Built By Faith

Have you ever been surrounded by people and still felt completely alone?

When I was 21, my mom passed away unexpectedly. She was 41. In the months that followed, I went back to college, eventually dropped out, and found myself navigating a life that looked nothing like the one I'd known.

As my relationship with my dad changed, that feeling of loneliness only grew.

Twenty-five years later, a moment at a men's gathering brought those memories back to the surface.

In this solo episode of Built By Faith, I share the story of losing my mom, the years that followed, and what I've come to recognize about God's presence through it all.

As I prepared to share, I found myself in John 14:18:

"I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you."

For a long time, I felt like an orphan. But looking back, I can see that even when I couldn't recognize His presence, God had never left me.

There are still things I'm processing. Still things I'm learning to surrender. But my identity is no longer rooted in what I've lost. It's rooted in who I belong to.

If you're walking through a season of loneliness, grief, or uncertainty, I hope this conversation reminds you that you aren't alone.

And if someone comes to mind while you're listening, reach out.

Sometimes that's exactly where God is leading us.

Scripture: John 14:17–21

What does it look like to follow God when you don't know where He's leading?

For Nick Lumarque, obedience has meant walking through unexpected doors, surrendering things he once held tightly, and learning to trust God with the outcome.

At 27, Nick is a videographer and the owner of Abide Studios in Mesa, Arizona. But his journey of faith didn't begin with a successful business or a clear sense of calling. It began with an unexpected encounter with God that changed the direction of his life.

In this episode of Built By Faith, Steve and Nick talk about the moments that followed: finding freedom from addiction, walking away from a $15,000 business opportunity because of personal conviction, and stepping into ownership of a studio without knowing exactly what God had planned.

But beyond the testimonies of breakthrough, there's an honest conversation about what it means to remain faithful when life is uncertain.

They explore the tension between doing things for God and simply being with Him, learning to lead yourself before leading others, and remembering God's faithfulness even in seasons of financial difficulty.

Through the story of Mary and Martha and the encouragement of Hebrews 12, Nick offers a reminder that our hope isn't ultimately found in what God gives us, but in Jesus Himself.

Because even if the outcome isn't what we expected, Jesus is enough.

In this conversation:

• Encountering God and beginning a genuine relationship with Jesus
• Choosing obedience when it comes at a financial cost
• The unexpected story behind Abide Studios
• Stewarding leadership, business, and relationships
• Learning to sit with God before serving Him
• Trusting God's faithfulness through uncertainty
• Fixing our eyes on Jesus and living with an eternal perspective

Scripture referenced: Revelation 12:11, 2 Corinthians 5:20, Romans 8:28, Luke 10:38–42, Hebrews 12:1–3.

Connect with Nick Lumarque Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicklumarque/ Abide Studios: https://www.instagram.com/abidestudioaz/

Connect with Built By Faith Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevevencl/

Built By Faith is a podcast sharing honest conversations about how faith is formed in everyday life.

Real people. Real stories. All for His glory.

00:00 — Cold Open

00:28 — Welcome to Built By Faith

01:36 — The Unexpected Door to Abide Studios

05:30 — A Calling Beyond Business

13:18 — Nick's Early Faith Journey

17:00 — The Encounter That Changed Everything

21:22 — Surrender and Freedom

28:03 — God's Faithfulness in the Studio

32:51 — Learning to Lead Yourself

37:18 — Doing for God vs. Being With God

40:37 — Mary and Martha: Sit First

44:51 — Walking Away From $15,000

49:32 — Faith, Finances, and Generosity

53:28 — Trusting God Through Uncertainty

56:27 — A Shared Season of Surrender

1:02:49 — Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

1:06:17 — Even If He Doesn't

1:07:28 — Closing Prayer

Six trips to rehab. Broken relationships. An empty house. And a desperate conversation with God.

Evan Slaughter had reached a point where he couldn't keep living the way he was. After years of addiction and losing nearly everything, he cried out to God from the floor of his empty home.

The next day, friends showed up at his door.

In this episode of Built By Faith, comedian and content creator Evan Slaughter shares his journey through addiction, recovery, and the unexpected ways God began rebuilding his life.

But this conversation is about more than getting sober.

Evan opens up about being angry with God, the power of honest prayer, the difficulty of forgiving himself, and discovering purpose through serving others. He also shares why he gives 10% of his income back to the rehabilitation center that helped save his life.

We explore what it means to be faithful with what God has entrusted to us, how our hardest seasons can equip us to reach others, and why following Jesus doesn't always look the way people expect.

Evan's story is a reminder that God meets us in our brokenness, that our past doesn't disqualify us from having purpose, and that sometimes the answer to our most desperate prayers comes through the people He places in our lives.

Your story isn't over. And God isn't finished with you.

Welcome to Episode 023 of Built By Faith.

Content note: This conversation includes discussion of addiction, overdose, and past suicidal thoughts. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis in the U.S., call or text 988 for support.

00:00 — I Was Mad at God

00:19 — Finding Purpose Through Service

03:54 — Addiction, Recovery & the 12 Steps

09:36 — Giving Back to the Rehab That Saved His Life

16:22 — Why the Sixth Rehab Was Different

25:18 — Have You Forgiven Yourself?

33:08 — Rock Bottom & the Knock on the Door

37:03 — Faithful With What God Gives You

41:59 — Prayer Is an Ongoing Conversation

46:13 — A Challenge to Share His Faith

48:27 — Reaching People Outside the Church

55:48 — A Different Path to Ministry

We prayed for protection.

And then the rock hit.

Driving home from a family trip to California, a large rock kicked up by a semi smashed into our windshield. Our kids were in the back, we were still hours from home, and we had to figure out what to do next.

What followed became nearly three hours of prayer, worship, surrender, and intimate conversation with God.

Along the way, my wife Corrie shared something she hadn't told me before we left: days earlier, she'd had a vision of a rock hitting our windshield.

I don't have a perfect explanation for why everything happens the way it does. And this isn't a story about having all the answers.

It's about what happens when something you didn't expect interrupts the plan—and you choose to draw near anyway.

It's about recognizing that God is still with us in the frustration, the uncertainty, and the moments we don't understand.

Maybe the interruption isn't where God left you.

Maybe it's where He's inviting you nearer.

And sometimes faith sounds as simple as:

“God, I don't know why this is happening, but I trust You.”

This is a piece of our testimony.

And He gets all the glory.

Revelation 12:11

CHAPTERS

00:00 Cold Open

00:23 Why I’m Sharing This Testimony

01:48 We Prayed for Protection

02:48 The Rock Hits Our Windshield

04:20 Three Hours of Prayer

05:48 Surrender Before the Impact

06:37 Corrie Had Seen It Before

07:35 He Is Always With Us

08:05 Maybe He Wanted Us to Draw Near

09:18 God Told Me: Go Run

10:30 I Don’t Know Why, But I Trust You

12:05 Closing Prayer

Nick Wilson thought getting baptized would mean some of the things he struggled with would finally go away.

They didn't.

Two hours after his baptism, his relationship ended. A few months later, his baseball career appeared to end too. Nick remembers sitting there unable to take off his cleats because he knew he might never put them on again.

What followed was a season of learning who he was without baseball.

In this conversation, Nick talks honestly about pornography, isolation, pride, confession, and the tension of following Jesus while still wrestling with sin. He shares what changed when he stopped hiding, why community became essential, and how losing the game he loved exposed how much of his identity he had placed in it.

Eventually, baseball came back in a way Nick never expected. After stepping into a corporate job and building a life in Nashville, an unexpected Banana Ball tryout led to him being drafted by the Indianapolis Clowns.

But by then, something had changed.

Baseball was no longer who he was. It was something he did.

This isn't a story about getting everything figured out. It's an honest conversation about surrender, identity, ongoing struggle, and learning to depend on God in the middle of all of it.

SISU Sauna: Save with Built By Faith at https://vencl.co/sisu

This conversation includes honest discussion around topics like pornography, addiction patterns, and personal struggles. Listener discretion is encouraged.

00:00 — Cold Open

00:13 — Nick Wilson

01:16 — A Public Declaration

06:29 — Baptism… Then a Breakup

08:30 — “I Expected Sin to Just Leave”

11:38 — The Struggle He Was Hiding

17:49 — Why Confession Matters

19:52 — The Battle in Your Mind

25:24 — Pride, Success & Banana Ball

30:06 — Who Am I Without Baseball?

31:54 — “I Couldn't Take My Cleats Off”

37:13 — One More Shot at Baseball

40:44 — The Banana Ball Tryout

44:29 — Getting Drafted

45:36 — Baseball Is What I Do, Not Who I Am

47:32 — Using Baseball to Glorify God

54:55 — Sharing the Story in Cincinnati

59:07 — Why We Hide

1:01:21 — “I'm Not in a Perfect Place”

1:04:14 — Wrestling With God

Sometimes following God makes sense to you before it makes sense to anyone else.

Olivia Schaff thought she knew what life after college would look like. She studied finance, considered a career in real estate, and had a path in front of her that felt safe and explainable.

But God kept leading her somewhere else.

In this conversation, Olivia shares how her faith became something she no longer wanted to keep private, the conviction that led her to start It’s Cool to Love Jesus, and the unexpected response when her first 50 hats sold out in two hours. She also shares the decision to step away from the career she thought she would build and into student ministry — and the very specific moment God met her while she was asking for clarity.

We talk about caring deeply about what other people think, identity in Christ, showing up to church alone, daily surrender, and what it looks like to hold our plans with open hands.

And somewhere in the middle of the conversation, we stop talking and worship together.

This one is about learning that obedience doesn’t always make sense to everyone around you — and trusting God enough to follow anyway.

Built By Faith is a space for honest conversations about how faith is formed in real life.

SISU Sauna has given the Built By Faith community a discount: https://vencl.co/sisu

00:00 — Cold Open

00:22 — Meet Olivia

02:51 — The People Who Helped Build Her Faith

07:40 — When Faith Became Real

12:26 — Saved vs. Surrendered

17:00 — Why Keep Jesus Private?

21:20 — Choosing the Path That Didn’t Make Sense

23:53 — Asking God for Clarity

28:00 — The Night Everything Became Clear

32:41 — Caring What Other People Think

36:05 — Surrender Is a Daily Decision

38:20 — Building a Life With God

42:43 — Knowing God Through His Creation

47:28 — Jesus Intercedes for Us

48:43 — It’s Cool to Love Jesus

52:58 — What Are You Trying to Be Famous For?

56:19 — Responding to the Call

57:15 — An Unplanned Moment of Worship

1:03:53 — “He’s So Cool”

1:08:15 — Why Surrender If We’re Already Forgiven?

1:11:11 — Who Are We to Say No?

1:13:44 — Closing Prayer

What happens when the life you prayed for doesn’t look the way you thought it would?

Aubree Munro Watson knows what it means to chase big dreams. She won two NCAA championships at the University of Florida, represented Team USA, and earned an Olympic silver medal in Tokyo. But some of the moments that shaped her faith most happened when striving stopped working.

In this conversation, Aubree shares about reaching a breaking point during her freshman year and praying, “Lord, I can’t do this anymore. I give you my life, it’s yours. Take over.”

We talk about learning to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit, holding dreams with open hands, wrestling with disappointment at the Olympics, and the Daniel 3 message that changed her perspective: even if things don’t turn out the way we hoped, God is still good.

Aubree also opens up about leaving full-time ministry, realizing how much of her identity had become wrapped up in doing for God, and learning the difference between performing for Him and simply allowing herself to be loved by Him.

This is a conversation about surrender, discernment, disappointment, identity, and what can happen when we finally loosen our grip and say:

God, I want what You want.

Aubree is also the author of Born Ready: Making the Most of the Moments That Mark Our Lives.

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Built By Faith is a podcast about honest conversations on how faith is formed in real life.

If this conversation encourages you, share it with someone who needs it and follow Built By Faith for future episodes.

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS

0:24 Welcome + Aubree Munro Watson

1:18 Faith at the University of Florida

4:46 When Everything Started Falling Apart

9:06 The Pressure Behind Aubree’s Surrender

16:34 Learning to Recognize the Holy Spirit

21:19 Discernment, Obedience + Writing Born Ready

33:37 From Olympic Athlete to Full-Time Ministry

47:51 When God Asked Her to Leave Ministry

52:10 Performance, Identity + Letting God Love You

1:04:26 Open Hands + The Olympic Dream

1:09:00 “Even If” + Stop Fighting the Fire

1:19:59 When Fresh Anointing Looks Like Rest

1:23:05 Pray for Your Pastors

1:34:11 Born Ready + Where to Find Aubree

1:36:15 Closing Prayer

There are moments when following God stops feeling exciting and starts costing you something.

Dominick Adams reached one of those moments after leaving the path he knew to pursue what he believed God was calling him toward. The opportunities didn't unfold the way he expected. Money got tight. Eventually, his wife sat him down and told him she couldn't keep doing it.

Dom went upstairs and broke down.

In this conversation, Dom shares what happened next — the three specific things he began asking God for, what happened on days 10 and 11, and how that season changed his understanding of surrender.

We talk about marriage, provision, friendship, discipleship, the difference between being saved and living surrendered, and the “pile of rocks” Dom has built by remembering moments when God showed up in his family's life.

If you're walking through a season where obedience feels expensive, I hope this conversation reminds you that you aren't walking through it alone.

CHAPTERS

00:00 I Didn’t Know What to Do

00:18 Dom’s Testimony

05:30 Walking Away From Security

07:30 When the Plan Started Falling Apart

12:00 “I Can’t Do This Anymore”

14:00 Three Prayers That Changed Everything

20:30 Commitment vs. Surrender

25:00 Faith, Marriage & Walking Through Uncertainty

31:30 Delighting in the Lord

33:20 Building Rhythms That Keep You Close to God

42:00 The Mentors You Need in Your Life

46:30 Finding Your “Mat Carriers”

50:30 Why Men Need Other Men

58:50 Chosen — and Choosing Him

1:00:00 Walking in God’s Purpose

1:01:30 Remembering What God Has Done

1:04:20 How to Pray for Dom

After 16 conversations, I felt God stirring something I couldn't ignore.

What began as a podcast focused on faith-forward conversations has slowly revealed something deeper: the power of testimony.

In this episode, I share why Built By Faith is pausing new guest interviews for the next several weeks and why I believe God is calling me into a quieter season of reflection, healing, and obedience.

As I've listened to the stories of Caleb, Jaylon, Gabe, and so many others, one truth continues to rise to the surface:

A testimony is not your story. It's His.

Scripture tells us that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Yet many of us carry stories we've never fully shared, wounds we've never fully brought into the light, and places where God is still revealing what He wants to heal.

This isn't a goodbye.

It's a regroup.

A chance to sit at His feet, seek His direction, and better understand how He wants to use Built By Faith moving forward.

Scriptures Mentioned

• Revelation 12:11
• 2 Corinthians 12:9

In This Episode

• Why Built By Faith is pausing guest episodes
• The power of testimony in the life of a believer
• Healing, revealing, and obedience
• What God has been stirring over the last 16 episodes
• The future direction of Built By Faith

A seven-day panic attack.

A hospital visit.

A Bible opened to Philippians 4:13.

And a life that would never be the same.

In this episode, professional baseball player Gabe Klobosits shares his testimony publicly for the first time.

We talk about identity, anxiety, surrender, Psalm 23, purpose, obedience, and learning to trust God when the future makes no sense.

A conversation about what happens when life stops being about us and starts becoming about Him.

Follow Gabe: https://www.instagram.com/gabe_klobosits/

00:00 Opening Prayer

02:29 How God Showed Up This Week

03:53 Sleep, Recovery & Stewarding the Body

06:10 Spiritual Nourishment

10:03 Growing Up Around Faith

12:59 The Healing That Changed Something

18:06 The Story Few People Know

20:17 Seven Days

21:35 Getting Back Into the Word

26:08 Why He Opened the Bible

28:53 Identity Before and After

32:11 Stay Under the Fig Tree

34:40 Finding His Purpose

37:04 The Darkest Moments

39:28 A Message For The Person Listening

40:58 Psalm 23 and the Valley

43:00 When God Slows You Down

46:40 Stagnant vs Still

49:21 Faith, Pride & Heaven

55:07 Who Do You Fear Most?

57:42 Obedience

58:04 Just Trust

01:02:23 A Calling Beyond Baseball

01:05:08 Share Your Story

01:08:24 Gabe's First Public Prayer

01:09:47 A First

01:10:26 Roger That