Catching Up With Christians
Catching Up With Christians
Catching Up with Christians: EP 4 - Chris Salvey, Assistant Baseball Coach at Bonner-Prendie High School
When longtime friendships intertwine with the love of baseball and the guiding principles of faith, there emerges a story rich with passion and life lessons. This rings true as I reunite with Chris Salvey, a friend whose dedication to the sport has taken him from the playing fields of Philadelphia to the coaching mounts of Monsignor Bonner High School. Our conversation is a tapestry of personal anecdotes, where Chris reflects on life's pivotal moments and the sustaining power of supportive relationships, while I share my own intertwining journey where faith and a sense of community have been my lighthouses in the storm.
Our exchange ventures beyond mere nostalgia, tackling the intricacies of coaching and the profound responsibility it entails. Examining the culture of team sports, we dissect a particular practice that resonated deeply with a young player named Jackson, showcasing the magnitude of impact a coach can have. Together, we dissect the dynamics of guiding a player-led team, embedding life skills alongside baseball techniques, and the delicate art of mentoring athletes to flourish in both their personal and professional spheres.
Concluding the episode, we dive into our individual strides through adversity, the solace found in faith during times of loss, and the profound role of gratitude throughout life's journey. I recount my path back to church and the humility in accepting that we need not face challenges alone, while emphasizing the act of surrendering to a higher power. It's a heartfelt dialogue that celebrates growth, faith, and the incredible influence one can have by simply being a positive force within their community. Join us for an enriching session that may just inspire you to reflect on your own path and the people who have illuminated it along the way.
Welcome to catching up with Christians. I'm your host, coach McDonough McCarty. I'm alongside a dear friend of mine today, chris Salvi. How you doing today, chris.
Speaker 2:What's up, brother, how you doing.
Speaker 1:Oh, doing great man. I appreciate you taking the time to hop on. I know it's a little short notice, but we're super thankful to have you. Yeah, man.
Speaker 2:I'm excited. Like I said, it's been a little while coming. We've been talking about it for a while. Finally got some time. We're both available, so I'm excited.
Speaker 1:Awesome, man, sweet. So, like I like to do with every guest, I want to hear your all perspective of who you are, what you do and how you've gotten to where you are. So who's Chris Salvi?
Speaker 2:Right. So I grew up right outside of Philadelphia, you know, went to Catholic school, kindergarten through 12th grade. So all elementary through high school played baseball, played all the sports In high school, played mainly baseball. Then I got the opportunity to play in college a little bit down in Jersey and Tennessee. After that did well. Then I got the opportunity to play some pro ball for a few years after that, which is, you know, awesome to do. You get to travel and meet new people and just the experience of it all is awesome. Being able to go all around the country is pretty cool. And then, you know, officially hung it up and now I'm coaching, you know, doing high school and, you know, a tournament team for younger guys too. Just fun. So that's where I'm at.
Speaker 1:That's awesome man. The love for the game, man, it never leaves right, that's great. And so you know I've known you for about a year, met through a mutual friend, joe Singly. You know Joe is like, hey, you know, I got a buddy in mind. You guys should, you know, connect. We were playing Fortnite, me and Joe were. I want to stay close to. About a year ago.
Speaker 1:If you guys don't know, joe Singly loves to play his Fortnite on in the offseason and you know he's like, hey, man, you got to hop on, let's play some games. And I'm like, sure, why not? He said I got this friend of mine named Chris, he's gonna come play with us. And I'm like, all right, cool, sure. And you know I didn't really know what to expect. You know you meet the guy virtually. You're like no, I knew he's gonna be a good dude because you knew Joe.
Speaker 1:But at the end of day it's like, okay, how much are you really gonna connect on?
Speaker 1:You know, real level, virtually right. And I got to know you a little bit and realize that you had a passion, obviously, for Jesus and also a passion for baseball and just helping people, right, we'll get into some of those things here in a little bit, but that's what really instantly clicked with me was to see that right away and I could just tell like this guy's gonna be in your life for a while. You know, as as you go up and grow up and get older, you realize sometimes people are in your life for just a season of your life and just a chapter of your life and sometimes that can be hard to deal with, but the ones that you know are gonna be there for a while or forever. You really cherish those relationships and realize, oh wow, you know God really blessed you with this one. So that's personally how I feel about you man, and and so I kind of want to hear your perspective on kind of how you know we met each other and you know your thoughts initially and things like that yeah.
Speaker 2:So you know, I've known Joe since we were young probably almost 15 years, probably more than that now and you know we do the fortnight thing. He's thinks he's the man at fortnight. We all know it's not really the case, but he hit me up, we play and it's like we're gonna play with my buddy Dan. You know, not knowing anything about you know your situation, you know, and then mean you got to talk in just like normal people would, you know, get to know each other. And you know I don't remember if you brought it up or Joe did about.
Speaker 2:You know you're in the wheelchair, you're yeah, whatnot, and I commend you for how you go about that. Like you don't let you know people saying things about you being in a wheelchair like affect you, like you it's situation and you embrace it. Yeah, which I love about you, dude. And so then I think I'm pretty sure the first night we played, I got your Instagram and I was looking at it and I was like man, this dude, he has all the odds stacked against them and he's still going out and doing all this stuff with baseball.
Speaker 2:You're going to the winter meetings, like that's how you met Joe, right, like yeah, the winter meetings, but you know, yeah, yeah, whatever it was, yep yep, yeah, so I'm like he's traveling, he's doing all this stuff, still playing fortnight, right, like you know, it's since then. You know I'm like we've talked about it before, but it's like, dude, you're an inspiration, like not just for me, and I truly mean that, but for so many people that you don't even realize, right, I bring you to this place, where I brought you to one of my workouts, practices, and you clicked with the guys right away, right, so it's, I love you, dude, and I truly mean that, and you're an inspiration to a lot of people. And you know, I don't even know how to say no, I appreciate that, man.
Speaker 1:I mean it's definitely mutual. You know you, you talk about being an inch. You know me being an inspiration man. You, you've been there for seasons of my life to, just in a short period of time short story we'll kind of dive into that. You know it's not a short story but I'll make it one.
Speaker 1:But I had surgery about a little over four months ago now. That was to fix my left arm I had broken a few years ago. And you know my doctors, specialists, are in Delaware and about what is that? 35, 40 minutes from where you live, like this part of Delaware, yeah, 30, yeah, okay, cool, yeah, so about 30 minutes you know from, for one, chris is at and you know, at this time, you know we really only knew each other from the video game and we knew each other, we had each other's number, we talked and we game when we're available and talk baseball and really just have conversations.
Speaker 1:But I was going into the season of my life where I was about to have a really serious surgery and it had been about six years since I've had a surgery, all glory to God. But I said, hey, man, you know I'm gonna be in town, let's, let's connect. Before my surgery. You know I'd love to do something. You know, just kind of keep your mind off it and be surrounded by someone that you know you enjoy spending time with. So and you know I was like, hey, man, let's connect. You said absolutely, you know, I got a. I got together practice going on.
Speaker 1:You know, this day, if you're available, like pull up kind of thing. And you know I was like, you know, absolutely I love coaching high school and you use guys, it's so much fun to me and I'll never forget. I was like going to my appointments and I just like a lot of surgery. You got to go to like your pre-op appointments, right, you got to go to like different specialists, you know, to make sure you're clear to go to surgery. And I pull up to one of my first appointments and I'm like, yeah, you know I might be a little late to tomorrow just because, like, I got a practice in the morning. You know they're like what I'm like. Yeah, you know they're like, but I thought your teams in Ohio, I was like it is, but you know us coaches, you know we stick together and my boys got a practice in the morning and and I'm gonna be there and and and give my best to these guys, and if I'm a little late to my pulmonology appointment, I'm sorry, you know.
Speaker 1:I mean like, well, we got baseball to work out so and so they came out and you know he probably didn't realize you probably didn't realize how much that meant to me to really just like clear my mind. You know, I mean I knew God had a plan for the surgery and I knew he was gonna guide the doctors and I knew I had an amazing team. But you still have that, you know, sometimes overwhelming, kind of like, you know, discomfort feeling and that type of stuff and and baseball is truly one of my happy places and being around people that understand the game and have a passion for the game and on teaching the players the right thing, like I thrive in those environments and they give me so much peace and allowed me to, you know, just kind of escape in a sense. But I just want to thank you for that as well, because that was a really big, impactful moment for me and, like I said, I even from that moment to knew that man, this guy, really means business, considering, you know we only met, you know, on fortnight and playstation and whatever, and but going from that to being like hey, come on out to so-and-so for practice, you know, when you barely knew me, in a way we knew each other, but you know you really don't know so until you meet him in person.
Speaker 1:So I really appreciate you for that. It means a lot. And so what was that practice like to you? I'm trying to think that practice, you know, I tried to. I think I tried to like implement some things with the guys. I do you recall that practice at all?
Speaker 1:I don't, I don't really necessarily remember too much yeah, you came twice yep if you don't remember no, I do right, you came in the one time in the summer yep yeah, the first one you came up for, just your.
Speaker 2:Was it just your doctor's appointment?
Speaker 1:yeah, it was like the pre-surgery was a fur Allen no, that was for me. That was the pre-surgery appointment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, so I came up so that that was, um, that was our summer workouts when I wanted you to come, you know, kind of speak to the guys, you know, give them a little bit of your story, what you've been through, what you're going through, just kind of like a perspective thing, you know. I mean. So we went through that, that one day I actually had my little brother there, yeah, and then you had came again in the fall and that was a that was pretty interesting. You kind of took some of the guys by shock. They're like, wow, this little dude, he's in the wheelchair but he's, he's giving us the business a little bit. But they were super receptive to what you were saying and that was really cool to see. They even, you know, had questions for you. He had answers. It was really cool to just see the interaction with you. You don't know any of these kids right, you know a few of them from when you came in the summer, like like Jackson, who still follows all your stuff.
Speaker 1:I love that dude.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, jackson's a he's a good kid, so you know especially him already, knowing you and your relationship with him. Already you know he kind of stepped up and was like this dude knows what he's talking about. We all need to listen, right. So that's also a testament to him, but also you to where you made that kind of impact right away with the kid who's going to play D1 baseball and he's listening to you, who just kind of came in. You know what I mean. Like they trust me to bring people in and know what they're talking about, right. So if I didn't trust you you wouldn't be there. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:For sure, absolutely, absolutely no. So that's cool. So I want to take it back and we'll further. We'll dive in a little bit more about Jackson and whatnot here in a second Great kid, heck of a ball player Can't wait to see, you know, what he does at Radford. He's going to be a really great player. But you know, we go back to the first time I was there was like the end of the fall-ish. It was maybe it wasn't the end of the fall. I knew it was August, end of August, and we, you know I was there.
Speaker 1:You asked me to come and speak to the team and I take my speaking engagements quite seriously, like I want to, you know, let these people know whoever I'm speaking to. That, you know, depending on what I'm still there to talk about, I just wanted to resonate at some capacity. I wanted to, you know, connect with people. I want them to feel like they can get something out of it, right. And so, with that being said, I think you know, when I came in the first time, it was really to set the tone, because I knew there'd be another time I would see them and when I'd be there again I'd want to coach them up and you know kind of use some of the things that I know to help these guys develop. And sometimes, as you know, it's just kind of like parents. You know, like how many times has your parents told you something that like is the right thing to do? But it doesn't take until someone that's not your parent to tell you and then, like you make that switch. It's like the same thing, right, like I'm sure there's a lot of things that I said that you guys talked about in your practice plans and those types of things, but when I said it it's like a light bulb went off, right. So that I think that's why I try to really use those moments when I'm coaching other people's teams or speaking to other people's teams seriously, because I know this could be a really positive and pivotal moment for the team's success or possibly a team's decline in a way. So but I want to get into after that practice.
Speaker 1:The first time, you know, I had my surgery. My surgery was like eight hours long. They had to break it in a couple of places and put a rod through and all that. It was a really, you know, grueling recovery. But I remember waking up in a couple of days later you reach out to me, you go, hey, like, are you in a good enough spirits for me to stop by? I'm like, sure, you know. Whatever, you know I'm all up on the medications, feeling great. You know I'm like, yeah, why not? And you know you stop by and like, our second time I've ever meeting each other in person. Or third, we even went to a baseball game earlier in that week too.
Speaker 2:We saw the- that was about to bring me over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wait, that was the first time, right, not the second time. We were there, we went to-.
Speaker 2:It was the first time, right? Yeah, the very first time we met was at dinner. Yep went to dinner and then we went to and then we came to the workout next morning.
Speaker 1:Yep, Then we went to that game that night. It was a. What are they?
Speaker 2:called.
Speaker 1:The Delaware or something. I forgot the name. What was the team name?
Speaker 2:Wilmington Blue Rocks.
Speaker 1:Wilmington Blue Rocks. That's yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. Went to a game that was sick, it was beautiful stadium, it was a great weather, and so went to that game and then, you know, fast forward, had surgery, whatever, and you know, next couple of days later, you know, chris was like, hey, can I pop in? I said, absolutely, come on, he comes in. It was him, our buddy's, joe's mom Shout out to mama Singly. She's amazing, I love you dearly.
Speaker 2:Praying for you every day.
Speaker 1:She actually just she actually just said yeah, she did yeah, shout out to her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they came in with loads of cupcakes and Jackson was there too and talking a little bit about Jackson's character man, that really connected with me, that I was able to connect with a player just on a few little you know interactions that he felt like man, I wanna go see this guy make sure he's okay. So that was really powerful, jackson. If you're listening to this man, I really appreciate you. Buddy, if you ever need anything, you know I gotcha Keep grinding. Big things are ahead of for you.
Speaker 1:But I think that's a testament to the culture that you created with the other coaches at your school that, like you said, if you're bringing someone in, that person knows something. They're a good person. They, you know, are there because they care about you. It's not transactional, right. It's like a genuine relationship, a genuine interaction, and I think that's just a testament to what you have built there with the camaraderie culture at that school with the rest of the coaching staff. So hats off to you all. That was a really amazing experience, so fast forward.
Speaker 1:You know, I came back for the follow-up appointments, right, and that's when I went to the practice and I started coaching up the guys and that's when you want to talk a little bit about how you did say they're a little shook, right, cause I was like man, when I'm there, like I'm really going to be taking this serious. I remember like yelling at some short stops a couple times like, hey, you got to this, your home field. If you know there's rocks there, you got to come get the baseball, you know so things like that. So maybe talk about. You know the reactions of some of the players, or you know your thought process and me kind of sitting in the dugout barking at them. You know what was that? Your opinion?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was. It was kind of from my perspective it was kind of comical, right. You know, I see we get on them, you know, at practice. You know I had to get on them last night to practice a little bit. But we get on them and it's they're they kind of expected.
Speaker 2:They already know what's coming right, they know they mess up, we're going to get on a little bit, right. But then we hear this voice projecting from this little guy in the wheelchair and it's like, especially the younger guys they got shook, oh yeah, and but at the end of the day they listened and they made the adjustments. This is what you were saying, right, yeah, and we're big. We're big on especially me saying you know, we're only doing this like we're not getting paid, like a lot of money, we're very, very little, right, so we're taking our own time to do this, right. So what we care and that's what we try and emphasize is, like we're not here to just like have fun like BS all day. Right, we're here to get our work in.
Speaker 2:And my biggest thing that I try to emphasize with high school and my younger guys, so my travel team, is you don't understand how much baseball and life correlate together, right, they go hand in hand and everything. Right, the adversity you face in baseball, you're gonna face even more in life, right, yeah, so, like, our biggest thing is you know, yes, we wanna make them the best baseball players they can be, right, not just for like, not just for our team, but like for themselves as well. We wanna get the most out of what they can do, right, but it's also translating into them becoming men and good people in society and, you know, being able to live in this world. That's kinda crazy right now, right, so we wanna make the best people that we can make you know what I mean, like guide them to being the best men Christians, fathers, husbands that they can be right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love that. I think that's a. I love that perspective because you know you mentioned it's one of the biggest reasons why I love baseball too is because of the adversity that it prepares you for For all the non-baseball people out there. You're in the hall of fame if you fail seven out of 10 times. You know what I'm saying. In baseball, like you will be in the professional hall of fame if you fail seven out of 10 times, that means three out of 10 that you're successful. And I feel like it's just a great way to put perspective on life and kinda look at the little things and be like man, like that was a success or that wasn't backbore. That you know I'm really grateful for this or whatever that looks like. And that, you know, is definitely one of my biggest, biggest, you know loves that I have for the game and one of the reasons why I love it.
Speaker 1:But going back to that practice, man, that was, that was a great time. I was really, you know, excited to be there. You know, going through that, you know rough time of recovery. But throughout that whole process, man, you guys were there supportive. Jackson would text me all the time, you would text me and Joe and call me and those type of things and I can't thank you guys enough for that. It was, you know, a difficult time, just like any kind of surgery recovery for a lot of people, but this was a little more intense than I had expected or that I've had in the past. So really having support system was made the world of difference to be able to get through it and you know I can't thank you enough for that.
Speaker 1:So let's dive in a little bit into the baseball world and more specifically here. So kind of let us know where you coach at. You don't mind what your maybe the little bit of the school's history. I know you guys had a couple big what a big draft pick last year. The year before Sounds like there's a big. You know history there at the school, not too familiar with the area, and just talk about the culture, why you love coaching there and maybe some of the goals that you guys have this year goals were not even winning, necessarily just goals for each. You know the culture, the program and that type of stuff.
Speaker 2:Right. So I coach at Monsignor Bonner High School, which ironically is my rival high school, from when I was in high school, when I went to Cardinal O'Hara, and it was always like a real, real big rivalry around here and no love laws between those two schools. For sure.
Speaker 2:Things are a little different now. I don't know. There's O'Hara kids and Bonner kids hang out. It's weird, I don't like it. I don't like it at all. But it's different. The culture, the vibe just being around that program is there's an expectation every single year right To be the best, and that's a culture that you know we won. So we're in the Philadelphia Catholic League, so we won two years ago. They won a few times before that. Like I said, I went to O'Hara, so I don't know the whole Bonner history, but you know we've gotten bounced in state semis the past three years. We had a very upsetting let down playoff game last year in the first round of the Catholic League playoffs. So you know, I think as a whole our team should be better this year because we have a lot of starters coming back which are also a lot of seniors. So obviously a big loss is, like you mentioned, our shortstop from last year. Kevin McGonigal got drafted in the first round by the Tigers. Obviously, losing him is big.
Speaker 1:But it's also a part of.
Speaker 2:he left an impact here. He left an impact here for the culture of where we're heading. So he set an example Him. A couple other guys from the year before that are in college now. Right, they set a culture and a standard for the program that is carrying over.
Speaker 2:Now, right, with some of our leaders now, like Jackson, we've got to got our shortstop Harry Carr, austin Cannon right. These guys have the culture hard-nosed. They're not going to let it slip away. And my belief is I even had this talk with them last night of practice at the end is this is your guys' team. We're going to go as far as you guys want to go. We're here just to guide you and put you in the right positions. It's up to you guys, right. So that's something I believe in wholeheartedly. I didn't really think of that until college when one of my coaches said it it's our team. They're just there to put us in positions to save Absolutely Right. So the expectations this year is when the Catholic League, when the city championship and when states there you go. If that's not the goal, then I don't know what we're doing, you know.
Speaker 1:For sure, for sure. That's great. I know that. You know you mentioned a few things that really resonated with me there. But you hit the nail on the head as coaches, we're just there to guide them. We're kind of like the jockey right, like we're not necessarily the horse. You know, we're not the horse, the players are the horse. We're just the jockey right Guiding the horse.
Speaker 1:Um which is still a pivotal role. At the end of the day, if you don't got a good horse and it's not you know training, or it's not doing what you need to do, then you're not going to be able to win the race. And so I think that's, you know, the great example of the way that you're going to be able to win the race, the great example to really tell. I see a lot of youth coaches unfortunately want it more than the players and, like you know, one of the things that drive me nuts sometimes is they'll call all the plays and they'll call all the pitches but not explain to the kids why they're doing it. And so then the kid gets in high school and they're like well, I don't know why he's calling the curveball or I don't know why we're bumping in this situation. I just know that's what coach told me to do in the past. And it's like, if you're not understanding it and you're not doing it because you know, you know what to do in that situation, then you're not setting your team up to be successful, you're not setting up the players to be successful, but from meeting the guys and meeting the leaders that you have, I know it's in good hands and I know the culture there is good and you know I'm hoping all the best in that way, which is amazing, and my boy Jackson is going to outsteer the ship, hopefully, and be a good leader on that end, which is great.
Speaker 1:Now two things I want to dive into. One. In the first episode I talked with my boy, landon Hutchinson, and one of the things we talked about is outside of the diamond. What are ways maybe in your program that you connect with your players or maybe measure success other than wins and losses? At the end of the day there's only one champion in the state. Now you're still a good program. You still make sure the guys are prepared for life. But are there maybe conversations? You take time out of your week to contact each player. I don't know, each coach has a different style, but what are ways maybe you connect with your players outside of baseball as measure success outside of baseball?
Speaker 2:Right. So, like I've talked about, you know, I've become very close with with Jackson. You know there's some other players that I've become very close to and it's it's kind of cool because I am, you know, one of the younger coaches, so it's kind of easier to connect with them in that way. It's almost like, you know, I'm just like a big brother, right, and it's been something I've had to get used to, to where I'm able to have that relationship but also know, like I'm also your coach and I like have a responsibility to get the best out of you, right. So that's been, that's something I had to kind of learn last year, like right away, right away, my first year with them, and it honestly wasn't that hard to do because they know that I'm there, they know that I care.
Speaker 2:So it's like, yeah, we can have our fun, we joke around, we talk about whatever, right, but at the end of the day, like when I get, when I get like stern or have like a talking with them about like what's going on or like something we need to fix, like they shut up and they listen, right, and they apply to the best of their ability, right, and if they can't do it, we fix it, but it's like I've earned their respect in that way, to where they know like I'm only here to help. Right, we can have our fun, but there's also time to get to work. Yeah, but ironically enough, like there's some of the, some of the things we connect like off the field is like Fortnite and stuff like go hit me like yo, let's play, like sure man let's get after.
Speaker 2:But you know also like in their there's nine, though some of them will hit me up to like go get extra hitting work in, right, go to a facility late at night or whatever, and get some extra work in. Yeah, man, it's, it's. It's been really fun. I'm really enjoying the whole high school coaching experience for sure. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:So let's talk a little bit about your faith here and maybe let's just first start off. How does maybe your faith influence your coaching style and maybe influence your out of Catholic school and right, and you know how is that implemented in the culture there, but how is it also affected your coaching style and your coaching philosophy?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good question. You know I went to a, not a religious school, but I did go to Catholic school from kindergarten to 12th grade and I'm not going to lie. After that I kind of lost it a little bit, where it's kind of like shove down your throat so much for all those years like being in Catholic school it's kind of like okay, I'm out of it, like you, kind of like like I need enough for a minute, right. So like, if I'm being honest, I lost it for a little bit. I get to my school in Tennessee.
Speaker 2:Actually, let me backtrack, all right, my one of my best friends. He was a senior when I was a freshman in high school. I didn't really like get close until my junior, junior, senior year, high school, right. So he was in college and he actually went to the junior college that I ended up going through. After him he went to a four year school in Mississippi getting ready for his senior season and something that I like discovered after I discovered was he was getting very much back into his faith and reading the Bible and doing all these things and unfortunately got in a car accident and passed away, which actually the anniversary for that is, tomorrow will be eight years. But after that I kind of started getting back to my faith. It took a little bit right, because something like that happens, you're kind of like questioning everything, but after that I kind of started getting back into it, not like full flats, but you know, praying before games, praying after games, you know praying to my friend Devin, asking him to just like look over me, like help me out in this game, one one, not right. So I actually got his number. He was number 27. I got number 27 at come on again in college and then you know that kind of um, I wore it throughout my college career except my junior year when I transferred. Someone already had it, but I wore it again my senior year.
Speaker 2:But at Lincoln Memorial in Tennessee our coach was very religious and big into faith and you know, didn't curse, you know all that. So they were very big into faith praying. So we would do stuff like that every day, like pray Before every game. We'd get in a big circle, everybody's touching each other, we have a prayer. So that's kind of when I started to get really back into it, when I was down there my senior year. Just you know, kind of like reading over things being a part of that culture. And once I left there, I still would like pray and like do my prayer before every game. You know, during the national anthem I'm down. After it's over, I look up, you know, do a little sign the cross, touch my heart, point up, and then I'm ready to go right. But really my faith, like now at Bonner, we pray before every game, right.
Speaker 2:As for prayers, and like, like all that, all that good stuff, right, that we love to do in sports, um, but after that, like personally, you know, I haven't really gotten back into it until recently, where I've been like looking for Signs and a direction, right, start going back to church, started praying every day, which I'm loving, it, I love, I'm loving going back to church.
Speaker 2:Being a part of that, doing all that stuff. And you know, part of my prayers is for my guys right, to Allow them to find their direction and To see them succeed and whatever right, become good, good people. Like I said, obviously we want them to do good baseball, but that's not gonna be for everybody, like baseball doesn't last forever, so I want them to just like Be happy and good, be good people, right. So that's part of that and that's part of also like my coaching style now is just like being there for them right, and giving them some kind of guiding direction and Showing, trying to show them like the way you know. I mean that's kind of how I've incorporated it into like I guess my coaching style was just making sure they know like I'm here like whatever you need.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. I think it's a blessing to hear that you have, you know, came back around you know, several times in your life and you know, I think it's. It can be easy to be tough on Ourselves and I just try to remind everybody it's a journey and that it's it's a relationship with Jesus, not a religion, and I think that you know you just continue to ask God for guidance and seek him. He will reveal himself and that's, you know. I think it's advice as you continue to grow and I'm growing too. But you know it's inspiring to see that. You know you're you're still trying every day, like us all, to learn more about Jesus and how you can be a good role model for your team and just anybody that you come across. You know and I'm sorry to hear about your friend, but you know, as sometimes tragedy can also be a way for us to Kind of get a hold of ourselves and be like you know what let's be grateful for today and let's see the goodness that God has done for us now and he will do again. And I know my own life. When I've experienced something you know, tragic, I always just try to use it as a moment of reflection and growth and be like, okay, I Want to use this moment and see how God could use this, you know, for for whatever way he wants in our lives. So that's, that's powerful man. Thanks for sharing that and I kind of want to continue down this path.
Speaker 1:A little bit here, just talking a little bit about you know a Little bit more about you For the viewers that don't know this you have a brother and you know you mentioned early on in the the podcast that when I went to one of those practices, your brother was there. And this moment in particular like you kind of talk a little bit about your brother, but it seeing him at your practice and seeing the way you interact with them really warm my heart and show me your true character, because Just being a good sibling and being a good role model is so important. But with Everything that's going on these days, we need to have a support system. We need to have people that love us, regardless of where we're at, what our capabilities are or our capabilities are. So Would you mind diving a little bit about your brother and what it's like to be an older brother and and maybe some of that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my brother. He's 12, 12 years old now. He just turned 12 last month and he's autistic. So I'm, I'm 27, so there's a 15 year difference. Right, his birthday is three days before mine. He's born three days before my 15th birthday, and so it's almost like, yeah, he's my brother, but I've also like been a very big part in raising him. So it's To me it's like, yes, my brother, but he also sees me as like a what do you call like a, like a figure to listen to, like yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah type deal. So, like, to be honest, like I'm, I like listening to my mom, but like, really, if, like we need him to like do something, I'm the one that comes in and like tells him what to do. But also, like I'm the one that's also there to like calm him down if he's having like a thing. But I, regardless of like my brother, just like how I grew up, I've always like tried to be the person that stood up for people who can't stand up for themselves. Right, I'm the kind of person who's always putting you know other people before me to make sure that they are okay and and it's it's not always easy, because you know you do have to take care of yourself every once in a while, make sure that you're good. But like it's just kind of ingrained in who I am to like make sure everybody else is good around me. So like, just like back to like helping people who can't help themselves is like I, it would drive me nuts, like in high school or whatever. Like Seeing bullies and seeing these kids is like get picked on or saying I don't want to table by themselves, like it truly would like break my heart. And I Actually found a book when I was cleaning out my room a couple weeks ago, we went on a retreat in high school. It's called Cairo, so it's like a like a retreat to get like closer with God and like just so a bunch of stuff. And you get put in a groups and my group was with some people that you know I was friends with like every group there was. Like I wasn't like Best friends with one and then we'll like not talk to another, right, like yeah, I would be friends with all, like the athletes, the popular kid, and Then I would be friends with people who didn't play sports and like we're super, just like in this school or like didn't talk to a lot of people. So, like I found this book with some of the kids who were like very shy, like kept to themselves and Only talked to like a certain few people, right, and they would like thank me for being like the person that they can look forward to like seeing every day.
Speaker 2:Right, there's one kid in particular. I remember he was in like the AP, one of the AP math classes, and I would walk around I off period where I worked for the office, where I would go around collect the tenants and I walk in the room every day and give like a fist bump to him, right, and he absolutely loved it. He's like in this book. He's like that's something I look forward to every day is being in that class and waiting for you to come get attendance and give me that fist bump. It's something so small that I didn't even realize like it's Such like a big impact on people's lives, right, little things. So I carry that all the way into now, like with my brother.
Speaker 2:He's autistic.
Speaker 2:He doesn't understand, like, what's going on in the world, right, someone picks on him.
Speaker 2:He doesn't really understand that's what's going on.
Speaker 2:But like my thing is I just need to make sure like he's protected. I want him to Live as normal of a life as he can, right be included in whatever we're doing, which is very important. I just want him to Be treated normal, right, like I don't want him to be treated like, oh, he has Special needs, so like he needs to be Treated like different and you know we see some horror stories these days with people are just being very neglectful to their special needs kids or brothers, sisters, whatever it may be, and you know my brother's blessed To have the mom that he has that I have. She does whatever he needs, make sure he's always taken care of and, at the same time, like I'm blessed that I've been my life because, honestly, like in high school and things like I would Stay home to spend time with him instead of like going out and doing something stupid, right, so like he's probably saved me, to save me some trouble also, but it's, it's very like just like he's like my little best friend, right, like I love him yeah.
Speaker 1:That's. That's awesome, man, and you touch up on a lot of great things you talked about. You know horror stories that you know unfortunately go on. But you know from what I found, being someone who's in a wheelchair and Doing a lot of speaking engagements and talking to other families with people with disabilities it's a lot of people are just thinking they're doing what they think is best. It's not necessarily that they're trying to harm the individual.
Speaker 1:And Unfortunately, you know, I or I should say, fortunately, actually, fortunately I grew up in a household that my dad was a Marine retired Marine now and Was very tough, you know, and I'm so thankful for it. I loved us. You know, it was hard love, but it was tough and it prepared me for the real world and it also, you know, let me know that I was capable of achieving anything that I put my mind to. And sometimes I think that, you know, we tend to put limitations on people and I, I, I think we all have things that we can't do, because that's the way God made us, but everybody has things we can do. And I remember going To practice, you know, at that day, and your brother was there and at the end he was like tossing you balls, that the fun go right, you're hitting them and he's like grabbing the balls out of the bucket and like throwing them at you and stuff. I'm like he could just see that's what everybody else is doing. He was getting after it and but it really warmed my heart because it's it's something that I I Really love to see, but with someone, just because you're doing the best that you can for your brother and you're being the best role model and you're also trying to get the best out of them, you want him, like he said, to live as much of a normal life as he can, and I think that's all of us. We should be doing that for everybody and so, personally, I love that. That's something I, you know, think is amazing, and Because I know of situations where people are sheltered, when you know told that they have too many limitations, to where they're not capable of women, you know a certain way, but you, my friend, really do inspire me on that aspect, just because it's something that's really important to me and I Really wanted to share that story and this topic, specifically because I know it'll impact a lot of people out there to understand that.
Speaker 1:Look Like, take the time out of your day to spend time with the ones who maybe not have. You know the Support system. Even and I've been talking about in your family at this point, right, you talk about those kids at school. You never know what people are going through, you don't know who's in their lives and just a fist bump and saying what's up or how's the day going could completely change someone's life, so that everybody listening dude this today, my, my goal is to go. I've.
Speaker 1:My challenge for you all is to go out next time you're somewhere and just say hi to five random people, just be like, hey, how you're doing. Or you know I'm praying, you know praying for you, or whatever that looks like. So that's really impactful, man, and and I love you and your brother man, and you know you got a little bit in your faith journey and that we, you know, are praying for, for you and Continue to grow just like this. All you know this this life can be difficult, but we know that. You know God has a plan and he will make a way for whatever we're supposed to Do in our lives where I will, and God's will for our lives. So so, last thing I'd like to wrap up with. I mean, if there's maybe some last you know words that you'd want to mention to the listeners, maybe there's a topic that you'd want to talk about quick here Before we dive into prayers, or anything you'd like to touch up on before we hop off here today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, I think the only thing that I like have become passionate about and we touched on a little bit is, you know, just the faith. And you know I've gone through a Good, you know, good fair share of my dark times in life, early in, like not the greatest spot, you know, trying to figure figure life out and you know, make make these changes in my own life. And Something you know that I've really learned through going back to church is, you know, you can't do it on your own and there's a stubbornness to the human race. Well, yeah, we think like we need no help, we can do everything ourselves.
Speaker 2:You know, I know a lot of people that think that way and I Definitely have thought that way myself. But now I'm trying to to get into that space where, okay, I've tried to do it myself a lot right, and I make some progress and it just doesn't work sometimes, right. So I've learned that we have to put our trust into God, not just have faith, but to have the trust in him that he will put us in the right place. He has, he has the plan he had, he knows right, and we get so caught up in ourselves and it's, it's hard sometimes right life happens, right we get distracted, there's all these things.
Speaker 2:But at the end of the day, you know, especially like just talking from my situation right now, I have a lot going on, a lot of things. I'm trying to figure out my own life, but now I've kind of hit that switch. I don't know if it's me growing up a little bit, getting a little older or just simply just going back to church and getting this faith back. Right, that I need help, right, I can't do it myself and I'm kind of Put my hands up to to an extent where it's just like I surrender to you. Right, I put my faith in you to put me in these positions to Be where I'm supposed to be right. Obviously, there's a point where, like, you have faith, you pray, but you can't just also just sit there and wait. You still have to do things right. Situations to where you still have to Work for it. Right, he's gonna put you in these situations to where you can succeed and put you in the places You're supposed to be, but you still have to do the work. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:So that's also like just being younger. I was just like, okay, god, like what's? What's going on? Like, yeah, I've been praying, why isn't it working for. Well, I'm just sitting there not really trying to make these changes for myself. Hmm, right Now I'm getting to a point where it's like Okay, I'm praying and I've also switched my prayers up from like this is what I need to Like. What do you have for me, right?
Speaker 2:Like what's what is your plan for me? And so Just give me peace and, like, put me in the place I'm supposed to be, right. So that that's kind of where I've been at, and I'm just want to say, like, if you're in a dark place or even Things are going good, right, be, give praise and be thankful. Be grateful Because no matter what the stage of your life you're in, what you're going through, you're still here and that's a blessing in itself, just to be able to hear, um, so, yeah, man, like I've also like not to like keep going on this, but no, you're good man.
Speaker 2:I've also started to pray. Pray to God about being grateful just to be alive today, to be healthy, and For my family that they're healthy, and just being great that we are everybody's okay, right, nobody's like I'm like Threatening again, but like I'm just being grateful that I'm healthy and I'm here, instead of asking for things all the time, just being grateful, have right now. So I mean, yeah, my advice is like, pray and Pray for peace, pray for for God to put you in the situation that you're supposed to be in, to be in the places that you're supposed to be in, and then do the work To you know, keep gaining on that, you know be grateful yeah, I love that man and, and you know, I think there's so much we could talk about.
Speaker 1:But with this specific topic and and I love this and, and you know I've been in the seasons of my life where I'm I wasn't too far from this. I'm a lot more peace now that I'm in, that I'm in God's will for my life, pursuing the ministry and still being able to coach and starting this podcast and social media and things that I've been doing. But you know, when you're in that season, you know what what God always told me is is like just start to pursue me, meaning pursue God and praying that you want his will for your life, not yours. And if you, just, like you said, you don't want to be content but you don't want to be complacent, right, I think those are two big differences. Right, like you can be thankful and practice gratitude and be grateful and all these things, but you also have to put in yourself in a position where God will use you and by asking God to present to you what your will is and what he wants for you is a really important piece. And I'm not saying I still have it all figured out, I don't but I also know, when you start to begin to be in God's will for your life, things just start falling into place, like I've seen that in my own life in the last month and a half moving back to Las Vegas, and some of the things that are just happening are just like it's just happening. Things I prayed about, things that I not necessarily even huge things, just things I prayed about. But I just originally had to submit and be like, okay, god, I'm doing this for you. Nothing told me back. Now I'm all game, like let's go. And sometimes it takes some people longer to get there and it's okay. We all have that different timestamp for that.
Speaker 1:But I was talking to one of my local pastors at church and she was telling me. I asked her. I said I wanna be in ministry. I know that's what God's call me to do. I don't know where, but I don't know what part of ministry. I don't necessarily know exactly what, but I just know that's where I need to be. And she said just get involved. Get involved and try different things and go to the classes and do these things, and then God will just open the doors, like it won't be you having to barge your way in the door, you just start by where he's telling you to start and when they open, you know that's God opening the doors Right, like I think you know that's the biggest thing and really being attentive of when doors are closing Right. Because, like you think about the doors God's opens, but also the door God's closes, and I've had some doors closing my life recently where I'm like, okay, I see why you closed that door now, but then it can be tough.
Speaker 1:I mean, I've had to remove I wouldn't even say me God has removed people from my life or distance me from people from my life. Have, you know, got me into? You know different things, but it's all for what he wants and I'm all game for that. So my biggest advice to one you, but to other people that are just going through this journey and I'm not saying I'm perfect or I got it all figured out, I'm wrestling my own stuff too, but from where I'm experiencing, because I've been similar it's just like you pray God, I want your will for my life, I want peace, that I trust your will for my life and I want to seek you every day. And when you seek God every day, it'll become so apparent that you, just you have no other answer but to just submit. So I think that's you know, to anybody listening if you're at this point in your life where you just don't know your will for your life, you just pray God and you seek Him first. He will show you your will for your life.
Speaker 1:But I think the biggest thing is like you seek Him first and I know that's really hard to do and that's something I challenge myself day in and day out now with, because I am doing this ministry thing and I'm loving it and I love my church, I love everything about it. But what I've realized is I have to seek Him first, cause I can't be a good minister if I'm not prayed up myself or if I'm not, like, in connection enough with God or I'll be drained too early. You know I've had shifts where I had things that people were telling me that weighed me down. It's because I wasn't prayed up, I wasn't connected enough with God. But when I was prayed up and connected, like those big things, I was able to carry those for those people and pray for them and lift it off their shoulder a little bit but throw it right up to God and say God, you got this. You know this is for you, and so I'm really thankful that you opened up and shared that Cause.
Speaker 1:I think that's some really pivotal things for people to hear, because you know life's a journey, faith is a journey.
Speaker 1:Some people it comes easier to them, some people it comes harder, you know, and but God wants us all.
Speaker 1:God will not give up on us and he will find a way to get us with him at the end of the day, and so I really appreciate you hopping on, chris, and hopefully we got to talk about some things that you wanted to talk about. If not, we'll have to get you on again and we can talk. You know, just specifically faith you want, but I really just wanted to give guys, I want to give everybody, the listeners, the you know whole perspective of who you are, a little bit of your journey, and you know, from my perspective of why you inspire me and why I'm thankful to have you in my life, and I think some of the things we shared could really make an impact on people listening, because these are things that you do that we need more of in this world and even though you know it's just so impactful, man, and so I appreciate you hopping on. If you wouldn't mind, I'm going to close this with a prayer and we'll sign off here. Sound good?
Speaker 2:Sounds good, buddy.
Speaker 1:Sounds good, man, so I'm going to close my eyes here and bow my head a little bit. Dear heavenly Father, I want to thank you for bringing us together to here today. Lord, we're just here to glorify you and tell people your story, god, and we just want you to know that we're here to just, you know, help people on this journey of life, but, most importantly, on this journey to find out who you are and what you can do in people's lives. God, I pray for my buddy, chris Lord, that you continue to reveal you know his, you know purpose in his life that you have for him. God, and I pray for any listener that's in that same season of life that you just make it apparent to them where they're meant to be, when they're meant to be there, and everything of those types of sorts.
Speaker 1:God, we just thank you. We come to you with this amazing sense of gratitude and thankfulness because you are a God that makes a way when there's no way. You are a God that makes the impossible happen. You are a God of possible, and you know a couple of things that I've been saying on my last couple you know posts on social media is that you know our current season is a past prayer. We know that you're actively moving and I know that you hold tomorrow, so there's no reason to worry about tomorrow. We just need to live into today, lord, and we just thank you for all the wonderful things you're doing in our lives, but, most importantly, for your kingdom, god. We just wanna thank you and give all the glory to Jesus' holy name, amen.
Speaker 2:Amen brother.
Speaker 1:Amen, man. Well, dude, we appreciate you hopping on. This has been an incredible conversation. I think we really got to talk about some amazing things and I'm really looking forward to seeing how your program does this year. And you know, we're family man. If you need anything, you can talk about anything. You just give me a ring. I always got you and look forward to talking to you soon, man.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, I appreciate you having me on. It was awesome. Thank you, yes sir.