From Gym Crush to Marriage Miracle: The Unlikely Path of our Newest Family Member

At the time, I was looking for a new church to attend and I was praying for a church. And that day I went home thanking God. I was praying for a church, not a beautiful girl that leads worship and is in ministry. And you got the better end of the deal. And now we're here. Yeah, he had a church and he had my wife. Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Family Business with the Alessi's. I'm Steve Alessi and today I have a full booth. I've got some family in the booth with me and I think you're going to find today's episode pretty exciting. First, we want to say this. We are coming up on our 250th episode. That's a lot of episodes. And we're just wondering, have you been with us from day one? Were you there for the first episode? Because I was just informed that when we had our first episode recorded, none of my adult kids were married, which meant we had no grandchildren. But now the business has been booming and as you'll see, you're going to meet the last member today to join our family business, and that is Danny Burgos. And you're going to be hearing all about him, the tallest of them all, with the longest legs and almost the greatest, grayest hair of them all, Daniel Burgos. So I have him in the podcast booth with me as well as Christopher Alessi, the one and only. So listen, first, we want to say this to you. Thank you so much for liking the program. You are sharing it. We have over a million views on YouTube and we so appreciate that. We also, I want to say and give a shout out to our My Morning Devotional crew. That's the sisters, the siblings that have a morning devotional. It's about five to eight minutes. They say when Gabby's on, she goes nine minutes. And they are at almost five million views. Congratulations to them. Before we leave, Chris, don't let me forget, we have an announcement we want to make to all of you that are listening to us today. So welcome to the podcast booth. We're having a good time. Come on, let's introduce the newbie in the family. Christopher, why don't you help me do that? Well, I don't like the pattern. I'm glad I have no more sisters to get married because they get thinner and taller with everyone. So here we have Daniel Burgos, and we thought it'd be cool to introduce you to the family. Also giving everyone just a glimpse into how you and Lauren met, how that all happened, because it's an inspiring story. At the same time, it's interesting because it is the final completion of the puzzle. Now the rest is just kids. And seeing all that now we know that that next layer is closed. Canon is closed. Now we've got all the family members. So, Daniel, talk to us, man. Tell us this. How did you and Loren meet? Well, first of all, thank you guys for having me here. It's such an honor. And just as I start hearing more about the history of the podcast, and I know that it's been going for quite a few years now to be here as the last addition to the families, it's just an honor and. And a blessing to me. Yeah. Hey, by the way, are you okay us calling you, like the last edition? Yeah. You don't have a problem, do all Colombians? Are they okay? The last will be first. Okay. That's all right. Yeah, it's all good. That's good. Because that's going to be a special rank that you'll always have. Yeah. The last. Yeah. Well, you get that. Moina, when he was a part of when he got married, but he wasn't able to be on the podcast yet. He was represented on the show by, like, a skull skeleton head we had with horns on it, one of the things my dad bought for hunting. So I think this is an upgrade for what? We should have a soccer ball in place of Daniel here. Daniel is a soccer enthusiast. Enthusiast. Yeah. Tell us. Come on. How'd you meet Lauren? Yes. So almost more than a year ago. It was around the end of March. I was working out and she was working out at the gym. At the gym? Which gym was it? The ymca. So we would go to the Y every morning. Very consistent. And one morning she was kind of like struggling with one of the machines, and I was next to her and I just offer some help. And it was that day that we kind of like introduced each other and we started talking a little bit and the rest is history. Yeah, yeah. But take us through it because it's pretty sweet. So how long you didn't meet at church, you met at the Y. Yes. Which is very interesting because we're in Miami and. And it's challenging to meet someone who is truly in this journey of living faithfully to God. And the fact that we met at the gym is pretty. Pretty interesting and definitely something that God wanted for us. So we started talking the first day. It was just a very quick introduction, our names. And she noticed, like you're noticing right now that I have a little accent here. So because I'm from Colombia, she was wondering, is he from Cuba? Puerto Rico, where is he from? And that was the first. Italy. That was the first kind of conversation we had. Pretty short, very sweet. And after that, we just started to say hi to each other every single day at the gym. And it was one day, she was about to leave to Greece with you guys. We were going. You didn't go. So she came up to me and she said, like, hey, would you like to work out someday? And I said, yeah, of course. So we exchanged numbers. She said, you know, I'm leaving to Greece, so if he says no, I'm going to be gone for two weeks. Yep. And that was the day we found out that we were both Christians, because I asked her, hey, why? Why Greece? Is it vacation or what are you guys doing in Greece? And she said, is a history trip. So. So I asked, what kind of history? She said, it's a biblical trip. And I was like, okay, I see where this is going. That's good. So are you a Christian? She said. She said, yes. I said, me too. She said, like, all right, my parents are pastors. I work for the church. I'm going with my church. That's crazy. And that was very, very important because was that moment where we realized, all right, we're both Christians. We're meeting at the gym, but there's something more to it. And that was kind of like the day we decided, like, all right, we're gonna see where this is going and just meet this person a little bit more. So Daniel's one of the few people in all of history to marry his gym crush. Crazy, crazy, crazy. How long after that did it take for my dad to pull up next to you on the side of the road while you're running, and he pulls his car up next to you? I would say it was almost a month after that, that conversation, because she left to Greece. And then there was a couple weeks we didn't text each other. I was waiting for her to come back. And I was running on my way to the gym when I see a car coming towards me pretty much on the sidewalk. And I was so confused. I didn't know what was going on. And then I see Pastor Steve cracking up as he's driving towards me. Is that how you met him? No, no, I met him probably a week before that, right? Yeah. Yeah, it was a week before that. So. So I like part of your story because we go out of town, right, to Greece, and of course, the moment you and Lauren met, it Was very sweet because Gabby, the. The puppet master was behind all of this, trying to get pictures of you to show mom and show myself, because Mary saw you at the gym and thought, lauren's got to meet that guy. So Mary and Lauren are talking about you at the house. I'm sitting in the kitchen. I'm like, why are y' all talking about a guy? Mary, why are you talking about some guy at the gym? Oh, I thought it'd be great for Pastor for Lolo to meet him. So that, of course, started the joke on that morning. All right, that's the same morning we all get in the car to go work out, and we have just been talking about Danny. So we're on the road, and I go to turn, and I see this guy jogging, sprinting at full speed. And I said to Lauren, hey, there's your boyfriend. Joking, joking. And as we passed him, Lauren says, that's him. I'm like, no way. It's him. So we spun the car around, and sure enough, I pulled off to the side of the road as he was running towards us. But, no, we met. We were gone for a couple of weeks. We got back in town. Right, and you said you were. When did you tell Loren that you were going to church and so forth. So it was the day you guys were living cherries. It was the same day we found out we were both Christians, and not only Christians, but that we were very involved in ministry at the time. I was looking for a new church to attend, and I was praying for a church. And that day I went home thanking God. I was praying for a church. Not a beautiful girl that leads worship and is in ministry. You got the better end of the deal. And now we're here. He had a church and he had my wife. Well, you went to the vu, you were going to the VU at the time, and you were active, involved in their youth ministry aspect of it, to provide great assistance. And we love the people over at the vue, so that was the connection. And then when she mentioned that she goes to Metro, you knew Metro, you knew the church, You've driven by it a few times and such. Yes, yes, I knew about it. Went to VU for. I attended VU for, like, five years. Yeah, great church, great people. And I was kind of, like, transitioning to a new season of my life. And that's when I started praying for different changes in. In my life. And one of those was a new church, a new community, and that's when we both realized, all right, we're Christians. She goes To a church. She's in ministry. She works for the church. And after that, I took probably a few weeks just to pray about it and know, like, all right, I'm going to visit this church, see how it goes. Because Gabby invited me that same day. Yep. And you went without Lauren there? I went without Lauren, yeah. And everybody was on alert. Had Pastor Armando on alert, had Des on alert. Hey, tall guy. If he comes in, little salt and pepper hair, that's a friend of Lawrence, everybody keep an eye on him. And sure enough, we got the download right away. He's here. He's here. That was cool. Yes. And he made that introduction. That was great. And then you. I didn't even meet you at that point. So now we're back in town and I get the word, hey, dad, Lauren's going to coffee. We're going to meet the guy. So that was. That was probably maybe a month after that conversation where we both found out we were Christians. Yeah. And we saw each other at the gym, and we said, hey, let's grab coffee and, yeah, let's just spend some time and get to know each other. And so she texted me probably a couple hours later, saying, you know, if you're gonna come and pick me up, most likely my dad and my mom are gonna be here. They would like to meet you. And I was like, oh, boy. Early, early, early. The parents. The parents. But, you know, I went there, I pick her up, I met you guys. And from the first moment, it felt so natural. Yeah. Yeah. It felt so right. And I felt like home. Like, not that nervousness of talking to my maybe future in laws or what's going on here. No, it felt very authentic. Very, very sweet. I called you John. So the first moment he saw me, he came up to me and said, hey, John. Knowing he was Daniel, but just wanted to play with him. He took it so good. What I liked was you'd taken a shower, you were there. Very cordial, very kind. Didn't just shake hands. You went in for the hug. So we knew the whole thing was going to be very culture, similar culture. Then you took her, you went open the door to her, the car. That was sweet. You had your Volkswagen and you guys hung out that night, and that started something very special. Yeah. Yeah. That was a very, very special coffee. Yeah. Because my intention there was, like I said before, I was going through a season, and I was transitioning from one season to another, and. And I wanted to be very honest with her. Yeah. And share a little bit of my background, my experience. And what I was going through in that transition. And as I'm talking to her, I realize I'm feeling something different, something that I haven't felt before. And then when she started talking, I started thinking. I think I just met my wife. And I didn't come to this coffee with the idea of, I really want to date this girl. I was coming with the idea of, I want to share with her what I'm going through, this transition, and just get to know her and be honest with her, get to know a little bit more about her background and. But then as she was sharing a little bit, I felt something very, very special. When I. After coffee, I reached out to my sister and I was like, hey, I felt something very different. And that was not my intention, but I think I just met my future wife. I think what's funny about that too is I think when Lauren came back from her first coffee, she was like, you know, no, he set the stage. He's not looking to get married anytime soon. You know, right now, we're not even looking to do anything serious. We're just getting to know each other. Nice friendship. And then when you and I got closer, you were like, yeah, after that first coffee, I left thinking, that's my wife. And I do think from meeting to getting married, I think your timeline is even sooner than Mowinia's and Stephanie's timeline. So of all the families, the guy who started his first date with, we're going to take our time. Got married the quickest. Lauren did come home. She says, geez, he. He went deep fast. He was serious. And I was like, hey, that's not bad. But you were. You were very smart because you wanted your intention to be known. And I wish. I wish we had the time to go into some of the deep aspects of it, but you were in a position transition. You were more or less saying to God, you. If something doesn't break for you, career wise, relationship wise, and so on and so forth. You were starting to set your sights on heading back to Columbia. Yeah, no, it was definitely a very important season because I moved here five years ago. Now tell that story because again, we gotta give shout out to Vu and to Rich Jr. Because you were Catholic. I grew up Catholic. Very involved in the Catholic Church, especially with youth ministry and putting together events and stuff like that. And it just started as a little boy reading his Bible and taking notes. I remember the first book I read was Proverbs, and I was so into it, taking notes and everything. That's how I started developing and growing my relationship with Jesus. But then as I started getting more involved and involved and involved, I found myself very stuck just in. In. In religion. Yeah. And. And I kind of forgot about my genuine relationship with my father. Right. And as I was praying for a breakthrough for maybe a couple years, then Covid hit and everything went digital. So we were watching a lot of things on YouTube and stuff like that. So I was on YouTube one day right after Covid. It was maybe when I say right after Covid, I mean after the lockdown we had in Colombia. So it was a morning, I was just scrolling on YouTube and I saw Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. I found out he was a pastor of VU Church and just started watching VU online every Sunday morning. Come on. And then attending the Catholic church in the afternoon. I did that probably for five or six months when then I started feeling God saying, you gotta go to Miami and experience this in person. And I would say that was the beginning of a breakthrough. And it was all because VU Online was able to meet me in Colombia, and God used definitely Rich ministry to bring me to Miami and get involved in the Christian church. That is crazy to think. First, it shows you the power of online churches and how important it is that we continue to do that and stream and touch people because you never know who's listening. But to think. And we owe a debt of gratitude to Rich Jr. Because it was his ministry that brought you to Miami, that ultimately brought you into our family. And the Wilkersons are big family people, and that's precious in itself. But to know that they were. He was instrumental to be able to bring you here to. Now you're part of our family. Chris, you need to send him, like, some ice cream or something to say thank you. Yeah. For. For doing that. But that's a. That's a real beautiful story. And we. We've talked about this a little bit, Danny. The. The guys, young single guys that are out there today that it's like. And these girls. But what the heck? Just. Just go ahead and take the plunge, man. Yeah. You know, first pray, and then when. When there looks like there's an open door, try to walk through it, get your foot in there, say, let me give this thing a shot. And, you know, of course, you and Lauren went into it like everybody else. You're afraid that it's not going to work. You don't want to give your heart away too fast. But you both jumped in pretty. Pretty hot and heavy from the beginning. You were. You were ready to. Okay, if this thing is moving in the direction that seems to be moving in. Let's go ahead and make it happen. Y' all were on it. Yeah, we were. We were on it. I think you. If you're waiting to be 100% sure and just confident about something, you'll probably never jump. And when I said that, I was grabbing that coffee and she started talking, and I realized, wow, I'm feeling something different. I started to, let's say, explore that feeling a little bit more, because I didn't want that to be just a feeling. But then as I was praying and asking God for some direction, and I felt, this is the right movement right now. This is the right path right now, I decided, why wait? Why? To take long and just kind of, like, test the waters and see if this is the right relationship or not. If God is showing you something, you really need to obey and realize, all right, this is God directing my steps. Yeah, I think that's a big phrase you just used, because a lot of people might hear you guys met at the gym and suddenly start thinking that the gym's a great place to meet people. But in reality, what. What your story shows is that God had been setting everything up behind the scenes when you guys didn't know it. And that's really encouraging for anybody watching, really, in any stage of their life. I look at my own wife and see the path she took to get here very similar to yours, and how the Lord literally brought you over here using something that we would have never anticipated. And now you've become a part of this family. So it's really cool to see how the Lord set all that up. But then now you look at it from this perspective, and it's like, okay, the reason you were a good option at the gym was because the Lord had set that up. Yeah. And that was. What's weird is that my mom did see you at first. That probably the most convinced, in order of the people that had seen you was my mom, Gabby. And then Lauren, like, it was. There were people that were saying, this is really cool. And then I loved how the whole time, really up until you guys said, I do, you guys were still pursuing counsel and wisdom all the time on, is this still the Lord directing our steps here? Is this still what's right? And that was really cool to see because it's been like a launching pad for the two of you. Now. I have nothing to compare you to except the day that I met you and onward. But, Lauren, seeing the effect that the relationship and you personally have had on her. It's just incredible. And, you know, God's in it because of the effect it's had on her, the way she behaves. My parents said something similar about me growing up. That, like, they could tell the quality of Rochelle because of the effect she had on me and what she brought out of me. And we just see that so real with Lauren. And so now we look back and go, it wasn't a rushed thing. It wasn't, you know, a meet cute. It wasn't, everyone should run to the gym now and try to look for their spouse. It was literally the Lord directing Yalls steps every step of the way. And so once you're in that, why wait? Yeah. And I think we both had different experiences growing up. Our backgrounds are different. And by something we had in common in that moment was that we were ready for that next step. Yeah. And not because we were humanly ready and because of what we've done, but it was because we went through a season in our lives. For her was maybe a few years for me was coming to a new country, going through different transitions. And all of that was God working behind the scenes and getting us ready for that moment of meeting each other and realizing, all right, this is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. That's so cool. Well, one thing that we noticed right away was you're very kind spirit, kind demeanor. It was almost too good to be true. Danny. Because we're like, okay, this guy, he really can't be this nice. He really can't be this disciplined to be in the gym. He can't really be the guy that dresses like me. You and I dress alike. We've got the same. You and I are the same height. Yeah. We have the same brands of shoes that we're wearing right now. We wear the same Zara sweat dress pants, same color coordination. It's so weird. You would. You would come to the house. And I'm like, okay, this guy's got a camera hidden somewhere here. He knew what I was wearing today. Cause he's wearing the same thing and he's trying to impress me. There's a picture of that. Or he's got a video or audio recording somewhere. Because we would sit down, Lauren would say, danny said this. I'm like, oh, my God, that's me. I can hear that. I say those same things. We. We think alike, you know, so all of that was really unique. And it was a scary thing at first because it's like this guy came out of nowhere. And is this a setup? And then I'm wondering, what about your. Your spirit? That's so kind. So then we tell this story, and it's very, very sweet. Your mom was coming to. To visit, and she was going to be in church. And your mom is a devout Catholic. Yeah. Very, very sincere in her faith. And I'm tearing up thinking about it. She comes walking in the church down at Dateland. You bring her in for the first time. And Lauren met her on FaceTime and stuff, but never really met her in person. And your mom comes walking in. I'm on the platform. I just finished the invitation for prayer, and I go walking off. You bring her down about six rows. She stops. I walk over, and she. And I hugged each other and just cried. That was precious, man, because I picked up right away that's where his spirit comes from. Your mom has such a genuine, sweet spirit. And she hugged me and said in her broken English, thank you for loving my Danny. Thank you for loving my Danny. It was very, very sweet. At that point, it was like, all right, this is done. They're getting married. That's all right. Any concerns we have on timing, that's all right, man. That's all right. We can make this happen. Why don't you tell the audience you lost your dad when you were young? Yeah. So when I was 12 years old, my dad passed. And of course, it was a very difficult, hard moment for or my family. He battled with cancer for, like, two years. Around two years. And it was very, very, very challenging. But at the same time, it's interesting to say how something so hard, so difficult can be beautiful at the same time, because the time we got to spend together when. When you talk to my mom or my sister, they're like, he is his dad. So in 12 years, everything that he got to just pour into me as a. As a man and as an athlete. If I'm in sports, and I love sports, and I've been my. An athlete my entire life, it's because of him. He used to run marathons. So it was. It was very hard, Very challenging, but very special at the same time. My mom was very strong. She took the lead. Yeah. And. And she was there for. For us. For my sister as well. My sister was at the time studying in another town in Colombia, and she was also like, a really, really great oldest sister. She was there for me. She was reaching out constantly. And even though for me, was very hard, that was a moment when. When my relationship with God became very, very important and special. Yeah. Because you were asking me one day, who were those men around you after your dad passed who kind of, like, took that role? You know, not that they can replace him, but in a way that they can speak into your life and be a guidance. And even though I had some of those. Some of my uncles that were very present, I would say it was my heavenly father who really stepped in and. And took care of me. So very challenging. But at the same time, it was. It was Beautiful to spend 12 years with my dad. Yeah. Now, well, you mentioned your uncles, and you did say it. Back then. We were sitting in the backyard and we talked about it, and you said, yeah, my uncle stepped in, and we met some of those uncles at the wedding. And it was like, yep, there they are. You could see it. Just. It's. It's a sweet thing, Danny, to have family that are just, like, spirited. And that's what we have with your family and your. Your mom, your sister. If you were to put your sister and Lauren next to each other, it could look like they're siblings. It's weird. Yeah. That there are so many similarities. And the first time she came here was a couple of months after you and Lauren started dating. And we had our revive conference. Was it revived? No, it was last year's spring conference, right? No, I think it was revived. Was it revived? So it was during May. Yeah, that was spring. Yeah. Yeah. She was in town, and we looked over our shoulder and Danny brought her. That was the first time he came up to this campus. Yeah. That was the day I met Chris. Really? Wow. Yeah. I had a. Personally stayed in the background. Yeah. And it was great. I remember. So funny, because Lauren brought you into the offices after to eat one of the days. Everyone kept walking by me going, who is he? And I'm like, I haven't even really met him yet. I don't know. Yeah. Yep. Now we met your sister. Sweet spirit. She. She and Lauren dress alike. It's. It's the weirdest thing. The body frame is alike. They like to travel, man. You married your sister and she married her dad. Oh, my God. Listen, your mom's funny. Oh, yeah, mom, it's so funny. Oh, gosh. I don't even speak the language and facial things she would do or the way that she would say something to you when you would translate it. Please tell the audience about the cookie thing. Oh, that is cute. So I. I gotta say, both my sister and my mom had a very strong and quick connection with Lauren. Yeah. You know, hear your mom call her Lolo. Oh, Geez, so sweet. It was. It was something very special. The day my sister met Lauren during spring, they couldn't stop hugging each other. Yeah. And they were both asking each other, like, what's going on? Like, we just keep hugging each other. So it was a beautiful. And Lauren was never a hugger, by the way. It's not like Lauren enjoyed physical touch. No. No. So I think they were in steward. They were having a conversation with Pastor Mary and your mom. Yeah. And they were talking how men need some kind of, say, reassurance or to feel like, all right, you're doing a good job. And my mom was trying to communicate her idea of, you know, men need to hear from their wives. You're doing a good job. So the way of my mom communicating that was to say, they need a cookie. They need a reward for their behavior. And she's right. So if your husband is feeling low and he's having a bad day, but he's doing his best and he's getting the job done, he just needs a cookie. Yeah. Just give him a cookie. I hope Rochelle's listening. We said that on a number of occasions. Mary's turned around and says, you want a cookie? And his mother's accent, that's the funny thing, because it was so sweet the way she says it. And, man, I'll tell you what again, your mom, very impressive. She's tried and she's worked real hard on learning English. So when she's been here for a few months, she'll. Whatever program she's listening to, she's trying to learn English and went so far as to have her reception speech that she spoke translated into English, handed to us on a piece of paper so that we can read right along with her. It was very precious of her to do that. Just so you know, she watches every service online. She's gonna be watching this so we can say hi to her. Hey, mom. Hey, mom, you want a cookie? She enjoys service every Sunday. If she's watching from Colombia, from Spain, wherever she is, she likes to connect, to join the stream. And not only because she likes the culture at Metro. Yeah. And the leadership here, but also because it helps her practice her English. Oh, how sweet. She kind of fit in like family, too. She was very easy when she was around. You know, all those things, those dynamics are so weird, especially with some guys having to make room for new relationships. But your mom just fit in so easy, so unassuming, no demands whatsoever. Very inviting. And it just makes so much sense. You know, Danny, we. We've said And Chris was trying to articulate this early. People would say to me, pastor Steve, how did you know that Danny could be the one? And said it, well, it's just because of the woman. Lauren, is that as a result of this relationship, you brought out the best in Lorne. And the people in our church, they've had a special place for Lorne in their heart. They've seen Christopher be the first. Him and Rachelle there was like, wow, look what this next generation is starting to step into. They love that. Stephanie right in line with that. And then Gabby, I mean, when you had to go through his own little integration because he was new, coming from the outside. Rachelle was in the church for 10 years prior to. And she shares a similar story with you in that she lost her mother when she was about 10 or 12. So then Gabby and Christian, they were just like, okay, since they've known each other since they were just little kids, that was a natural. And then most people are like, what's going to happen with Lauren? And then for it to, boom, happen so quick. So they say, how did you know so. Well, we just looked at Lauren, and whatever you were bringing out in Lauren showed what kind of man you are. And I. I think that's just a good thing for young men to always remember that when you step into a relationship with a girl, people are going to judge you based on how that young woman responds. And if you're bringing out the best in her, making it about her, making her feel good about herself, people are going to celebrate that. That's a gift you give that young lady. So you gave Lauren that gift, and it's been beautiful to see it happen. And I'm glad the church family could get to know you a little bit, that you were here this weekend. And Doral, most of our Dateland crew gets to know you and loves having you there. You were this week here in Doral. They handled you pretty good, huh? They celebrated you a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, they did. That's good. Well, it's one big happy family. When we're about relationship, they want to know about our world, and it's beautiful that we can share it with them. So now. Okay, we have an announcement to make. What were you going to say before we did it? I'm looking for it now. When did Gabby and Christian get engaged? Were you there that night? No, that was before me was February. February. Okay. So here's what. Here's why I bring that up. Here's how we knew it was God, because on that night, we all became so burdened for Lauren. How in the world is, you know, now Gabby's going to go and get married, and now what's going to happen with Lauren? And yet there you were, sitting with her at Gabby's wedding. So from the time of Gabby's engagement, we were so nervous to the time of Gabby's wedding, we all knew Lauren's got her guy. That was just so cool to see how God did that. And here's how I'll tie that to our announcement. Ready for it? Yes. So one of the things the girls have been able to do on their podcast on the. On the My Morning Devotional podcast, which is a podcast, they have been able to. It's a devotional. They say it's a podcast. I have my opinion it's just a devotional. But it's a devotional podcast. It's the My Morning Devotional podcast. And so every day they've been able to just give somebody a little nugget, five to seven minutes, unless it's Gabby, you know, just to keep them going in the waiting seasons of life. And so Lauren, somebody in her position would have had that. We want to speak to all the men every day in the same way. It's not that my morning devotional is for women only, but it is ran by women only. And then sometimes the men are guests. Now we've decided, you know what, let's get the men in the booth and let's do our own. So we're going to be calling it the Men's Morning Devotional. Mmd. Mmd. But we're going to be filling the airwaves with a five to seven minute man up moment and a man up challenge every weekday on our Men's Morning Devotional podcast. And it is a podcast and Daniel's co producing it because one of the cool things was that when we had an idea early on, Christian actually had an idea we should do something like this. We sat on it, and then he starts having a real heart for something like this. And then it all kind of came together with dad. Is this the time? Yes, it's the time. And now he'll be helping us produce it. He'll be on it. And we could not be more excited for it. Yeah, for real. It's going to be nice. We already taped the first two weeks, five sessions. Oh, we got. I got mine in, right? You got yours in. Okay. Who was quicker, ap, who got this recorded faster? You got. Come on. Was it true or no? Did he go longer? How did he do he did five minutes. I don't know, but I see him sitting on a fence. I had no idea he could fit a fence in here to sit on it like that. I did stick to my five minutes. Did you? Yes. It was good, right? It was great. I like that, Chris. I like that format. Get in, you get out, you bless the people on your way. Yeah. And we have too many guys out there that need just a little. A little something every day. Yeah. Yeah. And that's one of the things that Danny's had a heart for from the beginning. Yeah, he's had that heart. I love that Christian has that heart. And it's really cool to see how God brought people into our family that are gonna add to what we do. Yeah. Well, again, I really do go by this principle in the mouth of two or three witnesses. Let everything be established. Let every truth be established. Let every dream be established. So Danny, you know, he mentioned Christian had an idea. We got a lot of idea people. Ideas. People, idea. People around us, they have ideas. They have ideas. They wanna do this, they wanna do that. We talk about it. That's the one witness. It starts with an idea. You need a Christian to have the idea. And us, we're talking about it. Then you got involved with a couple guys, and they were talking about doing a podcast. And so you. I say, hey, that's cool. And you. You showed me, actually, some of the teachings that you already went on and created for it, because you're a sports guy. Soccer, you. You coach privately as well as with a team, and you wanted to be able to pour into some of these young athletes to prepare them for sports and the life that's before them. So you showed me what you had, and it was like, this could work. This. This is nice. So here's the second witness that came on the scene. And then this week, two weeks ago or so, we're talking about it. We're like, we're going to do it. What's it going to be called? We had a meeting with all the staff, and I'm like, okay, this is phenomenal. But Danny's got to be a part of it because you do have a vision for it and your schooling. You actually have a degree in what, Psychology and Christian ministries. Yep, there you go. All right. Another psych major in the psychiatry. Another psych major. So that's something that's in your heart to be able to help people, pour into them and, you know, the future really with you and Lorne, since both of you have that heart to help Others, minister to others. It's really. We're going to see the door open for a certified, legitimate counseling ministry in the church. Just talked to a guy yesterday about it. He's, like, on board. Let us help get this done. We want to be able to pull it together. But a lot of that all coming to a head to show that even. And I think Chris and I appreciate this, even the blessing that you brought to Lauren as her husband and now our family. You blessed our family because it's good to have you in the fold. But you're also blessing our church family, our business family. All right. The Lord's added to the Alessi family business with what will now be another component, which is going to be our men's devotional. And it's going to be good for the people to hear from you, get to know you a little bit more. But the well goes deep here, buddy. You're not shallow, that's for sure. And we're proud of that. We don't want you to be. We want you to be right up there with us. You're a processor, You're a thinker. I like that part of you. You're disciplined. Appreciate the way you stay steady Eddie in the gym. Because usually what happens after they get married and they find their girl, they stop hitting the gym. You're staying at it. You're keeping Lauren the best as possible to keep going back. Yeah. And sometimes he'll publicly shame her. He will. She's not doing it. I'm trying to. She needs to. She needs to keep that. She looked at her the other day and was like, you haven't worked out in a while. Yeah, yeah. Look who's calling the kettle black here. Right? I hadn't been in the gym since meeting Danny in the gym, that my work was done. I just needed to go and confirm he was a good guy. And I did say to Chris, chris, in all the years you and I were in the house together, we didn't work out together. And one time I got to spot him in the gym, I just had to help him a little bit. I'm like, that's good. I'm done. I've done my job. Danny, thanks for being with us today. Thank you, guys. And I gotta say very quickly, now that we're mentioning the gym again, if you're listening to this and you're in a waiting season, take heart, because God is getting you ready. Might be a job, might be a spouse. Whatever it is, take heart and hold on to God because he's getting you ready? That's good. It sounds too good to be true that we met at the gym. But God is working behind the scenes and he's working behind you as well. It's all good. Well, you've got the ymca, you've got the vous and you got Metro. The Y and vous and Metro. How cool is all of this? Well, thanks for joining us for another episode of the Family Business. Hold on. Chris, do you have anything else you would like to say before we go? No, I'm good. Are you sure? You usually have so much to say. I'm surprised. Right before we got on camera, he looked at Daniel and said, maybe we'll be able to get a word in. It's hard to do when Chris is here. There we go. That's what you heard from Chris. Thanks for joining us for another episode of the Family Business with the Alessi's. Please share if you liked what you've heard today. May it be a blessing to you. Take care. Thanks so much for joining the Family Business today. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow or subscribe. Share with a friend and leave us a review. 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