February 22, 2025 • 36 mins
Professional MMA fighter and gym owner Josh Ugalde opens up about his journey of faith and resilience. From his roots in the church to his inspiring role as a mentor, Josh shares how his journey of faith has profoundly shaped his life. We explore his dreams, like opening a unique gym dedicated to wrestling, martial arts, and fitness, and how his marriage engagement intertwines with his personal and professional path. Josh's narrative is a testament to the transformative power of finding purpose through faith and community, and how these connections bolster his identity beyond the ring.
A gripping college spiral and redemption story unfolds as we highlight the experiences of an individual who faced monumental challenges at the University of Maryland. Confronted with struggles related to alcohol, health, and spirituality, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, this journey exposes the intensity of a mental health battle. A life-changing intervention by a sports psychologist marks a turning point, emphasizing the critical role of mental health support. Through raw and emotional storytelling, we bring to light the power of hitting rock bottom and the arduous climb toward healing, offering hope to those facing similar battles.
We explore themes of vulnerability and identity, especially for athletes who often tie their self-worth to their performance. Josh recounts his transformative experience at a "Marked Men for Christ" weekend, highlighting the strength found in embracing vulnerability and intimacy with faith. Balancing physical prowess with spiritual surrender, Josh's journey inspires listeners to seek redemption through faith, placing their burdens at the cross and finding new purpose. Join us as we encourage our community to engage, uplift, and share their stories, fostering a supportive environment for personal growth and faith-driven transformation.
We have BIG plans at Foxhole Symphony and sure could use your financial support. Would you prayerfully consider a small monthly contribution to support us in our mission to catalyze transformation in the hearts of men? Support Our Mission
Find us at:
https://www.facebook.com/foxholesymphony
https://www.instagram.com/foxholesymphony/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuvcXdDpE79S_D_hInblcDw
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Foxhole Symphony, a podcast about the
transformational value of men inauthentic community.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
In our foxhole.
Men are equipped to buildrelationships that foster
belonging, accountability andgrowth.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Stop believing the lie that you can thrive in
isolation and instead join us onthe journey from broken to
whole.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Hello everyone, nate, call me the Maestro, and we are
back in the foxhole where weactively pursue belonging,
accountability and growththrough authentic relationships.
No masks, no agendas, just iron, sharpening iron.
Steve and Mark are in thefoxhole today and they have a
special guest joining them.
He's a humble child of God andhe has a heartfelt testimony to
(00:51):
share with us.
You know what time it is.
Get comfortable, open yournotes app and let's get this
symphony started.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Hey, welcome back to Foxhole Symphony Podcast.
I'm Sarge here with my co-hostand good friend, mark Well, just
call me the technical wizard.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Maximus, maximus, that's me, babe.
Wow, what's up?
Man, I'm good, I'm really good,and I'm glad to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
We have an awesome guest on today and I was looking
at him through the screen andhe was bundled up man.
He was bundled up man.
He was bundled up.
And I'm looking at you, I'mthinking about you guys in the
cold.
You know it's frigid here.
It is.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Don't do it.
Why don't you introduce ourguest and we'll move right along
away from the weather.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Let's do it.
So with us in the foxhole we'vegot Josh Ugalde.
Josh is we met on a Markmanweekend Markman for Christ and
he comes to us through a coupleof real dear friends and some
incredible episodes.
If listeners, if you have notheard the episodes with Rob
(02:01):
Cruver and John Maz, you'regoing to want to go and scroll
through the 86 or so episodesand find those two, because
they're incredibly impactful andJosh is a dear mutual friend.
And Josh, welcome man, welcometo the Foxhole.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Thanks for having me, guys.
I'm so excited to come on.
Seriously, I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
We're honored to have you and um introduce you to our
listeners.
And you know, uh, we've gotsome other mutual friends and
you know folks like DLO that youknow, I know, come out to come
out to the gym and uh, tell,tell everybody, let's just start
with the here and now, likewhat you know.
Tell us a little bit about thegym and what you're doing.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Just just you know, today in your life, yeah, so, uh
, I recently opened up a gym.
Um, I I've wrestled my wholelife and my uh, a dream of mine
from when I was even in highschool was to at some point have
my own gym and be have theopportunity to teach the next
(03:03):
generation and to kind of helpnext and up-and-coming stars in
our local areas.
And I recently just opened up agym.
But not only is it a wrestlinggym, but it's also a martial
arts self-defense gym, but it'salso a fitness side as well.
So I actually opened it with areally good friend of mine His
name's Dan, who is also a Markedman, who is actually at that
(03:25):
same Mark that same market thatwe are at.
Yeah, I, uh, I I'm.
I'm running the wrestling sideof things.
I have some martial artscoaches who are teaching
kickboxing, boxing and Muay Thai, and then Dan is kind of
running the fitness side ofthings over here.
Um, um, uh, with that, I'm also.
I'm also a professional mmafighter.
(03:45):
Um, I'm one and oh, at the atthe moment looking to yeah, baby
somewhat soon.
And, um, I'm also a wrestlingcoach.
I have a bunch of kids that Ithat I coach and mentor and and
try to teach weekly, daily, um,um, I feel like I'm a father
already.
I don't have any kids yet.
(04:07):
I'm, uh, I'm.
I'm engaged to my beautifulfiance, though Her name's Alexa.
We're getting married in July.
Oh, that's great, um, thank you,thank you, and I'm just looking
forward to uh, I'm just lookingforward to that.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
So so, Josh, here you are, undefeated MMA fighter.
Tell us a little bit more aboutyour story and, and you know,
that'll kind of give us apicture and a glimpse of you
know maybe, how God's been atwork, you know, in your life.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Yeah, of course.
So I grew up.
I grew up in the church, um,it's I.
I've always been in the church,um, it's I.
I've always been in the church,but I wasn't, you know, I
wasn't really too in tune.
Uh, I, someone.
I forget how we ended up there,but we ended up at zarafath, uh,
where pastor rob was the pastor, and when I started going there
(05:00):
, I felt like I started to kindof get more in tune and I
started to understand a littlebit more.
I wasn't fully, I wasn't fullyin per se, but I was, you know,
I was.
I was making my progress, likeI was learning a little bit more
.
I got to meet Pastor Rob andthe second that I met Pastor Rob
, I saw this like kind of lightin him.
I didn't know how to likereally describe it at the time,
(05:21):
but anytime that like I, anytimethat pastor abu kind of like
speak to me or and he tried tolike guide me, like for some
reason, like I would cry and Inever knew like really what that
was and I would just getemotional.
Um, and looking back on her.
(05:41):
Now it's just, I mean, thespirit was working in me without
even me even realizing.
Um, but you know, I was part ofthe youth group.
I started to get more in touchwith my faith, um, so I would
say that I was coming stronginto my faith for about like a
year, two years, in high school,but at the time wrestling ruled
(06:05):
my life.
Wrestling was everything.
That's what I, what it's what Idid from when I was a kid.
It's what I did all the all thetime.
My, like, my life revolved onwrestling.
Wrestling was everything, andeverything was geared towards a
state title and winning a statetitle.
My entire life I won a statetitle when I was in middle
school.
You know I had achievements.
Um, I, I was a good, I was adecent.
In middle school, you know Ihad achievements.
(06:26):
Um I I, I was a good, I was adecent wrestler.
In high school, you know, Iplaced three times six, uh,
second, second and um.
My goal, my whole life and mylife didn't revolve around Jesus
.
My life didn't revolve aroundGod.
My life, my life revolvedaround wrestling and winning.
So my God was wrestling andsuccess, and that's what I
(06:46):
thought.
That's where I thought my value, that's where I thought my
value was, and I felt like thatfor a long time, even past high
school and even through college,my value was placed in my
success or my accomplishments inwrestling where I don't where
they should have been withChrist Right.
But basically, my senior yearleading up, I'm supposed to win
the state title where theyshould have been with Christ
Right.
Basically, my senior yearleading up, I'm supposed to win
(07:08):
the state title.
I just took second last year.
I'm ranked first the entireyear.
I wrestled a kid who's second, Ibeat the kid who's ranked
second in the state earlier inthe year and then, come my
senior year, I'm at the statetournament.
I make the finals once againand I'm wrestling the same kid
that I beat earlier.
The state tournament.
I make the finals once againand I'm I'm wrestling the same
kid that I beat earlier in theyear.
Um, I ended up losing thatmatch, um, and then that's where
(07:32):
things everything kind of wentleft.
Uh, as soon as I left that, assoon as I lost that match, I
remember running out of thearena.
I ended up running outside ofthe building by myself and my
singlet.
This is like like, this is inlike february, march, so it's
like still kind of cold out.
I'm in my singlet, I rip my likeI rip my, my straps off and I
(07:53):
just start cursing at god and Istart blaming god and I and I
and I kind of F'd him, f'd this,f'd all this, and sorry I'm
getting a little choked up but Iturned my back to God and ever
(08:26):
since then not ever since then,but after that, you know, my
senior year was over.
I was depressed, I was upset.
You know like my whole worldcame crashing down.
So you know I, as the year wenton, you know I was.
I couldn't wait for graduationday, so I can get out of the
high school, so I can like causefor me.
It was like at that point itwas like, okay, let me like
start fresh now, like I'm goingto college, like I'm done with
(08:47):
this crap, like I'm going tocollege and I'm just going to
you know, wrestle and do allthis stuff.
And once you get to college, youknow like I committed, like I
committed as like a 16 year oldboy, like 17 year old boy, like
I graduated as a 17 year old.
I was just a kid and now mywhole world just came to an end
(09:09):
and now, in a couple of months,I got to leave and be without my
parents be like, be on my ownthree, four hours away at like a
major university where, likewe're over a hundred thousand,
you know, like a hundred, likethousands of kids, you know, are
there, like I don't know.
It's just like a differentenvironment.
I've never been away from myparents, like I'm living on my
own as a 17 year old, and so Ihad turned my back to God.
(09:32):
And then, once I got to college, it kind of just progressively
gotten worse, because I neverdrank a sip of alcohol, I never
smoked anything, anything in mylife, cause I was so driven, I
was focused, I wanted to win astate title.
I got to college, I meet allthese and then, all of a sudden,
(09:55):
it's like I'm at college butit's clear that God isn't there.
God isn't there but there's alot of evilness going on and
that, like there's a lot ofinfluence that can steer you the
wrong way.
And I fell into that, thatpattern.
(10:15):
I fell into that.
I fell into that world.
I fell into the world, rather,you know, like I started.
Uh, you know my teammates, likeolder, older teammates, the
seniors that were there, likeyou know, like they're, you know
they're encouraging a culture,which, which was something that
(10:38):
led me down a dark path.
Yeah, um, you know, like, likeI, I, 17 years old, like I'm
getting, I'm like I'm drinking,like I start smoking at some at
one point, like, and I'm justlike down this dark path, like
and like, progressively eachyear.
My five years of college, Iloved university of Maryland.
Like, it was a great time.
(10:58):
I met some great people.
But in hindsight, looking backat those five years that I was
there each year gotprogressively worse in terms of
one my relationship with God, myhealth, my habits.
I kind of just spiraled,spiraled, spiraled, spiraled
(11:20):
Drinking.
At some point, we five, six,seven days a week there would be
.
There would be spans at a timewhere I would be getting drunk
every, every night.
There would be times where Iwas in season and I was drinking
multiple.
You know, like, it was just adark path.
The culture wasn't there.
I was far away from God.
(11:40):
I didn't want anything to dowith him.
Um, and college is rough for me.
Like, like, college was like I,I didn't.
I started my four years, I wasthere.
My career wasn't great.
Um, I was drinking, I was, Iwas lustful, I was, you know,
like I, it's just things weren'tgoing well.
(12:03):
Yeah, my senior year was mysenior year was COVID year, so I
didn't get like to finish offmy senior year correctly.
It got to such a bad pointwhere I there was a point where
I I had a.
I had a like a sports psych.
(12:23):
Her name was Dr Garvin and Ijust want to like give her a
shout out and blessings to her.
Where I had a sports psych Hername was Dr Garvin and I just
want to give her a shout out andblessings to her because she
saved my life.
There was a point where I quitRight before my senior year.
I quit, or I got suspended andI got in my car.
I was going to get in my car, Iwas going to and I I was going
(12:48):
to get in my car, I was going todrive home and I was going to
kill myself.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
I was going to.
I was going to.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
I don't know how I was going to do it.
This was my mindset.
And then, as I was getting inthe car, I got a phone call from
my, from Dr Garvin, and I'moutside of like our, our, our
college, like college facilitybuilding where we had practiced
and we're just where the sportsteams were.
It's like the Xfinity Center,it was called.
I get a call from her.
(13:13):
She's in there and I'm talkingto her.
I'm crying, I'm hysterical.
He comes into my car and wetalk.
She basically talks me off theledge, but I was going to kill
myself that day and a littlemore, a little, a little further
(13:34):
down the line, you know, covidhappens.
I don't get to finish my senioryear, we get sent home early.
You know quarantine, lockdown,all that jazz.
I'm like still kind of goingdown this dark path.
But I hit this pinnacle.
Like I was on, like I was onanti-depression medicine, I was
on anti-anxiety medicine, I wason like sleep medicine, like I
was on like all this, all thesedrugs, and one night I had went
(13:59):
out drinking and I was still onthese, these medicines, these
drugs, and I got really bangedup and I drove, I crashed my car
and at this point.
I'm like at rock bottom.
(14:20):
I get home.
Rock bottom.
I get home.
Me and my fiance at the time wehad gotten into it that night
and she had left.
I was.
I found my way home somehow.
I left my car somewhere, walkedmiles home, whatever, I get
(14:44):
home and then I try to killmyself with my medicine.
I'm getting into detail rightnow, so I apologize if you're at
your discretion.
I start inserting these pills,the whole thing, in my mouth.
My uncle's there and he'sdigging these whole thing in my
mouth, and my uncle's there andhe's he's digging these, these
(15:05):
pills, out of my mouth and andit's just like it was a graphic
night.
It was a rough night, andthat's when I felt like I truly
hit rock bottom.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And so so Josh yeah, let's, let's pause there.
Let me let me give you a chanceto breathe.
I thank you for sharing all ofthat.
First of all, no, nothing to besorry about.
Thank you, thank you.
Um, I'm so sorry that that.
You know you went through that.
So, at that point, this is.
This is how long ago.
Maybe 2020?
(15:41):
This is 45 years ago, 2020.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Yeah, yeah, 2020.
Okay, 2020 to 2021.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
So I want to come back to that point and pick up
in a few minutes, but you know,just a couple of questions, like
you know.
First of all, you know, I hearso much from you know, I hear so
much from you know, competitiveathletes that have faith in
Jesus or come to faith in Jesus,who you know, you know who had
(16:12):
to come sort of to the end ofthemselves or the end of their
rope, um, because they sort ofidolized, you know, their, their
, their sport right, or or orsaw themselves a certain way.
And I and I guess that's myquestion for you Like, as you
know, you're, you're coachingnow these, you know these kids
(16:34):
right, and you know, as youthink about them right, think
about them right, how do you goabout training them up in a way
that helps them to be theabsolute best at their sport,
right?
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Without finding their identity in that.
If that makes sense, yeah, soyou know, 100% makes sense.
No, 100% makes sense.
And this right here is kind ofwhat I had to do that work, this
identity work, before I coulddo anything else.
And my biggest problem, this iswhat saved me my whole life.
(17:21):
My identity was in wrestling, myidentity was with what I did in
wrestling, but the second thatI and I was done competing.
At this point I hadn't eventransitioned into jujitsu or mma
or none of that.
I was just kind of like in thislike gray area, like done,
competing, like I had hadbecause I had to.
Right, I had to take myidentity out of wrestling and
find and and find my identityand other things right.
At this point I wasn't withjesus yet, like, so I now I can
(17:41):
say my identity in other thingsright.
At this point I wasn't withJesus yet Like, so I now I can
say my identity is in Christ andthat's who I identify as.
Like, I identify as a child ofGod and a follower of Jesus.
But at that point what helped meis like, and what I tell my
kids now is like you're morethan just a wrestler.
That's not who you are.
That's not where your valuelies.
(18:02):
Right, you're a son, you're abrother, you're a teammate,
you're you're.
You're a classmate.
You know what I mean.
Like you're valued in all theseother areas in your life and
you have so much more valuewithin who you are, other than
just the things that you do orthe things that you yeah, the
things that you do and thethings that you accomplish.
(18:22):
You're not what you do.
You know, yes, it's your.
You know.
Yeah, like I said, like your,your son, like, eventually
you're going to be a father,like your brothers, like your
sister, your cousin.
Yeah, you're a disciple, you'rea disciple of Jesus.
Like that, put your value inthat and then that will fill
(18:44):
your heart that that will fillyour cup.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
There's you.
There's either a moment orgroup of moments that take you
from the bottom right.
You, you explained your bottomand now we're talking about not
finding your identity in inanything other than jesus.
Do you recall in 2020, 2021, 2,or since then, was there
(19:06):
something that happened?
Did somebody come into yourlife?
Who helped you?
Where did the light come from?
Who shined the light on you?
Or did it just happen to you.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
God anoint you in that way so 2022, I believe, is
when my testimony, god anointsyou in that way.
So 2022, I believe, is when mytestimony, my, I guess my
redemption starts, and it's kindof like a time like right now.
Actually, this is perfecttiming.
It's kind of crazy at the endof 2021, you know, like all this
bad stuff happened like.
(19:38):
But like at the end of 2021,I'm like okay, 2022, I like I
need something needs to change,like uh, like something needs to
change.
And I said I, I think I I don'tknow why, I forget what it was,
but something just told me likehey, like you know what?
(19:59):
Like let's read the Bible.
I'm not going to read it from,I'm not, I'm going to start from
.
I'm just I'm going to startfrom the beginning and I'm only
going to read it with like thismindset to like learn, let me
just read it.
And then I just want to learn,like, like historically, uh, you
know what I don't.
I didn't have like a specificmindset, if that makes sense.
(20:20):
Like I just wanted to pick upthe book and read it myself and
see, just see what I learned andsee what happens.
If I don't like it, I'm goingto put it back down.
If I like it, I'm going to keepreading and I started reading
January one.
It was January 1st and likehalfway through Genesis, like
(20:40):
things started to happen.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I was going to say your head exploded.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
My head exploded Like most of us.
And like yeah, and like thebook of Genesis is, so it's
crazy, Like it's the, it's thecreation story.
You know, it's how everythingthat kind of came into play.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Yeah, I mean, if you're halfway through Genesis,
you're in Joseph.
Right, you're right aroundJoseph's story.
It's awesome.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Right and I don't know it.
Just I would read it on my wayto work every morning.
Every morning I'd read it, andthen even at work I would listen
to it.
I was just indulging myselfinto it and, slowly but surely,
like I don't know, like I wouldfind myself like coming back
home and like talking to myfiance about this.
(21:27):
Like hey, like did you knowthis?
Like, did you read this?
Like have you ever read?
Like, um, like it's just,things start to happen.
Like God started to work in mylife, like in crazy divine ways.
Like I don't believe incoincidence, coincidences
anymore.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Like like Hallelujah.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Yeah, yeah, like I don't believe in coincidence
anymore, like I would be like,for instance, I'd be driving
there's this one time I wasdriving to, uh Muay Thai.
I was trying, I was going to gotrain in the morning at like
9am.
I was just driving my car.
I'm listening to worship musicand I start like the music music
(22:08):
like kind of took over me andlike I started to like kind of
cry.
Right, I started to get like alittle bit emotional listening
to this music.
And I look off to the side andI see this like truck, um, like
this uh 18 wheeler or whateverthe big, big, big trucks, and it
(22:29):
says something like trust ingod or god can, or something
like that.
And then, as I'm cryinglistening to the worship music,
I see that sign and I startbursting out into more tears.
I'm'm like God, like what isgoing on, like what are you?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
doing God wants you baby, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Ultimately, I felt as if, like, god had revealed
himself through the word to me,but then, whilst doing that, he
had also put.
I feel like he had just placedpeople in my life at certain
times, like I just started goingto this boxing and like a Muay
Thai gym, and there's this kidnamed Jordan there, uh, and he
(23:07):
and he had just come to Christand gave his life to Christ, and
and I met him there and I sawthis like light in him, like,
and I was like, oh, this guy,this guy fights and trains and
also loves Jesus and loves God,and I love the way he carries
himself, like, and it reminds meof like that time, that short
period where I was in highschool and I started going to
Zarephath and I started going tothe youth group and I started
(23:29):
to feel like this passion forGod and I wanted that again.
And he kind of like inspired meeven more to like continue in
my faith and continue in myjourney.
And yeah, so, like, yeah, myjourney, and uh, yeah, so like,
yeah, so I got into the word,like I, I finished, I finished
the bible that year, I'm and,and now, like, like, that's the
(23:49):
beautiful, that's the otherbeautiful thing about the word,
like I can read, that I can readthe same chapter every day and
gather something new from it.
Or god will reveal, the holyspirit will reveal something new
about it.
Like I'm still reading thebible, I'm still trying to
understand.
I'm Like I'm still reading theBible, I'm still trying to
understand.
I'm reading it every day.
I'm still trying to like fullyunderstand certain things and
just continue to learn andindulge myself in it.
But it's just crazy how likeGod kind of worked and moved in
(24:14):
my life simply from just reading.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
What a calling and interactions.
Yeah, Josh, I just want to saypraise God together through your
story and your honesty andcandor with us, and it just it's
lighting a fire in me right nowabout what God can do, Like
what our God, the one true God,can do if he wants someone's
heart and he wants all of them.
(24:39):
You know, and you it soundslike you listened which is a big
part of it.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely.
He's, uh, he's still working onme.
You know, like, uh, I'm still.
I still struggle every singleday.
But if I could be that light insomeone's life and help at
least one person, kind of likeyou said, that's what matters
most to me.
Like in the gym, I have a Bibleout in front of my gym.
(25:13):
We have a small little gym andI have a little whiteboard where
I'll just have a verse of theday.
Just little things, just havingthe Bible out.
As soon as you walk in throughthe gym, you see this Bible.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
You know your name comes up all the time, honestly,
and you know people areencouraged and inspired and, and
, and you know, motivated by you.
And you know, not just yourstory, but your zeal for God,
your heart for God and um, youknow so.
So keep going.
You know, not just your story,but your zeal for God, your
heart for God and um, you knowso.
So keep going.
You know, I just want toencourage you.
(25:47):
I mean, you know, those, thoseuh, seemingly little things
you're doing, uh, in your lifeand in the business and through
your business, are, um, aresignificant.
You know that that, those,those uh little pebbles, that
those, those uh little pebblesyou know create, you know
kingdom ripples, and um, so it'sexciting, it's exciting to
watch what's next for you,brother.
(26:08):
Uh, what, what's?
You know?
Speaker 4 (26:09):
you mentioned um you know you're you're kind of
awaiting maybe a second, asecond match, yeah, yeah.
So, um, still running a gym.
You know we're in the middle ofwrestling season so I got these
guys are up and going competingevery day.
So I'm uh, you know this isthat time of year that all that
(26:29):
work that we put on in the offseason and everything kind of
comes to play, uh, and you knowthat's uh, we're in season, so,
uh, that's going on.
Um, you know, continuing to tryto strengthen my relationship
with the lord, uh, continuing tofind fellowship, strengthen my
relationship with the Lord,continuing to find fellowship
and just continuing seeking thatintimacy, that closeness, and
(26:50):
just trying to constantly dieevery day to myself.
And less of me, more of him.
And that's actually.
Pastor Rob actually baptized mea couple weeks ago, not a
couple weeks ago, a couplemonths ago, yeah, a couple weeks
ago, and that was he mentionedthat less of me, more of you.
(27:11):
And that's what I'm trying tofocus on every day, not just one
time baptism, but gettingbaptized every day, you know,
like dying to myself everysingle day, and that's what I'm
really trying to focus on.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
I saw the picture of your baptism in that, in that
metal tub.
It looked like, and maybe Rob'slawn, rob's front lawn or back
lawn, I'm not sure.
But yeah, right next to thephone booth.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
So cool.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Josh, I wanted to ask you, you know, we met Exactly,
exactly, exactly.
So cool it's crazy.
Josh, I wanted to ask you, youknow we met on this, this Mark
men for Christ weekend to tellme a little bit about, if you
could just tell the listenersabout you know what that weekend
meant to you?
Well, you know what.
What did God do for you on thatweekend?
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Yeah, that weekend was a very powerful weekend.
You know, before that, beforethat weekend, I had, like I had
one or two people tell me hey,like you're going to seek,
you're going to see someadversity, like before getting
there, like Satan doesn't wantyou, satan does not want you to
go, make it to this, okay, sojust be strong in the spirit and
(28:26):
be strong in prayer.
And, uh, you know, that weekleading up was a very tough week
for me, like it was a reallytough week for me, but I finally
I made it.
Um, I actually got Dan tocommit to coming last minute,
like I think it was Wednesday, Ithink we were supposed to leave
either Thursday or Friday, andI got Dan to commit to coming
last minute.
Like I think it was Wednesday,I think we were supposed to
leave either Thursday or Friday,and I got Dan, my partner here
at Daryl, to commit to comingand I ended up, I ended up
(28:49):
bringing him along, which wasawesome Cause I got to bring not
only one of my my well, he ismy best friend but also, you
know, like my partner and thething that we're doing, you know
.
So, like I was was able to, Iwas able to, like get him to
come.
And you know we had, I had sucha powerful weekend, um, uh, I
think, sarge I think youdescribed it this way and I
think this is my favorite way tokind of see the weekend.
(29:11):
It's um, it's an m, I think it's.
You started off by saying or itmight have been you, but the
weekend is described by emptyingour cup and filling it back up.
So emptying our cup of the badstuff and emptying our cup with
some good stuff, and that's howI kind of saw that weekend.
(29:35):
It was a breaking down processto building back up, and also
iron, sharpens, iron, and beingaround a bunch of, you know, men
and men for Christ.
And it was, it was powerful,being able to be vulnerable and,
(29:56):
uh, yeah, it was.
It was the, the word, that aword.
The word that really suits itbest for me is intimacy, because
I, I, I, that's what I wasseeking when I went there and I
felt as if, by the end of theweekend, I got that I, I, I
(30:18):
understood what it meant to havean intimate relationship with
the Lord.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
That's beautiful.
It's beautiful.
Thank you for sharing that.
I you know, and it'sinteresting is I?
I didn't, I didn't know whatyou'd say, but, um, you know,
thinking about somebody like you.
You know, if people look up apicture of Josh Ugalde, you're
going to see this chiseled,strong, you know, just ripped
(30:45):
dude, right, oh God, you know,almost um trashing.
You know, uh, weekends or eventsor things like you know that,
(31:05):
that, how, how, how feminine orweak, you know it, it is to be
vulnerable and intimate, evenneed or desire, you know, godly
intimacy.
These things, these wordsyou're saying, right, uh, as the
world sees them, wouldn'timagine those words to come out
of a guy's mouth.
That that, that looks like.
(31:26):
You know a ripped MMA fighter,right.
And so I just want to honor you, bro, like I, because you know
that's a message that needs tobe talked about, it's a message
that needs to be shared, right,like, and, and that is what it
looks like to be a strong man inthe Lord, right, and to be in
that place of surrender andvulnerability, seeking, you know
(31:48):
, godly intimacy andexperiencing, needing to
experience that right.
So, thanks for sharing that.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
Of course, man Amen.
Like I'm a crier, I'll behonest with you, Me too bro
Pastor Rob says the right, Ijust cry, man, I hear the right
thing, the spirit comes at me,the spirit like comes through me
at the right time, I just startcrying.
Yeah, this is who I am.
It's just what I do.
I've always been an emotionalperson, but when, uh, when, god
and Christ are involved, it'seven more.
(32:17):
And you're no shame?
Speaker 1 (32:21):
No, it's not a shame issue, but it's so nice to hear
you.
You know your honesty aboutthat.
I I just think about the numberof times the Holy Spirit has
driven me to my knees, and othermen that I know and love have
been.
You know that feeling, bro,josh.
You've been on your knees right, but yet sometime in the next
(32:41):
48 hours.
There you are doing some corework, some real exercise, some
pain, and you're just strong,right, you feel it front, back,
middle.
You're strong and on a moment'snotice, the gospel and Jesus
can drive you to your knees.
And it's such a good thing.
That's a balanced life, right,cause there's times where we are
(33:03):
needed to be strong, and Godcalls us to be strong, and there
are other times where we needto get down and put our faces on
the ground and listen, right.
So it sounds like you have hadyou're about 26, 27, I'm
guessing, but an awful lot ofgreat life experience.
It sounds like God has justbegun in his adventure with you
(33:26):
and we're looking forward to youknow, if we're still doing this
in a few years.
We got to get the Joshua updateSarge.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Absolutely brother.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
To see what God's doing with them, you know.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
For sure, josh, we are.
We're so thankful to have youhere in the foxhole, bro, and
we'll be, we'll be cheering youon, man.
We are cheering you on, uh, notjust uh on the edge of the cage
, but in life and in your walkwith the Lord.
And, um, thank you for pouringinto and investing in young
lives and, uh, everybody youcome in contact with, bro, keep,
(33:56):
keep going and, uh, you know,pray that you just continue to
be used mightily for the kingand for the kingdom.
So, thank you, brother, and Godbless you.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Give our love to John and to Pastor Rob, and we wish
you nothing but the best.
With your wedding coming up insix months, you're going to be
pretty distracted.
It's such a great thing, godbless you and congratulations.
Speaker 4 (34:24):
Thank you guys so much.
I really great thing.
God bless you andcongratulations.
Thank you guys so much.
I really enjoyed this.
God bless you guys.
This is awesome.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
We'll talk again soon .
You take care.
What a beautiful snapshot ofhow our Father in Heaven pursues
His children.
Josh was transparent about hisrelationship with God early on,
and still God's grace pursuedhim.
Josh gave us a look into thedarkness of some of the valleys
that he walked through, andstill God's grace pursued him.
(34:55):
What the enemy chose to use forevil, our sovereign God used
for good.
Are you feeling that tug in yourchest?
Maybe you're positive that youwent too far in your bad choices
for God to ever love you again?
Do you feel hopeless?
If you answered yes to any ofthose questions, there's great
(35:15):
news.
God provided a savior who shedHis blood for you and me, and
that blood can cover anythingthat you leave at the foot of
His cross.
Call on the name of Jesus andlet your new journey begin Right
now, today.
Lord, please continue to usethis podcast to impact the lives
(35:40):
of all who listen.
I ask that you would bring hopeand healing to each and every
one of them, meet them rightwhere they are and reveal
yourself to them like only youcan do, in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it
and invite others to theFoxhole.
You can find us wherever youdownload your favorite podcasts.
Be sure to subscribe so youknow when new episodes drop, and
please rate us and commentthere too, as it'll help us get
found by others who couldbenefit.
Find, follow and like us onyour go-to social media networks
by searching Foxhole Symphonyor visit foxholesymphonycom to
(36:15):
make it super easy to find us.
Drop us a line with feedback,questions, topic requests who
knows?
No-transcript no-transcript.
Speaker 5 (01:45:20):
The, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the
no-transcript.
Welcome to Foxhole Symphony, a podcast about the
transformational value of men inauthentic community.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
In our foxhole.
Men are equipped to buildrelationships that foster
belonging, accountability andgrowth.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Stop believing the lie that you can thrive in
isolation and instead join us onthe journey from broken to
whole.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Hello everyone, nate, call me the Maestro, and we are
back in the foxhole where weactively pursue belonging,
accountability and growththrough authentic relationships.
No masks, no agendas, just iron, sharpening iron.
Steve and Mark are in thefoxhole today and they have a
special guest joining them.
He's a humble child of God andhe has a heartfelt testimony to
(00:51):
share with us.
You know what time it is.
Get comfortable, open yournotes app and let's get this
symphony started.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Hey, welcome back to Foxhole Symphony Podcast.
I'm Sarge here with my co-hostand good friend, mark Well, just
call me the technical wizard.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Maximus, maximus, that's me, babe.
Wow, what's up?
Man, I'm good, I'm really good,and I'm glad to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
We have an awesome guest on today and I was looking
at him through the screen andhe was bundled up man.
He was bundled up man.
He was bundled up.
And I'm looking at you, I'mthinking about you guys in the
cold.
You know it's frigid here.
It is.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Don't do it.
Why don't you introduce ourguest and we'll move right along
away from the weather.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Let's do it.
So with us in the foxhole we'vegot Josh Ugalde.
Josh is we met on a Markmanweekend Markman for Christ and
he comes to us through a coupleof real dear friends and some
incredible episodes.
If listeners, if you have notheard the episodes with Rob
(02:01):
Cruver and John Maz, you'regoing to want to go and scroll
through the 86 or so episodesand find those two, because
they're incredibly impactful andJosh is a dear mutual friend.
And Josh, welcome man, welcometo the Foxhole.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Thanks for having me, guys.
I'm so excited to come on.
Seriously, I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
We're honored to have you and um introduce you to our
listeners.
And you know, uh, we've gotsome other mutual friends and
you know folks like DLO that youknow, I know, come out to come
out to the gym and uh, tell,tell everybody, let's just start
with the here and now, likewhat you know.
Tell us a little bit about thegym and what you're doing.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Just just you know, today in your life, yeah, so, uh
, I recently opened up a gym.
Um, I I've wrestled my wholelife and my uh, a dream of mine
from when I was even in highschool was to at some point have
my own gym and be have theopportunity to teach the next
(03:03):
generation and to kind of helpnext and up-and-coming stars in
our local areas.
And I recently just opened up agym.
But not only is it a wrestlinggym, but it's also a martial
arts self-defense gym, but it'salso a fitness side as well.
So I actually opened it with areally good friend of mine His
name's Dan, who is also a Markedman, who is actually at that
(03:25):
same Mark that same market thatwe are at.
Yeah, I, uh, I I'm.
I'm running the wrestling sideof things.
I have some martial artscoaches who are teaching
kickboxing, boxing and Muay Thai, and then Dan is kind of
running the fitness side ofthings over here.
Um, um, uh, with that, I'm also.
I'm also a professional mmafighter.
(03:45):
Um, I'm one and oh, at the atthe moment looking to yeah, baby
somewhat soon.
And, um, I'm also a wrestlingcoach.
I have a bunch of kids that Ithat I coach and mentor and and
try to teach weekly, daily, um,um, I feel like I'm a father
already.
I don't have any kids yet.
(04:07):
I'm, uh, I'm.
I'm engaged to my beautifulfiance, though Her name's Alexa.
We're getting married in July.
Oh, that's great, um, thank you,thank you, and I'm just looking
forward to uh, I'm just lookingforward to that.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
So so, Josh, here you are, undefeated MMA fighter.
Tell us a little bit more aboutyour story and, and you know,
that'll kind of give us apicture and a glimpse of you
know maybe, how God's been atwork, you know, in your life.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Yeah, of course.
So I grew up.
I grew up in the church, um,it's I.
I've always been in the church,um, it's I.
I've always been in the church,but I wasn't, you know, I
wasn't really too in tune.
Uh, I, someone.
I forget how we ended up there,but we ended up at zarafath, uh,
where pastor rob was the pastor, and when I started going there
(05:00):
, I felt like I started to kindof get more in tune and I
started to understand a littlebit more.
I wasn't fully, I wasn't fullyin per se, but I was, you know,
I was.
I was making my progress, likeI was learning a little bit more
.
I got to meet Pastor Rob andthe second that I met Pastor Rob
, I saw this like kind of lightin him.
I didn't know how to likereally describe it at the time,
(05:21):
but anytime that like I, anytimethat pastor abu kind of like
speak to me or and he tried tolike guide me, like for some
reason, like I would cry and Inever knew like really what that
was and I would just getemotional.
Um, and looking back on her.
(05:41):
Now it's just, I mean, thespirit was working in me without
even me even realizing.
Um, but you know, I was part ofthe youth group.
I started to get more in touchwith my faith, um, so I would
say that I was coming stronginto my faith for about like a
year, two years, in high school,but at the time wrestling ruled
(06:05):
my life.
Wrestling was everything.
That's what I, what it's what Idid from when I was a kid.
It's what I did all the all thetime.
My, like, my life revolved onwrestling.
Wrestling was everything, andeverything was geared towards a
state title and winning a statetitle.
My entire life I won a statetitle when I was in middle
school.
You know I had achievements.
Um, I, I was a good, I was adecent.
In middle school, you know Ihad achievements.
(06:26):
Um I I, I was a good, I was adecent wrestler.
In high school, you know, Iplaced three times six, uh,
second, second and um.
My goal, my whole life and mylife didn't revolve around Jesus
.
My life didn't revolve aroundGod.
My life, my life revolvedaround wrestling and winning.
So my God was wrestling andsuccess, and that's what I
(06:46):
thought.
That's where I thought my value, that's where I thought my
value was, and I felt like thatfor a long time, even past high
school and even through college,my value was placed in my
success or my accomplishments inwrestling where I don't where
they should have been withChrist Right.
But basically, my senior yearleading up, I'm supposed to win
the state title where theyshould have been with Christ
Right.
Basically, my senior yearleading up, I'm supposed to win
(07:08):
the state title.
I just took second last year.
I'm ranked first the entireyear.
I wrestled a kid who's second, Ibeat the kid who's ranked
second in the state earlier inthe year and then, come my
senior year, I'm at the statetournament.
I make the finals once againand I'm wrestling the same kid
that I beat earlier.
The state tournament.
I make the finals once againand I'm I'm wrestling the same
kid that I beat earlier in theyear.
Um, I ended up losing thatmatch, um, and then that's where
(07:32):
things everything kind of wentleft.
Uh, as soon as I left that, assoon as I lost that match, I
remember running out of thearena.
I ended up running outside ofthe building by myself and my
singlet.
This is like like, this is inlike february, march, so it's
like still kind of cold out.
I'm in my singlet, I rip my likeI rip my, my straps off and I
(07:53):
just start cursing at god and Istart blaming god and I and I
and I kind of F'd him, f'd this,f'd all this, and sorry I'm
getting a little choked up but Iturned my back to God and ever
(08:26):
since then not ever since then,but after that, you know, my
senior year was over.
I was depressed, I was upset.
You know like my whole worldcame crashing down.
So you know I, as the year wenton, you know I was.
I couldn't wait for graduationday, so I can get out of the
high school, so I can like causefor me.
It was like at that point itwas like, okay, let me like
start fresh now, like I'm goingto college, like I'm done with
(08:47):
this crap, like I'm going tocollege and I'm just going to
you know, wrestle and do allthis stuff.
And once you get to college, youknow like I committed, like I
committed as like a 16 year oldboy, like 17 year old boy, like
I graduated as a 17 year old.
I was just a kid and now mywhole world just came to an end
(09:09):
and now, in a couple of months,I got to leave and be without my
parents be like, be on my ownthree, four hours away at like a
major university where, likewe're over a hundred thousand,
you know, like a hundred, likethousands of kids, you know, are
there, like I don't know.
It's just like a differentenvironment.
I've never been away from myparents, like I'm living on my
own as a 17 year old, and so Ihad turned my back to God.
(09:32):
And then, once I got to college, it kind of just progressively
gotten worse, because I neverdrank a sip of alcohol, I never
smoked anything, anything in mylife, cause I was so driven, I
was focused, I wanted to win astate title.
I got to college, I meet allthese and then, all of a sudden,
(09:55):
it's like I'm at college butit's clear that God isn't there.
God isn't there but there's alot of evilness going on and
that, like there's a lot ofinfluence that can steer you the
wrong way.
And I fell into that, thatpattern.
(10:15):
I fell into that.
I fell into that world.
I fell into the world, rather,you know, like I started.
Uh, you know my teammates, likeolder, older teammates, the
seniors that were there, likeyou know, like they're, you know
they're encouraging a culture,which, which was something that
(10:38):
led me down a dark path.
Yeah, um, you know, like, likeI, I, 17 years old, like I'm
getting, I'm like I'm drinking,like I start smoking at some at
one point, like, and I'm justlike down this dark path, like
and like, progressively eachyear.
My five years of college, Iloved university of Maryland.
Like, it was a great time.
(10:58):
I met some great people.
But in hindsight, looking backat those five years that I was
there each year gotprogressively worse in terms of
one my relationship with God, myhealth, my habits.
I kind of just spiraled,spiraled, spiraled, spiraled
(11:20):
Drinking.
At some point, we five, six,seven days a week there would be
.
There would be spans at a timewhere I would be getting drunk
every, every night.
There would be times where Iwas in season and I was drinking
multiple.
You know, like, it was just adark path.
The culture wasn't there.
I was far away from God.
(11:40):
I didn't want anything to dowith him.
Um, and college is rough for me.
Like, like, college was like I,I didn't.
I started my four years, I wasthere.
My career wasn't great.
Um, I was drinking, I was, Iwas lustful, I was, you know,
like I, it's just things weren'tgoing well.
(12:03):
Yeah, my senior year was mysenior year was COVID year, so I
didn't get like to finish offmy senior year correctly.
It got to such a bad pointwhere I there was a point where
I I had a.
I had a like a sports psych.
(12:23):
Her name was Dr Garvin and Ijust want to like give her a
shout out and blessings to her.
Where I had a sports psych Hername was Dr Garvin and I just
want to give her a shout out andblessings to her because she
saved my life.
There was a point where I quitRight before my senior year.
I quit, or I got suspended andI got in my car.
I was going to get in my car, Iwas going to and I I was going
(12:48):
to get in my car, I was going todrive home and I was going to
kill myself.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
I was going to.
I was going to.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
I don't know how I was going to do it.
This was my mindset.
And then, as I was getting inthe car, I got a phone call from
my, from Dr Garvin, and I'moutside of like our, our, our
college, like college facilitybuilding where we had practiced
and we're just where the sportsteams were.
It's like the Xfinity Center,it was called.
I get a call from her.
(13:13):
She's in there and I'm talkingto her.
I'm crying, I'm hysterical.
He comes into my car and wetalk.
She basically talks me off theledge, but I was going to kill
myself that day and a littlemore, a little, a little further
(13:34):
down the line, you know, covidhappens.
I don't get to finish my senioryear, we get sent home early.
You know quarantine, lockdown,all that jazz.
I'm like still kind of goingdown this dark path.
But I hit this pinnacle.
Like I was on, like I was onanti-depression medicine, I was
on anti-anxiety medicine, I wason like sleep medicine, like I
was on like all this, all thesedrugs, and one night I had went
(13:59):
out drinking and I was still onthese, these medicines, these
drugs, and I got really bangedup and I drove, I crashed my car
and at this point.
I'm like at rock bottom.
(14:20):
I get home.
Rock bottom.
I get home.
Me and my fiance at the time wehad gotten into it that night
and she had left.
I was.
I found my way home somehow.
I left my car somewhere, walkedmiles home, whatever, I get
(14:44):
home and then I try to killmyself with my medicine.
I'm getting into detail rightnow, so I apologize if you're at
your discretion.
I start inserting these pills,the whole thing, in my mouth.
My uncle's there and he'sdigging these whole thing in my
mouth, and my uncle's there andhe's he's digging these, these
(15:05):
pills, out of my mouth and andit's just like it was a graphic
night.
It was a rough night, andthat's when I felt like I truly
hit rock bottom.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And so so Josh yeah, let's, let's pause there.
Let me let me give you a chanceto breathe.
I thank you for sharing all ofthat.
First of all, no, nothing to besorry about.
Thank you, thank you.
Um, I'm so sorry that that.
You know you went through that.
So, at that point, this is.
This is how long ago.
Maybe 2020?
(15:41):
This is 45 years ago, 2020.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Yeah, yeah, 2020.
Okay, 2020 to 2021.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
So I want to come back to that point and pick up
in a few minutes, but you know,just a couple of questions, like
you know.
First of all, you know, I hearso much from you know, I hear so
much from you know, competitiveathletes that have faith in
Jesus or come to faith in Jesus,who you know, you know who had
(16:12):
to come sort of to the end ofthemselves or the end of their
rope, um, because they sort ofidolized, you know, their, their
, their sport right, or or orsaw themselves a certain way.
And I and I guess that's myquestion for you Like, as you
know, you're, you're coachingnow these, you know these kids
(16:34):
right, and you know, as youthink about them right, think
about them right, how do you goabout training them up in a way
that helps them to be theabsolute best at their sport,
right?
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Without finding their identity in that.
If that makes sense, yeah, soyou know, 100% makes sense.
No, 100% makes sense.
And this right here is kind ofwhat I had to do that work, this
identity work, before I coulddo anything else.
And my biggest problem, this iswhat saved me my whole life.
(17:21):
My identity was in wrestling, myidentity was with what I did in
wrestling, but the second thatI and I was done competing.
At this point I hadn't eventransitioned into jujitsu or mma
or none of that.
I was just kind of like in thislike gray area, like done,
competing, like I had hadbecause I had to.
Right, I had to take myidentity out of wrestling and
find and and find my identityand other things right.
At this point I wasn't withjesus yet, like, so I now I can
(17:41):
say my identity in other thingsright.
At this point I wasn't withJesus yet Like, so I now I can
say my identity is in Christ andthat's who I identify as.
Like, I identify as a child ofGod and a follower of Jesus.
But at that point what helped meis like, and what I tell my
kids now is like you're morethan just a wrestler.
That's not who you are.
That's not where your valuelies.
(18:02):
Right, you're a son, you're abrother, you're a teammate,
you're you're.
You're a classmate.
You know what I mean.
Like you're valued in all theseother areas in your life and
you have so much more valuewithin who you are, other than
just the things that you do orthe things that you yeah, the
things that you do and thethings that you accomplish.
(18:22):
You're not what you do.
You know, yes, it's your.
You know.
Yeah, like I said, like your,your son, like, eventually
you're going to be a father,like your brothers, like your
sister, your cousin.
Yeah, you're a disciple, you'rea disciple of Jesus.
Like that, put your value inthat and then that will fill
(18:44):
your heart that that will fillyour cup.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
There's you.
There's either a moment orgroup of moments that take you
from the bottom right.
You, you explained your bottomand now we're talking about not
finding your identity in inanything other than jesus.
Do you recall in 2020, 2021, 2,or since then, was there
(19:06):
something that happened?
Did somebody come into yourlife?
Who helped you?
Where did the light come from?
Who shined the light on you?
Or did it just happen to you.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
God anoint you in that way so 2022, I believe, is
when my testimony, god anointsyou in that way.
So 2022, I believe, is when mytestimony, my, I guess my
redemption starts, and it's kindof like a time like right now.
Actually, this is perfecttiming.
It's kind of crazy at the endof 2021, you know, like all this
bad stuff happened like.
(19:38):
But like at the end of 2021,I'm like okay, 2022, I like I
need something needs to change,like uh, like something needs to
change.
And I said I, I think I I don'tknow why, I forget what it was,
but something just told me likehey, like you know what?
(19:59):
Like let's read the Bible.
I'm not going to read it from,I'm not, I'm going to start from
.
I'm just I'm going to startfrom the beginning and I'm only
going to read it with like thismindset to like learn, let me
just read it.
And then I just want to learn,like, like historically, uh, you
know what I don't.
I didn't have like a specificmindset, if that makes sense.
(20:20):
Like I just wanted to pick upthe book and read it myself and
see, just see what I learned andsee what happens.
If I don't like it, I'm goingto put it back down.
If I like it, I'm going to keepreading and I started reading
January one.
It was January 1st and likehalfway through Genesis, like
(20:40):
things started to happen.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I was going to say your head exploded.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
My head exploded Like most of us.
And like yeah, and like thebook of Genesis is, so it's
crazy, Like it's the, it's thecreation story.
You know, it's how everythingthat kind of came into play.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Yeah, I mean, if you're halfway through Genesis,
you're in Joseph.
Right, you're right aroundJoseph's story.
It's awesome.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Right and I don't know it.
Just I would read it on my wayto work every morning.
Every morning I'd read it, andthen even at work I would listen
to it.
I was just indulging myselfinto it and, slowly but surely,
like I don't know, like I wouldfind myself like coming back
home and like talking to myfiance about this.
(21:27):
Like hey, like did you knowthis?
Like, did you read this?
Like have you ever read?
Like, um, like it's just,things start to happen.
Like God started to work in mylife, like in crazy divine ways.
Like I don't believe incoincidence, coincidences
anymore.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Like like Hallelujah.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Yeah, yeah, like I don't believe in coincidence
anymore, like I would be like,for instance, I'd be driving
there's this one time I wasdriving to, uh Muay Thai.
I was trying, I was going to gotrain in the morning at like
9am.
I was just driving my car.
I'm listening to worship musicand I start like the music music
(22:08):
like kind of took over me andlike I started to like kind of
cry.
Right, I started to get like alittle bit emotional listening
to this music.
And I look off to the side andI see this like truck, um, like
this uh 18 wheeler or whateverthe big, big, big trucks, and it
(22:29):
says something like trust ingod or god can, or something
like that.
And then, as I'm cryinglistening to the worship music,
I see that sign and I startbursting out into more tears.
I'm'm like God, like what isgoing on, like what are you?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
doing God wants you baby, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Ultimately, I felt as if, like, god had revealed
himself through the word to me,but then, whilst doing that, he
had also put.
I feel like he had just placedpeople in my life at certain
times, like I just started goingto this boxing and like a Muay
Thai gym, and there's this kidnamed Jordan there, uh, and he
(23:07):
and he had just come to Christand gave his life to Christ, and
and I met him there and I sawthis like light in him, like,
and I was like, oh, this guy,this guy fights and trains and
also loves Jesus and loves God,and I love the way he carries
himself, like, and it reminds meof like that time, that short
period where I was in highschool and I started going to
Zarephath and I started going tothe youth group and I started
(23:29):
to feel like this passion forGod and I wanted that again.
And he kind of like inspired meeven more to like continue in
my faith and continue in myjourney.
And yeah, so, like, yeah, myjourney, and uh, yeah, so like,
yeah, so I got into the word,like I, I finished, I finished
the bible that year, I'm and,and now, like, like, that's the
(23:49):
beautiful, that's the otherbeautiful thing about the word,
like I can read, that I can readthe same chapter every day and
gather something new from it.
Or god will reveal, the holyspirit will reveal something new
about it.
Like I'm still reading thebible, I'm still trying to
understand.
I'm Like I'm still reading theBible, I'm still trying to
understand.
I'm reading it every day.
I'm still trying to like fullyunderstand certain things and
just continue to learn andindulge myself in it.
But it's just crazy how likeGod kind of worked and moved in
(24:14):
my life simply from just reading.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
What a calling and interactions.
Yeah, Josh, I just want to saypraise God together through your
story and your honesty andcandor with us, and it just it's
lighting a fire in me right nowabout what God can do, Like
what our God, the one true God,can do if he wants someone's
heart and he wants all of them.
(24:39):
You know, and you it soundslike you listened which is a big
part of it.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely.
He's, uh, he's still working onme.
You know, like, uh, I'm still.
I still struggle every singleday.
But if I could be that light insomeone's life and help at
least one person, kind of likeyou said, that's what matters
most to me.
Like in the gym, I have a Bibleout in front of my gym.
(25:13):
We have a small little gym andI have a little whiteboard where
I'll just have a verse of theday.
Just little things, just havingthe Bible out.
As soon as you walk in throughthe gym, you see this Bible.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
You know your name comes up all the time, honestly,
and you know people areencouraged and inspired and, and
, and you know, motivated by you.
And you know, not just yourstory, but your zeal for God,
your heart for God and um, youknow so.
So keep going.
You know, not just your story,but your zeal for God, your
heart for God and um, you knowso.
So keep going.
You know, I just want toencourage you.
(25:47):
I mean, you know, those, thoseuh, seemingly little things
you're doing, uh, in your lifeand in the business and through
your business, are, um, aresignificant.
You know that that, those,those uh little pebbles, that
those, those uh little pebblesyou know create, you know
kingdom ripples, and um, so it'sexciting, it's exciting to
watch what's next for you,brother.
(26:08):
Uh, what, what's?
You know?
Speaker 4 (26:09):
you mentioned um you know you're you're kind of
awaiting maybe a second, asecond match, yeah, yeah.
So, um, still running a gym.
You know we're in the middle ofwrestling season so I got these
guys are up and going competingevery day.
So I'm uh, you know this isthat time of year that all that
(26:29):
work that we put on in the offseason and everything kind of
comes to play, uh, and you knowthat's uh, we're in season, so,
uh, that's going on.
Um, you know, continuing to tryto strengthen my relationship
with the lord, uh, continuing tofind fellowship, strengthen my
relationship with the Lord,continuing to find fellowship
and just continuing seeking thatintimacy, that closeness, and
(26:50):
just trying to constantly dieevery day to myself.
And less of me, more of him.
And that's actually.
Pastor Rob actually baptized mea couple weeks ago, not a
couple weeks ago, a couplemonths ago, yeah, a couple weeks
ago, and that was he mentionedthat less of me, more of you.
(27:11):
And that's what I'm trying tofocus on every day, not just one
time baptism, but gettingbaptized every day, you know,
like dying to myself everysingle day, and that's what I'm
really trying to focus on.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
I saw the picture of your baptism in that, in that
metal tub.
It looked like, and maybe Rob'slawn, rob's front lawn or back
lawn, I'm not sure.
But yeah, right next to thephone booth.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
So cool.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Josh, I wanted to ask you, you know, we met Exactly,
exactly, exactly.
So cool it's crazy.
Josh, I wanted to ask you, youknow we met on this, this Mark
men for Christ weekend to tellme a little bit about, if you
could just tell the listenersabout you know what that weekend
meant to you?
Well, you know what.
What did God do for you on thatweekend?
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Yeah, that weekend was a very powerful weekend.
You know, before that, beforethat weekend, I had, like I had
one or two people tell me hey,like you're going to seek,
you're going to see someadversity, like before getting
there, like Satan doesn't wantyou, satan does not want you to
go, make it to this, okay, sojust be strong in the spirit and
(28:26):
be strong in prayer.
And, uh, you know, that weekleading up was a very tough week
for me, like it was a reallytough week for me, but I finally
I made it.
Um, I actually got Dan tocommit to coming last minute,
like I think it was Wednesday, Ithink we were supposed to leave
either Thursday or Friday, andI got Dan to commit to coming
last minute.
Like I think it was Wednesday,I think we were supposed to
leave either Thursday or Friday,and I got Dan, my partner here
at Daryl, to commit to comingand I ended up, I ended up
(28:49):
bringing him along, which wasawesome Cause I got to bring not
only one of my my well, he ismy best friend but also, you
know, like my partner and thething that we're doing, you know
.
So, like I was was able to, Iwas able to, like get him to
come.
And you know we had, I had sucha powerful weekend, um, uh, I
think, sarge I think youdescribed it this way and I
think this is my favorite way tokind of see the weekend.
(29:11):
It's um, it's an m, I think it's.
You started off by saying or itmight have been you, but the
weekend is described by emptyingour cup and filling it back up.
So emptying our cup of the badstuff and emptying our cup with
some good stuff, and that's howI kind of saw that weekend.
(29:35):
It was a breaking down processto building back up, and also
iron, sharpens, iron, and beingaround a bunch of, you know, men
and men for Christ.
And it was, it was powerful,being able to be vulnerable and,
(29:56):
uh, yeah, it was.
It was the, the word, that aword.
The word that really suits itbest for me is intimacy, because
I, I, I, that's what I wasseeking when I went there and I
felt as if, by the end of theweekend, I got that I, I, I
(30:18):
understood what it meant to havean intimate relationship with
the Lord.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
That's beautiful.
It's beautiful.
Thank you for sharing that.
I you know, and it'sinteresting is I?
I didn't, I didn't know whatyou'd say, but, um, you know,
thinking about somebody like you.
You know, if people look up apicture of Josh Ugalde, you're
going to see this chiseled,strong, you know, just ripped
(30:45):
dude, right, oh God, you know,almost um trashing.
You know, uh, weekends or eventsor things like you know that,
(31:05):
that, how, how, how feminine orweak, you know it, it is to be
vulnerable and intimate, evenneed or desire, you know, godly
intimacy.
These things, these wordsyou're saying, right, uh, as the
world sees them, wouldn'timagine those words to come out
of a guy's mouth.
That that, that looks like.
(31:26):
You know a ripped MMA fighter,right.
And so I just want to honor you, bro, like I, because you know
that's a message that needs tobe talked about, it's a message
that needs to be shared, right,like, and, and that is what it
looks like to be a strong man inthe Lord, right, and to be in
that place of surrender andvulnerability, seeking, you know
(31:48):
, godly intimacy andexperiencing, needing to
experience that right.
So, thanks for sharing that.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
Of course, man Amen.
Like I'm a crier, I'll behonest with you, Me too bro
Pastor Rob says the right, Ijust cry, man, I hear the right
thing, the spirit comes at me,the spirit like comes through me
at the right time, I just startcrying.
Yeah, this is who I am.
It's just what I do.
I've always been an emotionalperson, but when, uh, when, god
and Christ are involved, it'seven more.
(32:17):
And you're no shame?
Speaker 1 (32:21):
No, it's not a shame issue, but it's so nice to hear
you.
You know your honesty aboutthat.
I I just think about the numberof times the Holy Spirit has
driven me to my knees, and othermen that I know and love have
been.
You know that feeling, bro,josh.
You've been on your knees right, but yet sometime in the next
(32:41):
48 hours.
There you are doing some corework, some real exercise, some
pain, and you're just strong,right, you feel it front, back,
middle.
You're strong and on a moment'snotice, the gospel and Jesus
can drive you to your knees.
And it's such a good thing.
That's a balanced life, right,cause there's times where we are
(33:03):
needed to be strong, and Godcalls us to be strong, and there
are other times where we needto get down and put our faces on
the ground and listen, right.
So it sounds like you have hadyou're about 26, 27, I'm
guessing, but an awful lot ofgreat life experience.
It sounds like God has justbegun in his adventure with you
(33:26):
and we're looking forward to youknow, if we're still doing this
in a few years.
We got to get the Joshua updateSarge.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Absolutely brother.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
To see what God's doing with them, you know.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
For sure, josh, we are.
We're so thankful to have youhere in the foxhole, bro, and
we'll be, we'll be cheering youon, man.
We are cheering you on, uh, notjust uh on the edge of the cage
, but in life and in your walkwith the Lord.
And, um, thank you for pouringinto and investing in young
lives and, uh, everybody youcome in contact with, bro, keep,
(33:56):
keep going and, uh, you know,pray that you just continue to
be used mightily for the kingand for the kingdom.
So, thank you, brother, and Godbless you.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Give our love to John and to Pastor Rob, and we wish
you nothing but the best.
With your wedding coming up insix months, you're going to be
pretty distracted.
It's such a great thing, godbless you and congratulations.
Speaker 4 (34:24):
Thank you guys so much.
I really great thing.
God bless you andcongratulations.
Thank you guys so much.
I really enjoyed this.
God bless you guys.
This is awesome.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
We'll talk again soon .
You take care.
What a beautiful snapshot ofhow our Father in Heaven pursues
His children.
Josh was transparent about hisrelationship with God early on,
and still God's grace pursuedhim.
Josh gave us a look into thedarkness of some of the valleys
that he walked through, andstill God's grace pursued him.
(34:55):
What the enemy chose to use forevil, our sovereign God used
for good.
Are you feeling that tug in yourchest?
Maybe you're positive that youwent too far in your bad choices
for God to ever love you again?
Do you feel hopeless?
If you answered yes to any ofthose questions, there's great
(35:15):
news.
God provided a savior who shedHis blood for you and me, and
that blood can cover anythingthat you leave at the foot of
His cross.
Call on the name of Jesus andlet your new journey begin Right
now, today.
Lord, please continue to usethis podcast to impact the lives
(35:40):
of all who listen.
I ask that you would bring hopeand healing to each and every
one of them, meet them rightwhere they are and reveal
yourself to them like only youcan do, in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it
and invite others to theFoxhole.
You can find us wherever youdownload your favorite podcasts.
Be sure to subscribe so youknow when new episodes drop, and
please rate us and commentthere too, as it'll help us get
found by others who couldbenefit.
Find, follow and like us onyour go-to social media networks
by searching Foxhole Symphonyor visit foxholesymphonycom to
(36:15):
make it super easy to find us.
Drop us a line with feedback,questions, topic requests who
knows?
No-transcript no-transcript.
Speaker 5 (01:45:20):
The, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the
no-transcript.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.