Skip to content How Colton Kyle Found Hope in Christ Nov 21 · 53 min ...more
How Colton Kyle Found Hope in Christ
November 21, 2024 · 53 min
Walking through any type of trauma, grief, or trial is not easy … especially when you’re young.
In this episode of Hope Talks, Haley and Dustin sit down with Colton Kyle, the son of American Sniper Chris Kyle and Taya Kyle.
Colton shares his story of navigating grief and finding his calling as a young man in the aftermath of his father’s tragic death. He also discusses the importance of faith and gratitude, as well as having godly family and mentors in our spiritual walk. It’s an encouraging conversation on how the Lord can make beauty from the ashes – and to pursue Him even in the face of tragedy.
Subscribe to the podcast and tune in each week as Haley and Dustin share with you what the Bible says about real-life issues with compassion, warmth, and wit.
So you have every reason for hope, for every challenge in life. Because hope means everything.
Hope Talks is a podcast of the ministry of Hope for the Heart.
Listen in to learn more :
(04:04) Journey of Faith and Gratitude
(08:11) Trusting the Process and Growing
(13:11) Practicing Gratitude and Embracing Emotions
(23:06) Driving Factor
(27:04) Father's Legacy and Faith Impact
(29:58) Continuing a Legacy With American Sniper
(38:06) God's Work in Surreal Moments
(47:04) Appreciating Growth in Personal Faith
--------------
Helpful links and resources
Learn more about the American Sniper brand: www.americansniper.com
Connect with Colton on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coltonkyleofficial/?hl=en
Connect with us on social!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hopefortheheart
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopefortheheart
Learn more about the ministry and resources of Hope for the Heart: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/
Want to talk with June Hunt on Hope in the Night about a difficult life issue? Schedule a time here: https://resource.hopefortheheart.org/talk-with-june-hope-in-the-night
Learn more about Hope Talks and submit a question for Haley and Dustin: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/podcast
God’s plan for you: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/gods-plan-for-you/
Give to the ministry of Hope for the Heart: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/donation/givehope/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=notes&utm_campaign=hopetalks
Series Hope Talks November 21, 2024 · 53 min · Hope Talks
Walking through any type of trauma, grief, or trial is not easy … especially when you’re young. In this episode of Hope Talks, Haley and Dustin sit down with Colton Kyle, the son of American Sniper Chris Kyle and Taya Kyle. Colton shares his story of navigating grief and finding his calling as a young man in the aftermath of his father’s tragic death. He also discusses the importance of faith and gratitude, as well as having godly family and mentors in our spiritual walk. It’s an encouraging conversation on how the Lord can make beauty from the ashes – and to pursue Him even in the face of tragedy. Subscribe to the podcast and tune in each week as Haley and Dustin share with you what the Bible says about real-life issues with compassion, warmth, and wit. So you have every reason for hope, for every challenge in life. Because hope means everything. Hope Talks is a podcast of the ministry of Hope for the Heart. Listen in to learn more : (04:04) Journey of Faith and Gratitude (08:11) Trusting the Process and Growing (13:11) Practicing Gratitude and Embracing Emotions (23:06) Driving Factor (27:04) Father's Legacy and Faith Impact (29:58) Continuing a Legacy With American Sniper (38:06) God's Work in Surreal Moments (47:04) Appreciating Growth in Personal Faith -------------- Helpful links and resources Learn more about the American Sniper brand: www.americansniper.com Connect with Colton on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coltonkyleofficial/?hl=en Connect with us on social! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hopefortheheart Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopefortheheart Learn more about the ministry and resources of Hope for the Heart: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/ Want to talk with June Hunt on Hope in the Night about a difficult life issue? Schedule a time here: https://resource.hopefortheheart.org/talk-with-june-hope-in-the-night Learn more about Hope Talks and submit a question for Haley and Dustin: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/podcast God’s plan for you: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/gods-plan-for-you/ Give to the ministry of Hope for the Heart: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/donation/givehope/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=notes&utm_campaign=hopetalks ...more Show the full description Show less Walking through any type of trauma, grief, or trial is not easy … especially when you’re young.
In this episode of Hope Talks, Haley and Dustin sit down with Colton Kyle, the son of American Sniper Chris Kyle and Taya Kyle.
Colton shares his story of navigating grief and finding his calling as a young man in the aftermath of his father’s tragic death. He also discusses the importance of faith and gratitude, as well as having godly family and mentors in our spiritual walk. It’s an encouraging conversation on how the Lord can make beauty from the ashes – and to pursue Him even in the face of tragedy.
Subscribe to the podcast and tune in each week as Haley and Dustin share with you what the Bible says about real-life issues with compassion, warmth, and wit.
So you have every reason for hope, for every challenge in life. Because hope means everything.
Hope Talks is a podcast of the ministry of Hope for the Heart.
Listen in to learn more :
(04:04) Journey of Faith and Gratitude
(08:11) Trusting the Process and Growing
(13:11) Practicing Gratitude and Embracing Emotions
(23:06) Driving Factor
(27:04) Father's Legacy and Faith Impact
(29:58) Continuing a Legacy With American Sniper
(38:06) God's Work in Surreal Moments
(47:04) Appreciating Growth in Personal Faith
--------------
Helpful links and resources
Learn more about the American Sniper brand: www.americansniper.com
Connect with Colton on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coltonkyleofficial/?hl=en
Connect with us on social!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hopefortheheart
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopefortheheart
Learn more about the ministry and resources of Hope for the Heart: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/
Want to talk with June Hunt on Hope in the Night about a difficult life issue? Schedule a time here: https://resource.hopefortheheart.org/talk-with-june-hope-in-the-night
Learn more about Hope Talks and submit a question for Haley and Dustin: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/podcast
God’s plan for you: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/gods-plan-for-you/
Give to the ministry of Hope for the Heart: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/donation/givehope/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=notes&utm_campaign=hopetalks
Series Hope Talks Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
114K followers
Hope for the Heart is a worldwide biblical counseling, coaching, and caregiving ministry founded by June Hunt in 1986. We’re passionate about helping people
114K followers
0:00 Being able to be around other people with similar stories of great tragedy and difficulty and seeing how they've come through and been the strongest people in my life, that's given me a lot of0:11 hope. It's given me hope that it's not a or thing. It's not either I grieve or I'm grateful. I grieve and I'm grateful.0:21 Welcome to Hope Talks. We're your hosts. I'm Haley Scully along with Dustin Anderson, and we wanna give you every reason for hope for every challenge in life because hope means everything.0:35 Okay, Haley. We have a very special guest today, Colton Kyle. Colton is the son of Chris and Taya Kyle. You may know of Chris Kyle, the US Navy SEAL known for the American sniper0:46 autobiography and movie. His mom, Teya, runs the Teya and Chris Kyle Foundation Service Family Strong, helping service members strengthen their marriages and families. And Taeha also0:58 spoke at 1 of our conferences a few years ago.1:00 Mhmm.1:01 And Colton himself oversees the American sniper clothing and apparel brand and has been speaking out more on podcast and events, and we'll get into that a little bit and looking forward to hearing you1:13 and your hope story and everything else today. So thanks for being with us today. Thank you.1:17 Yeah. I'm excited to be here.1:19 Thanks, Colton. So, yeah, that was the first way we kind of met you, met your family, met your mom, the ministry work that she's doing, helping veteran families, and just the foundation of faith and
1:31 family and everything that she's doing, specifically with marriages. So several years ago, we got to meet with her and just hear more of her heart in that, a lot of our kind of ministry crossover. So we invited her to be
1:42 1 of our keynote speakers at last year's conference. And then I was like, I really like her. And so it's been fun getting to know her and getting to do a little ministry travel with her
1:54 earlier this year, connecting with her in that way, and then kind of coming to know you. And seeing the consistency of your mom and your faith in the work that you're doing,
2:06 it's just been inspiring. So when we think about who would we like to hear hope stories from, and we've talked a lot about, like, your generation kind of coming up in your faith, and we just thought it would be great to
2:18 hear a little bit more of your hope story. So the way we do that, we say a lot of times, you know, somebody's hope story can be their moment of salvation, and a couple of the guests that we've talked to, it's been that,
2:30 you know? But some of us, our hope story may be a different time, you know, something like a trial we went through or a circumstance that we did with the Lord where we really kind of learned how hoping in God, hoping
2:41 in Christ is a foundation and kind of what anchors us. So that's our first question. We wanna get more into some of the things you've been doing lately in a bit. What would you say is Colton's hope
2:53 story?
2:55 That's a great question. I think my hope story has been and is going to be long lived. And as I reflect on my life, a lot of times people will ask me
3:06 questions and try to narrow down. When was the point that you felt this or that you knew this or remembered this? With trauma, oftentimes that affects memory
3:17 and not just the way you perceive things or the way you remember things, but that you don't remember things at all. And so there are chunks of my life, especially like probably between 8 to
3:29 10, ages when I lost my father, that I don't remember much. Then there are certain things I remember very vividly. I don't know that there was a point where it was kind of that right? People asked me about
3:41 my salvation, it was like, when did you truly give your life to Christ? That's also difficult, I imagine, for a lot of people that are raised in a biblical household and when you adhere to that and you follow the faith
3:52 as a child, which is not always the case especially being raised in a Christian household, but you may not have that point where you're like, oh, okay. Let me put my old life to death and let me live my new life in
4:03 Christ. It's more of a process, I think. And so I feel like my hope story is very similar because I was baptized at like somewhere between 10 to 12, I think,
4:15 in my backyard, in in our hot tub with my mom. My sister, my mom had already been baptized, but she got rebaptized with us, which was nice.
4:23 Yeah.
4:23 And even then, I didn't really know what that meant. You learn more and more of what that means and what it looks like to live a new life. So in the same way, think that's what my hope story has been. Mhmm.
4:36 I've been incredibly blessed recently, or throughout my life. And especially recently, I've been blessed and being very grateful for the, what I call pressure or
4:48 adversity, difficulty in my life. Because I know that the strongest people in my life that I've been around, especially my mother, have been through great adversity and difficulties.
5:00 And of course, it's painful in the moment. But I often think about from God's perspective, if I were in God's shoes and I wanted to make somebody to be strong and resilient, and then on top of that, to do the
5:12 right thing, to be consistent in doing the right thing, and to care deeply, they've gotta be battle tested and worn. And another reason I'm very grateful is because I've thought of this analogy
5:24 is probably not that original. But gold is refined through fire, of course, but it needs to have structure. It needs to have shaping around it. Otherwise, it just melts. Right? The gold doesn't become
5:35 anything if it's consumed by the fire. So it needs to have the tools and the structure around it to shape it. And I've been very grateful for that structure and support system I've had. Obviously, my mother, my sister,
5:48 many great people that have been really encouraging and poured into me and told me the right things at the right times for how to be a better man. How to learn early on what it looks like some
5:59 semblance at least of to be the man of the household and to do things like that. So being able to be around other people with similar stories of great tragedy and difficulty and seeing
6:11 how they've come through and been the strongest people in my life, that's given me a lot of hope.
6:18 Yeah.
6:18 It's given me hope that it's not a or thing. It's not either I grieve or I'm grateful. I grieve and I'm grateful. I'm torn up and
6:29 destroyed by the emotional and spiritual turmoil caused by losing my father, especially at that age, then shortly after being in the spotlight. And I'm grateful.
6:41 I'm very grateful for what that has done for me. And I know that it's been difficult and there's been there have been many nights crying and grieving and
6:53 mourning, but at the same time, I know what that has done for me. So I'm hopeful that I can step into the role that I believe God has given me and blessed me with, which is to be the best man
7:05 that I can be because of the challenges. And I can be the leader of my family because I know I've been learning from a very early age of what does it mean. I've been very curious, know, I wanna know. Because if
7:17 this is my role now, if at 10 to 12 or 14, I'm thinking, does it look like to be the man in the household? And and okay, if I don't have a father, what does it mean to be a
7:28 father? And what does it look like to be in a relationship in a marriage? And then what does it mean to lead others and encourage others? And I've constantly been learning because a lot of
7:40 people have been telling me I'm greatly grateful for that, but be watchful for this, know this, and this is what you need to be doing. So I have great joy and peace and hope about
7:52 continuing to grow and enjoying the moment, of course, and being where I'm at and learning what I'm learning. But hope for being the man that I wanna be, that I believe that God wants me to be, and being able to pour
8:03 back into my family and the people around me, and eventually being a father for the fatherless and doing that sort of thing.
8:10 I like that. I like the thought of the process. I can relate to that. You know, people will be like, I was saved on October twelfth 19. You know, I don't remember dates.
8:21 Right.
8:22 I don't know when some of those things happened. I did just kind of grow up in church, and sometimes I'll think, oh, should I have remembered that? Should I but Right. I like how you've described it as a process, and
8:33 that we do continue to grow and understand and learn, and so I could really relate to that. Mhmm. What is maybe you said a lot of people kind of spoken to you and gave you some
8:45 like, do you have a piece of advice or something that someone said to you at some point and that was kind of a click for you? Or what would be something that you would pass on to somebody else that was given to you
8:56 that helped you to have hope or some structure for what you've dealt with?
9:02 I would imagine somebody had told me at some point, but I kinda see the the picture and why I have the piece that I do is maybe it's naivety, but
9:13 trusting the process. And like I said, there are a lot of people that I've been able to look up to in many ways in certain respects.
9:25 Like I don't follow this person for everything that they do, which I think most people understand that.
9:30 But
9:30 Yeah. Like this quality about this person, I wanna be that. Yeah. I wanna live that out. And then trusting that when people are pouring into me with a good heart that they're doing
9:42 it because they care, when I'm getting instruction and maybe even correction, it's because they care.
9:49 Mhmm.
9:49 And man, especially my mom, she loves to pour into me. Right? She loves to give me a lot of advice, most of it
10:01 unsolicited. And so being able to Okay. So I guess I would say this, and it's been Most people have said listen to your mother.
10:10 Mhmm.
10:11 And I think most people have heard that, especially if you have a mother. So it doesn't just mean do what she says. It means understand what's the intent behind what she's saying. Why would she say
10:23 something like that? And what does she want for you? Listening and understanding why would somebody say these things? And even if I don't like to be told them at the time, I can still recognize that they're
10:34 valuable. So oftentimes, my mom will say something and I'm like, I do not wanna hear that right now. But that's good advice. That's something that I would like to know and something
10:46 that I want to go forward with that in mind so that I can do the right thing. But I'd also like to figure some things out on my own. I'd like to experience it. So I guess listen to your mother, but understand why.
10:58 That's usually good advice. Right? Listen listen intently. Yeah. Not just hear the words, but understand the heart behind it.
11:06 Yeah. Yeah.
11:07 1 of the things you mentioned earlier too was the idea of grieving and gratitude, and that it's not just grieving or gratitude. It's both, you know,
11:18 that idea Paul talks about in second Corinthians, we're sorrowful but always rejoicing. We're struck down but not consumed. Mhmm. Kind of idea where you carry the grief, you carry
11:30 the emotional toll and pain, but there's still gratitude, and there's still grace, and there's still hope. And I kinda wanted to ask, like, what the grief you've experienced
11:42 and probably still go through. I lost my father as well, both my parents. And so the grief is always still there, but, like, how do you find that gratitude when you're in grief and in this kind of
11:53 trauma as you mentioned? Like, what has made you grateful?
11:57 That's a good question. I'm in a very unique position because the loss that I've had has been something that I've had to grieve. And if you lose a father or if you lose anybody, you
12:09 grieve at that time. And then the whirlwind of chaos that followed that, Traveling, meeting different people,
12:21 and feeling defensive a lot of times for my family because it's a lot of new relationships at 1 time and not knowing who to be able to trust. So the grief, I think, was exacerbated. But my coping
12:33 mechanism was to distract myself. So anything that I could do to not think, if I could just be going all the time, sleep as little as possible so I don't have to process. When I am awake,
12:45 if I could play video games, if I could play games with people, if I could brain puzzles, it didn't matter, whatever it was to distract myself. And then also not having the
12:57 option to get lost in grief because you had to keep going. That was valuable for me. And I think if you look at it the right way, nobody has the option to get lost in grief, but it's
13:09 easy to see it as if you could. So I guess intentionally going out of your way to remind yourself of whatever you're not inclined to do. So if you're inclined to grieve, it's easy to get lost in that and
13:21 not look for joy and being grateful for anything. Or if you're inclined to push everything away and just be joyful and just be grateful, you're inclined to then stuff down your grief and ignore it. And
13:32 that's gonna haunt you and come back around as I've experienced in a smaller way because emotions that you suppress will come back. There's no stopping that. I
13:44 would say intentionally going out of your way to experience whatever you're not inclined to do. And that's starting small. So being grateful for anything, that you have a roof over your head, that you have shoes on your
13:55 feet, or a bed to sleep in, or food to eat. But making a habit of that, I think it's easy to pray once a day and say, well thank you God that I'm awake and there's to some extent to be done with
14:07 it. But to make a habit of seeking what can I be grateful for now? And I think it's easier for me at times to be grateful because of the experiences that I've had and what I've seen. And the instruction of my mother
14:19 who's been telling my sister and I, be grateful for this. Like, don't understand that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that you're having weekly, monthly, yearly.
14:30 You've had very unique experiences, and of course it comes with there's a cost to pay for that that was paid, but I guess being reminded. And then also, so I would get caught up in that and I
14:42 would act like nothing's wrong, didn't want people to treat me any differently. And so I would try and overcompensate especially in middle school and kind of hope that nobody knew my story, nobody knew what was going on.
14:53 Which is a little foolish because I was still in my hometown, people still knew me. But it allowed my friends to not think about it and I was just for the most part another
15:05 kid. And then recently in the past few years, I've gone the other direction into really feeling and processing. And that's I think that's helped me grow a lot. I think that's helped me
15:17 mature a lot, and it's helped any and all of my relationships immensely being able to if I can understand myself, then I can better communicate myself and then
15:29 have more prosperous relationships with anybody, especially those that are closest to me. Because if I don't understand what I'm going through, then how could they understand what I'm going through? And so then there's
15:39 always gonna be something that can't be worked through or talked out. That's a long answer, I guess. But
15:44 No. That's good. Being intentional to look for what to be grateful for.
15:49 Yeah. Life doesn't stop. And so we can get lost in a pity party often. But like I said, I think I've learned that lesson a little bit easier because I really didn't have a choice. You have to do something about yourself.
16:01 And if you wanna get lost in your own pity, you know, that's up to you, but it affects others and you have to be reminded of that. Yeah. And at the very least, do something for yourself for them.
16:10 Yeah. I think that's such a hard lesson to learn when I think about especially for people grieving, I've experienced such a tragic loss. And when I think about the losses in my life, it can almost feel
16:23 there's a weird sense in which it can feel almost like wrong to be grateful. Because it's like the loss is so real. You can yeah. You could get lost in the grief or the bitterness of that loss or or
16:35 all of that, but still finding things to be grateful for. It's almost like fighting against that. Fighting against the grief, it kinda balances it out of, like, recognizing that all of the relationships we have,
16:47 every day we have is a gift from God. And so it's a way of working through the grief. And, yeah, I think you're right. It's not like a either or, it is a both and. You still acknowledge the
16:59 feelings when they come. You don't tip 1 way or the other, but it's still just working through that, but then seeing all the ways in which God is still blessing you and loving
17:11 you, and you'd mentioned you had your mom and your sister and all these people pouring into you. And so there's still these evidences of God's grace in our lives even amidst a loss. And so I
17:23 think it's admirable and it's honorable that you're still telling your story and still showing that hope is real and faith is real and and all that.
17:33 Yeah. 1 more thing that's important, think, that's really important. My mom would tell us this often, but the person that you lost, they want you to grieve for you
17:45 because it's something they're likely in a better place. So they're doing just fine and they don't want you to grieve for their pain because they're not in any pain anymore. But work
17:57 on yourself and then also somebody who's truly loving would want you to live a better life after that. They would want you to learn from that and be grateful for
18:09 everything that you do have. It's a whole different perspective if you think about how they might look at you.
18:14 Yeah.
18:15 And so I'm thinking, it doesn't matter how much I may love my future wife. If I were to pass on, then I think it would be best for her to have somebody. And vice versa, it's kind of
18:27 understanding that I think we oftentimes, especially being brought up in the faith, think think about others, think about others, think about others. And some of that means, what would the other person want for you?
18:38 If they love you.
18:39 Right? And what does God want for you?
18:41 Right.
18:41 Because he loves you just as much as he loves the next person, and he doesn't want you to sacrifice for no reason. He doesn't want you to harbor selfishness or vain self sacrifice, I guess.
18:52 That's a good way to
18:53 put Trying to becoming posing as if you're more self righteous because you're putting yourself in more pain than is necessary. Like, oh, no. I wouldn't my mom hasn't dated anyone since my dad.
19:05 And I would have seriously discouraged that years ago in my grief and immaturity. And now I think if that's something that she felt was important to her that would be beneficial for her,
19:17 then obviously with the right godly man, then I think that would be great. I really do think that's what my dad would want. And I think if you really care about someone, that's what you want for them. Yeah. Because
19:26 that's not about you when you're gone.
19:27 Right.
19:28 You're in a better
19:28 place. Right.
19:29 So
19:30 We talked a little bit before we got started. I'm gonna go ahead and talk about it. Your mom sent me a big bunch of basil. Mhmm. And so then we started talking about pesto, and we started all of a sudden, we were having
19:41 a cooking show up here, and it was the men talking about how they make pesto and basil. And then I mentioned my aunt Carla who has passed away and how she
19:53 used to make the meatballs with the barbecue sauce and the grape jelly. And and then that led to I don't think that she gets to make that in heaven, that there's barbecue in heaven, but I'm not sure that there's grape
20:04 jelly in heaven. And so my aunt Carla, she passed away in 2008. She was only 55. It was kind of a you know, it was cancer. It was really quick and really unexpected. And but I still
20:16 you were talking about our loved ones in heaven and how they want the best for us and to think about her thinking of us grieving or my cousins grieving. I still talk to her. I still I like to not say was
20:28 a lot of time. I like to say is because I believe that's where she is, and I believe she goes on there. So there are times in my life where all of a sudden I'm traveling to India, and I know
20:40 that would have blown her mind. You know? She and so I'll just kind of, in my heart, talk with her and kind of invite her into that. And it's not like I think for me, that has helped with the
20:52 grief, and it's helped of keeping her current but not holding on to the past. And that's what I like about what you just said, like, growing forward and becoming who you all are. And, obviously, your
21:04 dad had great impact on your mom. He had great impact on you. And just thinking, getting to know you guys a little bit, thinking about how excited he might be about the
21:15 cusp of where you are and kind of how God is starting to open doors for the truth and the light and the hope and the gospel to be coming through you and the way it comes through your mom. I
21:27 don't know. I just to me, it's exciting to think about aunt Carla rooting me on.
21:31 Mhmm.
21:32 And I wonder, do you think about that, like, with your dad rooting you on or kind of still is?
21:39 That's interesting. I know my mom does for sure, and she'll tell me that. And she'll say at times, like, I can feel if she's talking to me. She can say, I can feel your dad right now. He's
21:51 I'm sure he's proud of you. I'm sure he's this or that. And I'll be honest, I don't feel that way very often, if ever. And I'm not sure if that's a coping mechanism and not
22:04 when I was talking about my escape coping mechanism, that's in logical things.
22:10 Mhmm.
22:11 I'd love to get lost in logical thought and not feel.
22:14 Mhmm.
22:14 So that could have something to do with it. And so logically, I see him as rooting me on and cheering me on in those things.
22:22 Mhmm.
22:23 And I'm not sure to what extent those people who are in heaven, to what extent they interact.
22:32 Yeah. I'm not either. Right? Yeah. So Yeah. I'm not either to the extent of interaction. Like, I would yeah.
22:38 Yeah. And because I'm not sure with me being logically prone to want to have an answer for something, I can logically understand that he's proud
22:48 Mhmm.
22:49 Or that he cares or that he would want these things, that he does want these things. Also know that time works differently. Yeah. Right? So I just know I find a lot of comfort and solace in knowing that I'm
23:01 doing the right thing.
23:02 Yeah. And it's more maybe, if I may like, dad certainly has influence and impact, but what I see in you is more about your relationship with the Lord
23:14 Right.
23:14 And that being your driving factor.
23:16 Yes. Absolutely. That's a good way to put it. That's without saying that what I was trying to communicate is that at the end of the day, my motivating factor is am I pleasing the Lord? And what does he want me to do?
23:28 Because naturally, if my dad is right next to him, wants the same thing. Yeah. Right? So
23:33 He's like, I'm with this guy.
23:34 Right. Yeah. Exactly. I tried to get caught up in that because I imagine that if he had any faults or want anything from me that wasn't right
23:43 Mhmm.
23:44 That he wouldn't feel that way anymore. Yeah. Just being in the new space that he's
23:48 in. Right.
23:49 So, yeah, I think you might enjoy talking to my mom more about that.
23:54 Well, I do enjoy talking to your mom. But I think the point is, it's almost like the thing about grief, like, I don't know how it works between us and heaven at this I mean, there are certain scriptures about the great
24:05 cloud of witnesses, and there are certain times where Moses and Elijah, and I don't understand, and I think none of us do. And it probably does have something to do with how we grieve and how we cope. Not
24:17 that there is a lack of connection if we don't experience that or that there is more connection if we do kind of experience that. It probably has a lot to do with our personalities, and I can see what you're saying
24:29 about how you're leaning into logic, and that's 1 of the things I really appreciate about you. You have the nurturing side, but it's not just experiential. Like, I
24:41 see in your what you share on Instagram and the scripture and the things that you're leaning into, the work you're leaning into, you're basing that on fact and logic and connection, and it's
24:52 not. So it may have more to do with our personalities and kind of what gives us comfort. You know? Obviously, your mom knew your dad for a long, long time.
25:02 Mhmm.
25:03 I'll say that about my parents. If I'm someplace, like, they don't have to be with me for me to know what they would say.
25:10 Right. Exactly.
25:12 I know what they're gonna say, so that relationship can sometimes drive how we experience that. It's probably surreal. A lot of people feel like we know your family story, where, obviously, we
25:23 don't. We know pieces of it. We know circumstances that have happened, but each of you are far more than just some of those things that have happened. What would you want people to know
25:35 about your family? What would you say is 1 of the things that you most appreciate and that you would want them to know?
25:45 Thank you. Let me come back to that
25:47 k.
25:47 Really quickly. I wanna talk about I don't want to come across as if I'm ruling anything out because as I understand it, the difference between the earth that we
25:59 know and heaven and then the new earth is they're different realities in ways that we can't possibly comprehend. And so because I know that I can't comprehend it,
26:11 I'm not ruling anything out. And if I'm saying anything that I don't experience, that is not me saying is not really happening for other people. At the same time, like you said, it could be a coping mechanism. Yeah. I'm
26:23 not saying it is anything, I'm not saying it's not anything. So I wanted to to say that
26:26 That's how I feel too. Like, yeah, we can't say it for sure 1 way or the other. Absolutely. Leaving the door open for God to work, well said. Very well Thank
26:36 you. As for my story, I don't know. I don't think about that very often. I suppose, in a quite selfish way, I would like people to know that what I'm doing in my life and
26:48 what I'm doing to build a future, that way they could if somebody had an opportunity, right, they could come to me and say, hey, I know this would be a perfect fit for you because I know all about you and this part of
26:59 your story, but that's just not realistic. I guess the only thing, and I think it was pretty evident, at the end of the movie and in the book, my dad was a really really good family man. And he said in, I
27:11 believe it was Time, 10 questions at Time magazine in an interview that he's a far better husband than he ever was a killer. And that's important because obviously he gets a
27:23 lot of notoriety for his success on the battlefield, which is understandable and I support that. And I think he was doing the right thing. I think that we can get caught up in accolades
27:35 and notoriety and not understand that. I believe he was able to do those things because of God's spirit inside of him. Right? At the end of the day, when people look at my dad and they often tell me, I'm really
27:47 inspired by your dad or he's the reason why I joined the military or for whatever reason he's a role model and a figure for them. That's 1 of the most interesting parts about my story I guess is
27:58 the amount of people that say that they've been so heavily impacted by my dad even if they've never met him which I think is cool and it's just it's very interesting to me because I have a very different perspective and
28:10 I don't knock it at all. But I think it's important to note that he was a faithful man and he didn't ditch his beliefs to do what he did. He did it with that
28:22 in mind. So that would be the most important thing I think. At the end of the day, we don't know even though my story has a little bit more of a spotlight, you're never gonna know anyone's story really. You're not gonna
28:33 know it all the way through. So I'm not hurt by it if anybody misunderstands something about me because even if they were my personal friend, they would misunderstand something about me anyways.
28:42 That's true. That's true. Sometimes people accuse you of cheating in board games and it's not really who you are. Right. It's not you would never cheat
28:51 That would hurt.
28:51 Just because you win doesn't mean Yeah. That you cheated. So I can really relate to that.
28:58 For those listening, there's a backstroke there. You can probably imagine that there's a board game going on between
29:03 these 2. I can't help winning. Go ahead.
29:06 Haley unknowingly cheated in there.Show more
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.