Raising Warriors: Faith, Fitness, and the Fight for Our Youth

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Faithful Fitness Podcast for my Dad. Coach
Alex Van Houghton helps you get stronger and mind, body,
and spirit. He believes that your body is a temple,
so taking good care of it is an actual worship.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
I should know.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
I live with him every week. He brings truth from
the Bible, tool from science, and stories that will set
your heart on fire. May God bless you to become
everything He made you to be, just one percent better
every single day.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
What's up, guys, This is coach Alex van Houghton on
the Faithful Fitness Podcast. I'm super excited about my guests today.
I usually only have one guest, so now I have
two guests, which means double or even triple the fun.
Melanie and Nate. Good to see you guys. How are
y'all doing this morning?

Speaker 3 (00:47):
Hey, good morning, doing great? Thank you for having me
doing well?

Speaker 4 (00:52):
Thanks?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Awesome, awesome. I'm super excited about this conversation because we
are talking about some powerful things with regard to faith
and fitness. But we're also going to get into counseling
and healing. We're going to get into testimonies and a
very important event that I want to make sure everybody
checks out. If you don't want to listen to me
talk for the next hour, then you just need to
jump into the show notes and get your ticket to

(01:14):
the Warrior Course. That's what we're going to be talking
about today, the Warrior Course. So we've got Melanie turn Hour,
we have Nate Remily, and you guys. Thank you so
much by the way for being here, because the conversation
we're going to have today is about our youth, and
it's about the next generation of individuals that God put

(01:36):
on this earth. As I pray over them, I think Lord,
teach them to be the young men and women that
you created them to be. And they have a lot
of obstacles and a lot of challenges to face that
we're going to be talking about today. So I just
want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank
you for being willing to hop on here today and
talk about some really important topics that affect our youth.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Absolutely kind of an honor. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
So Melanie, I actually want to start with you. You
are the founder of the Power in Me nonprofit that
puts on the Warrior Course that I just mentioned. I
had the opportunity and the privilege and honor last year
to be a speaker there. I got to run with
the kids and do all the obstacles. I got to
tell you, it's like a faith based, tough mutter. Like
everything that was cool about obstacle course races I've done

(02:24):
in the past was cool here, but also even better
because it was all centered around Christ, and not only
centered around Christ, but also accessible to children ages ten
and up, and if they're accompanied by an adult, even younger.
So I just it's such a cool event. It's such
a cool event. I got to ask Melanie, what brought

(02:46):
you to the place in your journey where you're orchestrating
an obstacle course race, Because that's not what you do
for a living. Can you tell us a little bit
about who you are and how you came to be
to build this thing and put it together?

Speaker 5 (03:02):
Absolutely well, I'm a lover of Christ, and I'm a wife,
I'm a mom, I'm a homesteader, and I also love
to play music and I do that for my congregation.
But that's a little bit about briefly who I am.
But many years ago, I did grow up in the church,
and then I went off to college and was pursuing

(03:24):
that made some really unfortunate decisions.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
Those decisions made life a whole lot.

Speaker 5 (03:29):
Harder, and I went through a period of a long
term depression, came out of that, went through some refining
and had to navigate, you know, the.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
Results of those decisions.

Speaker 5 (03:42):
I was struggling with the kingdom, being a part of
the Kingdom and listening to the culture and listening to
the lies of the culture, and that, you know, that
put me in a pickle of a spot because I, again,
I didn't make the right choices and I wasn't putting
myself in the right positions. But God was there the
whole time, and through that journey, just growing in Christ.

(04:04):
Eventually things got better, but they weren't healed.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
And so my husband said to me, Hey, why.

Speaker 5 (04:10):
Don't you start this nonprofit called the Power in Me Conference?
And it was geared towards giving young ladies the proper
view on true empowerment, true power and all based in Christ.
And then as that morphed along and came along and
God inspired us and gave us a season after season there,

(04:32):
we realized that we needed something for young men. And
that was when the idea about the Warrior Course came about.
Because We really believe that an Obstacle course is as
as a mirror image of what life is like. It
can be hard, it can be messy, We're gonna have
to flex our muscles, our spiritual muscles from time to time.
And we just really thought that that was a great

(04:52):
platform for Christians because we looked around us and that
has really something something that has hit and impacted our
our minds is that, hey, we can do more things
in christ with a christ and faith based theme here locally.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
And around us. So we said, why not do this?

Speaker 5 (05:09):
So we did that for the gentlemen in twenty nineteen,
and then the ladies and being you know, very active
ladies that we have these days in our society right
which it's ladies have always been hard workers and such,
you know, proverbs start to win, women have it all
together kind of things sort of, and they wanted to
be a part of it too, so we added them
in twenty twenty one, and then that just continued on.

(05:33):
This is our sixth year that we're going to be
doing what you're going to be talking about a little
later at the Warrior Course, and people, we encourage people
to come alongside each other and to help each other
and there it is not a race per se, a
timed race. It is something that we want people to
finish and to come alongside each other and help each other.
So hopefully that was brief enough. We can dig into

(05:53):
this a little deeper. If there's something I touched and missed,
please feel free to ask me.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
No, that's awesome, that's awesome, and so correct me if
I'm wrong. But but the the painful road you walked
from some of the mistakes that you made, that that
you felt God pulling you back to him from, that
was the foundation, it sounds like for something powerful and

(06:17):
good for for other individuals. And if I'm right about that, that, Nate,
how often do you see that in counseling, that that
the painful road that you walk, whether it's the choices
you've made or choices of other people around you affecting you,
that that God can use that in a powerful way
for his kingdom and also also for for your own

(06:38):
healing too. How how often do you see that in
your line of work?

Speaker 4 (06:42):
Well? I see that all the time.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
You know.

Speaker 6 (06:45):
It's uh, you know, I think of the scripture where
it talks about where what what Satan meant? For for evil,
you know God, and God turns forth for our good
and for the good of those around us. And and
that's what's I guess that's what's so exciting about everybody's
personal journey is that we all have we all have
a story like Melanie just shared there where there are

(07:07):
some ups and downs, and it's you know, none of
us enjoyed going through the hard times, but it's through
those times where we grow, we come out the other
side stronger. I was just talking just this last weekend
with ours, with my steenty school class about, you know,
the the examples that I've looked to in my life
of people that have have traversed some very difficult life circumstances,

(07:32):
sometimes of their own doing, from their own bad choices,
sometimes just lived in a fallen world with the with
the you know, with the sickness and things around us,
and and being encouraged by you know, how they have
been resilient and and leaned on God. And so it's
I think sometimes we lose that perspective, you know, when

(07:52):
we're hurting, we we tend to focus inward, and that's
a natural response and we need to to some degree,
but we also you know, just like Melie's story has
shown she's used that and it blesses a lot of
others through our pain. You know, God wants to use
that in some mighty ways. So see it quite often.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
It's exciting from a biblical perspective to two examples come
to mind. I think of Joseph right, the Code of
Many Colors. Right, brothers throw them in a well and
then sell them as a slave. They're pretty jealous of him,
and so and so he never he never separates from
from God's will for his life. He maintains the faith,

(08:31):
He avoids Potiphar's wife, he gets thrown in jail, but
he's still you know, interpreting dreams and whatnot. And so
he actually says to his brothers when he finally gets
to make peace, what you intended for evil, God intended
for good for me. So that's an example of the
external forces that can affect us negatively, but but that
God can make good things come out of. But also

(08:54):
there's there's the example in my mind and heart of
somebody who made the wrong choice knowingly, Jonah, and and
he's actively running from God, like he's like, you want
me to go wear it? No, I'm good. Thanks, I'm
going to go exactly in the opposite direction. And you
know he has to pay a price for that. He
hangs out in the belly of a whale. Jonah chapter

(09:15):
two is one of the most I think one of
the most heart wrenching prayers for repentance is like, look, hey,
if I have to die for what I've done, bring
it on. But if you give me another chance, I
will turn towards you. I will do this the right way.
And so the fish spits him out, and then God
repeats his request, go to nineve yes, sir, and so

(09:38):
Jonah goes. And in both cases, both cases, whether it's
the external things affecting somebody negatively or the choices that
we make bringing us down a road that God never
intended for us, then God can make good out of
both of those things. And Melanie, I want to ask
you why, kids, because it sounds to me, and correct

(10:01):
me if I'm wrong, but it sounds to me a
big part of your healing journey didn't happen until later
in life, until after some of the choices that you
made as a youth. Why why center your your your
What am I trying to say, your obstacle course race.
Why center your your nonprofit organization, why center that on

(10:23):
youth ministry specifically?

Speaker 3 (10:26):
Sure?

Speaker 5 (10:26):
Absolutely, well, because when I was young, my my story
is is that I was ostracized as a child from
where I was in life going to school, et cetera,
and growing up and I lived. I lived on a farm,
and so you don't have a lot of friends, and
then when you go to school, you're looking to make

(10:46):
those connections, et cetera, but they just weren't there. And
so that's that's just a reality for my for my story,
which is maybe not everybody's story.

Speaker 3 (10:56):
But it's a lot of people's story.

Speaker 5 (10:59):
And so connecting with youth early on to show them
the hope of Jesus Christ and his love and that
salvation and getting that power inside them via the Holy
Spirit the Gospel message, then maybe we can save more
who are going down a path of self harm and
ultimate terminal self harm and trying to help them avoid

(11:24):
that and help them to not look in the wrong places.
Show that there are Christian outlets for things. There's Christian music,
there's more Christian centered news or faith based where you
can get news and articles about the culture going on
around you, or what is the situation, getting information to them,
godly resources and godly tools. Example, our connection and our

(11:48):
partnership with Nathan Rimiley and two other counselors in our area,
and so getting in with the youth first, because a
lot of times they aren't aware or don't have acts
says to the proper information and the proper tools. And
so we are looking to save lives and to help
change lives through the power of Jesus Christ. And we

(12:10):
believe in doing that as young as we can because
those are experiences that the Lord brought me through. And
so I'm just that's the basis upon which I have
built my inspiration MMM.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
And so I think of this as a dad. This
is the U I have two sons of a six
year old and a ten year old, and I often
will say to them, son, you can either learn this
the easy way or the hard way. Yes, And by
the hard way, I don't mean I'm going to take
him up back and whip him at the woodshed. I
mean I mean that if you learn this lesson now,
if you embody this lesson, whatever it is, it could

(12:45):
be setting aside money from what you've from what you've
earned to save it and tie it if you can
learn to live on less as opposed to spending everything
you make. If you learn this lesson now, it won't
be so painful in the future when you have to
learn this lesson the hard way. Right, I'll say things
like that to my sons all the time, but there's

(13:07):
deep truth to that. Right In the Old Testament Deuteronomy
and Exodus, the Lord says to the Israelites via Moses,
teach your children about all of the things that God
has done, so that they will follow my laws, so
that they will walk in the way that I've intended
you Israelites to walk in, Because if you don't, it's

(13:29):
going to be a painful road. It's going to be
a bad things are going to happen that you don't
want to happen. That actually happen all throughout the Old Testament,
which really stinks for the Israelites. But there's this really
heartbreaking verse in Judges, and I wanted to talk to
you about this, Nate. Is this heartbreaking verse and it
says in Judges chapter two, it says, in another generation

(13:50):
arose that did not know of the goodness of God,
or another translation says that did not know of the
good works of the Lord, Right. And I imagine as
a counselor, this is a this is a pain point
for you. And I want to talk about this because
in counseling, have you have elements of counseling that are preventative,

(14:12):
like I want to I want to work with this
person to help them before this thing becomes a bigger
problem in their life. Right. And then you have things
that you work with as a counselor that's like the
damage has already been done and we're trying to we're
trying to well not undo it, but to heal and
learn and grow so that this damage that's been done

(14:32):
doesn't follow you for the rest of your life. Right.
And so I wandered from your your counselor's perspective, and
maybe even from the perspective of the father when when
you are in support of something like the Power of
Me conference or the Warrior Course, what is your heart
toward working with the youth before certain things become a

(14:56):
problem for them later in life.

Speaker 6 (15:00):
Yes, no, that's a great question. And I I think, uh,
the Power of Me focus is just right. It's at
the perfect age, you know, because there's nothing more sad
to me than to be sitting across from someone in
their seventies.

Speaker 4 (15:18):
And it's been interesting the last couple of years.

Speaker 6 (15:20):
I've seen a lot of the may More senior generation
uh in office, which is which is great that they're
feeling more open to do that.

Speaker 4 (15:30):
But uh and this and this is in all their stories.

Speaker 6 (15:33):
But sometimes there's are often actually there's that story of
of what you're talking about of they have there's these regrets,
you know, and and a lot of my work there
is is trying to get get through that and realize, hey,
you know, you're still breathing. God has purpose for you.
There is still a future for you as well. But

(15:54):
but my heart aches for them at times because so
much life has been lived and there's so many mistakes,
and there's the generation that has you know, that that
that's come through there that that they maybe haven't shared
like they would have hoped at this point and where
they're at now and so uh so, yeah, I think
that you know, if if we can if we can

(16:17):
catch these youth at at a younger age. And what's
fascinating to me as a counselor is that I lived
in Springfield for for a while, and I worked a
lot with inner city youth and kids there, and and
there are times that I would see a kid that
was just that was way above where they should be
given their living condition. Right, I'm meeting with the usually

(16:39):
a single single mom typically and and maybe she's pulled
lots of different directions, has a lot, way too much
on her plate, and and and things are chaotic. And
then I meet this kid and they're just you know,
they're honestly seem more mature than the than the parent.
And almost every time I would say I would, I would,
I have to say every time, there is one person

(16:59):
somewhere that has invested in that child in some way.
There's there's a couple, there's you know, someone has has
taken time to uh, you know, to pour into them
and typically with the gospel message, helping them understand who
they are in Christ.

Speaker 4 (17:14):
Uh And and so you know that's what's exciting.

Speaker 6 (17:17):
Sometimes we can get that attitude that you know, hey,
this is just a maybe we say we can invent
we can event you know, how how powerful can this be?
Or you know, it's it's this you know, I'm just
one person, but you know, I want to encourage those
listening that you know, if if God places something on
your heart, places a kid on your heart, a team
on your heart, don't ignore that. It's amazing what God

(17:40):
can do with one person that's that's devoted to to
share Christ with with kids.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
Thank you, Thank you for that. I was that kid.
I was that kid. One of the reasons I have
such a heart for what you guys are doing is
is I grew up in a single parent home with
three younger siblings. And and there was a guy who
ran a kickboxing school across the street. And he saw
his school as a ministry. And I know you like

(18:06):
kickboxing and Jesus don't seem to mix. We used to
joke that we beat the hades out of you, that's
how we made you hold it wah wah. But but
the we didn't We couldn't afford this. We couldn't go
across the street and pay for kickboxing lessons. But he
had a big heart for for kids who are growing
up in broken homes. And so he told my mom

(18:27):
send him over, like he doesn't have to pay. Send
him over. Is often he's willing to come work out,
let's do it. And so so that was a huge part.
Excuse me, it was a huge part of my story
was to be introduced to Christ in with a with
a group of guys who loved me, who were willing
to let me beat on them. You know, I didn't
have a father figure in the homes, so so I

(18:49):
was connected to them and they you might ask, how
how do you make kickboxing a Christian thing? We would
stop in the middle of the workout and there was
a verse, and he would teach the verse and take
prayer requests and and there were so many people who
came to know Christ out of this kickboxing school that
it might as well have been a church. It wasn't,
but it might as well have been, right, And I'm

(19:12):
one of them. And I know when I came to
the the event last year, to the Warrior Course, I
know that many of the individuals who came, parents, children,
et cetera. I know that that many of them wouldn't
feel confident connected or or even ministered to in a

(19:32):
traditional church setting. It's it's an event. I'm going to
come to this event, and I'm gonna I'm going to
run the course and and whatnot, and and the way
the way it's a Christian Obstacle Course race is there's
a well, actually, Melanie, I'd like you to tell us
more about that, because because the way that you guys
have iterated this over the past few years is obvious

(19:53):
that it gets better every year, and and to me
getting to participate in that, getting to be a speaker
in that, and then getting to go with the kids
through the course, that it was very obvious to me
that this was Christ centered in a lot of ways
that the kids might not have noticed, but it was
obvious that Christ was apart sure, not just a part

(20:16):
of this thing, but in the middle of it. Can
you talk through that with me?

Speaker 3 (20:19):
Absolutely?

Speaker 5 (20:20):
So we do the course. The guys run separately from
the girls. They run in two different segments, and real briefly.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
And why do we do that.

Speaker 5 (20:27):
There's specific reasons that we can get into a little
bit later. But then when they go through the course,
at every station, there's a Bible verse.

Speaker 3 (20:34):
One Bible verse.

Speaker 5 (20:34):
It's the same one throughout the entire course, but we
put it on a board and it's there and they
are to look at it, read it, and say it
at each station. And then once they get to their
last station, which is approximately the twenty second twenty second station.
We have about twenty two and then once they go
to that last station, they have to recite it from

(20:56):
memory and then go through and if they don't recite
it from memory, they have to go through that last
obstacle station again. And the last one is technically the hardest.
And it's a very chilling experience. That's all I'll say,
unless you want to spoil the spill the beans later,
but it's a very chilling, Okay, it's a very chilling experience.

(21:16):
So yes, we want people to walk away with something permanent,
and we believe that writing the scriptures of the Lord
on your heart is the best way to walk through life,
and so that's how we center that. Plus we have
a speaker, which is why we're connected today. We were
connected to you through a gentleman who is on our
team and serves on our team and said, hey, have

(21:37):
you heard about coach Alex vn Houghten And we were like,
I haven't, but I want to research teams. So we
ended up connecting with you. We asked for a faith
based message. You gave that connected to real life, real
time in a godly way, with God's design and God's perspective,
and because we believe that we have gotten so far
away from remembering that everything is God's. Everything is about God,

(22:01):
and we are his and we are here to glorify
Him with what we have in everything and to touch
on something that you said a little bit earlier. And
our organization is about sharing truth John eight thirty two.
Then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall
set you free. The truth shall set your truth. Knowing
it will set you free. And we want to see

(22:23):
these youth and potentially their parents, their chaperones, whomever it
comes with them, see them set free to And I
just believe from my own personal testimony that I have
been set free and it has actually been through the
journey of producing and putting on this nonprofit and this
event that I myself have continued to be set free

(22:45):
just in the things and the people that I have
come in contact with. What God meant for me to do,
He also meant for me to experience and to continue
to heal through.

Speaker 7 (22:54):
So do you have anything to add to that, Nate, Well,
I my mind, I'm a I'm a man, you know,
so I think in one, one box at a time.

Speaker 6 (23:05):
Right, But Melanie, you said, you mentioned the verse John
eight thirty two, and and I actually have those on
all my business. That's kind of my my my verse
for my counsel, which I I hadn't I didn't make that,
hadn't made that connection yet, which is really really neat, right.

Speaker 4 (23:19):
But I think that's absolutely absolutely the case.

Speaker 6 (23:23):
You know, when we know the truth you know, which
which is Christ, but also begin to learn and know
the truth of of of who we are uh in Christ,
who we are, who God's greatest to be it that's
that's a powerful thing. That's that's so foundational for these kids.
And I you know, I, I uh, this this course,
I think.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
It all.

Speaker 4 (23:44):
It feels good, you know, Alex.

Speaker 6 (23:46):
I can tell you that you know, you're a you're
a great man, strong, buff all those things you know,
and and that that would feel good to you, right,
I mean it's nice, good compliments. Uh, But it's not
until you actually do things. It's not until you actually
out there doing it that you really that you really
take it in and believe it for yourself. You No, yes,
we can believe those messages, but it's doing it's the

(24:08):
experience of doing it.

Speaker 4 (24:09):
And that's why I love.

Speaker 6 (24:13):
I had two girls that my youngest two went through
the course last year and we had some cousins come
with them, and and uh, I've got this picture actually
a little video of them right after the course. They're
all in a little huddle and they're kind of just
bouncing together and you know, and shaking each other and
and uh, you know, they were just you could just
see the confidence level rise in them, you know, as

(24:35):
they had accomplished this this thing and and with with
the biblical truth as a foundation.

Speaker 4 (24:40):
And yeah, I think that's it's it's a great thing.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
Well this guys, you Melanie, just hats off to you
and in the community. I want to talk a bit
about how how this thing comes together in a moment.
But but this is a this is a world class
obstacle course that you guys have put together. I'm saying
that you don't you don't market that, but I'm saying
it because I've experienced obstacle course races that I've paid

(25:05):
money for and flown, you know, across the country to
be a part of and ran clients through them and
train them for it and whatnot. What you guys have
put together is is very unique. It's very unique for
children to have the opportunity to go through something like this,
to face heights and to face water, and to face

(25:28):
zip lines, and to like like it's real. It's real
experiences that they will not forget. And I you know,
it's it's something that it's not so what's the word.
It's not so advanced that they can't do it and
they have, you know, there's not like the ridiculous pressure
that you you know, you have to do it whether
you like it or not. There's not like you guys

(25:50):
just strike a really good spirit for kids that that
you know a lot of their friends are doing it.
They've got coaches at every obstacle to kind of to
coax you through that and keep it safe, but also
also to encourage, you know. I remember the very first
the very first thing, we got right into the water,
the very first thing in the tough mutter. That's what
they do to you, by the way. The very first

(26:11):
obstacle is like, I know you were you weren't going
to get wet and muddy, but you're gonna get wet
and undy very first thing, and then run this whole
thing wet and muddy, and so I remember there was
a there's a little boy. I don't remember his name,
but I remember his face because he was super excited
about this until he got to the water's edge and
was like, I'm not gonna make this one. I'm not

(26:33):
gonna be okay. And I had just finished speaking to
him and say, hey, man, I'll do this with you,
like it's gonna be cold to me too, I'll make
sure you don't drown, like, let's do this thing. And
and what was crazy is is for me, that's the
spirit of the Father. The spirit of the Father is
encouraging through love. The spirit of Father is disciplined, because

(26:54):
we can't grow unless we're disciplined. The spirit of the
Father looks at you and says, I know what you're
capable of, and I'm not gonna I'm not going to
let you do less than that.

Speaker 3 (27:03):
Amen.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
And so so like he went through this, and then
he seems so confident after that. He was he was
ready to do all this stuff. But I remember thinking, like,
we're less than three minutes into this, this obstacle course,
and this is what it's about. This is the opportunity
for young men and young women to address something very physical,

(27:27):
very very real, and in your face not on the iPad,
and no offense to pastors, not from the pole pit,
to see this actually come alive and embody it, and Nate,
I wanted to ask you for me in my journey
obviously from a physical fitness perspective, movement and exercise and

(27:48):
embodiment of the Word of God. I even I wrote
a devotional about it. It's coming out very soon called
Faithful Fitness Forty Days of Stewardship for the Christian Mind
and Body. I know that there's something here about the
experience of embodying God's word, his truth, but also how

(28:12):
He made us to be. Can you talk a little
bit about what you think is the connection in your
counseling practice between movement which doesn't seem connected at all,
and and that that like inner strength or healing that occurs.
What how does how did those two things play together
in your mind? If at all?

Speaker 4 (28:34):
Well, they absolutely are connected.

Speaker 6 (28:36):
I don't know that I know all the ins and
outs of of of why they work and how it works,
but I will say, and you know, study after study
will confirm this. I mean that you know there's there's
not a there's really a mental health struggle that I
that I see that isn't helped by getting out and
doing some exercise or you know, and you know, it's

(29:00):
it's relative, right, It's relative to where you're at, who
you are, you know, your makeup, and what exercise looks
like for you. But but I absolutely believe that, uh,
you know, there's something special about seeing someone that's I
think we all can see it when when someone's doing
what they're created to do, there's just a there's a
there's a glow there, there's there's just it's.

Speaker 4 (29:22):
Just working right.

Speaker 6 (29:23):
And so when it and I agree one hundred percent,
I mean, we are created to be to be active,
you know, that's when we're we're so connected that the
more healthy that we are physically, you know, I find that,
you know, we're healthier, we're in a much better mental state.

Speaker 4 (29:43):
Emotionally, we're much better. We've got, you know, a much
wider bandwidth. We're much more resilient. That's something else I'd
like to talk about as the resilience.

Speaker 6 (29:52):
We don't have to get to it right now, but
I think that's an important that's that's something that we're
I feel like we're.

Speaker 4 (29:57):
Losing a little bit as a culture in America is.

Speaker 6 (30:01):
That is that resilience of being able to Obviously I'm
a counselor. I want to be open to as many
people as I can. But I think sometimes you know,
it's it's I like to see it where people didn't fight.
Everyone doesn't have to have a counselor. You know what
I'm saying. You know, I mean, I want to be available.
I don't want there to be a stigma there. But

(30:22):
I also want to build, you know, help build you know,
resiliency into youth to where they can to where they're networking.

Speaker 4 (30:30):
With with others and and you know.

Speaker 6 (30:32):
Uh and being able to be leaders themselves. You know,
I was talking about this to a GEST group last
night of you know, you guys, you know, there's a
lot of potential maturity in this room, and you guys
are leaders, whether you realize they or not, you know,
and so so yeah, I don't know if I answer
that that too thoroughly, but yeah, exercise, I think is

(30:54):
a vital and the discipline it takes, I think that's
the other thing that I see really lacking. Uh And
and hey, I'll be the first to say there's times
I'm not as disciplined as I need.

Speaker 4 (31:05):
To be but discipline. You know, show me someone.

Speaker 6 (31:09):
With an addition struggle and across the board, and I'll
typically show you someone that lacks discipline in other areas
as well.

Speaker 4 (31:19):
It's not as simple as that.

Speaker 6 (31:20):
I don't want to oversimplify or minimize you know, pain
and struggles and the things that someone's going through. But
discipline is a huge key element to us being able
to really.

Speaker 4 (31:32):
Either stay on track or get on track. And you
know what God's intended for us.

Speaker 5 (31:36):
And I think that that is Could I speak to that, Alex,
just real quick. It is about discipline. Self discipline is
a major factor in how quickly we recover or how
slowly we recover. Our theme verse for the organization is
two Timothy one seven. For I have not given you
a spirit of fear intimidity, but a spirit of power

(31:58):
and of love and of self control. And circling back
to original conversation about the faith is that that is
what we're trying to get these youth to see, is
that we are not victims. We are victors, and we
can be victors when we have the spirit.

Speaker 3 (32:13):
How do we have the power.

Speaker 5 (32:14):
We get the Holy Spirit through God's salvation and his
gospel message, you know, repent, confess, believe, be baptized, receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit, be sealed into salvation,
and then know the course itself again is the mirror image,
because this walk is not going to be all a
bed of roses.

Speaker 3 (32:32):
It's going to be ugly and it's going to be hard.
But we were all given into what.

Speaker 5 (32:37):
You were saying earlier, Coach Alex is that everybody who
comes there are modifications for the course, because we believe
again it's a mirror image of life.

Speaker 3 (32:46):
Not everybody is the head, not everybody is the.

Speaker 5 (32:48):
Feet, and so we are all going to get through
the course of life in different paces and in different ways,
and so we don't.

Speaker 3 (32:55):
Expect everybody to complete every obstacle the same.

Speaker 5 (33:01):
And then also getting back to the most direct question
you were just asking, Nathan, was that there's a verse
that also says to make it your ambition to lead
a quiet life and to work with your hands and
mind your own business, mind your own business, and work
with your hands.

Speaker 3 (33:17):
And that's what it says.

Speaker 5 (33:19):
That's not that's a cheery picking of that sort of
he doesn't mean to just state, you know, right here
and don't pay attention.

Speaker 3 (33:25):
To anything else going around you. That's I don't believe that's.

Speaker 5 (33:28):
What the context of the Scripture is saying. He's saying that,
you know, work, be active, do do things, and so
and also the.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
Temple of God. Our bodies are the temple of God.
How do we keep them in shape?

Speaker 5 (33:41):
Well, we can clearly see through you know, years of
observation that sitting still does not do anything for us,
and so stay active. I believe we can look towards
Scripture on that because God references movement a lot. You know,
running the race. A runner runs the race.

Speaker 3 (33:57):
And you know, so.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
You're you're as you guys were speaking, I was thinking
through some of the some of the things that we
talk through in the devotional, and you, guys, this will
be familiar to you because I spoke about it last year,
unless you weren't listening, in which case turn your listening
ears on. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I I
hear when when Nate talks about resilience in the devotion,

(34:21):
we call that grit. We call it the discipline of grit.
And the world's version is, if at first you don't succeed,
try and try again, right but but we have a
we have a Christian version of that, and and you
can see several pieces of that throughout scripture. But but
one of the verses that comes to mind is is
in Galatians where Paul admonishes the church, let us not
grow weary of doing good works. In the end, we

(34:45):
will read the harvest if we do not give up.
And there's this, there's this deep idea, and Christ echoes this. Well,
Christ is the progenitor of this. So I guess it's
Paul echoing Christ. But but when when he says, no,
man who puts his hands to the plow and turns
a away from it is fit for the kingdom of heaven.
And this idea that that there has to be some

(35:06):
resilience within the Christian walk, because like you said, Melie,
it's not going to be easy, right, it's not going
to be a primrose path. You're you are going to
face trials, says James, Like you will. You will face
these things. And but if you have some grit, if
you have resilience, which is in my experience born, it
has to be embodied. You know, you can't like you know,

(35:28):
I didn't give up, how I kept thinking through the problem.
It doesn't happen that way. I didn't give up when
my legs started to burn. I didn't give up when
my fingers didn't want to hold on anymore. I didn't
give up when I was afraid. I didn't give up
when I wasn't sure I could do this right. Grit.

(35:48):
Grit is a discipline that you use the word resilience
name I like the word grit. Either way, it's the
same idea. It's it's the discipline of saying, no matter what,
I'm going to keep putting one foot in front of you,
no matter what, I'm going to hold on, no matter what,
I'm going to give this my best effort, regardless of

(36:08):
how I feel about this thing. And then the other
thing you guys were talking about, and this is like
the discipline self control. We talk about that from the
perspective of integrity, not necessarily the value of doing the
same thing no matter who's watching or always telling the truth,
but integrity coming from the word integer, meaning a whole

(36:31):
part put together right. Discipline self control. Discipline is the
process of taking all of me, all of my weird,
all of my weird wants and things that I think
I need and bringing them all under one umbrella and
an r in the Gospel that is in the service
of Christ. So when I think of the body, I'm like,

(36:55):
what am I going to do with my body today? Well?
Better be in service to God's kingdom. And if it's not,
I need to ask some serious questions about how I'm
going to spend my time and energy today. And so
that all comes under this, this umbrella of integrity. And
I talked last year, and I intend to talk this
year about the other two growth in AWE. But if

(37:16):
you want to hear those, I guess you'll just have
to be there.

Speaker 5 (37:19):
So we kept covering your acronym last year, and it's
coming up a little bit short for me now, but
I remember, like for the first two to three weeks
after the course, I was quizzing my daughter about the
acronym that you taught.

Speaker 2 (37:31):
So, yeah, yeah, Giga Giga grit integrity growth in AWE.
That's the and I don't know, I don't know why
it spells giga. That just makes it easy to remember.
But I do want to speak about the course specifically
as we're coming up toward the end of our conversation here,

(37:51):
I want to speak about the course specifically, so if
individuals are listening, they're like, hey, okay, I want to
be there. I am bringing my family and the individuals
from our ministry up from Greenboro, Arkansas. It's going to
be like a six or seven hour drive. Where is
this thing? When is this thing? How much do it costs?

(38:12):
How do people get involved? We'll have links and stuff
in the show notes, but I want to allow you
to talk through that with us. Is what is the
Warrior Course and how do people get involved in it?

Speaker 5 (38:25):
Sure, So on Saturday, September the sixth, it's going to
take place. You can show up ten am. It is
our registration time. We're starting a little bit later so
that people from the big cities, so Saint Louis, Kansas City,
Saint Joe from those regions can drive in and get
in and don't have to get up so extremely early,

(38:45):
and we're looking forward to that power inmeconference dot Com
is where all of the information is located as an
umbrella statement. We are also on Facebook and Instagram with
those details. Then we have you can get your tickets
at it tickets dot com and all of the specific
pricing is there and due to new pricing awarenesses. I

(39:09):
guess you could say all of the everything is listed
up front and so just so that you're aware of that.
And a minute ago you were talking about how someone
invited you into the club across the street. Well, with
powermeew conference and Warrior Course, we do have free ticket scholarships.
You can get those for free on I tickets dot

(39:29):
com as well. There is a selection for that, and
so it's very important to us because we are in
ministry that there is no roadblock to people getting here.
So course modifications and free ticket scholarships, and then you're
welcome to call or email. All of that contact information

(39:50):
again is on those three social media platforms. And then
it's located at Bavir, Missouri, which is about two.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
Hours and forty five minutes. It's maybe from Kansas City
and Saint Louis.

Speaker 5 (40:02):
If you do like an average, it can be depending
on how fast you drive. It depends major highway all
the way highway. We sit on Highway thirty six and
then it's just four point one miles north of Highway
thirty six. Highway thirty six intersects with Highway sixty three
in north central Missouri. We are thirty minutes south of
Truman State University, and we are an hour north of

(40:24):
the University of Missouri Missoo Tigers, and so that's kind
of where we're at. The course itself is actually sits
right off of a state paved highway, so it's not
going to be hard to get there. Actually, it's very
easy to traverse. You can you can even bring a
small bus if you want to. We can maneuver you.

(40:44):
It's great. This event sets on at least fifteen acres
and the course is about a mile and a half long.
We've increased the length of the course this year. And
then we also have some really cool a really cool
upgrade and addition and to the we have lengthened our
zip line that is already in progress, and so that's

(41:05):
gonna be cool too. And again, yeah, so to give
people an idea on pricing, it's like twenty five dollars
or less to be here.

Speaker 3 (41:13):
Okay, so what does that get you?

Speaker 5 (41:14):
That gets you if you go ahead and get a
ticket reserved, that's gonna get you a confirmed goodie bag
with some really cool things in it. Plus if you
finish the course, if you're a participant and you finish
the course, I'm gonna go ahead and break the news.
Now you're gonna get a really cool forty ounce stainless
steel tumbler engraved with the Warrior course and finisher on
it and the year. That's gonna be awesome. I think

(41:36):
it was something we settled on to try to keep it.
You know, you hang a medal on the wall, right,
we wanted something you could also use.

Speaker 3 (41:43):
It was very valuable to you.

Speaker 5 (41:44):
So we wanted the kids to be able to have
something to take to school and cele That's exactly right.
Stay hydrated, and a big shout out to Redmond Real
Salt and Redmond Relight. They are sponsoring some door prices
this year for us and all so they are an
official There are official hydration drink of electrolytes for the course.

(42:05):
And so everybody gets a packet in their goodie bag
of Redmond Relight and then some other things in that
packet as in that goodie bag as well, and okay,
what else is in the ticket? A meal, a catered meal,
a delicious, nutritious, pretty pretty naturally based meal, and refreshments to.

Speaker 3 (42:26):
Go along with that.

Speaker 5 (42:27):
We also provide light breakfast items, healthy breakfast items, fruit,
you know things. We also make sure that we pay
attention to allergy sensitive items for people let us know.
But typically we try to cover every a lot of
allergy sensitive situations in advance, so there should be something
there for you that you can have if you have
that situation going on. And again that's something you know,

(42:50):
you coach Alex know that we kind of touch on
inside of the Warrior courses. We talk about health and
wellness for men and women in those little segments. But yeah,
all of those are include in the ticket price. And
if you are coming and you need a meal, you
just purchase you just purchase a meal ticket for that day.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
And so I think I did want to clarify something.
So so on the site it says that that the
kids are ten and up. Here's the ticket for kids
ten and up, and that is specifically for kids running
the race without their guardian or parent, right, correct. So
so I'm going to go through this with my six
year old, and I'm saying that out loud because well,

(43:31):
one of the reasons I didn't bring my children last
year is you're like, yeah, you know, ten and up
and my youngest was or my old excuse me was
nine at the time, and I thought, okay, well, you know,
I don't want to break any rules. But after going
through the course, as long as your parents there with you,
like I mean, you could go, you could go a
very young age like this is a great So this
is the kind of stuff that I would bring my
boys to and do you know, one at a time

(43:53):
in my backyard. But but it was. It was such
a good experience, such well put together course that I
can't wait to bring both of my boys through it.

Speaker 5 (44:00):
Those are extremely kind words. Were just blown away whenever
you said that. Our team is just blown away by
your feedback, and we're just all glory to God because
it's been an incredibly interesting journey to what we're doing.

Speaker 3 (44:15):
And so that it's beautiful.

Speaker 5 (44:17):
It's honey to the soul to hear good news about
something that's kind of you know, life is hard often
and so it's honey to the soul to hear good feedback.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
Well, I want to talk about that a little bit,
and Nate, I like your thoughts on this too. So
anytime I've done anything in the world for the glory
of God, there's usually a roadblock or twenty seven all
the reasons why not to do this thing right? And
you know, from a Christian perspective, we understand that our

(44:47):
battles not against flesh and blood, like we're going to
come up against things that the enemy puts in our
path in order to keep us from doing good things
that are going to make Christ manifest in the world
that's spread his love and his goodness. There there is
a lot of things that have likely come against what
you're doing. And rather than list these out, I'd actually

(45:08):
like to look at the ways that God has helped
your your organization, and your community overcome this one thing.
One thing that keeps obstacle course racist from being a
thing everywhere is a space to do it. That looks
like God provided an amazing space for you guys. That's
that's what we're talking about. Another reason that this is

(45:30):
a thing is is it requires a lot of people.
You know, when I went to the Tough Mutter, they
had they had a very well paid, very large staff
to make all this stuff happen over you know, a
span of time, whether it's people checking people in, whether
it's people monitoring obstacles, whether it's people running extra bags
of ice. You know, like whatever, there was a large

(45:52):
amount of people there to do it, and so that
makes it more expensive. The larger the staff required, the
more expensive things get. And as you can imagine, also
the upkeep upkeep of obstacles like the materials. The zip
line you were talking about, that doesn't just put itself up,
you know, like people have to people have to ratchet
that in and test it. The Lord help them, right.

(46:13):
So so when I came to this course last year,
I was blown away that there was somebody in your
community who was willing to just dedicate his entire land
area to this event to absolute strangers. He doesn't know. Hey,
come on in, come to my place. It's a it's
a great piece of property. There's there's this. We're going

(46:33):
to tear it up like he tore it up on
purpose with a tractor to make muddy pits for people,
you know, like like he he did this. And then
and then I shook hands with and spoke to a
bunch of members I think of your church and surrounding
community who were just volunteering, who were just there to
make sure this this thing operated well. So so I'd
love to hear from from you, Nate and you Melanie,

(46:56):
what what is the atmosphere of this warrior course, like
with regard to volunteers the place, I don't know, I
don't know who all these people are, but I know
that they're there for a very powerful reason and because
they believe in what's going on. So so either either
one of you what's it like, like who's coming and

(47:17):
why are they there? And how how did how did
that come about?

Speaker 5 (47:21):
So I can open it up and then Nathan can finish.
And so we have quite a few people in our congregation.
We are from all sorts of towns in our congregation
number one, and it's not just one particular town. And
so that is the beautiful thing about this is that
we're all from different areas. And that's the beautiful thing

(47:42):
about the Kingdom, right is that we are not one
particular silo. And so it's amazing and so but it
did start with about three to four people in our congregation,
again we're all from different towns, and then it blossomed
into something where our leadership team is composed of individual
from about four different congregations in the region, and then

(48:04):
we just kind of branch out from there, and then
we also include people who have a heart for what
we're doing, but maybe don't go to church with any
of us, and they are wanting to learn, and so
maybe they maybe they want to be at a station,
an obstacle station, and they want to help encourage, et cetera,
and get involved in that manner. And yes, everybody on
the team, everybody is one hundred percent volunteer status. I

(48:28):
know that sounds really crazy when you start talking about
ministry and organized nonprofits, et cetera. But yes, we are
all unpaid everybody. And so but what we try to
do as a as an umbrella organization is we try
to you know, we try to reward them. So our
volunteers they come and they eat free and they get

(48:48):
in for free.

Speaker 3 (48:49):
So we just like we believe that a.

Speaker 5 (48:50):
Laborer should be rewarded for their work and their efforts, like.

Speaker 3 (48:53):
Jesus says, and so that's that's.

Speaker 5 (48:57):
Kind of where we get our people and how get
our people, and they just we.

Speaker 3 (49:01):
Do a lot of praying.

Speaker 5 (49:03):
We pray so much behind the scenes and throughout the year,
days and weeks and months, and we're just continuing to
smother everything we do in prayer and say God, if
this is what you want us to do, please please
just provide, and we will step in faith even when
we don't see the answer right in front of us.

(49:24):
And God has always provided through thick and through thin,
and so but yes, we get we get our volunteers.
We call and we ask and they say yes. And
sometimes all it takes is just a phone call or
a text or an email and say hey, would you
be willing.

Speaker 3 (49:40):
To do this?

Speaker 5 (49:40):
And they're like, yeah, I'd love to be a part
of that. So, Nathan, do you have anything to add
to that?

Speaker 6 (49:46):
Well, I'm not going to pretend like I know anything
and what's going on behind the scenes, Melanie definitely those.

Speaker 4 (49:53):
All of that for sure.

Speaker 6 (49:54):
But I would just say that what I've seen over
and over again in different places we have lived is
when God is at work, Uh, that's exciting, I mean,
and hopefully I mean it should be right, it should
be exciting to other believers and and uh, and so
you know, the volunteers I've rubbed shoulders with there have
have all been very excited about seeing the kids, you know,

(50:15):
helping them through the os. You know some of them,
you know they need some help. And so I think
there was one older Joe, and I I kind of
felt bad. At what obstacle he was at. He was
having to use a lot of it upper body street home,
some of these some of these kids. But yeah, he
was happy to do it right and he was getting
in there and being helpful and and so so yeah,
it's uh, it's been a volunteers are great there, sure

(50:38):
m H.

Speaker 2 (50:39):
Spoken as one who's there.

Speaker 5 (50:42):
Yes, absolutely, We We so appreciate his partnership and participation
because his services and his skill set are just we
just believe are so needed. That's why it's so important
to us to partner with Christian counselors. Again, back to
giving access to youth and adults of godly resources, showing

(51:04):
them that they can do things through the Kingdom that
and they don't have to go to a worldly resource.
They don't because that's not the ultimate answer, and it
just leads them down a path of more chaos and
confusion and no resolution. And so that's why Nathan and
his skill set and resources are so important to us.

Speaker 2 (51:25):
That's oak rings Christian counseling. Is that right, Nate, That's right, yeah, awesome.
We've got a link for your counseling practice as well
in the show notes. So as we wrap up here.
I want to pray over the warrior course and the
power in me and your counseling Nate, and also over
your family. So if you would bow your head with me, Father, God,

(51:48):
thank you so much for this day. Thank you for
the opportunity to spend time with Melanie and Nate, and
thank you for their heart to minister to our youth,
this generation that you've created for such a time as
the God, I pray that we would be faithful and
the calling we've received to serve them, to minister to
them well and to make this an awesome course. God,

(52:12):
I pray that the kids who are coming that you're
already preparing their hearts and their minds to receive something
from you. There truth, resilience, confidence and assurance, even a
decision to follow your son with their life. God, I
pray that you would bless this event, bless those who
are traveling with safety. I pray Lord that you'll bless

(52:34):
those who are still deciding whether or not to carve
out the time that weekend to come. Lord, I just
pray that you would bless this event and everybody who
needs to be there is there, We have a great time,
and that we also learn something about who you made
us to be. Bless Melanie and her family, give them
favor and protect them. And I pray the same thing

(52:57):
for Nate and his practice as a man counselor who
also glorifies God and his work. There's not many of
those around, and so I pray protection and grace and
peace over him as he does your work in the
lives of his clients and patience. We love you, Lord
in Jesus name. Amen. Amen, guys, thank you so much

(53:19):
for joining me and to our listeners. You had several
calls to action. You'll find those in the show notes below.
I hope you'll join us on September sixth. Me and
my boys will be there running through the obstacles and
having a grand old time. And until next time, you
guys know what I'm about to say. This has been
coach Alex Vann Houghten on the Faithful Fitness podcast. Train hard,

(53:40):
but Pray harder.

Speaker 1 (53:44):
Heyf this episode helped you cheer it with someone who
needs to hear it, and don't forget to subscribe and
leave us a raving review so more people can find
Faithful Fitness. Oh in my Dad's new devotional Almost Out
now you can grab a copy for yourself and then
join our free community at Better Daily by clicking on

(54:08):
the links in the show notes below. We all have
a cross to carry, but it's lighter when we do
it together, so check out both links in the show notes.
Don't be a big well bob, just do it until
next time. Don't forget. Train hard and pray even harder.

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.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

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