Speaker 1: Carl Lene, she's a queen and talking and it was
Speaker 1: so she's getting really.
Speaker 2: Not afraid to fail its episode, So just let it flow.
Speaker 1: No one can do we quid Caryl lne is sounding.
Speaker 2: Caroline, Well, I'm very excited to be here with Zach Kwindall.
Speaker 2: How's it going?
Speaker 1: Excellent? Thank you so much for having me. This is fun.
Speaker 2: You're always excellent excellent though, aren't you?
Speaker 1: Uh? I would say these days probably ninety percent of
Speaker 1: the time.
Speaker 2: Okay, why is that?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I think a lot of it has to do
Speaker 1: with the way that I was raised and just my
Speaker 1: mindset on life and the fact that I'm here and
Speaker 1: there's a lot of good going on around me, and
Speaker 1: if I focus on the good, I think more good
Speaker 1: things are going to happen.
Speaker 2: How were you raised?
Speaker 1: So? My mom is a full time cancer survivor, and
Speaker 1: so when I was four years old, she was diagnosed
Speaker 1: with stage four ovarian and was sent home with a
Speaker 1: five percent chance to live. And then she had a
Speaker 1: tombor around her satic nerve and was healed from that.
Speaker 1: And then she had colon cancer with three quarters of
Speaker 1: her colon removed and was healed from that. And then
Speaker 1: when I was fifteen, she had breast cancer and double
Speaker 1: messtectomy and reconstruction. The whole deal was healed from that.
Speaker 1: So my entire childhood is seeing my mom in and
Speaker 1: out of the hospital, never knowing if she's actually going
Speaker 1: to make it. And she really always taught me, Zach,
Speaker 1: life could be so much worse. I could not be
Speaker 1: here today, but I am. So you need to learn
Speaker 1: to treat every day like the gift that it is.
Speaker 1: And even when really bad things are happening around us,
Speaker 1: we still believe that God is moving and if you
Speaker 1: find where that is and focus on that and try
Speaker 1: to be there, that it's going to take over the bad.
Speaker 1: Not to disregard the bad by any means, but to
Speaker 1: just have your hope and your mindset in the right place.
Speaker 1: And so that's that impacted my entire mindset today and upbringing.
Speaker 2: Were you living in fear or were you able to
Speaker 2: join her in her mindset? Did you know she was
Speaker 2: going to be And was each cancer? Was it was
Speaker 2: one related to the other or were they just completely
Speaker 2: separate cancers?
Speaker 1: Completely separate cancers?
Speaker 2: Is that for one person that four separate cancers?
Speaker 1: Great question. Yeah, we don't know either, but yeah, she
Speaker 1: uh had, I mean every every few years, like she
Speaker 1: would do colon or she would do chemo and radiation
Speaker 1: and so her hair would fall out and then it
Speaker 1: would come back a different color, and so like that
Speaker 1: was just what I knew. And I don't think there
Speaker 1: was a place of fear too much, but it was
Speaker 1: more so just knowing that there was a hope and
Speaker 1: just the positivity that she brought to it was so
Speaker 1: impactful for me. Honestly, I don't remember everything by any means.
Speaker 1: I think our bodies do something where when you experience
Speaker 1: trauma or things like that, it blocks certain things out.
Speaker 1: So I really only remember a lot of the good stuff.
Speaker 2: Do you have siblings?
Speaker 1: Only child? I was supposed to have an older sister,
Speaker 1: she didn't make it, and then miscarriage, well yeah, miscarriage,
Speaker 1: and then after me, my mom after her first cancer,
Speaker 1: she couldn't have any more kids, so only me.
Speaker 2: How was it being an only child? I have an
Speaker 2: only child who's five, and I've had a bunch of miscarriages,
Speaker 2: and I like, I'm crying because it hits such a
Speaker 2: nerve because I'm so worried that she's gonna like long
Speaker 2: for a sibling and especially like with what you were
Speaker 2: going through something so intense as an only child. Is
Speaker 2: it hard to be an only child or were you
Speaker 2: able to appreciate it? And like being an only child?
Speaker 2: What was your experience?
Speaker 1: Like? I loved it. I think it was the greatest
Speaker 1: thing ever. Because even though my mom was in the
Speaker 1: hospital a lot and my dad traveled a lot, so
Speaker 1: I didn't have anywhere to go a lot of the time.
Speaker 1: So I grew up with my neighbors a lot of
Speaker 1: the time and then our family friends, and so I
Speaker 1: basically had like seven sisters growing up, and that was
Speaker 1: very transformative for who I became for sure. So even
Speaker 1: though I didn't have somebody at home, I was always
Speaker 1: with friends. And so for you like and and your
Speaker 1: kid is like, let them spend a lot of time
Speaker 1: with friends. That's that's their siblings.
Speaker 2: Yeah, What was it like growing up with so a
Speaker 2: seven females, seven girls that you grew up with so
Speaker 2: you were you were the only boy? What was that like?
Speaker 2: Did they like do your hair and makeup? Did you
Speaker 2: like about your first kiss?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 3: What was what.
Speaker 1: Happened when you were seriously? I mean there was like
Speaker 1: four four girls that lived down the street, they were
Speaker 1: all sisters, and then three sisters that were like my parents'
Speaker 1: best friends their kids, and they didn't like do my
Speaker 1: hair and makeup and stuff, but it was always just
Speaker 1: like I think I think it brought out a side
Speaker 1: where it's like more relational and understanding to women and
Speaker 1: just more like, I'm not like a dude's dude, if
Speaker 1: that makes sense.
Speaker 2: You're a girl guy.
Speaker 1: I'm more of a girl's guy. So, like everybody when
Speaker 1: we just found out that we're pregnant with a boy,
Speaker 1: and okay, buddy, because everybody was like, oh, Zach's a
Speaker 1: girl dad through and through, and so we were set
Speaker 1: that we were having a girl.
Speaker 3: I do like you were sure, yeah, of course it
Speaker 3: makes sense.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then we did our our gender reveal and we
Speaker 1: like poured out this paint and it was blue paint,
Speaker 1: and my wife and I were like, oh my goodness,
Speaker 1: this is not what we thought was going to happen
Speaker 1: at all. And so we're we're prepped, We're we're getting ready.
Speaker 1: I don't know how it's going to go. It's gonna,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's gonna be amazing, obviously, no matter what's
Speaker 1: thrown at us, We're gonna have have fun with it.
Speaker 1: But I've just always been more of a girl dad.
Speaker 2: I think, what does a guy's girl? What does that mean?
Speaker 2: Because I know like a girl's girl, and I know
Speaker 2: like a girl's a boy, a girl guy, a guy's girl.
Speaker 2: What is it a guy girl, a girl guy? No? Wait,
Speaker 2: how do we say this? What is a girl's guy
Speaker 2: a girl's guy?
Speaker 3: What does that mean?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: What do you what is your personality? Like? Like, how
Speaker 2: do you interact in the world as a girl girls guy?
Speaker 1: That's a great question. I think a lot of it
Speaker 1: has to do with just being like relational and understanding
Speaker 1: and and talking. I'm not but I'm I'm aware of
Speaker 1: sensitivity and I'm I think. I think the biggest thing
Speaker 1: is I've learned to be a really good listener and
Speaker 1: instead of always having an opinion on things, I allow
Speaker 1: other people to talk and also not like super judgmental
Speaker 1: in the sense of like you should do things this way,
Speaker 1: but more so just open to like, Okay, that's that's
Speaker 1: where you're at in your stage of life. And I
Speaker 1: can give you the logical answer all day long, and
Speaker 1: I can tell you what I think. But a lot
Speaker 1: of the times women don't need to hear that, and
Speaker 1: they they want to just be heard more, at least
Speaker 1: from my experience, and so it definitely taught me how
Speaker 1: to be a listener. And then even from like passions,
Speaker 1: like growing up, I would make like jewels and my
Speaker 1: first business I was nine years old, and it was
Speaker 1: making shark tooth necklaces on the beach in Naples, Florida.
Speaker 1: And I would like I was an entrepreneur from from
Speaker 1: the jump, but I would it would always be like
Speaker 1: jewelry or clothing or things like that. And I was
Speaker 1: never like super into sports. And even today, all the
Speaker 1: guys I'm around can talk sports all day and I
Speaker 1: have no idea what anybody's ever talking about. But I'm like, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, you can use hemp and and make a
Speaker 1: necklace like this. I can teach you how to glass blow,
Speaker 1: but I can't teach you anything else. Like I can
Speaker 1: play sports, but I just don't care to follow them.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I think that was a big factor in
Speaker 1: my childhood as well. I've never thought about it like that.
Speaker 2: So when you're hanging out with your wife and y'all
Speaker 2: are having like, you know, some friends over you're out
Speaker 2: with friends, are you in like you know, like sometimes
Speaker 2: it like segregates into like the boys hang out and
Speaker 2: the girls hang Now are you like chilling with the
Speaker 2: girls or are you like hanging with the guys.
Speaker 1: I'm usually with the girls. Yeah, So we our passion
Speaker 1: is hosting people. We love it more than anything else.
Speaker 1: It's our hobby. And it's cause I worked in the
Speaker 1: hospitality industry for like twelve years.
Speaker 2: What are you doing?
Speaker 1: I was like managing restaurants and helping open restaurants and
Speaker 1: just being around people all the time. And so I
Speaker 1: love food and I love hosting people. And so we
Speaker 1: have people over a few times a week, probably even
Speaker 1: if it's just family, and I'm always just in the
Speaker 1: kitchen cooking, and I just always want to make sure
Speaker 1: everybody else comes to our place and feels a sense
Speaker 1: of like peace, and that they walk into our home
Speaker 1: and they're like, Wow, something's different about this place. And
Speaker 1: every time I leave, I feel refreshed, and so I
Speaker 1: want to be there. So even like from like we'll
Speaker 1: we'll bake cookies. I'll put cookies in the oven before
Speaker 1: people even walk in the door a lot of the time,
Speaker 1: so when they walk in, it smells like home, and
Speaker 1: little things like that, just to provide people with a
Speaker 1: place of refreshment.
Speaker 2: I think, do you think you did that? Because did
Speaker 2: you do that growing up and you wanted your mom
Speaker 2: to feel comfortable and like feel happy?
Speaker 1: No. Actually I got that by from a guy named
Speaker 1: Bob Goff and.
Speaker 3: His oh yeah area, yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, so sweet Maria. I had heard did that,
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, I'm taking that and doing
Speaker 1: it with everybody that walks in our house. And so
Speaker 1: that's where that came from. But I don't know about
Speaker 1: at our home for sure. My dad hosted a lot
Speaker 1: of people and loves cooking, and so we would have
Speaker 1: people over in that regard, But I think my bosses
Speaker 1: and my jobs from from probably eighteen to twenty eight
Speaker 1: had a major impact on who I am in regard
Speaker 1: of of hosting people.
Speaker 2: So you said, when people come to your house, you
Speaker 2: want them to have a different experience, to feel comfortable.
Speaker 2: A lot of people aren't always thinking about others in
Speaker 2: that way. They're more thinking about what their needs are
Speaker 2: and what they want. Where did that is that from? Hospitality?
Speaker 2: Is like, because you were in the service industry, you're
Speaker 2: thinking of how to get people to return to your restaurant.
Speaker 2: What people need anticipating their needs is that your heart
Speaker 2: to be thinking of others all the time? Like are
Speaker 2: you a people pleaser? Where did that come? Where you
Speaker 2: are like wanting to make sure everyone in your presence
Speaker 2: is comfortable and happy and having its amazing experience.
Speaker 1: It definitely came from the service industry, from being in
Speaker 1: a place where it's like, it doesn't matter how I'm feeling,
Speaker 1: I have to essentially perform at that At that stage,
Speaker 1: it was it was a performance. Now it's it's different.
Speaker 1: I think I've grown and found the positive side of
Speaker 1: it for sure, But in the mom and it's like
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if you have the flu, you still
Speaker 1: need to work twelve hours today with a smile on
Speaker 1: your face and make sure that everybody else is taken
Speaker 1: care of. And I was working in like pretty high
Speaker 1: end stuff for a really long time where it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: their needs are the most important thing. From the moment
Speaker 1: that they walk in the door. They need to feel
Speaker 1: like they're at home and that we're finding ways to
Speaker 1: please them that they would never even even expected. And
Speaker 1: so that definitely transferred to me now where it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I see how these little touch points can make a
Speaker 1: difference in somebody's experience and not to be liked at all,
Speaker 1: but it's always to see other people enjoy them. So
Speaker 1: if I'm by myself, I might make a tuna fish sandwich,
Speaker 1: but if my friends are coming over, I'm making like
Speaker 1: filet mignon and like French perade potatoes and like protrudo
Speaker 1: rapt asparagus because i want them to have an experience.
Speaker 1: That's like we don't do this at our house because
Speaker 1: for me, like seeing somebody else's reaction with food and
Speaker 1: seeing their smile and their eyes light up for the
Speaker 1: first bite of like dulce deh stuff churo is like
Speaker 1: that brings me to life. And that's what I do.
Speaker 1: I've just figured it out. I mean being around really
Speaker 1: great chefs and then also just trying things. So like
Speaker 1: for lunch today we had like this Indian corma and
Speaker 1: non and roasted carrots, and like we just do fun
Speaker 1: stuff every day because I'm just always trying new things
Speaker 1: because for lunch, yeah yeah, yeah for sure. And like
Speaker 1: my wife and I, because we love hosting so much,
Speaker 1: we want to see an experience. All the spots in Orlando,
Speaker 1: so that when somebody does come for three days, we
Speaker 1: can be like, everything you eat the next three days
Speaker 1: is going to blow your mind. I never want to
Speaker 1: try a new place with somebody random for the first
Speaker 1: time because I want to make sure that they're getting
Speaker 1: the best bites that they could possibly have. It's like
Speaker 1: it literally fuels me. It's my favorite thing in the world,
Speaker 1: probably outside of the Bible and my family.
Speaker 2: So food is definitely your love language.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and food in regard of other people.
Speaker 2: But yourself too, because you're making this karm this tiziki
Speaker 2: karma thing on a two.
Speaker 3: Sure whatever you said, you.
Speaker 1: Just explore my wife.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, is your Are you access service? Is that
Speaker 2: your also your love language?
Speaker 1: It is? Yes, you're good. You know these things because you.
Speaker 2: Like to serve people. I am not access service. I
Speaker 2: like that. I am words of affirmation. Like I will
Speaker 2: tell you all day long. I will like tell you
Speaker 2: how great you are. I will find your strengths, I
Speaker 2: will build you up. But like if you want me
Speaker 2: to do something for you, yeah, I am fatigued already.
Speaker 2: I am like war just thinking about it. Like if
Speaker 2: you need me to fix something or repair it, or
Speaker 2: I can't cook, so you would not like comes to
Speaker 2: my house, but we have great, wonderful get togethers. But
Speaker 2: it's definitely not about the food.
Speaker 1: But like, has your love language changed over the years
Speaker 1: at all? You know?
Speaker 2: I think I'm still as far as what I give people.
Speaker 2: I have started becoming more gifts, Like I'm not strongly gifts,
Speaker 2: but I do like to give people things, Like I
Speaker 2: like to show up with a gift that's thoughtful. I
Speaker 2: like to Now that I have a daughter, I love
Speaker 2: to shower her with gifts. That's probably not healthy, but
Speaker 2: like I love, I love to like I love, But
Speaker 2: ultimately no, it's it's words because I want to tell
Speaker 2: you how special you are. I want you to know
Speaker 2: that you are very important. I want you to know
Speaker 2: your strengths. I want you to walk away from me
Speaker 2: feeling valued and then knowing yourself why you have, what
Speaker 2: your gifts.
Speaker 1: Are and are you Does that go back to you
Speaker 1: as well? Do you prefer receiving words of affirmation and
Speaker 1: gifts or is it just is that the way you give.
Speaker 2: I think that might have changed because I used to
Speaker 2: always love words of affirmation. Now I really appreciate access
Speaker 2: service now that I'm adult, because I mean, that's a
Speaker 2: lot of my sister's access service and she is the best.
Speaker 2: I mean, she just like handles everything. And I'm like,
Speaker 2: how do you have this energy? Do you just have
Speaker 2: tons of energy? Are you just doing stuff all the time?
Speaker 1: Yeah, And it drives my wife crazy. I think because
Speaker 1: I can't sit still. I didn't learn to relax until
Speaker 1: we got married. There was because I felt bad, and
Speaker 1: there was a time period where I think there was
Speaker 1: like it was six years where I worked every single holiday,
Speaker 1: I worked, every single weekend. I worked. I didn't take
Speaker 1: a day off for all six years, and I didn't
Speaker 1: go on vacation or anything. And then we got married
Speaker 1: and it was like, oh, I need to make a
Speaker 1: change here. If I want to please my wife and
Speaker 1: be happy at home, then I need to learn how
Speaker 1: to rest and take some time off. And I did
Speaker 1: and it's been fantastic. And the funny thing is you
Speaker 1: still get the same amount done and everything that you
Speaker 1: stress about when you're working twenty four to seven is unnecessary.
Speaker 2: I think, what is your wife's love language.
Speaker 1: Words of affirmation and physical touch. Do you receive that
Speaker 1: I do? Yes. It's funny because I agree mine has
Speaker 1: changed as well. When I was growing up, it was
Speaker 1: words of affirmation, and then recently, probably in the last
Speaker 1: four years, the way that I receive, the way that
Speaker 1: I feel love the most is through acts of service.
Speaker 1: And the way that I give is not only of
Speaker 1: service but also gifts. But I don't like to receive gifts.
Speaker 1: So it's fascinating when you get into like the way
Speaker 1: that you give and receive.
Speaker 2: So I have a couple questions that we're going to
Speaker 2: get into your books. The Bible Simplify just coming out
Speaker 2: July first, and I have a lot of questions about
Speaker 2: that because I think it's a great concept. You're like
Speaker 2: literally simplifying the Bible into a digestible book that we
Speaker 2: can understand, because it's pretty overwhelming. And I want to
Speaker 2: talk to about your faith journey because I've had quite
Speaker 2: the faith journey and I know you have as well,
Speaker 2: and I struggle with the intensity of all these rules
Speaker 2: sometimes in Christianity that is sometimes a big turn off
Speaker 2: for me, and I want to talk to you about
Speaker 2: how you navigate that. So when you grew up with
Speaker 2: all these females influencing your life and you're like the
Speaker 2: girl's best friends, like you're the girl's guy you're hanging
Speaker 2: out all these girls, did you want to date.
Speaker 3: All of them?
Speaker 2: Or how do you know? How do you know when
Speaker 2: someone's a friend and someone's someone you want to pursue romantically?
Speaker 2: Because I was never friends with guys, Like, I did
Speaker 2: not know how to be friends with guys. I always just.
Speaker 3: Had crushes on for sure.
Speaker 2: So how did you what is that line? Because how
Speaker 2: did you know who you wanted to pursue and who
Speaker 2: was just a friend because I always heard guys and
Speaker 2: girls can't be friends.
Speaker 1: Yeah, one hundred percent. I mean like as a kid
Speaker 1: growing up and stuff, you're like, ooh, that that girl
Speaker 1: is kind of cute. I'm going to be her friend
Speaker 1: and for a while and we'll see what it turns into.
Speaker 2: The underlying there was sometimes even with the neighbors.
Speaker 1: No, see, that's the issue. Then you can get into
Speaker 1: a tricky situation because you can be super friendly with
Speaker 1: some people and then all of a sudden they start
Speaker 1: expressing feelings for you and you're like, oh, no, I
Speaker 1: did that was the last thing on my mind. And
Speaker 1: then it makes the relationship or the friendship weird and
Speaker 1: you kind of move your own direction. I think so,
Speaker 1: But is there a way to tell the difference between
Speaker 1: the two. I think no. I think I was treating
Speaker 1: people the same and till there was a love interest.
Speaker 1: Like with my wife, for example, she wanted to be
Speaker 1: friends for uh for a long time, and I wanted
Speaker 1: to date her right away. And I thought she was
Speaker 1: interested in me right away because she was so friendly
Speaker 1: with me, and so being from Minnesota, I was like,
Speaker 1: and her being from Miami, it's just a different culture
Speaker 1: with dating, and so she was like, oh, yeah, we
Speaker 1: just talk from the moment we wake up to the
Speaker 1: moment we go to bed.
Speaker 2: Oh, so y'all are like chit chatting and texting and
Speaker 2: she was just affacting with you, and you're like, oh,
Speaker 2: she loves me.
Speaker 1: Uh huh from Minnesota. I don't know, maybe it's a
Speaker 1: I just attribute it to being from Minnesota and the
Speaker 1: dating culture was different. But it's like, yeah, if we're
Speaker 1: talking all day, you're for sure into me, and I'm
Speaker 1: for sure into you. And so I started expressing interest
Speaker 1: after a month and she was like, oh, no, I'm
Speaker 1: not interested.
Speaker 2: What did that crush you? Well?
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I didn't believe it. And that was like
Speaker 1: a week before Christmas, and I had all of Christmas
Speaker 1: off for my job at the time. So I flew
Speaker 1: down to Miami with no plans except to see her,
Speaker 1: and her her best friend at the time convinced me
Speaker 1: that it was a good idea to set up like
Speaker 1: this sunset sailboat cruise and like a sushi dinner, and
Speaker 1: it was this gonna be this romantic thing. So I
Speaker 1: get to the airport at like five am and I
Speaker 1: text her and I'm like, hey, I'm coming to Miami
Speaker 1: this weekend with no plans except to see you. Can
Speaker 1: you pick me up? Can you pick me up from
Speaker 1: the airport? And I turned my phone off and I
Speaker 1: hopped on the flight and been like, well, then we
Speaker 1: figure it out. As the plane's going down into Miami,
Speaker 1: I start receiving text from her like wait a second, No,
Speaker 1: you aren't, you're kidding. I'm busy, And I was like, well,
Speaker 1: I'm here, and she's like, okay, fine, I'll pick you up.
Speaker 1: And she picks me up and we go on this
Speaker 1: sunset sailboat cruise and it was the most awkward date
Speaker 1: of my life. I think.
Speaker 3: It wasn't a date, you just because it wasn't a date.
Speaker 1: In my mind, it was for sure a date, and
Speaker 1: in her best friend's mind it was too but and
Speaker 1: then afterwards she she was like, all right, well, I
Speaker 1: gotta go play volleyball with my friends. Are you good here?
Speaker 1: And I'm sitting on the street corner in Miami with
Speaker 1: my luggage like, yeah, I'm good. I'll figure it out,
Speaker 1: and I like got home a few days later. I
Speaker 1: ended up spending a few days with some friends there.
Speaker 1: I got home and I reached out to her and
Speaker 1: I was like, hey, that was really disappointing, and she's like,
Speaker 1: why didn't ask you to come? And I was like,
Speaker 1: it's not wrong.
Speaker 2: She's not wrong.
Speaker 3: So that was a bold move, Zach.
Speaker 2: I mean, if some dude that I had in the
Speaker 2: total friend zone just surprised me with a sunset sushi date,
Speaker 2: it could break.
Speaker 1: Me out totally. And I think it did for her,
Speaker 1: and it did. For like six months. We were like,
Speaker 1: we talk a little, and then we'd start flirting and
Speaker 1: she's like nah, And it took from that point. It
Speaker 1: took nine months until we finally started like talking and
Speaker 1: then we started dating, fell in love.
Speaker 2: Dating happened. What was that line that switched?
Speaker 1: Yeah? She was just praying through it, and one day
Speaker 1: she felt like God was like, as crazy as you think,
Speaker 1: this is, like, give Zack a chance. And she started
Speaker 1: talking to me, and all of a sudden, she said,
Speaker 1: it was like a veil lifted up over her eyes
Speaker 1: and she saw me for who I really am and
Speaker 1: was like, oh, I'm in love with this guy. Actually,
Speaker 1: And she called me and was like, hey, I know
Speaker 1: that this is gonna sound crazy, but I'm interested. And
Speaker 1: she said like she saw me at this at this
Speaker 1: like Cuban Club were we were both at for somebody's
Speaker 1: birthday party, and she said, like a green she saw
Speaker 1: like a green light above my head, and it was
Speaker 1: like it's go time. And we literally started dating and
Speaker 1: we got engaged four months later, and we got married
Speaker 1: two months later. And that was five years ago, and
Speaker 1: we have our first kid come in in just a
Speaker 1: couple months here.
Speaker 2: So y'all are completely friend zone the whole time, like
Speaker 2: no kiss, no nothing.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, Fort And.
Speaker 2: You just were pursuing her like you just knew.
Speaker 1: Yeah, one hundred percent, And I just kept showing up
Speaker 1: and then like we'd run into each other because I
Speaker 1: was living halftime in Miami and halftime in Minnesota at
Speaker 1: that point, and so we'd we had the same friend group,
Speaker 1: so we'd always be around each other. And I was
Speaker 1: just really nice to her and she would kind of
Speaker 1: confused her early on because she's like anybody else in
Speaker 1: Miami would have been like, well you got a big
Speaker 1: forehead anyways, or like something mean like that. And I
Speaker 1: was just always like kind and like, hey, if it
Speaker 1: works out, great, If it doesn't, so be it. And
Speaker 1: I think that was that won er over for sure.
Speaker 2: How did you know right away that she was the one?
Speaker 1: I just, man, that's a good question. I there was
Speaker 1: just something so unique about her that I was like,
Speaker 1: I want to spend the rest of my life getting
Speaker 1: to know her, and just the way that she was
Speaker 1: with people, the way that she carried herself, the way
Speaker 1: that she spoke to people, the wisdom that she had,
Speaker 1: and her love for the Lord, and yeah, that was huge.
Speaker 2: Well that's a great story that stay persistent.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you. Consistency over long periods of time
Speaker 1: is how you win people.
Speaker 2: You know, even in marriage and love.
Speaker 1: True love too.
Speaker 2: Yes, Okay, so you've had quite a journey with God. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and God, I mean God should should be the center
Speaker 2: of all people's lives. But as far as like your life,
Speaker 2: it is like you do all your work is with God.
Speaker 2: You're an author, your content creator, everything is to bring
Speaker 2: people to God. And I think that is so amazing
Speaker 2: and I feel like right now we are in such
Speaker 2: a spiritual awakening. Do you feel that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, one hundred percent. And I think it's more
Speaker 1: so people that are like reaching out for the first
Speaker 1: time than people that like grew up in church and
Speaker 1: fell away and are coming back to the church. But
Speaker 1: it's people that are like, oh, I've never even held
Speaker 1: a Bible before, and I'm walking in the door of
Speaker 1: a church for the first time. I don't know what
Speaker 1: I'm doing. And that's where I'm come into play.
Speaker 2: Okay, So I want to talk to you about your book,
Speaker 2: The Bible Simplified, and also your your whole brand that
Speaker 2: you made, the brand Sunday, Like that is like a big, big,
Speaker 2: big thing that you created that has like impacted the world.
Speaker 2: It's like a huge brand.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I want to talk about how you came up with
Speaker 2: that too. But I have a few questions because I I'm
Speaker 2: deeply spiritual and I have been on a faith journey forever.
Speaker 2: Because like you, I feel like you grew up in
Speaker 2: the church, right, Yeah, But then when you were in
Speaker 2: your teens, you hit a spot where you didn't even
Speaker 2: know if you how you felt about the Bible. I
Speaker 2: don't know if you questioned your whole relationship with God.
Speaker 2: And then you went to Australia and have like a deep, deep, deep,
Speaker 2: immersive Bible study where you were like studying the Bible
Speaker 2: six days a week, twelve hours a day, which is
Speaker 2: so intense and crazy, but it like transported your life completely.
Speaker 2: So I struggled, and I have come to my own
Speaker 2: faith now and I have a super super super close
Speaker 2: relationship with God. But it is I would definitely say
Speaker 2: it is my own relationship with God and not necessarily
Speaker 2: all from the church, because I have found a lot
Speaker 2: of the rules in the church to be very restrictive,
Speaker 2: and they can. I just feel like sometimes it leaves
Speaker 2: people out for no good reason, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2: Do you ever feel that way?
Speaker 1: I think yeah, I think, uh, that's often been twisted
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways, and I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people I think you need to understand the heart
Speaker 1: behind the rules, if you will. We believe that God
Speaker 1: is like a holy God more so than anything else,
Speaker 1: and that His ways are the best ways, and that
Speaker 1: he's given us the Bible to teach us how to
Speaker 1: live a life that's holy, and that's that's in line
Speaker 1: with him. And so yes, the Bible does have a
Speaker 1: lot of rules to it.
Speaker 2: But a lot lot there to keep you, to keep
Speaker 2: you out of your own way, honestly, a.
Speaker 1: Lot of yeah. And I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: will read books like Leviticus or the second half of
Speaker 1: Exodus and they're like, oh, the whole Bible is rules,
Speaker 1: but we are no longer if you're if you're a
Speaker 1: New Testament Christian, you're no longer held to the laws
Speaker 1: of the Old Testament. Explain so so like like there's
Speaker 1: a rule that's like no tattoos.
Speaker 2: Or or noticing your army.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I have tattoos all over.
Speaker 2: And I've seen a lot of people who say, like,
Speaker 2: if you tattoo certain things on your body, it can
Speaker 2: create like a portal that's like demonic on your body
Speaker 2: or something. Because I have tattoos.
Speaker 3: Awesome.
Speaker 2: It's like if you have a certain certain types of tattoo,
Speaker 2: it can invite negative But to see, that's the part
Speaker 2: that's freaking me out because then everybody has all these
Speaker 2: things to say, and it's like, oh, my gosh, who
Speaker 2: do I believe? How do you know? And this person
Speaker 2: doesn't and why are you the authority and you're not.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So we believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of
Speaker 1: the law, and so like there is a law in
Speaker 1: the Old Testament, it's like six hundred and thirteen rules,
Speaker 1: things like you can't eat cheeseburgers, for instance, because you
Speaker 1: can't have like milk, or you can't have cheese and
Speaker 1: meat at the same time, or you can't like you
Speaker 1: have to grow out certain parts of your But those
Speaker 1: rules we believe were fulfilled through Jesus. And so that
Speaker 1: now like the greatest laws are to love God and
Speaker 1: to love others as yourself. And then also like the
Speaker 1: moral laws are still there, but the sacrificial laws and
Speaker 1: the cleanliness laws, certain laws like that from the Old
Speaker 1: Testament aren't no longer necessary for the New Testament Christian today.
Speaker 1: And so yes, like we should like follow the ten
Speaker 1: Commandments for sure, and Jesus kind of rewrote a lot
Speaker 1: of the law in what's called the Sermon on the
Speaker 1: Mount in Matthew five through seven, and it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: you've heard it said this, but I'm actually gonna flip
Speaker 1: it upside down a little bit and show you that
Speaker 1: the Kingdom of God is something pretty different than you
Speaker 1: thought it was, and I'm gonna invite you into that
Speaker 1: and to help spread the Kingdom throughout the world, because
Speaker 1: that's been the goal and the and our our job
Speaker 1: from the beginning is to take God's presence, or to
Speaker 1: take take what he created originally garden of Eden, and
Speaker 1: expand that throughout the rest of the world. And so
Speaker 1: for us as Christians today, we're supposed to take our areas,
Speaker 1: our home, our neighborhood, our job, and we're supposed to
Speaker 1: bring the Kingdom of Heaven to that. And that looks
Speaker 1: like love and hope and peace and kindness and justice
Speaker 1: and also living a lifestyle of holiness and worship dedicated
Speaker 1: to the Lord. And I think in the church a
Speaker 1: lot of the time, or even just like through social media,
Speaker 1: it'll be like people will take one verse and run
Speaker 1: with it, but not understand the full heart behind it,
Speaker 1: or if it even still applies to us today. And
Speaker 1: so that's what I'm trying to bring some clarity to
Speaker 1: because I think a lot of people don't actually understand
Speaker 1: their faith. And I think a lot of people are
Speaker 1: just so overwhelmed and confused by the Bible without realizing
Speaker 1: that it's a story. It's fifty percent of it is
Speaker 1: a story, but we look at it like, oh, it's
Speaker 1: just a bunch of rules of how I should live
Speaker 1: my life. But that's not the case at all. It's
Speaker 1: a really small portion of it. And so if I
Speaker 1: can get somebody to grab the Bible for the first time,
Speaker 1: hold their hand, and build their foundational understanding of it
Speaker 1: so that they can read the Bible and wrestle with
Speaker 1: things and figure it out the rest of their life,
Speaker 1: that makes me happier than anything.
Speaker 2: How do you make that in your book the Bible simplified?
Speaker 2: How do you make this becomes someone's own personal faith
Speaker 2: and not just something they've been taught. Because that's another
Speaker 2: thing that I feel like a bunch of people will
Speaker 2: have resistance to it, and me myself, I had resistance
Speaker 2: to this for a long time. Was I felt like
Speaker 2: I was just learning about what the Bible said and
Speaker 2: trying to follow these rules and feeling like I was
Speaker 2: going to hell if I didn't. I am thankful for
Speaker 2: all of my exploration and the moments that I doubted
Speaker 2: God and the moments that I questioned my faith, because
Speaker 2: now I actually have a true faith.
Speaker 1: I think a big thing for me when I fell
Speaker 1: away is I was seeing other Christians that were more hypocritical,
Speaker 1: and I was seeing people that weren't Christian of maybe
Speaker 1: of other faith or or no faith at all, and
Speaker 1: they were like so kind and nice, and I was like,
Speaker 1: why is it that the Christians are living one way
Speaker 1: and the people that aren't Christian are living a different way.
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm not going to allow another person
Speaker 1: to impact my view of God. I'm going to actually
Speaker 1: explore it myself. And that's when I really went in
Speaker 1: and dove deep into the Bible and was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: if I really believe that this is truth, and then
Speaker 1: this is how I need to live my life from
Speaker 1: here on out. And as you as you said, like
Speaker 1: the rules and everything, that's yes, for sure, like we
Speaker 1: we have put up like barriers and boundaries on how
Speaker 1: we should live our life. But like the word gospel,
Speaker 1: so we say, like the Gospel of Jesus, and like
Speaker 1: the word gospel isn't a Christian word, it's actually it
Speaker 1: was used all over the ancient Near Eastern Roman Greek
Speaker 1: world where it was like, Okay, if a new leader
Speaker 1: was in town, this is what their kingdom is going
Speaker 1: to look like. And so when the Gospel of Jesus
Speaker 1: was spread, it was saying, okay, Jesus. We believe Jesus
Speaker 1: is king, and the Kingdom of God looks like this.
Speaker 1: It looks like there's healing and there's peace, and there's love,
Speaker 1: and there's joy, and people are being set free and
Speaker 1: relationships are being restored and there's forgiveness, and that's the king.
Speaker 1: That's the true Kingdom of God that we're trying to
Speaker 1: spread all aro instead of just being over here like ooh,
Speaker 1: I had four drinks instead of one, and so now
Speaker 1: I'm going to Hell. I think that's just a complete
Speaker 1: miss of what the actual gospel message is. But we're
Speaker 1: sent here. We're like, if you have the Holy Spirit,
Speaker 1: you're here to bring the Kingdom of God to our
Speaker 1: surrounding area and say that, hey, this is like the
Speaker 1: world says that life is meant to be done this way.
Speaker 1: We believe that it's different, and we believe that God
Speaker 1: has something bigger for us, and there's hope for the future,
Speaker 1: and you can be a part of that too. And
Speaker 1: God is a part of this. He's in the middle
Speaker 1: of this restoration process where he's going to be making
Speaker 1: all things new at the end, and we can join
Speaker 1: in on that right now. We won't see it the
Speaker 1: fruition of it fully until the end of time, but
Speaker 1: for now we can begin that restoration process and be
Speaker 1: used by him and co labor with him to bring
Speaker 1: the Kingdom to our surrounding areas. And so for me,
Speaker 1: it's like, okay, with my stuff, I'm trying to bring
Speaker 1: hope to people's lives. I'm trying to let them be
Speaker 1: less stressed out and overwhelmed by the Bible and trying
Speaker 1: to hold their hand as they read through it. And
Speaker 1: I'm trying to let them know that, hey, God has
Speaker 1: a plan for your life and you have a calling
Speaker 1: and he wants to partner with you to help other
Speaker 1: people also realize the same thing. And so if I
Speaker 1: can do that, that brings me so much joy that
Speaker 1: I can't even imagine get anywhere else.
Speaker 2: So when you wrote the Bible simplified, yeah, what are
Speaker 2: your goals with this? And tell me the layout of it,
Speaker 2: Why this book is different than others, how we can
Speaker 2: digest it.
Speaker 1: So the Bible is fifth twenty percent story, and it's
Speaker 1: about a third poetry, and the rest is like pros
Speaker 1: or discourse. And so for a lot of us, we
Speaker 1: look at the Bible where we're like, oh, it's only rules.
Speaker 1: But that's just not the case. And so I really
Speaker 1: focus on the storyline of scripture from beginning to end
Speaker 1: and where we're at in the process and what that
Speaker 1: means for us living out our lives. So I really
Speaker 1: zoom out and I see it from a whole, unified perspective,
Speaker 1: and I break it down into forty really short chapters
Speaker 1: that are like three to four pages a piece, so
Speaker 1: that you don't get overwhelmed by that either, because if
Speaker 1: I don't want you overwhelmed by the Bible, I don't
Speaker 1: want you overwhelmed by this book. And so you can
Speaker 1: go through it in forty days. You can go through
Speaker 1: it in a day if you want. But it's really
Speaker 1: taking the big picture story and showing you, Okay, this
Speaker 1: is where you're at in the timeline, this is what's
Speaker 1: going on, this is what's going on in history, so
Speaker 1: that all of these little pieces make so much more
Speaker 1: sense to us. And I think by doing so, by
Speaker 1: bringing in the historical side to it, it shows, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is what I'm I'm a part of, this is
Speaker 1: what my ancestors did, this is what I'm signing up for,
Speaker 1: and it shows me how to how to live Kingdom
Speaker 1: lifestyle today. There was this fascinating study that came out
Speaker 1: recently where if somebody reads the Bible or go or
Speaker 1: just goes to church, not much happens in their life.
Speaker 1: If somebody reads the Bible twice a week and one
Speaker 1: of those times is going to church, not much happens
Speaker 1: in their life. If they read the Bible three times
Speaker 1: a week and one of those times is going to church,
Speaker 1: not much happens in their life. But for anybody that
Speaker 1: interacts with the Bible four times a week minimum, like
Speaker 1: the stats are through the roof of forgiveness and hope
Speaker 1: and joy and purpose and like less depression and anxiety.
Speaker 1: And it's like at four times is when everything shifts.
Speaker 1: So if I can get people to do that in
Speaker 1: some way and not just open the Bible because they
Speaker 1: feel obligated to, but open it because they understand what
Speaker 1: they're reading and where they're going, and they have a
Speaker 1: purpose in their interaction with the Bible, then I'm all
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 2: So what happened to you when you were in Australia
Speaker 2: and you were like deeply immersed in the Bible for
Speaker 2: twelve hours a day, six days a week, because before
Speaker 2: then you were questioning your faith? What happened?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, I think. I think a lot of us
Speaker 1: that grow up in church we know certain Bible verses
Speaker 1: and we know certain stories, but we don't know how
Speaker 1: they all work together and how they are real historical
Speaker 1: books as well. And so when I got to Australia,
Speaker 1: we were studying twelve hours a day, six days a week,
Speaker 1: and we read the Bible five times through in nine months,
Speaker 1: and like wrote our own commentary on it essentially. And
Speaker 1: it was during that process, like I think day two
Speaker 1: probably is when everything changed for me, and like some
Speaker 1: light bulb went off where it was like, oh, Philippians
Speaker 1: was written to the church in Philippi by a guy
Speaker 1: named Paul, Like it just became so much more real
Speaker 1: and tangible and historical, and by having that, it made
Speaker 1: it more real to me than just like this woo
Speaker 1: woo like thing that you read and it teaches you
Speaker 1: how to live a good life. But it was, No,
Speaker 1: this is a story that I'm signing up for and
Speaker 1: I'm saying that I'm a part of this. And now
Speaker 1: it's showing me, historically, over over thousands of years, how
Speaker 1: to how to live a life and be set apart
Speaker 1: and to be holy for God and to bless other people,
Speaker 1: because from the beginning God has chosen a group of
Speaker 1: people in order to bless other people and bring them in.
Speaker 1: It's it's never been to like, oh, I'm blessing these
Speaker 1: people and everybody else is out of here. It's I'm
Speaker 1: blessing these people in order to bring other people in.
Speaker 1: And if the people that are brought in want to
Speaker 1: be a part of it, they can be. And so,
Speaker 1: as gentile non Jewish believers in God, we believe that
Speaker 1: we were brought into that and that we're receiving that
Speaker 1: blessing as well. And that's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2: So how did you is that when you felt like
Speaker 2: you started to develop your own personal relationship with God?
Speaker 2: And how is that? How is that different from you
Speaker 2: than just knowing about the Bible? Like, what is the
Speaker 2: difference for anyone listening, Like, how would you describe the
Speaker 2: difference of like actually feeling God and like feeling God
Speaker 2: in your life, seeing it, knowing God's there from a
Speaker 2: personal standpoort standporn't yeah, versus just following what you've learned.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like going from that on that eighteen inch
Speaker 1: journey from like your head to your heart. And I
Speaker 1: think we can know a ton and we can be
Speaker 1: around a ton of thing is because we feel like
Speaker 1: we should. But there needs to be some time in
Speaker 1: your relationship where you transfer it from Okay, this is
Speaker 1: just what I know to this is how I feel,
Speaker 1: and this is impacting who I become today. And I
Speaker 1: think we become transformed by spending time in the Bible
Speaker 1: and spending time in prayer and spending time in worship.
Speaker 1: And I think the more that you do that, and
Speaker 1: the more you understand God's heart behind things, it impacts
Speaker 1: who you become as a person and can learn how
Speaker 1: to go about the world and show love and hope
Speaker 1: to others. And so for me, it's every morning spending
Speaker 1: time in the Bible, spending time in prayer, and then
Speaker 1: spending time in like listening prayer and believing that the
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit's going to speak to me and that he
Speaker 1: has something to say and that our relationship with God
Speaker 1: is two way, and it's not just one way, So
Speaker 1: we aren't just only talking to him, but He also
Speaker 1: something to say to us at all times. And so
Speaker 1: I believe that the more that you do that, the
Speaker 1: more he will speak and the louder his voice will get.
Speaker 1: And it's gonna take a long time, and it's going
Speaker 1: to take trying and and mishearing from him, but I
Speaker 1: think eventually he's so faithful and good to us that
Speaker 1: he does show up and and you can learn to
Speaker 1: hear from him.
Speaker 2: How does God speak to you?
Speaker 1: Uh? For me, it's like a like a still small voice,
Speaker 1: like deep within me where you just like I've heard
Speaker 1: it say like like you just know when you're nowhere.
Speaker 1: And so for me it's like, oh, I just know
Speaker 1: that I either need to do this thing or or
Speaker 1: say like life is chaotic, and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you he like gives you some random idea over here
Speaker 1: to like reach out to this person or to say
Speaker 1: this thing to somebody. A lot of the times, it's
Speaker 1: it's like you're being stopped in your tracks with a
Speaker 1: thought that you didn't have before or that didn't even
Speaker 1: really make sense in the moment, but it can be
Speaker 1: of help to somebody else, because that's why he speaks
Speaker 1: to us. It's in order to love the people around
Speaker 1: us and to show them that He's good.
Speaker 2: Why do you think awful terrible things happen to good people?
Speaker 1: Especially because yeah, of course, I mean it's I think
Speaker 1: bad things happen to people and then they're like, God,
Speaker 1: why did you do this to me?
Speaker 3: Without where are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, for sure, But it's just the result of
Speaker 1: sin from like from the beginning, and it's been a
Speaker 1: spiral ever since then. So every bad thing that happens
Speaker 1: in our lives is the result of sin spiraling for
Speaker 1: thousands and thousands of years. And so, yes, God is good,
Speaker 1: and yes he's like using us and spreading his kingdom
Speaker 1: around us, but that doesn't mean that Satan isn't real,
Speaker 1: and that he's also empowering people all around us in
Speaker 1: major ways and also in like hidden small ways, and
Speaker 1: over time, it's all piled up, and I believe that
Speaker 1: that heaven and like the new Heaven and the new Earth,
Speaker 1: is going to be a time where there isn't any
Speaker 1: of the impacts from sin. So like food for us
Speaker 1: right now doesn't taste the way it should because of sin.
Speaker 1: Trees don't look the way they should because of sin us,
Speaker 1: and our skin don't look the way that they should
Speaker 1: because of sin. And but we're we're on the direction
Speaker 1: of this restoration process where God's going to redeem everything,
Speaker 1: and when that happens, all of it will be brought
Speaker 1: to the way that it's supposed to be, where food
Speaker 1: will taste the way it's supposed to be, the sky
Speaker 1: will look the way it is, and you and I
Speaker 1: are going to look different as well. And that's something
Speaker 1: that's really aiting.
Speaker 2: I always wrap up with leave your Light, and it's
Speaker 2: just a super open ended question and basically, what do
Speaker 2: you want people to know? Just to drop some inspiration hmmm.
Speaker 1: I would say, give reading the Bible a chance and
Speaker 1: don't stop when you hit Leviticus, but understand it from
Speaker 1: a big picture perspective.
Speaker 2: Is Leviticus the chapter that turns it gets everybody? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Typically most people, most people stop their Bible into your
Speaker 1: reading plan when they get to all the rules and
Speaker 1: it's like not a big part of the Bible at all,
Speaker 1: but most people stop there.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, I love that, Zagen. We didn't even talk
Speaker 2: about the Brand Sunday. Can you just tell us quickly
Speaker 2: what that is because it's such a it impacted on
Speaker 2: such a big level.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's uh, the Brand Sunday. They make resources to
Speaker 1: help people grow in their faith and be less overwhelmed
Speaker 1: by the Bible. I owned it for five years. We
Speaker 1: were acquired a couple of years back, but I still
Speaker 1: work with them in a ton of ways, basically creating
Speaker 1: Bible studies and books to literally help people as they
Speaker 1: read through the whole Bible.
Speaker 2: I love that, Okay, And what do you want to
Speaker 2: tell someone like me who is still who believes in Jesus,
Speaker 2: who has a strong faith, but just is still a
Speaker 2: little bit like I don't know, I don't know, I
Speaker 2: don't know. What do you want to tell tell that
Speaker 2: kind of person?
Speaker 1: I would say, start by reading this book because it
Speaker 1: will be your foundation, and then go from there because
Speaker 1: once you understand the history of it, it'll shift what
Speaker 1: you're taught in church a lot of the time, or
Speaker 1: what you were taught growing up, and you'll realize that, oh,
Speaker 1: this is way bigger than just Jesus being a good person,
Speaker 1: but this is the God of the universe coming in
Speaker 1: human form to transform everything to save me. And that's
Speaker 1: a big deal.
Speaker 2: I love it. Well, thank you so much, Zach. And
Speaker 2: where can everybody find you? Where can they keep up
Speaker 2: with you?
Speaker 1: Instagram and under Zach Wendell and then everywhere books are sold.
Speaker 2: And you do a lot of content like you do,
Speaker 2: like Bible studies in your content, and like you do
Speaker 2: a lot of like little quick like little bites for
Speaker 2: people if they need motivation a.
Speaker 1: Few times a day, devotionals, teachings and anything to give
Speaker 1: you a little bit of hope throughout your day.
Speaker 2: I love it, Okay, Zach, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you so much. Have a great day you too.
Speaker 2: Bye.