Get ready to be captivated by this story of persistence, faith, and self-discovery. I'm thrilled to introduce my guest, Ken Wilson, who despite a challenging upbringing, has transformed his trials into triumphs and now wants to inspire others with his journey.
From navigating the struggles of his childhood that included his mother's early death to coming to terms with his father's depression, Ken's journey has been far from easy. But it's his strong spirit and unwavering faith that led him to the Bible and a spiritual awakening.
As Ken immersed himself in the scriptures, his faith deepened and he underwent a shift from spiritual immaturity to spiritual growth. He's even created a mini-Bible book, The Bible... Simplified, to help others recognize God's workings in their lives.
Ken’s story reassures us that no matter our starting point, we can carve our own paths, as long as we have the courage to pursue our dreams!
Grab Ken’s first book The Bible…Simplified HERE!
Follow on Instagram & Facebook: @AndyBHoward
Buy the book on Amazon: www.amazon.com/When-Words-Dont-Come-Easy/dp/1955362084
Listen to the first chapter: soundcloud.com/andy-howard-788712319
Learn more at AndyHoward.com!
Get ready to be captivated by this story of persistence, faith, and self-discovery. I'm thrilled to introduce my guest, Ken Wilson, who despite a challenging upbringing, has transformed his trials into triumphs and now wants to inspire others with his journey.
From navigating the struggles of his childhood that included his mother's early death to coming to terms with his father's depression, Ken's journey has been far from easy. But it's his strong spirit and unwavering faith that led him to the Bible and a spiritual awakening.
As Ken immersed himself in the scriptures, his faith deepened and he underwent a shift from spiritual immaturity to spiritual growth. He's even created a mini-Bible book, The Bible... Simplified, to help others recognize God's workings in their lives.
Ken’s story reassures us that no matter our starting point, we can carve our own paths, as long as we have the courage to pursue our dreams!
Grab Ken’s first book The Bible…Simplified HERE!
Follow on Instagram & Facebook: @AndyBHoward
Buy the book on Amazon: www.amazon.com/When-Words-Dont-Come-Easy/dp/1955362084
Listen to the first chapter: soundcloud.com/andy-howard-788712319
Learn more at AndyHoward.com!
What's up everybody. We have a special special show for you today. I know you've probably been getting sick. You haven't told me Thanks for being kind, but you've been sick and tired of hearing from me. Week after week it's been the summer. Months have been hard to get guessed on, so many people traveling and so busy. I understand that 100%. We've been busy as well.
Speaker 1:I did make a promise to keep this thing up and going and we are almost to the fall, so it should get better. But today, today, you do have a special guest with us today. His name is Ken Wilson. You're going to love his story. I had no idea. I've known him for the last five years or so. I have known him as a happy go lucky Jesus loving dude. I didn't know where he came from. I didn't know his backstory. I knew he was an author and we're going to dive into all that today. His story is so fascinating and wait till the very end because we have breaking news on what's going on in Ken's world. But you got to stick around to the end to find it. All that and more. It's happening right after this.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to the when words don't come easy podcast. I am Andy Howard, if you have not ever joined the program before, I'm so glad you're here. I am very excited today. I have a dear friend of mine, a fellow co author and just man. I've known him for years and I told him. We just bumped into each other at an event couple weeks back and I told him you have to come on the podcast, talk about your book. In fact, we're going to spend a lot of time on his first book that he wrote. But stick around to the end, because there is a brand new surprise coming out as well. We would dive into that. But first, without further ado, I do want to bring on my dear friend Ken Wilson. What's up, ken?
Speaker 2:What's up Andy, how you doing out there in beautiful Texas Beautiful hot Texas man.
Speaker 1:my face is melting off, literally. It's like, if you want to get a comparison to what it feels like, I'm sure you know you've been through Texas many times, but it's kind of like having your oven ready for dinner and then just go open the oven and let it slap you around for a few minutes.
Speaker 2:It's a dry heat, andy. It's a dry heat, right Come on.
Speaker 1:Well, for sure. Well, anyways, how are you man? And you're out today? You're actually in beautiful Georgia area, but you're from Florida, Is that correct?
Speaker 2:Yes, I am Florida. We came up here and now we're spending time in the mountains to escape the heat.
Speaker 1:Good, well, good for you, man. Well, I'm excited to dive into this project that you did, but before we do, I want to go back a little bit and first I know you're a husband, I know you're a dad. Tell me a little bit about your family and just a little bit about who Ken is.
Speaker 2:Well, you know what? First off, I want to say thank you for writing your book and sharing your story, andy, too, and kicking off these amazing podcasts and breathing open to people too. I mean it's awesome. And I just want to say again I appreciate the opportunity here to share my spiritual journey and my story right in the book. So let me start off by saying this. I'm just anything is possible. Anything is possible with God.
Speaker 1:Amen.
Speaker 2:Because you know, seriously, what you and the audience are basically going to hear today from me and my upbringing to where I am now in my life is just, it's just nothing more than a miracle, and I'm super pumped to share it with you all right now. So, yeah, I mean I've been married for almost 30 years and I've got two kids a 22 year old boy who just graduated from Florida State and a 19 year old daughter who's playing soccer, going into her junior year at Southern Miss University. So we're keeping really busy. So what I wanted to do too is I wanted to share a little background on me, to set the stage for my story and my spiritual journey. So I just wanted to start off by saying you know kind of where I grew up too, because I think this is going to be a big. It's going to be pretty amazing to see how I grew up and where I am today.
Speaker 2:So I grew up in the cornfields of Illinois, near a small town called Joliet, illinois. I don't know if you know Joliet's where the Blues Brothers was filmed at Saturday Night Live Days back in the 1980s, and it was basically a tough part of town, andy. I mean prisons, correctional centers it was. It was like the other side of the tracks. I mean, my older brother and I, you know, we were from a blue collar family, middle income family, and we had good, strong values, a strong work ethic and we were initially brought up attending church.
Speaker 2:But when my mom passed away when I was five years old, those days of attending church basically came to. I mean, it was just like a screeching halt. I mean, my dad I believe what happened to Andy is, I think, my dad just he kind of threw in the towel on religion and God all together. I mean we just flat out stopped going. So you know, early on in my life which, as you know, with kids too, it's a critical period, critical stage, and I really didn't have that, you know, that understanding or foundation of who Jesus is and what he did for us and Christmas to us was Santa Claus, presents under the tree and his big old, you know, harry Bunny, hopping around just throwing Easter eggs all over the place.
Speaker 1:So well, yeah, thank you for sharing that. You know I've known you I would say five or six years maybe now it's hard to tell when I first met you, but I never knew this side about you. So one I'm grateful for you sharing that. And because here's the kid I know, and so this is wild, going back to the heartbreak and some of these, some of your upbringing. But the kid I know has the biggest smile on his face all the time and I even told Tiff recently I'm like that dude is like the epitome of a Christ follower. That guy I've never seen. I'm sure you have bad days, man, we all do right but I've never seen you have a bad day. It's like you're so consistent every time. You're just always happy and beaming and I love that about you.
Speaker 1:But, tell me more about losing your mom at such a young age. And then you guys kind of got out of church, sounds like. When did things change for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So you know, fast forward to when I was about eight years old and my dad got remarried and then, after five years together, they just went through a difficult divorce when I was about 13 years old and you know, my brother, dad and I ended up living in some pretty pretty harsh conditions, you know one of them was, I remember, a one bedroom apartment I mean, we're just eating spam, hot dogs with Arby sauce, you know for like a year and some other low income family homes. You know, times were tough and you know the thing about it too is my dad was a tough dude. He was like Clint Eastwood. You know he'd be like Kenny you better do the dishes or else, you know he's just this tough dude that you don't. I mean we were afraid of him. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean you know.
Speaker 2:But looking back, you know, I realized my dad was battling depression. Yeah, you know, it was a big thing for him to lose, you know, the love of his life at such an early age. She was 31 years old when she passed. So you know, when I sit down with my dad today, he always tells me, you know, how sorry he is for how he grew up and you kids had it rough and you know I always tell my dad listen. You know my childhood was fine, you know, because going through those difficult yeah, situations helped shape me into who I am today.
Speaker 2:I'd be grateful for everything I have now, but again there was just like no glimmer of God or Jesus in my life. I mean it still wasn't there, but as you know, god's patient right, he's constantly working on his time.
Speaker 1:Well, that is very amazing. I don't mean that it's a very tough, tough story, but a very amazing story. When you went through that and when you're going through that, and then at what age, I guess, when did you come back to Christ or when did your relationship with Christ rekindle?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we're going to fast forward here too. I mean, when I was 29 years old and now 29 years old, I'm two years married to Paige and you know God and Jesus, they were still kind of absent from my life. I mean, we went to church. I felt like I was basically like checking off the box. He's a good guy, he's a good boy, he's doing the right things, but you know, god's always working his plan and he kind of he was kind of slowly nudging me, you know. So it was kind of a drip, a drip on his time.
Speaker 2:And then this turning point came. You know basically what I call the wake up call here. When I was 31 years old, I was healthy, full of life the previous day and then boom, you know, boom, out of nowhere, I spiked the fever, my gut started killing me. So you know, my wife, paige, rushed me to the hospital and you know, basically we found out that you know, I needed to get my appendix out and I said, listen, doc, do whatever you need to do to get it all out. But three days after surgery, still in my back in the hospital bed there, I wasn't getting any better. And you know, man, I was, I was actually going through what they call anaphylactic shock, so I mean they seriously had me sign my last will.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2:Right front page. Okay, and then they wheeled me down to the operating room again, opened me up, got what they needed out of me, you know, mop me down, stitched me back up and then they basically gave me like a 50-50 chance. Seriously, this is a 31 years old. And the weird thing too, andy, is you know, my mom was 31 years old.
Speaker 1:That's what I was thinking when you said that. Wow, so here you are, at 31. See, this is so many flashbacks for me. About six months ago, peyton, her appendix burst and actually they were trying to prevent that from happening. They were preventing, they didn't want to do that, it was just so complicated. They didn't want to do the surgery originally because she was so sick and they didn't know that she could. Her lungs would hold up to going under the anesthesia for the surgery. Well then, her appendix burst after all and they didn't want to do the surgery because they were like, well, this is basically too late, there's nothing we can do. The whole procedure would have been to remove it anyway. Well, now it's already burst, but they did have to go in and try to get as much of, I guess, the fluid for lack of better or whatever that poison out of her. And then they came in.
Speaker 1:And sometimes doctors don't, and I'm so grateful for doctors please hear my heart. They've been lifesavers to us, but they don't always have the bedside manner. I think they get so booksmart that they forget they're dealing with humans sometimes, and so I'll never forget. The doctor just walked into Tiff and I and she's just like so what do you guys want us to do if our heart stops, you know, and we're like what do you mean? What do you want us to do? We want you to save our daughter's life, you know. So I just have to ask all that and it was just. She was very black and white, just asking the, you know, filling out the form and all the questions. So, anyways, your 31 years old now you're told you're basically having 50, 50 chance. Obviously, I've heard the rest of the story because I've got to meet you recently.
Speaker 1:But what happened from there? I was was it a slow recovery or did it happen pretty quick? What happened there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for asking. I mean so. After that second surgery, you know, while I'm in ICU with the beeper machines, I got these tubes in my mouth. You know, just never forget the moment when, you know, my family walked into the room, paige and my dad and stepmom, and they just reached out and held my hand. And then, you know, just all of a sudden, I felt this like just a complete piece, you know, and just this calmness, I mean it's just hard to describe. And you know, when I looked up in front of me, you know, hanging on the wall above my bed was Jesus on the cross. Wow, I mean, it's just, it's just so vivid. And now, again, at this point, andy, in my life I mean, I was still not a praying man, but for whatever, whatever reason, at that time I, you know, I prayed to God to get me through this you know I'm just like, hey, I'm not done in this world.
Speaker 2:You know, what have I done with my time here? You know you really start to get these flashbacks like what's my like? What do I accomplish with the short amount of time that I've been here with, you know? So you know I wanted to have kids. I just had a lot more to do on earth and I was basically saying, hey, if you get me through, I'm going to follow through. And, amazingly enough, and I know the page and the family, I mean, they were praying a lot and next day I made a turn for the better and it was like, you know, it was like an invitation game. He goes here, take this, you know, take it now, go out and do something with it, do something amazing. So you know it's wild when you know, when you're at rock bottom and desperate in your life, that kind of seems like when we need God.
Speaker 2:The most and you know seriously, and, boy, you know, going through everything that I've gone through with my life here, I figured out that we need God all the time. Yes, you know, we need him. The good, the bad, you know, and you know when you listen and trust him, andy, I mean, he's going to take those valleys and those struggles and turn them into good, like he did with me.
Speaker 2:And yeah, as you'll soon see, as I kind of share a little bit more about the book and everything, yeah, I mean, that's so good and it's so true, and I've been sharing this a lot lately.
Speaker 1:I feel like and maybe obviously this is why God brought you on here I'm loving this conversation, but I've been sharing this a lot. A lot of business partners, even a lot of just friends that aren't even in our business, A lot of people I know. This day and age, it's hard time right now. There's a, there's a lot, you know, finances, there's stress, work is not easy to find, and then just a lot of different things. We thought 2020 was bad just from the COVID side of it, but then the after effects of 2020, there's just been so many different things. So, but what I've been telling people in my life and it sounds like in your life as well that it was those, those hardest times in my life, where or I learned the most. It's like I wish I could say that it's always the mountaintops where you learn so much, but no, it's those valleys, man. It's those those hard times where you have to lean on someone stronger than yourself, honestly, to get through is when I've always learned the most. And it sounds the same for you, Like that was a huge turning point for your life.
Speaker 1:So I do want to dive in for the next few minutes into this book I have in my hand and if you have anything else you want to share, I don't want to cut you off it to wrap up where you were going with your story. But this book right here it's called the Bible simplified authors. I'm going to put it up close to the camera Ken Wilson dude. First of all, congratulations. I know how hard it is to to write a book and sometimes I know the hardest part is just getting started. But I would love to hear hear a little bit about what you thought about the whole writing process. And first of all, who's this book for? I know the answer, it's an easy one it's for everybody. Who's it for and who'd you write it for? And then tell me just a little bit about the writing process of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, you know. So I'll give you kind of a background of how this, how it got inspired to do this, so so five years ago, when I was 50 years old I know you're like Ken, you don't look like you're 50, right?
Speaker 1:You're not a day over 21, man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, we moved to Jacksonville, florida, and it's it's. We stumbled across this church out there where we became friends with the pastor, and Pastor Nathan was, you know, the great thing about. Pastor Nathan is used to weave, like everyday life, into the stories of the Bible, so he made it interesting and I never really experienced anything like that before. So he made church exciting for me for the first time.
Speaker 1:That's awesome.
Speaker 2:You know, it was one of those sermons where you just like I better. You know, honey, let's, let's go, let's go, kids, let's. You can't admit the sermon. So it was just, he had you on the edge of the seat and, you know, within a few months, pastor Nathan approached my wife and me and he says hey, ken Page, why don't you guys attend a Bible study class? And I'm leading it? Okay, andy, I've never gone to a Bible study class. Okay, so I'm like you know, how do you say no to a pastor? I said, oh, yeah, sure, you know, even though I mean seriously, at this point in my life I still never read the Bible. I was spiritually immature. Yeah, you know, I'll be uncomfortable hanging out with all these like Bible scholars, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And what if he had me get in front of them and start praying, right, I mean, I was afraid of how I was going to look, what I'm gonna say, what I'm gonna think of me. So you know, a person at church, andy, would it came up to me, just a regular person, I would have probably said, oh yeah, we might be there. No, thank you. But. But God, you know again, this is one of those God things, right. And if you start to be a little bit more aware of what's going on in your life, you'll start to connect the dots of how these people come into your life. But God puts the most important person in front of me to ask that question.
Speaker 2:So, that was the difference. I mean, god knew I wasn't going to say no, you know so. So getting into the book here. So we started attending these Bible studies and then we started to connect with the people in the group. I learned from them, I became good friends with them and the thing is is we jumped in uncomfortably? So if I'm going to tell somebody to do something here. This is a big thing in life, right, it's stepping up.
Speaker 1:That applies. That applies across the board, right there, that is so good man.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You got to be uncomfortable, right?
Speaker 2:That's the only way you're going to change. That's the only way you're going to grow. Yeah, so you got to be scared and you know. So I got so intrigued with the stories of the Bible that during COVID, of all times right, instead of sitting on the couch and, you know, wallowing about how bad my life is, I kind of used I used that pause in my life to finally pick up the Bible. I mean, I just said I'm going to intentionally read the Bible this time. I mean I picked it up before and I'm like huh.
Speaker 2:so you know there's a difference between interested in reading a Bible, right, and then I said I'm going to commit to finishing it. And you know, not only was I reading it, I started taking. I started taking detailed notes on each page, I started to highlight a lot of the verses that really stood out to me. And when I was done, I took those notes and Bible verses that I typed up in a Word doc and I created a little mini Bible book that I printed out that Walgreens, I mean this is it right here? Right, Wow? So, and I started to see, because when I started to see was I started to see what God was doing in my life and I wanted to start building that solid, faith based foundation in our kids life that I didn't have. Yeah, you know so.
Speaker 1:And that's so cool. And you used a buzzword that jumped out at me because it's one of my favorite words. You said intentional. You started reading the Bible intentionally and that goes across the board as well. With anything you want to do in life, whether it's you want your marriage to get better, you want to be better at your job and get raises or promotions, you want to be a better parent, whatever you have to. Nothing happens by accident, in other words, but you have to be intentional about it's one thing to say I'm going to read the Bible, but then be in, read it intentionally. Huge difference.
Speaker 1:I love this, what you've done, and you'll probably dive into that next, but you've kind of taken each chapter and you broke it down into bite sized pieces. It's not overwhelming. It's very clean too. I love. I'm a this is going to sound very nerdy. I love the clean fonts and it doesn't look overwhelming Like if a book is too small and too too many words and not enough pictures in the font, I just get overwhelmed with it. I'm like, oh, that looks complicated and I want myself out of the book before I even dive into it. But this is a very easy read, very clean. Tell us more about the book. So so, after you dove into reading the word, when did you get the idea about? You already did that. I forget what you called it that chart, I guess for your personal family. But when did it come to mind that, hey, I need to take this to others?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. I mean I? Because right off the bat you're like, oh, this is all about. That's kind of selfish for me to say, hey, it's all about my family, Right, this is our kids and everything. And I soon realized and this is another God thing. I mean, I soon realized that this is much bigger than just our kids, Right?
Speaker 2:I'm sure, there's just a lot of other people out there have been wanting to read the Bible too, but they just haven't find a time to do it because it's long, it's complicated, it's confusing. You know, 66 books, 1200 pages, and you know heck, and you try reading through Chronicles and all that. That's exciting information. So so I just started.
Speaker 2:You know, I don't know how you felt when you were writing your book, but I started to get this incredible energy. I mean, it's just like this, this burning desire. And it wasn't because I had six cups of coffee, okay, I mean, I just had this like this fire, this passion, this hop in my step. And you know, just about every morning, around four am, and you know, my wife my wife loved this four am, I'd wake up. She wasn't happy with me, right, it's tripping over the dog, coming on the lights, bumping my head on the door. And then, you know, every morning, seriously, four am, and then I'd head down to my couch and then you know, I start typing and typing more notes into this word doc and all the stories and the verses that stood out to me and the Bible.
Speaker 1:So I love that and I'm going to go somewhere with this, because did you have any? Did you have another job at the time? I mean, obviously did Well, as you wrote the book yes, I got up at four.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you went full time. I do so. You do it in your white spaces, right?
Speaker 1:So this is the white space.
Speaker 2:It's almost like I do this now too. I'm a early riser, like I wake up at five, okay, and I I get so much done before it's eight, nine o'clock, before everybody else, so yeah, Successful people do and there's truth to that.
Speaker 1:And I just want to commend you one, because my publisher, jordan he talks about this all the time. He says that 99% of books die with the author. Like everyone says oh, I'm going to write a book one day, I, I, I, I. This will make a great story, I'm going to write a book one day. Everyone says it, but there's only that 1% that followed through, and so I'm proud of you for doing that, and even it would have been easy to, because this is another, and I don't want to say excuse, I don't want to offend people, but hope it inspires people watching out there. Even with another job, a full time job, you got up at four am Because it meant that much to you to get it done. I love that.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm proud of you too, Andy. I mean, it's a daunting task. It's not, you know, the light-hearted person to get out there and try writing a book. I mean, you know another thing too. It's important for the audience to know this I was. I was never a writer, okay. I mean, I had problems actually while I'm reading, so I was never a big reader. Yeah, and up to this point, I still never read the Bible.
Speaker 2:Wow, well, I read the Bible, but I you know before, just a couple of months before that, I mean, I had no clue what I was doing, yeah, so you know, but for whatever reason, I just I just kept writing for a year, okay, for one year, almost every morning, and then we, and then, through the wee hours of the night, I'm like I got to get this book out. And I don't know how you felt, andy, but I remember I remember hearing somebody say this, but I don't know it was a podcast I was listening to or not, but I heard them say you don't want to die with your book in you, and that just kind of resonated. I mean, I don't want to die with your book in you, and that hit me hard. So I was on a mission. I was on a mission from God to get this thing out.
Speaker 1:So I love it and I am another friend of mine. Dave Blanchard always says that writer's right, and so you actually did this. You're a living testimony to this. But he said for for me, he told me to block off because I was. I wasn't a big structure guy Believe it or not, I am now. So there is hope. If you're not a structure person, there is hope. But he told me to block off time from 8am to 12, because that's when I would take the girls to school and get them to school, and then from 8 to 12, I wrote and I blocked that off. And unless there was an absolute emergency, tiffany, I would be in my office writing, even could.
Speaker 1:I used to wait till I felt inspired, right, oh, I got to feel that inspirational time to write and those are good moments. Sometimes it happens like that where you're just writing and it's just coming to you, but other times you're not always going to feel inspired. You got to do it anyways. You just got to go and once you get into the group, kind of like working out, right, sometimes you don't feel like going to the gym, but once you get there and get loose and warm, sometimes those are the best workouts and that's what I found in writing. Was that a similar experience for you? Just every morning at 4am, you, just you set that time aside to dive into the book.
Speaker 2:That's so funny. So I, even speaking about working out, that seems to be where these moments come from too, like days I'll get where I'm just a mind block and then I might be on a treadmill and you'll see me with my phone, like texting myself, like this idea I have, or what I want to say. So, yeah, you just got to find your time. When the time happens, you got to go. Okay, I'm going to go sit down and actually write this stuff down. So so what I you know that's what I did too is I took that word document and I go honey, I'm going to send this to a few Christian publishers. And a few weeks later they both called me back and said they wanted to publish the book. And I'm like who, you know who me, right, I mean, I was, I was blown away.
Speaker 1:So that's got to be a cool feeling. I want you to for the listeners. Can you, can I dive in? I'm pressing a couple of buttons a little bit. Can you explain what that felt like when you got that call? Who'd you tell him? Obviously, maybe Paige first, but who was the first call what? What'd you do after you got that call?
Speaker 2:Gosh, you know what? I know this sounds weird, but I only told our kids and Paige my wife. I didn't want to. You know, I'm the kind of guy like if, if it's not like I'm in sale, right, if this order is not really a PO and it's signed.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to say anything about it. So I was like, okay, I was still in shock. Yeah, I really. I didn't spread the word about it. And now what I did? I mean, like I said, I'm not the best writer, but what I realize in this exercise is that you know, god, I don't know how you felt during your book, but God gifted me with the ability to simplify things.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, kind of make things easier and I'm like that in my job too, in my business Just make things equal, you know, easier for people to understand, make it sweet and simple, which is why I named the book the Bible Simplified. And it's a lot different than just, you know, a Bible for dummies or or Cliff Notes from a scholar or pastor. It's just, you know, it's just plain raw interpretation of the Bible from a rookie Christian right, just a regular guy from the cornfields of Illinois who just never experienced the true meaning of the Bible and you know the love that God and Jesus has for us.
Speaker 2:Wow, and then reading the Bible was definitely the catalyst for making all this stuff happen, to get into that fire and that passion, you know so Well, I absolutely love this man, and that makes me feel even better.
Speaker 1:I always love it, and I say this all the time. I'm not an expert, I'm just a dude that went through the trenches of depression, and now I'm trying to share what I learned along the way, and it sounds like the exact same thing you did with your book. Tell me, tell me the ending. So, once it's done, once it's wrapped up, what is, what is this book meant for you and what's it meant to some of the people who've read it and responded to you and reached out to you since it's come out? I would love to hear that, saib.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, I think these things happen to you. That's kind of the unknown in the mystery of faith. You just don't know what's going to happen and how. He makes these miracles happen when you're least expecting it. And that's kind of how I live my life, I mean doing my best to lead with love and lead with kindness and with open arms, and how I can help others and plant seeds of hope so they too can experience all the blessings that he has for them. Yeah, and like he's done. So just, you just have to be aware and open to these opportunities and then and then just get into game, get off the bench, get on the field, and I mean that's where the magic happens, right?
Speaker 1:So just gotta go for it. Do it scared, as you said earlier.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just encourage you I mean, I know you're like this too on your podcast, but I encourage you to start, everybody start paying more attention to those nudges. You know those little. You know God's dripping these nudges opportunities in your life. You know a lot and then just act on it. Act on it without waiting. That's what happens with most of us. Is we just we get these thoughts and these ideas and then we're like, hey, I'll get to this later on. And it's like you know, if I were to just act it on this, this could have changed somebody's life. Yeah, massive breakthrough in not only your life but somebody else's life too.
Speaker 1:It's so good, bro, it is. There's something to you. Obviously, you get the ideals for a reason, you get the dreams put in your heart for a reason. And I'm preaching to the choir, I'm preaching myself, but then acting on it, it takes more. It takes more than just the ideal. God didn't put that on your heart if he wanted you just to have a cool idea and make it easier for you to fall asleep that night. No, he's. He's put that in your heart for a reason. And so, but, thank you for sharing all this today. And then, before we go, man, there's some breaking news. So, as I was talking to you a couple of weeks ago, I'm like, man, I want you to come talk about your book. And then you're like, well, I would love to. And oh, by the way, I am writing another book. So tell us a little bit about that. And I'm obviously I'm going to bring you back whenever it comes out, but I would love just to touch a tip on that. What's the new book about? Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, uh, as you know, I mean, my book is available, like the Bible simplifies, on Amazon. It's at Barnins and Noble all the other online stores, and you know it's interesting too. I want to share this with you 100% of the profits from the sale of my Bible book. I mean, this book is not about me. I mean it's going to go to charities. So we're, we're uh, you know, breast cancer, childhood cancer, pets, vets, alzheimer's Association, local churches, and it's going to continue to be that way forever. And actually, you know what I'd like to do too. Andy is, um, I know what you and Tiff have done going out to um, um, africa, and you know you're looking for about 100 sponsors. Yes, sir, you know we I'd like to use a portion of the profits of of, uh, you know, my book to go to, uh, to that community and, being a sponsor, to partner with you on a lot of that stuff too. So man.
Speaker 1:This is say I told you people. This guy is one of the greatest dudes in the world. I love this guy so much and thank you, ken, and I'll get with you afterwards and we can talk about that. But thank you so much, but uh tell us. Tell us about what's next man. Tell us about the new book.
Speaker 2:What's next right? That's always the biggest thing.
Speaker 1:What's next.
Speaker 2:So the second book is launching in a few months. So it's it kind of you know, so you got the, you got the foundation, the Bible, right. Uh, this, this book is called the invitation. So it's about you know these opportunities and and, uh, you know these invitations. I mean, even when you're in church and when you're listening to people too, you're going to hear them say, hey, I invite you, right, so they're holding around us every day. I mean it could be like a person we're supposed to meet. You know a job, a job we should have taken. Maybe that mission trip you went on right, or yeah, or maybe a person you should have forgiven. You know a book you, you should have written right.
Speaker 2:So yeah it's just a matter of being more aware and open to these nudges and opportunities and then grabbing onto them when they fly by us and saying yes more often. You know, because you know like I mean with Paige if I didn't say yes to the invitation of her sister bringing me over to her house I mean my the trajectory of my life would be so different.
Speaker 1:Change your life right Wow.
Speaker 2:Like it did for you.
Speaker 1:Yes, I mean, I'm loving where you're going with this, because these and they seem sometimes like small decisions, but one choice can rapidly change a person's life. I love that. Well, is it done yet the book? Are you still writing it, or when's it come out?
Speaker 2:It's. It's going into production, probably in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:In fact, I think you had just signed, If I'm right, the day I saw you. You're like dude, I just signed a contract or finished it out. So cool man, so proud of you, and this all happened in a time where most people were sitting on the couch eating Cheetos. Let's just lock ourselves in, let's not, let's not go forward. There's no hope. That's just. I love that man. Sometimes, in the most diverse or hard times, difficult times, I should have said, is when some of the most creative and beautiful people rise up and step up, and I love that man. Congrats.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, andy. You know, right back at you too, I'm excited about what your book's going to do to breathe some hope and life and purpose into people too. And you know, these are the people who kind of feel like they're in the shadows and they don't have anything to offer. I mean, heck if little little Kenny boy from the cornfields of Illinois with their own background and and writing and having issues comprehended, if I can do this at the age of 52. So that's another thing.
Speaker 2:It's like, yeah, whether you're 20 or 52 or 80, anything's possible. You can do it Just got to listen to it. So I really appreciate you giving us all you know really this, this platform to share our stories, and and and this podcast.
Speaker 1:And I'm honored to do so, and you've already said where you can find the book, but how? How can someone find you? Uh, social media wise, or an email, or if they want to find out more about the book or they have any other kind of questions, how can they contact you, ken?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, they can. Email was the best way. Yeah, email's the best way, ken and page at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:Okay, awesome.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Would love to hear from you.
Speaker 1:Well, absolutely and real quick, I want to give you a chance to plug. Your wife Works with not with us, but she is also independent Opta via coach. She's helping a lot of people get healthy Amazing story herself. If somebody's out there, they just stumbled on this podcast and maybe they need some help in their health. I know your wife could help them out. How can they get? Is it the same email or is her? She's got a Facebook or social media? How can they get in touch with page?
Speaker 2:Oh, thanks, andy. Yeah, she's pumped. She's. This is their purpose in life. Right Found it. She wants to help and serve people, so I appreciate you saying that. Yeah, ken, and page at gmailcom. And yeah, she's got a Facebook. Uh, facebook page as well. Awesome Page, laden Dorf Wilson.
Speaker 1:Awesome. That's P a I G E right page Very good.
Speaker 2:Awesome.
Speaker 1:Very cool. Well, Ken. Thank you so much for your time, bro, and yes, a couple of months from now, you guys get ready. He's coming back. I already told him. So this is a two, for there's not a one. We're going to have you come out when the books either close to coming out or maybe out, but we want to push the new book, the invitation. I don't know, Is that the title or what's it? Or do you have a title yet?
Speaker 2:That is the title, the invitation.
Speaker 1:That is so cool, so catchy, and I love the premise behind it. So we will have you back to tell us how that book's going. But thanks so much for doing this man.
Speaker 2:Thanks, andy, I appreciate you.
Speaker 1:All right, God bless buddy.
Speaker 2:God bless, take care.
Speaker 1:Wow, wasn't that so cool man. I love that dude. I love Ken Wilson. Mark it down. That guy is, uh, just amazing guy and I've known him for the last, I would say, at least six years, maybe seven. Now I'm trying to remember exactly the first time I met him maybe five, anywhere from five to seven years, but I'm telling you he's the real deal and I had no idea his story because he doesn't go around telling you how to pre rough childhood, that dude, he just smiles and he's. That's funny.
Speaker 1:His new books called the invitation because his smile is so inviting and so welcoming and he is consistently happy. That would be my description, for Ken is a happy guy and so I am glad that you got to hear from him so inspiring and I hope that inspired you, and this podcast is always about hope and inspiration, and so please share this with somebody who is in need of hope today, who needs to hear Ken's story or needs to dive into the word. What a amazing book. This is the Bible simplified by Ken Wilson, and you can get it pretty much anywhere. He said Barnes and Nobles on Amazon, check it out, but uh, I would love for you to get that book and also, if you haven't received my book yet you hadn't got it yet you can get it at Andy Howardcom. It's also available on Amazon. I will read it for you on Audible, or you can also get it through Kindle as well. Please and this is my ask for the day I'm going to be that guy Please leave a five star review if it's been a blessing to you, if you have found this book.
Speaker 1:So many people keep coming up to me and telling me oh man, I love your book. I'm so grateful for your book. It's it's flattering. It is so flattering for me. But the whole goal is to help people. That's the whole reason. I thought they're on the hard part to get it out there and it was so vulnerable with my story to get it out there.
Speaker 1:What's to help people? There is a hundred people mark on the ratings. That's I don't know why on Amazon, that's like the special mark If I can get a hundred ratings and unlocks the book to so many more people. And that's what this is about. It's a book about hope and about helping people. So if you would please be so kind to go leave a nice review on the book or the podcast as well, that would help more people find it and more people find hope. Thanks again for joining. Can't wait to see you again. God bless. Thanks so much for tuning in. If this episode helped you in any way, it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review and share it with somebody else. Thanks so much. I'll catch you next time.