big and they didn't have like enough workers to like keep it going.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

It was like too expensive to I remember you popping up on Vine and then um a buddy of mine, Matt Cutchell. I don't know if you knew Matt you know he's good. I was his small group leader uh when he was in middle school. Really? Yeah. Oh, that's hilarious. Um and uh so dude, he he just took to Vine.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

Yeah, he's hilarious. He and his wife went REL. Yeah, yeah. They went hard. So you're like what, 17? Yeah, so I was 16 when it started. Uh because I'm 29 now, yeah, about 13 years ago, almost exactly. And I was living in small town Alabama, Troy. Uh people might be familiar with Troy University. Some people pass through it on the way to the beach. That's the only thing that people know Troy for. But I was born and raised there. I'm one of six kids. Um, don't come from a family of any wealth, any like notoriety, fame, success. It's extremely normal. Um, but in small town Alabama, everyone's that way. And how I explain it is like this is like pre-viral social media. So the only social media at the time was uh MySpace, which I wasn't allowed on, and then uh Facebook, which was still pretty new. But you social media was only you connecting with friends, right? It wasn't uh people trying to get a big following to make money or growth. Sell a product, yeah. Like becoming an influencer was not a term. Um, it was like social media was you had some real celebrities, and then you had all the other normal people. Yeah, that was it. So Vine comes out, and I'm 16, small town Alabama, and it's just like the kids at high school are using it. I don't even have uh a smartphone, I still have like my sliding phone, so I had to like download um the Vine app on my dad's iPhone. He's like the only person who has an iPhone in our house. So I download it and uh just making some videos and uh it's only six seconds. So I get people familiar with Vine, it's it's only six second video, so it's like it's it's the dumbest stuff. Like if you look up Vine compilations on YouTube, it probably wouldn't even be funny because it's like, like, what is this? Like a six second facts. Yeah, no context like nowadays. But it was like Vine humor, and it was like the first viral social media of its kind where all of a sudden Vine had this like for you page and it's like recommendation page where like normal people could be recommended to people who didn't follow them. Where in the past you would only see stuff from people that you followed. Where Vine had this like um on the rise, it was called On the Rise, which is like content that like was getting a lot of traction in that city, would then be on the rise. So just kind of like a viral page. Um, me and my buddies didn't really even really know about this, but so me and two of my best friends shout out John Stephen, Grice, Baylor Barnes. Um, I still keep up with them today. They're amazing guys, have families of their own. Um, but we were best friends. So we live in the small town Alabama, play baseball together. It's um summertime. And if you live in small town Alabama in the summer and you're a guy and you're 16, you don't wear a shirt mainly because it's so hot. It's so hot. Really, there's no like um ego, or like we weren't like trying to show up like no ended. It's just like I know that game. Yes, yeah. Um, so we're shirtless and we're playing Sting Pong, which is where you play ping pong and it's summer, but you know, if you like lose the game, you get stung, and uh all of a sudden we're like, guys, like why don't we like make a one of the guys watching a vine, and this guy named Delon Richardson uh was promoting his song called Don't Drop That Thantanta. You know the song? Uh Don't drop that thontana. Hey, so it's kind of like uh it was kind of like it's like first viral space, but it was all it was only girls doing it. It was only girls doing the dance because it's kind of like twerk-esque. Um and so we're like, guys, how funny would it be if like we entered, like us and like the people at school saw it? So we're like, yeah, I guess do it, you know? Um so we do it, thinking that like maybe just like some of our homies at school would see, ah, that's funny. Great. Um and we do it, and the next day uh it had a hundred likes, and we're going through like the likes, and we're like, we don't even know a hundred people. We're like, man, who's uh you know, who's uh, you know, Shirley this and who's you know Jaden this and who's like who are these people? Like we don't even know these people who are liking it, and we're like, let's do another one. So we're like the next day we do another stupid dance video, and the next day we do another stupid dance video, and they got like 200 likes, and then like 400 likes, and we're like, we should like be like a group. Like, what should we name our group? Uh like we're doing these like hip-hop dances, let's be like dim white boys, you know, because we're white boys and we can't dance. We're we're not we're not like good hip-hop dances, you know. We're we're guys that play like baseball, soccer, sting pong, like as a white as it comes kind of thing. Got no rhythm. Um, and that it just kind of kicked off. Like, we just made a video every day and it was summer and it was fun, and we uh yeah, got got a million followers in a month. And we're what? Yeah, within a month and we're like wow. Like, but by this point, we hadn't made any money because it wasn't monetized. Monetized. It's not monetized. There wasn't like no one knew this world. It was this unfamiliar world. Our parents were kind of like weary of it. Like, who are all these people following you? What is it? Some are like my grandparents were like not about it, especially because we were shirtless and like dancing, and it was like, this feels like maybe too provocative. And it was like, and and and we were also Christian, so then we started like trying to find this fine line of like um just having fun, just having fun versus like where is this leading to? What doors is this opening? Uh so we had a lot of questions. Fortunately, my dad and other family members involved, like I think had some good kind of guardrails on it. Um, but I remember I was working minimum wage because again, come from a family who has no money. So the second that we turned 16, we had to get a job. Yep. Small town Alabama. So I worked a fam. Yeah, I worked at a lot of jobs just to have gas money. Um, but I at this summer job I had, I was scooping ice cream at Milky Moose, making $7.25 an hour, which was minimum wage at the time. And uh I remember after about a month we hit a million followers, um, an app reached out to us. It was called Hot or Not, which is kind of like a Tinder where you just swipe if she's hot. Yeah, yeah. Swipe if she's yeah. Uh again, an app like that couldn't be around nowadays. Um I mean, not not with that name. I know what she's saying, but yes, um, and and they were gonna pay us 500 bucks to make a six seconds, uh, six or seven. I forget. It's a kind of like a six or seven second video. Like, man, yeah. I think it actually was like six point seven seconds to what the lines were. Um but so they paid us 500 bucks and we were like, oh my gosh. I saw I did the math, we split it three ways. I'm like, Oh, that's like 180 bucks. I don't know, that's a quick math. And uh I was like, I have to work like a whole weekend scooping ice cream to do this, and we just did this like saying, Hey, go check out hot or not. So I told my mom and dad, I was like, if we could do one more of these deals, I'm gonna stop scooping ice cream and like try to get more deals. Uh and they were like, I guess. Uh a few weeks later, we got another one, and I was like, okay, well, I got like 300 bucks in the bank, and I'm just gonna start making these videos because I love making videos, it was just so fun. Like, I more than anything, it was just like it was a lot of fun. Um, I loved like, you know, small town, people like starting to recognize us around town. I was never like the cool guy per se. I always kind of hung out with like more of like the nerdier kids. I like Pokemon, I like, you know, so I did I did sports, but it was cool kind of yeah. Um, people outside the small town maybe thinking you were cool, you know. Sure. Um, so that kept going. Uh school, school time hit, and the other two guys, Baylor and John Steven, they weren't really about the videos as much, which I don't blame them for. It came with its own stuff, and they just kind of wanted to like pursue senior year of high school and football and other things. So I actually ended up at by that point, um, I made several thousand dollars. They had as well because we split everything, and I kind of uh drafted up a contract and um gave them a bunch of money and said, Hey, would you guys mind me changing the name from Dim White Boys to Cole Brandt since you guys aren't really wanting to do videos anymore, anyways? And at that point, we didn't know like we hindsight's 2020, so you had no idea what this is gonna turn into. So I could have just lost, you know, all the money that we had made and changed the name and then it'd be done. Um, but it it worked out and uh changed the name to me to myself, and I have a bunch of siblings, so it was more so me and my siblings making videos made it easier than trying to coordinate with them. Um and uh yeah, so kept doing that. Always just assumed it was like the 15 seconds of fame. That's what we always thought. It's like this is 15 seconds of fame. Milk this 15 minutes. Milk it, yeah, especially whenever you come from like, I don't want to say a poor family, but like, you know, money's a big thing. And so it's like if I can get several thousand dollars, I knew college was around the corner, like if I could make enough money or do this in college so that I didn't have to work a full-time job or part-time job in college and I could make these videos instead. You know, I had all these thoughts. So that was my goal. Uh, was one to not have to have a job while I was in college and do the videos, and you know, I I consider that my job, but to that, and also as it started doing better, was if I can make enough money to pay for my wedding in my honeymoon. I was like, that that that was my ultimate goal was I want to like make enough money to not go in debt at my wedding and to have an epic honeymoon. Yeah. Um, so kept doing that. And I remember uh, so I mean this is kind of the longer version of the origin story, but um this perfect 18, 19, going to college at Troy University, same small town. Me and my best friend roommate, who was also one of them white boys, John Stephen, uh, end up doing a uh trip out to California. My first time to California, we're like, hey, it's summer. Um he has a girlfriend, but like I'm single. We're like, we got no families, like let's just like go to California. We get the cheapest Airbnb we can find for a month. And uh the last week that we're out there, um, we look up things to do near us, and the grove in LA pops up, and I bump into a little outdoor mall. Outdoor mall. Yeah, if you live in LA, you know what the grove is. It's it's nice, I love it. Um but my wife was there. Well, she wasn't my wife at the time, but uh Savannah was there. We just called it right there. Yeah, I called it. I was like, my that's her. That's it. Um but um Savannah was there, so I'm 19, she was 23, and she had a three-year-old daughter, right? So I assume that she was married, she's obviously a mom, didn't know the context, but obviously very beautiful. And um, but definitely, I mean, the first uh very obvious miracle in my life, and to date, uh, the most obvious miracle in my life was how we met. And I could go, I mean, I could do an entire podcast around like that that day, and I was just like, if I ever lose Savannah, if I ever did something that caused a divorce or whatever it was, like I wouldn't like, I lost the one miracle in my life. I like that's it. Like I will never recover. If Savannah dies, I will never like I might get remarried, and Savannah knows that, like we've kind of talked about that, but I will never remarry to the level of like what Savannah was. Like she is and always will be and always has been like it in my life. And that and like God made that so evident and and just how we met and the early years of marriage, and uh even today, now almost 10 years in. But um, so whenever we I I just say that in the context of even the Ordin stories, whenever we met, um, she was kind of making videos with her three-year-old daughters, cute stuff. Um, Vine had died. It there's this new app now called Musically, which was what TikTok was before it was a TikTok. And um, she was doing well, so we just fell in love. But while we were falling in love, we were both kind of making videos. It was fun just to kind of document our our love story, and we were obsessed with each other, still are, but um filmed just kind of that, and obviously having a three-year-old, you know, her three-year-old daughter in the mix who's adorable and charismatic. It was just so fun. It was so fun and so seamless. And um, you know, we get a lot of hate online for because family vlogging. Um unfortunately, whenever people found out that you could make money from it, people started exploding it and bad families started coming about. There's been documentaries about yeah uh abuse. Yeah, and what I always tell people is that unfortunately, that family was abusive, abusive, and they happened to also family vlog. But more than anything, they were just child abusers, which is awful. Yeah, you can't stereotype everybody. It's not that you're abusive because you're a child uh a family vlogger, right? You were abusive and you also family vlog. They would have been abusive if they weren't family vlogs, yeah. You know, it just then because there's a few of these families that do terrible things, it puts everyone in this terrible category. And because we were one of the largest family vloggers, um, it just it made things complicated. So fortunately, we had a lot of success and um we got to have so much fun, and outside of a lot of the negativity, um, we got to share our faith because that was always the most important thing and always has been to us. And we've done it wildly and perfectly and have made a lot of mistakes along the way, but I feel like God's pruned us a ton. And um, yeah, we obviously have five kids now and we always wanted a big family. So more than anything, we got to um I got to spend time with my kids. I get to spend so much time with my kids and my wife, right? And that has been the biggest blessing more than anything, more than um, yeah. I mean, I I can list a number of things, but that is like what on top of that. Yeah. Uh yeah, I come from a family and surrounded by people that that I I know that working a nine to five is the normal thing. And for most people, that's just what you have to do. And if that's what you have to do, it's what you have to do to support your family. And I'm so grateful that God opened uh a different door than I get to be with my kids more, and I wish that everybody could experience that.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Did you know that you first of all, uh I love that story. Um it's such a beautiful story, and it feels what's what's probably really neat, and I you've probably maybe you've probably noticed this, but there's this thread throughout your entire story of just gratitude and uh perspective and um grounding in a lot of ways. Where I think I mean, at least I I know a handful of people who experience any level of success in that way where you're you know an influencer, if you will. Um it can mess people up like pretty big. And I love that the thread of what you're saying. It just feels like you've always had sort of that uh that grounded like we we know what we value and and we're always gonna represent that. But going back to like your when starting all this, it's just started out of you just being creative and having fun, making videos. There was that pivot with your friends where they got less interested and you're like leaning in. I would describe that as like, oh's just entrepreneurial. Like that's that's who you are. And you know, when you have two friends and that's how you decide to pivot. Um did you see that in yourself at the time? Did you did you would you have called yourself then like entrepreneurial?

SPEAKER_00 18:16

Would you at the time I would not have, but looking back, and I think I don't know, I have a lot of thoughts around this. I think a lot of it is your upbringing, but even then I'm one of six kids, and all of us kids are kind of different, you know. Like I like my older brother, like I'm the second born, my older older brother, he's just so chill, and he's like, I don't want to use the word complacent, but he's just so um okay, like where he is, and doesn't have this like wild drive to like um he might not be driven in the same way, yeah, be the biggest like business owner, whatever it is. And not saying that I want to be the biggest business owner, but I even remember when I was uh a kid and I went to this like uh really small private school in Troy, Alabama called Pike Liberal Arts. And I mean we had like 20, 30 kids per grade. Uh we're only there for like two or three years, and because we can only afford it for like two or three years. Wow. Um, but the richer kids in the school went there. And I remember these like power balance. Do you remember do you remember those power balance bracelets? Yes. They came out and um everyone was buying them. I think they were like 30, 40 bucks a bracelet. A little bit of a status thing. Yeah, kind of like a status thing. 30, 40 bucks a bracelet. Well, I remember I'd go I would go on eBay and I would find uh rip-off power balance bracelets um that I could get for like about like $2 a bracelet uh versus 40. They looked the exact same all the things and I would buy them and I would sell them to kids for like 20 bucks instead of 40 bucks. I love that. And just like to make so you know, I'd come back with like 140 bucks from school, and like my parents' like, what are you doing? And then I'd go and like buy more stuff off, like cheap stuff off eBay from China and resell it. So I think even then I always kind of had this like yeah, I I guess you you would call it entrepreneurial uh you know mindset even in middle school. So um yeah, I was definitely trying to work it. And I think I wouldn't have seen it in myself then, but looking back, I um definitely wanted to and saw the value more so in like what this could do versus if I were to play soccer. Like I wasn't able to play like sports anymore in school, which I loved playing, I love playing soccer in school. But I was like, what's the value here versus here? Yeah, you know, or what's the value a lot of the times, like I didn't like go out with my friends, which has its own things. I I I do think that high schoolers should enjoy being a kid and uh as much as you can. But also I think if you take advantage of things, I think if I didn't take advantage of the opportunity at hand, um yeah, my life could have gone in a different it's interesting that you say that because I think it sounds like you loved what you were doing. Yeah, I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

While yeah, while making uh income from it, which I think is such an ideal uh situation. I I think when you're doing something that you enjoy doing, like hours can pass and you're not going, oh my gosh, this job sucks, and this is this is terrible. I was the captain of our soccer team in high school and the first entrepreneurial thing that people started to see in me was we were undefeated in my senior year, junior and senior year, and all we had all of these fans, the parents, and everybody's just super bought into our team. So we just had like the sidelines were just full of of people for soccer soccer games, you know, in America are generally what they are. And uh I remember just going like I should make some custom shirts that all the parents can have, like all the like Cole's mom, Cole's dad, like you know, and customers. So I so I designed these shirts and then I and I worked with some printer that I didn't really know what I was doing. I was like, I I want to make these shirts, I want them custom. I took pre orders and had everybody prepay because I didn't have any money to actually you know pay for all that stuff. And uh I I got done, I don't know how much I made. I I didn't make I made like seven or eight hundred dollars. Which was great when you were like 16. But I remember one of my friend's dads pulling me aside and being like, You know you're an entrepreneur. You know you know that's who you are. And he's like, I don't know any six-year-olds doing this kind of stuff. And he started to call that out in me, which which really kind of helped me move into that. Did you have anybody calling that out in you when you were younger, or were just it just happened?

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Yeah, I didn't. Uh, but I did I wanted to point out that I probably whenever you're making those shirts, that's probably fun for you. Oh, it was a blast. Like probably creating those shirts because you're creative. It wasn't in your head like, oh, like I gotta do this, this, and this, and this, and then I can maybe make 500 bucks. I was like, oh, the whole process is fun, like getting to design the shirts and all that. And that's how it was for me and in the videos, and even my wife, and even Everly, whenever we were doing it as a family, it was always so fun. So I think a lot of people can look at um, I don't know, the negative side of things of like, you know, you guys are having to work, or like your family's having to work. It's like we just had so much fun. And there is a point to where, like, oh, it's there's times where you might have to make a video or like certain things, you know, it's it's obviously not always fun, but um yeah, and to answer your question early on, I didn't have anyone call that out in me. Uh, and and I wish I did because I think it would have given me more clarity and direction. For sure, yeah. Yeah. Um, and it probably would have protected me from mistakes that I made and maybe some things that I did out of doubts in myself, you know, whenever you're insecure, yeah, yeah. I was very insecure. Um, just about a lot of things, or I was trying to maybe mimic other people's content who were doing really well. And although I was trying to find like who I was, um so yeah, I didn't have that. And I think the big reason for that is social media was so new. Yeah. So there wasn't anybody. There wasn't a playbook. There wasn't a playbook. It wasn't like, well, how was okay, Cole, you're 16 making videos on the internet. How are you gonna turn out in 10 years? Yeah. It's like, I don't know. Right. You know, there's no one who did this 10 years ago to say like how this is gonna play out. Um so I I I do try to fill that void with a lot of younger talent. Now, like if I see a young dad or a young family or whatever it is who's starting to do things and I can tell that they're new or early on, I'll I'll reach out to them and uh, you know, especially if I see that that they follow me or whatever it is, just say like, hey, if you ever have any questions, like ask me. I I don't go to them just saying, hey, you should do this, this, this, this. I just try to leave it open-handed, like, hey, if you have any questions, ask me. And you don't have to listen to it, but at least you can hear my experience. And a lot of it is the mistakes that I made, and I'd be like, hey, I would be careful doing this, this, and this. Um, but only if they they ask me.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

You could probably write a master class in that. I mean, that's that's that's such a special thing. I think there's something so important about finding work that you enjoy doing. It and if you make money from that, make the most money you can make from that. Like there's nothing wrong with that. But I think one of the the biggest takeaways I'm taking from your your story is just like you just found some stuff you enjoy doing. And um I think oftentimes if the focus is money, then you probably end up doing the wrong things. If the focus is I want to do some things that that make me come alive, that I enjoy, that I have vision for, that I don't mind working a 14-hour day. And I'm like, oh, that was fun. Like, yeah, um, I'm excited to get up tomorrow and keep building. Um, it sounds like you're a real builder uh in all this. Are you competitive?

SPEAKER_00 25:22

I am, yeah. I love sports, I love games. Uh, that's something that I know we just talked about us getting a new property. Uh and but a a big thing that my wife and I, and then I would say, even especially me, is really passionate about is like games and having fun and having adults have fun. Because as you become an adult, I I was always kind of like the goofy guy. I was always goofy, even in like the videos, just like the goofy dad. Um, it's just I'm I'm not playing a part, that's just who I am. Like I'm I'm not afraid to embarrass myself, never have been. Um and definitely as you get kids and get older, especially if as you're looking at all the things that you're supposed to do as a dad, provide, and uh it can kind of I don't want to say suck the life out of you by any means because it's the greatest gift, but maybe suck some of the fun out of you. Where you're maybe not as fun or goofy as you once were. And I never want to lose that uh because I know that's like who my wife fell in love with, and I want my kids to see that side of me. Um so I've been like refreshed this past year, like reminding myself like who I am in that goofy sense. Um, this is a long-winded question to am I competitive? But as of recently, like um, yeah, we've been doing a lot of like family game things, but inviting adults to partake in it. Um and I've and I've seen that be such a gift to like cool. It's such a gift to like people who do work through long hours and who get to like come and just like, oh wait, there's no motive here besides just playing a game and having fun. Like, come to our house. We're not trying to have you like invest in something, we're not trying to like sell you on something. I come and play and have fun, you know. And I think that there's something really special in just that.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Yeah. The um, you know, I think from the entrepreneurial side of you people can take competitiveness as like a negative thing, but I think the truth is is that you can use it to to help build and drive the things you feel you're supposed to do. Like because competitiveness just comes from a place in your heart and in your in the wiring of who you are in a lot of ways, where you just you're you're it puts you out there, you know. And I think it sounds like that's what you did is you just put yourself out there. Did did you ever any have any moments from an entrepreneur? I want to get to the family stuff. Uh, one more question, then we'll get to the family stuff. And uh I've got a challenge now now that I know you're competitive. I'm gonna I'm gonna kick your butt at this. Yeah. Um, but uh uh did you ever have any moments as an entrepreneur? So there's a few things. Let me just highlight a few things. Number one, I love that how curious you were. Sound like you're just curious. Like, yeah, have fun doing this, and uh, let's try this, let's see what happens. I think there's I think curiosity is so underrated, especially this next generation when they're starting to figure out like, what do you want to do? What makes you come alive? Um two is uh you enjoyed what you did, you enjoyed the work at hand, which I think is such a golden nugget if you're watching this and you're trying to figure out what to do. What do you like to do? What is what do you come alive with? Um, what makes you come alive? Uh what do you feel God's put in your hands? Um but as you established yourself as an entrepreneur and you had sex success and and you you know following followers grew and all that kind of stuff happened. Did you ever have um as an entrepreneur, did you ever have any like imposter syndrome moments where you were like you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 28:50

For sure. Definitely, um so I started off on Vine just myself or me and my boys, uh and then it was just me for a bit for three years before I met my wife, and so it was me making content, Cole Brandt, and then it was Cole and Savannah, and then uh Every was always a big part of it, my oldest daughter. And then we had a lot of kids, which we would have done outside of social media, right? Um got to do it within, but had this big family, so kind of went from and that's just the stages of life naturally as a single married family. Um, so I I think the imposter syndrome came about whenever I was we were crushing it in the family space, and then the family space started getting a lot of negativity, and we saw that, and I would I just wanted to do all what was best for our family, and we felt like God put us on this platform and in the space, and that even despite mistakes we had made and despite hate that was coming our way, uh, I I wasn't confident that the best thing to do was just run and hide, you know. Um, but how can we um pivot or or I always think of like, you know, what does God put in your hands? Yeah, right. Yeah. With Moses and his staff. Yeah. It's like, what does God put in your hands? Like, well, for me, it's just so obvious, like these videos and this platform of millions of people, and even if there's negativity and whatever else, there's a lot of people that come up to us and look up to us, and um because of our faith and because of our vulnerability. Um so I I would say uh regarding the imposter syndrome was like whenever we got to that space of like, okay, here I am in my mid-20s with a wife and kids and this big platform, but maybe we're trying to pivot because maybe social media and and having your kids involved to this extent isn't the best thing. Uh, what's next? You know, what do we do next? If uh and that's kind of what we did reach to get to a point of we were in California making videos kind of full time. By this point, we have a few kids, but we're definitely sensing it. Wasn't this like big moment. I was like, okay, we're done. But it was kind of this like slow progression of like, okay, we're making three videos a week because it's so fun, and like we can make a video every other day, and it was really chill. We're not doing these like big production videos, it was vlogging. So it's like we're going to the park, we're going to Disneyland. Right, right. Um, but then I was like, okay, let's do two videos a week because it's it'll be easier and we don't have to film as much. Let's do one video a week.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:13

And then it got to this point of like, let's just do a couple videos a month. And then we're like, you know, we don't even we want to get a slower pace of life, and we don't even know if we want to make long-form videos at all. Um, and that's what we did. We w whenever we moved to Tennessee, a big a big part of that was to like slow our lifestyle down and to focus less on the social space and social media space and only on our family. But then obviously, as the husband, dad, and business side of me, you know, my my wife got to completely detach from all of it. And that's what she has done since we got to Tennessee and she has blossomed into um her truest form. Like, this is who God has created her to be as a homeschool mom thriving. Um, our kids are just thriving, and it's because of her. And um, but then on my side, I'm like, I I it is good for, I believe it's good for men to work, right? I and I don't say this arrogantly in any way. I could I could financially completely retire today and through investments and other things be more than fine. I don't think it's healthy for my kids just to grow up and see that dad was never doing something. Yeah. You know, I think that then they would grow up and be like, wait, I have to do something, but dad never did. You know? Yeah. Um, they might know that dad did videos way back when, but so there was an imposter syndrome of what now, which kind of led us to some of the things that are on the table here. Um and other things. But I think that uh that that's not a bad thing. I think that we want instantaneous gratification. We want the answer now. And I think that God allows us to wander in the wilderness. God allows us to uh to try things that don't work. Couldn't agree more, right? I mean, I there have been, I could count a lot of things uh that I tried and didn't work. And unfortunately, because I even leveraged my social media platforms for those things at times and they didn't work in the public eye, uh, it's that much more um and maybe embarrassing is the word, right? It's like, wow, like I went in on this, I believed in it, I even prayed and feel like, okay, God, I think this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna try this, ah, that that's not it. You know, I I like a few months in or whatever it is, it's like that's definitely not it. For whatever reason, you just you don't have that piece anymore about it. Um But all the all those things open doors and teach you things, and you talk to any entrepreneur who has any success, they're gonna, they're never gonna say, I mean, I haven't heard it, where it's like, hey, I was this old, and this is the first thing that I tried, and it worked out perfectly. Yeah, they're gonna say, I failed, I failed, I failed, opened doors, did this, embarrassed, met this person, and then it all ended up here. Especially whenever you're a person of faith, you see like, oh, this is God writing this really cool map.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Dude, I have a uh a friend who recently um sold his business for a hundred million. And when you go back to his story, the funniest thing is I said, dude, what why did you end up doing this? Like, and uh we were chatting, chatting a couple weeks ago, and he said, Well, somebody told me one time when I was younger that nine out of ten businesses will fail. So I just needed to get to ten. And I'm like, that's amazing. That's to me, that's the competitive. I gotta count how many I failed on. I'll I'm gonna be in close. That that that that is that that is using the competitive drive in you to like do something meaningful in is the way I look at. So he just literally he went through all these different businesses and um and uh to to to the one that finally hit, I think it was number, I don't know, six or seven for him. Wow, said six seven. Um but uh you know it it was it was just this idea that like failure is part of the process. When you're in the limelight and you're seen as and you're it and people are you're kind of under the magnifying glass and people are wanting to watch everything, people love it when you fail. And I'm like, no, no, no, failure. If you're not failing, I don't even know. I want to be friends with somebody who's not failing. Yeah, like if you if you're in business and you're like, I've never done anything wrong, I've never lost money, I've never done. I'm like, yeah, I don't know that you're gonna be the right partner for me because failing is where you learn grit. It's where you learn priorities, it's where you learn like I think you learn more through failure than you do, yeah. Winning personally. Um but the uh the the idea that you pivoted and and and what just to your point, man, I love what you're saying about not like wanting to work. I've really been wrestling with this like reality, like retirement's not in the Bible. Sabbath is in the Bible, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

Like a day of rest, and not just retirement's not in the Bible. What about how God created us in the Garden of Eden? Yes, before sin ever entered the picture. Yes. All right, so work isn't a product of sin, work is a good thing created by God because it says that in the beginning, you go through Genesis, and because you can go back to like, why are we here? Well, you know, like what's the purpose? And it's like God created Adam and He placed him in the garden to work and tend it. Yeah. To work and manage it, to work in steward. Like Adam was, I'm sure, you know, he he's working, he's taken care of. So we're created. I think that whenever we are you can call it heaven or the new earth, whenever God comes and makes all things new, yeah. I think that we'll rule and reign alongside him forever. We're gonna be doing stuff.

SPEAKER_01 36:21

Yeah, you know, work is is part of God's design. So I love I love this that perspective because I don't think it's just like, oh, that's a good way to think, Cole. I actually think like that's biblical. You're like, oh no, like God designed us to work and have purpose. And most people um that retire die within five to ten years because they've lost their purpose, they've lost purpose. I just read a story about a 97-year-old heart surgeon, which I don't know if I'd want him working on my heart, but uh he just said, you know, my friends started retiring at 70 and they would all die within five years. He goes, So I was like, I don't want that, and I didn't have like this desire to just like golf every day or whatever that gets old, and so he just kept working, and uh he's apparently a really good heart surgeon. Um but dude, uh I love talking about the entrepreneurial side of you and just some of those perspectives from business that you learned over the years, but um, I want to get into your family, want to get into fatherhood. Uh, this is a little bit of a father's day segment. So um uh I wanna I wanna get in. You just said something that I just want to call out on you. You just said um it's all because of my wife, and you're talking about your kids, and and I I would challenge that thought based on what I know from you. Not that your wife's not amazing, but um, I think the role that you've played as a father and a dad has been really significant. And I think there's a lot of dads, even your age, that are asking questions right now. You know, we have kids, and there's not like this playbook that somebody hands you and goes, here you go. Um and uh, but yet it's one of the most important things we do in our lives. And we want to do it well and we want to do it right. And I think a lot of dads want to do that. They struggle with the tension of business and providing, being home, and at least, at least I do. At least I'll just say that about me is that there's always that tension of both. But I feel like you've done you've done it really well. And so I want to move into a challenge today, Cole, if that's okay. We are gonna move into um the juice box jams challenge. That's maybe the dumbest name ever, but it's it's it is what it is. Sometimes you just gotta name things for what they are. So we're gonna do a juice box jams challenge, and what that's gonna look like is uh I have uh 10 questions uh because we both have five kids. So representing both of our kids, 10 kids, 10 questions, two dads. And uh I'm gonna ask a question. These are the most commonly asked questions that I get or my wife and I get as parents, as a father. And uh I'll ask it, we'll both answer it. But in front of us here, we've got a bunch of these juice boxes. Uh tell me about Frosh, because this is your family, this is your family's thing, right?

SPEAKER_00 39:07

Yeah, yep. So I won't be too promo-y, but we're we're very pumped about these, largely just because we're passionate about family, uh, kids, and health. And that's what Frosh is. This will be nationwide in Target by the time you watch this podcast. Really, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah. And uh so obviously Target's really excited about it. We're talking to a bunch of other retailers, but it's really just your favorite juice box uh that you can think of. You know, I don't have to name any uh we got three flavors apple, uh what's that tropical punch and fruit punch? But it's healthy ingredients and five grams of protein. So it's vitamins and you know, zinc, all the things that you want for your kids. So instead of them just drinking down, you know, water dunk juice and or sugar, it's actually got for my ignorance.

SPEAKER_01 39:48

Is there normally five grams of protein in juice boxes?

SPEAKER_00 39:51

No, juice usually has zero grams of protein. Yeah, that's what I thought. Especially in a kid's juice box. I feel dumb asking that no, I yeah, any any competitor or any juice that you're buying your kids is gonna have zero grams of protein. So that it was it took a long time to get protein in because it's a clear way of protein isolate, that tastes really good. And kids, I mean, you'll you'll try this. It's really good. You don't taste the protein. Um, our kids love it. So amazing. Okay, yeah. So we have these and then uh the jams.

SPEAKER_01 40:15

Tell me about the jams.

SPEAKER_00 40:16

Jams, very similarly, our family loves peanut butter and jellies. Um, and we were downing uh we were downing uncrustibles, right? I mean, they're delicious, aren't they? Right? It's like it's easy on the go. But I always felt bad to give them to our kids because they uh I mean you just read the ingredient level label and that will speak for itself. So uh we partnered with this company who you can see the ingredients on the back. Very simple. You you know exactly what those ingredients are, you don't feel bad about it. And uh 10 grams of protein, you can find these nationwide or target. Protein. Yep. All right, I'm in.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

I'm in I like delicious. Yeah, PB and J and juice. What's not gonna love? Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna ask a question, we're both gonna answer, and we both have to um eat a jams or drink a juice after each question.

SPEAKER_02 40:58

Love it.

SPEAKER_01 40:59

And if you tap out before me, then I win. Let's go. I don't know what I win. Yeah, we got four PB and J's and six jams. I win, I win bragging rights at the first juice box jams challenge.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

This might be the first one ever. This is the first annual, and with four jams and six juices. Oh, how we got uh 40 grams of protein in the jams, and then we got five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty, thirty. So I mean we've got seventy grams of protein here between peanut butter and zipper.

SPEAKER_01 41:24

Seven jams. Let's go. I gotta be honest, I didn't eat breakfast this morning because I wanted to make sure that I didn't lose. Um so, dude, are you ready? Let's do this. All right, question one how do you stay genuinely connected to each of your kids, not just under the same roof, but actually close, um, especially as they get older and the natural drift starts to happen.

SPEAKER_00 41:47

That's a great question. So are the so you're asking the questions I answered. And then we'll both answer. We both answer back and forth. Um, man, I think that that you know, and again, you're you're the more um seasoned father. You have you have yeah, I guess the context we should make sure everybody understands your youngest is my youngest is one.

SPEAKER_01 42:05

One, yeah, and my oldest is about to be 18. So we have yeah, we have one to eighteen covered between the two of us.

SPEAKER_00 42:12

Yeah. Yeah. Uh you're definitely more seasoned. So I I definitely, especially whenever it comes to the teenagers, because my oldest is 13. So we're just entering there. But uh absolutely, without a doubt, I think uh, especially having five kids, bigger family, the one-on-one time is important, which is looks like what you're doing here with your daughter. Yeah. Um, because it's easy to clump the kids together.

SPEAKER_02 42:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:32

Um, you know, I have friends who have a lot of kids and they kind of say, What's the difference in four to five, five to six, six to seven? Because you just kind of throw one more in the mix. And I'm I'm iffy on that perspective because I'm like, I it's easy if you do just clump them together. Yeah, but I want each of my kids to know that they're loved and special uniquely and individually, yeah. And not that they grow up with this imposter syndrome, like we talked about like who am I? Because I was always just kind of thrown in the mix. But like, this is what makes you so special because yes, you're a Lebrand and part of our family, but you're also, you know, Everly. You're also posy, and this is what God has yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:09

Dude, that's so good. Um I So do I get to eat this now? Uh yeah, you can you get to start eating. You can you get to go hungry. Um I uh some of the best advice that I got early was build connection with your kids when they're young so that when they get older and they actually need it, it's not weird. So uh essentially this idea like when when your kids are younger, um I is my mic okay? Um when your kids are younger, you you don't have to work to build connection. I'm going to Home Depot, okay, I'll come with you. I'm going, I'm going to do something that might be boring, but they just want to be with you. So they're just like, yeah. So you feel connected to your kids with little effort because they just want to hang out with dad. But as they get Older that natural connection starts to shift. And so if you don't actually have a real connection, if it was just like a connection by flow of the day, then um when they're going through things or there's school drama or boys or whatever, like relationships and gossip or whatever, um, it's it's kind of like weird to to talk. Like, I don't know why you're trying to butt into my life. And somebody told me years ago, build connection when they don't need it so that when they do, it's there. And it's not weird. And so I started a thing at our house called Mon Dates. And every Monday night is a date night. Uh, we rotate the girls, they all know they're week. Like next Monday is uh Stella's, and she's already talking about it. She wants me to take her to the golf range, which I'm super bumped about. I'm like, heck yeah, we're gonna go to the golf range. But um but I started that with uh Paisley, who's about to be 18. I think she was 10 or 11. And it's become such a tradition and a staple in the family that it's been when they were younger, it's like, what do you want to do? I don't want to go roller skating, I want to go to the arcade, I want to go to a movie. You know, those are the kind of things. Now with my 14, 15, 16, 17-year-old, 18-year-old, it's like let's go to dinner and talk, just hang out and talk about life and where we're going, things like that. So that was probably one of the best advice as far as connection is get it when they're young so that when they need it when they're older, it's not weird.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

I love that. I think I'm gonna steal your mundates. That's a really good because I got a weekly date with my wife, but not with the kids. My wife and I, we will have we'll do the same thing, but it's like my wife and I will take a kid out, but it's not on a weekly basis. And I like we our number three, our son Xeon, he's been begging us. He's like, When's my next one? When's my next one? Because he's up next on the calendar. And I think having it as regular as he can is is so special, and the kids just value that so much.

SPEAKER_01 45:57

It's been fun because they like to even plan it. Yeah. You know. I'm eating. I answered eating, and I'm having a hard time eating drinking. Peanut butter. Yeah. It's like, I can't wait to get to the juice part now.

unknown 46:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 46:10

Next question. The great answer. Number two. We've kind of already talked about this, but I think this would be fun to riff on as well. How intentional are you? Don't start drinking yet, bro. Okay. We're not there yet. Not there yet. Sorry. I already ate the whole thing. The peanut butter, you think you're a little thirsty. I'm just getting it ready. I'm not gonna drink it. All right. How intentional are you about fun in your family? And what does that actually look like practically day-to-day? Oh man.

SPEAKER_00 46:37

Yeah, that's a fun one. Uh, talking about fun, ma'am. I mean, it sounds so cheesy and like cliche, but I'm I'm sure you know, but we just have such a blast in our house. It is just um, I mean, whenever you love being a parent uh and love your kids and they are just the light of your world, like it it was almost hard for me to say yes to this podcast because I thought I had to be away from my kids for a couple hours. Well, I was like, Well, nah, I love you and it's not gonna be yes, but for real, I I it's not like uh like man, how do I get away from my kids all day? Like but they're they're so much fun, and I love hanging out with them and um how it looks practically is that I don't think you have to like schedule. I I think that one, it it's important to schedule fun things. But I also think like fun can just be wildly spontaneous and all the time. Yeah, whether it's making breakfast and family conversations and uh making sure that you have like built-in moments of family dinner and like making sure that there's actual conversation around the dinner table versus just everyone on their phones or whatever that looks like, um, having those really intentional things that your family values.

SPEAKER_01 47:44

Yeah, dude, that's a great answer. You you can drink your juice now. That was thank goodness. That was good enough. Sweating. All right, I would answer that. I I would think I would agree with you. Um the things that have probably if I were to add anything to what you said or answer that in my own way, I would say I think it's really important not to take yourself too seriously. And I think that when sometimes we can get into that headspace, and fun is what gets you out of that space. You're like, you know, you know, like it's be a dad that's okay to laugh at yourself. Like, you know, I made a mistake or I did something funny or whatever. Um I think that's really important. The other thing I'd say with fun is um be intentional with the type of fun. So one of the things we start doing that when the girls were younger was we'd we'd go like what we call overlanding, which is like I've got this old land cruiser that's like all built up for like rock crawling if you wanted it to, but we'll just go up and just into the Sierra Nevada is that we live at the feet of our our where we live is like the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges and Lake Tahoe. And um, we'll just go camp. We'll just go drive around in the wilderness and get them out of like the day-to-day and have fun in that way. Um it's crazy when you do that, how much they crave that or like the beach.

SPEAKER_02 49:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:09

And then they also want like less screens, like less screen time when you when you get so I like when you get off when you want to have fun, be intentional to do it, but do it in ways that kind of like I think we're we we both sound you said this to me on the phone before. Um, we're pretty spontaneous people. Um, I think we're we're we're very spontaneous for fun. Like, let's go do this. All right, sweet, we're doing it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 49:36

Yeah, so yeah, I would wildly echo the the no screen thing as well. I think the phones and the tablets and the TVs, and and we're we're not a family, you know, and it's totally fine if you do this. We we we have uh you know two TVs in our home, so we're not like anti-TV. We have movie nights and all those things, but um I think that I don't think I know that the phones and the social media, and especially as your kids get older, uh it's just it can suck the fun away from you. Yeah. You know? Uh so I think just it's e it's so much easier to hand your kid the tab with the phone. I think just we'll pee be repeating certain certain things here, like doing the harder thing, which it might be harder to like it might it might feel harder in the moment to like actually like load your kids up and like take them into the mountains to camp and all these things, but it's so much more rewarding whenever you do it. You find so much more joy in and through that, you know.

SPEAKER_01 50:29

I would add maybe this is a question to you, but I think I think uh tell me if you disagree. I think another thing that parents might feel the pressure of like like if you're feeling the pressure of finances, fun doesn't have to cost a lot either. And I think that's like there's this misconception of well, money's tight, we don't have money, we can't do anything, we want to go to Disneyland, we can't afford to go to Disneyland. It's like go go play a card game. Yeah, go go play Monopoly, go play Uno, go play whatever it is, you know.

SPEAKER_00 50:58

Like the most fun thing that our family does, my favorite thing, and the thing that I see like our kids just come alive in is if we get in the car, and it's part of the reason that we are trying to buy more land is because we think we can just do it in our land. But we just get in a car and we go find just a big open grass field. We lay down a blanket and we got footballs and baseballs, and no plan, and we got some music playing, and everyone's just kind of running around doing their own thing or playing a game, or it's like you said, spontaneous. There's no plan. You show up to the grass field, hopefully it's good weather. Good weather helps. Yeah, um, and it's free.

SPEAKER_01 51:28

Yeah, fun doesn't have to be expensive. All right. Um, next question here. How do you make sure your kids know that their value is not tied to what they do? But who, but whose they are.

SPEAKER_00 51:43

Yeah, whose they are. I wrote that. Yeah. Um that's really good. Uh our oldest daughter has always done I'm gonna dupe my juice boxes. Do it, okay. Tropical punch. Did you get done with yours? Uh I still got a little bit left. Okay, okay. Yeah. It'll be a decent bitter juice if we do um all of it. Yeah. Let's see. Uh so my oldest daughter, she's 13, Everly, she has always done competitive dance. Uh, that's not my world. Like I said, I grew up in Southern Alabama. Competitive dance wasn't even a thing. I came into her life when I was 19, she was three, so what she had already started doing, and she's fantastic at it. She's loved it. Um, and so obviously I support, right? I support it. Um, that being said, uh, it has been a journey as my wife and I, we have kind of pruned in our faith and our parenting. And obviously, your first one, you're learning a lot. Uh, and so we asked, fortunately, we've always had people in our lives who have been more seasoned, and that's been such the biggest blessing is God putting people in the next season of life that we can be like, hey, uh, how about this, this, and this? But uh, that was a big thing is making sure like her identity wasn't wildly tied to her being a good dancer. Yeah. Um, yeah. For so many reasons. I think I think the dance competition community can be uh a kind of a crazy one why they made a TV show, Dance Moms, around it. But um that was whenever we moved here, something that we wildly honed in on, especially with our oldest, because she was I can't we've been here three years. So she was either 10 or 11 whenever we moved here, and it was just to slow uh the level that she was dancing at down. Um, even though she was so good, and uh, and we weren't forcing her to slow it down, even though I I I now three years later think that the best thing to do is to almost force your kids to slow down. Uh, I think that that the culture that we have with, and it comes down down to identity, who you are and what you do, is where are you prioritizing your time? Well, if you if if your time is prioritized, and let's just say baseball, right? Let's take it away from dance. Let's say I was having my son do baseball 24-7 or whatever it is, that's who you are because that is what mom and dad are prioritizing in your life. And you can say different things. I and I think that there might be exceptions, right? I can't, I I'm not old enough and I don't want to like say this is like the mantra, but because you got people like Tim Tebow, who I'm sure was day in, day out football or baseball. Right. And he has been able to use that for the glory of God. So I think that there are exceptions, and I would say that those are relatively rare. Because how many people are actually going to be the next Tim Tebow? Some might. But I think the reality is that a lot of people want their kid to be the next uh if it's dance, they want their kid to be the next biggest dancer who wins all the competitions and ends up background dancing at, you know, whatever the Super Bowl or whatever it is. You want your kid to go pro in this and you want your kid to go pro in that. And I think along the way, you the you're losing, especially if you're a Christian, you're losing the biggest piece that we need to be prioritizing that our kids love Jesus more than anything, more than they love their sport, more than they love their activity, and that even as we were talking earlier, like you're not using God for your business, using your business for God. And similarly, you're not using the thing, the gift that God gave you, whether it's dancing, baseball, soccer, we're not attaching God to that thing. It's like, hey, we are doing this for God. And it I think that that the time aspect is a big one because I think in the US specifically, we are so pro your kids being in a in an activity. Everything, yeah. Yeah, it's just it's become overwhelming that families aren't having dinner together anymore because their kids got to be at this, this, and this, and we can't do this on weekends because we got this, this, and this. And it's like, you don't have to, though. And that's what I tell a lot of people, and again, I could be wrong here, but I I tell a lot of people, you don't have to do that. Yeah. You know?

SPEAKER_01 55:30

The the uh it's so it's so real, and I think it's one of those things where we want our kids to have a good experience. So the motives are right. For sure.

SPEAKER_00 55:40

I don't think I I get trying to say we want their kids live.

SPEAKER_01 55:42

The motives are right, but um yeah, I and we did it.

SPEAKER_00 55:46

And and and I I just want to like clarify like we did that life for a long time with Everly, which is why we're so passionate about it, because up till we moved to Tennessee, Everly didn't eat dinner with us as a family.

SPEAKER_02 55:55

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 55:56

Even a lot of the younger siblings would sometimes ask, I remember there's one year where Everly was in public school, and so she went to school from eight to three, and then she danced from 3:30 to 8:30. And so, and the little kids would go to bed at 7:30. So the little kids would ask, Are we gonna see Everly this week? Because they weren't sure when they were gonna see their older sister because she was always at school and then always at dance. So I just want to clarify that like we aren't these parents, like Yeah, no, I I you know we walk through it imperfectly, and we feel like that that was our experience with it.

SPEAKER_01 56:25

I think that one of the the answers that I would give to that identity piece is um what message is your kid actually receiving from you about why they're loved? So, to your point, when you're talking about sports and this and that and the other, if that's all we focus on as parents and that's all we praise as parents, then we're silently, you know, reiterating to them all the time, like, oh no, this is this is identity, this is value. And um, it's funny, I had a uh this would be a hot take because some people would be like, You're crazy. That's uh and I don't know how I feel about this, to be really honest. But I had a uh a pastor one time um tell me that uh if there was a conflict between a church event and a sporting event, the church event always won. That doesn't really exist with most parents. Most parents are like, well, no, this is their schedule and this is their performance there. But he was he he begged the question, he was like, What are you reinforcing? You're reinforcing that that's more important than that. And um, I think that could be considered extreme at some level. Yeah, so I'm not saying everybody needs to do that, but I do think those kind of questions, yeah, how is my how is my kid receiving like identity for me? What's how am I influencing that daily? Um, and I do think the question about like priority prioritization, it shows them a little bit more about your identity, about what you value, yeah, and what you're pointing yourself to.

SPEAKER_00 57:56

For sure. And I think a big thing is like, where do they see mom and dad spending their time? Yeah. Because if they're seeing, you know, they're gonna find their their identity in us a lot. So if they're seeing us in our word, you're gonna say, oh, that's important. Right. But they're seeing like we're so focused on their sport or wherever they're finding their identity in, then that's a big thing. Um, and then also like whenever you are reassuring your kids or speaking life over them, those things that you're saying, like, hey, I love you because you're the best dancer, or hey, I love you because you're so kind, you're so genuine, and you're so you know these things, like that's where the vacuum is.

SPEAKER_01 58:30

Yeah, I think one thing we've always tried to make sure our kids know is um that they're loved unconditionally. And we want to be the first people they come to when they're dealing with something, not the last. Like, I don't want you to think, oh my gosh, you know, I think there's a I've seen this written somewhere, but it's like I don't want I I think the statement is I don't want to be in a sit in a tough situation and think, oh my gosh, my dad's gonna kill me. I want to be in a situation where I'm in a tough situation, I go, oh my gosh, I need my dad. Yeah. You know, um, so that's that's so good. All right, I finished mine, and I think you have to slurp it to prove it.

SPEAKER_00 59:08

I was gonna do that, but I didn't want to do it while you're talking.

SPEAKER_01 59:10

That's okay. I just wanted to just wanted to make sure that juice box slurp that I got. Pretty good, right? That's super good. That um, well, I've only had one flavor, but that's my favorite flavor so far.

SPEAKER_00 59:21

Yeah, now see I'm a little I'm I'm slightly full because like we're kind of like taking our time with it. I know, I know the sandwich and the drink.

SPEAKER_01 59:28

All right, next one. Next one. Um, how do you build genuine confidence in your kids that doesn't depend on winning or achievement?

SPEAKER_00 59:38

Wow, say that again. I gotta I gotta chew on that one. Here, I can go first too if you are. You can put all the pressure up.

SPEAKER_01 59:43

Yeah, I'm gonna have you go first, so then I can um piggyback off it. Uh, how do you build genuine confidence in your kids? Is basically what I'm trying to ask. Um, that doesn't depend on winning or achievement. Yep. Um, I think when I think about that question, if I were to really simplify it, I would just say learn to celebrate the small things. Learn to highlight the little moments that matter because um I think confidence in kids is really it's established in all the unsaid stuff. You know, it's like when you talk to somebody and they're like an adult that's just like dealing with a lot of issues, and you you're like, Well, what what did this come from? And they'll go back to like a two-minute moment when they were eight years old. Yeah, and my dad said this to me. Yeah, and it just spiral me in this way. So I I it in our home, I think we we try to pay attention to the small things, celebrate the small things, uh, be excited about the small things. And uh gosh, um yeah, I think that's uh and and then I I really try to highlight like their individual uniqueness. Like we are not trying to raise five identical daughters. Yeah. We we want to raise five daughters that are unique in God's eyes, that have giftings and skill sets, and just like you talked about your brothers, like like you're not the same person, and that's actually the way that God wants it. You know, it's important to be uniquely you. And for our daughters, what that's done is it's actually helped them be close because they're not competing with each other. Yeah, it's not like well, well, no, I gotta be good at that too. It's like, no, like that's what uh Pringle, I call my oldest Pringle, that's what Pringle's good at. And Lulu's Lulu's good at different things. Pringle could be a my creative director, Lulu could run operations, like they're very different in that way, and I want to praise both of that. They don't need to be succinctly the same, you know what I mean? Um so I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:52

I don't know if that's a good answer. No, that's that's really good. I love that. Yeah, I don't have too much more to add to that, other than I think similarly to what we said in previous answers, but I think just in the whole four kind of go together a little bit. Yeah, but it's like like reassuring them, like something that I tell my kids, I know my wife does too, like every night before bed, is that we love them and we're so proud of them. I think like having your kids here that you're so proud of them just make it builds their confidence. You know, it well, it's easy to tell your kids that you love them, but don't forget to tell your kids how proud you are of them. Even if they're not doing anything that you're wildly proud of at the moment, but it just you're proud of them in general, it's gonna get them this confidence and their identity and uh to be who God created them to be.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:34

Yeah, dude, that's so good. All right, let's um go to the next question. And and dude, you don't have to answer first on all these either, but I'm going in for the jams.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:43

Yeah, I need a little more.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:46

Have you drinking two juices?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:48

No, I know. I'm about to crack my second one. Okay, okay. My third juice. I'm definitely gonna go on.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:52

I might go, I might go. Um, I'm gonna try this one.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:55

You want apple as well? I'm gonna go apple, yeah. Yeah, you'll see. It's uh it's not it's not sour apple, but we we we made it appear that way so that uh you're pleasantly surprised is the best thing. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:09

When I see the green apple, I don't think so. Yeah, that's true. All right, next question. How do you pass on real faith to your kids?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:16

Yeah, I love this. Uh I would say passing on real faith to your kids is best done if I'll reword it this way. I think it's impossible to pass on real faith to your kids if you aren't living it yourself. It's impossible. Um I remember growing up as a kid, 12, 13, 14-year-old, and I was a Christian kid, and I was always this hopeless romantic and wanted to get married. Um, you know, like I was like just like I couldn't wait to get married, which funny enough, I got married young. It worked out, it worked out well for me. You knew I knew what I wanted. But I remember uh there were these like you know, 12, 13, 14-year-old girls in my town, and uh uh they weren't living uh a certain way, and I was really maybe disappointed. And I remember I was always thinking, like, how are their dads letting them do that? I remember like thinking of that at 12, 13, 14. I remember thinking, like, I am not gonna let my daughters do that. And I remember seeing like, how are their dads letting them do that? And now being a dad almost 30 years old, I see the dads are letting them do that because the dads weren't living the way that they should have lived. Yeah. So the dads aren't gonna care, yeah. You know, we can get really vulnerable. If a dad's addicted to pornography, he's gonna be so um uh mystified by his guilt and by his shame and by his sin that he's not going to be able to properly lead his kids into purity, yeah, you know, into the into the things of God. And so I think that if we want our kids to truly love and walk with the Lord, we have to truly love and walk with the Lord. Not that if you don't, your kids won't, but it makes it so much easier if you do. Right. You know, it's so much easier to follow in your dad's footsteps. So if your dad is doing the righteous thing, it's a lot easier to live more righteously. If your dad's doing, if your dad, you know, so many people say, like, oh, I'm an alcoholic because my dad and my grandfather and it runs my family. It's a lot easier to be an alcoholic if your dad's an alcoholic. You can break that cycle by by all means, but it's easier to do what you know, what you're familiar with, and what your mom or dad are doing and modeling every day. And if that's righteousness in your home, then by all means that's what our kids. Yeah. And it puts so much pressure on us, but that is like the greatest motivator. That's, I mean, for me, it's like the greatest motivator to holiness and to purity and all things before the Lord is like I think I said it in a previous uh conversation with a friend, but like the giants that we don't slay are kids that are left to slay. And we see that in the story of Goliath because it actually goes, like Joshua and his army, I'll keep it short, but they went on to kill all these groups of giants. Yeah. And they didn't kill this one group of giants, which is actually where Goliath came from. And if they killed that group of giants, Goliath might uh you know, David might not have had to kill Goliath, but because they didn't kill that group of giants, they kind of, you know, you could say left this secret. In unkilled giant rose, and then David generations later had to kill him. Wow. So I want to kill all the giants in my life and my family's life and everything so that my kids can thrive more abundantly than I ever for the kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:13

Yeah. So good. I love that answer, man. I I don't have much to add because I feel like you covered it really well. I I think it's just important for parents to know that your kids' faith can't be your faith. You have to model, you model your faith. You show the kids kids don't buy the performance faith. They can't be performance faith. You model your faith, but at the end of the day, you can point them to Jesus. But that's, I mean, I pray that I pray every night over my kids when I'm putting them to bed. Um, I pray, God, I pray that they would know you. They would know a relationship with you, that you're not just our king, you're our friend and that they would know that you're near. Um, I I've literally prayed that for 17 years. You know, like that's kind of my phrase is that they would know you because I feel like when you can teach your kids to know God, then the rest is is set up. But I would also add that you're um what you said about you have to model it. You you don't just model it on a Sunday, you have to model it in the home. My wife is so much better than I am. She's just she's so wise, she has this Holy Spirit-led thing, and she's she really models it in our home in a way that um uh like she's just her Bible open, reading her Bible. Dude, I feel like there's multiple mornings while I'll go to wake up my kids for school, and they're already up with their Bibles open in journals and just like devo doing devotions. And I'm like, who who are you guys? Like it, I'm just so proud of them, but you step back and it's like God did something in their heart in their life at a moment, and they've just continued to do that. And it's um it's been fun because uh Paisley is our oldest who really started that, and then all the sisters like Stella's eight, and she's like, um, she's like, Dad, I need a on our last date. She's like, I need a new notebook. I I need a journo for my devotions. And I'm like, oh, okay, like we're gonna go get her one. And she grabs, we went to youth group two weeks ago because Paisley was gonna do like a five-minute sermon. They were having like students preach, so she wanted to come watch her big sister preach, and we're sitting in there waiting for her to preach. And Estelle's like, Dad, I left my Bible in Jono in the van. And I'm like, Okay. She's like, we gotta go get so we run out to the van, we grab her stuff. She took notes during her sister's sermon, and it's not because I'm like, you have to do this, it's just there's something that's been modeled that they now just want to um emulate, you know, it becomes their own. So that's beautiful. Awesome. Great answers. Great answers. Um, all right, I'm looking at time. I'm gonna move to um I'm gonna move to question seven, and I'm gonna drink my my juice here. How do you handle conflict in your family? Um, how do you make sure things actually get resolved instead of just going underground?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:22

Yeah. Conflict, is that largely? I mean, I guess if you look at both fronts, marriage, but largely parenting?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:30

I would say it this way. The way that I I could have probably if I were to reword that question, um sometimes it's easier as a parent to just say, because I said so.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:41

Yeah. So I don't So how do you how do you not do that?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:46

Yeah, I don't I I think that's the one of the biggest mistakes we can make as parents is we're so tired and exhausted and stretched that we we become like the disciplined parent that's like, don't do that, stop this, take this, da-da-da. Just and you're like, why? Because I said so. And like there's you know what I mean? So um I would maybe say it that way.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:07

Yeah, yeah. I think um, and we've talked about this kind of overarching theme a lot, but doing the hard thing and um being much more intentional, and that goes with discipline and that goes with explaining things, even whenever you're exhausted. Good, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:28

Sorry, I'm totally distracted that I did this one.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:31

Um but I think especially around the topic of like discipline or having those conversations with your kids instead of just like getting frustrated, and you have to give yourself brace because there's gonna be moments where you are just gonna do the cause I said so. And I think I think that even God does that sometimes with us, where it's almost like, but why God? It's like because I'm God. You know, you have faith. So I think similarly, you know, our kids just hopefully learn to trust us, but there does need to be this um explanation that as parents, we are trying to lead them to God. And as parents, we're trying to be obedient to God. So our job as parents is to actually discipline them because we love them, and that God has put that job on us. And so that's what my wife and I, we've been trying to focus on is like, listen, we are doing this because we love you and because God actually commands us to. Yeah. And that we would be bad parents if we did not.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:19

You know, I I don't discipline other people's kids because I because I'm not commanded to, and because I don't love them the way that I love you. But because I love you so much, I actually am going to discipline you. And so just kind of reiterating that why behind you doing something, you know, you don't have to necessarily get inside like the nitty-gritty of like all like a lengthy detail, but hey, you know, God commanded me to discipline you in this way because we're gonna raise you to be an amazing human who is gracious and kind and patient and empathetic, and all these fruits of the spirit that God commands us to be. Um so I I think just reiterating to our kids like who they are, but also who who God commanded us to be as their parents.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:56

Yeah, that's so good. When uh when Paisley was 12, she came to me and she really wanted to know why she couldn't have a phone. And she really she had a case for it. You know the card the story, like all my friends have phones, da-da-da. And I remember in that moment I wanted to just go because I said so. Like, don't ask me for a phone. I said so. And I stopped and I said, you know, uh my mom, her her grandma, his name is Gigi, said when Gigi was your age, none of this existed. So we're still learning right now in real time the effects that these kind of things, screens and and having access to like a whole world, like we're we're learning the effects that it's having on teenage brains. And and and we're there's new discoveries coming out all the time. And I said, So me and mom want to be really careful to make sure that we're setting you up well and that we're looking out and we're protecting you in the right way. And um, she's sitting there and uh I she goes, Dad, and I'm thinking like she's gonna just keep pleading her case, and I'm like, Yeah. And she looks up at me, I'm getting emotional to seeing it. She goes, I trust you. And I was just like, Oh my gosh, like, here, have the phone. But um, it was such a meaningful moment because I realized that was a moment that I wanted to just say because I said so. Yeah, but that was a moment where taking the time to try to articulate the why, uh, it it built what you just said, trust. And I think what I would challenge parents in and dads in is like take that extra minute to explain something sometimes because it gives them the context they need to trust you better.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:49

To to see, oh, dad's looking out for me. Dad cares about me, dad wants to protect me. Um, so yeah, I think that's really important. Yeah, that's really good. Awesome. Great, dude. How are you doing over there? Well, we're stuck. I I powd both jams. I just got a different juice to work through, yeah. All right, and you've got you got the uh the tropical punch. Tropical punch, and I've got one of these left. All right, we're gonna get through this. Um, this is an interesting one. Uh, I'm gonna ask two more questions here. Um, one for this and one for that juice. Uh, how much have the people around your family, uh, your spouse, other adults, other families shaped who your kids are becoming? Um, and was that intentional?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:33

Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:34

Oh, yeah. Um, it's kind of a key. Show me your friends. Yeah, show me your friends, I'll show you your future. Yes. Your community is your everything. Um that was another reason for us locating here. Um our oldest daughter was in um full-time dance, as I explained, and that was the priority of uh the people that we were around. And and it was if we are surrounded by this, we can all that we want as mom and dad say, hey, love Jesus, he's the most important thing. But if her friends and her community and and her friends' parents, everyone else is saying no, it's it's dance, it's TikTok, it's whatever it is, then a teenage kid is much more likely to eventually side with their friends versus their mom and dad, as we all know. Um, but if you can align those things, not that it's gonna be perfectly, but yeah, who you surround yourself with, even just for my wife and I, you know, it's not just our kids, but my wife and I, you know, we want to be surrounded by parents that um that we wildly look up to and that are making us better and greater. And uh I know that there's so many sayings and amazing quotes, but one of them was like, show me uh like the five people closest that you hang out with, and you're the medium of all of them. Right. Um and not that you shouldn't hang out with people who are doing it wrong. You know, I mean, Jesus did allow himself to hang out with people, but who are you like spending the most time with? And that's what it is. It's all about like who are you spending the most time with? If I'm spending the most time with guys who uh just have are doing things that I don't think are the best things that a dad and husband should do, eventually I'm going to either let my guard down or settle or think that's normal or whatever it is. And recently I've been around dads who uh are just the best dads. Like I have a few friends who are just the best dads. Love that. And I I consider myself a really good dad. And I'm like, man, I I gotta do better. You know, but if I hung out with dads who are losers, I'd be like, I'm doing pretty good, you know? Right. Um, and I think it's okay to admit, like I just said, I I I I know I'm a good dad, but man, I want to be better because I'm around these other really amazing dads, you know. And the same thing with husbands. And um, so I mean it's I couldn't stress like that is that's a secret ingredient to any family. And if you don't have that, like you're on an island.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:54

Yeah. Yeah, man, I agree. I think uh the I think so much of the formation of our kids happens in the unsaid. And what I mean by that is it just it just happens into just living life the day to day. And when you talk about what you're saying with friends and relationships and um you know, the it it's modeling something. If you're around if you're putting your kids around somebody that like maybe an unhealthy dad or something, they don't just see that, but they also see your passitivity in a sense. You know, so I think um I I think not there are so many adults who have helped shape my kids' life. Like uh Brian and Katie Torwalt, the worship leaders, they're like some of our best friends. They've now known all my kids. Uh Paisley was like three, and they're it's like it's like Auntie Kiki and Uncle Briany, and um they'll have conversations with them. Katie will come take the girls out to Starbucks just to like just hang out like as an auntie. And some of those conversations are so meaningful and so powerful, and it they're so healthy. And sometimes we as parents, we're like, we we we want to hold, so we're like almost two, you know. Yeah, I get you want to protect your kids. I'm not saying don't protect your kids, but I do think that being intentional to put your kids around what you just said, like show me the five people nearest to you, and I'll show you your future, or you are the medium of them. I think that's just very real. But uh sometimes we can kind of isolate, and I think life was meant to be done in community. So uh no matter what where you're at, I think community is really what grounds you. It's it community that knows you is what's able to call the things out in you that maybe nobody else would because they just don't think they can. Yeah. Um, so anyway, that's uh that's what I'd say there. So good. That's so good. Okay, last one. And uh that's me. Oh, oh, that's you, yeah. Yeah, okay. You yeah, I'm taking the the power punch. You feeling a little fool? I'm doing good. Two same these two juice boxes. I'm doing good, actually. Honestly, these jams are really good. Oh, they're good? I would get in trouble. Yeah, no, but you can because they're not too bad for it. And then do these have to be uh you freeze them. Freeze them, okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:24

Yeah, you freeze them, but then they can be you can leave them out along. Oh, that's so good.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:27

Yeah, yep. I'm a fan. Okay. Last one here. What is the hardest season you've ever been through as a dad? Oh man. And what did your kids learn about you because of how you handled it?

SPEAKER_00 1:19:39

Oh, goodness. The hardest season I've been through as a dad. Okay, my I'm just gonna go with what with what my first thought was. Okay. Um, the hardest season that I've been through as a dad, I think would be I'll say two things. Uh one, um I have definitely struggled with anxiety, uh, largely health anxiety around my kids from time to time. I'm a hover parent. We've had friends of ours and heard stories of tragic accidents. And um so there's been moments that I uh have been an anxious wreck. Even like my younger son, he's had a seizure before, and uh he's had extreme cases of croup and streider and scary, scary moments that we thought we were gonna lose him. Wow, that just kind of put me in this like anxious space. And um I think I didn't do the best job and wanted to do the best job whenever it comes to when anxiety attacks as a dad, showing my kids that I turn to God and Jesus versus myself or how do I fix this or uh because as a man, whenever we're overwhelmed, whether it's I'm stressed out financially, I'm stressed out, there's gonna be so many times as a father that we are stressed or anxious about something. And it's like, what am I turning to in those moments? So I just want to make sure that my kids see me turn to Jesus, not just when things are good, but when I'm really anxious and don't know the how the outcome is gonna be in bad times. Yeah. Um so that's that that's the biggest uh yeah, I'll I'll just lean in with that one. That would be the biggest thing is turning to Jesus and God uh and the anxiety.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:16

That's so real, Cole. You have no idea how many parents can identify with that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:22

Like I said, because my even the next time that it happens, I hope I turn to Jesus. But in previous times I know that I didn't do the best job modeling this. So I'm not saying this from a uh a place of like, I've done that extremely well, but that's what I hope to do well, and that my kids see. Because I want them to do the same thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:38

Yeah. That's so good. I would I would say that the I think the reason this question means so much to me is because this we're not promised and in some ways we're we're we are promised that we will go through hard times. That there will be trials and tribulations, and and you know, serving Jesus isn't like serve Jesus because then your life will have no problem. It's almost not like we're not promised good times, but we are promised bad times. Yes, we are. I mean it like storms will come. Yeah, seasons will come. And I think when you teach your kids that, when you when they begin to see you navigate a storm and you're not trying to hide it from them, uh necessarily obviously when they're younger, it's all age appropriate. But um I think teaching them that life isn't always gonna be great. Yeah, that we will have problems. It's how we navigate those those problems is really important. Um, but for me, I would think the hardest season I've been through as a dad was probably probably um our fourth daughter, Penelope, she just turned 12. When she was born, about two weeks later, she came down with like a severe case of bacterial meningitis. She was having like 20, 30 seizures a day and uh high high fever. Um it was it was another one of those moments where we we spent like six weeks in the hospital, um like in the NICU, like just praying that she would survive. And um, we I remember my wife and I we just took 24 hour shifts, like we'd just go and then she'd come back and and then we'd be with the other kids and uh just trying to get through it. And um what our kids got to see through that hard season was the community around us. Like obviously, you know, I'm with Jesus culture, and it was like dude, the team just rallied, they just helped out, they jumped in, which then allowed us to really focus our energy and our faith into like that whole situation, and it really gave me a uh a compassion for difficult situations with kids. I think that's probably every dad's fake biggest fear is like something happening to one of my kids. It just uh I understand bad things happen in life. Please don't ever let that be a bad thing, right? Like, um but watching her go through that and then just going, God, I just trust, I trust you in this. Like I I trust there's a future here. I trust there's um uh our friends even uh wrote a song called God with us, like that ended up being a really great worship song out of that whole experience where they would just come into the hospital room and just sing, sing it over, sing scripture over my little girl. So uh that was probably hard to season, and I think my kids got to see what community looks like. Like that's beautiful in general storm. Wow. Ah, bro, this has been so good.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:49

Um, I'm almost done with my seen the podcast conversation or the the frost has been so good. The convo's been good or the frost has been good.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:58

Both. Both have been both have been good. I'm not gonna lie, I think this might be my favorite one though.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:03

I think that's the best. Yeah, if you can only get one, I'd I'd lean into power punch, but well, because this is they're all good.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:08

You're right about the green one, but the um this power punch tastes like summer to me.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:15

It is that that's the drink of the summer right there. Not just the kids. I mean, I'd drink it, right? Like you're you're out by the pool, that's it.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:21

I just love that there's no manly way to be like it's not.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:25

You got a juice bot? It's not unless if you're that con that that shows how manly you are, actually. It's like backwards.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:31

Look at that. He did it. Because it's if you're really enjoying it, then there has to be a slurp, right? Because you're like, and then you feel even like less when you're kind of like your last drop. Cole, it's been so fun, dude. This has been the best. Um, you're a phenomenal dad. You are, bro. Um 10 kids, 10 questions, 10 snacks here. We did it. Um, will you pray us out? Would that be okay? I'd love to. Um, I just want you to pray over the dads. Uh you know, it's Father's Day's coming up. Um, just pray over the dads, pray over the parents, and um yeah, man, praise some.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:06

Yeah, let's do it. Lord, we love you. Uh I just pray over every single parent and father specifically listening to this podcast. Right now, Lord, would you and your Holy Spirit just uh touch them where they are? God, I pray that you would you would touch their heart, that you would move them. God, that your compassion and that your uh healing hand would just restore them, God, that you would refresh every single father, whether he's exhausted or anxious or overwhelmed or feeling lost and has no direction, whatever it is, Lord, I pray that you would be the refresher of our souls, Lord. I pray that over uh myself and over Cody, but over every single person listening, God, that they uh as silly as it as it is, over a podcast, God, that your spirit would meet them where they are. And God, that you would direct them, direct their steps, God, that you would help us to walk blameless and faith, uh, just totally faith-filled before you. God, um, you are the purpose. God, you are the reason for everything. And Lord, we just we love you, we sin in all of you. And I just pray that we live our lives and um open our hands up before you. In your holy name we pray. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:13

Cole, thanks for bringing the snacks. Can we cheers? Can we cheers out? That's it. Boom, boom, baby. Yeah, we made a little bit of a mess.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:22

Gotta gotta clean up here.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:24

Well, happy Father's Day, man. Happy Father's Day, bro.