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Quiet Faith, Loud Impact | Brandon Lee
47 Plays7 days ago
Brandon Lee is the founder of a youth-focused nonprofit that serves local teens through the world of BMX. Brandon opens up about the quiet faith that carried him through deep hardships, the season when pain pulled him away from the Lord, and the slow, honest rebuilding of his relationship with Him—even while life was far from “figured out.” Brandon lives with a steady joy—serving the Lord, loving his family, and using BMX as an avenue for hope and connection in his community.
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction to Brandon Lee
00:00:57
Steven J. Neuner
Hey guys, welcome back to Unstuck and Alive, where we like to get together around the proverbial fire pit and have great conversations with people that you just need to know that whose stories just need to be told.
00:01:12
Steven J. Neuner
And today we've got a really special friend who has had maybe the disprivilege of knowing me since we were about 15 years old.
00:01:13
Todd Pinkston
you
00:01:24
Steven J. Neuner
but really, really a spiritual giant and hero in my life. And so I'm really excited to introduce my friend. We called him Nod Narp Eel. He also has gone by aliases known as Lumpy, but he is known Brandon Lee professionally.
00:01:39
Steven J. Neuner
He's also the founder of a really cool nonprofit. going let him tell you about that. He's a wonderful husband to a beautiful bride, Cassie, married way out of his league, and he's got three beautiful daughters to prove it.
00:01:50
Steven J. Neuner
And so Brandon, welcome to Unstuck and Alive.
00:01:54
blee
Thank you.
00:01:54
Todd Pinkston
Come on.
00:01:54
blee
Thanks for having me. It's pleasure just to be here.
Nonprofit and Community Impact
00:01:57
blee
and That's a humbling intro. i appreciate it.
00:02:00
Steven J. Neuner
Well,
00:02:03
blee
Yeah, the the nonprofit I run is a youth service nonprofit. There's a lot to talk lot to say about that. Tip of the iceberg, though, is we look to serve the local youth in our area through the vehicle of BMX bicycles.
00:02:17
blee
So we grew up riding bikes, and we forged a lot of friendships and learned a lot of practical skills along the way, sometimes how to how to bandage up wounds and how to get each other to the hospital without our parents knowing.
00:02:30
blee
But...
00:02:31
Todd Pinkston
Good skill to have.
00:02:32
blee
but just There's just a lot there. And so there's deep waters in in BMX and I've had my foot in that since since Steve and I were teenagers. So I see a lot of but of benefit, a lot of life in that. A lot of kids need a little bit of guidance and just some help along the way. And, you know, we experienced
Early Life and Family Background
00:02:50
blee
that growing up. So looking to give that back to the community.
00:02:53
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah. Well, if you would, I'd love it just for the sake of where all the many directions this conversation go. I'd love if you would just share some of your story and just some of the things that have have have shaped you that maybe when people meet Brandon Lee with with a long, cool, long hair and a cool trucker cap or whatever, don't don't know about you.
00:03:17
blee
I mean, it just depends on how far back you want to go. You start from the beginning gives
00:03:22
Steven J. Neuner
Ones that shape the most. Let's go from the ones that shape, let's hit the highlights of the most impactful.
00:03:28
blee
Sure. so born in 1976 to Jean and Barbara Lee, in Redwood city, California, growing up in Texas, that's not something you really want to divulge to too many people that you were born in California or that you spent any time there.
00:03:30
Todd Pinkston
you.
00:03:47
blee
So interesting story there too. They, they met working at the commercial airlines. They both worked for United in the sixties into the seventies.
00:03:57
blee
so I have an older brother, uh, two and a half years older. His name's John. And, through the course of events, my father passed away when I was 16 months old.
00:04:08
Todd Pinkston
Mm-hmm.
00:04:08
blee
So born in 76, father passed away in 78. My mom had a sister, older sister who lived in Dallas. And so, course, of events we moved from Redwood City, San Francisco area, to Dallas in 78. I grew up there for...
00:04:26
blee
about five or six years before we moved to Plano, Texas. And started public school in Plano, third grade. And third grade's where you know him, Steven, Todd Kowalewski, I met him and in third grade and he was passing out flyers for the BMX track.
00:04:46
blee
And that was something that just piqued my interest and I was really excited about it. So we went and checked it out and I was hooked like immediately.
00:04:51
Todd Pinkston
Thank you.
00:04:55
blee
just people riding bikes and jumping and getting air and doing all the things. And so, you know, two, two things that impacted my life, but the BMX was the one that impacted me in a significant way to where I understood it mostly because my father passed away so young. I didn't know what I didn't know. And so, you know, i wrestle with different, different aspects of that, you know, throughout my life. But,
00:05:23
blee
Grew up in Plano and we ended up moving to Allen before my junior year.
Spiritual Journey and Challenges
00:05:31
blee
And so my mom bought a house that was like a hundred years old and we were going to fix it up.
00:05:37
blee
So you can understand a lot about me just knowing that about my mom. Like she's just has an idea to do something and she just goes and does it, you know, maybe not all the way thought out, but still a good idea. Like that's,
00:05:49
blee
That's a lot of who I am. So I graduated from Allen High School. We didn't know what to do about college. So I ended up going to a one year Bible college in Estes Park, Colorado.
00:06:01
blee
You know, not not the worst place to spend a year. So I was in the SS park for a year. the Bible college is one of those times where he could just, uh, shore up my faith, make it my own, make sure it wasn't something I just inherited from my family.
00:06:20
blee
and,
00:06:23
blee
I'll back up a little bit just to say when I was baptized, baptized in like second grade, which was important, but still one of those things I don't remember so much.
00:06:32
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:06:33
blee
The year after high school and at Ravencrest in Colorado was more poignant where it was something that was my own and I was able to understand it and live it out a little bit more.
00:06:45
blee
And I came home from Colorado and told my mom I wanted to move to California to make surfboards. So, you know, just lots of random randomness in my life.
00:06:55
blee
but it's just part of being a creative and artistic kind of guy. So moved to California. actually, came home from Colorado that, that summer, summer of 96 and told my mom was going to move to California to make surfboards.
00:07:11
blee
She thought I was crazy, but she believed me cause I started selling all my stuff and going to the pawn shop and getting rid of stuff to make money. so ended up in California did end up learning how to make surfboards.
00:07:27
blee
There's a season of my life where I walked away from God probably 98, so 98 to 2000, well, probably 99 to 2001.
00:07:39
Steven J. Neuner
Say more about that, Brandon.
00:07:42
blee
Growing up in the church, gone to Bible college, you know walking away from the Lord didn't seem like that was on my to-do list.
00:07:42
Todd Pinkston
Thank you.
00:07:49
blee
But you know just got disenchanted with some people in the church, and you know that's what happens. like it's not It's not the message so much, it's the people that are immediately around you that just irritate you or do things that you don't like and you're just like, fine, and screw it I'm just gonna leave. And I was just circumstantially, I was in a spot where that was that was what was gonna happen. So I walked away from church, stopped going, gonna live my own life.
00:08:16
blee
And so the next three years were, you know, whatever I wanted to do, I did it. And, you know, that's a, you know, i think that's freedom, but there's a lot of pain associated with that pain that I wouldn't have walked through otherwise.
00:08:30
blee
But experientially, like pain is, you know, pain is a forge that makes some good stuff on the other end, but like going through it, man. I had, uh,
00:08:42
blee
I had a couple health issues that came through those times, a constricted hernia that like almost put me down that had an emergency surgery for. And the next year i was living in Lake Tahoe with a girlfriend and, you know, I was doing snowmaking at the ski resort and we were, you know, riding snowmobiles up and down the mountain at 1130 at night.
00:09:01
Todd Pinkston
Thank you.
00:09:04
blee
And, and I got off on the wrong trail coming down. thought I was on a green. Didn't know the trails well enough. I ended up on a blue. That made this big sweeping turn to the right that I couldn't slow down for.
00:09:17
blee
Last thing I thought of, you know, the last thing on my mind was to jump off. So I stayed on and hit a snow fence at 30 miles an hour, you know, broke my hand, broke a bunch of ribs, shattered my spleen.
00:09:28
blee
You know, lucky that there was a snow cat there that was, we were helping us work that night because they had to come get me, take me down, call the ambulance, basically emergency surgery to remove my spleen.
00:09:41
blee
So, I mean, there's a couple of things you just like laying in the hospital You know, we were making snow, train waiting for the snow to come. And sure enough, as I'm sitting in the hospital, snow starts stacking. Like we had a couple of storms come through. And was like, no, I'm laid up and I can't go ride because the choices I made. So I heard voice of God say, hey, man, you done yet?
00:10:04
blee
So it's just like, well, I think I'm done. So, you know, it's, it's not an immediate turnaround. That's clean. You got to clean, got to live through the messy circumstances and, you know, consequences.
00:10:12
Steven J. Neuner
yeah
00:10:19
blee
So, you know, it was couple of years before I was back on a even plane where like, I even could trust the people around me, you know?
00:10:29
Steven J. Neuner
and
00:10:29
Steven J. Neuner
bre Brandon, before we before we talk about the out, okay, I just want to go just a layer deeper and I appreciate your authenticity and generosity here. So backstory, i was not a believer when Brandon and I met. We were teenagers, okay?
00:10:31
blee
yeah.
00:10:46
Steven J. Neuner
I was... but Starting my path of being actually so like I was already far away from God going super far away from God was my pathway after actually Brandon and I stopped hanging out.
00:10:57
Steven J. Neuner
But I remember when I became a Christ follower and I experienced the Holy Spirit, I often started having these memories of my past. that were being transformed. And one of the memories that often came up was of Brandon.
00:11:12
Steven J. Neuner
And so i I didn't know, but as a a new Christ follower, a baby baby believer in my 20s, I would look back and I would say, man I wonder if Brandon was a believer. There was just something different about him.
00:11:25
Steven J. Neuner
I knew it even as a kid. i was almost unconscious to it. but the But the way that Brandon showed up, the way that like he was comfortable in his own skin, he was God-finite for lack a matter of word, like around us.
00:11:38
Steven J. Neuner
There was just something about him that when we reconnected in our 20s, or well, much later, so when I became a believer in my 20s, I wondered, man, he must be a Christ follower. And then fast forward when we actually reconnected during COVID,
00:11:52
Steven J. Neuner
first
Reflections on Life and Faith
00:11:52
Steven J. Neuner
question I asked him out of my mouth when we reconnected was, are you, were you a believer? And he's like, yes. So to hear like truly one of the people that I would say was seed watered to push me towards Jesus, walk away from Christ.
00:12:07
Steven J. Neuner
I would love to hear just a little bit for anyone listening. like, what would be like, if you, what were the signal, what were the signs that you were about to push away?
00:12:16
Todd Pinkston
Good question.
00:12:28
blee
I don't know. Like there's a part of me that thinks that that season just had to happen. Like, like, would I go back and do it again? No. Would I change it? I mean, it's, it's painful, but it's, you know, it's part of who I am.
00:12:43
blee
It's, you know, it's like Peter's denial of Christ. Like, would he have become the, preacher and the man of God that he was, if he hadn't have denied Christ, like that, that pivotal moment in his life, like changed everything.
00:12:54
Steven J. Neuner
Probably not.
00:13:00
blee
And it was super painful, right? Just like how much doubt and fear and just like remorse did he have to have for that? It's like, I don't know. Sometimes I think we just got to find the bottom, you know, and sometimes the bottom's deeper than for others. And, you know, like, sure. I want to avoid pain, but Some things you can't learn without going through pain.
00:13:24
Todd Pinkston
Brandon, if you look back, you know you said it wasn't so much the message.
00:13:24
blee
So I don't know. I mean, there is a,
00:13:29
Todd Pinkston
It was the people that you know kind of turned you off and, and and you know, fine, I'll go i'll go somewhere else. But still, there's something internally that's unsatisfied with what you're getting from from the church, from from from your faith.
00:13:38
Steven J. Neuner
Thank you.
00:13:46
Todd Pinkston
What do you feel like that was? And then, you know, when you had that moment laying there and God said, are you done yet? Like, what do you think when you came back, how were you looking at that different?
00:14:02
blee
Can you repeat the last bit you cut out just a little bit?
00:14:05
Todd Pinkston
Yeah. So what was unsatisfied? And then when God said, are you done yet? And you and you kind of turn back, you come home, you had a prodigal, you know, coming home to the father.
00:14:17
Todd Pinkston
What how were you looking at that different? How was your perspective different at the end of, you know, a season of of rebellion?
00:14:26
blee
Sure. and I think I was just selfish to to be like unsatisfied. like The teaching was good. you know There was good fellowship. There was good people.
00:14:38
blee
I was just unsatisfied like and I was just selfish.
00:14:40
Steven J. Neuner
That's why I was the stuff I wanted to, that wasn't necessarily the same thing.
00:14:41
blee
like I wanted to do things my way. It wasn't necessarily that I
00:14:45
Steven J. Neuner
I don't know if I'm trying to see it in the other two.
00:14:47
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:14:48
blee
there was never a time through that season where I didn't know the truth.
00:14:51
Steven J. Neuner
I don't know if I was like, I don't know if I had to go.
00:14:52
blee
Like the Holy spirit never left me. Like I just was trying my best to silence his voice as much as I could, like just to try and do things with the way I wanted to do it.
00:14:56
Steven J. Neuner
I'm just supporting my friends as second test for myself.
00:15:05
blee
You know? I think there was just a long, long seasons growing up where I was just a more, for more or less just a rule follower. And there was never a time where I just,
00:15:17
blee
carte blanche just went out and did whatever I wanted to do and I think just there wasn't, it was more circumstantial where everything is just lined up to where I was in a season where I was willing to do that. Like, I don't know.
00:15:29
blee
And it wasn't even, It was conscious, but not conscious, if that makes sense. Where if you would have asked me, like, what are you doing?
00:15:34
Steven J. Neuner
I just remember, if you're ready to and make sure that, like, just to know what I was like, it was the, like, I was just like, you I think the other day, like, just like, where was in the ceiling, I think, like, like, that was very amazing what it was.
00:15:36
blee
Like, I don't know, just living my life. It wasn't that I was like, I'm consciously walking away from God. I didn't, I didn't come to that until it was later where I was able to say, like, I walked away from God. Like that was obviously what it was.
00:15:51
blee
And then.
00:15:51
Steven J. Neuner
And I was like, think, like, something that I just got in the name of the house, like, this is the,
00:15:53
blee
I think like Solomon, like he just got to the end of it all. it's like, this is all vanity. Like it's all pointless. It's all worthless. Like the striving after the wind, all these things that you you're searching for, for happiness or for just fulfillment. Like it doesn't work because it's designed not to work.
00:16:09
blee
Like the design of it all necessitates that you not only acknowledge the designer, but acknowledge that you've got a design in yourself.
00:16:18
Todd Pinkston
Thank you.
00:16:20
blee
Like we each have gifts and skill sets that are meant to be used in a certain way. And if you're using them the proper way, you'll never find satisfaction. I think there's a, there's just a, an understanding of that through the process to where,
00:16:33
Steven J. Neuner
and going to see the exhibition that I'm going to send it to the library in any way I can read it because I'm going to it.
00:16:37
blee
I was able to see experientially that I wasn't satisfied and and nor would I ever be because I wasn't using my skills or talents or anything that God given me in the way i was supposed to using it.
00:16:42
Steven J. Neuner
I see a lot of the terrorists are really going to be able to get them to get away. It's supposed to be that it's something that's on the side.
00:16:47
blee
And so therefore I was unsatisfied. Not only that, it was just self-destructive, right?
00:16:50
Steven J. Neuner
That's what I'm going to do.
00:16:55
blee
So laying in that bed, like, what am I doing? Like, not only do I not have any joy in my life, like, I don't even trust the people around me, you know, relationship problems where it's like you just, I don't, I don't trust anybody right now.
00:17:06
Steven J. Neuner
I don't know if you should probably be around. don't know if you're trying to see anybody right now.
00:17:12
blee
I'm laying in a bed. have my nearest family is like thousands of miles away.
00:17:15
Steven J. Neuner
I don't know if you have any family.
00:17:17
blee
Like I could die tonight and nobody would even know for three days.
00:17:18
Steven J. Neuner
I don't know if anybody's going to help the treatment.
00:17:20
blee
You know, they wouldn't even know who to contact.
00:17:23
Steven J. Neuner
I don't know if anybody's going to have any family.
00:17:26
Todd Pinkston
That's good. Thanks for sharing. So it's it's almost that idea of like the myth you felt like you were believing 98 was there's there's something over there.
00:17:37
Todd Pinkston
Like there's something <unk> something else that's out there that I haven't experienced better than what I have.
00:17:42
Steven J. Neuner
I experienced those things
00:17:44
Todd Pinkston
And what you feel like you realized in 2001 was Like it's right here. it's It's the connection with with God. It's a relationship with my heavenly father.
00:17:56
blee
yeah, the value, like the value is in that relationship, right? I
Financial Struggles and Family Life
00:17:59
blee
was searching for value in other things.
00:17:59
Steven J. Neuner
right
00:18:03
blee
and it wasn't until I experienced those things through, i realized like the marketing material for those things is just a bunch of crap.
00:18:07
Steven J. Neuner
like
00:18:10
Steven J. Neuner
but
00:18:10
blee
Like, you know, like you read those, those glossy handouts about like, Hey, and go to this vacation spot.
00:18:14
Steven J. Neuner
and
00:18:18
blee
It's the best. Like, it's the same thing. Like,
00:18:21
Steven J. Neuner
yeah i just heard that that I just heard this quote actually. i don't know what the amount was, but it's insane. But you know what the number one ad expenditure in the world is?
00:18:34
blee
Mailers.
00:18:36
Steven J. Neuner
and Well, what what product is out marketed the heaviest of all the other products in the world?
00:18:42
blee
Hmm.
00:18:43
Todd Pinkston
I
00:18:45
Steven J. Neuner
You have
00:18:47
blee
Skincare products.
00:18:49
Todd Pinkston
would have said makeup.
00:18:49
Steven J. Neuner
a guess?
00:18:53
blee
Death or debt.
00:18:54
Todd Pinkston
Huh.
00:18:54
Steven J. Neuner
yeah Debt.
00:18:56
Todd Pinkston
Death.
00:18:57
Steven J. Neuner
Debt. Debt.
00:18:58
blee
Okay.
00:18:59
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah.
00:18:59
blee
Yeah.
00:19:00
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:19:01
Steven J. Neuner
The banks, credit cards, like, yeah.
00:19:03
Todd Pinkston
Well, that's it's cheating because you can just get everything else with it, you know? Hmm. Hmm.
00:19:11
Steven J. Neuner
It's pretty wild.
00:19:13
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:19:13
Steven J. Neuner
So because what happens when you're in debt, like you become in a way, you can become imprisoned, right?
00:19:20
blee
Yeah.
00:19:21
Steven J. Neuner
So i just thought the irony of what you were just saying is like all those other things, but whether fueled by debt or not, can become a form of a prison.
00:19:30
blee
he
00:19:33
blee
Yeah. Cause I mean, there's so much baggage that comes along with that. Like that trails after once you've gone through that, now you have all this, you know, regret and remorse over like certain things, depending on like how far you've fallen.
00:19:48
blee
And like now you' you've, you've made a turn, maybe turn to the Lord, but you still got to deal with all the stuff that's coming along with it.
00:19:56
Todd Pinkston
Mm-hmm.
00:19:57
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah. So let's let's talk about that. as you're kind of moving, you're moving into this new phase of your walk.
00:20:08
blee
Like after that or now,
00:20:10
Steven J. Neuner
hang Yeah. Well, kind of, I mean, just catch us up.
00:20:16
Steven J. Neuner
I don't think we know that we've moved in Texas and I'm a little bit better.
00:20:18
blee
So my family had moved away from Texas in all different directions. My brother moved to Arizona before I moved to California.
00:20:24
Steven J. Neuner
I don't think that's going to help them.
00:20:25
blee
And then I moved to California and then my mom, not to be undone said, screw you guys, I'm going to move to Alaska.
00:20:27
Steven J. Neuner
but so it's
00:20:31
blee
So she So she moved to Alaska and I think, uh, 98, 99.
00:20:33
Steven J. Neuner
that yeah
00:20:38
blee
And so when I was going through all this in, and Tahoe, I called her and told her and she's like, do you want me to come down there?
00:20:38
Steven J. Neuner
and so
00:20:41
Steven J. Neuner
time like tor like come down there and say
00:20:46
blee
I was like, I don't think that's going to help at all.
00:20:47
Steven J. Neuner
think that's good help
00:20:50
blee
So once I got out of the hospital and started recovery, uh, I think the next, that was, that was December of 2001.
00:20:52
Steven J. Neuner
so the I was disabled for 10 hours.
00:21:02
blee
So I, I'm not going to try and figure out the time.
00:21:02
Steven J. Neuner
So I was trying to figure out the time to get to a second.
00:21:06
blee
So it's just going to take too much time, but ended up with, uh, moving up to Alaska with my mom and my brother for three months, just to kind of clear my head and figure things out.
00:21:09
Steven J. Neuner
But I was going to Alaska with my mom running for three months just to get clear head. figure that
00:21:18
blee
My mom was doing a couple of jobs. She was doing, sorry, old man brain,
00:21:28
blee
She was a janitor at her church, so i was helping her with that. And nothing's more humbling than vacuuming a congregation's floor every every Monday. It's like, those places are huge, man.
00:21:42
blee
So left there, me and my brother figured we were going to do something with our lives because my brother was living with my mom and he wasn't doing anything. so we ended up deciding to go to Denver automotive and diesel college to learn about auto mechanics.
00:21:57
blee
So we ended up there.
00:22:02
blee
And we were there. I was only there for like three months before I realized like this isn't going to work financially. So my brother stayed. I moved back to San Diego and slept on friends' couches for a while before I could get my feet underneath me.
00:22:15
blee
And then
00:22:20
blee
started working, working on cars. And did that for about seven years. So 2000, well,
00:22:30
blee
well a total of seven years. 2005 is when I met my wife, Cassie. And we dated for you know a couple of years and got married in 2007.
00:22:44
blee
And then we started a family, didn't want to raise our kids in California. So we moved to Texas in 2015. We
00:22:52
blee
found a house, bought a house, bought first house, this house that we're living in, uh, it's on the market. And we found a church and been at the same church for 10 years.
00:23:05
blee
and, and a lot of that, coming back to the Lord happened. mean, his timing's perfect, but it happened one after another, all these things kind of falling into place, before I met my wife and, you know, over this, this whole, whole storyline too, there's, you know, there's the, I spoke earlier about the undercurrent of like losing my dad when I was young.
00:23:22
Todd Pinkston
Okay.
00:23:32
blee
But something that that I didn't touch on that I'll circle back on that's been critical to understanding too.
00:23:41
blee
That's from from youth to, you know, before I met my wife, since we're going that part of the story now, this is is a critical part for
Nonprofit Mission and Impact
00:23:53
blee
this.
00:23:54
blee
But when I was in third, fourth grade, I was introduced to pornography. And so that changed my life in a way that not positive, but it introduced a whole nother layer of complexity growing up that was just a distraction and something that, you know, would, you know, introduce doubts and and pull me away from trusting God in certain ways.
00:24:02
Todd Pinkston
you
00:24:23
blee
And that, you know, it was a strong pull and wrecked a good portion of my life you know in different areas and it wasn't until i got back to san diego from alaska and was like lord i'm just done with this like i've tried to quit this many times and it's just wrecking me was like lord just take this i'm i'm so done with this and wasn't that i said a prayer in a special way you know so many times we look for the magic bullet for like well if i i if i didn't get an answer to my prayer i must not have said it right
00:24:56
blee
You know, so sometimes it's like I put it put the onus on me of like, well, I need to pray more or I need to pray a certain way or whatever. But it's like because I prayed that prayer you know tons of times.
00:25:08
blee
But the Lord finally took it away from me. Praise God that he gave me victory over that. And it was probably five to six months after that. when I met my wife. so lots of timing involved with just God's plan. And, I make the joke, even though it's pretty true, like, I'm probably told Steven this, but Todd, do you remember that TV show get smart back in the day?
00:25:33
Todd Pinkston
Negative.
00:25:33
blee
No. Well, it's an old kind of spy spoof comedy TV show where there's this guy like the opening credits. He pulls up to this building and he gets out. He walks into the front door and then the opening credits is him just like walking down this hallway, not breaking stride at all. Right.
00:25:50
blee
Pace after pace. And there's all these doors in front of him. Well, they open like different ways to, you know, it's like right as he's getting to the door, it opens and he walks through it without breaking stride and it closes right behind him. Right.
00:26:03
blee
And he walks through, I don't know four, maybe six doors. And just like this feels like my life. Like I'm walking and I see this door in front of me and it's closed and I believe the Lord wants me to go that way and it doesn't make any sense.
00:26:09
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:26:18
blee
So I keep walking and sure enough, like right before i'm going to run into the door, it opens and I walk right through and it closes right behind me. So it's like, there's so many examples of just like threading the needle in my life. And it's like, what?
00:26:31
blee
Like, there's no way I could control any of this. Like I couldn't even set it up right to where I could walk through this door, you know, or I've been like trying to like get over this thing, you know, for 15 years and finally like the door opens and I walked through it and like can have victory on the other side of it.
00:26:50
blee
So, and that continues to this day, like just meeting Steven when I did or reconnecting, you know, tried to meet before, I think it was almost a year before. i don't even remember how we got into contact, whether I found his email through LinkedIn or something, and just like randomly reaching out to people.
00:27:08
blee
But like I get laid off and then he needs help. So like now I'm working with Steven, you know, and you know, in a vineyard as a believer, working in a vineyard as a believer is quite the thing. so everybody should experience that to some degree.
00:27:29
blee
But so finally catching up, like we're in Texas now, it's 2015. We have a church, we have a house. You know, that season was crazy. Talk about walking through doors that just barely like open right in time.
00:27:43
blee
You know, the the things they say are like the most stressful in life are starting a new job, moving, having a baby and buying a house.
00:27:55
blee
Like those are four of the most stressful things you experience as an adult.
00:27:55
Todd Pinkston
Thank you.
00:27:59
blee
Well, we did all four of those in the span of six months.
00:28:04
blee
My wife was like seven months pregnant when we moved out of state for a different job and we bought a house. Like it's just so stressful.
00:28:16
blee
So that's a lot of where we are. You know, went on way forward trip two years in a row. So I haven't been for the last two years.
00:28:27
blee
I've developed adult asthma. so there's been a couple of years where I like, and the months before trip was scheduled, I'm like waking up at three in the morning, can't, can't breathe. And it's like, I can't, I can't do this at altitude. Like that's not gonna, it's not gonna be good for anyone. So, uh, I missed the last couple.
00:28:46
blee
I was talking to Steven the other day. I'd like to try and get on trail again this year. Cause the asthma was kind of leveled out, but it's been a really good experience.
00:28:53
Steven J. Neuner
She's on the Vineyard tra plant then your Training Plan.
00:28:53
Todd Pinkston
scout.
00:28:54
blee
Yeah. Right.
00:28:55
Steven J. Neuner
Plan.
00:28:56
blee
Yeah. Do you got those farm hand muscles, man? It's like a farmer workout for like a year and a half.
00:29:03
Steven J. Neuner
We recently...
00:29:04
blee
Don't let the hair fool you.
00:29:05
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah, we recently had these young guys. We had a whole bit bunch of wine show up and we we got some extra help. These young guys come in and it was Brandon schooled everybody. He was just freaking throwing cases of wine.
00:29:19
Steven J. Neuner
These guys were so worn out so fast. Super grateful for the help. It was just funny because it was like they were all jacked and like perfect, but you know, 27 year old bodies.
00:29:25
blee
Yeah.
00:29:28
Steven J. Neuner
And here's Brandon just sorry, dude. Old man strength. Just like kicking everybody's butt.
00:29:33
blee
That's right.
00:29:34
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah.
00:29:36
blee
Yeah. Those ranchers, man, they're gnarly.
00:29:39
Todd Pinkston
Absolutely. Hey, Brandon, so you one of the things you talked about back in that back in that early 2000 season was, you know, realizing life is found. And you made the statement like using my gifts.
00:29:55
Todd Pinkston
How have you found what you're gifted in and what does it look like to put those to use?
00:30:00
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah, good question.
00:30:00
blee
Sure. That's good question. So in high school, I went was part of a youth group and realized that I love just kids. like Not like kit like the kids in the youth group, right?
00:30:17
blee
Like I was a kid. like i'm just As an adult, that sounds different, right? But you know I still feel like I'm 24 at heart and i'm like almost 50. fifty So you know language is different. But I always wanted to be a part of like a youth group, like serving or, you know, just having that sense of community.
00:30:42
blee
So finding the giftings of like care and encouragement for like peers and people around me, like I believe I have the gift of encouragement and i I love to understand not just people, but like where they're coming from.
00:30:57
blee
And a lot of the experience life experience I have is in so many different areas that it makes who the task. It's not even a task cause I enjoy it.
00:31:09
blee
The task of understanding people and relating to them. Like that's,
Fatherhood and Community Role
00:31:16
blee
where I find joy. And I think the joy is there because it's part of my gifting.
00:31:20
blee
So fast forward, like being a father, like that's a huge deal for me because of my, my, you know, my upbringing. So, you know, being a father now, our oldest is 15. It's like, it's, it's crazy to think that it's been that long. Right.
00:31:37
blee
But being present, right. you know, taking the time to listen to the to my kids and and understand where they're coming from and encourage them. know, sometimes there's discipline involved, but like even in that there's there's moments of like, hey, I understand where you're coming from, but this is this is the the direction we need to go or this is the change that needs to be made.
00:31:59
blee
And in the nonprofit, like there's just... you know we don't We don't advertise this as part of the nonprofit, but like fatherlessness is everywhere, man. There's so much of it.
00:32:08
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:32:09
blee
and there's just
00:32:09
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:32:10
blee
It's as simple as kids that may even have a dad in the home that's just... you know maybe and not even through any like malice, he's working 80 hours a week. And as he's got exhausted and just doesn't have time for himself to be on the right page, let alone like pour into his kids the way he'd love to.
00:32:29
blee
And, and even with that, like he may be fatherless. So like you've got these multiple generations of kids, whether they're eight years old or 48 years old that have no idea what it's like to have a father that cares about them or loves them or any, you know,
00:32:45
blee
anyone that's like asking them questions or caring about them or pouring into them. So, the giftings like is where I'm at now is I'm able to not only give back, but I have a, uh,
00:33:01
blee
Steven and I talked about this the other day, an inventory of experience and work related experience that I can draw from and, you know, pour into other people now. And so like the giftings is, is more evident and there's more opportunity to use those giftings now.
00:33:19
Todd Pinkston
yeah How have you learned how to be a dad coming out of a home that didn't have a dad? And you haven't just learned how to be a dad. I mean, it sounds like you're, you take pride and in how your father and your, your girls, you are, you know, the nonprofit is a lot about investing in these kids. Like what is, what does it look like if there's, if there's a guy out there that's you know, 40 years old and and looks around and realize my dad fell into that category you were just talking about.
00:33:49
Todd Pinkston
Like he either physically wasn't there, he died, divorced, you know, wasn't around or just he he was not present when he was present.
00:33:50
blee
Mm-hmm.
00:33:58
blee
Mm-hmm.
00:33:58
Todd Pinkston
What does it look like for a guy to to realize that and become a dad, like redeem what was lost, change the next generation?
00:34:06
blee
Mm-hmm.
00:34:09
blee
I think the excuse me there's just always been a strong desire to understand like what that relationship looks like. So strong that like I just became student of observationally of like Other families, like I'm the, I'm the youngest of our cousin group. I have four or including my brother, four older column siblings.
00:34:36
blee
I have three older cousins. They're probably 10 or 12 years older than my brother and I. so I,
00:34:44
blee
not in Not in a mean way, but I enjoyed learning from other people's mistakes. Like, I'm not doing that, you know. So if anything could save me like pain and turmoil and give me some time back, like i was all for it, you know, which is ironic, you know, given the season of turning my back on the Lord.
00:35:03
blee
But. I think just being a student of what I would want that to look like. You know, we grew up in the late eighties, early nineties. And, you know, i don't know if you ever went to Grandy's, there was this restaurant called Grandy's and they had Norman, they had Norman Rockwell posters all over the place.
00:35:17
Todd Pinkston
oh yeah
00:35:21
Steven J. Neuner
Ha ha ha.
00:35:21
blee
And so I was just like, you know, in my mind, i was like, I'm living the white picket fence dream here. You know, just Grandy's on Sunday, just delusional, you know, like I just painted this picture of what I wanted do.
00:35:36
blee
a father to look like and just kind of became that right
00:35:37
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:35:42
blee
well and and i mean not to not to discount any of the life experience along the way but like god has shaped me into that like that was my desire but it's like again not of any of my own doing
00:35:59
Todd Pinkston
That's good. And I think about that statement you made or that that you said it, that God said to you at the at the end of a season of rebellion, like just that picture of a patient father.
00:36:10
Todd Pinkston
Like, man, are you done yet?
00:36:10
blee
Yeah.
00:36:11
Todd Pinkston
Like, I'm not going anywhere. Are you done yet? I will be here whenever you're ready to come back because life is not found somewhere else. It's found right here with me. You know, that picture the prodigal son for me, i just love it.
00:36:27
Todd Pinkston
And that statement that that is made in Luke 15, I think it's 17, where it says, and he came to his senses. Like he realized, and what he realized was not, I'm out of money.
00:36:34
blee
Mm-hmm.
00:36:37
Todd Pinkston
He realized my dad is over there and I'm over here. Like,
00:36:41
blee
Yeah.
00:36:41
Todd Pinkston
presence of the the one that I want to be with is not with me and I'm going home.
00:36:46
blee
Yeah.
00:36:48
Todd Pinkston
And so just that picture of like, man, in your mind, that's who God is.
00:36:48
blee
Yeah.
00:36:52
Todd Pinkston
Even though you you started running after something else, the father was patient.
00:36:53
blee
yeah
00:36:58
Todd Pinkston
The father was present. The father was there. And when you realize that, like it just changes everything because then you see yourself as that son that's worth it. And although you didn't have an earthly father, you had a heavenly father.
00:37:08
blee
yeah
00:37:10
Todd Pinkston
And man, now you get to be a representation of that to your kids, to all these other kids that are riding BMX bikes and you're pouring into. That's awesome. I just think that's super encouraging for people that listen that, man, it doesn't, you can spend your whole life bitter.
00:37:23
Todd Pinkston
Like you could have been bitter your whole life that your dad died when you were 18 months old. But that wasn't it.
00:37:28
blee
Sure.
00:37:30
Todd Pinkston
You know, it was that God wanted to use that as a part of your story to redeem and then for you to pass that along. So would you share more about kind of what you're doing with the nonprofit, that the BMX bikes, like how you're taking a passion and that you grew up with and pouring out?
00:37:37
Steven J. Neuner
Thank you.
00:37:46
Todd Pinkston
And are your girls a part of it? Is it just is it guys in the neighborhood? Like just tell tell more about kind of how you got that set up and and how you're pouring into these kids.
00:37:56
blee
sure So the, The idea is to have a vehicle to cultivate community, give a place, a safe place for kids to learn like new skills on, on the bike and off the bike and then prepare them for their future.
Vision for Community Support
00:38:18
blee
Like whether they decide to go to college or, you know, there's a lot of kids that don't fit into that mold of like, I want to go to college. So what are those, what's available for those kids? There's not a whole lot. So like, you know, vote tech schools or skills unions or that sort of thing. Like those are very specific, but there's not a place where they can go learn a little bit about everything. Right.
00:38:38
blee
so in a nutshell, that's kind of the umbrella. I will say though, you, you mentioned asking about my girls. So before I started the nonprofit, I started a small family, base family business.
00:38:54
blee
And that is meant to be the test bed for the nonprofit. So being a father at home and and teaching my girls certain skills and that sort of thing and community and how how families interact and and that sort of thing.
00:39:09
blee
is what I'm doing in both businesses, right? So the family business is meant to be this nonprofit idea, but for my girls and our family as a sense of like ownership. And then if they want to do entrepreneurial type stuff, it's an entity that they can use to then, you know, sell their wares or advertise or have a business already established that if they have a I don't know, as easy as like if they wanted to crochet some stuff and sell it at farmer's market, you know, there's already an entity set up where they can have a booth and a logo and this thing that they can just go ahead and do that.
00:39:50
Todd Pinkston
the
00:39:51
blee
So the nonprofit, it has multiple avenues of of reaching different people. So there's definitely the, the kids in the east side of McKinney community, there's, it's, it's not impoverished, right? But it's not affluent, right?
00:40:14
blee
It's just a bunch of working class people that, you know, may not have the means that other people have.
00:40:19
Steven J. Neuner
Thank you.
00:40:20
blee
And there's a lot of kids, there's a lot of single parents, there's a lot of just dysfunction in that neighborhood. there's no way for the kids to get to the skate park, right? There's no skate parks over there. There's nowhere to ride. You've just got a bunch of kids that if they're on bikes, they're just running through the streets like madman, right?
00:40:36
blee
All hours of the night. There's lots of unsupervised you know kids. It's almost like a Gen X rebirth over there. But the idea is to pour specifically into that neighborhood because it's just me doing most of this, right? There's not a, I don't have a fleet of volunteers.
00:40:52
blee
I don't have a bunch of resources. So everything that I do is very specific to make the most impact on a few people, right? There's like more impact, less people.
00:41:04
blee
So I find bikes on marketplace, good quality BMX bikes that are used. I refurbish them. I buy them through the nonprofit and then I give them to the kids for free.
00:41:15
Todd Pinkston
Thank you.
00:41:16
blee
And so there's a guy in Eastside who has a great story. His name is Jason Hernandez. Not a whole lot of time to go into that now, but he's doing a lot of good in the community as well.
00:41:28
blee
And so he has a like a corner store with like fresh fruits and vegetables and just kind of like a meeting place for the community. And so he's He's graciously allowed me to basically have a partnership with him.
00:41:44
blee
So on Thursdays, i will go over to his place and I'll bring a bunch of tools and the kids, when they get out of school, they'll come by and if they need help with their bikes.
00:41:56
blee
then I help them out for your charge needed to need a tire, need a new bike. just build relationship with those guys and though guys and girls just to know that I'm there. I'll be there every Thursday. If you need help with your bike to show up, they' like I'll help you as much as I can. If I can, if I don't have it this week, I'll bring it next week. Just show it.
00:42:14
blee
so that, That idea of the community is like reaching local kids in that area to do the most good with what I can. Now, those kids don't know anything about BMX. Like they're getting introduced to it.
00:42:27
blee
Well, there's a greater group of kids, youth, adults in the Metroplex that ride BMX already. And they travel to the skate parks all around. Well, I ride with them too because I still like to ride.
00:42:38
blee
Steven likes to ride. We haven't just haven't gone out in a while. So I'll meet with them at the skate park. and just just be a part of the homies hanging out. like Just encourage them, like love on them.
00:42:52
blee
Just be one of the guys there. like Same thing, if they blow up two midsession you know a lot of times it's like, well, I guess I'll pick up a tube at the shop tomorrow. Well, I got one in the car. like Here.
00:43:04
blee
like like Just here, have it. Keep going. so you know Just a sense of like looking out for each other. There's a strong sense of community in in the BMX culture anyways, is like looking out after everybody and just like being cool.
00:43:19
blee
So there's, you know, concentric circles. There's the kids that I work with trying to get them involved in community and like using BMX to kind of tie them together. Because when you give a group of kids bikes,
00:43:32
blee
They're like, let's go ride some bikes. You know, now they've got friends to go ride with. And it's not just like, oh, I've got this bike. I'm just going to ride around the neighborhood. It's like, they've all got bikes. So I'm trying to build that to where they can just run with it. I don't have to be there to do that. Right.
00:43:48
blee
And then long term, the goal, the dream is to build a indoor outdoor bike park. So like a skate park, but like on steroids, like a much bigger facility.
00:43:57
blee
So think of like multiple acres, like maybe seven or nine acres. You have jumps in the woods and then something inside to where when it's too hot or too cold, Texas climate is pretty brutal for you know outdoor activities that we can have space to ride. Everybody has space to ride and that it's not a barrier people.
00:44:21
blee
activity and like have a nominal fee, like two bucks to show up. Like I'm trying to take all the burden off the table because BMXers are broke. There's no money in BMX yet. There's so much good in it, but we're trying to do the most with what we can.
00:44:35
blee
but in that facility as well, like, building community, having potlucks, having the the parents come in and be a part of what we're doing, like single dads or or guys that are just, you know, fatherless and adult men that need help.
00:44:45
Steven J. Neuner
So I'm going to go through the.
00:44:51
blee
You know, there needs to be a place for them to like a day of the week where we we're building ramps, like just come show up and hang out. Like you don't even have to do anything. You know, maybe there's no kids there that day because there's some guys, you know, they can't, can't, you know, maybe they've got a record and they can't,
00:45:09
blee
be around kids. i don't know. There's, there's, there's hurting people everywhere. Like trying to find a space for everyone to like come and be known and loved on and give them something to do, especially men, give them something to do, like build ramps for kids. Like, I don't know anybody that wouldn't want to do that.
00:45:30
blee
So there's, there's a lot to it. Like there's tip of the iceberg. I mean, we could talk for four hours about this stuff and I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't shut up. But like, that's why my heart and passion is to to build something that is a place for kids to go, place for community to be made.
00:45:49
blee
you know It's not about me, it's about having a place that exists. It's like, it's almost like cheers, you know, like minus alcohol.
00:46:00
blee
It's like where everybody knows your name, like just show up and come hang out. and Like, let's just do this. You know, there's just so many burdened, like barriers, like you can't, can't get insurance or like all this stuff. Let's, let's just figure it out.
00:46:15
Todd Pinkston
That's awesome.
00:46:20
Steven J. Neuner
i think, you know, on in this podcast, we talk a lot about purpose. And I think a lot of times the idea can be even when, Brandon, you're talking like there there can be people's minds can run with.
00:46:33
Steven J. Neuner
the the the vision that you're talking about. and And we tend to have these grand visions. And one of things that I really, really love is that when we reconnected and I like, I caught the vision, but not the full vision, but just like that the the tip of the iceberg. i'm like, this is amazing.
00:46:50
Steven J. Neuner
We could blow this a out, right? And Brandon's like like, he had the wisdom and discernment to be like, no, like that's not that's not it, right? And it's like it was all like humbling, because that's what I do. It's like, yeah, we're going to grow this thing.
00:47:02
Steven J. Neuner
And Brandon's like, the The impact.
00:47:04
blee
Yeah.
00:47:04
Steven J. Neuner
and And it made me go back to when we were kids. You made an impact on me, Brandon, at 15 years old that carried forward. When I became a Christ follower in my mid-20s, I thought about you Rent free, you were in my mind.
00:47:18
Steven J. Neuner
but You know,
00:47:19
blee
Yeah.
00:47:20
Steven J. Neuner
And it was in that little interaction. We think we've got to have this really huge purpose, but it's actually you just showing up and like changing a tube for a bike for a kid that needs an inner tube change.
00:47:31
Steven J. Neuner
How much of a difference that can make in someone's life?
00:47:32
blee
yeah
00:47:34
Steven J. Neuner
Because that you multiple times in my life, your quiet voice has been the voice that's really, really the one I needed.
00:47:36
blee
Yeah.
00:47:43
Steven J. Neuner
That's unlocked the next thing that I needed to figure out. So...
00:47:49
blee
That's huge. Thanks, man. I appreciate that.
00:47:52
Todd Pinkston
and To add on to that, Brandon, the like Way Forward started out of a a community that's just like what you're talking about.
00:47:52
blee
Yeah, because I
00:48:01
Todd Pinkston
Like John Marshall, he's been on the podcast. I mean, super dear friend. He, you know, yeah, it was about lifting weights, but the dude just created community. He just created a place where people could be known, where they could be comfortable.
00:48:16
Todd Pinkston
It was routine. and Out of that, it's like deep bonds happen, and then who knows? and I just think, man, as we talk about purpose, so many times we think purpose, just like you you know in the late 90s, you're like, it's got to be over there. like It's got to be somewhere else. there's It's a place, and and the reality is it's right here.
00:48:39
Todd Pinkston
It's in a relationship.
00:48:39
blee
yeah
00:48:40
Todd Pinkston
It's using your gifts. The simplicity of that, and I think so many I mean, sorry, Nooner. So many entrepreneurs like us, it's like, yeah, we hear an idea and we just think about, man, how can we add on to it?
00:48:53
Todd Pinkston
And it's like, I think there's just beauty in the simplicity of, I've got a bike tire, let me give you a bike tire.
00:48:57
blee
Yeah.
00:48:59
Todd Pinkston
I'm going to show up and help you use your bike.
00:48:59
blee
Yeah.
00:49:01
Todd Pinkston
I'm going to buy a bike, I'm going to make it you know workable and I'm going to give it to you. And it's like, man, that's that makes so much bigger of an impact on that one kid. He feels seen, he feels loved, he feels cared for.
00:49:12
Todd Pinkston
And then who knows?
00:49:13
blee
yeah
00:49:13
Todd Pinkston
It's like, man, may your tribe increase. Like kudos to you and your faithfulness and that you're using in your gifts. And you know you have something that so many people long for. It's like purpose in the daily moment. And they they think it's somewhere else. And it's like, and you're just grabbing it right there. And so in a lot of ways, look I look across and I see a man that you know that i that that I've got some jealousy of like, man, I wish I could just have some simplicity like that and and not get overwhelmed by you know, the grandiose of things and just enjoy the moment.
Sacrifices and Life Challenges
00:49:46
Todd Pinkston
So that's awesome. Thanks for sharing that story.
00:49:49
blee
Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And it's, you know, i still get overwhelmed about stuff. I don't think that, that aspect, that, that cycle of life continues, you know, even in the simple times, like there's still things that we obsess over become overwhelming, but you know, you're right.
00:50:07
blee
Where, where is it? It's not a place it's in a person. And that person is Jesus Christ.
00:50:11
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:50:15
Steven J. Neuner
Well, Brandon, if I could, i I would love just that where you're at and what Todd and I are admiring and really celebrating this moment and the John Marshalls of the world.
00:50:26
Steven J. Neuner
It doesn't come without some sacrifice. So would you mind just sharing some of the things that you've had to give up in regards to to to stay in in the zone that I've seen you walk through?
00:50:38
Todd Pinkston
It's good.
00:50:40
blee
well, it's interesting. Like the, the first things that come to mind, i don't know if they were like given up or if the Lord's just removed them and not remove them in like a malice type way. Like it's like, okay, well we're done with that.
00:50:53
blee
The next season, the next lesson has to be learned without that. Right. So that gets removed where like my, my approach to understanding that sort of thing has changed a lot where like, I don't freak out as much.
00:51:07
blee
It takes, it takes longer for me to freak out, which, which should be descriptive of the season I'm in right now, because, you know, I got laid off from my corporate IT job that I was a part of for, you know, almost 10 years that we moved here for, that was, you know,
00:51:27
blee
Lucrative in that it paid for everything and, you know life for the most part financially was, you know trouble free. And we're what, you know, close to two years, two years in on that.
00:51:40
blee
So it's not so much that that was difficult right away, but the longer it, you know, I think I heard from a preacher recently, it's not, it's not under the sharpest,
00:51:53
blee
problems. We have faith problems. It's done under the longest duration of problems. You know, it's the long haul that causes us issues. So, so long, long way around for that. But the, we're almost two years in. So i was unemployed for six months and then Nooner and I found that it was, it was the right, it was the right time for me to go back to work.
00:52:23
blee
So I started working for Steven in June of June of 24.
00:52:26
Steven J. Neuner
with.
00:52:30
blee
So, you know, a year and a half in and, you know, all the things money is all gone. You know, there's, you know, whatever there was for retirement, you know, not by any means like a retirement savvy guy. Like there might've been enough in that our retirement accounts to like maybe buy a car.
00:52:49
blee
So there's no, I mean, it's a retirement account, but there's not retirement money in there. But like, that's, it's all just been liquidated. Like everything's gone. You know, I'm back to, I'm back to a very day to day lifestyle, which I don't, which I believe is on purpose, you know,
00:53:07
blee
how do you, how do you become more dependent on God is when you can't depend on anything else. So, you know, I think in, in our nation, our culture, like, you know, fiscal independence is is a big, you know, for lack of a better word, a big idol.
00:53:20
Todd Pinkston
Thank you.
00:53:23
blee
Like it gives us assurances that we can like do things. And so, you know, when we are, when I'm assured I can do something, then I just believe in myself and move on rather than like, well,
00:53:35
blee
I woke up today. God must have something for me. I don't how know how it's going to work out, but he got me through yesterday. So Lord, help me today. Help me be in the moment. Help me to be faithful with what's in front of me.
00:53:48
blee
Like I started every day with that now. It's like I didn't do that. 15 years ago. it was just like, I'll wake up, do what I want. Because I was able to.
00:53:59
blee
So I hope this is answering your question.
00:54:03
Steven J. Neuner
Yeah.
00:54:03
blee
There's just a lot more day-to-day dependence on, like it's not a like it can't be about me because i don't have anything left. Everything that Brandon has is you know, on my person.
00:54:15
blee
So, you know, we're at a place we wrestled with, uh, you know, what's the next move for us for a long time. Like we've got into this house and, you know, built a workshop and I have tons of tools and have always wanted a place to work on stuff and have tools. And so now I finally have all that and,
00:54:33
blee
Now we're at a place where we're selling our house. It was like, well, what's what that all about? It's like, I don' have no idea. you know So like what's next for us? I don't know. people like We're moving.
00:54:45
blee
We have to. like there's There's no way around it unless God shows up and is like, here, I don't want you to move. Just stay where you're at. i mean it's going to have At this point, it's going to have to be like an Abraham and Isaac sort of deal. It's like,
00:54:59
blee
if he wants us to stay then he's going to have to make it happen because there's there's no visible way that i can see that's happening you know what's next i have no idea so i mean i don't I don't say that asking for anything. Like I wanted nothing more than for people to pray because I want what this to be the season of life.
00:55:22
blee
And, you know, it's probably probably not the smartest move. Well, worldly worldly-wise, definitely not the smartest move. But its I have these things you call dangerous prayers, and dangerous prayers are the ones you're pretty sure that God's going to answer.
00:55:37
blee
ask God, hey, like, and i ask a hey like you That's kind of casual, but make make this make this happen to where when it works out, there's no doubt in anybody's mind that you made it happen, not me.
00:55:53
blee
Not because somebody came and was like, hey, I got this job offer for you. So, you know, oh, Brandon finally got a job. And so now everything's better. He can pay for everything. like I don't, I want it to be to where, you know, even my unbelieving BMX friends are like, dude, what, what happened?
00:56:08
blee
And maybe that'd be an open door for them to hear about the gospel, and you know,
00:56:09
Todd Pinkston
Thank you.
00:56:14
blee
Like part of my role, I believe, is to just be a soil tender. Like you can't you can't make things grow all and the Spirit can do that. But you can prep the soil, right? You can build the fire and then the Spirit can light it. But all I have to say, I don't know where we're at.
00:56:30
blee
You know, as an almost 50-year-old male with a family and a mortgage, like it's kind of scary to say like you don't know what's next, but that's where we're at.
00:56:41
Steven J. Neuner
And I appreciate you sharing that.
00:56:42
Todd Pinkston
It's great.
00:56:44
Steven J. Neuner
And I just, I didn't, I didn't, know, there was certainly no expectation to go there for me, but my, my, I'm glad you shared it though.
00:56:55
Steven J. Neuner
I mean, cause to see literally, I get to see you walk daily. Right. And I get, I see,
00:57:01
blee
Mm-hmm.
00:57:06
Steven J. Neuner
I see a piece that surpasses all understanding. And I've wondered the number of times where someone is walking really close with Jesus and because my perspective of their lack of success caused me to encourage them in actually a way that did not that would rob them of their peace.
00:57:26
Steven J. Neuner
and so so that you know and And conversely, it made me wonder, are there any times that when something was removed that wasn't the way I wanted it to go, like that I misunderstood what was happening?
00:57:26
Todd Pinkston
Thank you.
00:57:39
Steven J. Neuner
So like you just I just appreciate you sharing that because i think that there's... some really, really hard to understand truth in there that I've seen you walk out in a way that's just been a witness.
00:57:52
Steven J. Neuner
And so I'm grateful that you you're sharing it in this format. So.
00:57:57
blee
yeah you're welcome it's you know it's part of the you know stories that need to be told like
00:58:07
blee
it's the the nitty-gritty of life like it's the stuff that nobody talks about because it's you know nobody wants to feel like they can't do it themselves like I'm life's too short man i have the ego for that anymore it's like if if I can't if I can't make it work then that's how it is like I'm not going to stress out I mean I stress out as much as the next guy it's like
00:58:21
Todd Pinkston
Let's go.
00:58:32
blee
At the worst, like, you know, worst case for us was like to sell the house.
00:58:35
Todd Pinkston
Hmm.
00:58:36
blee
But now, but then the Lord was like, we'll explore that further. Like push that all the way out. So i was like, right, well, I started thinking about it. was like, well, so what?
00:58:47
blee
You know, so what we have to sell our house.
00:58:52
blee
We're going to be homeless. So who cares? Like it doesn't change anything. We're still a family. Like God still has a plan, but that doesn't, you know, we're not just going to starve and die. Like it just doesn't work that way. Like things at the very base level just work out because that's just how it is.
00:59:11
blee
So I don't know.
Conclusion and Contact Information
00:59:16
Todd Pinkston
Your vulnerability is refreshing. It's like a like a drug we need that we don't know we need.
00:59:18
Steven J. Neuner
Mm-hmm.
00:59:18
blee
Hmm.
00:59:21
Todd Pinkston
And when you're around somebody that's it's vulnerable, it's like, it's just refreshing. It's life. There's life in it. So I appreciate it, brother. thanks for Thanks for sharing. Thanks for being honest.
00:59:32
blee
Yeah, that's where I live, I guess.
00:59:36
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
00:59:37
Steven J. Neuner
Well, Brandon, if you would, i mean, i would love for you to just share where more people can find where people can find you learn more about BMX local, what you guys are up to there.
00:59:49
blee
Sure. part of the, so I have Instagram and I have just Instagram. There's no Facebook. There's no part of that. And that's intentional. Part of that is so, you know, kids aren't on their phone. Kids are on their bikes. Like I don't want any more distractions. Like I don't want reasons for people to be on their phones. so So there's Instagram and that's kind of like a personal slash nonprofit.
01:00:15
blee
Instagram is pretty much all about BMX bikes. And that's at lumpy BMX local. But probably the place for anyone that's interested to see where we're at or what we're doing is the website.
01:00:30
blee
So that's bmxlocal.org. it's It's meant to be a place for parents and for people that are new to BMX or just want to see what we're about.
01:00:45
blee
It's a place for them to get a feel for not just what we're doing information wise, but kind of an aesthetic of like, you know, BMX is not this polished thing.
01:00:56
blee
Like it's a community of, of just people that love to ride bikes. You know, that takes all kinds of people from different walks of life. So, the website is the most important.
01:01:04
Steven J. Neuner
What?
01:01:09
blee
You can find all my information there to contact me further email address. I think even my phone number's on there. We have a Candid profile. We're on North Texas Giving Day.
01:01:20
blee
We're registered 501c3 nonprofit. Got copies of a background check if you need that sort of stuff.
01:01:29
blee
So had to do that recently for volunteering for the ISD mentoring. So I'm going do
01:01:39
blee
But yeah, just check it out.
01:01:40
Steven J. Neuner
but
01:01:42
blee
Go support your local BMXer. Go find out what it's about. You know, a lot of people have seen BMX at trick shows, whether it's at a high school or at the state fair or, you know, anywhere, X Games.
01:01:53
blee
And I'm sure a lot of people are like, that's awesome. But they never draw a line to like, that could be a part of their life. Like, it's more like going to a museum and then trying to figure out that you can draw when you get home.
01:02:05
blee
Like, Anybody can do it. There's, you know, you don't have to sign up and join a league like football. It's like, go get a bicycle and go ride. Like people just gravitate to you. If you're on a bicycle, it's crazy how many people you just find on a bicycle, you know, and everybody loves bikes.
01:02:22
blee
Like I haven't met one adult male that didn't like bikes. Just go ride
01:02:26
Steven J. Neuner
It's our first, one of our first sources of freedom.
01:02:30
blee
Yeah, exactly. You know, and Todd, you mentioned about like the impact you have over one person, just like being able to give them a tube. Like the greatest joy has been, and I don't usually film stuff like that.
01:02:42
blee
My wife is a photographer and she's really good at it. So I just don't do that. But like, When we give bikes away, I've made it a point to to video it because it is so impactful.
01:02:54
blee
Like it almost makes me cry thinking about it.
01:02:54
Todd Pinkston
Yeah.
01:02:56
blee
Like you got these kids that are just hardened because their life at home just, you know, isn't great. You know, day to day, they're just struggling. But give them a bike. that works that is like a legit bike and they're just that hard exterior just like phase they're just like the word thank you comes off their lips like i don't even know if i've ever heard that kid say thank you or a nice thing to anyone else in my life but like to to have them turn to me and say thank you like it's crazy man just makes so much difference like why don't we why wouldn't we want to do that
01:03:27
Todd Pinkston
Boston.
01:03:33
Steven J. Neuner
Love it, Brian. Love you, brother.
01:03:36
blee
Love you too, man.
01:03:37
Steven J. Neuner
Thank you so much.
01:03:39
blee
Yeah. Thank you guys for doing this. Like this is this is a deal. Like you guys, I know, I know about y'all's book from conversations with Steven. Like what a wonderful thing to take on the task of, you know, freeing people and getting them to live the way God intended. Like what, what a blessing that's going to be. And so I'm stuck to be, you know, in some small way, a part of it and appreciate it.
01:04:06
Todd Pinkston
Well, you're doing it, man.
01:04:08
Steven J. Neuner
You're doing it.
01:04:08
Todd Pinkston
Thanks for sharing your story with us. Thanks for sharing your story with the world. Look forward to seeing you this summer on trail. Hey, get that asthma out here.
01:04:14
blee
Yeah, it'll be a good time.
01:04:15
Todd Pinkston
time to get back on the mountain.
01:04:16
blee
I know it's killing me, man.
01:04:19
Todd Pinkston
Let's go.
01:04:20
blee
right.
01:04:21
Steven J. Neuner
Love you.
01:04:22
Todd Pinkston
right, man. Appreciate it. All right, you too.
01:04:23
blee
Yep. Have good one.