Grayson Wakefield - 7/14/2024

Full show from the Donovan & Jorgenson Heating & Cooling Studio: Sunday, July 14th, 2024

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Faith in the Zone onthe Big nine to twenty in your iHeart
Radio f I'm Mike mcgiven find solothis week. Pastor Ken Keltner from Brookside
Baptist Church will be back in studionext week and we're coming from the Donovan
to Jorgenson Heating and Cooling Studios.Any issues you're having with your HVAC system
please go to Donovan Jorgenson dot com. You will not be disappointed. It's

(00:24):
a company that's very happy to bea sponsor of Faith in the Zone.
So I wanted to thank Pete Warry. Pete's been a friend of the show
for a long time. We'll gethim back on this station. He got
the other radio station that we didFaith in the Zone on. Pete was
on a couple of times. Verygood friend with Pastor Ken Keltner, really
good friend of mine. Have alot of respect for Pete and his family

(00:47):
and his wife and the work thatthey do for Nations of Coaches. And
I called Pete and we're just talkingfor a little while, and I said,
hey, you know, we're alittle bit thin as far as guests.
Can you recommend anybody? And withinabout ten minutes I had like seven
people that you know, we cancall and the one that I chose for
this week, and I chose himfor a specific reason. He is Grayson

(01:11):
Wakefield. He's character coach coordinator atNations of Coaches and he's a young guy.
And I always get intrigued when youget a chance to have some younger
guys on that will come on asecular sports station and openly talk about their
faith and the sports that they're involvedin. And this week's special guest for
the entire hour is Grayson Wakefield.Grayson, how you doing today, Mike?

(01:34):
I'm good man. I appreciate youhaving me on. You're doing okay
today? Yeah, I'm doing great. Hey. My first question for you
is is World Tide or War Eagle? Oh? God, man, I
don't want to upset you early,so I wasn't going to say War Eagle
until I asked that question. RoldTide. How you feeling with the change

(01:55):
at head coach at Alabama? You'reokay with that? Absolutely? Yeah?
Actually, my ball Roger Lae,he is good friends with coach people work
and anyway, Yeah, we're firedup. Obviously, you guys have seen
what he's been able to do recruitingwise and everything. The Alabama guy,
we are pumped and fired up.Well, you know, you might want

(02:19):
to come to Wisconsin for that BadgerAlabama game. I don't know if the
first one's here or there, butman, you know, maybe we go
to a game together. You comeover to Brookside Baptist's Church on Sunday.
We make a weekend out of it. Hey, there you go. That
sounds like a complete weekend right there. We'd be wearing different different gear to
that game, and I would protectyou from those Badger fans, just so

(02:42):
you know. Yeah, good good. I would appreciate that. Well,
yeah, look, you're a lotyounger and a lot faster. You could
run, and you know you'd leaveme behind. Like I told my brother
one time, We're at golfing andthere's a big alligator on the golf course
in Florida, and I said,look, I don't have to outrun the
alex. I just got out runyou and I'm way faster than you are.

(03:02):
And he said, man, we'rebrothers. I said, oh,
well, I'll see you later.So that's kind of how that would go
if we went to that game.Hey, Grayson, give us an idea
where you grew up and where you'reliving now. Yeah. So I grew
up Indicator, Alabama, which iswhere I still reside now with my broad
and it's actually where our home officeis. Would next to be coaches man,

(03:24):
that's awesome. A boy can't stayhome, right, Yeah? Yeah,
I guess not all your families stillIndicator, Yeah, but Jority,
my family is actually here at listedthe deacon dropping distance to where we're all
pretty close. So that's a blessingfor sure, as having two children,
so that is that is a huge, huge blessing. Well, Grayson,

(03:45):
I've got two kids as well,and now I've got six grandkids and they're
all within about fifteen minutes of us. So last night my daughter called and
said, hey, we're going topick up the two older ones at a
function they had at a church,and they let us know they're they're full
of mud. Can we stop andget like a garbage bag yourself that?
We're like, yeah, come on, So that's what happens when you're all

(04:09):
fifteen minutes apart. They also cancan say, hey, listen, we
got to go to a meeting.Do you might if we drop three of
them off? Right? I'm likehold on, let me check there,
Let me check that refrigerator, makesure I can feed those boys. So,
yeah, it's awesome. We welove having them that close, and
we get a chance to really investin our grandkids' lives, which is is

(04:30):
awesome. Hey you guys, youhave two kids, right, you just
had a second Yeah, correct,Yeah, So we have Turner who is
two, will be three in September, and Miss Madden who was born Ju
nine, so a month ago yesterday. Man, you gots if you feel
so blessed. We talked a lotoff the year about that, and certainly
you and Bailey, and I sawa picture of Bailey and you know the

(04:53):
line I use all the time.Y'all kicked your coverage, you big boy?
Trust me. Yeah, you canjoin my club. That's the club
I'm in in. And certainly Bailey, I know she's loving having Turner and
Man together and that that's awesome.Hey, how long have you been involved
with Nations of Coaches? So Ihave known Tommy, who is our CEO.

(05:16):
I've known Tommy pretty much my entirelife, and I've always known about
Nations of Coaches. And then reallysummer of twenty eighteen is when I started
to kind of get my feet wetwith making the coaches and tell me,
as the Character Coach coordinator, whatdoes that entail a day to day life
in your world? What does thatentail? Yeah? Ultimately, Nation of

(05:41):
Coaches, our hope is to seecoaches and all whom they influence impacted for
the glory of God. And sothe way we do that is by equipping
them with character coaches. And ultimatelythose guys are chaplains that are there inside
that university that program, and Ihave the opportunity to serve our kid for
coaches, and that is through makingsure they have all the materials necessary with

(06:04):
me being here at the home officewith helping with training, with online platforms
and lit goes on there with alot of behind the the stuff with our
Character Goast Ministry. Hey, guys, as we're talking with Grayson. Their
website nationof Coaches dot com. It'sone word Nation of Nations of Coaches dot

(06:25):
com. If you go on theirwebsite and you'll see a picture of Grayson
Wakefield and look, they don't getpaid a salary for being part of this.
They gather support for people that believein investing in Nations of coaches and
some of these coaches on an individualbasis. And I didn't tell Grayce I
was going to do this, Butif you're feeling led as we talk to

(06:46):
this young man to support him,please do. And whether it's twenty bucks
here, it's one hundred bucks amonth, it doesn't matter. The fact
that he gets support from people likeus and people that listen to shows like
this are really important. So asyou hear his testimony, you hear the
things that he does on a dayto day basis to help out college coaches

(07:08):
and help out these coaches that arehelping these college coaches. I would highly
recommend going to Nations of Coaches andlooking up Grayson Wakefield, look at his
bio and take a look at someof the stuff that they believe in and
what a character coach is. AndI just think that once you kind of
take a look at what this companydoes, understand what Grayson is doing and

(07:33):
his wife Bailey, and these twobeautiful kids that they have, and if
you're feeling led, let's help themout. Right on their website front page,
a quote from Bill Self, NCAAhead basketball coach over at Kansas,
says this the character coach is avital team member of our stat Our program
would not be what it is withoutthe influence of our character coach. When

(07:56):
somebody asks you, Grayson, whatnations of coaches, what's your missions statement
is? What do you tell them? Yeah? Ultimately, like I mentioned,
to see these coaches and all theimproments meeting their family first and foremost
they're married and their spouse and theirchildren, but also their team and that

(08:16):
is their support staff, their players. And so hopefully what we want to
do is three things. We wantto serve them. We want to connect
with them, and then we hopefullywant to equip them to go and be
disciples who make disciples. And then, hey, college sports has changed a
little bit the last few years,and I'm wondering, with nations of coaches,

(08:37):
you guys have to pivot, Youhave to be very nimble in what
you do. Has that affected youguys quite a bit? I think obviously
the effects can be good and bad. And I think with the help of
these character coaches inside these programs,we have found a way to be sure
that this is no more but justanother ministry opportunity. UH coach at Baylor

(09:01):
University, Scott Brewer talked about hewants to be sure that yes, nil
is what we see it as.But his hope and what we encourage all
of our character coaches to do isencourage the players to know who their name
is in, who their images indo their likeness is in and that's Christ
and so really cool stuff that's comeabout this madness of college basketball and just

(09:22):
college sports in general. Hey Grayson, when you do something like like you
as as the Character coach coordinator forNations of Coaches, You've got to have
a full buy in from Bailey.Correct. I mean, this can't be
you trying to try to do thison your own. It's really kind of
a team effort with you and Baileywhen it comes to this. And I

(09:43):
know through Nations of Coaches they havea coach's wives program, that marriage and
family they have they have just thecoach program there. There are a lot
of things that that you know thatcoaches can get involved with Nations of Coaches
when it comes to their wife andtheir their partner. But I would imagine
as a Character Coach coordinator, Bailey'sgot to be fully right by your side

(10:05):
at something like this. She isand of course we could spend this whole
hour if you've let me talking abouther and just how much he's impacted my
life, but to allow me todo what I get to do, to
support me in that and pray forme, and to do all the things
he does for our family when I'mon the road or anything like that.
There are not enough words and notenough time to talk about how much he

(10:28):
means to me and how much hehelps just my ministry that then helps the
rest of the ministry here next tocoaches Gracie, we had you and I
again. You're a young guy anda good looking guy, beautiful wife,
beautiful kids, And we had thatconversation off there a couple of days ago,
and I shared my testimony with you, and you shared me, you

(10:48):
know, part of your life withme. And there are some things that
I think you and I have havegone through that are intertwined a little bit
as far as you know, justjust making sure that we're taking care of
our business at home. And Iwanted to make sure that if Bailey hears
this show, young man, wetalked about her in a really good way

(11:09):
for about fifteen minutes behind her back, and I want her to know that
you know you talking to me abouther was really impressive. So thank you
for that. Yeah. Absolutely,Like I said, I can go on
and on and you don't want todepend on your stouff to bring you joy
because openly, oh no, Gracein to you there. You know,

(11:33):
we lost Grace and we're going toand that's okay. Let's get to a
break. Other side of the break, we'll ask Grace and Wakefield. We'll
talk a little bit about him beingan athlete, and then we'll ask him
to share his testimony. This isFaith and Zone on the Big nine twenty
in your iHeart Radio app. Welcomeback to Faith and Zone on a Big
nine twenty in your iHeart Radio App. Again on Mike mcgiven flying solo this

(11:56):
week. Pastor Ken Keltner from BrooksideBack his Church will be back with me
next week coming from the Dinavan andJorgans and Hidini Coolian Studios. Our special
guest, he's Grace and Wakefield.He is a character coach coordinator for Nations
of Coaches go to Nations of Coachesdot com. One word Nations of Coaches

(12:16):
dot Com. Grace, you wehad a little problem with the phone when
we cut out you were talking alittle bit about your wife, Bailey,
and how you can't just try tofind one hundred percent joy from your spouse,
and I agree with that, andI just thank her for the work
that she does by giving you hugswhen you need it, patny on the
back and saying, hey, comeon, you gotta get moving here.

(12:37):
And I'm sure she does all ofthat. Yeah, absolutely, Yeah,
I hate that we got cut off. But as I was saying, ultimately
not finding join her because I wasat time finding join her and not being
able to find my join who Godis, and that can be not the
best thing ever for an individual sometimes. And so she was always super quick
the appointment to who God was andspeaks so much life me anyway, I

(13:01):
could go on and on, butwhat a blessing she's been to me as
an individual, and work and allof it so aimed in to that.
You let her know that, uh, you know, we'll continue to pray
for for you and for her andand and everybody over at Nations of Coaches.
Hey, before we ask you foryour testimony, can we talk a
little bit about you being an athlete. Your baseball was your sport. It

(13:26):
was just si I played a lotof different sports in high school, but
college was baseball. Where did youplay? I played at a Division two
school in Montgomery, Alabama, MontavaloUniversity. And what position did you play?
I was a pitcher only, Soyou lefty? Right? I'm alrighty,

(13:46):
Yeah I could, man, I'dgo lefty on you. And I
don't even hit lefty. But I'veseen some taper you picked. Man,
I'm lying on faith in the zone. I wouldn't go lefty. I wouldn't
even get into battersbox. Can youstill row a little bit? I can
actually got a rec league softball gametonight. Boy, Well, you don't

(14:07):
pitch in rec league softball? Beyou? No? No, no,
I'll bring back the glory days.A position player. There you go.
I would assume they put you inleft center or they put you at short.
We'll go third tonight, actually,but we'll go wherever needed. But
third third is home right now?Yeah? That's awesome, So, Grayson,

(14:28):
the second segment for us is ourfavorites, the one that I get
talked about the most when people comeup to me and say, are you
the guy in Faith in the Zone? Yep? Hey? Three weeks ago
when when this person shared their testimony. It seemed like they were talking to
me, and if you would beso kind of sheer testimony with us,
yeah, I'd be honored. Itis all yours, awesome, well hopefully

(14:54):
you know, kind of the SouthernBaptist kind of I'm in story. Really,
Ultimately, as I grew up inchurch, Mom and Dad were both
big believers. It was their goalwas to be sure that we were raised
in church. And so now asa parent, I can realize how difficult
that was at times and how muchI appreciate them for the effort that they

(15:15):
put in as parents. But wasraised in church, and ultimately, around
eight years old, I had avery elementary level understanding of salvation and faith,
and so committed my life to Christand was baptized and stay there at
eight. And so then from thenon I lived as good of life as
I could and understanding at an elementarylevel of my salvation, and then transitioned

(15:43):
as I got older. I havetwo older siblings, and they were teenagers
as we all been, and they'vebeen through a lot of hard stuff and
dealt with a lot. So Iwas able to watch as the youngest just
some hoeme issues and just seeing whatcontroversy was like and ultimately sin and how
not good it was. And sothen transition. Then a couple of years

(16:07):
later, in twenty ten, mydad, who is an amazing, amazing
man, was an amazing husband,was an amazing father. He was diagnosed
with ALS in twenty and ten luGarrett disease for those listening that may have
heard it called that before, Butultimately what it is is a disease that
has no cure, that is terminal, and it ultimately takes away your ability

(16:27):
to walk, talk, and alot of those other things that you need
every single day. So I hadto grow up really fast and ultimately see
who my faith was in and thankfullywith the parents that I had and the
people around me, they encouraged meand I was able to fully understand that.
But that also came with maturing alittle bit faster than a lot of

(16:48):
people around me. It was doingthings is taking back to the bathroom or
helping him get dressed, and alot of things that ten eleven, twelve
thirteen year old kids don't really haveto deal with, And so very early
on I just understood the storms oflights. And so Dad ended up passing
away at twenty fourteen, and man, what a battle he had. And

(17:12):
man, his ultimate motto that Istill hope for from this day is that
ultimately, if one person came toChrist because of his faith through the disease,
then that would be enough for him. And just to know the amount
of people have been changed because ofhis journey, it's really cool to be
a part of an honor to beable to continue to still talk about his

(17:33):
legacy today that still impacting people.But from there, of course, like
I said, had to mature alot quickly, and so then navigating again
what it's like to be a teenagerand I have to start high school without
a father, not having him therefor sporting events or anything like that,
and so just having to figure out, men, what is faith? How

(17:53):
do I make it my own?And if I wish, I could say
that I made it my complete ownerone hundred percent when I was in high
school, but I didn't. Irode mom and Dad's coat tail for a
little bit. And then once Igraduated had the opportunity to go play college
baseball, I was in face withthe real life. I was not around
mom anymore, and so I gotto make my own decisions, and I

(18:15):
wish that I could say that Imade the right decision, but I did
not. Sin became pretty evident inmy life my faith was very minimal and
I needed to be saved and toreally figure out what I believed and why
I believe what I believed. Andso as I was going through that really

(18:36):
rocky spot in my life, Iwas thankful for my mom, who constantly
hit me Bible verses and songs andso many things because she knew I was
struggling. But yes, she lovedme anyway, and she was praying for
me. And so I was sittingand was in a place where I shouldn't
have been and gotten text from oneof the pastors that at the time for

(18:57):
me to come join them in ayouth and at the time, of course,
I was gonna say no, butthere was something in me that said
I needed to go, and sowe left on a bus the next day
at two thirty in the morning tohead to Texas, and in that day
I really realized that my life wasnot buying anymore and I needed to get

(19:18):
to christ fully. So I guessyou could say again I rededicated my life
there and from there It's been anupstill battle. There's things that I had
to work through and situations that Ihad to walk through, but ultimately where
I am today and what I wasgoing to add to there early before we
got cut off is I met myRif Bailey, and I always prayed for

(19:40):
the wife that I hoped for,but I never could understand why I got
who I have today because it's beyondanything I could pray for. And I
don't ever want to say she savedme, because that's not true. She
didn't because I used her, butshe was a huge instrument and to be
who I am today and to continueto grow as a man today. And

(20:03):
so we married in January of twentytwenty, right before COVID hit, and
so we got really close, reallyreally close. We lived in an eight
hundred square foot house and so ifthere is any argument, we could hear
each other breathe in the next room. And so we had no choice but
to grow close. And so Iam forever grateful for that time with her.

(20:26):
Grew so close that ten days beforea one year anniversary, found out
we were going to have her,and so then we walked through that journey
together becoming parent and have continued todo that now we have to. But
what we talked about on the phonea couple of days ago is that through
all of this again, I wishI could say I was the man that

(20:48):
I should be, the husband Ishould be, But I battled every single
day since our marriage is man,who am I? Who am I as
a man? Who am I asa husband? And man? Who am
I as a father? And soI have a piece of paper that sits
right next to the pictures of Baileyand I engagement, And it's this list
of things that I cried out toGod of wondering why I do what I

(21:11):
do? I think of Paul andhe says that there and he talks about
how he does the things he shouldn'tand so on, And so I was
in that part of life not toomany months ago. But Man, I'm
thankful for where I'm at today.I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve with
the decent coaches, to be inthe spot that I am, to have
the family that I am currently with, and have the opportunity to live in

(21:36):
every single day. Man, justthis ultimate dream that only is because of
who God is in his great andman just just so sovereignty, because in
twenty eighteen, when I was inthe things that I was in, I
would not be able to tell youthat I am where I am today.
But so I am forever grateful formy testimony, for the life that I
live, and man, just excitedto see how God continues to grow that.

(21:59):
So, Greace, can you seewhy I get excited when we when
we get to have a young personon this show, Can I ask how
old are you? I am?Man? I think I'm twenty five,
twenty five, maybe twenty six,who knows? Twenty four? Yeah,
the fact that you know you andyou know you've said a couple of times
you know, we're we're Look,I I haven't done everything correctly and I

(22:23):
know that, and I'm working atit and I'm trying, and I just
think that's just so honest, Grayson, Right, It's it's Look, there
are guys on the show the worstthing they ever did is steal a candy
bar in their whole life. Andthen there are guys like me and maybe
you that we were doing some thingsthat you know, if that we shouldn't
have been doing, and we decidedthat, you know, it's time we

(22:45):
got to knock this off. Godmedicine in a dark place, right he
came and medicine. Your father's firstname Arvid A R V I D very
southern and I don't know any otherart of it except for him. So
do you know how proud Arvid wouldbe if if he was, if he
was still with us and you gota chance to listen to your testimony,

(23:07):
how proud of you he would be? Is your mom still with us?
Yeah, she's still with us,still a rock star? And uh,
what is your first name? Down? Dawn? Man? I really I'm
going to get you to make surethat you have a copy of the show,
and I want you to share itwith with Don because you know,
her sending you things, knowing whereyou were in your life and still you

(23:30):
know, loving up on you andsaying, look, by my son,
this is what he needs from metoday. She's got to be so proud
of the man that you are andthat you're going to continue to become and
to be able to see these twobeautiful grandkids. I thank her for that.
One other question, the pastor's namethat invited you to that youth camp?

(23:52):
Do you remember his name? Yeah? His name was Justin. I'll
tell you, Justin, if youif there's any chance he listens to what
your dad said, if he couldhave one person, you know, end
up in heaven because of this terribledisease that he had. Imagine being Justin
and hearing what he just what youjust said. You were in a place

(24:14):
you shouldn't be in, and hecalled it. The next day you got
on a bus to youth camp whereall of this, you know, rededication
started. I thank god for guyslike Justin that are willing to make that
phone call. That's not an easyphone call to make. Right, Hey,
we're leaving tomorrow. I'd like youto join us. And you know,
not knowing exactly where you were inyour life and where you were at

(24:37):
that moment when he called, butto be able to step out a little
bit and say, come on,you man, you got to come with
us. Let's go. I justthank guys like that. And if Pastor
Ken was here, he'd have abig smile on his face because he's the
head pastor at Brookside Baptist Church.And he's also because we don't have a
youth pastor, so he's a littlebit old. He's got a couple of

(25:00):
I think six grandkids as well,and he is also our youth pastor right
now, he's filling dual roles andI know you would prefer to have somebody
really strong in that role, butbecause we haven't been able to find somebody
that that, you know, thatmeets what we need at Brookside Baptist Church,
he's taking that role until we findsomebody. And he would he would

(25:22):
have been Justin Grayson, just soyou know, he would have been the
guy calling you the night before sayingwe're leaving tomorrow, come on, pack
a bag, let's go. Yougot to come with us. And that's
the kind of guy he is.So I think Justin for making that phone
call to you. We're talking toGrayson Wakefield again. He's a character coach
coordinator Nations of Coaches. You know, Grayson, you're very open to sharing

(25:47):
your testimony and I hope that thatcontinues. You know, there's a lot
of guys that, you know,we're men, right, we get a
little bit squeamish, how we don'twant to show that we've been weak in
the past and we might be weakin the future as well. And so
there's a lot of guys that areuncomfortable with that. But when I asked
you, and I told you secondsegment, I'm going to ask you your
testimony. Your question to me washow much time do I have? And

(26:11):
I bet you can't believe what asmile that put on my face. Grace
is because you know, there aresome guys that want to get through segment
two really quickly on faith in thezone. They don't want to share too
much. But you, as atwenty four to twenty five year old man,
your first question to me was howmuch time do I have? Because
I could, I could do thelong version, I could do the short

(26:32):
version. I said, we cando fifteen minutes if you want. You
said, Matt, I appreciate thatgrace. When you go out and you
and you talk to people, andI would assume that you get asked to
speak maybe at local churches in Alabama, comfortable telling high school age kids where
you were at that point in yourlife. Yeah. Absolutely. I think

(26:53):
I appreciate people that have been inmy life and have been around me that
have learnt on it. And Ithink to day, if you have been
around the youth, with high school, middle school into the college level,
that we're with and they see rightthrough sake And so by some means,
while I ever hold up, youcan ask my wife and my guy who

(27:14):
wears my emotions on my sleeve.And man, I'm not too scared to
hold anything back because I know thatthere's somebody that has walked through or is
walking through something similar to what Iwalk through. So, by no means
while I stop what God is tryingto do. Hey, Grayson, another
show I do, this high schoolsports show. We do a thing called

(27:36):
our Kernel Electric Superhero the Weekend.I always ask those kids this question.
I'm going to ask you this aswell, that servant leadership heart that you
have because in your bio, thisis what it says, Grayson is passionate
about helping others fight for a healthybalance between work, school, sports,
family, and seeing people reach theirfull God given potential. And that just

(28:00):
rings out with this servant leadership heart. Right. The first part of that
sentence is You're passionate about helping others, And I'm wondering where you think that
came from. You know, mymom is where I think i'd started.
She is such a server and shehas served my family her whole life,
and I think ultimately having to stepinto that role. Like I talked about

(28:21):
with my dad, I had tostep into a servant role. I had
to help them with a lot ofthings. And so I think I've enjoyed
in that because I realized how much, of course that helped him. But
man, just ultimately, that's whatwe're called to do, right it is
served those around us, And soI think ultimately it started off there with
how my mom and dad modeled itand serving us and those around them,

(28:44):
and then having the opportunity to diveright into it, maybe unwillingly I guess
at the time, but what Godcalled me to there as a son to
help dad there. Hey, John, when you hear this show, I
want you to know this that Ialways I always wanted to know my kids
were like or they couldn't smell myclone. Right, I'm not in the
car with him, I'm not inthe classroom with them. I asked everybody,

(29:06):
what are my kids like when theycan't smell my clone? When I'm
not around John? You did good, You did really good. This young
man has such a passion for helpingpeople, and what a perfect place for
him to be. Nations of Coachesor again he is helping people go to
that website. If you're feeling ledto help Grayson continue in this journey,

(29:29):
look at his bio and again thereis a place for you to be able
to support Grayson. And if you'refeeling led to do that, please do
that. This is a young manthat's going to make a difference. And
when I say young, twenty four, I asked him how old are you,
I don't know, twenty four totwenty five, something like that,
And I know exactly when you getby, you know pretty much exactly how
old you are, Grayson, andtell you that we're going to get to

(29:52):
a break. On other side ofthe break will continue our conversation. He
is don An out of his son. He is Grayson Wakefield, your coach
coordinator for Nations of Coaches And Iwant to thank Pete Werry again for this
introduction and I'm just really happy thathe's been able to give us a full
hour today. We'll get back toGrayson on the other side of the break.

(30:12):
This is Faith in the Zone onthe Big nine twenty in year I
Heart Radio App. Welcome back toFaith in the Zone on the Big nine
twenty year I Heart Radio App.Again this Mike mcgiffern flyining Solda this week
coming from the Dive in to JorgensenHeating and Cooling Studios. Our special guest
he is Grayson Wakefield, Character Coachcoordinator for Nations of Coaches, and again

(30:34):
want to thank Pete Weary for theintroduction. You know, Grayson, I
I'm one hundred percent Irish and youknow, one of those old tough Irish
guys. And there are a numberof testimonies that bring tears to my eyes
into my cheeks, and yours isone of them. And I envy young

(30:56):
guys like you that figured it outway much earlier in life than I have.
And again I want to congratulate Dawn, and I would thank Gud for
the work that he's doing, youknow, with and through you. One
of the questions I have losing yourfather Arvid at such an early age,
was that difficult not to be reallymad at guy during the during that time?

(31:17):
Yeah, I think that's a loadedquestion because of course at the time
I'm fourteen about to be fifteen,and so of course things sometimes this don't
make sense, And I think thefirst question that popped up in my mind
was why, uh you know whymy dad? Why are family? And

(31:37):
of course today I can see why. But man, at the time,
I think I was very thankful forthe counsel around me, my mom who
has continued to be a rock throughthat after losing her husband. But man,
we were we were always reminded,Hey, look, have a moment.
I think that's that's the beauty ofhaving in a relationship with Christ,
not just being a Christian and doingthe things and thing the prayer, but

(32:00):
having a conversation with your father andso hashing things out, letting things open
up in the air, and beinghonest, whether that's raising your voice in
him and saying why God. Butthen you're quickly reminded of why He's done
what he's done, and Dad's dadscripture that he always focused on during the
time as we focused on the thingsunseen, because the things that are seen

(32:22):
are temporary and what is unseen iseternal. And so I think that was
ultimately the reminder through all of thisis Man, what we see right now,
what we feel right now, there'snothing, nothing but a glimpse,
because Man, just the wholeness andthe beauty of when we get to reunite
with Him, with with Dad,and then also just to be able to

(32:43):
have that beautiful first interaction with withour Lord and saviors. So, man,
just having that that kind of counselaround me, that perspective, that
was not easy. By no meansam I saying that I did it every
day? But yeah, it was, it was. It was hard for
sure. Hey, great Grayson,how long? How would have Bailey and

(33:04):
Arvid got along? He man,he would have loved her. Of Wendy,
he would because he told you howit was, and so does sheehy.
They don't. They don't tiptoe aroundanything. And so, uh,
Dad was a big Alabama fan.Bailey is a big Alabama fan, and
so uh we usually have a loudliving room and so it's just a little

(33:28):
loud without Dad. But Bailey,uh definitely would would find a way to
get along with Arvind pretty well.You know, my my father passed away
three months before my wife and Igot married, and we didn't have a
great relationship. You know, wejust didn't. It was difficult, and
the only thing right in my lifeup until then that I did right in

(33:49):
his eyes was my wife Terry.And I'm not hey, Grayson, when
I tell you this I'm not kidding, he said to me about six months
before before we got married. Hesaid, look, I don't understand this.
I don't what is she thinking?And usually guys are kidding with that.
I go, why do you go? Somebody has to tell her?
And I go, No, nobodyhas to tell her. And I truly

(34:12):
believe if he was still alive whenwhen we got married in a Catholic church
back then, if the preset hedoes anybody here, you know, forever
hold your piece, I think hewould have stood up and said, I
got a problem with this. I'mnot kidding. And I think that he
was like, she doesn't know whatshe's getting into. I go, I
know she doesn't. Don't say anythingto her. Just let this go.

(34:34):
And I truly believe he would havestood up and said, I don't think
this is a good move for you, young lady. I think you should
you should move on. Hey,Gracie, can we talk about on your
website or on your your bio again. Nations of Coaches dot Com. Nations
of Coaches dot Com and if yougo to their team, look up the
picture of Grace and Wakefield a goodlooking kid character coach coordinator. It talks

(34:58):
a little bit about you going toLiberty University to finish your degree in Christian
leadership. Is that something you've gottendone now? Yeah. So, as
I've said, my wife is thereason where I am today, not depending
on her, but thankful the Godsused her in my life. I would
not have a CAUSE degree if itwas not for her for being encouraging and

(35:21):
for helping me along the way.So I finished that degree two years ago
the fall, two years ago intwenty twenty two. And yeah, Christian
Leadership and Management through Liberty University.And what a great opportunity was just to
have the cool, unique opportunity tobe able to be in a Christian institute.
And really ultimately what I studied wasthis nonprofit business work and how it

(35:46):
the ebbs and flows of all ofthat. So what a coo opportune now
to be inside of a nonprofit andto use those tools. Hey, when
we talk about being the character coachcoordinator, so your job is to make
make sure that that you know theguy, the guys that are on the
ground and working with different college basketballcoaches, that they have everything they need.

(36:10):
Would that would that be right?Yeah? Absolutely? And just training
them and equipping them with the thingsnecessary. Yeah, are you able to
go to all the events, youknow, the marriage events and the coaches
wives events, or are you know, are you able to be involved in
all of that through Nations of coaches? So ultimately I do have the really

(36:30):
cool opportunity to tag along with allof that. But really kind of what
Roger and I focused on is ourCharacter Coach Marriage treat that's coming up here
in August, in our training that'scoming up in September, and then of
course we have a cool opportunity thatI try not to take lightly at all,
but we get to go to theFinal Four each year and do ministry

(36:51):
there and encourage coaches why they needa character coach. So that's really more
so those kind of big events thatwe're part of, but we also have
the unique opportunity to be a partof all the others. Hey you played
high school basketball, correct? Idid. My ball CEO was actually one
of my coaches. Can you stillhit a jump shot? Yeah? I.

(37:13):
From time to time I try mybest to stay in shape and remind
myself that I'm not near as goodas I ever thought I was. In
good cardio for sure, good foryou good. Well, if we ever
played three on three and it's pastorKen and I just you know what,
you defend and pass the ball,rebound a lot. That's the key.
He thinks he's wide open every timehe plays in the corner, and he

(37:36):
could hit that shot. I don'tever tell him that when he's in studio,
but he can still shoot a littlebit. And that's about all I've
got left. I could still hita shot. It's not a jump shot
anymore, more of a set shot, but I can still hit that every
once in a while, that's forsure. Hey, when when you get
a chance to take along to someof these events, and not that the
Final four event, but the marriageevent or coach's wife's stuff, you know,

(38:00):
it's got to be really encouraging tosee because like you and Bailey,
you know, these coaches can't dothis on their wrong. You know,
I coached basketball for thirty six years, and I would drag my wife into
more gyms in southeast Wisconsin and aroundthe Midwest when I coached AAU basketball.
She's been in more gyms than youcan imagine. But it's got to be
really impressive for you to be ableto see coaches and their wives come together

(38:23):
for that weekend and just kind ofreconnect before basketball starts. Yeah, absolutely,
I think you get this and anybodyelse listening men of course, coaching
or pastoring or really kind of anybodythat's in those kind of similar roles for
their spouse. It can be superhard to not feel like on an island

(38:45):
because there's a lot of other peoplethat are in the same boat in a
sense. It's recruits and players andsupport staff, and there's a lot of
focus has to be on a lotof different people. And so ultimately what
we love to do is come inand hold their arms up as coaches and
then also their spouses and give asense of community because we're thankful that they

(39:08):
are not alone and the enemy doesnot have that stronghold. And we have
the really cool opportunity to have theWives Ministry, to give the wives the
opportunity to have that really unique kindof just sisterhood to cry together, life
together, and do all the thingstogether. So so yeah, it's really

(39:29):
fun to be a part of reallycool just to see that dynamic. And
then of course and we get tohave them there's a marriage true that I've
got to go to a couple isjust to see this kind of just these
layers steeled back and just let thembe just a married couple, nothing else
going on, no phone calls,nothing like that. They have the unique
opportunity grief in that and work onultimately that home teams they deal with ever

(39:51):
since the day we are talking withGrayson. Grayson Wakefield, he's Character Coach
Coordinator Nations of Coaches where to getyou a I'm on the Master of a
Master Coach Award recipients and a numberof these guys have been on Faith in
the Zone in the past. MikeLeightfoot and Homer Drew have been on.
Richie McKay has been on. Andwhen you go to that website Nationsofcoaches dot

(40:15):
com, don't give yourself two minutesto look at it. Give yourself about
fifteen minutes and take a look attheir mission statement and take a look at
what they do. And then goto their team and take a look at
our special guest and his his bioand there's a support Grayson tab below the
picture of him and his bio.And if you're feeling led to help this

(40:37):
young man continue on this journey,to help it and working at Nations of
Coaches. Please do that. Atthe end we'll get to a break.
Other side of the break, we'regoing to ask him that question. We
always ask what uniform you're going toput on? And he's well of where
we're going to ask it, sohe'll have an answer for us. This
is Faith in the Zone on theBig nine twenty and your iHeartRadio app.

(40:58):
Welcome back to Faith in the Zoneon the Big nine to twenty in your
iHeartRadio f Again, this might begiven flying solo this week coming from the
Donovan and Jordans and Hiti Coolian studios. I want to thank our guests.
He's Grayson Wakefield, character coach coordinatorat Nations of Coaches Again. To find
out more about this organization, youcan go to Nationsofcoaches dot com and give

(41:20):
yourself a good fifteen minutes to startgoing through that website. You're going to
be really impressed with the work thatthey do throughout the country and the work
they do in college basketball. So, Grayson, the end of the show
is I really like it. It'sfun for us. We ask our guests
all the uniforms they've ever put onfrom the time they played little league baseball,
in any other sport they played,We put them all in the closet

(41:44):
and they get to pick out oneuniform and replay, you know, get
a game with that team. Whatuniform do you pull out? Who do
you play against? And why?What would your answer be on that?
All right? Two quick ones.One is a Red Sox jersey in city
league and my last year there wasthe last time Dad coached me, and
we ended up winning the city championship. So really cool just to go back

(42:06):
put that jersey on the field,those emotions again and have a cool perspective
there, just not knowing that wasbefore Dad was diagnosed, and so really
fun to put that jersey back on. But really the big one that I
would probably say is my senior year. Baseball won the state championships the year
before my junior year and then wasback the year after for my senior year

(42:27):
and went to a three game Wehad three games series, went to the
third game. I ultimately got caught. My college offered there in the third
time that I pitched. We wonand then was down at three out,
up by a run and lost ona walk off at the bottom half of
the seventh and just to go back, man, and just ultimately not to

(42:49):
lose again by no means, butman, have another chance, see just
how things would change. Possibly doinga few things here and there. But
man, just the team that Iwas with, the guys I had.
I went to a small high school, Prophet Christian School, and so we
were all really close, and Ihad a phenomenal head coach that was super
instrumental in my time being navigating afterlosing my dad and everything. So just

(43:13):
to go back and ultimately didn't talkabout too much of my testimony, but
went to college and then just lostthe joy of baseball. And so just
to go back on that last timethere with my team, my high school
team of state championship. Remember beforethe loss, the devastating loss, just
the joy of playing baseball years man, j what was it? What's the
name of the team that beat you? They? I was trying to think.

(43:37):
We went against Jayu black Year,who was my junior year, and
then we lost this sweet Water HighSchool my senior year. I try to
forget it. Yeah, you know, I again, I coached basketball for
a long time and those losses arethe ones that I remember more than any
of the wits I have to behonest with you, and I wish it
was different, you know, Iwish it was different. And when you

(44:00):
talked about winning the state championship yourjunior year, the journey to get there
is so hard, isn't it,Grayson. It's just so difficult to get
there. And once you get there, you feel like, Okay, now
we're here, might as well takecare of business. Let's get this done.
In near junior year, did youwin two or to go to three?

(44:20):
And you it went one and oneand and you won the third game?
Yeah, we won the third game. There's a story in on itself,
and I will spare you, butultimately I was considered our number one
guy. However that works. Igave up eight in the first inning and
was pulled and pitched one the thirdexcuse me, a third of an inning,
but then came back and pitched gamethree. We won it. It
was awesome my junior year. Soyeah, hey, to get right back

(44:45):
up on the bump man, youhad to be a little nerves in that
first inning, for sure. Yeah, well, and all my nerves had
left because I could not do anyworse. I gave up eight for most
of them. Ever, given up, so man, I had nothing to
lose once I got back up theregetting three so a little bit easier there
to throw the rubber graceon. Wegot to get I can't thank you enough,

(45:07):
young man. I look forward toone day meeting you in person and
shaking your hand. Keep up thegood work. Nations of Coaches. He
is Grace and Wakefield. He's aCharacter Coach Coordinator at Nations of Coaches.
Hey, I have a great week. It's really good talking to you.
Yeah, Mike, I really appreciateyou having me own as an honor and
pleasure to meet you. You gotit. This is faith in the Zone.

(45:29):
I'm the Big nine twenty in youriHeart Radio app.