¤¤ 00:00:01.63\00:00:35.36 >> Welcome to It Is Written 00:00:42.47\00:00:43.61 Canada. 00:00:43.61\00:00:44.17 Thank you for joining us. 00:00:44.24\00:00:45.67 From a heart surgery when he was 00:00:45.67\00:00:48.48 a year and a half to multiple 00:00:48.48\00:00:50.01 surgeries to his legs and ears, 00:00:50.01\00:00:52.55 to surviving a tornado that 00:00:52.55\00:00:55.05 collapsed the entire barn onto 00:00:55.05\00:00:57.42 himself and his family when he 00:00:57.42\00:00:59.69 was five years old, Clint Wahl 00:00:59.69\00:01:01.99 kept getting up from one 00:01:01.99\00:01:04.06 setback after another. 00:01:04.06\00:01:06.09 >> With each challenge to his 00:01:06.09\00:01:08.00 very existence, Clint woke up to 00:01:08.00\00:01:10.73 the picture of a larger reality 00:01:10.73\00:01:13.47 and a divine plan for his life. 00:01:13.47\00:01:16.04 >> Today our special guest is 00:01:16.04\00:01:17.47 Clint Wahl who has agreed to 00:01:17.47\00:01:19.97 share with us his exhilarating 00:01:19.97\00:01:22.08 story. 00:01:22.08\00:01:23.01 >> Clint, thank you for joining 00:01:23.45\00:01:24.75 us on It Is Written Canada. 00:01:24.75\00:01:27.02 >> Thank you. 00:01:27.05\00:01:27.62 It's my pleasure. 00:01:27.62\00:01:28.55 >> Clint, tell us a bit about 00:01:28.55\00:01:29.98 yourself to begin with, where 00:01:29.98\00:01:31.32 you were born, your family, 00:01:31.32\00:01:33.42 where you're raised and 00:01:33.42\00:01:35.02 what you do. 00:01:35.02\00:01:36.16 >> Yeah, I was born on a hog 00:01:36.16\00:01:37.39 farm just outside Saskatoon 30 00:01:37.39\00:01:39.06 minutes, born and raised on a 00:01:39.06\00:01:40.70 farm, doing a little bit of 00:01:40.70\00:01:41.66 everything. 00:01:41.66\00:01:42.53 I have three siblings. 00:01:42.53\00:01:43.73 I have an older sister who is 00:01:43.73\00:01:44.97 ten years older than me, an 00:01:44.97\00:01:46.10 older brother who's five years 00:01:46.10\00:01:47.27 older than me, and a younger 00:01:47.27\00:01:48.67 brother who's four years. 00:01:48.67\00:01:49.74 And I grew up in a Christian 00:01:49.74\00:01:51.11 home with great parents and farm 00:01:51.11\00:01:54.14 community all around, doing a 00:01:54.14\00:01:55.24 little bit of everything and 00:01:55.24\00:01:56.95 currently I'm in construction. 00:01:56.95\00:01:58.28 >> So you're a builder now and I 00:01:58.68\00:02:00.32 find that very interesting 00:02:00.32\00:02:01.52 'cause you told me a little bit 00:02:01.52\00:02:02.55 about your story and how did you 00:02:02.55\00:02:05.39 get into the building industry? 00:02:05.39\00:02:07.22 [CLINT] I actually got into the 00:02:07.22\00:02:08.09 building industry on a bet with 00:02:08.09\00:02:10.26 my mother-in-law, more like a 00:02:10.26\00:02:11.59 dare actually. 00:02:11.59\00:02:12.56 We were having a conversation 00:02:12.56\00:02:13.53 and she said to me, "I don't 00:02:13.53\00:02:14.40 think you can get a job with 00:02:14.40\00:02:15.63 just one phone call," and I 00:02:15.63\00:02:16.77 said, "I-- watch me, 00:02:16.77\00:02:17.87 I'll do it." 00:02:17.87\00:02:18.63 And I called my current youth 00:02:18.63\00:02:19.63 pastor at the time, who was a 00:02:19.63\00:02:20.87 framer, and I asked him for a 00:02:20.87\00:02:22.20 job and he said, "Monday 00:02:22.20\00:02:23.74 morning, bring your hammer, 00:02:23.74\00:02:24.77 bring your tools, and we'll have 00:02:24.77\00:02:26.01 you on site." 00:02:26.01\00:02:27.04 So that's how I got my start. 00:02:27.04\00:02:28.28 And the funny part is, is going 00:02:28.28\00:02:29.81 through high school, I didn't 00:02:29.81\00:02:30.88 even take IA shop so it 00:02:30.88\00:02:32.55 became a little bit more of an 00:02:32.55\00:02:33.65 interesting part of my life. 00:02:33.65\00:02:34.85 But I got hooked on construction 00:02:34.85\00:02:36.79 very early on and it just became 00:02:36.79\00:02:38.32 a part of my life. 00:02:38.32\00:02:39.39 >> Clint, you had some 00:02:39.39\00:02:40.89 challenges to your health and 00:02:40.89\00:02:42.62 wellbeing when you were 00:02:42.62\00:02:44.19 growing up. 00:02:44.19\00:02:45.09 Can you tell us about those? 00:02:45.09\00:02:46.80 >> Very early on, I was about a 00:02:47.23\00:02:48.50 year old and I had a heart 00:02:48.50\00:02:50.13 problem where I actually had an 00:02:50.13\00:02:51.33 artery that was closed. 00:02:51.33\00:02:52.80 So they had to do a procedure 00:02:52.80\00:02:54.94 where I had a balloon go up into 00:02:54.94\00:02:56.30 my artery and they opened it and 00:02:56.30\00:02:57.81 put a stint in. 00:02:57.81\00:02:58.81 And then a couple of years 00:02:58.81\00:02:59.91 later, I was about, you know, 00:02:59.91\00:03:01.51 five, six years old and I 00:03:01.51\00:03:02.88 started having hearing issues 00:03:02.88\00:03:04.21 and I wasn't able to hear 00:03:04.21\00:03:05.21 properly. 00:03:05.21\00:03:06.11 So I went in and that's when I 00:03:06.11\00:03:07.18 started getting my surgeries for 00:03:07.18\00:03:08.88 my tubes in my ears. 00:03:08.88\00:03:10.29 Then at-- actually two weeks 00:03:10.85\00:03:12.85 before I turned six, we had an 00:03:12.85\00:03:14.62 event that happened in our life 00:03:14.62\00:03:16.06 that changed my family forever. 00:03:16.06\00:03:17.89 We were working out in the barn 00:03:18.43\00:03:19.63 one day, my older brother, my 00:03:19.63\00:03:20.86 mom and my dad and myself, and 00:03:20.86\00:03:23.30 we were working outside and this 00:03:23.30\00:03:25.10 storm started coming through and 00:03:25.10\00:03:26.27 there was a lot of wind and we 00:03:26.27\00:03:27.84 ended up getting inside 00:03:27.84\00:03:28.84 the barn. 00:03:28.84\00:03:29.67 And we actually had a situation 00:03:29.67\00:03:31.24 where we went through an F3 00:03:31.24\00:03:32.44 tornado and the entire barn 00:03:32.44\00:03:34.48 was-- the roof was lifted off, 00:03:34.48\00:03:36.04 the walls collapsed it on us, 00:03:36.04\00:03:38.11 and we ended up, by the grace of 00:03:38.11\00:03:40.22 God, He got us out of there and 00:03:40.22\00:03:41.92 He made a lot of amazing things 00:03:41.92\00:03:43.32 happen that day. 00:03:43.32\00:03:44.15 There's a lot of miracles. 00:03:44.15\00:03:45.62 And we ended up getting into our 00:03:45.62\00:03:46.82 old water truck and my dad got 00:03:46.82\00:03:48.39 everybody together and got us 00:03:48.39\00:03:49.92 out of this dangerous situation. 00:03:49.92\00:03:53.23 And we ended up-- the whole barn 00:03:53.23\00:03:55.40 was completely gone. 00:03:55.40\00:03:56.30 It tore off the roof section of 00:03:56.30\00:03:57.93 our house, it flooded pretty 00:03:57.93\00:03:59.77 well everything around us, it 00:03:59.77\00:04:01.17 destroyed our neighbour's yard 00:04:01.17\00:04:02.07 as well. 00:04:02.07\00:04:02.80 But by the grace of God, 00:04:02.80\00:04:03.84 we made it out safely. 00:04:03.84\00:04:05.07 Then that was about the age of 00:04:05.44\00:04:06.81 six and then when I was about 14 00:04:06.81\00:04:08.74 years old, I started going 00:04:08.74\00:04:10.01 through some some pain. 00:04:10.01\00:04:11.75 We all know what growing pain 00:04:12.25\00:04:13.35 feels like, but I started 00:04:13.35\00:04:14.75 experiencing a lot of pain 00:04:14.75\00:04:15.95 in my knees. 00:04:15.95\00:04:16.85 And you get a lot of advice from 00:04:16.85\00:04:19.02 people saying, "You'll grow out 00:04:19.02\00:04:20.26 of it, you'll be okay." 00:04:20.26\00:04:21.46 I ended up at the age of 15 00:04:22.09\00:04:23.69 going to the doctor, and the 00:04:23.69\00:04:25.19 doctor essentially looked at my 00:04:25.19\00:04:26.33 knees and said, "Well, you're 00:04:26.33\00:04:28.43 extremely bowlegged." 00:04:28.43\00:04:29.93 I was so bowlegged I could put 00:04:29.93\00:04:31.90 almost a full size soccer ball 00:04:31.90\00:04:33.20 between my knees with my 00:04:33.20\00:04:34.44 feet together. 00:04:34.44\00:04:35.57 So to me, it was normal, to me, 00:04:35.57\00:04:37.34 that's how life was, but 00:04:37.34\00:04:39.04 apparently that's not exactly 00:04:39.04\00:04:40.21 how your knees are supposed to 00:04:40.21\00:04:41.14 be shaped. 00:04:41.14\00:04:41.78 So we ended up going through, 00:04:41.84\00:04:43.91 having conversations in regards 00:04:43.91\00:04:45.15 to procedures of how to fix it 00:04:45.15\00:04:47.25 and what the doctor ended up 00:04:47.25\00:04:48.55 telling me was if we didn't 00:04:48.55\00:04:50.19 start these procedures to fix 00:04:50.19\00:04:51.62 it, by the time I hit the age 00:04:51.62\00:04:53.19 20, 25, I would need my knees 00:04:53.19\00:04:55.62 and likely my hips, everything 00:04:55.62\00:04:57.23 completely replaced. 00:04:57.23\00:04:58.39 So it was a long journey, but 00:04:58.93\00:05:00.30 that was kind of the start where 00:05:00.30\00:05:02.10 we went in, I got staples put on 00:05:02.10\00:05:04.10 the outsides of my knees to stop 00:05:04.10\00:05:05.73 the growth plates so they could 00:05:05.73\00:05:07.50 continue on the inside and I 00:05:07.50\00:05:08.37 would naturally grow in. 00:05:08.37\00:05:10.17 And found out two weeks, about 00:05:10.17\00:05:11.81 two weeks after the surgery, 00:05:11.81\00:05:13.14 that my growth platelets had 00:05:13.14\00:05:14.21 actually stopped on the inside 00:05:14.21\00:05:15.98 of my knees. 00:05:15.98\00:05:16.98 So I ended up in a situation 00:05:16.98\00:05:18.18 with the doctor where we had to 00:05:18.18\00:05:19.35 get into a little bit more 00:05:19.35\00:05:20.62 invasive surgery. 00:05:20.62\00:05:21.72 So what they ended up doing was 00:05:21.72\00:05:24.15 they had to break my tibia and 00:05:24.15\00:05:25.72 they had to break my fibula on 00:05:25.72\00:05:26.92 my leg, essentially disconnect 00:05:26.92\00:05:28.52 my foot from the rest of my 00:05:28.52\00:05:29.72 body and then my hip would 00:05:29.72\00:05:31.76 bring everything in and it would 00:05:31.76\00:05:33.80 take about six months before I'd 00:05:33.80\00:05:35.23 be back up on my feet, so... 00:05:35.23\00:05:36.60 It was a very long process. 00:05:37.00\00:05:38.30 Again, I was 15, 16, I was very 00:05:38.30\00:05:40.00 active at the time, I wanted to 00:05:40.00\00:05:41.57 be involved and do a lot of 00:05:41.57\00:05:42.97 things, but my life got 00:05:42.97\00:05:45.47 massively interrupted because 00:05:45.47\00:05:46.78 of this. 00:05:46.78\00:05:47.78 So it took about a year 00:05:48.18\00:05:49.01 and a half. 00:05:49.01\00:05:49.98 I went through a lot of dark 00:05:50.25\00:05:51.65 places in my life at that point, 00:05:51.65\00:05:53.75 but God helped get me through it 00:05:53.75\00:05:55.82 and He helped guide me that 00:05:55.82\00:05:57.29 direction. 00:05:57.29\00:05:58.09 And as of now, I have had a 00:05:58.09\00:06:01.16 number of scopes done on my 00:06:01.16\00:06:02.62 knees as well, I have cartilage 00:06:02.62\00:06:03.96 that continues to break down and 00:06:03.96\00:06:05.33 break off. 00:06:05.33\00:06:06.23 Very early on when I was 15, 00:06:06.63\00:06:08.06 again, I was told I also had 00:06:08.06\00:06:09.63 arthritis in my joints, in 00:06:09.63\00:06:11.53 pretty well every one of my 00:06:11.53\00:06:12.33 joints. 00:06:12.33\00:06:13.00 That's a fun thing to be told 00:06:13.00\00:06:13.84 when you're 15. 00:06:13.84\00:06:14.90 And then I've had a number of 00:06:16.17\00:06:17.54 different surgeries in my body. 00:06:17.54\00:06:19.34 I've had a cyst that was removed 00:06:19.34\00:06:20.81 out of my face, I've had a 00:06:20.81\00:06:22.21 couple of hernia surgeries and a 00:06:22.21\00:06:23.51 number of ear surgeries as well, 00:06:23.51\00:06:25.31 so... 00:06:25.31\00:06:26.08 >> So, Clint, how did these very 00:06:26.72\00:06:29.35 challenging experiences impact 00:06:29.35\00:06:31.45 you? 00:06:31.45\00:06:32.25 >> They definitely turned my 00:06:32.59\00:06:34.36 entire personality upside down. 00:06:34.36\00:06:36.36 They made me do a lot of 00:06:36.36\00:06:37.29 reevaluating. 00:06:37.29\00:06:38.49 There was very, I wouldn't say 00:06:38.49\00:06:41.70 brief stint, it definitely took 00:06:41.70\00:06:43.03 a lot to get through it, but 00:06:43.03\00:06:44.10 there was a while going through 00:06:44.10\00:06:45.37 my surgeries where I remember 00:06:45.37\00:06:47.00 laying on the couch, being such 00:06:47.00\00:06:48.74 a physically active guy, wanting 00:06:48.74\00:06:50.31 to do so many things. 00:06:50.31\00:06:51.77 And I remember laying on the 00:06:51.77\00:06:52.84 couch and getting so depressed. 00:06:52.84\00:06:54.68 I got into a very, very dark 00:06:54.68\00:06:56.14 place. 00:06:56.14\00:06:57.05 I got very mad at myself, I got 00:06:57.05\00:06:59.31 very mad at God as well because, 00:06:59.31\00:07:01.35 you know, you ask the question, 00:07:01.35\00:07:02.48 why? 00:07:02.48\00:07:03.12 Why am I made like this? 00:07:03.12\00:07:03.89 Why am I built this way? 00:07:03.89\00:07:04.99 And I remember getting to a very 00:07:05.45\00:07:06.99 difficult, low, very dark place 00:07:06.99\00:07:08.92 where, God, I didn't feel like 00:07:08.92\00:07:11.96 He was there, I didn't feel like 00:07:11.96\00:07:13.16 I could hear His voice. 00:07:13.16\00:07:14.63 And I remember getting so 00:07:14.63\00:07:15.66 frustrated and I said, "You know 00:07:15.66\00:07:16.50 what? 00:07:16.50\00:07:17.10 I'm ready to just be done. 00:07:17.10\00:07:18.57 If this is-- if I'm 15, if I'm 00:07:18.57\00:07:20.30 16 at this moment, I'm not even 00:07:20.30\00:07:21.97 a quarter way through my life 00:07:21.97\00:07:23.34 and already I'm going through 00:07:23.34\00:07:24.24 this much pain and this much 00:07:24.24\00:07:25.34 struggling. 00:07:25.34\00:07:26.01 Why is there a point to keep 00:07:26.01\00:07:27.08 going?" 00:07:27.08\00:07:28.08 And I developed a plan. 00:07:28.08\00:07:31.78 Looking back, it wasn't a very 00:07:31.78\00:07:32.85 good plan, I'll be honest, but I 00:07:32.85\00:07:34.25 developed a plan that I was-- 00:07:34.25\00:07:35.98 when it got to -30, -40, I was 00:07:35.98\00:07:38.82 so mad that I was just gonna go 00:07:38.82\00:07:40.29 outside, I was gonna walk as far 00:07:40.29\00:07:41.89 as I could, I was just gonna 00:07:41.89\00:07:43.39 throw my crutches, I was gonna 00:07:43.39\00:07:44.96 just lay in the snow and I was 00:07:44.96\00:07:46.09 just gonna give up. 00:07:46.09\00:07:47.60 I was just gonna forfeit. 00:07:47.60\00:07:49.13 And what's interesting is, 00:07:49.13\00:07:50.80 looking back, is God blessed me 00:07:50.80\00:07:52.13 with two very interesting 00:07:52.13\00:07:53.44 abilities and one is the ability 00:07:53.44\00:07:54.67 to forget and the other one is 00:07:54.67\00:07:56.10 the ability to sleep. 00:07:56.10\00:07:57.21 I can sleep very quickly. 00:07:57.54\00:07:58.91 And I remember being so mad that 00:07:59.31\00:08:01.14 night, I was so angry with God, 00:08:01.14\00:08:02.58 but I fell asleep. 00:08:02.58\00:08:03.98 And I woke up the next morning 00:08:03.98\00:08:05.85 and I was, again, I was so angry 00:08:05.85\00:08:07.32 with God because I fell asleep, 00:08:07.32\00:08:08.68 I was mad at myself, and my 00:08:08.68\00:08:10.19 family and I ended up going to a 00:08:10.19\00:08:11.85 family breakfast. 00:08:11.85\00:08:12.85 And sitting around the table at 00:08:13.52\00:08:15.29 our family breakfast, the uncle 00:08:15.29\00:08:16.69 who I didn't really talk to very 00:08:16.69\00:08:18.76 much, we didn't chat a lot, but 00:08:18.76\00:08:19.86 he was very into music and he 00:08:19.86\00:08:21.56 said, "Well," he looked at me, 00:08:21.56\00:08:22.90 he said, "If you have all this 00:08:22.90\00:08:23.83 time on your hands sitting 00:08:23.83\00:08:25.47 there, why don't you keep 00:08:25.47\00:08:27.34 playing the guitar?" 00:08:27.34\00:08:28.40 And I had started, I started 00:08:28.77\00:08:30.24 about age 11 playing, and I had 00:08:30.24\00:08:31.94 let it go for a number of years. 00:08:31.94\00:08:33.51 And so it struck me that that 00:08:33.51\00:08:35.44 was the opportunity, that was 00:08:35.44\00:08:36.68 the moment where I could say, 00:08:36.68\00:08:37.91 you know what? 00:08:37.91\00:08:39.01 I have time, I might as well 00:08:39.78\00:08:41.38 practice it. 00:08:41.38\00:08:41.98 So I started picking up the 00:08:42.05\00:08:43.02 guitar and God used the guitar 00:08:43.02\00:08:45.39 as something to bring joy into 00:08:45.39\00:08:47.69 my life, something to take that 00:08:47.69\00:08:49.26 pain, that darkness, and give me 00:08:49.26\00:08:51.23 an opportunity to play 00:08:51.23\00:08:52.26 something. 00:08:52.26\00:08:53.23 And it would-- it became an 00:08:53.23\00:08:54.73 integral part of my life. 00:08:54.73\00:08:56.06 I loved music and music is 00:08:56.06\00:08:57.50 something that I am always, it's 00:08:57.50\00:09:00.50 always around me, I like to have 00:09:00.50\00:09:02.14 it playing, I like to be playing 00:09:02.14\00:09:03.74 it, I like to be singing every 00:09:03.74\00:09:05.27 chance I get. 00:09:05.27\00:09:06.04 So God has definitely taken that 00:09:06.04\00:09:07.78 and he's moulded that into 00:09:07.78\00:09:09.04 my life. 00:09:09.04\00:09:09.84 >> Clint, at a young age, you 00:09:10.45\00:09:11.88 went on a spiritual journey. 00:09:11.88\00:09:14.02 Tell us what that looked like. 00:09:14.65\00:09:16.52 >> So when going through all my 00:09:16.95\00:09:18.82 struggles, I began to realize 00:09:18.82\00:09:20.62 that I love to work with people 00:09:20.62\00:09:22.46 and youth especially. 00:09:22.46\00:09:24.06 That was something that I found, 00:09:24.06\00:09:25.46 I connected with youth 00:09:25.46\00:09:26.43 really well. 00:09:26.43\00:09:27.30 And the other relationship that 00:09:27.30\00:09:28.90 I had that I loved was music and 00:09:28.90\00:09:30.70 I loved to play music. 00:09:30.70\00:09:32.10 So early on, as a young boy, I 00:09:32.10\00:09:34.37 remember going to my church and 00:09:34.37\00:09:35.47 I went to the leaders in my 00:09:35.47\00:09:36.60 church and I said, "I wanna be 00:09:36.60\00:09:37.84 involved in youth ministry." 00:09:37.84\00:09:39.64 And they said, I basically got 00:09:39.64\00:09:41.61 the response of, "You're not old 00:09:41.61\00:09:42.78 enough, so we're not gonna 00:09:42.78\00:09:44.38 let you." 00:09:44.38\00:09:45.31 And it was disheartening for me 00:09:45.31\00:09:46.45 because I really had a passion 00:09:46.45\00:09:47.58 for it, but I thought, "Okay, if 00:09:47.58\00:09:48.85 I'm not old enough, I'll wait." 00:09:48.85\00:09:50.45 And so I thought, "I'm gonna do 00:09:50.99\00:09:52.12 music, I'm gonna do worship 00:09:52.12\00:09:53.39 ministry." 00:09:53.39\00:09:54.16 And so I remember going to a 00:09:54.16\00:09:55.36 couple of practices and I had my 00:09:55.36\00:09:56.96 guitar out and I was excited 00:09:56.96\00:09:58.43 to play. 00:09:58.43\00:09:59.16 And then a number of people 00:09:59.19\00:10:00.03 approached me and they said, 00:10:00.03\00:10:01.06 "You can practice with your 00:10:01.06\00:10:02.13 guitar, but we don't want you to 00:10:02.13\00:10:03.47 play with your guitar." 00:10:03.47\00:10:04.87 And it was crushing. 00:10:04.87\00:10:06.17 It was something that as a young 00:10:06.17\00:10:07.37 kid I had to passions and both 00:10:07.37\00:10:08.64 of them were extinguished 00:10:08.64\00:10:10.27 at that point. 00:10:10.27\00:10:11.11 So it broke me a little bit and 00:10:11.11\00:10:13.04 I ended up getting to a point 00:10:13.04\00:10:14.41 where I knew that God was 00:10:14.41\00:10:15.88 calling me to these two things. 00:10:15.88\00:10:17.58 So I said, I'm gonna go start 00:10:17.58\00:10:19.51 looking around and I'm gonna 00:10:19.51\00:10:20.58 find where God has called 00:10:20.58\00:10:21.85 me to be. 00:10:21.85\00:10:22.65 And so for a number of years, I 00:10:23.42\00:10:24.75 hopped churches and I crested 00:10:24.75\00:10:27.76 the doors and came into 00:10:27.76\00:10:29.66 different places where I had 00:10:29.66\00:10:30.79 friends, I had people that I 00:10:30.79\00:10:32.03 knew, and no matter where I 00:10:32.03\00:10:33.26 went, I never really felt like I 00:10:33.26\00:10:34.86 fully connected. 00:10:34.86\00:10:36.03 There were pieces that fit, 00:10:36.03\00:10:37.37 but I didn't have all of them. 00:10:37.37\00:10:38.53 And one day a beautiful woman 00:10:39.10\00:10:41.44 who is now my wife, she invited 00:10:41.44\00:10:43.04 me to come to church with her. 00:10:43.04\00:10:44.14 And I remember thinking to 00:10:44.54\00:10:45.67 myself, "Well, church on 00:10:45.67\00:10:46.91 Saturdays is peculiar. 00:10:46.91\00:10:48.61 That's weird. 00:10:48.61\00:10:49.28 I don't think that's really for 00:10:49.28\00:10:50.48 me, but I'll give it a try." 00:10:50.48\00:10:52.15 And I walked in the doors of the 00:10:52.15\00:10:53.92 church and within the first few 00:10:53.92\00:10:56.28 minutes the greeter approached 00:10:56.28\00:10:57.65 me and I didn't know him, I had 00:10:57.65\00:10:59.72 never met him, never talked to 00:10:59.72\00:11:00.92 him before, and found out that a 00:11:00.92\00:11:02.86 few minutes later he actually 00:11:02.86\00:11:04.23 knew a lot of my family and he 00:11:04.23\00:11:05.63 had actually been around some of 00:11:05.63\00:11:06.93 my family before. 00:11:06.93\00:11:08.20 And so there was a connection 00:11:08.20\00:11:09.10 there and I remember he making 00:11:09.10\00:11:10.43 eye contact with me and he 00:11:10.43\00:11:11.70 looked at me, he said, "What do 00:11:11.70\00:11:12.43 you wanna do? 00:11:12.43\00:11:13.50 What is your passion?" and I 00:11:13.50\00:11:14.50 said, I'm like, "I have passion 00:11:14.50\00:11:15.84 in youth ministry, I wanna 00:11:15.84\00:11:17.27 serve," and I said, "I have 00:11:17.27\00:11:18.27 passion in worship ministry." 00:11:18.27\00:11:19.57 And before I even got into the 00:11:20.04\00:11:21.98 sanctuary, he said, "We have a 00:11:21.98\00:11:24.18 great opportunity. 00:11:24.18\00:11:25.18 You can come play music here, 00:11:25.18\00:11:26.28 you can come worship with us, 00:11:26.28\00:11:27.92 and we don't have someone to 00:11:27.92\00:11:29.58 lead youth right now, we would 00:11:29.58\00:11:30.99 love to have you here." 00:11:30.99\00:11:32.32 And it was that moment of 00:11:32.32\00:11:34.22 understanding right when you get 00:11:34.22\00:11:35.42 into that situation and you're 00:11:35.46\00:11:36.59 like, "This is a place that God 00:11:36.59\00:11:37.96 has put me in. 00:11:37.96\00:11:38.99 This is the place God's called 00:11:38.99\00:11:40.03 me to be." 00:11:40.03\00:11:40.96 And so having that opportunity 00:11:40.96\00:11:42.36 to walk in the door and then we 00:11:42.36\00:11:43.87 have another, one of our elders 00:11:43.87\00:11:45.80 now, she she approached me and 00:11:45.80\00:11:47.94 she basically became my church 00:11:47.94\00:11:49.04 mom where she-- if there was 00:11:49.04\00:11:50.57 anything I needed, she's like, 00:11:50.57\00:11:51.77 "You can come to me, we can talk 00:11:51.77\00:11:52.91 about it." 00:11:52.91\00:11:53.81 And so not only did I feel 00:11:53.81\00:11:55.14 included, but I felt welcome and 00:11:55.14\00:11:56.75 I felt loved at the same time. 00:11:56.75\00:11:58.45 So it was a long journey, it was 00:11:58.45\00:11:59.91 a hard journey and there was a 00:11:59.91\00:12:01.22 lot of questions, there was a 00:12:01.22\00:12:02.12 lot of times where there was a 00:12:02.12\00:12:03.22 lot of doubt in my life, there 00:12:03.22\00:12:04.95 was a lot of pain, a lot of 00:12:04.95\00:12:06.76 struggle that way. 00:12:06.76\00:12:07.86 But in the end, I found the 00:12:08.46\00:12:10.13 place where God had put me and 00:12:10.13\00:12:11.83 it has become my home and it's 00:12:11.83\00:12:12.99 become my home church. 00:12:12.99\00:12:14.10 >> And because you're such an 00:12:14.86\00:12:16.40 energetic and enthusiastic guy, 00:12:16.40\00:12:18.10 Clint, you have taken on some 00:12:18.10\00:12:19.70 leadership positions in the 00:12:19.70\00:12:20.60 church. 00:12:20.60\00:12:21.24 Tell us about that. 00:12:21.24\00:12:22.17 >> I am currently-- well, as I 00:12:22.17\00:12:23.84 mentioned, I do-- I run youth 00:12:23.84\00:12:25.44 ministry in the church, I'm 00:12:25.44\00:12:27.11 involved in the worship ministry 00:12:27.11\00:12:28.18 that way, I took on a position 00:12:28.18\00:12:29.94 as being an elder, a couple of 00:12:29.94\00:12:31.21 years ago I took on personal 00:12:31.21\00:12:32.41 ministries, so that means I get 00:12:32.41\00:12:34.18 to be in charge of making sure 00:12:34.18\00:12:36.05 we're coordinating a lot of the 00:12:36.05\00:12:37.49 ministries that are coming on, 00:12:37.49\00:12:38.55 women's ministry, men's 00:12:38.55\00:12:39.49 ministry, family ministry, our 00:12:39.49\00:12:40.82 health ministries as well. 00:12:40.82\00:12:42.36 And speaking of health 00:12:42.36\00:12:43.19 ministries, then I was able to 00:12:43.19\00:12:44.86 assist with the Depression 00:12:44.86\00:12:45.73 Anxiety program as well, 00:12:45.73\00:12:47.00 becoming a facilitator for that. 00:12:47.00\00:12:48.90 So there's definitely been a lot 00:12:48.90\00:12:50.17 of things that I've had an 00:12:50.17\00:12:51.10 opportunity to do and, like you 00:12:51.10\00:12:52.90 said, with the energy that God 00:12:52.90\00:12:54.44 gives me, I just, I'm able to 00:12:54.44\00:12:56.10 keep going, so... 00:12:56.10\00:12:57.11 >> Clint, you and your wife, 00:12:57.11\00:12:58.47 Theresa, don't have any children 00:12:58.47\00:13:00.48 of your own, but you're very 00:13:00.48\00:13:02.48 actively involved in the local 00:13:02.48\00:13:04.68 community with young people and 00:13:04.68\00:13:06.72 young adults. 00:13:06.72\00:13:07.45 Can you tell us about that? 00:13:07.45\00:13:09.45 >> Like I said, when I came to 00:13:09.45\00:13:10.32 church, there was a handful of 00:13:10.32\00:13:11.75 youth that were here, and it was 00:13:11.75\00:13:12.95 always a passion of mine to try 00:13:12.95\00:13:14.32 and get as many kids in the 00:13:14.32\00:13:15.72 church, as much youth as we can, 00:13:15.72\00:13:17.56 because the youth is definitely 00:13:17.56\00:13:18.63 the future of the church, 00:13:18.63\00:13:20.10 they're what push us forward. 00:13:20.10\00:13:21.16 So we've definitely put a lot of 00:13:21.16\00:13:23.77 effort into trying to grow that. 00:13:23.77\00:13:25.27 And this year has been 00:13:25.27\00:13:26.20 incredible. 00:13:26.20\00:13:26.80 We have an amazing group. 00:13:26.80\00:13:28.20 We went from having about 5 00:13:28.20\00:13:30.44 to 7 every year for the last 00:13:30.44\00:13:32.17 couple of years and this year we 00:13:32.17\00:13:33.58 typically have between 16 to 24 00:13:33.58\00:13:36.38 and our youth has just expounded 00:13:36.38\00:13:37.78 and it's grown exponentially. 00:13:37.78\00:13:39.35 And so it's a huge blessing 00:13:39.35\00:13:40.75 from God. 00:13:40.75\00:13:41.75 And apart from that as well, 00:13:41.75\00:13:43.25 I've been given an opportunity 00:13:43.25\00:13:45.22 to work with a local ministry. 00:13:45.22\00:13:47.19 And so what we do is we run 00:13:47.19\00:13:48.62 what's called the Youth for 00:13:48.62\00:13:49.69 Christ Hockey League and it's a 00:13:49.69\00:13:50.79 little floor hockey league that 00:13:50.79\00:13:51.93 we run. 00:13:51.93\00:13:53.03 You'd think that it would be a 00:13:53.03\00:13:54.13 small little league. 00:13:54.13\00:13:55.10 We, this year we had 110 kids 00:13:55.10\00:13:56.83 for our first year and we're 00:13:56.83\00:13:58.53 consistently around 60, 70 kids. 00:13:58.53\00:14:01.37 So the joke that my wife and I 00:14:01.37\00:14:02.57 have is we don't have kids of 00:14:02.57\00:14:04.37 our own, but we-- I-- we really 00:14:04.37\00:14:06.31 have, like, 100 kids. 00:14:06.31\00:14:08.04 So-- and with working with youth 00:14:08.04\00:14:09.61 ministry in regards to downtown 00:14:09.61\00:14:11.71 and with the inner city kids, 00:14:11.71\00:14:14.02 it's everything from kids that 00:14:14.02\00:14:15.85 come from a good situation to 00:14:15.85\00:14:16.95 kids that come from a very 00:14:16.95\00:14:18.12 difficult situation. 00:14:18.12\00:14:19.29 Kids that don't have a family, 00:14:19.52\00:14:20.79 they don't have a home. 00:14:20.79\00:14:22.19 There's a lot of kids that get 00:14:22.19\00:14:23.63 bounced around from home to 00:14:23.63\00:14:24.96 home, sleeping on couches and 00:14:24.96\00:14:26.09 things like that. 00:14:26.09\00:14:27.00 They've never actually 00:14:27.00\00:14:28.30 experienced the love of Christ. 00:14:28.33\00:14:29.83 And so it's been an amazing 00:14:29.83\00:14:30.73 opportunity to get involved 00:14:30.73\00:14:32.20 doing this ministry and being 00:14:32.20\00:14:33.64 able to be His hands in His feet 00:14:33.64\00:14:36.17 and watching these young men and 00:14:36.17\00:14:37.94 women grow and seeing how they 00:14:37.94\00:14:40.71 just become more and more 00:14:40.71\00:14:41.91 accomplished in their life. 00:14:41.91\00:14:43.24 And then especially with the 00:14:43.24\00:14:44.38 church ministry, watching them 00:14:44.38\00:14:45.55 take on roles and relieving that 00:14:45.55\00:14:48.25 stress that comes from 00:14:48.25\00:14:49.22 leadership as well of maybe 00:14:49.22\00:14:51.09 overburdening on the roles 00:14:51.09\00:14:52.45 as well. 00:14:52.45\00:14:53.32 >> Clint, you mentioned that you 00:14:53.32\00:14:54.69 work with the Depression 00:14:54.69\00:14:55.62 Recovery program. 00:14:55.62\00:14:57.16 Why is it that you got involved 00:14:57.16\00:14:58.46 in helping people overcome 00:14:58.46\00:15:00.36 depression and anxiety? 00:15:00.36\00:15:02.10 >> So as I mentioned, when I was 00:15:02.63\00:15:04.53 15, I went through a very 00:15:04.53\00:15:05.87 difficult point in my life and 00:15:05.87\00:15:07.87 it seems, my personality today 00:15:07.87\00:15:09.90 seems like I'm very upbeat and 00:15:09.90\00:15:11.24 I'm very excited, but depression 00:15:11.24\00:15:12.64 has been something I've 00:15:12.64\00:15:13.51 struggled with for a number 00:15:13.51\00:15:14.34 of years. 00:15:14.34\00:15:15.14 Having gone through what I went 00:15:15.14\00:15:16.75 through and having, you know, 00:15:16.75\00:15:18.35 felt that influence from God and 00:15:18.35\00:15:20.88 that direction and being at that 00:15:20.88\00:15:22.85 lowest point, when you get to a 00:15:22.85\00:15:25.45 state where you don't know if 00:15:25.45\00:15:26.62 there's a tomorrow, you don't, 00:15:26.62\00:15:28.82 maybe you don't even wanna know, 00:15:28.82\00:15:30.03 you don't even wanna be a part 00:15:30.03\00:15:31.43 of tomorrow. 00:15:31.43\00:15:32.56 So being able to be a part of 00:15:32.56\00:15:34.00 the Depression Recovery program 00:15:34.00\00:15:35.20 and help with that, it's been a 00:15:35.20\00:15:37.30 huge opportunity. 00:15:37.30\00:15:39.47 And I love it because we get a 00:15:39.47\00:15:41.00 small group together, you get a 00:15:41.00\00:15:42.97 great chance to get to know 00:15:42.97\00:15:43.97 people and you actually get to 00:15:43.97\00:15:45.07 connect with people and connect 00:15:45.07\00:15:46.68 with where they're coming from 00:15:46.68\00:15:48.28 and seeing how people are 00:15:48.28\00:15:49.61 struggling, seeing people 00:15:49.61\00:15:50.98 where they are and connecting 00:15:50.98\00:15:53.08 with them where they are. 00:15:53.08\00:15:54.28 That's-- it's amazing. 00:15:54.28\00:15:55.45 And so it's been an absolute 00:15:55.45\00:15:56.89 opportunity to do it and I 00:15:56.89\00:15:58.19 love it. 00:15:58.19\00:15:58.92 And we're growing and we're 00:15:58.92\00:16:00.92 really hoping that we can 00:16:00.92\00:16:01.86 continue to develop the program 00:16:01.86\00:16:03.89 so that way we can reach more of 00:16:03.89\00:16:05.33 the community in that way. 00:16:05.33\00:16:06.63 >> I have one more question for 00:16:06.93\00:16:08.23 you with regards to your work 00:16:08.23\00:16:10.63 with the inner city children and 00:16:10.63\00:16:12.50 the youth, why did you choose 00:16:12.50\00:16:15.10 hockey as a medium of reaching 00:16:15.10\00:16:18.34 these young people? 00:16:18.34\00:16:19.97 >> So growing up, stereotypical 00:16:19.97\00:16:22.01 Canadian, hockey was a big part 00:16:22.01\00:16:24.05 of our life, especially having 00:16:24.05\00:16:26.01 not been Seventh-day Adventist, 00:16:26.01\00:16:27.22 Saturday night, that was what 00:16:27.22\00:16:28.38 we did. 00:16:28.38\00:16:28.95 My dad played a lot of hockey on 00:16:29.15\00:16:30.25 Sunday nights in the local town, 00:16:30.25\00:16:32.29 so we would go and we'd 00:16:32.29\00:16:33.09 watch him. 00:16:33.09\00:16:34.09 And I remember, despite the pain 00:16:34.09\00:16:35.66 that I was going through with my 00:16:35.66\00:16:36.79 knees, my goal was always to get 00:16:36.79\00:16:39.46 as healthy as I can as quickly 00:16:39.46\00:16:40.83 as I can, 'cause I wanted to get 00:16:40.83\00:16:41.80 back on the ice. 00:16:41.80\00:16:42.56 I wanted to play. 00:16:42.56\00:16:43.43 I was an active kid. 00:16:43.43\00:16:44.67 I loved it. 00:16:44.67\00:16:45.50 And I remember I was going 00:16:46.10\00:16:48.17 through my junior hockey in the 00:16:48.17\00:16:49.67 little town of Hague, just 00:16:49.67\00:16:51.14 outside Saskatoon, and I 00:16:51.14\00:16:53.21 remember we got into playoffs 00:16:53.21\00:16:54.84 and I was such-- I'm a 00:16:54.84\00:16:56.04 competitive person as well, and 00:16:56.04\00:16:57.55 we got into playoffs and I was 00:16:57.55\00:16:58.71 so excited to go. 00:16:58.71\00:17:00.12 And I remember sitting down one 00:17:00.12\00:17:01.62 night and I had a prayer 'cause 00:17:01.62\00:17:02.82 I was the goalie that was 00:17:02.82\00:17:04.12 starting and the pressure 00:17:04.12\00:17:05.15 was on me. 00:17:05.15\00:17:06.05 And I remember sitting down and 00:17:06.39\00:17:07.49 I prayed and I was like, "Lord, 00:17:07.49\00:17:08.92 if you want me to be involved in 00:17:08.92\00:17:10.83 hockey in my life going forward, 00:17:10.83\00:17:13.13 then You'll help us win this 00:17:13.13\00:17:14.76 game." 00:17:14.76\00:17:15.76 The classic prayer that most 00:17:15.76\00:17:17.60 kids do, right? 00:17:17.60\00:17:18.60 "Lord, help us win this game. 00:17:18.60\00:17:19.53 We wanna win!" 00:17:19.53\00:17:20.64 And I remember praying that 00:17:20.64\00:17:21.60 prayer and that next game, we 00:17:21.60\00:17:22.97 had a really good game, it was a 00:17:22.97\00:17:24.44 home game, we won. 00:17:24.44\00:17:25.74 And I remember going home 00:17:25.74\00:17:26.68 thinking this was great, like, 00:17:26.68\00:17:28.28 God is on our side, He's helping 00:17:28.28\00:17:29.94 us win. 00:17:29.94\00:17:31.01 And then I went a step farther 00:17:31.01\00:17:33.68 and I said, "God, if You want me 00:17:33.68\00:17:35.62 to go far in my career, if You 00:17:35.62\00:17:37.85 want me to, you know, go really 00:17:37.85\00:17:39.35 far, WHL, the NHL, something big 00:17:39.35\00:17:41.36 like that, You'll help us get to 00:17:41.36\00:17:42.86 the next one." 00:17:42.86\00:17:43.83 And we lost. 00:17:45.03\00:17:46.06 And it was very deflating as a 00:17:46.59\00:17:48.36 young boy because I thought I 00:17:48.36\00:17:50.00 was on the right path, I thought 00:17:50.00\00:17:51.17 I was asking the right 00:17:51.17\00:17:52.13 questions. 00:17:52.13\00:17:53.13 And it took a number of years, 00:17:53.13\00:17:55.74 it actually took a long time. 00:17:55.74\00:17:57.27 It was probably about six, seven 00:17:57.27\00:17:58.91 years ago that I was working 00:17:58.91\00:18:01.64 with Youth for Christ in 00:18:01.64\00:18:03.01 Saskatoon and I remember coming, 00:18:03.01\00:18:05.25 I was late getting one of the 00:18:05.25\00:18:06.38 games and I was stopped behind 00:18:06.38\00:18:07.35 a train. 00:18:07.35\00:18:08.22 And, you know, when you're late 00:18:08.65\00:18:10.62 and you feel all that pressure 00:18:10.62\00:18:12.32 and everything is bundling up 00:18:12.32\00:18:14.72 inside and I remember sitting at 00:18:14.72\00:18:15.92 the train being helpless, and I 00:18:15.92\00:18:17.89 felt God's peace come in my 00:18:17.89\00:18:19.33 life and I felt God say, "Hey, 00:18:19.33\00:18:21.63 I've got you where I need 00:18:21.63\00:18:22.66 you to be. 00:18:22.66\00:18:23.67 You're working with at-risk 00:18:23.67\00:18:25.03 youth, you're working with kids 00:18:25.03\00:18:26.37 that need to hear Me and they 00:18:26.37\00:18:28.10 want-- they've gone through 00:18:28.10\00:18:29.57 pain, they've gone through 00:18:29.57\00:18:30.54 depression." 00:18:30.54\00:18:31.34 Some of them have gone through 00:18:31.34\00:18:33.04 bodily issues as well, where 00:18:33.04\00:18:34.28 they've had a number of 00:18:34.28\00:18:35.18 surgeries. 00:18:35.18\00:18:36.04 And I just felt this peace from 00:18:36.04\00:18:37.15 God saying, "I've got you where 00:18:37.15\00:18:38.35 I want you to be." 00:18:38.35\00:18:39.38 And that kind of brought me to 00:18:39.98\00:18:41.72 peace with working in the league 00:18:41.72\00:18:43.52 and it fired up a little bit 00:18:43.52\00:18:44.72 more of that passion, if you 00:18:44.72\00:18:46.15 could say, I didn't have enough 00:18:46.15\00:18:47.16 already, that definitely fired 00:18:47.16\00:18:48.19 up some more. 00:18:48.19\00:18:49.32 And I started getting really 00:18:49.32\00:18:50.93 excited. 00:18:50.93\00:18:51.56 And then any chance I get, I try 00:18:51.63\00:18:53.09 to talk to as many kids as 00:18:53.09\00:18:54.40 we can. 00:18:54.40\00:18:55.26 We try, if we're not coaching on 00:18:55.26\00:18:56.93 the floor or if we're not 00:18:56.93\00:18:57.83 playing, the goal is to try and 00:18:57.83\00:18:59.23 build relationships and to 00:18:59.23\00:19:00.60 mentor with a lot of the youth 00:19:00.60\00:19:02.37 that are there. 00:19:02.37\00:19:03.14 And there have been a few 00:19:03.14\00:19:04.41 situations where God has taken 00:19:04.41\00:19:06.91 me out of my comfort zone, very 00:19:06.91\00:19:08.78 far out of my comfort zone and 00:19:08.78\00:19:10.01 He's broke my heart, where I 00:19:10.01\00:19:11.45 start talking to some of these 00:19:11.45\00:19:12.68 kids and you hear the stories of 00:19:12.68\00:19:13.88 where they come from, you hear 00:19:13.88\00:19:15.52 the struggle of what they have 00:19:15.52\00:19:17.42 and-- or what they don't have, 00:19:17.42\00:19:19.42 and you start feeling that pain 00:19:19.42\00:19:21.29 that they go through. 00:19:21.29\00:19:22.46 Being an empathic person, it 00:19:22.92\00:19:24.59 helps being able to feel that. 00:19:24.59\00:19:26.33 And what I found is that God has 00:19:26.33\00:19:28.40 given me so many opportunities 00:19:28.40\00:19:29.90 to just be able to speak His 00:19:29.90\00:19:31.20 peace into their life and to be 00:19:31.20\00:19:33.20 able to try and show them a 00:19:33.20\00:19:34.37 little bit of his strength, 00:19:34.37\00:19:36.14 saying, "God can make miracles 00:19:36.14\00:19:37.34 happen at any time. 00:19:37.34\00:19:38.74 You just have to trust and you 00:19:38.74\00:19:39.84 have to believe." 00:19:39.84\00:19:40.81 And so that is why hockey is 00:19:40.81\00:19:41.84 such a big part of me is I get a 00:19:41.84\00:19:43.98 chance to work with these kids, 00:19:43.98\00:19:46.15 I get a chance to push them to 00:19:46.15\00:19:47.48 their limits, get them away from 00:19:47.48\00:19:48.95 the devices and their cell 00:19:48.95\00:19:50.05 phones, get them to work with 00:19:50.05\00:19:51.35 each other and just be able to 00:19:51.35\00:19:53.22 build those relationships. 00:19:53.22\00:19:54.32 And every once in a while, it's 00:19:54.32\00:19:56.52 humbling for me, too, when you 00:19:56.52\00:19:58.49 watch these young kids that 00:19:58.49\00:19:59.63 you've seen since they were 00:19:59.63\00:20:00.66 seven, eight, ten years old, and 00:20:00.66\00:20:02.26 now they're in their late teens 00:20:02.26\00:20:04.03 and they're definitely surpassed 00:20:04.03\00:20:05.77 what my skill level is. 00:20:05.77\00:20:07.27 It's definitely humbling for me 00:20:07.27\00:20:08.70 as well that way, too, so... 00:20:08.70\00:20:10.47 >> Clint, you see your life as a 00:20:10.91\00:20:13.48 beautiful struggle. 00:20:13.48\00:20:15.18 So two final questions: why do 00:20:15.18\00:20:18.18 you see your life like that? 00:20:18.18\00:20:20.45 And secondly, is there a Bible 00:20:20.45\00:20:22.45 passage that has helped you with 00:20:22.45\00:20:25.69 this beautiful struggle? 00:20:25.69\00:20:27.96 I'll start by saying there's 00:20:29.52\00:20:30.39 gotta be a shoutout to my youth 00:20:30.39\00:20:31.83 group that way. 00:20:31.83\00:20:32.93 We started painting some ceiling 00:20:32.93\00:20:33.90 tiles downstairs and one of the 00:20:33.90\00:20:35.36 girls did a beautiful, beautiful 00:20:35.36\00:20:37.47 tile and she wrote on there, 00:20:37.47\00:20:38.93 "The Beautiful Struggle." 00:20:38.93\00:20:40.17 And it really hit me, it really 00:20:40.17\00:20:41.67 impacted me when I read that 00:20:41.67\00:20:43.00 because it became very relatable 00:20:43.00\00:20:45.01 in my life that what I had gone 00:20:45.01\00:20:47.08 through was something I maybe 00:20:47.08\00:20:49.18 had to go through. 00:20:49.18\00:20:50.25 If I wouldn't have gone through 00:20:50.78\00:20:51.98 it, I look back and I always 00:20:51.98\00:20:53.55 think to myself, "Who would I 00:20:53.55\00:20:54.82 have been? What if, right? 00:20:54.82\00:20:55.98 We think, "What if?" a lot. 00:20:55.98\00:20:57.29 And I think, "What if I wasn't 00:20:57.29\00:20:59.15 in chronic pain? 00:20:59.15\00:21:00.22 What if I didn't have arthritis? 00:21:00.22\00:21:01.76 What if I didn't have the 00:21:01.76\00:21:03.02 situation with my knees? 00:21:03.02\00:21:04.33 What if I didn't have the pain 00:21:04.33\00:21:05.36 that I go through? 00:21:05.36\00:21:06.73 What if I hadn't gone through a 00:21:06.73\00:21:07.50 tornado when I was six? 00:21:07.50\00:21:08.93 Things like that. 00:21:08.93\00:21:09.96 And what really makes it stand 00:21:10.20\00:21:11.97 out to me is that I firmly 00:21:11.97\00:21:13.64 believe that if I didn't have 00:21:13.64\00:21:15.07 these things, if I didn't have 00:21:15.07\00:21:17.01 these, I'm gonna call them 00:21:17.01\00:21:18.17 "deficiencies" or "thorns" that 00:21:18.17\00:21:19.67 are in my literal flesh, I would 00:21:19.67\00:21:22.14 be a completely different 00:21:22.14\00:21:23.24 person. 00:21:23.24\00:21:23.98 I would be, honestly, I would be 00:21:24.18\00:21:26.01 a very arrogant person, I would 00:21:26.01\00:21:27.58 be a very prideful person. 00:21:27.58\00:21:29.18 I can guarantee you I would not 00:21:29.18\00:21:30.32 be sitting in this chair and I 00:21:30.32\00:21:31.79 guarantee you that my religion, 00:21:31.79\00:21:33.86 my relationship, my faith with 00:21:33.86\00:21:36.26 God, it would not be there 00:21:36.26\00:21:38.13 because in my life I wanted me, 00:21:38.13\00:21:40.36 I wanted I and I wanted to get 00:21:40.36\00:21:41.86 better and better. 00:21:41.86\00:21:42.83 And so I look back with the 00:21:43.16\00:21:46.33 phrase "Beautiful struggle," and 00:21:46.33\00:21:47.50 I think, God has walked me 00:21:47.50\00:21:49.30 through this journey and it has 00:21:49.30\00:21:50.67 been a beautiful journey and 00:21:50.67\00:21:51.91 it's gonna be a beautiful 00:21:51.91\00:21:52.81 journey. 00:21:52.81\00:21:53.48 There's gonna be a lot more pain 00:21:53.48\00:21:54.78 coming down the road, there's 00:21:54.78\00:21:55.61 gonna be a lot more struggle 00:21:55.61\00:21:56.54 as well. 00:21:56.54\00:21:57.35 I'm not through the weeds 00:21:57.35\00:21:58.58 just yet. 00:21:58.58\00:21:59.58 But at the same time, I look 00:22:00.15\00:22:01.15 back and I say, "I have to rely 00:22:01.15\00:22:03.02 on His joy," and that's what 00:22:03.02\00:22:04.42 makes it beautiful and the 00:22:04.42\00:22:05.89 struggle that I go through, 00:22:05.89\00:22:06.89 which, as we mentioned as well, 00:22:06.89\00:22:08.39 also makes it relatable with the 00:22:08.39\00:22:10.06 inner city kids, it makes it 00:22:10.06\00:22:11.59 relatable with depression, 00:22:11.59\00:22:12.59 anxiety, it gives me an 00:22:12.59\00:22:14.40 opportunity to become not just 00:22:14.40\00:22:17.03 someone that you meet, but 00:22:17.03\00:22:18.27 actually a person that has 00:22:18.27\00:22:19.73 walked in that journey before, 00:22:19.73\00:22:22.20 even though I am young, 00:22:22.20\00:22:23.87 you know? 00:22:23.87\00:22:24.51 And so that's why I see my life 00:22:24.57\00:22:26.64 as a beautiful struggle. 00:22:26.64\00:22:27.94 And the verse that I would share 00:22:28.48\00:22:30.21 would be 2 Corinthians chapter 00:22:30.21\00:22:32.68 2, sorry, chapter 12 rather. 00:22:32.68\00:22:35.28 So 2 Corinthians chapter 12, 00:22:35.28\00:22:37.09 verses 5 to 10. 00:22:37.09\00:22:38.52 And this is from Paul and it 00:22:38.52\00:22:39.79 says... 00:22:39.79\00:22:40.66 And that has been very relatable 00:23:40.72\00:23:42.12 in my life. 00:23:42.12\00:23:43.02 Physical thorns, emotional 00:23:43.49\00:23:45.12 thorns, spiritual thorns, and it 00:23:45.12\00:23:46.72 has been something that has 00:23:46.72\00:23:47.79 impacted me and given me 00:23:47.79\00:23:49.49 encouragement when I'm going 00:23:49.49\00:23:50.96 through those struggles. 00:23:50.96\00:23:52.09 And like I said, I'm not out of 00:23:52.09\00:23:53.43 the weeds just yet, there's 00:23:53.43\00:23:54.46 gonna be a lot more that's gonna 00:23:54.46\00:23:55.76 come around, and I'm gonna have 00:23:55.76\00:23:56.93 to deal with a lot more, but... 00:23:56.93\00:23:58.63 The struggle is-- when you get a 00:23:59.30\00:24:00.90 chance, and this is what I'm 00:24:00.90\00:24:02.77 excited for, I'm excited to sit 00:24:02.77\00:24:04.14 before the throne of God. 00:24:04.14\00:24:05.54 I'm excited in the end when He 00:24:05.97\00:24:07.14 gathers everybody together and 00:24:07.14\00:24:09.11 He shows us the big picture and 00:24:09.11\00:24:11.01 He opens our eyes and we 00:24:11.01\00:24:12.65 can understand it. 00:24:12.65\00:24:13.82 My prayer is that when that 00:24:13.82\00:24:14.72 happens, I wanna see, I want Him 00:24:14.72\00:24:16.89 to be able to say, "Hey, you 00:24:16.89\00:24:18.02 remember that struggle that you 00:24:18.02\00:24:19.45 went through? 00:24:19.45\00:24:20.19 You remember that time that you 00:24:20.19\00:24:21.12 were just completely broken and 00:24:21.12\00:24:22.92 you were depressed and you 00:24:22.92\00:24:24.03 thought your life was just 00:24:24.03\00:24:25.29 completely over and you wanted 00:24:25.29\00:24:26.36 to quit and yet you persevered 00:24:26.36\00:24:28.26 and you pushed through? 00:24:28.26\00:24:29.56 Because of that, this whole 00:24:30.47\00:24:32.43 branch exists. 00:24:32.43\00:24:33.54 There was one person that you 00:24:33.90\00:24:35.77 don't even know, you never met 00:24:35.77\00:24:36.84 them, but there was one person 00:24:36.84\00:24:37.91 that was impacted." 00:24:37.91\00:24:39.21 And that's my prayer, is that 00:24:39.21\00:24:40.24 God will use this weakness that 00:24:40.24\00:24:41.71 is-- I have this thorn that's in 00:24:41.71\00:24:43.35 my flesh and use it to be able 00:24:43.35\00:24:45.01 to create a couple more houses 00:24:45.01\00:24:47.02 in heaven. 00:24:47.02\00:24:47.82 I know I won't be able to build 00:24:47.82\00:24:48.72 them, but I know it'll be 00:24:48.72\00:24:50.89 something that when we all get 00:24:50.89\00:24:52.82 together, it's just gonna be a 00:24:52.82\00:24:54.19 beautiful picture. 00:24:54.19\00:24:55.36 >> Thank you, Clint. 00:24:55.86\00:24:56.96 It's so inspirational what you 00:24:56.96\00:24:58.46 shared, but we've come to the 00:24:58.46\00:24:59.76 end of our time and I wonder if 00:24:59.76\00:25:00.83 as we close, you could pray for 00:25:00.83\00:25:02.96 our viewers. 00:25:02.96\00:25:03.73 Maybe there's someone who's 00:25:03.73\00:25:05.07 struggling with something right 00:25:05.07\00:25:07.00 now that they can see it as 00:25:07.00\00:25:09.60 you're seeing it, as God wants 00:25:09.60\00:25:10.84 them to see it as a beautiful 00:25:10.84\00:25:12.27 struggle so that they can look 00:25:12.27\00:25:13.44 back and they can say, 00:25:13.44\00:25:14.98 "I would have it no other way, 00:25:14.98\00:25:16.98 because this is the way that God 00:25:16.98\00:25:19.85 is using me to reach others and 00:25:19.85\00:25:22.62 to grow me for His kingdom." 00:25:22.62\00:25:24.25 >> Absolutely I would. 00:25:24.65\00:25:25.85 Let's pray. 00:25:25.85\00:25:26.86 Heavenly Father, I wanna thank 00:25:27.96\00:25:29.16 You for this day. 00:25:29.16\00:25:30.23 Father, I wanna thank You so 00:25:30.23\00:25:31.29 much for the people that are 00:25:31.29\00:25:33.29 listening to It Is Written today 00:25:33.29\00:25:34.73 and, Lord, I pray for someone 00:25:34.73\00:25:36.33 that is out there. 00:25:36.33\00:25:37.57 God, maybe there's a lot of 00:25:37.57\00:25:38.50 people, maybe it's just one. 00:25:38.50\00:25:39.90 Maybe this entire video is 00:25:39.90\00:25:42.04 just for one specific person 00:25:42.04\00:25:43.74 that's in this world. 00:25:43.74\00:25:44.87 But God, my prayer is that You 00:25:45.24\00:25:46.41 will hold Your ear a little 00:25:46.41\00:25:48.14 closer to them, You'll hold them 00:25:48.14\00:25:50.18 a little closer to Your heart. 00:25:50.18\00:25:51.31 God, I know the pain and the 00:25:51.31\00:25:52.91 struggle that they're going 00:25:52.91\00:25:54.08 through. 00:25:54.08\00:25:54.82 Father, I just pray for a little 00:25:54.82\00:25:56.62 bit of easing for that pain. 00:25:56.62\00:25:59.19 Father, if it is distracting 00:25:59.62\00:26:00.89 them, if it is clouding their 00:26:00.89\00:26:02.39 judgment, I ask, Lord, that You 00:26:02.39\00:26:04.09 will come upon them, Father, 00:26:04.09\00:26:05.63 that Your Holy Spirit will move 00:26:05.63\00:26:07.66 into their life, that You will 00:26:07.66\00:26:09.20 open up their eyes, Lord, that 00:26:09.20\00:26:10.37 they will see the bigger 00:26:10.37\00:26:12.10 picture, Father, that you will 00:26:12.10\00:26:13.37 light the lamp a little bit 00:26:13.37\00:26:14.74 farther in front of their feet 00:26:14.74\00:26:16.07 that they will see why they have 00:26:16.07\00:26:18.01 to go through what they're going 00:26:18.01\00:26:19.21 through, why they have to 00:26:19.21\00:26:20.64 struggle in that weakness. 00:26:20.64\00:26:21.94 And, Lord, my prayer is that 00:26:22.44\00:26:23.38 they will continue to push on. 00:26:23.38\00:26:25.05 Father, they will not give up, 00:26:25.41\00:26:26.55 they will not wanna take 00:26:26.55\00:26:27.72 themselves out of the equation 00:26:27.72\00:26:29.55 because maybe for them, maybe 00:26:29.55\00:26:30.69 for the whole life that they 00:26:30.69\00:26:32.09 live, Lord, You can bring one 00:26:32.09\00:26:33.72 more person to Your heaven. 00:26:33.72\00:26:35.46 God, You can bring one more 00:26:35.46\00:26:36.36 person to eternity. 00:26:36.36\00:26:37.63 And my prayer, Father, is that 00:26:38.19\00:26:39.36 You will grant them an audience 00:26:39.36\00:26:42.10 that's a little bit closer to 00:26:42.10\00:26:43.47 You, You'll hold them close, 00:26:43.47\00:26:45.37 You'll comfort them, You'll 00:26:45.37\00:26:47.04 guide them. 00:26:47.04\00:26:48.14 And, Father, my prayers that You 00:26:48.44\00:26:49.34 will bless them, open their 00:26:49.34\00:26:51.44 eyes, and help them to see 00:26:51.44\00:26:53.68 Your plan. 00:26:53.68\00:26:54.88 In Jesus' name, we pray, amen. 00:26:54.88\00:26:57.18 [MIKE] Amen. 00:26:57.18\00:26:58.18 [RENÉ] Clint, thank you so much 00:26:58.88\00:27:00.18 for joining us on It Is Written 00:27:00.18\00:27:02.22 Canada today. 00:27:02.22\00:27:03.49 >> It's my pleasure. 00:27:03.79\00:27:04.75 Thank you very much for 00:27:04.75\00:27:05.49 having me. 00:27:05.49\00:27:06.29 >> Friends, as part of Clint's 00:27:08.79\00:27:10.23 ongoing journey was the keeping 00:27:10.23\00:27:12.39 of the weekly Sabbath, which may 00:27:12.39\00:27:14.83 have opened up some questions in 00:27:14.83\00:27:16.73 your mind about what the Bible 00:27:16.73\00:27:18.73 teaches about the Sabbath. 00:27:18.73\00:27:20.80 >> Our free offer for you is 00:27:21.40\00:27:23.77 What the Bible Says About the 00:27:23.77\00:27:25.54 Sabbath. 00:27:25.54\00:27:26.37 This free full-colour booklet 00:27:26.78\00:27:28.84 has been prepared to help you 00:27:28.84\00:27:30.58 clearly understand and 00:27:30.58\00:27:32.78 appreciate what the Bible says 00:27:32.78\00:27:35.45 about the Sabbath. 00:27:35.45\00:27:36.69 >> This little book will provide 00:27:36.69\00:27:38.45 practical answers that will help 00:27:38.45\00:27:40.42 you to see how God is prepared 00:27:40.42\00:27:43.66 to bless your life with this 00:27:43.66\00:27:45.73 special gift of sacred time. 00:27:45.73\00:27:48.13 You, too, can experience the 00:27:50.10\00:27:51.23 fullness of life that is found 00:27:51.23\00:27:53.13 in the words of Jesus when He 00:27:53.13\00:27:54.67 said... 00:27:54.67\00:27:55.37 [playing gentle guitar music] 00:28:04.48\00:28:07.78 ¤¤ 00:28:07.78\00:28:51.19 ¤¤ 00:28:51.19\00:28:58.63