Unashamed with the Robertson Family

Ep 1261 | Jase Breaks Down Why Jelly Roll’s Grammys Speech Felt Like a Light in Darkness

57 min
Feb 3, 20262 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

Jase Robertson discusses his family's experience during a severe ice storm that knocked out power for 8 days, drawing spiritual parallels between physical darkness and spiritual separation from Christ. The episode centers on how the crisis revealed the importance of preparation, community, and faith, with a focus on Jelly Roll's Grammy speech as a modern example of spiritual light breaking through darkness.

Insights
  • Crisis situations strip away distractions and force prioritization of what truly matters—family, faith, and community over material possessions and achievements
  • Spiritual preparedness is as critical as physical preparedness; both require intentional planning and investment before crisis strikes
  • Authentic faith testimony in secular spaces (like award shows) can have outsized impact because it contrasts sharply with surrounding cultural messaging
  • Compound/multi-generational living models prove their value during infrastructure failures when centralized services become unavailable
  • Natural disasters reveal the limits of human control and accomplishment, creating openness to transcendent meaning and divine purpose
Trends
Faith-based content gaining traction in mainstream entertainment spaces as counter-narrative to secular messagingIncreased interest in preparedness culture and self-sufficiency among faith communitiesMulti-generational/compound living models gaining appeal as resilience strategy among affluent familiesSpiritual formation content (Bible study, discipleship) driving conversion and retention in faith communitiesCrisis-driven cultural moments creating receptivity to existential and spiritual questionsAuthenticity and vulnerability in public figures resonating more than polished messagingCommunity-based disaster response and mutual aid replacing reliance on government infrastructureGenerator and backup power systems becoming status symbols and preparedness markers in affluent communities
Topics
Ice Storm Disaster Response and Family ResilienceSpiritual Preparedness vs Physical PreparednessMulti-Generational Compound Living ModelsFaith Testimony in Secular SpacesCommunity Mutual Aid During Infrastructure FailureGenerator Investment and Backup Power SystemsChainsaw Safety and Hazard ManagementHypothermia Recognition and ResponseRoof Ice Dam Prevention and Water DamageDuck Hunting During Winter StormBiblical Pruning Metaphor in NatureLight and Darkness as Spiritual MetaphorGospel Presentation in Entertainment IndustryFamily Bonding During CrisisDisaster Recovery and Cleanup Operations
Companies
Samaritan's Purse
Disaster relief organization mobilizing volunteers in storm-affected neighborhoods for recovery efforts
One Kingdom
Faith-based relief organization providing assistance in storm-affected neighborhoods within two days of disaster
Grammy Awards
Platform where Jelly Roll delivered spiritual testimony that Robertson family highlighted as example of faith in secu...
People
Jelly Roll
Musician who delivered Grammy speech about Jesus and spiritual transformation, cited as modern example of faith testi...
Phil Robertson
Family patriarch referenced for hurricane preparedness advice and generator investment recommendation
Willie Robertson
Family member who provided generator to in-laws and assisted with disaster response despite own power loss
Missy Robertson
Jase's wife who managed household during power outage, cooked daily meals, and coordinated family care
Jeremy
Podcast listener met at Illinois event who credited the show with leading him to Christ during difficult life period
Quotes
"Jesus is for everybody. He's not on by one political party. Jesus is not on by the music label. Jesus is Jesus and anybody can have a relationship with him."
Jelly RollGrammy Awards speech
"I thought it was a very clear presentation of the gospel that he used in one minute. And one minute, I was like, unashamed."
Jase RobertsonMid-episode
"You're not going anywhere. There's no driving. There's no, and the power's going to go."
Jase RobertsonDescribing ice storm impact
"I never would have found Christ without y'all. He was just so appreciative."
Jeremy (podcast listener)Illinois event
"If you put all your hope and created things on the earth, you're going to be disappointed at some point."
Jase RobertsonClosing theological reflection
Full Transcript
I am Unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. This is the maiden voyage post ice apocalypse. I've named our experience just the ice apocalypse. When I left my house today and it was nine days ago in this thing here, I still had ice all over my steps. I couldn't walk to my truck. Now it's just all slippery. Same issue. Which most people south of our interstate, which is where we sit today, which wasn't bad at all here. It wasn't as bad, but we just kept power. We spent eight days out without power. Eight days out of power, old school. Now look, I'm going to have to say this right off the top, where we're going with this. What I noticed, a pattern develops that, because we hadn't even talked about you coming down to experience the duck hunting in the ice. And then I just looked up and he was gone. I was smoked. I was like, whatever happened to Zach. He was like a vapor. Last I heard, he was headed to Walmart. I never saw him. This is the first time I've seen him since he just vanished. Well, he got him a little taste of the hunt, which Zach I want to hear about that experience. And then he came to my house, which I had a general act. So the smartest thing I did was six years ago, after the hurricane was invest in a generate. And dear old dad was the reason why he said, you'd be an idiot not to buy that. And I said, you're right. So I have power. The only problem is, you call him an idiot out. Well, I'm not that dad did, but the only problem with Jason, you got the generate in the neighborhood is then everybody came to my house. So we were feeding 15 plus people. It was a cesspool of disease. And kids got sick. And people had sick dogs. They were sick too. They were sick. And they were like, it's just viruses spreading around. But I will tell you, I mean, four days. I mean, we were down there at four days. The idea, I was down there four days with Jason. And what's, so the initial instruction was, if you want to go hunt with us, you have to be prepared to be stuck down here for four days. Yeah. It started in the eight. It was a good moment of opportunity, where you were after the first day, you said, you got it, we're going to take the nurse man back and Christian back at nine a.m. But if you stay past this point, then you're probably not getting out. That's true. And so bear, my son was hunting right down the road from us and said, well, do we need it? You got, you got care of bear came? And I thought, you were going to push back on that. But then I realized that they wanted, they want a next to gun to blind. So they said, yeah, bring, bring him on. So bear, me and Mary got stuck down there with Jason, Jay and Burley. And, yeah, it was like a meat fast. We ate a bunch of meat. It was the greatest duck I've ever been on. Oh, it was epic hunt. Anominal. And look, me and Old Bear bonded. Yeah. Me and Zach not so much. But Zach did have a moment. He had a moment. I want to hear this. I want to hear this. Give you credit because you have yuppie tendencies. And, but you've done something right because your kids are are absolutely fabulous. I told bear, I was like, you're welcome here anytime, buddy. He was a giver. You know how to take it. He was ready to work. He just enjoyed it. So we had a malradric come in. And of course we, you know, just to put this season in perspective, we were at about 200 ducks until the ice storm. Total for the season, worst season ever. Of course we had no water. But that ice not only did it bring the ducks down, it actually provided way more water for us. Because it was, whatever they said, it was going to have every many inches. They were way off. Yeah. Because it was, we got hammered. But every day the water would come up. And it just the more ducks came, more ducks came. So we killed about 350 the last nine days. Wow. Now that's incredible. That's pretty much the last day. So you doubled the season total of almost tripled. Yeah. Yeah. And the last day we had three groups, 18 men, you can do the math and we shot 92. Wow. Good. Total between the three groups. So we were. Sounds like a lot, but we were like, I don't know, 15, short of the limit, 16, something like that. But we hunted all day. So two groups did, and then one they waved the white flag. But Ozac, a malradrate came in. Of course I'm kind of the captain and the blind. And I'm like, when to shoot them. Of course I always fixed to just cutting when he come by. Because he had circled a few times. So as soon as he cut my corner, I said shooting. And I raised up and was fixed to shooting. But then I just realized, oh, he's coming in the decoys. So I waited. I waited. I mean, I've already said, I've already given the command. Yeah. Shoot him. I waited. And about the time I was squeezing the trigger, a shot rang out, and I ended up making sure this duck was absolutely all his regrets had been removed. And I was about a second behind. But the first shot was a perfect shot. So I asked the question. I said, who fired that shot? That was me. And I said, well, you finally arrived. You've been us. I said, I said, I've been hunting with you before. But it's like all the past, it was the day you have become a man. And then it was about 20 minutes of. Oh, you're telling me. He, Zach Dasha actually raised up a firearm. He's a wildbie. Zach Dasha killed a duck. I mean, my goodness. He said it was a surprise. I was stunned. I was shocked. Now the duck was 10 yards. Almost emotional. But still, I thought, okay. This the baggie did it. I was stunned. I love it. I actually prayed that bear would get stuck down there with us. Because I mean, he needed that too. And there was, I will say, there was a day, one day, we're me and Stone. Stone said, I think this is going to be a, I feel calls it ride the hole. Which is what you do when there's just nothing there. But you just grind it out. And Stone said, Stone's like, you ain't, we ain't killing no more ducks. He said, I'm going to leave. And he kind of told me, you probably want to come with me. And so I went back with Stone and bear stayed back with Jason. I think they did actually ride the hole. It may have got one more after he left. I don't know what you're going to say. It was more than one. But it was, it was not, it was pretty slow. We had a couple slow days in there. And then a couple days, I couldn't hunt because once I determined the severity of the ice storm, my poor wife home, yeah. She was like, I need a little help here. So one night I, I just decided to drive really slow in the middle of the night because the roads were still icy. And it was a crazy story when I got to, I mean, just kept getting worse. The further I went, no, I think I'd worse and worse. And when I got to our neighborhood in my headlights, I looked and there's a tree that I couldn't get my arms around across our road. I'm like, I'm not going in. I'm not, if I go to our house, I'll be walking because you're not going past this. It looked like the gate, it fell on the gate and it just mangled. I mean, it's mangled totally. Over which I cut a few days later, but I wind up going to your driveway, Al, which I made the maiden voyage on that. Now the next morning, and then I walked to my house, but next morning when I walked over there, I was like, if I would have been able to see down your driveway, clearly, I would have never tried that. And then the moment I wanted to be with my wife and I had to bring her some firewood. It just evolved in a downward spiral after that because we were thinking, therefore, days. But her parents, they lost their power. At some point, they were just living in their vehicle with the heat on and my wife was like, that's not going to work. They're like, oh no, the power's coming on any minute. Which, you know, if you kept getting these reports, they'd say, you know, this time, but it was never, it was never right. It was days after. So they, we moved my parents in, which, okay, you have no power. You move Mrs. Parents and their pets. Yeah. And it was so crazy because the whole time they were there, I was thinking, they need help. They're family. I was thinking, honor your father and mother. In the back of my mind, I was thinking, leaf and cle. Honor your father. Leaving cle. For this reason, a man leaves his father. Because what happens. Because when you're living in the moment, in Richmond, Franklin had it passed. Once you get passed three days. It was the problem. Wow. Wow. Wow. honor your father and mother. We only had one room that was warm because we had a gas fireplace in our bedroom. So, Mrs. Lee, you realize they're gonna have to move in our bedroom and I was like, well, you realize I'm gonna have to move out if they move in. And she's like, well, yeah. So, I owe your house there in the apocalyptic snowstorm, it was infested with viruses because you had some sick grandkids around. Yeah, and they were spreading the wealth with the rest of us. It's not a fun time in our house right now. Well, I had some family members with me that got sick. I did not get sick and I think that's because of our good friend, Dr. Dennis Black, who invented Texas Super Food 25 years ago. I'm telling you, I've been taking this stuff. This is what my family takes to build our body's defense system from the inside out. It's got 55 vine ripe fruits and vegetables, probiotics and enzymes. And I've been taking Texas Super Food now. If I guess about two months and it just makes me feel better throughout the day, just taking it as well. It's the real deal. It's the original superfood. And one of the reasons why we like it comes in the capsule forms. Texas Super Food was super easy to incorporate into our routine. So, if you're one of those people like myself who maybe can't want or don't eat all of your fruits and vegetables every day, then Texas Super Food is made for you. You can start boosting your immune system today. All you gotta do is go to TexasSuperfood.com, use the discount code. Unashamed and you guys can get 35% off your first order. That's TexasSuperfood.com. Use discount code Unashamed to get 35% off your first order. TexasSuperfood.com discount code Unashamed. And so we were gonna take the couch because we have the fireplace. I was gonna be in charge of the keeping the fireplace just out, but I was so tired that once I went to sleep, and I woke up three or four hours late. I actually heard their dog gagging. Just, I thought, what is this? You never wanna wake up here and kids are dogs gagging. That's just, yeah. And I thought, should I go in there? And you know, it's like, no, we'll just have to deal with it later. But I looked up, well, Missy's not there. She's moved over to the cold wing. So, found out the next day that it was, because I was snoring so well. She's like, I'd rather be cold. Listen to this, chain saw going off. So we did that for a few days, but what I was gonna say that what started off this conversation, so many things happen along the way. Because it's just like anything else. These, you start going back to where in times when you had no electricity and my wife, I have to just give her credit. I mean, she just evolved into, she cooked a meal every day. We had a gasto. But like a complete meal. I mean, we only got one meal a day, but it was a big one. And she had candles. I don't know where she kept getting all these candles. And she'd have it lit up at night. And I mean, as it went along, it just got better and better. But multiple people along the way, because, you know, I finally realized the only way I'm gonna clear this road is if I do it. Yeah. Because we're technically a private road. And I waited a day. Probably you and David, Oh, and are the only ones with equipment even. Well, and guess who, guess who was out there? I did the cutting. And then he did the tractor removal. Yeah, he kind of had a rake. And just made it where at least, when the ice did melt, you could get out of there. But it was tricky because there were so many limbs down. When you had to be careful, because a good friend of ours, their son was in his 20s, I think. I mean, he had a tree falling, his back broke his back. And I don't know how he is at this point, but we've been praying for him. But it was a very dangerous situation. And you had to watch his lives down. A kid got electrocuted just the last heir to. And so it's a very dangerous situation. And but it's just the complexity of the living, Jay, is when you were saying that I was, because we had to, so we were feeding our crew, which we had set up for this. But then we had some extras, you know, that people that were in bad situation, one is a friend whose husband's deployed. She's got a little young child, so they stayed with us. But then I was having to trek over to take food to mom and A&N, because we came home. Zach, I was in 65 degree golf stores in a perfect situation, but decided to come home because I knew we'd need help. Yeah, I knew mom. I'm really glad you did. Yeah, and it was worth it. It was great because we got stocked up on food, but mom and A&N, they decided they were like, I said, well, you come stay at our house because we're gonna have power because I have a generate. And she was like, no, it's gonna be too loud over there. So I was like, well, mom, you're just gonna stay over here. So we got her, Willie got our generator. So they stayed there with one of their sitter ladies and she stayed, she rode out the whole storm with him. Well, it's funny as twice they ran out of gas and they're, and they're, have you heard this? Yeah, yeah. But it was like 3.30 in the morning, the other one was 4, which I couldn't believe they didn't call me. She's like, oh no, I called Willie. And I was surprised that Willie got up and went and got them some, because it was hard to find gas. Yeah, it got hard to find gas. But Willie also has a couple of guys that worked for him that helpful for stuff like that. Yeah, so look, we just made do. We made do and a lot of people were way worse off than we are. And I think in any of these things, you have givers and takers and then you have people who need help. Yeah. And so we did our best. I'm even today doing a thing with Samaritan's Purse to bring some more volunteers here, because a lot, you know, half the city is fine, but the north half, it's really bad. So we need some more volunteers and Samaritan Purse and even one kingdom. They were in our neighborhood two days after one kingdom was, which you guys have supported them, we appreciate it. It turned out to be a weight problem. That ice mostly broke off big limbs on most trees. And just like I never heard anything like it. We were standing out there. The initial thing was heavy sleep. And then it turned to freeze and rain. And that's what added the weight. And then I'd say within two hours of this whole process, it sounded like cannons going off. All across. No, it was, it looked like a war zone and people used that language a lot, but that's what it looked like. I went down and it felt like that, kind of had that apocalyptic field, kind of like it did when we had the storm here. We, I ended up going over to Phil's house, which the general act did not come on there for some reason, but I went over there because when we lost power or we were staying with Jayce, we had no lights. And so we ended up, which was a whole nother issue. How was that? How was it with like six men in a room in the dark? Like that was sleeping. That was actually four of us in that little room. It was amazing. There's four of us in that. Jay and bear. Bear. Just. But I've heard it in the room. And snoring and. Oh, it was a problem. I mean, it's like a right train. That wasn't an issue, but you know, we were in the original, on a shame podcast recording studio. That's where we were at. That's where we stayed. Oh, that's right. Now back to being the true layer. So back to the true layer. But it became a layer. I can tell you that was a layer. But we were the last people to lose power, believe it or not. Of course, ironically, they're probably the last to get it back home because they still don't have it down there. But what I was going to say is, you know, I had a lot of people when I had interactions with them. They were so scared that it was going to be a podcast story. And they're like, don't share this on the podcast, you know? And so I thought, well, the name of our podcast is unashamed. This just happened because I had a couple of really weird things that happened and I won't use the names, but I was out sawing and I look up. And there's a vehicle backing up in my yard. And I'm like, you're not getting out of here because it's a pretty big hill. So I'm waving, hollering, turn the saw. I'm like, so the fellow looks at me and they're like, what are you hollering about? I said, you're in my yard. Because it was all ice. And he's like, am I? Don't tell this on the podcast. I'm just like, what are we going to do? He's talking about calling a record. I was like, no, we're not calling a record. I'm going to get a chain and pull you out, you know? But it made me realize how everything that you think, it just messes with your mind. Because I saw, he thought he was on a road. Weirdly enough, my yard kind of looked like the road. And I noticed in your driveway, people did the same thing. I've got some major runs. Oh, wow. And so it made me think though about where we're at in first, John, tell me about these illustrations of light and darkness. I mean, you know what I kept thinking about ever five minutes, let there be light. What a joy that we have light. Because you're bumbling, fumbling around in the dark for eight days. And I kept thinking, this is what it's like to be outside of Jesus and have no purpose. You're running into things, bad things are happening. It's chaos. You need that heat. You need light. All the things that we talk about, it just was a living illustration. And you know what, when you see it, because it pierces through the darkness, it's such a contrast. But we were debating this at the beginning of the podcast before we started about when Jelly Roll, I said he came out recently and had a speech. I sent you all from the Grammys, which I thought was, I thought it was from the Grammys, which would have been on February 1st or 2nd. And Jace said that he'd already given the speech somewhere. I don't know if he maybe his name is. But you know, there was so much swirling around the Grammys this year. And man, what he spoke, it was so authentic and real. Yeah, I mean, I don't know the guy. I don't know his whole conversion story, but everybody, clearly the guy is like, he's like, look, I see you Jesus, I hear you. And I thought it was a very clear presentation of the gospel that he used in one minute. And one minute, I was like, unashamed. And it was just like a moment that was shockingly, it was like a bright light in this place. And this guy's not, it wasn't like a accusatory thing. And anybody, he's just like, hey, this is Jesus saved me into the day. Like Jesus said, he has the answer to the whole thing. It is all about Jesus. And the way he said it was like, this is, I always thought music would save me. So that, but realize it was God who was going to save me. It was Jesus. And I'm listening and I want to move for it. So I don't know his whole faith journey, but clearly something's happening in his life. And so you see that contrast in that moment. And it's like everybody was kind of drawn to it. I mean, I know he got some backlash for it, but I think in the moment, it's like the backlash is always going to come. But in the moment, like it, God goes into a room and just illuminates. So I'm a big believer in monitoring your credit because it really can affect the interest rates that you're paying. So if you're looking to refinance your home or to buy a new card or rent an apartment, anything that depends on credit, you want a score that will be as strong as possible and you've got to have it now. You're going to need smart credit. Your credit score may have taken a big hit over the holidays. 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But I think you'll be excited to see how many points smart credit estimates you can gain. Results are not guaranteed, canceled at any time. That's smartcredit.com slash on a shame. Smartcredit.com slash on a shame. And I liked the way, I thought the same thing as that. And I liked the way he just stayed positive with it. He didn't like saying they bad about anybody else. He didn't like, because there was a contrast because he had mentioned in an article I read, he was talking about Nashville hosting a Super Bowl because the Titans are building a new stadium. And so he just said, I think we should have a country music halftime program when it's in Nashville because it's the home of country music. He was just making a point. He wasn't really aiming anybody else. But then I noticed there was like controversy because we got this guy this year. What's the Briar Rabbit? What's his name? I haven't been on the internet for about 10 days. Well, that's all the Super Bowl already happened. Man, he said it was bad bunny. So bad bunny is apparently, he, all of his stuff when he won an award at the Grammys was all anti-Trump and I was so unfortunate. He just made this whole big political rant. It's so negative. And I don't know anything about this person, but there's been a lot of controversy about him even being picked. But I just thought, Jelly, well, he was like, man, let's just have some positive and good. He was just so positive about that. Well, the light was, I just pulled up the quote here. He said, I wanna tell y'all right now, Jesus is for everybody. He's not on, Jesus is not on by one political party. See, I love that because it's not partisan. It's not partisan. It's not a message. Jesus is not on by the music label. Jesus is Jesus and anybody can have a relationship with him and I love you Lord. So good. I mean, that is, and I think that's a message honestly for anybody, right? Like that, but that is a light that shines through because it's a light that, the light of Christ, it's inviting the world and inviting all men. I think that's it in the first John. Yeah, we're talking about that. He's, it's for all men. I mean, Christ has invited you into relationship and into participation into his life. He sounds like a man who received a pardon and it was good news and he's so excited about it. He can't quit talking about it. Was he in prison? Yeah, he was in prison at some point. He was in a cell. He said I was in a cell with a Bible, the size, this size and something that played music. Yeah. But I love it. And he honored his wife as well who was there and said, you know, without Jesus and you, I wouldn't be here. I just, it was very warming. Yeah, I thought it's a, it reminds me that famous quote, Phil said at Angola that you can be under lock and key and still be free in Jesus. And I think that, you know, you're in that moment, like you said, Jace, when you're, when the lights are out and you ask what that was like. I mean, there's a moment where when we, me and J came back the night that bear and Jace hunted after that, they hunted for a while. We came back and all the lights went out. And we were sitting in there putting in candles that I'd gone down to Phil's house and just confiscated a bunch of candles. We had a, literally it smelled good in there because I had about 40 candles of K's old, like, Senate candles and we had all the candles up and I looked at J and I was like, man, we gotta go outside and we're gonna get depressed because it was just so dark, you know what I mean? And so we went out there and built the fire outside. It was super cold, but like we had to have that light, you know, and to make J call somebody, so what are y'all doing? Where we came outside because we didn't want to get depressed in there, but it is depressing. Just sitting in dark, you have no context. You don't know where anything's at. You're like, stomach around, tripping over stuff. But just that one little flame, it's interesting, how I could light up an entire area that you can actually see and move around and get a context, move where you're going and say, really it was kind of a great metaphor. Oh, it really was. And the day after you left, which was good timing for you because that was the roughest day, which, look, we shot the ducks. So I thought it was worth it. But during the course of the day, we lost a truck, total of the truck. We lost one of our argos. It hasn't run since. We had a young man that works here. He's been here about a year. Well, he got trapped down there. So we're like, you're in it because everybody left. Everybody pulled dash or you know, they're like, it's too rough around here. And so it was, I think it was four of us. It was me, Burley, Jay, yeah, and the young man. And no, Ann Chet, so we had, no, two of us. Who had you affectionately called Dingelberry? Well, we call him different names, but you got to iron your stripes. But so it was one of those central Florida redness. Well, here's what happened. When I have this argo, I didn't realize the water was so deep because we didn't have a good hunt. That's what sent Zach packing, you know. And he had to make a trip to Walmart, the one in North Carolina. And this is about 20% true. But it's a typical Jay's fashion. So what happened was, you know, Burley, he's like, yeah, Rick, my truck is morning. He slid off the road, you know, and which he limp there, but it was, I looked at it, and I thought, ooh, yeah. One, one, you're axel and you tire. You're gonna need some work here. And he's like, yeah, to take my argo, well, I was like, I think all these ducks in our timber. Well, the ice is so thick that when we rounded a band, and we had to cut our way, because all these trees fell over there too. So you imagine we did that for two or three days. And you had to have chainsaw. Well, this water kept getting deeper, and I was breaking the ice. But we saw about 3,000 ducks get up in the vicinity of a duckbline. Well, now we lost our mind. We're like, we're going out there, but all we have is this argo, and all of us are in it. And it only helps two people. Yeah. And at some point, the water got so deep that this thing's an amphibious vehicle. It goes from riding on land to kind of a propulsion. But the problem was the ice was so thick, it didn't have enough power. I would like bump into the ice. So I said, well, y'all got to get out and break the ice. I actually took a little video of it was Jay Burley and Cade is his name. They were breaking the ice. Well, I noticed at some point, and then I'm just following them in the argo. They're making a trail for me. I noticed that Cade started shaking violently, and I'm like, what's seem to be the problem there? I mean, it's not that cold. I figured they'd be warm, breaking ice. He said, well, somewhere in breaking this ice, I've punched holes in my weight. Oh, boy. And Burley, who is a nurse, that's why I wouldn't worry. I thought we have a nurse. You're in the first stages of hypothermia. Oh. Yeah. Said if he gives you incentive to get to the blind, which I took that to mean he's a young man. He just arrived. I said, that gives you incentive to follow Jesus. What's the worst thing that can happen to you in Jesus? Resurrection. There you go. And so we stopped, took a time out in this moment and had a good Jesus discussion while he's violently shaking. Shake it. We get him to the blind. So much compassion, man. Because he's like, I think I need to, you know, might need to go. I was like, go where? We're three miles from anywhere, you know. You're where you're going to be. You need to build a fire and get over and hug it. And then every once in a while, raise up and shoot. It'll warm me up, you know. And so we wound up killing a lemon of dogs. But it was a tough day. I mean, when I just looked at it, because Missy said, how did you get it? I said, well, okay, that was a really tough day. So we lost the truck. We lost an hour ago. I said, we had to have hypothermia. We thought he's going to die. We lost a man. He pulled three. But we had a good Jesus talk about that. And now we wound up killing a lemon of dogs. Does the man know Jesus? Do we? Do you think of that? I know Jesus. But I'm telling you what, I think like all the relationships in times like this, it tends to galvanize what you believe. I mean, it becomes real. So all in all, look, it was a lot of opportunities to help people. And it's still ongoing. So at least I left about halfway through the ice apocalypse. We had an event in Illinois. And it was so funny, because we get there. Of course, up there, this same storm system dumped a foot of snow on them. Yeah. And which is, according to them, unusual. There's a large amount, 12 to 16 inches of snow. And so we'd say, you know, somebody would be talking. And they'd say, oh, where are you all from? You know, we're from Louisiana. Oh, what do you think about all this? I don't know. I was like, well, actually, I came from a place way worse than this. You know, and then you have to tell the story about the ice. Because they're functioning. Well, I'm going to give a little sermon here. Because I realize people from the North making fun of people in the South, because we don't understand cold. There's a difference when it's ice. And my buddy, he lives in the North. He kept saying, I mean, what's the big deal? You can drive. I was like, no, no. You can't walk. You take one step. You're going down. I saw my wife there one day. She, because we put all our stuff that was in the refrigerator and freezer. You just put it outside. Yeah. So in the Eddie ice, yes. And that actually worked quite well. Yes, but she stepped on that ice and she just started doing it. It was like, what's the game you play? Well, you know, it was like, I was watching Twister, you know? And the problem is at our age, yes, some things twist. They don't twist back. I mean, I used to drive more in the last 10 days. And I've used since I've had that truck. I've had that through for you. And I found out, unfortunately, with mine, my forward drive does not work. Yeah. Because I don't ever use it. Exactly. And then all of a sudden, I needed it. And it would not go forward drive. It just kept saying, air, air. So, Jayce, we talk a lot on this podcast about spiritual forces. It works against us and against our children as well. One of the ways we are able to share values with our kids are through our good friends that brave books, which we have here. And you know one of the authors quite well. Yeah. Missy wrote, because you're my family. And Jeff and Jessica actually helped co-write Dear Valor. And it's a story about adoption. And obviously, because you're my family, just basically talks about God's redemptive story. Yeah. And it's about his unconditional love. So these books, they help parents build strong families by teaching kids courage, forgiveness, and fruit of the spirit stories. And kids love reading these. Every book includes discussion questions and games so that the whole family can talk through these together. When you subscribe, you'll get a brand new book every month in a free bonus bundle. Plus, the two books written by our family right here on set for free. Let's raise brave, unashamed kids in a confusing world. Go to bravebooks.com slash unashamed. Use the code unashamed to get 20% off your first order. That's bravebooks.com slash unashamed. Code unashamed for 20% off. Yeah. When you get a, and I don't know what the forecast for what we got. But in our neighborhood, it just collected, I don't know if it's from the trees, but we, in my backyard, I had a, it was a foot of ice, a foot. And it's still there. And it's been above freezing three or four days since then. The ice is still there. I mean, that's how thick this ice was and which is why most of the limbs fell. But I thought about another spiritual principle. You know, in John 15, we was talking about pruning the branches. Because most of the problem, there were some trees that fell over. But most of it was just all these limbs falling, just the way the limbs would break. And I thought, you know, you're from now, we'll look up and say, boy, look, look how beautiful this is because you don't mind a pruning. Oh, it was a pruning. God's nature style. Yeah. But I did, like you said, there's a huge difference out there. But I was, this to the folks up north. Because it never, we left here, you know, it was starting to get warm, warm up a little bit. And I got up there. It never got out of the teens was the highest the whole time at a night. It was zero and below zero. And so all that snow was there. We're not making light of it. I was just saying that you have an ice storm. Yeah. You're not going anywhere. There's no driving. There's no, and the power's going to go. I barely got out of here to get to the airport. And it just opened up the day we were flying out. So the biggest phenomenon that I learned and I had the only argument I had with my wife. When she called me, she's like, we have water coming in our house. I was like, well, I called my buddy. Same guy lives up. No, he's a plumber. And he's like, we got a broken water line. And so I called her back. She's like, it's not the water line. It's coming through the ceiling and the floor. And you know, we came to, we figured out that the, this ice somehow makes these dams on your roof. Yeah. So it freezes. And it freezes in the gutters. That's what happened to our, and so then the water somehow leaks out and. Back's up. Yeah. And it happened to our entire neighborhood. Yeah. I mean, everybody's house got flooded to some capacity because of that, which was a strength fund. Even duck man, where we're at right now, I saw them a lot of they were out here doing the same thing. Well, I didn't realize it, but we pulled a smart move. So we sent like when it first started, I saw the water backing up underneath the anus house, but the snow was blocking it. The ice was blocking it. So I got the kids out there. So everybody grabbed a shovel and we dug a trench in the initial ice when it was still fresh. So it was pretty easy. And it let that water out. So our house didn't flood, but you know, we just kind of in the moment made a decision, but we'd have flooded too because it just backs in the door. Yeah. I mean, that's why I came, came back here because my wife, she was, you know, it was just a stress of it all. There were limbs crashing sounding like it was fourth of July. I was just like, well, I got to go be with my baby for a while. And well, right past you, of course, Jeff had his whole crew. Now he's got to, all of his kids are having babies. So he's got three babies there in his son and laws, which I think were good help for him and then in his daughters. But the problem was, Jeff wasn't prepared. He wasn't prepared. Well, I guess we took the way of the bud. The most funny thing that happened is when I cleared the driveways and, uh, Y'all's driveway and our main road and, well, Jeff, every time I looked up, he, he was pulling a little wagon, it was a little black wagon and he had his son and laws. And I was like, what, what are you doing, Jeff? Because I really wasn't sure what he was doing. I thought, you need, you need something way bigger than a wagon. Cause I thought, is he helping me clear this and then I realized, Jeff's cold. He's just trying to get some firewood. So he was pulling me around. Yeah. And he was at first, he had to come to my house. He said, how do you have anything that would air up the tires and a wagon? I said, well, yeah, I got a thing that worked. He said, well, how am I going to use it? So what's got a battery pack on it? You know, air your tires. So he had to air the tires up in the wagon first. And then he's having to get wood. And so what do you been burning? And he said, well, a tree fell on our outdoor furniture and broke it. And so we started there. So they're literally breaking things out in the yard and burning it. And he walked in my house. And it was the look on his face because it'd been a couple of days. And he walked in. He looks, of course, the lights are on the TV zone. People are talking. They're drinking tea. And he looked at me and he said, you all are living. I was like, yeah, it says a gem. Let me just tell you something. This time, you're older brother. 14 years old. You this is what it looks like when you prepare when you think ahead and you think and it's funny because Willie and I had a conversation because he was out on his skid deal, doing a bunch of work. And I said, Willie, I'm really surprised you never got a generate. He said, well, they had buried their lines a few years ago. And they in the substations right next to his house. Of course, he's made it through to her. Can his pire and everyone else. So I think he thought he was golden, but he wasn't prepared for this. No, he kept thinking he saw the actual power station went out. I know. And then he gave his generator to his in-laws, which is very nice. I'm the problem was he's got that big huge house. But he said, I'm freezing the death because you can't heat it as too big. I said, well, you can come on over my little devil. I'd if you just want to get warm, a little brother. Yeah. I was like stark Vegas over there. I was lit up. The Sadie had a Sadie in Christian. They had a generator on their house as well. And so they were housing all of their wing. There. So everybody's, you know, it is, it is interesting. We talk about compound living because you were out helping clear because you had a chainsaw and then Jep's kids came up and we're taking showers and washing clothes at our house. But it is to be together and have family close by. And then mom, you know, as I check on her every day and other people did as well, Willie kept going over. It is the way that people used to live. And we just kind of reverted back. Like you said, that's the way I felt just with the candles and having conversations and reading stories and building fires. You basically, I spent a couple of days just making it through the day as far as cutting firewood and helping people out. And I think that's the way people did before electricity. And it just becomes the new normal. Oh, yeah. And we did it. I mean, I had an interesting conversation last night with my wife because she saw my leg and she was like, well, how'd you do that? Because I'm not in all seriousness when, after that day of chainsaw and on that road, when, you know, you get so hot, you're so cold. But then you don't really, you got to me clothes on, then you're sweating. And I'm like, tell your parents not to come in here because I'm fixed to take a sink shower. And what's idea? We didn't cold water. It was rough. But I looked down, I was like, it looks like I've been in a bar fight. I mean, I had bruises and cuts. I got to look at you. Because you can even know what's happening. I didn't even know what was happening. I looked at my leg and I realized that at some point, because when you're cutting and your feet are on ice and, you know, cutting limbs is unpredictable, especially the size of some of them, I was cutting. I realized that that chainsaw, because then I looked at my pants, that chainsaw knicked my leg and I have every where there's a chain link, I had an open wound. And I didn't even know I did it. I never even remember when it happened. And of course, I wasn't going to tell her that because, you know, I continued to the chainsaw, but she asked me point blank, how'd you get that interesting wound on your leg? I was like, well, I wasn't going to tell you, but I got a little too close to that chainsaw. But it kind of made me realize, well, that could have been a lot worse, because I was right at the brink of that and didn't even realize it, you know. Well, that's the other thing about it. You take it for granted because like nobody could get out. And so I'm like watching the kids and stuff. And of course, stuff's falling outside where they want to go play in the snow, you know, like, no, we can't go play as dangerous stuff. Because limbs are falling. And so, so then we finally found some clear areas they could go outside, but like I was watching this little toddler and he a couple of times fell, he was head and I was thought, all it takes is one thing here. And we got a bad situation because you can't run down to the clinic like you normally could, you know, you had to deal with even stuff like that. I kid you not, Missy said, because you know, the garbage has become a problem here. If you'll notice on the sides of the roads and on people's hoods and because they're not running. I already had two full cans. Days my entire bed of my truck was solid garbage because you know, we were doing four bags of trash a day. So Missy said, well, they're not going to be able to pick that garbage up because I looked out there. I mean, there's a limb as big around as me on the, I was like, well, one of those garbage cans is not going to make it. But so I said, well, I'll go cut it up. So I cut the tree off of it and all that got it all straight. Go back to the house and we're sitting there talking. Coom, I look one twice as big hit right where I just was and just decimated the garbage cans. This is flat and she said, well, I guess it had been better if you had awaited. And that you can get both of them. I was like, baby, realize I could have died. If I want to done this, about 30 seconds later, I wouldn't be here. She's like, yeah, you're right. Well, it's been cold. We're certainly in the wintertime. And one of the favorite gifts at my house was anything from cozy earth, but especially the bubble cuddle blanket, right, Jay? I got one from my wife and she has been under it the entire winter. I slept, I slept with mine last night at your house. When I was there, your granddaughter had snagged it. We wanted to get a picture of me under it. I think we may have that picture, but I took it from her and it did not go well. She was not happy. Well, it's a big fight in my place is to who gets it first. And I guess I'm going to have to buy a couple more. Zach, we also had the pajama zone as well. I think we took a picture of that. So we definitely love our cozy earth. Their sheets, their pajamas, their blankets are incredibly soft. Cozy earth makes every day feel like a special occasion. And whether you're shopping for yourself or someone special, you got a 10-year warranty, a hundred-night trial. You can't go wrong. There's no way you return anything from cozy earth. Trust me, these viral PJs are so good, they sold out during the holidays. And now they're back with an exclusive deal only available January 25th through February 8th. Head to cozy earth.com, use our code UnashamedBogo to get these PJs for you and someone you love. And if you get a post-purchase survey, be sure to mention you heard about cozy earth right here. That's cozy earth.com, code UnashamedBogo. Celebrate every day love with comfort that makes the little moments count. She's absorbed the Robertson mentality there obviously. But when I went out to Phil's house, I saw them trees fall, snap and coming down. And I was underneath a bunch of them. And I was like, and this phrase came to mind widow makers. These are widow makers. And I immediately got up into the road because I was like, I'm going to get hit by one of these things. And we know a couple people that got really injured. You mentioned the young boy, the English community and the podcast. And then I don't know what's going on with him. We should pray for him. And then also somebody else, I read on Facebook that one of the canopies at the gas station collapsed on top of him. So there was our friend Steve. He was, yeah, it fell on him. He broke his back and he was in intensive care. He's doing better. But yeah, it's very dangerous. Some three boys drowned over in Texas. Got out on a frozen water and got underneath it. And I know some folks have lost life in Tennessee as well. So it was, once you kind of get through something, you look kind of back and you see that it's, those families lies will never be the same. For sure. Well, remind you that you're imperishable. And how quickly things change. I mean, you can be like, in fact, Maddie was like, Maddie's, she's like sending text out. So we were recording tomorrow. Like, Maddie, we're in no condition. That was like, I can't get out of my drive. Get out my driveway. Jason's trying to cut his way out. It was like, it was, it was bad. It is, but it does, you know, it reminds us that we're perishable, but we're in Jesus. We're in this life and fellowship. And this is just part, part of it. Yeah. And you have no control ultimately. And you kind of see those meltdowns and people who are kind of control freaks and think they can control the narrative. When things like this happen, it just tends to escalate and you feel really small. Yeah. And your world gets small. I mean, there's no internet. There's no TV. You're, you're, you're just with who you're with. And you have a decision whether you can go out and complain or be scared or stressed out or be confident that your hope is in a greater power. And you just try to do what he would do. And I, I think, you know, my family did a lot of good things for, for a lot of good people. And I feel pretty good about it. I mean, it, because like, like I say, it always can be worse. Yeah. But it's a good reminder. It's a reset. Well, and I, would you say with the K-thing kind of in a humorous way, but about being prepared, spiritually, eternally, you know, and even in moments like these, because you never know. I mean, look, we've always said that apocalyptic moments are going to happen. I mean, we just kind of experienced it for a week. But I mean, if something happens to the whole setup, you got to be what, what are you going to do? You know, so not only just on the physical side, but spiritually, I mean, are you prepared? And that's a big part of it. We had planned this week five and a half years ago. We, because we live on our little mini compound within the bigger compound. And we thought, okay, we got this house has, you know, gas. We're, so you can, you know, do this. My house had the generac. This house has this. And we thought we, if something happens, we can survive. We can do this together. And, and then it came to fruition. And, you know, our lives were tamper, but not near as bad as other people, or even, even in the neighborhood. So thinking ahead is makes a huge difference. And it starts with thinking ahead to your eternal life. And Zach, you brought up the jelly roll thing. I think that's moments like that where you can remind people that Jesus is real. And all this stuff we talk about on this podcast is real. I mean, that's where you have to start. And then whether you survive something or not, you, of course, you win. Because, you know, the resurrection is always there. Well, you know, he's in a room speaking to people who have achieved a great deal of success in life. And they've, they've accomplished, you know, kind of ascended to the top of the mountain. And you think you can build that, right? And you look at what you've built. And sometimes I look at the things I've built. And I'm like, I did pretty well. We have done a, I've done a great job here. And then a storm comes. And you look at your entire neighborhood. And it's like decimated. And it's like the, all those trees are, are down. And like trees that's been there for 200 years are like snapped into you. And you're like, wait, like, it took so long to cultivate, to build this thing. And we had it all set. It was all right. We had all the, all the things. And then in our best efforts, you know, it's just like, it just wasn't enough. And I think that that's the light that kind of shines through. A lot of this is, is that realization that even in your best efforts and your best preparation, literally one storm can come in and hold more power. That you can't do anything about. And you can be it completely at the mercy of mother nature. And I think that, that God gave us that general revelation as a way of, of drawing us back into submission with him. And so that's the irony of jelly roll. Jesus is the answer. He's got to be the answer. Because if the answer is our own accomplishment and our own abilities, and the problem is nobody in, nobody in that room or any room for that matter can stop a storm. Nobody, nobody can stand against that power. And so I hope that, I say, nobody except for the one who calmed the storm, the one that said, peace be still. His name was Jesus. And that's why Jesus is the ultimate answer. But when I was in, only Illinois, and I met some, a lot of podcasts listeners were there. And one man named Jeremy, which is I would look back to find his email. He was, he sent me an email and he was just in tears. We talked a couple of times that he came in with his family and I met him first. And then we talked a little bit after the event. And just about the podcast and our family and had really helped him through some difficult moments and led him to Christ. He talked about it. He said, I never would have found Christ without y'all. He was just so appreciative. And it was kind of like what we were just describing. And I told him the last thing I told him, we had prayer, his wife has cancer. And she's battling that. But we had prayer, but I told him I said, look, we're very humbled and honored that we get to do this and we get to guide you through the Bible. Because he was just talking how much it had meant to him. Just studying John last year and it just had led him to that place. So we realized that and that's that's part of what this is. This is spiritual preparedness. This is exactly this is rushing in after storms and during storms in people's lives every single day. Well, our positioning Christ has this heaven and earth concept overlapping in Jesus. But you see the physical earth and it's wasting away as far as our involvement in it. And things happen and reminds us that we're perishable. It made me think of Romans 1 where it says the people who didn't thank God, but they worshiped and served created things rather than the creator. I mean, if you put all your hope and created things on the earth, you're going to be disappointed at some point. And you combine that with Sechrithians 4 when he was saying, though outwardly we are wasting away yet, ever in we are being renewed day by day for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes and I don't want to see but on what is unseen, for what is seen as temporary but what is unseen is eternal. And I think it's a really good balance to put this stuff in perspective. Because it makes you appreciate what you have. And there's a God and you're not him. I like it. I'm going to close in a prayer. Maddie sent me a text said today's groundhog day than the groundhog saw a shadow predicting six more weeks of winter. So there we go. Didn't it feel like groundhog day, the movie? Yeah. What was the name of that movie? Wasn't groundhog? Yeah, groundhog. Because Missy actually said that. Feel like. At day eight, we shot him living in the sun. And I was there and she's like, well, I think I'm going to take a mental health day because this groundhog day has provided some stress and she went and got her a shower and to one of her friends house. I was like, baby, you earned. All right, let me have a proper prayer. Father, we just want to come to you and thank you for getting us through the storm. Unscathed and just some damaged stuff. But nothing that we can do without. Some have had much more trouble than that. I know some people have been injured. Some people have lost their lives. And so I pray blessing on all those families, those that are struggling to regain health. I pray blessing on them. Just be with everyone that was in the storm's path and bless their families. And Father, we are grateful that we have your son, Jesus, to prepare us for eternity. Thank you in his name. Amen. Amen. See you next time. Thanks for listening to the Unaxhaine podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.