Ep. #125: How to Practice Intentional Parenting through Family Nature Adventures with Shaun Garrison

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Embark on an inspiring journey with Shaun Garrison, a dynamic adventurer and musician from Denver, whose life weaves together the threads of outdoor exploration, faith, and family. Shaun opens up about his love affair with nature that blossomed during his youth and eventually led him to Colorado. His path took an unexpected turn from seminary to a remarkable fusion of faith and the great outdoors. As a devoted father of six, Shaun shares the transformative power of family adventures in cultivating deep connections with each child, illustrating how the magnificent tapestry of nature reflects his spiritual devotion.

Unpack the profound concept of being "windswept" by the Holy Spirit with Shaun as he encourages setting intentional time aside for personal adventures with children. Learn how simple, yet profound activities like hiking or camping can forge unforgettable memories and strengthen familial bonds. Drawing on insights from thinkers like G.K. Chesterton, Shaun emphasizes the importance of embracing life's surprises and maintaining presence in each moment to create a sense of wonder and connectivity in our bustling everyday lives.

Explore the role of intentional fatherhood and adventure planning in fortifying spiritual defenses within the family. Shaun recounts personal stories of rites of passage and the essential role of prayer to protect and nurture familial ties. He passionately discusses the importance of spiritual leadership and the subtle yet significant impacts of shared outdoor experiences. Finally, Shaun’s musical talents bring an additional layer to the discussion, harmonizing the themes of growth, faith, and connection through the universal language of music, leaving listeners with a resonant sense of peace and encouragement.

You can hear the full song that Shaun shares at the end of the podcast on his YouTube channel!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, welcome back parents.
I am smiling ear to ear.
If you are watching this onYouTube, you will see why I've
got an in-studio guest with me.
So normally we do theserecordings virtually, which is
always a blessing because wehave guests all over the country
, but today on our show we havea local Denver guy with us, Sean

(00:25):
Garrison.
So welcome to the show, Sean.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thank you so much, yes.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Yes, this is exciting because one of my favorite
memories as a child growing upis just going hiking with my
family and being in the outdoors.
I actually wrote a piece aboutcutting wood with my family for
the winter and just the bondsand the awesome relationship,

(00:50):
like builder, that that activitywas just being out in nature
and doing something together asa unified team, and so I love
that.
Yes, I met Sean and actuallymet him through one of the hikes
that he led for mothers anddaughters and was like this
guy's got it going on.

(01:12):
He is like the jack of alltrades.
He's not only an outdooradventurer, but he's also an
amazing musician.
So if you stay until the end,you will get a little gift from
Mr Garrison.
So let me just go on a bit aboutyou, sean, because there's more
, okay.

(01:33):
So Sean is not only an outdooradventurer, but he's also a
musician and a songwriter.
But there's this red threadthat runs through everything he
does and I could tell it rightoff the bat with that when I met
him and that is his love forJesus, and so he's made it his

(01:54):
life mission to make sure thatJesus Christ is known throughout
the whole world.
So you're going to be blessedby this guy today.
So, sean, tell us a little bitabout, like, your own family.
You're married and you have sixkids.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
Okay.
So what was going on in yourfamily that stirred this idea to
start up an outdoor adventureorganization where you guide
people on outdoor trips?

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yes, it was, like most good things that come from
the Holy Spirit, it was not myplan, it was a surprise to me.
So I was born and raised in theSoutheast.
My parents took me camping,apparently when I was like six
months old, sort of thing, therein Florida and the Lord called
me out to Colorado in 2001.

(02:46):
And I'd already been into likerock climbing and hiking and
scuba diving and surfing andoutdoor photography, and the
Lord called me out here where wehave seasons and all these
different mountains and canyonsand everything else, and I was
just I mean, you know, god knowsour hearts I'm just completely
overwhelmed and just amazed.

(03:07):
There was one particular Octoberthat I just drove out to Aspen
for the day, which is like athree and a half hour drive, so
just for the day.
I just drove out there and washiking around the room bells and
taking pictures.
It was one of those likeperfect days.
You know it's hard to time likepeak color, like when the
Aspens change, but it was one ofthese days where of those like
perfect days.
You know it's hard to time likepeak color, like when the Aspens

(03:27):
change, yeah, but it was one ofthese days where it was the
deepest cobalt sky you've everseen.
You know and like here arethese amazing peaks, you know of
gray, with like white snow onthem and like the white Aspens,
and you know the green and goldand you know kind of reddish
leaves and just all these colorsand I think I my jaw was just
open the entire day.

(03:48):
And I was like I cannot eventake all of this in.
It's amazing.
But then for me, like I cameout here to do youth ministry, I
was in seminary, catholicseminary, considering priesthood
, and like the faith has justbeen the thing that's taken hold
of me and led me to all theseplaces.
So the faith perspective ofeven looking at a photograph was

(04:10):
realizing.
This is, this is evangelization, this is faith sharing.
Like if you show someone thisphoto and be like, look what he
did, look like can you evenfathom this?
Like all these colors andtextures, and you know basically
how our creator has somagnificently, artfully, you
know, crafted the world aroundus.

(04:31):
You know that even atheists youknow atheist ski bums like come
up on the top of the ski liftand they're like, yeah, I, even
I get like chills, like lookingover this.
Yeah, pay attention to that.
That's how you were made.
You were made to be stirred likethat by natural beauty.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
Yes, yes, yes.
Okay.
So that's what drew you out toColorado.
And you were.
You said you were in seminary,and then you discerned out of
seminary and decided thatmarriage was the vocation for
you.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
That's right, that's right.
I was loving learning all thosethings and, uh, surprisingly,
the Lord led me out to ColoradoAgain to my surprise.
Yeah, phone interview joboffered over the phone.
I didn't even have time to flyout, just felt confirmed in
prayer, so I drove out here andmet my future wife within two
days.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
Whoa.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yes, so like yet again, like how the Lord
orchestrates those things waybeyond us.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
Totally.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
So, yeah, so fast forward, like I was in youth
ministry, fast forward.
Now I have a youth group ofsorts in my home.
Our kids now are 18, down tofour, four girls, two boys.
And so, yes, apart fromministry, I had started doing
these.
You know, it's just a differentsocial dynamic to be like

(05:49):
there's eight of us here in thehouse, which is good, and I'm
like, uh, we, I don't want youguys to get lost in the mix here
.
Uh, so it's just like, nope,oldest daughter, like just you
and me, just you and dad, and sowe don't have a lot of extra
time or money.
So we're like, okay, we'regoing to go drive somewhere, do
a single overnight camping, godo some hiking, some paddle

(06:09):
boarding, maybe some fishing.
You know, hang out, have, havea campfire.
Come home the next day, yeah,um, so not expensive, not super
time consuming.
And then I do that with my sonand be like, oh, we're going
mountain biking out in theWestern slope, and, uh, in
camping and, you know, watchingwildlife and all these different
things.
And then, so, as I started doingthat, I would post pictures and

(06:33):
people are like, oh my gosh,you go to the coolest places.
How do you know where to go.
What do you bring?
Like I don't want you know,just realizing there's, there
are obstacles of of sorts likenot everyone's comfortable
outdoors, or what about bears,or you know all those sorts of
things.
So so, basically, I feel likethe Lord was kind of steering me
through these different aspectsof ministry that I'd already

(06:54):
been in and this wasn't my again, my plan, but it's just like.
No, this is actually a aparticular way to be able to
connect to, to be intentionalwith our family.
Like life's going so fast, we'reso busy, like it's not merely
fun.
It is fun, sure, but it's alsolike the time and space to like

(07:15):
disconnect.
You may or may not have cellservice, which is probably a
good thing.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yes, it is Unplug time together.
This is necessary.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yes, and even like there's a study that I'd heard
that was saying about like theseveterans with PTSD who had been
brought out into these outdoorenvironments and after three
days or more, there was aphysiological change in their
bodies, like there was somethingabout being in the natural

(07:46):
world, the sound of the wind andthe streams and the touch of
natural things that physicallychanged their bodies.
That was brought about ahealing element.
So I'm like it's not just thatyou know you and I love this.
Like it's way deeper.
I can't even claim to know allof the benefits of being
outdoors with our families.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
Wow, I believe that to be true.
I mean, you leave the outdoorsand there's this refreshment.
You know, like I said, growingup in Western Nebraska, it's
close to the landscape of SouthDakota and like Mount Rushmore
area and just beautiful buttesand trees and and the pine
needles and the scents and thewildlife.

(08:25):
And you get back home and andyou've got that smell on you and
it's like a good thing right,it's like outdoors and and
there's this lightness and thisfreshness about just even the
way you carry yourself and theway you go into the next
activity, because of that timeand that connection to the earth

(08:45):
.
So I believe that it has thatphysiological effect on your
body.
That is awesome to hear,because that's just further
evidence that we need to do moreof this fun outdoor adventure.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yes, and almost like for me growing in self-knowledge
.
I grew up fishing in Floridaand so I do some fly fishing out
here, but just realizing likeit is actually good for my soul
to be near the sound of runningwater, like to know that about
myself, like there's a good tobe, you know, perceived and

(09:17):
sought after here.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
Sure.

Speaker 2 (09:19):
Even something as simple as that.

Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yes, Well, when you mentioned the wind, did that,
you know, like just the sound ofthe wind kind of coming by your
?
The name of your organizationis Windswept Trek.
So how did you come up with thename for this?

Speaker 2 (09:34):
Sure, I felt like that.
That word windswept came to mein prayer, like several years
before I had I was a missionarywith focus, the fellowship of
Catholic university students,and so like thing, like I'm an
ideas person, so ideas areusually flying, and so I'm like
Lord, this keeps on coming up.

(09:56):
What is this like?
A song idea Is it like?
What is it?
But the word wind in Hebrewruah, like in the very beginning
of Genesis.
But the word wind in Hebrewruah, like in the very beginning
of Genesis, when I wasrealizing like, oh, that word is
the same word for wind andspirit and breath, and so like

(10:18):
being outdoors and just like youknow, climbing these high
mountains and it's always windyup there, there's just, there's
something beautiful andmysterious, the idea of
windswept places, and mysteriousthe idea of windswept places.
But for me then, like, like, oh, windswept, being spirit moved,
like the breath of God that'screated all of this, like it's
all all together, and so that's,I mean, that's the our goal as
as Christian disciples, is to bespirit moved.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yes To to be moved by the Holy Spirit and to allow
that spirit to move through usto minister to others, right and
so OK, let's jump into that.
Like you mentioned, you startedbecause you have a big family
of six kids.
Like you started doing theseone on one trips with your kids

(11:00):
and as a way to just not losethe rest of them.
I love it right?

Speaker 2 (11:06):
It's like practically speaking right.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
If you have lots of kids, please know you should
just take one out in thewilderness at one time and come
back with them.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
That's right, that's right.
That is goal number one forsure, no.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
So what did you notice happen between you and
your child when you're out doingthis?
Just the two of you?
I mean, I know what Iexperienced when I went on that
hike, that mother-daughter hikethat you led, with several
mothers and their youngdaughters, I think it was.
The age range was between sevenor nine and 12 or something

(11:46):
like that, and for me it wasjust this, like this ability to
connect on this deep level withher in conversation, because we
were moving our bodies and wewere side by side as we were
hiking through you know thetrails and we were a good
distance behind the mom anddaughter ahead of us and then no

(12:09):
one was real close behind usand so we had that space.
We had like the safety andsecurity of knowing we were
there with a group and we had astrong leader.
Because you were there andpeople have said, like what, why
did you go to a mother daughterhike with a guy?
And I'm like, do you know therelief that I experienced from
having a man lead this trip?

(12:30):
It was great because I knewthat he came with the route, all
the equipment that we needed,like the safety plan, and we
were just able to enjoy our timeas women and young women, our
time as women and young women.
And so for me, you know it wasjust, it was something

(12:50):
unexpected.
I thought, yeah, we're going togo out and hike and we'll visit
with each other and, you know,I'll get to know some other moms
and she'll probably meet someother friends, and that happened
at the beginning.
But then when you made the likeexplicit instruction that, like
, you're here to bond with eachother and so, like, put some
space between the two of youlike you know, the other pairs

(13:11):
of mothers and daughters withthe other pairs and then take
this time to just talk aboutwhatever she wants to talk about
, and it was like Whoa, there'sjust so much more to this than I
even thought about, so thankyou for blessing us with that.
That was awesome, and I want toknow like you've probably had

(13:31):
these experiences, so many ofthese experiences, with your own
kids.

Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yes, yeah, thank you for sharing that.
Praise God, I'm so glad to hearthat and Andy's so cute.
Thank you Showed like a pictureof you you on that bridge
crossing that stream right there.
It's just such a pretty trail.
Yeah, yes, I think I mean,first off, we're talking about
how busy we all are.
Hopefully this communicates toour kids.

(13:58):
I mean, it's all somewhatdifficult to find out what our
kids are listening to or notsometimes yes totally the same
in ministry.
We don't always see the graces,the impact of things, but um,
but there's an, an element ofhopefully.
They see like, okay, my mom'sreally busy, our family's busy,
we're all doing it, but she tooktime to do that with just me.

Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
And I think I mean I think you've you've talked in
other other podcasts, otherepisodes you've talked about
like carefree timelessness andjust like the importance of like
how, how much is busyness anenemy of our souls, of our
families, and so so carefreetimelessness, I think that's one
element.
The other thing is one of thestories that comes to mind.

(14:45):
So the highlight of my wholesummer, this past summer here,
my daughter, stella, is 10.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
She has been, you know, she's seen the big kids go
on, you know, on the father,son, daddy, daughter, camping
trips and she's like reallyexcitable.
And she's been begging me forliterally like over two years
yes and so this summer wasfinally the time for her to go.
She was so cute, so we weregone.
For you know, we left onemorning, camped out one night,

(15:15):
and then came back the next dayokay in this one time, jordan,
we, we drove out like it's maybean hour and a half away, we
went to this lake, we went, weset up the tent, we went hiking,
we went mountain biking, wewent fishing, we went stargazing
.
That night we were followingthese trails and ended up

(15:36):
exploring, like this whole, likeyou know ecosystem where like
beavers were and like collectingsome wildflowers which we
pressed later the next day wewent paddle boarding and she was
just so cute, but one of thethings like hopefully this will
be such a great memory for her,she's also been looking forward
to the time where she gets herfirst pocket knife.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
Oh, so you have kind of a crossing over type of.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yes, and honestly I feel like I've been winging it.
It's not like I have a formulayou for all the kids.
It's kind of like well, I couldhave done that for the older
one.
Whoops, like.
But like, I'm becoming more andmore intentional and thoughtful
and like you're 10, you'reactually listening.
Well, enough to be trusted witha sharp blade yes um and so when
we got out to the campsite, I Ihand her this wrapped package

(16:22):
and she opens it and like that'sthere it is, that's, you know,
her her pocket knife.
And you know we did somewhittling, you know so.
So that that was just thehighlight of my summer to be
able to see, to invest in inthat one child in that way, and
just to see how excited, how howmuch it made her come alive.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
That's so beautiful.
And just to hear you talk aboutthe anticipation of the younger
ones.
Like you know, it's somethingto look forward to and something
on the horizon that's coming,and they know that you have done
different things with yourdifferent kids, but that's OK,
it doesn't have to be the sameand they look forward to the
special one on one time.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
This is so good, y'all we have got to get out in
nature and do this stuff.
Now it can be a littleintimidating.
You're like we just went outand camped and set up our tent
and then we paddleboarded.
You're a natural outdoorsman.
So let's say somebody is livingin the city and wants to start
small with a one-on-oneexperience with their child.

(17:27):
What recommendation do you havefor someone that's like maybe I
don't have all the gear, butthis sounds good and I want to
kind of get started?

Speaker 2 (17:37):
Well, exactly so.
I think there's an aspect oflike age appropriateness, Like I
don't take my four-year-olddaughter one-on-one, Like she's
not even my eight-year-old sonis.
I mean, the other thing ofcourse we discover is like each
of our kids are very different.
Yes, Personality, temperament,preference, all of that.
Energy level risk adverse ornot, or completely unaware of

(18:04):
risk?

Speaker 1 (18:04):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, sure, this looks perfectly fine.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
My son who runs into walls.
Yes, oh my gosh, A friend ofmine, because this turn of
ministry has turned more towardsfamilies.
The quick background I was amiddle school youth minister and
then I was high school and thenI was a missionary on college
campus, and so it's like, oh, Iguess that kind of makes sense,

(18:30):
Like, yeah, I'm 47 years old nowand I have six kids.
I guess that qualifies me as ayou know minister to parents.
Yeah, Anyway, that just kind ofsurprised me.
So I've been reading a lot ofbooks about parenting, but
another book that somebodybrought up was called Micro
Adventures.

Speaker 1 (18:50):
Were we talking about this?
No, micro Adventures.
I love that term.
Yes.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
That's right, tiny ones.
So there's an author namedAlistair Humphreys who wrote
this book.
I mean, he basically would goon these like two-week arctic
expeditions or himalayan, likehis friends would say, oh,
you're like such an adventurelike, but I don't have that sort
of time or money or sort of.
He's like wait a second, youdon't actually need two weeks

(19:16):
off or ten thousand dollars tobe able to go on an adventure
right like, so he.
He wrote this book living indowntown l oh wow.

Speaker 1 (19:25):
And like so it's.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
It's an interesting sort of thing.
You'd be like oh, I'm justgonna, I'm just being creative
with your local circumstances.
So like.
I'm going to ride my bike towork instead of taking the train
, or I'm going to hop on a trainand like, get off at some
random stop and just get out andstart hiking and, like you know
, and camp out in the field.
It's a little different, Ithink, in England.

Speaker 1 (19:44):
Sure sure.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
But here in Colorado I'm like, oh my gosh, we have
endless.
Just in the state of Colorado,within an hour or two's drive,
we have endless possibilitiesNot counting the whole region,
like Wyoming, Utah, South Dakota.

Speaker 1 (20:00):
Oh right.

Speaker 2 (20:01):
New Mexico.
I mean endless yes, and so theidea of microadventures.
It's been fun for me toimplement that, so two weeks ago
we got a new kayak.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
Yes, end of season Like clearance.
Yes, yes, I love it.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
And so I took actually Stella, the same child,
and so it was just I took Isaac, the eight year old, you know,
to Chatfield State Park, whichis 15 minutes from us yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
Local In our backyard yeah.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
It took like two hours, yeah.
So you, yeah, drive there,unload, you're in the water.

Speaker 1 (20:38):
Yes, sort of thing.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
As much as I'm fathering my children, god the
Father is still fathering us,because it would be an illusion
to pretend that we have it alltogether, that we know
everything.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
Ever, at any point, exactly no one has it all
together, people, no one.
That's right.
It's a lie.
It's a lie.
No one has it together.

Speaker 2 (21:07):
That's right one has it together.
That's right, um so, so we, wego out and then there's like
it's just beautiful, likereflections of all these trees
and all these cormorant birdslike up in the trees, and we're
like watching, like these ducks,and we had recently gotten this
birds of colorado little book,and so stella's like oh, yeah,
we get to, we get.
Let's go check off.
You know, some other birds lookthat up when we get home and so

(21:29):
we're going through here and wewent there's this place where
all these trees are submerged inthe water, and I went.
I actually dropped her off onthis fallen tree in the middle
of the lake, just standing there, and I managed to hang a
hammock between two other treesyeah go get her and then brought
her and put her in the hammock.

(21:50):
that's above the water, sean, ofcourse you did.
I've been wanting to do thatlike all summer long, so anyway.
So so something like thatthere's like super memorable.
And then GK Chesterton says anadventure, by definition, is
something that comes to us.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
It's not something that we choose.

Speaker 2 (22:09):
So it's like I mean, in youth ministry we're like
okay, we go on retreatintentionally away from the
church, you know we go so, andthen we're basically we're
setting time and space for Godto work.
So, that's how I've kind of cometo see these little outings,
excursions, is we're just makingtime and space.
We don't have to planeverything.
Like we show up and we're like,oh, like, oh, what a fun

(22:33):
surprise.
Like you know, we got, we saw abald eagle and we you know, yes
, we came across this and like,um, there's just like this
really funny incident where umstella was in in the hammock and
, uh, she was like starting tokind of roll out.
She's like, oh, I'm falling.
And then, like she looked, sheflipped, she is hanging up
underneath the hammock and it'sjust like the funniest thing
ever.
And like her hair is all wet,she's like laughing, and so I'm

(22:57):
like patting, like hold on, holdon, like you know, pull the
hammock up or the kayak upunderneath and like rescue her.
So like things like that, youdon't plan and be like we will
remember that for years to come.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
Exactly, that is a perfect way to frame one of
these adventures.
It's like you just have to kindof put a few plans together but
have the openness to besurprised, right To like let
loose of the exact right trailor you know, we've got to be
keeping our eye on this certainthing but just to be open and to

(23:31):
be observant and to appreciateand take the time to notice.

Speaker 2 (23:37):
Yes, yes, when so much of like, exactly that's in
our busy culture, it's hard forus to pray because it's hard for
us to enter into silence.
It's hard for us to makesilence, yes, and to be
comfortable with that.
But also, yeah, like I'm trying.
Actually I'm glad you mentionedthat, because our role as

(23:57):
Christian parents is to be ableto help form our children into
like in their relationship withGod.
I mean, the scary thing is thatwhen I realized like, oh, the
role of the Christian father isto model the love of God, the
father for them, like that's notintimidating at all, right oh,
thank you for that impossiblecalling apart from grace.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
You know we imperfectly stumble along um
yeah, noticing and observing andjust yes, and being willing to
show kids, like and mentor themto, to be surprised, like let's
go out and see what God has tolike show us and surprise us

(24:45):
with.
Like let's just see my kids andI always talk about like, go on
the hunt.
Go on the hunt for what God islike revealing to you when if
you didn't have like yourhunting specs on, you wouldn't
see it Right, you just be likehead down in the car on the way
to school like doing our thingand you might miss things that

(25:06):
he's really trying to just blessyou with.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
That's right.
And then, and then how?
That he's really trying to justbless you with that's right.
And then how would we have thischildlike sense of wonder that
we're supposed to have?
Because we don't hear, we don'tsee.
We have our earbuds in, wedon't even notice people around
us anymore.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
No, the hood up the sunglasses on.
It's like we are shut out.
That's right.
So this is allowing families toget together.
Keep it simple.
Start small, like put up a tentin your backyard for one night
right, we've done that.
We have pictures on socialmedia of our family camping in

(25:46):
our backyard and, um, we're like, okay, we're still going to use
the indoor restroom.
Yeah that's our only thing, surebut beyond that, like everyone,
stays out for the night andit's like this great success,
right, if everybody sleeps onthe ground in the tent and, you
know, has a fun experience forone single night, you can start

(26:06):
there exactly when again, likeage appropriate.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
I think it really the key is just being intentional,
like having a having a fire.
My kids love cooking hot dogstheir own hot dogs over the fire
pit in the backyard, like they,yeah, and if there's
marshmallows involved you know,not on the hot dogs, but yeah,
then they're like yeah.
Um, but so yeah, beingintentional, so my like, my

(26:31):
four-year-old, she gets excitedif dad takes her one-on-one to
the grocery store and we.

Speaker 1 (26:37):
and then if we get the car cart, the little one
like, she sits in, like you know, like, and she's like this this
is my adventure with my dad ishome depot in the race car
shopping cart yeah, she ridesthe home depot like the lumber
yes the lumber cart that'sawesome, you're right is being
intentional.
They pick up on that, theynotice it and it pays huge like

(27:02):
deposits in the love bank forthem.
It's like whoa dad doesn't havehis earbuds in, he's not on a
meeting with someone while he'sdoing this.
It's just like the two of usspending that special time
together and that just matters.
And it's not necessarily even Idon't know if you've noticed
this, but I certainly have withmy own kids it's not necessarily
the quantity of that time, it'spurely the quality, it's like I

(27:28):
know you're here with meone-on-one and there's no other
distractions.
You're not working on your workor you know snacking on your
email every time you turn yourphone over or whatever.
Like it could be 30 minutes ofintentional time together and
they are just lit up for a week.
Yes, you know.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
That's great.
I love that.

Speaker 1 (27:50):
Quality over quantity .

Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yes, you know, that's great.
I love that quality overquantity.
Yeah, I mean, even this pastsunday, like, what do you know,
what do I want to do?
Like to relax, you know on.
But like, no, what, what do mykids want to do?
Nope, okay, I'm gonna play kidssequence with the four-year-old
and then I'm gonna play regularsequence with the eight and
ten-year.
You know, and just, yeah, justjust trying to be intentional, I
just, I wanted to share.

(28:14):
So we as Christians talk about,like conversion experiences,
and I had an initial conversionexperience when I was 16, which
was started bringing me out ofmy punk teenage-ness into this,
you know, grand adventure, into,you know, which is way better
than I could have planned it.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
Oh, it always is, isn't it?

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Always, always, infinitely, and so these
continual sorts of conversionsas the Lord makes us more
Christ-like.
And so I came across this bookhere, the Intentional Father by
John Tyson, and I want tomention like rites of passage
for our kids too.
But I came across this book andhe lists three different sorry,

(28:59):
he lists five different typesof fathers.

Speaker 1 (29:01):
Oh, tell us.

Speaker 2 (29:03):
And so, yeah, so the first one.
I won't read every description.
The first one is theirresponsible father.
Basically, he says literallyzero involvement with his kids,
some completely bails on them,doesn't know who they, who they
are, takes no responsibility,you know, no support,
contributes no meaningfulpresence in their, their lives.
Then it kind of goes, goes in amore positive direction.

(29:26):
So, like the ignorant father,the inconsistent father, the
involved father which talksabout, the dad who shows up at
sporting events, takes time toput porn filters on his kids'
devices, gets a lot of thingsright, but because of the
busyness of life and the failureto ask the right questions, he
never seeks to understandspecifically who his children

(29:46):
are and why God gave them.
He's a noble dad, but onehaunted by the sense that
there's something more, anotherlayer, another level.
And so then I read this andthen so into the fifth type, the
intentional father.
The intentional father isdeeply invested in discovering
who his children are and how hecan help them reach their

(30:10):
redemptive potential.
He seeks to understand thechildren God has given him and
wants to form them into theyoung persons who can fulfill
their purpose.
He sees parenting as central tohis call before God and does it
with all of his might.
This kind of father leavesmulti-generational blessings in
the lives of his children soyeah, so I read that and jordan,

(30:34):
and I was like, oh my gosh, Ihave, I have room to grow, like
I have not, I mean, and like I,I just share this in all
vulnerability, because maybeit's maybe life is a little more
confusing for me because mywork, my ministry, is my work,
like all of us.
Our baptismal call is toevangelize, to shine the
radiance of Jesus Christ in theworld.

(30:55):
Sure.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
But my everyday lives .

Speaker 2 (30:57):
Yes, like all of us and then.
But my work is my calling.
So maybe and like, and I'm anideas person and I'm just like,
the more I grow in my faith, I'mlike, I want to do it.
Like St Paul says, like to eachis given a manifestation of the
spirit for the common good.

Speaker 1 (31:14):
It's not.
My gifts aren't for me.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
It's for the community.
And so how do I be more likebasically work harder and like
cooperate with God even more andum, and there've been times,

(31:42):
honestly, I've seen my children-as an interruption?

Speaker 1 (31:45):
Oh, totally yes.
Well, our culture does not showthat type of lifestyle as one
that would be noble or worthy ofpraise.
Or even, you know, if you're aman and a father, then you, you
know you ought to have this joband this income and this

(32:08):
separation between home and yourwork.
And you go there and yousucceed, and you have this
community of men around you thatknow what you're talking about
and support this likeself-development.
Right, you got to climb theladder and get better as an
individual.
That's right and so like being,you know, turning parenting into

(32:31):
your number one call, and likethe one thing that you pour
everything into.
Just it's not rewarded in oursociety, not in America.
No, but how beautiful.
When you read that, I thought,of course, of course, we would
want to be that type of motherand father that intentional,
like we are forming these humanbeings to be on their own and to

(32:56):
be able to shine this beautifullight of family life and
married life to everyone whenthey are out in the world.
Yes, Like that's our number onejob, as you know, if, if our
vocation is to the married life,it's to raise children that go

(33:18):
forth and and shine this lightof of Christ and and bring more
people into the kingdom.

Speaker 2 (33:25):
That's right, yes, amen.

Speaker 1 (33:27):
Yes, and isn't it beautiful when you get to work
and, like you, can make anincome out of making your
ministry your work.
It is a beautiful thing.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
Yes, there are.
There are ways that I'm findingto to be able to incorporate my
kids and, like you know, bringa child on one of these, these
trips, even with other, withother families, and so so yes.
I mean like life is sometimescomplicated and and and hard,
and like you know this elusivething called balance and
whatever that is whatever thatis, that doesn't exist, people.

Speaker 1 (33:58):
But we try, we try to orient ourselves in the right
order and we talk about that atfamilies of character always
that there is an order, a rightorder that truly sets us free in
marriage and family life, andthat is number one.
To put God first is number oneto put God first, and number two
to put your spouse second, andthen third is your family, your
nuclear family, right.

(34:19):
And so just when we get offtrack or we're doing a little
bit more work than we arenurturing our family, we just
kind of check ourselves and go,okay, I got to give myself a
little grace and get back on ontrack and and reorder my
priorities.
That's right.

Speaker 2 (34:35):
I no longer I'm.
I'm a recovering perfectionist.
So it's like wait, why?
Why would I ever expect thatfor myself?
Like there's a pattern here andperfection is not part of that.

Speaker 1 (34:48):
That's right.
That is exactly right.
Well, okay, Sean, tell us aboutsome of the the treks that you
have, or do you have one comingup in the next couple months
that people could engage with onyour website?

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Yes, if you want to go to windsweptco, slash treks.
There's a treks tab where Ihave guided excursions coming up
.
And this past summer we did amother-daughter day hike, we did
some whitewater rafting, we dida 14er, we did a day hike
climbing up a 14,000 foot peakand that was another one of my

(35:22):
highlights is seeing there was amom who was born in Colorado
and she's like I have alwayswanted to climb a 14er but it's
a little bit higher stakes thanlike just a casual, you know,
just hop out and start walking,sort of thing.
And so so I got to and Ibrought my 14 year old daughter.
That was her first 14 year, andit was this mom and her 12 year

(35:42):
old daughter and it was theirfirst 14 year.
And so just to be able to liketo see how lit up she's like I
mean just like life goals likethis was.
And it was hard, I mean it wassummer and the weather was like
not great.
So it's like cold on July, andso so they had to work for it.
I mean, and just like you knowclouds blowing over all day long
, and like you can't even seeexactly where you know are we

(36:04):
getting- close?
I'm not even sure but just Imean, it's just a great analogy
for life climbing a mountainjust one step at a time.
And they made it, and just tosee how lit up they got.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
And in community.
Let me just emphasize that,like with a guide and a group
Right, like, that's awesome andthat's what we were made to.
To be able to know ourselvesfully through relationship with
others.
That's right, I mean you can dothings on your own and you can
make that goal to run themarathon by yourself.
You still have people aroundyou, but but what a beautiful

(36:36):
thing to to do this in in smallgroups, like you take lead small
groups of people out onwhitewater trips and and hikes
and climbing.
This is great.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
Yeah, so I'm.
I'm in the kind of planningphase for next summer.
I'm actually working with aparish to plan like a four day,
uh New Mexico pilgrimage venture, um, so there's that, and I'm
looking to plan all sorts ofeven just like half day local
rock climbing.
So I'm just to to plan allsorts of even just like half day
local rock climbing.
So I'm just putting things inplace for that Uh, which, of
course, there are a lot of uhanalogies for uh, you know, lean

(37:10):
back and trust the rope andtrusting God and and other
people.
And so anyway all sorts of lifeskills I did want to mention.
I love what you were sayingabout.
You know, our, our culture isnot helping our families and it
just more and more.
I'm convinced like we have todo something different than what
the culture is giving us and Iwas praying about like Genesis

(37:35):
in the story where it's saying,like God, put Adam you know, put
the man in the garden to tillit and to keep it.

Speaker 1 (37:41):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (37:41):
Okay, so he's working it and he's defending it.
He's, you know, so he's.
They've got an element of likeworking, like providing, and I
think most dads naturally getthis sense.
Like I'm supposed to like, ifan intruder comes in my house,
I'm going to protect my family.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
So and I'm going to provide for my family.
So we understand that I tookthis two year class on the, the
catechism of the Catholic church.
Yes, so poetic, so beautiful,so deep, and there's a section
where it was saying how, what.
When we pray for our dailybread, it's not merely physical,

(38:17):
material things.
We're praying for everythingthat we need, which includes
spiritual goods.
Like you know, the ancientcreeds say I believe in things
seen and unseen, and so Istarted praying about.
I'm like, wait a second.
Adam was called to to work anddefend the land on a physical
level.
Is there a spiritual level thatI'm supposed to be working and

(38:40):
providing?
You know, providing for anddefending.

Speaker 1 (38:42):
And it's like there is.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
What are the sorts of goods that I'm supposed to
provide for my family in termsof virtue, in terms of gospel
living and like and then defend,like.
There is a very real spiritualbattle that I don't think we
talk about as maybe a lot.
Um, and so there's an.
I have the freedom in myministry to be able to go to
daily mass and daily prayer andall this, but I just realized I

(39:09):
I shouldn't just be casuallyasking for, you know, protection
for my family.
I need to be on my face beggingGod every day for the defense
of my family, because I mean,especially as our kids get older
, like we were saying, like thedefense of my family, because I
mean, especially as our kids getolder, like we were saying,
like this is out, I can'tphysically walk with my kids
everywhere and I have a child incollege out of state, like

(39:31):
right like we have to trust, yes, but but believing like there
is a real power and prayer in inus to be able to be, especially
using scripture and fightingagainst the forces, the unseen
forces that are that that are.
I mean, that's what's destroyingour families.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
Yes, I saw a great reel on Instagram the other day
and I saved it because I want towatch it over and over and I
sent it to Josh, and it is thispastor who is saying um, you
know, just that very thing thatyou would defend your family if
someone broke in and, um, youknow, was going to terrorize
your family and you would sayyou know, yo, you've got to go

(40:07):
through me to get to them.
How about the spiritual attacksthat come at our families?
Right, Satan would love nothingmore to just disintegrate every
family.
Then he's one that's right Totear us apart and create all
this division in our marriageand our family life.
And so he said how aboutinstead?
And he gets real intense andlooks at the camera and he's

(40:27):
like, spiritually, you have togo through me to get to my
family.
And he was talking about justthis, like you got to be praying
for your family as a man, as afather, as a husband, every day.
That is like the best armoragainst the enemy.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
Intensely.

Speaker 1 (40:45):
Yes, and it's something we have control over.
You can actually do that everyday.
That's right, Right.
You can pray every day.
Pray protection over yourfamily and bless them too.
Right as a father.
Yep, that's right, so special.
I'm sure when you take thesetrips and these adventures with
your kids too, they they arelike waiting for some sort of
little blessing, a sign of thecross in their forehead or like

(41:06):
a you know, like just whateveryou do to personally bless them
and let them know who's they areright, who they belong to,
where they came from, and likethat love of the father.

Speaker 2 (41:19):
Yes, and we consistently do.
I do that at home, like everytime I tell them goodnight at
home.
But there's something evenspecial to kind of roll over in
a tent, like in their sleepingbag, feeling around for their
forehead in the dark.
It's kind of fun and give them,give them a blessing.

Speaker 1 (41:35):
Yes.
I love this.
Ok, so I, we are ideas, peopleI can tell we could go on for
like seven hours about thispeople I could tell we could go
on for like seven hours aboutthis.
Let's just say somebody'slistening and they are across
the country and they said I haveno experience in this, but I
can't wait any longer.
I need to have some sort ofadventure with my child.
I want to.
I'd fly out to Colorado or meetyou wherever you are.

(41:59):
Would you consider doing aguided like a private guided,
you know trip or adventure forsomeone?
If they wanted to do that, yes.
So awesome Yep so.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
I'd love, so feel free to take time.
There's just a like a twominute promo video that just
really gives an exciting senseof what Windswept Tracks is and
the endless possibilities.
So it's not just mean it'sstarting uh more slowly,
organically here in colorado.
But I grew up in florida and,like, I've taken, you know,

(42:30):
little micro adventures, youknow, with my two older kids
snorkeling with sea lions in sandiego or renting surfboards, or
, you know, snorkeling withleopard sharks there.
Uh, I, I have all sorts ofideas, uh, nationally and
internationally, because we'reideas, people.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
That's right, that's right.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
But um, but so.
So I am guiding a limitednumber of of in-person treks,
but there's another tab on thewebsite that's choose your own
adventure.
So I'm just realizing like Ihave such limited time, sure, so
I'm just realizing like I havesuch limited time, sure.
But I also, even if Winsweptcan only be a billboard that
says, hey, it's kind of likethose pass it on, like those

(43:11):
virtue, you know, like you know,it's just just even a reminder,
and be like, hey, just go dothat with your kids, like yes
we're so busy.
Just just do something, dosomething, start small, whatever
.
Just just do something, dosomething, start small, whatever
.
And so, like the choose youradventure tab is like by state
here, national park, state parks.
Here are some micro adventures,here are some sample
itineraries.

(43:31):
Just go do something and I'm Iknow I'm going to continue to
build up resources.
I don't live in michigan, Idon't know like what all you
know in a particular city, likeall the secret, you know cool,
unique things there are to do,but it can be any.
I mean, like Florissant,colorado, just West of Colorado
Springs, there's a place whereyou can go and like they give

(43:53):
you a block of rock and you takea razor blade and you you look
for your own fossils Like myeight year old is like really
into like dinosaurs and fossils,and it's down the road from
Florissant fossil beds bedsnational monument.
Yeah, so like something liketailor it to whatever your kids
are interested in.

Speaker 1 (44:09):
Yes, I love that you're saying like.
Your website is sort of abillboard to remind us get out
there, do something.
But you also have a packinglist on there for people who
aren't sure what to bring andlike the emergency stuff and, um
, you know, like, like whatwould just make it nicer?
Like a poop shovel.
There's handheld poop shovels.
People, if you're out in thewoods, you need to know how to

(44:32):
use the restroom.
Okay, the outdoor naturalfacilities.
Sean introduced Annie and I tothis poop shovel, so I had to
bring that up.
Yes, Life skills so good.
Okay, so if you're interestedin some little private excursion
, reach out to Seanwindswepttrek.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
It's just windsweptco .

Speaker 1 (44:51):
Windsweptco, and that promo video is down in the show
notes.
So as you are listening to thisor watching this on YouTube, be
sure just to glance down in thenotes and you can click on that
promo video and just check itout Right.

Speaker 2 (45:05):
Can I share a couple other things?
Yes, there's a Christian authornamed John Eldridge who's
written a book called Wild atHeart Super impactful for me
Just talking about like healingfather wounds and he has a
followup book called the Way ofthe Wild Heart, also, I think,
now re-released as Fathered byGod, and he talks about like our
, our, culture doesn't haverights of passage, so especially

(45:26):
for boys.
And so he's saying, like we,this, there's an initiation
that's lacking.
And so I mean he's pretty harsh.
He's like there are many men orboys walking around in men's
bodies Totally Because theydidn't have a father who said
you have what it takes.
Yes, I love you, I delight inyou, you have what it takes to
be a man.
And anyway, so he did this yearof masculine initiation with

(45:51):
his son, and I did this with myson, andrew, between his 14th
and his 15th birthdays.

Speaker 1 (45:57):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
Which ended up being just the right time for him.
It was going from middle schoolinto high school.
He grew a lot and it's reallythe idea is like there's an
opening ceremony and there's aclosing ceremony and you bring
other.
I brought other men that Ireally trust, faithful men, to
be able to be part of thesedifferent activities hunting,
climbing, I mean just even liketeaching just basic skills.

(46:19):
You're talking about adventures.
We were on this one trip.
I'm like, oh good, you got aflat tire.
I've been meaning to teachAndrew how to change that.
Oh wait, we have to change twoflat tires.
Okay, extra, extra practice.
But but there's, this year islike extra intentional, like
spending time with delighting insharing life with I.

(46:42):
I mean fishing trips, hikingtrips, biking, like just getting
getting outside and sharingthat life together.
Uh, and it involved a like abig challenge at the end of the
year.
And so for andrew that wasclimbing a 14 000 foot mountain
called wetterhorn peak, down inlake city, uh, the southwest
part of color, which has somereal, real risk and some real

(47:06):
drop.
But but we did it together andhe, he, he did it and I'm sure
that'll be memorable forever.
So I mean that's just part oflike, this whole experience of
like we have.
We have to do somethingdifferent because our otherwise
there's just like a gap and it'sjust like floating question
marks of like.

Speaker 1 (47:24):
I mean, I guess this is what life's about and be like
no right, or they, or all of asudden, they're 16 and they're
like oh, can you take me to getmy driver's license?
and you're like you're, you'renowhere prepared to drive like
oops, we all just sort of likefloated through this life and
you're at this age where legallyyou're considered ready to like

(47:44):
drive this 3000 pound killingmachine but we haven't spent any
intentional time likedeveloping you for this big
responsibility.
I love the year, the whole year, dedicated to that child, where
it's not like nobody else isgetting any attention.
But there's an opening ceremony, there's a closing ceremony.

(48:05):
This is a year of developmentfor this young man and then
bringing alongside men that youtrust and want to be part of
your son's life.

Speaker 2 (48:16):
That's right, Right and to affirm him and also to be
able to.
They're teaching him a skill,Like one friend was like I'll
meet him at this cafe and I'llteach him how to pray with
scripture.
Like that's awesome.
One guy came over and taught uslike electrical wiring and so
just so basic skills.
I mean there's a value in like.
Also, guys, if you um Google ahundred things a man should know

(48:39):
like, you'll get all sorts oflists from like how to tie a tie
, how to cook an egg, how tofield dress a deer.
I mean there's like a big likeyou know span of things.
But but just even for for boys,learning those skills, that's
part of what builds upconfidence and be like oh, I
know how to do these things.
Um, and and one other kind oflike, I've wondered like, am I

(49:01):
missing out in terms of mydaughters?
Like what?
It's not the same, sure, like,but but I still want to delight
in them and like be present.
And um, as my daughter wasturning 16, she was like
scrambling to get like her last,like 25 hours of driving you
know, with her permit.
And so we're like you know what,we're actually going to take

(49:21):
this trip and you're going toget.
So she and I took three days.
We drove from colorado upthrough nebraska.
We wanted to stay out of thesteep mountains sure you know,
there's all sorts of countryroads out in the plains.
So, nebraska, into the lakotaindian reservation, we went to
badlands national park.
We camped out there in like theback country, it's free.

(49:42):
It's free like um, you know,just have this, this amazing
time.
And then we, you know she drovethe entire thing yes she got
like 25, 26 more hours, you know, over three days time, and uh,
you know, we drove from there.
We, it was just like thisspontaneous and she's a
spontaneous person.
So she, she loved this andreally, okay, boom, we're going
from here.
We're gonna master thecathedral in rapid.

(50:02):
From here, we're going to Massat the Cathedral in Rapid City.
Okay, now we're going to MountRushmore.
Okay, we're getting back in thecar.
We're going to Jewel CaveNational Monument.
We're going to go underground,take a cave tour.
Get back in the car.
We went to.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park.

Speaker 2 (50:21):
We pumped up the paddleboard, paddled in the
middle.

Speaker 1 (50:23):
Yeah some of them.
Oh, my goodness, that was a funpastime for me, yes, so cool.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
And I mean, then we went to Devil's Tower and we
ended up doing the spontaneousthing I'm like you know what?
The Montana border is only 43minutes from here and she did it
at night with, like in the rain, with deer everywhere and like
porcupine and like that wasanother like I mean that's a
sort of rites of passage, likeit built up her, her driving

(50:48):
skills, courage and ended upbeing this this super fun,
memorable, you know time,one-on-one yes uh, and my wife
was like that was fantastic,like I can tell that that made
her so much more confident as adriver.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
We're gonna do that with all of our kids so I did a
similar trip with andrew thenext so this is so good and
you're adventuring along withthem.
That's something differentabout our generation of parents
that you know, I think is new,and it's lovely that parents are
like, yeah, let's do thesethings together Instead of you

(51:22):
figuring this out on your own orus outsourcing this kind of
stuff to the driving school orwhich you have to do some of
that.
But sure you know, just like,yeah, let's take a day extra day
off work and go on a three-dayroad trip.
Like this is possible.
Parents, if you are feelinglike there's something about
sean or jordan's family that'sway different, or they've got

(51:43):
something that you don't have we, we've got something you don't
have.
That's like not the case.
That's not the case.
It's just where do you want tospend your time and your money
and how intentional do you wantto be about forming these
children, and how can you makethat work with the resources
that you have?

Speaker 2 (52:02):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
Totally possible.
Yes, yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:06):
And again, like that year of masculine initiation,
like I had some ideas, but Ifelt like I was winging it most
of the time, yeah, and I washaving to again avail myself of
grace and it was letting thefather father me and all of my
woundedness as I'm trying tofather my son and so, yeah, so,
like the Christian life, itnever ends.
We're always students, we'realways children, yes, always in

(52:30):
need of, yeah, receiving God'sgrace and guidance.
So good.
So all of life really is anadventure in that sense of like
taking that step into theunknown, out into the deep.

Speaker 1 (52:45):
Okay, I don't know about you, but if you're
listening and you're thinkinglike, oh, I could do this, and
now I could do this, and wecould also do that, yes, this is
Sean Garrison, folks.
He will inspire this type ofliving in you, and I just got a
glimpse of it on thatmother-daughter hike and even
more of it today as we're havingthis conversation.
Sean, you are full of wonderfulideas.
You've tried these things out inyour own family, like you said

(53:08):
not perfect, but progress andintentionality is where it's at,
and so thank you for sharingall of this with our community.
I really have a big feelingthis is not the last time we're
going to be hanging out sharingwith our parent community.
Time we're going to be hangingout sharing with our parent
community.
You have so much more to offerus in the way of just practical

(53:29):
ideas of how to connect andmaybe some specific father son
type episode we could do Forsure For sure, I'm going to
earmark that for the future.

Speaker 2 (53:38):
Nice, yes, thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (53:40):
Yes, so you have to know that Sean has been a
musician.
He's a songwriter.
Sean, tell us about the albumsthat you have put out.

Speaker 2 (53:51):
Yes, I started playing guitar when I was 15,
and then songwriting kind ofhappened, maybe seven years
after that, and I just had thiscall in my heart I'm like man,
these songs are like burningwithin me.
I just like feel the need thatI'm supposed to to share them.
They're not just for me and soI did a Kickstarter in 2014,

(54:12):
which was fully funded, and soso this, this album exceeding
was my is my first Nashvillestudio album all original songs,
except for Be Thou my VisionSorry, I can't claim that one
and then, which actually pavedthe way, as I was a focus
missionary at the time, pavedthe way we had something going

(54:32):
on called the beauty initiativewithin focus.
Just the sense of like yeah,good, the attributes of God,
goodness, truth and beauty.
Beauty is the most accessibleand it's the most disarming.

Speaker 1 (54:45):
It's like that's.

Speaker 2 (54:46):
that's where we usually want to start in terms
of like, sharing the faith andthere's, you know, through
through paint, paintings anddance and photography and music
in a particular way.
So this album Origin wasrecorded, released the very next
year, and so it's a combinationof like some old, like older

(55:09):
hymns, like newer arrangementsof older hymns, as well as some.
I have two original songs andtwo other missionaries have some
songs on there, so anyway superfun project that was recorded
in Buena Vista, colorado, inthis great, big, huge lodge,
mountain lodge that we turnedinto a studio.
And then I have a handful ofdigital singles that are on

(55:31):
Spotify, amazon, apple Music,all of that.

Speaker 1 (55:35):
I have experienced his music and I downloaded
Meadowlark, this beautifulinstrumental, and my car is
crazy.
Meadow Lark, this beautifulinstrumental, and my car is
crazy.
It just picks up whatever myphone has going on at random
times when I start it up or putit in drive or whatever.
And Meadow Lark has been juston repeat and it's just brought

(55:56):
so much joy to us and so muchpeace in the car.
We're in traffic a lot and sojust to have a beautiful song
played by someone that we knowand is local, and then also no
words.
So it's just the spiritualsense that I get when I hear the
song.

(56:16):
It's like whoa, this is morethan music.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
So I had to share that with you.
I had to share that with you.
I had to share that with you.

Speaker 1 (56:23):
Yes, I admittedly had a stoplight, took a picture of
my dash that showed Sean's songplaying on the on the on my car,
and I texted it to him.
I was like, dude, brother, thisis good stuff.
So check it out.
Check him out on Spotify,itunes, apple iTunes is where I

(56:46):
found the song.
So great music, great, greatmusic.
Thank you, sean.
And speaking of that, you have agift for us.
I do.
If he's in studio, why don't wehave him play his guitar, folks
?
And before I release him to getinto what he loves and playing
his guitar and singing this songfor you, I want to just thank

(57:07):
you for sharing this episodewith people in your circle.
First of all, share it withyour spouse, right, so that you
can have a conversation aroundsome new ideas of how you can
spend one-on-one time with yourkids, one time with your kids,
how you can create meaningfulrelationships and amazing bonds

(57:27):
within your family because ofshared outdoor adventure.
And then also, just make surethat you check out Sean's
website windsweptco Again,windsweptco.
Check him out, check out hislittle promo video and hit him
up for some outdoor adventure.
I think you'll love it.

(57:48):
Sean, take it away.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
Okay, so this is just a little portion of a song that
I wrote.
It's based off a number ofdifferent things.
There's a quote from, I thinkis it Plato, and he says be
gentle with everyone, you meetfor everyone.
That is fighting a hard battle.
And really just, I mean it'sreading St Teresa of Avila, who

(58:14):
seems like she's this great,celebrated saint who has it all
together.
And then you read her writingsand she knows deeply how flawed
she is.
She says at one point that sheis a tortured soul.
And there's a nun from 700 yearsago, julian of Norwich, who had
this vision of Jesus, who cameto her and she had been

(58:38):
lamenting.
She said I thought that hadthere been no sin in the world,
that all should be well.
And then the Lord appears toher and says it was necessary
that there should be sin, butall shall be well and all shall
be well and all manner of thingsshall be well.
So here's just the verybeginning of the song.
Feel free to look up the restof it.

(58:58):
All shall be well.
There are times when the worldseems like it should, when all

(59:20):
is bright and full and beautiful, when all is bright and full
and beautiful, and other timesthe shadows gather around and
every side I'm assailed by fearand doubt and I am falling,

(59:42):
falling apart.
I say I'm well, but you mightbe surprised by the tortured
soul that here down deep resideswhen I'm overcome by insecurity

(01:00:05):
by comparison in how I'mmeasuring and I am falling,
falling apart.
But all shall be well and allshall be well and all manner of

(01:00:42):
things shall be well.