May 21, 2025 • 40 mins
Jonny Gamet joins the show to discuss his journey of balancing a demanding career in media, ministry, and personal life. Jonny reflects on his deep passion for sports and broadcasting, his tenure at Bob Jones University, and his transition to working at Heard Media. He explores the challenges and successes of managing multiple responsibilities, including his role as a student and family pastor, and the impact of career demands on family life. Jonny shares insights on prioritizing health, faith, and family, along with personal stories of struggle and triumph. He emphasizes the importance of community support, transparency in struggles, and the invaluable moments of being present for his children.
Jonny Gamet - LinkedIn
00:00 Introduction and Welcoming Jonny Gamet
00:10 College Memories and Early Career
01:07 Current Roles and Responsibilities
05:26 Growth and Challenges in Career and Church
08:01 Balancing Family and Career
09:09 Health Journey and Realizations
12:20 Support Systems and Community
16:40 Reprioritizing Life and Family
18:04 Balancing Personal Goals and Family Priorities
18:32 Career Struggles and Opportunities
19:20 The Call to Pastoral Ministry
20:49 Making Life-Altering Decisions
21:53 Choosing Family Over Career
23:38 Cherishing Family Moments
25:44 The Importance of Being Present
29:16 Finding Joy in Everyday Activities
32:12 Challenges and Rewards of Ministry
35:25 Final Thoughts and Encouragement
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jonny (00:00):
one story that I'll never forget is, my daughter started
(00:02):
playing basketball with themiddle school team, they call it
junior league in her school.
And, she tries really hard andis, is working really hard and
her team, God bless'em, goes outon the floor and loses most
games, 35, 40 to two or 40 to,it's not, it's rough.
Yeah.
But they work so hard and theyhave, you have great coaches and
(00:23):
everything like that.
Well, she came down the lane,got the ball turns and just puts
up this shot and she made it,And the look on her face, she
turns around and immediatelylike goes to the crowd looking
for us.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (00:36):
Yeah.
Jonny (00:36):
And we make eye contact and she's cheering, she's.
So excited.
She's running now, they'relosing by 30, you know, or
whatever.
It doesn't matter.
But, but she looked and shelooked and she saw her whole
family there.
my, my wife and I, all of all ofher siblings were there cheering
her on.
Yeah.
the photographer at the gameactually, for whatever reason,
probably'cause we jumped up andwent crazy and we were the only
(00:56):
ones cheering and they thatturned and they take a picture
and we're all, you know, jumpingup and everything like that.
And I told the photographer thatmeant so much to me because you
don't know, just months before Ihad made that career transition
and all that kinds of things, Iwouldn't have been there.
I I would've missed that wholemoment.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (01:13):
Yeah, man.
Jonny (01:14):
and I would've missed, that's something you can never
get back.
That was her first basketballbasket.
and my wife told me about it.
She could have recorded it onher phone or whatever, but the
fact that my daughter made thebasket and then immediately
turned to the stands looking forus.
Yeah.
and as a dad, you can't put aprice on that.
Kenny (02:10):
Johnny Gamt in the house today.
Johnny, thank you for joiningThe Invested Fathers.
How are you today?
I,
Jonny (02:14):
I am super excited, man.
Big time, fan of the show andI'm, I'm excited to be in the
guest seat now, Johnny.
Kenny (02:21):
Um, we met in college.
Mm-hmm.
Freshman year, we.
Was it freshman year?
I think
Jonny (02:26):
it was your freshman year.
Were we the same grade or juniorgrade?
I don't know.
Um, 10.
I was nine.
So we were, we were close.
I think it was a year ahead ofyou, but an old lobby.
Kenny (02:35):
We went to the same college.
Yep.
We served in the lobby crew ofthe Usher crew.
Yep.
For anyone out there that is aBob Jones person.
Um.
They know how revered and, andsacred that is.
We guarded the statues
Jonny (02:48):
with our lives.
Kenny (02:49):
We stood there and looked at all the girls walking by and
tried to stand up straight andlook helpful.
That's great.
Um, no, it was, uh, it was agood time.
And obviously as time hasprogressed, kids have come to
scene.
Mm-hmm.
Um, you've stayed in Greenville,as have I.
Mm-hmm.
And, um, you've been very activewith, uh, the Bruins back in the
day.
Yeah, I know you, you're notthere now.
I'm not there now.
Um, and you've just always beenlike media, you're like a radio
(03:12):
broadcast voice guy.
Yeah.
Um, so anyway, welcome to theshow, buddy.
Jonny (03:15):
Yeah, man, I'm, I'm super happy to be here.
I'm excited.
Kenny (03:17):
Johnny, I guess while we were kinda recording there in
the intro, we we're kind ofgetting into the sort of heart
of what we want to really circlearound today, which is that idea
of, Can you be successful inyour job and, and even in the
church and at home.
Mm-hmm.
And there's just that liketension of, uh, you know, almost
maybe even doing too many goodthings, but at the detriment of
other things.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (03:37):
Yeah.
Kenny (03:38):
Um, you've had an awesome health journey.
Mm-hmm.
So I wanna talk about thattoday.
Um, and yeah, let me just goahead and, and open it with, uh,
tell us what you're doing today.
And then we're gonna kind ofprobably backtrack and see some
of where the highs and lows wereon, on this kind of Yeah,
absolutely.
Jonny (03:52):
So, as you said, media has really always been important
to me.
Um, I, I grew up loving sportsas the youngest of three boys,
uh, growing up in Denver,Colorado, and, uh, enjoying the
outdoors whatever sport was inseason, we played it.
riverside_kenny_johnson_raw (04:06):
Uh,
Jonny (04:07):
and um.
Just realized really early onthat I loved sports and maybe
wanted to pursue that as acareer.
so I went to college for radioand television broadcasting.
I wanted to be, you know, forthose old people out there, I
wanted to be Stuart Scott orScott Van PE on E-S-P-E-S-P-N,
you know, at the sports centerdesk or whatever.
That was the dream job, and, uh,was, was on my way to pursuing a
(04:28):
career with that.
And then came back to my almamater when they started
intercollegiate sports, uh, andhelped kind of get that off the
ground from a, from a brandingand, and marketing and media
perspective, and did that for 11years.
And, uh.
A good friend of mine, we kneweach other in college, Adam, he
went, we went our separate waysafter college, he went and
started a, a marketing agency.
(04:50):
Mm-hmm.
And, about two and a half yearsago now, I had been doing some
work for them on the sidecontract, but, we, we decided to
make the move and go full timewith heard media is what it's
called.
So, mm-hmm.
I do, anything and everythingover there.
helping run the day to day, ofit.
And, also on the side, I'm a,I'm a pastor as well at our
church here in Greenville.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (05:09):
Yeah.
Jonny (05:09):
So student and family pastor, which, uh, which
basically means kids all the wayup to teenagers, birth to per
birth, to graduation.
Okay.
Uh, at our kids' ministry, wehave somewhere in the
neighborhood about 180 kids, soit's, and their families and all
that kind of stuff.
So it's a lot of responsibility.
And then four, four of my own.
So,
Kenny (05:28):
yeah.
Wow.
Dude, I didn't realize you guyshad grown that much.
Jonny (05:31):
Yeah.
Kenny (05:31):
Yeah.
Um.
You were saying.
How big were you guys when youfirst started that position back
in 2010?
Jonny (05:36):
Oh yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
So my wife and I, when werealized we were gonna be in
Greenville for a little bit,we're both not originally from
here.
She's from the, uh, Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania area.
I, of course, grew up inColorado.
Okay.
Uh, we realized we were gonna behere, we thought maybe for two
or three years, something likethat.
We really wanted to get involvedin a smaller church.
And so
riverside_kenny_johnson_ra (05:52):
when
Jonny (05:52):
we, when we started going, our church was like 40,
50, 60 people.
Something like that.
Real small.
Okay.
We did church outta the back ofa truck, basically, where we'd
pull up to a location, unloadall of our chairs, and the piano
and all that, you know, the, thekeyboard, piano and stuff like
that.
Yes.
Do church, you know, packeverything back up and then move
to the next location.
And, uh, you know, we did thatfor a long time in our, in our
church plant.
(06:12):
And, uh, you know, about sevenyears ago we got a permanent
location, uh, downtown.
And, uh, you know, it's beenawesome.
God's been good to, to grow usin those kinds of things.
But, uh, my wife and I, in 2010,uh, we had a guy who had started
the youth group and then wentand planted a church up in
Maine.
A good friend of ours, and, uh,we just kind of slid into the,
(06:33):
the role of running the youthgroup.
Mm-hmm.
At the time, we had literallylike five or six kids.
There were, there wereWednesdays that we would come
and the adults would outnumberthe teenagers.
And it's like, this is awkward.
You know, four, four adults andtwo kids.
This, all right, what do youwant to talk about tonight?
Um, but it's, it's been cool tosee how God's have grown that.
Kenny (06:49):
Awesome.
you know, you're, you'rereminding me of the importance
of time in regards to, uh, whenyou're younger.
kids aren't maybe in thepicture, you know, new family
church plant, feels like, youknow, you have a lot of time to
do things.
Mm-hmm.
As life goes on, kids come tothe picture, the same standards
that you had in regards to likefree time and Oh yeah, we can
volunteer and do this stuff.
(07:09):
It shifts and that even, I thinkit's more exaggerated as the
career picks up.
riverside_kenny_johnson_raw- (07:13):
It is.
Kenny (07:14):
So, um, so let's talk about that because, um, give us
sort of like, what was the, thepeak.
Uh, that you've not, not likeit's, it's now dropped, but like
Yeah.
In your, in your career journeyof doing, you know, pastor,
heard media stuff, stuff that,you know, your Bob Jones.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (07:32):
Yeah.
Kenny (07:32):
where was that going and, um, and tell us a little more
about, you know, that, thatclimb.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (07:36):
Yeah.
Jonny (07:37):
So it, it really started again by God's grace and, um,
the great team that we had atBob Jones.
Um, we were able to buildsomething really special.
And I don't mean that as youknow, pat on the back, but, you
know, we were winning awards allthe time mm-hmm.
For top division twoinstitution.
Our teams were winning nationalchampionships.
(07:57):
We were doing, um, consultingtype work with other
universities who were saying,man, how are you guys doing
this?
And, and, and just all the time.
And so God was really good inthat.
And, and it got to a point wherewe were just, you know, we're,
we were exploding.
We had, um.
We had, uh, student athletescoming, we had, uh, expansion of
(08:17):
our programs, we were bringingon new sports.
Mm-hmm.
You know, those kinds of things.
And as we were growing in thatorganization, again, from the
church perspective, we weregoing through a lot of that same
growth.
So, um, you know, our youthgroup was growing, our church
was growing.
We were getting more families,more people, um, as I had
started to do contract work withHerd after Adam and I had
(08:37):
reconnected, that was growing.
Mm-hmm.
And so, as you said, whatstarted to happen was.
All of these things, good thingsthat were all a part of my life.
Were all starting to grow andwe're all demanding more and
more time and energy and effortat the same time.
My wife and I, our family wasgrowing as well.
Right.
And, uh, you know, we had gonefrom having one child when I,
(09:00):
when I joined the Bruins back in2012.
And now we had four children andall of our kids were pretty
close in age.
There was a time that we hadfour kids, uh, six and under,
and it was, you know, it wastough.
You know, you, you know, as adad, the, the sleepless nights
and the, and I give a lot ofcredit to my wife in those days
because I was in a job whereintercollegiate sports, they,
(09:23):
they don't play during the day.
They don't play in the mornings,it's.
It's late at night, it'sweekends, and so there would be
a lot of times that, we wouldjoke at the beginning of busy
season in August, I would kissmy wife and say, you know, I'll
see you in March, or I'll seeyou in May.
those kinds of things.
And we said it in jest, and thenwith the church responsibilities
and everything like that, thatit, it just got to be where, the
(09:45):
time with the kids was startingto get smaller and smaller and
smaller.
And I started to notice it more.
when kids are young, they don'tcomplain.
Mm-hmm.
You know, they, they, they loveto see you.
Anytime you're there, you, oh,dad's here and they come scream
and dad's home.
You know, those kinds of things.
Right.
As they get a little bit older,they start to question, why are
you gone so much?
Right.
Like, why are you, where are yougoing?
Right.
Right.
Um, it's hard to walk and get inthe car and drive away.
(10:08):
Yes.
When your 4-year-old or5-year-old is like, you're gone
again.
Right.
You know, and uh, that's when Ireally started to think like, do
I really want to do what I'mdoing continuously?
Mm-hmm.
And not even just the mentalstress, the physical stress.
I actually ended up in the ERone time just because of like
physical stress and kind of allof it coming to a head.
And it was, I think it was Godusing those times to be like,
(10:30):
look.
You gotta slow down.
You, you're doing way too muchfor one person.
Right.
And, you gotta kind of take astep back and go, where, where
are your priorities really lyinghere.
Yeah.
And what is it that needs toback off and what is it needs to
drop?
Kenny (10:44):
Yeah.
No, that's, that's prettypowerful dude.
I didn't, um, I didn't know allthat.
Yeah.
And I mean, it makes sensethough.
Mm-hmm.
And I think that's the kind oflike untold story that maybe a
lot of dads have out there.
Yeah.
It is just like, yeah, thesethings grew.
I mean, everything you saidabout, you know, the church, the
business.
side business, the side hustles.
Yeah.
Side hustle.
They all were kind of, sort ofin an infant stage.
Yeah.
and even if they were likedeveloped, like there's still
(11:06):
just like certain demands that,that change and flux.
and I think what's really cool,I mean, you mentioned God, I, I
absolutely agree.
I think God brings us sort of toour knees sometimes.
Yeah.
It's just like, Hey, like whatare you doing?
Mm-hmm.
Like, let's reset maybe.
Mm-hmm.
Er, yeah.
Um, when did the health alsobecome a.
The, the weight journey.
Yeah.
'cause I mean, was that, that'dbe right in the middle of it.
Jonny (11:25):
Yeah.
Oh, absolutely.
Right in the middle of it.
And, and again, I, I'm sure alot of dads watching this can
sympathize with the busier thatyou get, the more we tend to
push ourselves kind of on theback burner in our, in our own
health journey.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
on the back burner and, again, Iworked in athletics.
I worked with a bunch of very,very fit people.
Yeah.
especially college athletes.
I mean, it's, it's a full-timejob what they do, Yeah.
(11:47):
They, they go to training andpractice and road schedules and
academics and all that kind ofstuff.
It really is a full-time job forthem.
And, so we had access to weightrooms and mm-hmm.
and those kinds of things.
And literally, 10, 15 feet frommy office was the weight room,
it's right there and, and.
Uh, like so many dads, I triedto, tried to squeeze it in when
I could.
Mm-hmm.
And really what started tohappen again was the, the busier
(12:10):
that I got, that was the easiestthing to, well, I can get it, I
can grab that 30 minutes or that45 minutes that I normally would
be on the elliptical ortreadmill or lifting weights or
whatever.
Mm-hmm.
And I can grab that because I'vegotta do this.
riverside_kenny_johnson (12:22):
Mm-hmm.
Jonny (12:22):
and there's a danger in that.
Mm-hmm.
and again, it's not that thoseside hustles or businesses or
church or whatever ministry thatyou're in sometimes demands that
time, but.
What really has helped me,really about a year and a half
ago is when I really started,the serious health journey that
I'm on right now.
was just that moment of, ofsaying like.
What are those things that haveto be essential in the day?
(12:44):
and those are thenon-negotiables.
Mm-hmm.
And like for me, a couple yearsago it boiled down to time with
God.
having that time for me, it's inthe morning where I am in
studying his word, praying.
Getting the quiet time that Ineed oftentimes before the kids
wake up, before, before thedaily grind gets going.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, number two is time with myfamily.
(13:06):
dedicated time with my family,with my wife, with my kids, and
then three is that some kind ofphysical movement.
Mm-hmm.
it doesn't have to be the samething every day.
Believe me, my, when I firststarted, I, I got up to a
certain number of weight that Icouldn't believe.
Mm-hmm.
just physically.
And for a while it was justtaking a walk every day, and
saying, Hey, look, I'm gonnawalk a mile, or I'm gonna, I'm
(13:29):
gonna try to get 10,000 stepsin, or I'm gonna try whatever it
might be.
and those are the things thatstarted me thinking like, again,
you have to take your healthseriously because we can put
others first, we can put the jobfirst, or whatever.
Mm-hmm.
But eventually, if we don't.
Take care of ourselves.
We're not gonna be there to takecare of other people.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and uh, again, like I said,there was one time in particular
(13:52):
super, super stressful time atwork.
We had all this kind of stuffgoing on.
and I got to a point where we'regoing to set up and I, I started
to feel like I was having anheart attack.
I mean, ultimately I think.
What the doctors kind ofdiagnosed.
It was kind of a panic attack.
Yeah.
maybe some, indigestion.
Yeah.
heartburn, those kinds ofthings.
Yeah.
But I'm like, I'm on the side.
I'm like breathing heavy.
And finally I called my wife andI'm like, I'm gonna go to the
(14:13):
er.
I think I'm having a heartattack.
And so drove down there,thankfully, did all the tests.
Everything was good.
But it was then again, anotherreminder of God saying like, you
have got to slow down.
Yeah.
And you have got to realizethat.
You can't do everything, and ifyou try to do everything, you're
gonna end up killing yourself inthe process.
Kenny (14:29):
Mm-hmm.
I want to maybe go like one morelayer on this because, uh, our
wives, they're essential to oursuccess.
A hundred percent.
I mean, we could probably talkthe rest of the episode on this,
this, but, knowing the pressuresthat we have as, the leaders of
the household
riverside_kenny_johnson (14:45):
mm-hmm.
Kenny (14:46):
usually the breadwinners.
Mm-hmm.
Spiritual leaders, like there'sjust kind of a lot on our
shoulders, and I don't thinkthere's really a lot of
conversations that happen withother men.
I'm just like, mm-hmm.
Hey, this is hard sometimes.
Yeah.
And it's like, well, you know,be a man.
Like, yeah, tough, tough up,let's go.
Who cares?
But I feel like in these momentsof like physical, emotional
(15:07):
exhaustion, um.
Who's there to help us, it'susually our wives.
Yeah.
And just like, they see it,they're the front row of
everything we're doing.
could you maybe share what wasthe interaction there on you
guys coming together?
Was there like relational issuesbeforehand or was it like, she's
always been a supporter and itjust was like one more thing?
Like, give us a little bit aboutthat.
Jonny (15:27):
So part of my wife's up upbringing, her dad is a
Christian school administratorand was a basketball coach.
And, I.
So I think she was used toseeing, someone in her household
kind of burn the candle at bothends.
Okay.
again, as a principal, you'rethere first in the morning, then
all the ancillary duties of asmall Christian school.
(15:48):
he's the janitor, he's thecoach, he's the bus driver, so
I, I don't think it was aculture shock for her for that
because she was so used toseeing her mom do that with,
with their family.
Mm-hmm.
but.
Again there, when, when it kindof reached its tipping point in
my career.
I remember having someconversations and I think I was
surprised because she wasn'tsurprised.
(16:11):
Like she, she was like, I cantell you're struggling, and
you're like, shoot it.
it took some humility Yeah.
To be able to admit like, Ineeded help.
Yeah.
and so once we started to bereal with each other, and again,
I have.
trusted people in my circle aswell of other men who, who
noticed it as well.
Mm-hmm.
Who were coming alongside andsaying, you can't do this
(16:32):
anymore, man.
Like, yeah.
and again, we, I think we do agood job as men as well of
disguising everything and, oh,it's all good, Hey man, how are
you?
Oh, I'm great man.
Good.
and inside there's this warthat's going on inside.
It's just utter, it's like ifyou really knew what was going
on in my mind.
Right.
You wouldn't have asked me thatquestion how I'm doing.
'cause I could give you fourhours of why I'm not okay.
(16:53):
Right,
riverside_kenny_johnson_ (16:53):
right.
Jonny (16:53):
And We need to be better about that as men, I think of
especially having that circle ofguys, other men, other fathers,
other guys that can speak intoour lives.
Mm-hmm.
because I don't think it's fairfor our wives that have to
always bear that burden becausethey, they shouldn't have to,
they have their own burdens tobear.
I mean, my wife is a, is ateacher, works full time as
well, and, has to juggle herown.
(17:14):
plate of, caring for the kidsand being a good wife and, and
her ministry is at church andeverything like that.
So it's for me to come home andcomplain all this stuff I have
to do.
She's like, yep, me too.
Yeah, same bro.
And so, but it is so importantto have that circle around where
you can, you can confide inpeople and then you can have
guys that come in and say, youknow what?
I, I've noticed you're, you'reoff and.
(17:36):
How can we work through thattogether?
Kenny (17:38):
So, no, that's huge.
the community, some people haveworkout buddies.
Obviously the church is probablythe, the best place to have men
in your corner, older men ifpossible.
and I've seen some big victoriesin my life.
Mm-hmm.
Just being consistent, you know,you think about it.
um, these CEOs, these, thesebig, high earning people, and
there comes a point where it'slike.
(18:00):
I need this activity in my,these people in my life and I'm
cool with losing, losinginvesting maybe is a better
term.
Yeah.
Investing hours in each weekwith these people because like
my bucket over here is, is emptyor is get dangerous.
Yeah.
Low.
So, um, great point there.
Our wives are obviously like ourfirst probably supporter mm-hmm.
In the trenches.
But, um, yeah, to like puteverything like, Hey, I need you
(18:22):
to help me right now.
Fill my cup and it's like, I, Ineed you to fill my cup.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
So great point on the communityfor sure.
so I guess the question is like,what happened, when you started
realizing, you know, we're over,we're overdoing it.
Mm-hmm.
We got the family, all theseother buckets that you're
working on.
Um, did you just like.
Yeah.
Did you just pull the plug onone or two or kind of tell
(18:44):
everybody, Hey, this is what I'mdoing, like Yeah.
Could you maybe give us alittle, step by step on like
Yeah.
Jonny (18:49):
The mindset there?
Yeah.
So it, it, it came to a, it cameto a head basically, again, had,
had some of the physicalchallenges that I was, that I
was running into.
Job was exploding, side hustlewas exploding.
church thing was exploding.
And again, I credit my wife, Icredit, a lot of people in that
(19:09):
inner circle, even my ownparents and, and family who kind
of just came alongside and justsaid, what do you wanna do for
the rest of your life?
And, what, for me, I realized I,I couldn't do it all anymore and
I didn't wanna do it anymore.
Mm.
And again, I was missing out onkey moments with my kids.
I was going days and days.
(19:32):
Without kissing them or, youknow, to bed at night or tucking
them in at night.
there was times in busy season Iwould drop them off at school.
Mom would pick'em up fromschool, they would do dinner
together, everything like that.
I wouldn't see'em.
And then by the next morning,because it was so busy, I
would've woken up already and,and left.
And so they would be, you know,two, three days without even
(19:52):
seeing me.
it really was a Reprioritizationfor me of saying like.
As a man and as a man whofollows Jesus.
Like my primary role andresponsibility is to follow him,
but the secondary role that Godhas given me is to be a husband
and a father.
riverside_kenny_johnson (20:08):
Mm-hmm.
Jonny (20:09):
And then all the work stuff and all the providing for
the family, like that's allunderneath all of that.
Mm-hmm.
And so for me, what I hadallowed to happen is the goals
and the careers and theaspirations of my own personal
journey had risen to the samepriority as.
Uh, as that father, husband,even follower of Jesus role.
(20:30):
And it was like, I have to doall these things'cause I have to
keep it all in, in balance.
Mm-hmm.
And what I realized was to dothose top things effectively,
they have to have their ownpriority.
Mm-hmm.
You know, and then let the otherthings fall by the side.
So anyway, as I was saying, itall kind of came to a head.
Um, my, my boss at the time.
Um, over at Bob Jones, wasfeeling some of his own
(20:52):
internal, struggle in terms ofcareer, family balance, those
kinds of things.
And we, we just, at our routinemonthly lunch, he just confided
in me and said, you know what?
I, I think my time is, is comingto an end here.
I want you to pray about beingthe next athletic director at,
uh, at Bob Jones.
And I was like, okay.
I don't think he knows all theinternal struggle that I'm going
(21:14):
through right now.
Like what?
You know.
And so, um, I, I remember cominghome to my wife and, and she,
she actually, when I told herabout it, she kind of chuckled
and said No.
And I said, I felt the same way.
Hard note Johnny, but, but Iwanted to make sure you felt the
same way.
And, and at the same time, Imean, God had really started to
burden my heart more forpastoral ministry.
(21:36):
Um, you know, again.
Because things were so busy atwork and side hustles and family
and everything like that, wereally weren't giving our all in
the ministry of, youth ministryand kids ministry like we could.
'cause we just didn't have time,And so, um, as it was growing,
we were seeing God work and thelives of our teens and in kids
(21:56):
and, and those kinds of things.
And it was like.
But we only have this littlepocket of time that we can give
you each week.
Right.
And even the pastoral staff atour church started to recognize
that, but also started torecognize like.
We want you to be in this role,but we want someone in this role
who's really gonna help grow itand develop it, and those kinds
of things.
Mm-hmm.
So at the same time, I wasapproached about, uh, again, I
(22:17):
had served in that capacity was,was approached about actually
going through the officialordination process.
which again, for those maybethat are watching that are not
as religious or anything, it'skind of the church's stamp of
approval on someone.
Okay.
Just in terms of, do you knowthe doctrines of faith?
do you know, and can you teachand all these kinds of things.
So, went through that processwith, six or seven guys on my
(22:39):
ordination council, andbasically all they do is grill
you about the Bible and youwrite a, a personal statement of
faith about all the differentcategories of, the doctrine of
God and scripture and Jesus andall this kind of thing.
And then they.
Ask you questions about it.
And so I had went through that,not with the anticipation of, of
joining the pastoral staff, butjust, this is gonna be a good
thing and, and needed to do thisanyways.
(22:59):
and so praying about the adposition, praying about, what
God is doing in the pastoralposition, at the same time
heard, was doing contract workfor them, had approached me and
basically said, Hey, I knowyou're pretty invested at Bob
Jones.
Like, we're growing so much,would you, would you ever
consider coming to us full time?
And so, like, it was very clear.
God was like.
So you're going a certaindirection.
(23:20):
Yeah.
Like here's some options andpaths, but it's very clear
you're going to make a decisionand one of those things you're
going to have to leave.
Mm-hmm.
You, you can't do all threeanymore.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (23:29):
Yeah.
Jonny (23:29):
And and so we had prayed about it for a long time and I.
again, I could go on and on andon about this, but just the
direct ways that God worked inthat particular situation.
after I passed the ordinationcounselor or whatever, a couple
months later, some of ourleadership team came back and
said, we actually would love foryou to join the pastoral staff.
We can only do it part-timeright now'cause of the size of
our church, whatever.
(23:50):
I'm like, I got four kids.
I.
I can't do that.
Right.
and again, at the same time, theherd guys came back and were
like, Hey, we'd love for you towork full time.
It's, it's a little moreflexible.
It's more project work.
You can work remote, those kindsof things.
And it was like, this is just,this is the alignment that I was
looking for.
And, again, I loved my time atBob Jones.
Loved my time, with the athleticdepartment.
I actually was, this last Aprilinducted into the 2025 class of
(24:13):
Hall of Fame.
And yes, I said in my, I said inmy.
Hall of Fame induction speech,especially to my kids, I wasn't
always a Hall of Fame dad.
And, they made a lot ofsacrifices and, but at the end
of the day, like the biggestthing for those dads that are
struggling with this right nowis I had to ask myself would I
rather be a Hall of FamerProfessional or a Hall of Fame
(24:33):
dad?
Mm-hmm.
And like, because I, I, maybethere's people out there who
have done it better than I did.
and juggling that high stress,busyness and family, I couldn't
do it.
And it was, and, and I've met alot of dads who struggle with
that too.
And so like, there came a pointfor me, it was like, I, I'm
willing to make that sacrificeof keep going up that ladder
(24:55):
because my family means more tome than that.
Mm-hmm.
And my, my wife means more to methan that.
My kids mean more to me thanthat.
And, other thing, my own healthjourney and, and spirituality
and all these kinds of thingslike that needs to have a
better, grasp in my life than,chasing titles and chasing, the
admiration of peers and, andawards and accolades and all
those kinds of things.
(25:15):
And so, uh, that's really whereit came to me.
Yeah.
That's Johnny.
Well, well
Kenny (25:19):
done man.
That's, that's a lot.
In fact, it's funny'cause like Iknow you, I've kind of seen you,
in and out over the years andit's like you don't know what
people are really going throughYeah.
Throughout everything.
Yeah.
So it's really cool, sort of, atleast at this moment to, to know
your, where you're at todaymm-hmm.
And sort of where those valuesare.
Sure.
maybe, if you don't mind, sharesome of the victories with, over
the, I mean, I guess maybe sinceyou left the Bruins and kind of
(25:40):
have, decided, hey, these arethe values I have.
what's been some things thatyou've been like.
I got this back, like this wassort of a cool victory.
Jonny (25:48):
Yeah, I, I'll share one story with that.
somebody, we have a good friendwho, again, my oldest is, is
just became a teenager.
Okay.
13, all the way down to, toseven at this point.
And she, that's a victory initself.
I know, right?
Real, real.
I'm so alive and people wonderwhy I don't have any hair and
that I'm getting gray in thebeard and everything like that.
But, one, one story that I'llnever forget is, my, my daughter
(26:11):
started playing basketball withthe middle school team, at the
time upper elementary, but,middle school elementary
crossover and they call itjunior league in her school.
And, she tries really hard andis, is working really hard or
whatever, and her team, Godbless'em, goes out on the floor
and loses every, most games, 35,40 to two or 40 to, it's not,
(26:34):
it's rough.
Yeah.
But they work so hard and theyhave, you have great coaches and
everything like that.
Well, she came down the lane,got the ball turns and just puts
up this shot and she made it,after this like game eight or
nine in the season.
Yeah, yeah.
And the look on her face, sheturns around and immediately
like goes to the crowd lookingfor us.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (26:54):
Yeah.
Jonny (26:54):
And we make eye contact and she's cheering, she's.
So excited.
She's running now, they'relosing by 30, you know, or
whatever.
It doesn't matter.
But, but she looked and shelooked and she saw her whole
family there.
my, my wife and I, all of all ofher siblings were there cheering
her on.
Yeah.
And so I, I, I told the personafterwards, the photographer at
the game actually, for whateverreason, probably'cause we jumped
(27:16):
up and went crazy and we werethe only ones cheering and they
that turned and they take apicture and we're all, you know,
jumping up and everything likethat.
And I told the photographer thatmeant so much to me because you
don't know, like.
In my, just, just months beforeI had made that career
transition and all that kinds ofthings, I wouldn't have been
there.
You were there.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (27:34):
Yeah.
Jonny (27:35):
I I would've missed that whole moment.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (27:37):
Yeah, man.
Jonny (27:37):
and I would've missed, like, that's something you can
never get back.
That was her first basketballbasket.
And, and my wife told me aboutit.
She could have recorded it onher phone or whatever, but the
fact that my daughter made thebasket and then immediately
turned to the stands looking forus.
Yeah.
and as a dad, you can't put aprice on that.
Mm-hmm.
I would challenge dads out therelike, would I rather be sitting
in a meeting?
(27:58):
Or making another deal orworking for another hourly rate
or get those kinds of momentsand memories.
And like for me, I wanted tomake the sacrifices that we
needed to make, we had to makesome lifestyle changes, which is
fine.
we're fine, we're not poor,we're not, missing meals and
those kinds of things.
But, but it was one of thosethings where it's like, I'd
rather have those moments than,than miss out on that.
(28:21):
Just for, chasing the dollar orwhatever.
Yeah.
So that's, that's one way.
That's awesome.
again, from the churchperspective, I could share story
after story of just, again, justthe, from a physical
perspective, the fact that I, Isleep more now.
Mm-hmm.
obviously I've been hitting thegym more.
Mm-hmm.
health is better, those kinds ofthings.
So I, I in turn, when I'mfocusing on myself in those
areas.
I find I'm able to give more toothers because again, I have
(28:44):
that sleep, I have more energy,I have, that kind of stuff just
because I've taken those littlepockets of time to, to make sure
that I can be as best as I canbe for, for everybody around me.
Kenny (28:54):
I love that story.
Mm-hmm.
I actually kinda got chills andlike, was like fighting back a
little bit of tears.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (28:58):
Yeah.
Kenny (28:59):
Um, so that's a really good story.
Yeah.
And I mean, to me it's like you,you just, you can't put a price
tag on that, that moment.
Exactly.
riverside_kenny_johnso (29:05):
Exactly.
Kenny (29:05):
And if people are rolling their eyes about that, say, oh,
I can't make it every game.
we obviously do the best we can.
Yeah.
But there's, there's a cost toeverything.
Mm-hmm.
In fact, when people, I lovewhen people say, uh, like, oh,
what you do is so risky.
Or it's like, you're a realestate investor.
Like, yeah.
You know, how do you borrowpeople's money and do, you know,
do these things?
And, and in, in my mind, myresponse is, well, you are
risking your, like Yeah.
(29:26):
Life missing some things.
Exactly right.
I'm not saying I'm gonna justlike throw someone's money away.
Like there's obviouslycalculated, like due diligence
things I do.
Absolutely.
But if we're just risking.
Our, our time.
Mm-hmm.
Like I feel like I'm making theright choices.
Absolutely.
So, and everyone has to kind ofcome to grips on that for
themselves.
Jonny (29:42):
Yeah.
I'd rather get on my deathbedsomeday and have my kids go.
My dad was always there for me.
You know, I didn't have thenicest cars, the nicest shoes or
whatever it was.
But my dad was there at everysingle'cause that's how my dad
was.
I'm sure that's how your dadwas.
they balanced professional life,but my dad was at every sporting
event for me.
Yeah.
and yeah, we didn't always havethe nicest things, but like, who
cares?
Yeah.
Right.
Like, I don't care.
(30:04):
I never ever thought, I neverwore Abercrombie growing up and
it was all right.
I made it.
It's okay.
Kenny (30:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a great lesson.
And, and kids may not understandthat now.
Mm-hmm.
my son's eight.
Um, but, I'm very involved inhis life.
Mm-hmm.
And, and I, I, and I, I feelvery fulfilled, with my
relationship with him in regardsto like
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (30:24):
Yeah.
Kenny (30:24):
You know, just the close, the closest we are.
Absolutely.
So, um, so anyway, if there anydads out there that are, you
know, feeling, feeling maybe thepull to pull back, pulled toward
the kids more.
Yeah.
Let this be a, a message oflike, yeah, do it, man.
You won't, you won't regret
Jonny (30:37):
it, man.
I'm telling you.
You won't regret it.
obviously it has to becalculated, right?
You have to think about, what isit that you can drop out of your
life?
And again, for some people itmight be a career change, it
might be, going all in on thatside hustle, that, that has
really grown.
And, and they've realized, look,I can, I can leave the nine to
five.
It's gonna be a little bit of aleap of faith.
'cause I know you even did that,with your, your career with
(30:59):
landscaping and everything likethat.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And, there comes a point whereit's like, I'm gonna go all in
on this, but the, the primarygoal is not so that I can make
millions of dollars, but it's,it's so that I can invest, my
skillset to, to yes, provide formy family, but I can get back
that time that I can thenreinvest into, my wife and kids
and the things that I'm morepassionate about.
Kenny (31:20):
So, yeah.
Yeah.
Love it, Johnny.
I wanted to see here.
just in regards to timeblocking.
Mm-hmm.
Um, first off, curious like whatare the hobbies right now?
'cause I feel like what'simportant, like the sort of, um,
fun and recreation hat.
Yeah.
You know, I would imagine duringthe like, hard times, that was
zero.
Zero.
Yeah.
So, um, so now that there's beensome, you know, removing some
(31:42):
things, you know, looking at thebalance of my life.
Um, what are some things youenjoy doing right now?
I mean, even with the kids?
Or without kids?
Yeah.
Well, I mean,
Jonny (31:49):
we love, especially, I mean, Greenville is such a, a
great community for hikingtrails.
Mm-hmm.
And, and those kinds of things.
honestly, something that someonekind of drilled into me a couple
of years ago too, is, justtaking your kids in the day to
day that you have to do.
Mm-hmm.
So, like, my kids enjoy.
we go to Home Depot or whateverand I've gotta get some things
(32:10):
or whatever, and they know thatdad's kind of a softie and I
might get'em a candy bar or wemight start stop at Starbucks on
the way home or, those kinds ofthings.
But we try to do that.
Even my wife does that, a reallygood job of that too, of, of
trying to, as we have to goabout the day to day of just
normal life of taking a kid withus in that.
Mm-hmm.
a, it gives them kind of thatone-on-one time with dad or mom.
(32:31):
and again, you have to do thosethings anyways.
Mm-hmm.
And so we, we do a lot of that,but we do a lot of, I mean,
again, Greenville's awesome.
We, we do a lot of, ministrytogether as a family.
our, my kids love serving indifferent capacities in church.
My, my teenager is on thewelcome team.
And so as people come in, she'sgreeting them and stuff like
that.
So, I mean, it's good to, again,just to have that kind of time.
(32:54):
For us, it's not that we didn'tspend time together.
Mm-hmm.
when I was so busy and sostressed and all that kind of
stuff, but it was like, now thetime is I feel like more
precious, more special becauseI.
I, I'm not taking a hike withthe kids, wondering what I'm
missing at work.
Mm-hmm.
Or, I get back to my phone andit's just blowing up with all
kinds of things that I have todo.
(33:15):
Or, kids have gone to bed andI'm still up at one or two or
three o'clock in the morningtrying to finish everything.
Just, and so again, it's justthe idea of we enjoy our life
together more, I would say, justbecause we're, we're all.
Have the energy to be on to doit right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's easy.
We love hiking, we love, welove, riding bikes, obviously
exploring this great city.
(33:35):
Yeah.
And, doing all the fun things.
Kenny (33:37):
and I make sure, one curiosity, another question, in
regards to like the pastor hat.
riverside_kenny_johnson (33:42):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (33:42):
So those in the ministry.
this show, it is had differentpeople on with different walks
of faith.
I'm a Christian.
Sure.
We went to a Christian college,so, I, I feel very strong about,
how important my faith is to me.
Mm-hmm.
And there's a lot of give thathappens.
Yes.
especially if you're a, aleader.
Yeah.
Like Absolutely.
You're like the lead servant.
Like you are pouring out toother people.
(34:04):
Yeah.
So, maybe if you could gimmesome other victories or
struggles of, as a dad.
Leading in the church, some ofthe deacon meetings, I'm, I go
to, well they're at six o'clockat night and they're like, till
like nine.
It's like not the ideal likefamily time.
Exactly.
riverside_kenny_johnso (34:20):
Exactly.
But like, you
Kenny (34:20):
know, what else do you do it?
Yeah.
So, any, any wins or discoverieson that front of, leading the
household through the, like inministry as well?
Yeah,
Jonny (34:29):
absolutely.
one thing again.
I was kind of on the outside ofthose leadership circles in the
early days.
'cause again, I was, I was incharge of the youth group, but I
wasn't officially on pastoralstaff.
now that I have the last coupleof years been in those, I, first
of all, I want to tell peoplelike I.
I think there's a misperceptionabout what a pastor actually
(34:49):
does.
I know even growing up sometimesit was like, what?
Like you have to preach twosermons.
Like what a job.
and then, but the amount of goodpastors, good faith leaders, the
amount of time that they spendinvesting in other people is.
it's just shocking to me and I,I was not, I was not fully aware
(35:11):
of that until I started doing itmyself.
the lead pastor at our churchand the other pastors, the
deacons, others, just the amountof time and energy and effort
they pour into people each week.
not to mention, the amount oftime they pray for people and,
the, the amount of time theyspend studying God's word,
preparing, the differentministry and that kind of thing.
And so like for me, I, I wantedthat, but I, I don't think I was
(35:34):
fully ready for, some of thechallenges that brings, because
particularly in Christiancircles, I think are really good
at, like we talked about beforeof, we show up on a Sunday.
Hey, how are you man?
Oh, it's good.
How was your week?
Oh, it was good.
And really we're masking thestruggle of what was really
going on that week.
and so.
For me as a pastor, I've, I'vehad the opportunity now to kind
of have people pull that curtainback a little bit.
(35:56):
Mm-hmm.
And you realize that.
There is a lot of struggle thatpeople are going through, and
what I hope people willunderstand, especially those in
the Christian faith, is thatit's okay.
Mm-hmm.
It's okay.
We're all struggling.
Mm-hmm.
Like we're all on a journey andjust because I'm in a role of a
leader in, in pastoral ministry.
Doesn't mean like, like I'veshared today, it doesn't mean
(36:18):
that I have my own baggage andmy own, uh, struggles that I'm
going through even on a, on aweekly basis.
You know what?
My kid might not not sleptthrough the night last night
either, and that's okay.
We can come together and we can,we can encourage one another and
let's go get a cup of coffeetogether, and make it through
this.
But, as Christians, we need tobe better about just opening up
to each other and again, I, Icould share obviously story
(36:39):
after story and the ways God hasallowed my wife and I.
because of the lack of busynessin the evenings, now we've,
we've really tried to open ourhome more to people and, and
have more people over.
And again, we couldn't do thatbefore.
riverside_kenny_johnson (36:53):
Mm-hmm.
Jonny (36:53):
And so, mm-hmm.
Uh, the amount of conversationswe've been able to have through
that.
And I would say with that aswell, my wife has done a great
job more so than I have, inrecent years of just like
opening up her home for herfriend group to be around and
they come and they know there'stoys and clothes and the house
is not perfect.
Mm-hmm.
And pretty and everything likethat.
riverside_kenny_johnson (37:11):
Mm-hmm.
Jonny (37:11):
But the amount of times that my wife has just had people
over and, you know, I'll comehome from doing stuff and.
There's three ladies on my couchand they're all drinking coffee
together, or they're eating thesnacks in our fridge or
whatever, whatever, you know,and their kids are running
around.
That's great.
That's, that's life.
Yeah.
That's what we want.
And, uh, so to allow people to,to just, be in your life and
mm-hmm.
You can pour into each other andthose kinds of things.
(37:32):
It's, it's great to have thatkind of ministry,
Kenny (37:35):
Johnny.
I would, say, great job, man.
Appreciate it.
The successes you've shared havebeen encouraging to me.
and I love that you said, we'reall struggling.
Mm-hmm.
It's totally true.
the people I see at the gym and,these, uh, you know, I'm like, c
Christian, Kenny, it doesn'tcuss and all these things.
Yeah.
It's like, hey, like, I'm notperfect.
Exactly.
we, we need community.
(37:57):
Yeah.
Like we need each other.
Having people over with thehouse.
Messy.
Love that.
Yeah.
we struggle with that a littlebit in regards to like, just
push it all in the closet andjust shove it all in the closet.
Have that closet and don't openthat closet.
No, that's very good.
Thank you so much for sharingeverything today.
Johnny.
If people wanted to keep trackof what you were up to, you
mentioned a few things.
How would you direct them andkind of.
(38:17):
Are they get in touch with youor following your journey?
Jonny (38:18):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, probably LinkedIn is thebest for people particularly
that are watching this show orlistening to this show.
I'm pretty active on LinkedIn.
it's just Johnny, J-O-N-N-Y.
Gamut is game with a t.
Yes, it does sound like a swearword.
So that's, yeah, that's.
I could tell you story afterstory of that, of, of coaches
growing up at uh, uh, that gotyellow cards and technical
(38:38):
fouls.
'cause they would scream my lastname and the official thought
that, you know, he was gettingsweared at.
So
riverside_kenny_johnson_ (38:43):
that's great.
Jonny (38:43):
but anyway, Johnny Gamut, would love to, to connect
especially with those, of youthat, that I can be an
encouragement to, again, as adad, we're all, we're all
struggling through this togetheras a, as a professional, we're
trying to provide for ourfamilies and just do the best
that we can.
Kenny (38:56):
Johnny, thank you for joining us today.
Take care, buddy.
Alright, thank you.
one story that I'll never forget is, my daughter started
(00:02):
playing basketball with themiddle school team, they call it
junior league in her school.
And, she tries really hard andis, is working really hard and
her team, God bless'em, goes outon the floor and loses most
games, 35, 40 to two or 40 to,it's not, it's rough.
Yeah.
But they work so hard and theyhave, you have great coaches and
(00:23):
everything like that.
Well, she came down the lane,got the ball turns and just puts
up this shot and she made it,And the look on her face, she
turns around and immediatelylike goes to the crowd looking
for us.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (00:36):
Yeah.
Jonny (00:36):
And we make eye contact and she's cheering, she's.
So excited.
She's running now, they'relosing by 30, you know, or
whatever.
It doesn't matter.
But, but she looked and shelooked and she saw her whole
family there.
my, my wife and I, all of all ofher siblings were there cheering
her on.
Yeah.
the photographer at the gameactually, for whatever reason,
probably'cause we jumped up andwent crazy and we were the only
(00:56):
ones cheering and they thatturned and they take a picture
and we're all, you know, jumpingup and everything like that.
And I told the photographer thatmeant so much to me because you
don't know, just months before Ihad made that career transition
and all that kinds of things, Iwouldn't have been there.
I I would've missed that wholemoment.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (01:13):
Yeah, man.
Jonny (01:14):
and I would've missed, that's something you can never
get back.
That was her first basketballbasket.
and my wife told me about it.
She could have recorded it onher phone or whatever, but the
fact that my daughter made thebasket and then immediately
turned to the stands looking forus.
Yeah.
and as a dad, you can't put aprice on that.
Kenny (02:10):
Johnny Gamt in the house today.
Johnny, thank you for joiningThe Invested Fathers.
How are you today?
I,
Jonny (02:14):
I am super excited, man.
Big time, fan of the show andI'm, I'm excited to be in the
guest seat now, Johnny.
Kenny (02:21):
Um, we met in college.
Mm-hmm.
Freshman year, we.
Was it freshman year?
I think
Jonny (02:26):
it was your freshman year.
Were we the same grade or juniorgrade?
I don't know.
Um, 10.
I was nine.
So we were, we were close.
I think it was a year ahead ofyou, but an old lobby.
Kenny (02:35):
We went to the same college.
Yep.
We served in the lobby crew ofthe Usher crew.
Yep.
For anyone out there that is aBob Jones person.
Um.
They know how revered and, andsacred that is.
We guarded the statues
Jonny (02:48):
with our lives.
Kenny (02:49):
We stood there and looked at all the girls walking by and
tried to stand up straight andlook helpful.
That's great.
Um, no, it was, uh, it was agood time.
And obviously as time hasprogressed, kids have come to
scene.
Mm-hmm.
Um, you've stayed in Greenville,as have I.
Mm-hmm.
And, um, you've been very activewith, uh, the Bruins back in the
day.
Yeah, I know you, you're notthere now.
I'm not there now.
Um, and you've just always beenlike media, you're like a radio
(03:12):
broadcast voice guy.
Yeah.
Um, so anyway, welcome to theshow, buddy.
Jonny (03:15):
Yeah, man, I'm, I'm super happy to be here.
I'm excited.
Kenny (03:17):
Johnny, I guess while we were kinda recording there in
the intro, we we're kind ofgetting into the sort of heart
of what we want to really circlearound today, which is that idea
of, Can you be successful inyour job and, and even in the
church and at home.
Mm-hmm.
And there's just that liketension of, uh, you know, almost
maybe even doing too many goodthings, but at the detriment of
other things.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (03:37):
Yeah.
Kenny (03:38):
Um, you've had an awesome health journey.
Mm-hmm.
So I wanna talk about thattoday.
Um, and yeah, let me just goahead and, and open it with, uh,
tell us what you're doing today.
And then we're gonna kind ofprobably backtrack and see some
of where the highs and lows wereon, on this kind of Yeah,
absolutely.
Jonny (03:52):
So, as you said, media has really always been important
to me.
Um, I, I grew up loving sportsas the youngest of three boys,
uh, growing up in Denver,Colorado, and, uh, enjoying the
outdoors whatever sport was inseason, we played it.
riverside_kenny_johnson_raw (04:06):
Uh,
Jonny (04:07):
and um.
Just realized really early onthat I loved sports and maybe
wanted to pursue that as acareer.
so I went to college for radioand television broadcasting.
I wanted to be, you know, forthose old people out there, I
wanted to be Stuart Scott orScott Van PE on E-S-P-E-S-P-N,
you know, at the sports centerdesk or whatever.
That was the dream job, and, uh,was, was on my way to pursuing a
(04:28):
career with that.
And then came back to my almamater when they started
intercollegiate sports, uh, andhelped kind of get that off the
ground from a, from a brandingand, and marketing and media
perspective, and did that for 11years.
And, uh.
A good friend of mine, we kneweach other in college, Adam, he
went, we went our separate waysafter college, he went and
started a, a marketing agency.
(04:50):
Mm-hmm.
And, about two and a half yearsago now, I had been doing some
work for them on the sidecontract, but, we, we decided to
make the move and go full timewith heard media is what it's
called.
So, mm-hmm.
I do, anything and everythingover there.
helping run the day to day, ofit.
And, also on the side, I'm a,I'm a pastor as well at our
church here in Greenville.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (05:09):
Yeah.
Jonny (05:09):
So student and family pastor, which, uh, which
basically means kids all the wayup to teenagers, birth to per
birth, to graduation.
Okay.
Uh, at our kids' ministry, wehave somewhere in the
neighborhood about 180 kids, soit's, and their families and all
that kind of stuff.
So it's a lot of responsibility.
And then four, four of my own.
So,
Kenny (05:28):
yeah.
Wow.
Dude, I didn't realize you guyshad grown that much.
Jonny (05:31):
Yeah.
Kenny (05:31):
Yeah.
Um.
You were saying.
How big were you guys when youfirst started that position back
in 2010?
Jonny (05:36):
Oh yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
So my wife and I, when werealized we were gonna be in
Greenville for a little bit,we're both not originally from
here.
She's from the, uh, Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania area.
I, of course, grew up inColorado.
Okay.
Uh, we realized we were gonna behere, we thought maybe for two
or three years, something likethat.
We really wanted to get involvedin a smaller church.
And so
riverside_kenny_johnson_ra (05:52):
when
Jonny (05:52):
we, when we started going, our church was like 40,
50, 60 people.
Something like that.
Real small.
Okay.
We did church outta the back ofa truck, basically, where we'd
pull up to a location, unloadall of our chairs, and the piano
and all that, you know, the, thekeyboard, piano and stuff like
that.
Yes.
Do church, you know, packeverything back up and then move
to the next location.
And, uh, you know, we did thatfor a long time in our, in our
church plant.
(06:12):
And, uh, you know, about sevenyears ago we got a permanent
location, uh, downtown.
And, uh, you know, it's beenawesome.
God's been good to, to grow usin those kinds of things.
But, uh, my wife and I, in 2010,uh, we had a guy who had started
the youth group and then wentand planted a church up in
Maine.
A good friend of ours, and, uh,we just kind of slid into the,
(06:33):
the role of running the youthgroup.
Mm-hmm.
At the time, we had literallylike five or six kids.
There were, there wereWednesdays that we would come
and the adults would outnumberthe teenagers.
And it's like, this is awkward.
You know, four, four adults andtwo kids.
This, all right, what do youwant to talk about tonight?
Um, but it's, it's been cool tosee how God's have grown that.
Kenny (06:49):
Awesome.
you know, you're, you'rereminding me of the importance
of time in regards to, uh, whenyou're younger.
kids aren't maybe in thepicture, you know, new family
church plant, feels like, youknow, you have a lot of time to
do things.
Mm-hmm.
As life goes on, kids come tothe picture, the same standards
that you had in regards to likefree time and Oh yeah, we can
volunteer and do this stuff.
(07:09):
It shifts and that even, I thinkit's more exaggerated as the
career picks up.
riverside_kenny_johnson_raw- (07:13):
It is.
Kenny (07:14):
So, um, so let's talk about that because, um, give us
sort of like, what was the, thepeak.
Uh, that you've not, not likeit's, it's now dropped, but like
Yeah.
In your, in your career journeyof doing, you know, pastor,
heard media stuff, stuff that,you know, your Bob Jones.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (07:32):
Yeah.
Kenny (07:32):
where was that going and, um, and tell us a little more
about, you know, that, thatclimb.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (07:36):
Yeah.
Jonny (07:37):
So it, it really started again by God's grace and, um,
the great team that we had atBob Jones.
Um, we were able to buildsomething really special.
And I don't mean that as youknow, pat on the back, but, you
know, we were winning awards allthe time mm-hmm.
For top division twoinstitution.
Our teams were winning nationalchampionships.
(07:57):
We were doing, um, consultingtype work with other
universities who were saying,man, how are you guys doing
this?
And, and, and just all the time.
And so God was really good inthat.
And, and it got to a point wherewe were just, you know, we're,
we were exploding.
We had, um.
We had, uh, student athletescoming, we had, uh, expansion of
(08:17):
our programs, we were bringingon new sports.
Mm-hmm.
You know, those kinds of things.
And as we were growing in thatorganization, again, from the
church perspective, we weregoing through a lot of that same
growth.
So, um, you know, our youthgroup was growing, our church
was growing.
We were getting more families,more people, um, as I had
started to do contract work withHerd after Adam and I had
(08:37):
reconnected, that was growing.
Mm-hmm.
And so, as you said, whatstarted to happen was.
All of these things, good thingsthat were all a part of my life.
Were all starting to grow andwe're all demanding more and
more time and energy and effortat the same time.
My wife and I, our family wasgrowing as well.
Right.
And, uh, you know, we had gonefrom having one child when I,
(09:00):
when I joined the Bruins back in2012.
And now we had four children andall of our kids were pretty
close in age.
There was a time that we hadfour kids, uh, six and under,
and it was, you know, it wastough.
You know, you, you know, as adad, the, the sleepless nights
and the, and I give a lot ofcredit to my wife in those days
because I was in a job whereintercollegiate sports, they,
(09:23):
they don't play during the day.
They don't play in the mornings,it's.
It's late at night, it'sweekends, and so there would be
a lot of times that, we wouldjoke at the beginning of busy
season in August, I would kissmy wife and say, you know, I'll
see you in March, or I'll seeyou in May.
those kinds of things.
And we said it in jest, and thenwith the church responsibilities
and everything like that, thatit, it just got to be where, the
(09:45):
time with the kids was startingto get smaller and smaller and
smaller.
And I started to notice it more.
when kids are young, they don'tcomplain.
Mm-hmm.
You know, they, they, they loveto see you.
Anytime you're there, you, oh,dad's here and they come scream
and dad's home.
You know, those kinds of things.
Right.
As they get a little bit older,they start to question, why are
you gone so much?
Right.
Like, why are you, where are yougoing?
Right.
Right.
Um, it's hard to walk and get inthe car and drive away.
(10:08):
Yes.
When your 4-year-old or5-year-old is like, you're gone
again.
Right.
You know, and uh, that's when Ireally started to think like, do
I really want to do what I'mdoing continuously?
Mm-hmm.
And not even just the mentalstress, the physical stress.
I actually ended up in the ERone time just because of like
physical stress and kind of allof it coming to a head.
And it was, I think it was Godusing those times to be like,
(10:30):
look.
You gotta slow down.
You, you're doing way too muchfor one person.
Right.
And, you gotta kind of take astep back and go, where, where
are your priorities really lyinghere.
Yeah.
And what is it that needs toback off and what is it needs to
drop?
Kenny (10:44):
Yeah.
No, that's, that's prettypowerful dude.
I didn't, um, I didn't know allthat.
Yeah.
And I mean, it makes sensethough.
Mm-hmm.
And I think that's the kind oflike untold story that maybe a
lot of dads have out there.
Yeah.
It is just like, yeah, thesethings grew.
I mean, everything you saidabout, you know, the church, the
business.
side business, the side hustles.
Yeah.
Side hustle.
They all were kind of, sort ofin an infant stage.
Yeah.
and even if they were likedeveloped, like there's still
(11:06):
just like certain demands that,that change and flux.
and I think what's really cool,I mean, you mentioned God, I, I
absolutely agree.
I think God brings us sort of toour knees sometimes.
Yeah.
It's just like, Hey, like whatare you doing?
Mm-hmm.
Like, let's reset maybe.
Mm-hmm.
Er, yeah.
Um, when did the health alsobecome a.
The, the weight journey.
Yeah.
'cause I mean, was that, that'dbe right in the middle of it.
Jonny (11:25):
Yeah.
Oh, absolutely.
Right in the middle of it.
And, and again, I, I'm sure alot of dads watching this can
sympathize with the busier thatyou get, the more we tend to
push ourselves kind of on theback burner in our, in our own
health journey.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
on the back burner and, again, Iworked in athletics.
I worked with a bunch of very,very fit people.
Yeah.
especially college athletes.
I mean, it's, it's a full-timejob what they do, Yeah.
(11:47):
They, they go to training andpractice and road schedules and
academics and all that kind ofstuff.
It really is a full-time job forthem.
And, so we had access to weightrooms and mm-hmm.
and those kinds of things.
And literally, 10, 15 feet frommy office was the weight room,
it's right there and, and.
Uh, like so many dads, I triedto, tried to squeeze it in when
I could.
Mm-hmm.
And really what started tohappen again was the, the busier
(12:10):
that I got, that was the easiestthing to, well, I can get it, I
can grab that 30 minutes or that45 minutes that I normally would
be on the elliptical ortreadmill or lifting weights or
whatever.
Mm-hmm.
And I can grab that because I'vegotta do this.
riverside_kenny_johnson (12:22):
Mm-hmm.
Jonny (12:22):
and there's a danger in that.
Mm-hmm.
and again, it's not that thoseside hustles or businesses or
church or whatever ministry thatyou're in sometimes demands that
time, but.
What really has helped me,really about a year and a half
ago is when I really started,the serious health journey that
I'm on right now.
was just that moment of, ofsaying like.
What are those things that haveto be essential in the day?
(12:44):
and those are thenon-negotiables.
Mm-hmm.
And like for me, a couple yearsago it boiled down to time with
God.
having that time for me, it's inthe morning where I am in
studying his word, praying.
Getting the quiet time that Ineed oftentimes before the kids
wake up, before, before thedaily grind gets going.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, number two is time with myfamily.
(13:06):
dedicated time with my family,with my wife, with my kids, and
then three is that some kind ofphysical movement.
Mm-hmm.
it doesn't have to be the samething every day.
Believe me, my, when I firststarted, I, I got up to a
certain number of weight that Icouldn't believe.
Mm-hmm.
just physically.
And for a while it was justtaking a walk every day, and
saying, Hey, look, I'm gonnawalk a mile, or I'm gonna, I'm
(13:29):
gonna try to get 10,000 stepsin, or I'm gonna try whatever it
might be.
and those are the things thatstarted me thinking like, again,
you have to take your healthseriously because we can put
others first, we can put the jobfirst, or whatever.
Mm-hmm.
But eventually, if we don't.
Take care of ourselves.
We're not gonna be there to takecare of other people.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and uh, again, like I said,there was one time in particular
(13:52):
super, super stressful time atwork.
We had all this kind of stuffgoing on.
and I got to a point where we'regoing to set up and I, I started
to feel like I was having anheart attack.
I mean, ultimately I think.
What the doctors kind ofdiagnosed.
It was kind of a panic attack.
Yeah.
maybe some, indigestion.
Yeah.
heartburn, those kinds ofthings.
Yeah.
But I'm like, I'm on the side.
I'm like breathing heavy.
And finally I called my wife andI'm like, I'm gonna go to the
(14:13):
er.
I think I'm having a heartattack.
And so drove down there,thankfully, did all the tests.
Everything was good.
But it was then again, anotherreminder of God saying like, you
have got to slow down.
Yeah.
And you have got to realizethat.
You can't do everything, and ifyou try to do everything, you're
gonna end up killing yourself inthe process.
Kenny (14:29):
Mm-hmm.
I want to maybe go like one morelayer on this because, uh, our
wives, they're essential to oursuccess.
A hundred percent.
I mean, we could probably talkthe rest of the episode on this,
this, but, knowing the pressuresthat we have as, the leaders of
the household
riverside_kenny_johnson (14:45):
mm-hmm.
Kenny (14:46):
usually the breadwinners.
Mm-hmm.
Spiritual leaders, like there'sjust kind of a lot on our
shoulders, and I don't thinkthere's really a lot of
conversations that happen withother men.
I'm just like, mm-hmm.
Hey, this is hard sometimes.
Yeah.
And it's like, well, you know,be a man.
Like, yeah, tough, tough up,let's go.
Who cares?
But I feel like in these momentsof like physical, emotional
(15:07):
exhaustion, um.
Who's there to help us, it'susually our wives.
Yeah.
And just like, they see it,they're the front row of
everything we're doing.
could you maybe share what wasthe interaction there on you
guys coming together?
Was there like relational issuesbeforehand or was it like, she's
always been a supporter and itjust was like one more thing?
Like, give us a little bit aboutthat.
Jonny (15:27):
So part of my wife's up upbringing, her dad is a
Christian school administratorand was a basketball coach.
And, I.
So I think she was used toseeing, someone in her household
kind of burn the candle at bothends.
Okay.
again, as a principal, you'rethere first in the morning, then
all the ancillary duties of asmall Christian school.
(15:48):
he's the janitor, he's thecoach, he's the bus driver, so
I, I don't think it was aculture shock for her for that
because she was so used toseeing her mom do that with,
with their family.
Mm-hmm.
but.
Again there, when, when it kindof reached its tipping point in
my career.
I remember having someconversations and I think I was
surprised because she wasn'tsurprised.
(16:11):
Like she, she was like, I cantell you're struggling, and
you're like, shoot it.
it took some humility Yeah.
To be able to admit like, Ineeded help.
Yeah.
and so once we started to bereal with each other, and again,
I have.
trusted people in my circle aswell of other men who, who
noticed it as well.
Mm-hmm.
Who were coming alongside andsaying, you can't do this
(16:32):
anymore, man.
Like, yeah.
and again, we, I think we do agood job as men as well of
disguising everything and, oh,it's all good, Hey man, how are
you?
Oh, I'm great man.
Good.
and inside there's this warthat's going on inside.
It's just utter, it's like ifyou really knew what was going
on in my mind.
Right.
You wouldn't have asked me thatquestion how I'm doing.
'cause I could give you fourhours of why I'm not okay.
(16:53):
Right,
riverside_kenny_johnson_ (16:53):
right.
Jonny (16:53):
And We need to be better about that as men, I think of
especially having that circle ofguys, other men, other fathers,
other guys that can speak intoour lives.
Mm-hmm.
because I don't think it's fairfor our wives that have to
always bear that burden becausethey, they shouldn't have to,
they have their own burdens tobear.
I mean, my wife is a, is ateacher, works full time as
well, and, has to juggle herown.
(17:14):
plate of, caring for the kidsand being a good wife and, and
her ministry is at church andeverything like that.
So it's for me to come home andcomplain all this stuff I have
to do.
She's like, yep, me too.
Yeah, same bro.
And so, but it is so importantto have that circle around where
you can, you can confide inpeople and then you can have
guys that come in and say, youknow what?
I, I've noticed you're, you'reoff and.
(17:36):
How can we work through thattogether?
Kenny (17:38):
So, no, that's huge.
the community, some people haveworkout buddies.
Obviously the church is probablythe, the best place to have men
in your corner, older men ifpossible.
and I've seen some big victoriesin my life.
Mm-hmm.
Just being consistent, you know,you think about it.
um, these CEOs, these, thesebig, high earning people, and
there comes a point where it'slike.
(18:00):
I need this activity in my,these people in my life and I'm
cool with losing, losinginvesting maybe is a better
term.
Yeah.
Investing hours in each weekwith these people because like
my bucket over here is, is emptyor is get dangerous.
Yeah.
Low.
So, um, great point there.
Our wives are obviously like ourfirst probably supporter mm-hmm.
In the trenches.
But, um, yeah, to like puteverything like, Hey, I need you
(18:22):
to help me right now.
Fill my cup and it's like, I, Ineed you to fill my cup.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
So great point on the communityfor sure.
so I guess the question is like,what happened, when you started
realizing, you know, we're over,we're overdoing it.
Mm-hmm.
We got the family, all theseother buckets that you're
working on.
Um, did you just like.
Yeah.
Did you just pull the plug onone or two or kind of tell
(18:44):
everybody, Hey, this is what I'mdoing, like Yeah.
Could you maybe give us alittle, step by step on like
Yeah.
Jonny (18:49):
The mindset there?
Yeah.
So it, it, it came to a, it cameto a head basically, again, had,
had some of the physicalchallenges that I was, that I
was running into.
Job was exploding, side hustlewas exploding.
church thing was exploding.
And again, I credit my wife, Icredit, a lot of people in that
(19:09):
inner circle, even my ownparents and, and family who kind
of just came alongside and justsaid, what do you wanna do for
the rest of your life?
And, what, for me, I realized I,I couldn't do it all anymore and
I didn't wanna do it anymore.
Mm.
And again, I was missing out onkey moments with my kids.
I was going days and days.
(19:32):
Without kissing them or, youknow, to bed at night or tucking
them in at night.
there was times in busy season Iwould drop them off at school.
Mom would pick'em up fromschool, they would do dinner
together, everything like that.
I wouldn't see'em.
And then by the next morning,because it was so busy, I
would've woken up already and,and left.
And so they would be, you know,two, three days without even
(19:52):
seeing me.
it really was a Reprioritizationfor me of saying like.
As a man and as a man whofollows Jesus.
Like my primary role andresponsibility is to follow him,
but the secondary role that Godhas given me is to be a husband
and a father.
riverside_kenny_johnson (20:08):
Mm-hmm.
Jonny (20:09):
And then all the work stuff and all the providing for
the family, like that's allunderneath all of that.
Mm-hmm.
And so for me, what I hadallowed to happen is the goals
and the careers and theaspirations of my own personal
journey had risen to the samepriority as.
Uh, as that father, husband,even follower of Jesus role.
(20:30):
And it was like, I have to doall these things'cause I have to
keep it all in, in balance.
Mm-hmm.
And what I realized was to dothose top things effectively,
they have to have their ownpriority.
Mm-hmm.
You know, and then let the otherthings fall by the side.
So anyway, as I was saying, itall kind of came to a head.
Um, my, my boss at the time.
Um, over at Bob Jones, wasfeeling some of his own
(20:52):
internal, struggle in terms ofcareer, family balance, those
kinds of things.
And we, we just, at our routinemonthly lunch, he just confided
in me and said, you know what?
I, I think my time is, is comingto an end here.
I want you to pray about beingthe next athletic director at,
uh, at Bob Jones.
And I was like, okay.
I don't think he knows all theinternal struggle that I'm going
(21:14):
through right now.
Like what?
You know.
And so, um, I, I remember cominghome to my wife and, and she,
she actually, when I told herabout it, she kind of chuckled
and said No.
And I said, I felt the same way.
Hard note Johnny, but, but Iwanted to make sure you felt the
same way.
And, and at the same time, Imean, God had really started to
burden my heart more forpastoral ministry.
(21:36):
Um, you know, again.
Because things were so busy atwork and side hustles and family
and everything like that, wereally weren't giving our all in
the ministry of, youth ministryand kids ministry like we could.
'cause we just didn't have time,And so, um, as it was growing,
we were seeing God work and thelives of our teens and in kids
(21:56):
and, and those kinds of things.
And it was like.
But we only have this littlepocket of time that we can give
you each week.
Right.
And even the pastoral staff atour church started to recognize
that, but also started torecognize like.
We want you to be in this role,but we want someone in this role
who's really gonna help grow itand develop it, and those kinds
of things.
Mm-hmm.
So at the same time, I wasapproached about, uh, again, I
(22:17):
had served in that capacity was,was approached about actually
going through the officialordination process.
which again, for those maybethat are watching that are not
as religious or anything, it'skind of the church's stamp of
approval on someone.
Okay.
Just in terms of, do you knowthe doctrines of faith?
do you know, and can you teachand all these kinds of things.
So, went through that processwith, six or seven guys on my
(22:39):
ordination council, andbasically all they do is grill
you about the Bible and youwrite a, a personal statement of
faith about all the differentcategories of, the doctrine of
God and scripture and Jesus andall this kind of thing.
And then they.
Ask you questions about it.
And so I had went through that,not with the anticipation of, of
joining the pastoral staff, butjust, this is gonna be a good
thing and, and needed to do thisanyways.
(22:59):
and so praying about the adposition, praying about, what
God is doing in the pastoralposition, at the same time
heard, was doing contract workfor them, had approached me and
basically said, Hey, I knowyou're pretty invested at Bob
Jones.
Like, we're growing so much,would you, would you ever
consider coming to us full time?
And so, like, it was very clear.
God was like.
So you're going a certaindirection.
(23:20):
Yeah.
Like here's some options andpaths, but it's very clear
you're going to make a decisionand one of those things you're
going to have to leave.
Mm-hmm.
You, you can't do all threeanymore.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (23:29):
Yeah.
Jonny (23:29):
And and so we had prayed about it for a long time and I.
again, I could go on and on andon about this, but just the
direct ways that God worked inthat particular situation.
after I passed the ordinationcounselor or whatever, a couple
months later, some of ourleadership team came back and
said, we actually would love foryou to join the pastoral staff.
We can only do it part-timeright now'cause of the size of
our church, whatever.
(23:50):
I'm like, I got four kids.
I.
I can't do that.
Right.
and again, at the same time, theherd guys came back and were
like, Hey, we'd love for you towork full time.
It's, it's a little moreflexible.
It's more project work.
You can work remote, those kindsof things.
And it was like, this is just,this is the alignment that I was
looking for.
And, again, I loved my time atBob Jones.
Loved my time, with the athleticdepartment.
I actually was, this last Aprilinducted into the 2025 class of
(24:13):
Hall of Fame.
And yes, I said in my, I said inmy.
Hall of Fame induction speech,especially to my kids, I wasn't
always a Hall of Fame dad.
And, they made a lot ofsacrifices and, but at the end
of the day, like the biggestthing for those dads that are
struggling with this right nowis I had to ask myself would I
rather be a Hall of FamerProfessional or a Hall of Fame
(24:33):
dad?
Mm-hmm.
And like, because I, I, maybethere's people out there who
have done it better than I did.
and juggling that high stress,busyness and family, I couldn't
do it.
And it was, and, and I've met alot of dads who struggle with
that too.
And so like, there came a pointfor me, it was like, I, I'm
willing to make that sacrificeof keep going up that ladder
(24:55):
because my family means more tome than that.
Mm-hmm.
And my, my wife means more to methan that.
My kids mean more to me thanthat.
And, other thing, my own healthjourney and, and spirituality
and all these kinds of thingslike that needs to have a
better, grasp in my life than,chasing titles and chasing, the
admiration of peers and, andawards and accolades and all
those kinds of things.
(25:15):
And so, uh, that's really whereit came to me.
Yeah.
That's Johnny.
Well, well
Kenny (25:19):
done man.
That's, that's a lot.
In fact, it's funny'cause like Iknow you, I've kind of seen you,
in and out over the years andit's like you don't know what
people are really going throughYeah.
Throughout everything.
Yeah.
So it's really cool, sort of, atleast at this moment to, to know
your, where you're at todaymm-hmm.
And sort of where those valuesare.
Sure.
maybe, if you don't mind, sharesome of the victories with, over
the, I mean, I guess maybe sinceyou left the Bruins and kind of
(25:40):
have, decided, hey, these arethe values I have.
what's been some things thatyou've been like.
I got this back, like this wassort of a cool victory.
Jonny (25:48):
Yeah, I, I'll share one story with that.
somebody, we have a good friendwho, again, my oldest is, is
just became a teenager.
Okay.
13, all the way down to, toseven at this point.
And she, that's a victory initself.
I know, right?
Real, real.
I'm so alive and people wonderwhy I don't have any hair and
that I'm getting gray in thebeard and everything like that.
But, one, one story that I'llnever forget is, my, my daughter
(26:11):
started playing basketball withthe middle school team, at the
time upper elementary, but,middle school elementary
crossover and they call itjunior league in her school.
And, she tries really hard andis, is working really hard or
whatever, and her team, Godbless'em, goes out on the floor
and loses every, most games, 35,40 to two or 40 to, it's not,
(26:34):
it's rough.
Yeah.
But they work so hard and theyhave, you have great coaches and
everything like that.
Well, she came down the lane,got the ball turns and just puts
up this shot and she made it,after this like game eight or
nine in the season.
Yeah, yeah.
And the look on her face, sheturns around and immediately
like goes to the crowd lookingfor us.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (26:54):
Yeah.
Jonny (26:54):
And we make eye contact and she's cheering, she's.
So excited.
She's running now, they'relosing by 30, you know, or
whatever.
It doesn't matter.
But, but she looked and shelooked and she saw her whole
family there.
my, my wife and I, all of all ofher siblings were there cheering
her on.
Yeah.
And so I, I, I told the personafterwards, the photographer at
the game actually, for whateverreason, probably'cause we jumped
(27:16):
up and went crazy and we werethe only ones cheering and they
that turned and they take apicture and we're all, you know,
jumping up and everything likethat.
And I told the photographer thatmeant so much to me because you
don't know, like.
In my, just, just months beforeI had made that career
transition and all that kinds ofthings, I wouldn't have been
there.
You were there.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (27:34):
Yeah.
Jonny (27:35):
I I would've missed that whole moment.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (27:37):
Yeah, man.
Jonny (27:37):
and I would've missed, like, that's something you can
never get back.
That was her first basketballbasket.
And, and my wife told me aboutit.
She could have recorded it onher phone or whatever, but the
fact that my daughter made thebasket and then immediately
turned to the stands looking forus.
Yeah.
and as a dad, you can't put aprice on that.
Mm-hmm.
I would challenge dads out therelike, would I rather be sitting
in a meeting?
(27:58):
Or making another deal orworking for another hourly rate
or get those kinds of momentsand memories.
And like for me, I wanted tomake the sacrifices that we
needed to make, we had to makesome lifestyle changes, which is
fine.
we're fine, we're not poor,we're not, missing meals and
those kinds of things.
But, but it was one of thosethings where it's like, I'd
rather have those moments than,than miss out on that.
(28:21):
Just for, chasing the dollar orwhatever.
Yeah.
So that's, that's one way.
That's awesome.
again, from the churchperspective, I could share story
after story of just, again, justthe, from a physical
perspective, the fact that I, Isleep more now.
Mm-hmm.
obviously I've been hitting thegym more.
Mm-hmm.
health is better, those kinds ofthings.
So I, I in turn, when I'mfocusing on myself in those
areas.
I find I'm able to give more toothers because again, I have
(28:44):
that sleep, I have more energy,I have, that kind of stuff just
because I've taken those littlepockets of time to, to make sure
that I can be as best as I canbe for, for everybody around me.
Kenny (28:54):
I love that story.
Mm-hmm.
I actually kinda got chills andlike, was like fighting back a
little bit of tears.
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (28:58):
Yeah.
Kenny (28:59):
Um, so that's a really good story.
Yeah.
And I mean, to me it's like you,you just, you can't put a price
tag on that, that moment.
Exactly.
riverside_kenny_johnso (29:05):
Exactly.
Kenny (29:05):
And if people are rolling their eyes about that, say, oh,
I can't make it every game.
we obviously do the best we can.
Yeah.
But there's, there's a cost toeverything.
Mm-hmm.
In fact, when people, I lovewhen people say, uh, like, oh,
what you do is so risky.
Or it's like, you're a realestate investor.
Like, yeah.
You know, how do you borrowpeople's money and do, you know,
do these things?
And, and in, in my mind, myresponse is, well, you are
risking your, like Yeah.
(29:26):
Life missing some things.
Exactly right.
I'm not saying I'm gonna justlike throw someone's money away.
Like there's obviouslycalculated, like due diligence
things I do.
Absolutely.
But if we're just risking.
Our, our time.
Mm-hmm.
Like I feel like I'm making theright choices.
Absolutely.
So, and everyone has to kind ofcome to grips on that for
themselves.
Jonny (29:42):
Yeah.
I'd rather get on my deathbedsomeday and have my kids go.
My dad was always there for me.
You know, I didn't have thenicest cars, the nicest shoes or
whatever it was.
But my dad was there at everysingle'cause that's how my dad
was.
I'm sure that's how your dadwas.
they balanced professional life,but my dad was at every sporting
event for me.
Yeah.
and yeah, we didn't always havethe nicest things, but like, who
cares?
Yeah.
Right.
Like, I don't care.
(30:04):
I never ever thought, I neverwore Abercrombie growing up and
it was all right.
I made it.
It's okay.
Kenny (30:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a great lesson.
And, and kids may not understandthat now.
Mm-hmm.
my son's eight.
Um, but, I'm very involved inhis life.
Mm-hmm.
And, and I, I, and I, I feelvery fulfilled, with my
relationship with him in regardsto like
riverside_kenny_johnson_r (30:24):
Yeah.
Kenny (30:24):
You know, just the close, the closest we are.
Absolutely.
So, um, so anyway, if there anydads out there that are, you
know, feeling, feeling maybe thepull to pull back, pulled toward
the kids more.
Yeah.
Let this be a, a message oflike, yeah, do it, man.
You won't, you won't regret
Jonny (30:37):
it, man.
I'm telling you.
You won't regret it.
obviously it has to becalculated, right?
You have to think about, what isit that you can drop out of your
life?
And again, for some people itmight be a career change, it
might be, going all in on thatside hustle, that, that has
really grown.
And, and they've realized, look,I can, I can leave the nine to
five.
It's gonna be a little bit of aleap of faith.
'cause I know you even did that,with your, your career with
(30:59):
landscaping and everything likethat.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And, there comes a point whereit's like, I'm gonna go all in
on this, but the, the primarygoal is not so that I can make
millions of dollars, but it's,it's so that I can invest, my
skillset to, to yes, provide formy family, but I can get back
that time that I can thenreinvest into, my wife and kids
and the things that I'm morepassionate about.
Kenny (31:20):
So, yeah.
Yeah.
Love it, Johnny.
I wanted to see here.
just in regards to timeblocking.
Mm-hmm.
Um, first off, curious like whatare the hobbies right now?
'cause I feel like what'simportant, like the sort of, um,
fun and recreation hat.
Yeah.
You know, I would imagine duringthe like, hard times, that was
zero.
Zero.
Yeah.
So, um, so now that there's beensome, you know, removing some
(31:42):
things, you know, looking at thebalance of my life.
Um, what are some things youenjoy doing right now?
I mean, even with the kids?
Or without kids?
Yeah.
Well, I mean,
Jonny (31:49):
we love, especially, I mean, Greenville is such a, a
great community for hikingtrails.
Mm-hmm.
And, and those kinds of things.
honestly, something that someonekind of drilled into me a couple
of years ago too, is, justtaking your kids in the day to
day that you have to do.
Mm-hmm.
So, like, my kids enjoy.
we go to Home Depot or whateverand I've gotta get some things
(32:10):
or whatever, and they know thatdad's kind of a softie and I
might get'em a candy bar or wemight start stop at Starbucks on
the way home or, those kinds ofthings.
But we try to do that.
Even my wife does that, a reallygood job of that too, of, of
trying to, as we have to goabout the day to day of just
normal life of taking a kid withus in that.
Mm-hmm.
a, it gives them kind of thatone-on-one time with dad or mom.
(32:31):
and again, you have to do thosethings anyways.
Mm-hmm.
And so we, we do a lot of that,but we do a lot of, I mean,
again, Greenville's awesome.
We, we do a lot of, ministrytogether as a family.
our, my kids love serving indifferent capacities in church.
My, my teenager is on thewelcome team.
And so as people come in, she'sgreeting them and stuff like
that.
So, I mean, it's good to, again,just to have that kind of time.
(32:54):
For us, it's not that we didn'tspend time together.
Mm-hmm.
when I was so busy and sostressed and all that kind of
stuff, but it was like, now thetime is I feel like more
precious, more special becauseI.
I, I'm not taking a hike withthe kids, wondering what I'm
missing at work.
Mm-hmm.
Or, I get back to my phone andit's just blowing up with all
kinds of things that I have todo.
(33:15):
Or, kids have gone to bed andI'm still up at one or two or
three o'clock in the morningtrying to finish everything.
Just, and so again, it's justthe idea of we enjoy our life
together more, I would say, justbecause we're, we're all.
Have the energy to be on to doit right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's easy.
We love hiking, we love, welove, riding bikes, obviously
exploring this great city.
(33:35):
Yeah.
And, doing all the fun things.
Kenny (33:37):
and I make sure, one curiosity, another question, in
regards to like the pastor hat.
riverside_kenny_johnson (33:42):
Mm-hmm.
Kenny (33:42):
So those in the ministry.
this show, it is had differentpeople on with different walks
of faith.
I'm a Christian.
Sure.
We went to a Christian college,so, I, I feel very strong about,
how important my faith is to me.
Mm-hmm.
And there's a lot of give thathappens.
Yes.
especially if you're a, aleader.
Yeah.
Like Absolutely.
You're like the lead servant.
Like you are pouring out toother people.
(34:04):
Yeah.
So, maybe if you could gimmesome other victories or
struggles of, as a dad.
Leading in the church, some ofthe deacon meetings, I'm, I go
to, well they're at six o'clockat night and they're like, till
like nine.
It's like not the ideal likefamily time.
Exactly.
riverside_kenny_johnso (34:20):
Exactly.
But like, you
Kenny (34:20):
know, what else do you do it?
Yeah.
So, any, any wins or discoverieson that front of, leading the
household through the, like inministry as well?
Yeah,
Jonny (34:29):
absolutely.
one thing again.
I was kind of on the outside ofthose leadership circles in the
early days.
'cause again, I was, I was incharge of the youth group, but I
wasn't officially on pastoralstaff.
now that I have the last coupleof years been in those, I, first
of all, I want to tell peoplelike I.
I think there's a misperceptionabout what a pastor actually
(34:49):
does.
I know even growing up sometimesit was like, what?
Like you have to preach twosermons.
Like what a job.
and then, but the amount of goodpastors, good faith leaders, the
amount of time that they spendinvesting in other people is.
it's just shocking to me and I,I was not, I was not fully aware
(35:11):
of that until I started doing itmyself.
the lead pastor at our churchand the other pastors, the
deacons, others, just the amountof time and energy and effort
they pour into people each week.
not to mention, the amount oftime they pray for people and,
the, the amount of time theyspend studying God's word,
preparing, the differentministry and that kind of thing.
And so like for me, I, I wantedthat, but I, I don't think I was
(35:34):
fully ready for, some of thechallenges that brings, because
particularly in Christiancircles, I think are really good
at, like we talked about beforeof, we show up on a Sunday.
Hey, how are you man?
Oh, it's good.
How was your week?
Oh, it was good.
And really we're masking thestruggle of what was really
going on that week.
and so.
For me as a pastor, I've, I'vehad the opportunity now to kind
of have people pull that curtainback a little bit.
(35:56):
Mm-hmm.
And you realize that.
There is a lot of struggle thatpeople are going through, and
what I hope people willunderstand, especially those in
the Christian faith, is thatit's okay.
Mm-hmm.
It's okay.
We're all struggling.
Mm-hmm.
Like we're all on a journey andjust because I'm in a role of a
leader in, in pastoral ministry.
Doesn't mean like, like I'veshared today, it doesn't mean
(36:18):
that I have my own baggage andmy own, uh, struggles that I'm
going through even on a, on aweekly basis.
You know what?
My kid might not not sleptthrough the night last night
either, and that's okay.
We can come together and we can,we can encourage one another and
let's go get a cup of coffeetogether, and make it through
this.
But, as Christians, we need tobe better about just opening up
to each other and again, I, Icould share obviously story
(36:39):
after story and the ways God hasallowed my wife and I.
because of the lack of busynessin the evenings, now we've,
we've really tried to open ourhome more to people and, and
have more people over.
And again, we couldn't do thatbefore.
riverside_kenny_johnson (36:53):
Mm-hmm.
Jonny (36:53):
And so, mm-hmm.
Uh, the amount of conversationswe've been able to have through
that.
And I would say with that aswell, my wife has done a great
job more so than I have, inrecent years of just like
opening up her home for herfriend group to be around and
they come and they know there'stoys and clothes and the house
is not perfect.
Mm-hmm.
And pretty and everything likethat.
riverside_kenny_johnson (37:11):
Mm-hmm.
Jonny (37:11):
But the amount of times that my wife has just had people
over and, you know, I'll comehome from doing stuff and.
There's three ladies on my couchand they're all drinking coffee
together, or they're eating thesnacks in our fridge or
whatever, whatever, you know,and their kids are running
around.
That's great.
That's, that's life.
Yeah.
That's what we want.
And, uh, so to allow people to,to just, be in your life and
mm-hmm.
You can pour into each other andthose kinds of things.
(37:32):
It's, it's great to have thatkind of ministry,
Kenny (37:35):
Johnny.
I would, say, great job, man.
Appreciate it.
The successes you've shared havebeen encouraging to me.
and I love that you said, we'reall struggling.
Mm-hmm.
It's totally true.
the people I see at the gym and,these, uh, you know, I'm like, c
Christian, Kenny, it doesn'tcuss and all these things.
Yeah.
It's like, hey, like, I'm notperfect.
Exactly.
we, we need community.
(37:57):
Yeah.
Like we need each other.
Having people over with thehouse.
Messy.
Love that.
Yeah.
we struggle with that a littlebit in regards to like, just
push it all in the closet andjust shove it all in the closet.
Have that closet and don't openthat closet.
No, that's very good.
Thank you so much for sharingeverything today.
Johnny.
If people wanted to keep trackof what you were up to, you
mentioned a few things.
How would you direct them andkind of.
(38:17):
Are they get in touch with youor following your journey?
Jonny (38:18):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, probably LinkedIn is thebest for people particularly
that are watching this show orlistening to this show.
I'm pretty active on LinkedIn.
it's just Johnny, J-O-N-N-Y.
Gamut is game with a t.
Yes, it does sound like a swearword.
So that's, yeah, that's.
I could tell you story afterstory of that, of, of coaches
growing up at uh, uh, that gotyellow cards and technical
(38:38):
fouls.
'cause they would scream my lastname and the official thought
that, you know, he was gettingsweared at.
So
riverside_kenny_johnson_ (38:43):
that's great.
Jonny (38:43):
but anyway, Johnny Gamut, would love to, to connect
especially with those, of youthat, that I can be an
encouragement to, again, as adad, we're all, we're all
struggling through this togetheras a, as a professional, we're
trying to provide for ourfamilies and just do the best
that we can.
Kenny (38:56):
Johnny, thank you for joining us today.
Take care, buddy.
Alright, thank you.
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