Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1205 | Willie & Jase Did Homesteading Before It Was Cool & Good, Simple Living for Your Family

Episode Date: November 10, 2025

Jase and Al reminisce about their family’s brief history as teenage “runaways,” when no one bothered to send a search party—and how that hands-off parenting style turned out to be pretty effective. Guests Jeremy and Melissa Souza of Good Simple Living share how they built an off-grid homestead from scratch, raised their kids with purpose and grit, and found real community beyond the internet. The guys, Jeremy, and Melissa laugh about learning self-reliance the hard way, surviving on wit and curiosity long before homesteading was cool. Check out Jeremy and Melissa’s new children’s book Made to Be Ludo as a way to support and give back to children battling cancer—100% of proceeds go to the Childhood Cancer Coalition, and Brave Books is matching donations. Learn more at https://gslbook.com! Chapters: 00:00-9:46 Jase’s “tapper” won’t tap 09:47-20:19 Willie is Bigfoot’s mascot 20:20-29:58 Robertsons & Souza’s are peas in a pod 29:29-38:18 Helping kids with cancer brings people together 38:19-45:49 Compound living is biblically sound 45:50-55:11 Is “sheltering” your kids a bad thing? — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. Jay's I noticed looking through the lens because I'll have to see you through the camera that you were enjoying some what we lovingly refer to as Jesus chicken. Chick-fil-A is one of our favorite spots. And they're kind of known for their value system. They're like our good friends at Family Research Council that I've been mentioning a lot on the podcast lately. because they're some of our good friends who represent our values in D.C. Their big deal is to pray, vote, and stand, which I love that.

Tony Perkins is good friend. So if you'd like to be a part of that, give to that, FRC.org slash unashamed. So you were eating some chick-fil-A, right? You know, I had such an interesting conversation because I go there a lot when we're doing podcast because it's on the way. And by a lot, you mean everything. Every time we do a podcast. No, I would say one out of two.

Four? No, one out of two, because we do two at a time. Yeah, that's true. So I'd say half the time. I'll do that. And I'm on a first name basis with these people. And they're happy. Everybody's happy, happy, happy.

Happy, happy, happy. Yeah, look, I've shared Jesus for three or four of them. We've had many, many Jesus conversations. But I had a real interesting conversation today. And I think it's because we've been studying in John and about the two different types of kingdoms that Israel was being represented in Jesus and Barabbas and having these conversations.

And Jesus was relying on the Holy Spirit. He wasn't about this physical war. Let's take them over and here's Barabas. At the end of the day, they chose the, let's go insurrection, let him go free. And the guy that was put to death, was, you know, you're talking about a freedom fighter. It's like you have a freedom fighter,

and then Jesus who died provided freedom through his death. But the interesting conversation I had, I have one credit card that my wife allows me to use. And what they'll do, these Chick-fil-A people, because they have a grid they go by. And it's like you give the order, and then they stick this little machine out, you had, if some of you people have been in a wilderness and you haven't gotten out much,

they'll say tap it. But I have a card that the tap doesn't work, which I thought, it's a great idea instead of having to insert it or them write your number down, tap it. But I'm like, if you're going to come up with that concept, your tap needs to tap. I have a non-tapping card. Is the tap broke on it? Yeah, you tap and no information is transmitted.

You probably got a problem with you need to call your credit card company and say your tapers broken. Exactly. You got a broken tapper. You got a broken tapper. That's a classic case of a broken tapper. Yeah, broken times. See, y'all are all in now because you'll appreciate this conversation that happened because that's not my problem. You gave me a card that taps, and now you want me to go through another step because the

tap won't tap. It'd be like a tap dancer who doesn't have taps. Well, whose problem is it? It is your problem. It's the shoe manufacturer. If you're selling tap shoes that won't tap, the manufacturer is the problem. Yeah, but here's the problem you got, though, is that you're trying to use it at Chick-fil-A. So you're, between you and Chick-fil-A, that's on your side. You've got to call the manufacturer and you have to tell them, my Tapper's broken. Well, here's the problem. I'm going to declare this, and maybe some worker there will hear it,

because it's not my problem to run, what do you call that? What do you call it when you have somebody making sure the products are functioning properly? Quality assurance. Quality control. It's not my problem to be in charge of quality control at the local credit card foundation. I'm just telling you, here's the problem. And I'm trying to get to my point in this story, which is deep down, though, tapping is also used when it comes to these guys rolling around on the floor,

trying to figure out, you know, how they're going to fight in these. I like the jujitsu. Oh, yeah. Well, you tap. M.A. So I thought, is it wrong that I kind of like the fact, because I wouldn't like to tap. out. Yeah. Because you're basically, you're the kind that gets hurt. Yeah, I get it. Well, right, which is why I don't roll around on the floor and do this kind of stuff. Because I don't,

one number one is I don't want to get injured. Number two, I don't want to have to tap. Yeah. So, I mean, I tapped into Jesus. I tapped. I'm all in. But to some guy on a mat somewhere, I just, I don't want to be. So I brought this up. I was like, look, because they said the same things. I said, well, you need to call your credit card. And I was like, look, I don't have the number. The whole point of the tap was to save time. And now I've got to devote, have you called one of those companies? I'll predict what's going to happen. Can you hold, please? Because then you get into all that. It's like, what's this about? My card won't cap. Well, we'll send you another one off. And just when you think you're getting somewhere, they say,

oh, sorry, I have to send you to another department for that. I'd rather have my, I'd rather have my hand removed where I couldn't tap than to have that conversation. I just don't want to know. He's an anti. The real genius here is there's the real genius of this whole story. It's Missy. Because she's, she knows this about you. She gave you a credit card this doesn't work. This is how she mitigates all your spending. She said, whatever you want, just put it on this card. It's brilliant. Well, you know what she was doing. You're missing the point though. It will insert into their little machine, which will save you, save them three seconds if you would just tap it. But I'm like, no, I'm going to have to stick this one in there.

So it's like it's functional, which is why I haven't called. I just can't tap. And then I'm like, well, and so I thought here's an opportunity to get. But that's an awkward moment too, Jay, is that moment where you're, because I've had this to me before as well. And that's a very tiny slot. and they just stick it up there in the window and I'm trying to get it in there. They're trying to hold it steady.

We're so close. It's like we're holding hand. It's just an awkward. They're already like, you know, in the truck with me here. They're looking in there seeing what I got. You got any new drug calls, whatever. And I'm like, hey, back up there, bro. You're in my layer here.

Or that it's like, you know, you need to be trying to clean the inside of your truck once a year. I mean, I've had a lot of awkward conversations. But I turned that tap, the whole deal about I don't like to tap. But I brought that up. I was like, look, I surrendered to Jesus. And the weapons we fight with are not of the world. And this dude is like, yeah, but what happens if somebody, you know, wants to fight with you? Like, on the ground.

Because we got into this conversation about not tapping this inner close battle. And I'm like, well, they'll kill me. but I had the spirit and I'll be raised from the death. I was like, what I usually like to have is somebody who's with me who's good at that. Yeah. But I was like, we all have roles to play. I don't, I don't want to put the time in nor the injuries to be skilled in that.

And I'm just not a tapper. Like you're bad. He was adamantly opposed to cell phones, but he always had a guy around him who had a cell phone that could, do everything that's me that's my role i love these guys that do this that are standing beside because i think well if a scrap breaks out they'll get him but i'm going to be going other way well i'm with you jays when when chad robin shows around i i feel safer when i'm in that man's presence because you know he he has all the skills you're talking about but i don't want to then roll around with chad robson

because i i know what's going to happen you talk about i in fact that you know Kyle thompson he's He's always trying to get me to get down there and roll with. I said, you want me just to tap now? And we'll just save all that time and effort and be getting hurt. You just need to say, I'm not a tapper. My card doesn't tap. I'm anti-tapper. Anti-tapper.

Unless you're talking about Jesus. We tap into the deal. Or to some degree in your marriage, because everybody's got a tap at some point, you know, so you can keep this thing going. So I thought it was an interesting conversation. I will admit, by the. time it was over because he said, Jay's, you need to,

he called me Mr. Jase, but he's like, Mr. Jase, you need to go. We're behind here. Because the conversation. Well, that was where I was, I was about to say, Jase, when I get behind somebody like you that's having a tapping conversation with the people at Chig Malay, I'm hot

back there because I'm like, just get your order in and get on through the line. It launched into this. We have the spirit. It's a battle for flesh of spirit. So anyway, it was a weird story. Let's just leave it at that. But I'm sure that that young fellow probably went home and thought, huh, what in the world was he talking about?

And maybe that only. The moral of the story is, if you ever at Chick-fil-A and Jason's in front of you in line, go ahead and park and go inside. Just go inside. That's exactly right. Or do a mobile order or something. See, Zach, you never know. I asked Jason about a Chick-fil-A rapper.

and one cold open later, we're ready to bring our guest on. So we'll take a break and we got some guest on today. Welcome back to Unashame. We have some guests all the way from Idaho piping into the Unashamed podcast. Jeremy and Melissa Susa. Welcome to the Unashamed podcast. Thank you so much. Thanks for having us.

And man, Jeremy's got that booming bass voice. Zach, he's like a baritone. I was just, you need to sing. Do you sing? I see some of, I see guitars and bass bass. banjos behind you. Are y'all singers? I am not a singer. I do sing, but not well. Those actually belong to our daughter, who is an amazing singer. Ah, so you got some music in the back there as well. So you got the big foot back there. Yeah. He's sort of the North Idaho mascot.

Okay. Okay. Yep. So how long have y'all been in North Idaho? We have lived here now for nearly six years. We've owned the property that we built our home on for seven, eight. And you guys literally built it like, your homesteaders. Like your story is pretty amazing. So you have a YouTube, what's the name of the YouTube vlog?

Good Simple Living. Good Simple Living. So if you hadn't checked these guys out, I'm sure a lot of our listeners will know who you are. And then you have a podcast called New World Old Soul. Correct. And you were telling us that Willie was one of your first podcast guests. And we were apologizing for that.

I'm because we just know Willie so well. No, Willie was great. Yeah, we had no business having really any guests on. And we reached out to Willie and he was gracious enough to, let us interview him. Technically it was a locker room,

but there was a toilet we had to hide. It was a bathroom. We interviewed Willie in the bathroom for an hour. He does some of his best work in there. So I'm sure. He said, I feel like I'm being interrogated. It was this horrible stone.

room and it was so awful. Our room had fallen through at the last minute and we're panicking. Like, we're about to have Willie Robertson on the bathroom. No, you had the right fit. That bathroom was perfect. It was like we were in Nashville recently doing some podcast up there and Zach had secured a house for us. But I don't know.

It's like I walked in and it had a weird vibe. It was like a mob place where they take people to torture them is what it felt like. Or like one of those movies like, saw you know yeah yeah it's a very very industrial kind of uh vibe going on they were they were being divas though uh so but i you know i was trying to pull well we're we're talents at that's what we do well i want to die out since you have willie own uh did you ask him about bigfoot no we did not no really i didn't know he was friends with him well we have well you should because i i actually uh thought he was bigfoot at one time of his life he had

kind of let himself go to a greater degree than he has now. And he was walking across the field where we were hunting, but I didn't know he was out of the blind because he has, you know, he has attention deficit issues. Oh, he's worse than that. He just has the lead.

He has to lead. He can't just sit there. And I have forgot he left or wasn't aware. And I think it was some kind of nature call, which I'm glad he got away from the blind. And I just looked up. And the way he was walking. walking, I thought, yep, I see how the legend of Bigfoot, he literally looked like Bigfoot to me.

He was. Yeah. Yeah. He was. So we've kind of joked at him about that. So that would have been interesting. That would have been an interesting conversation. We'll save it for next time.

Man, we had no idea. Yeah, I know. He was pretty funny. He was like, you should come to Louisiana. And we're like, oh, you know, people just say that. And then he came back. And he's like, no, seriously come. Yeah.

We need to come out there at some point like, hey, you invited us two years ago. Probably don't even remember. Well, you know, they want to, Willie and Corey, they want to start doing the homesteading. So maybe that's why he's probably going to get you down there to help you get his set up. I bet you that there's an ulterior motive there. I love it. But I'd love to hear y'all's story, though, like how you, because you were in, you guys were in Washington State kind of living the, I guess, the suburban life. And then made this transition.

to the middle of, is it the middle of nowhere, Idaho? Is that fair? Yeah. Pretty much. That's the name of our town. Yeah. I love nowhere. We live in a little town of 220 people.

We are 30 miles from a stoplight or a gas station or anything like that. So we really are in the middle and nowhere. Yeah. So a long journey to get here. But back in 2018, I guess prior to that, even up to that, we were obviously married. We had four children up until that point. I was a police officer. Melissa was a stay-at-home mom.

And we just kind of felt called to leave and find just our own sense of freedom. And so we started a property hunt and purchased this property back in 2018. When COVID came around, she called me at work one day and said, hey, I think we should just pick up and leave and head out to our property there in Idaho. And so I resigned from my job as a police officer. We loaded up the kids and some animals headed out here to essentially just a bare field. We had a shop put up ahead of time. just an empty shell of a shop. And from day one, we got to work trying to make life comfortable for ourselves.

We used the composting toilet system, which is a five-gallon bucket. It was a bucket. We did that for two and a half years with four kids. And like I said, we just got to work building out this little tiny living space that we find ourselves in now. And then later our full-time home, which we moved into in 2023. Yeah. So when you make the move, are you like, at any point did you think, why did I do this? What have we done?

Yeah, day one. Day one, you were like, uh-oh, what happened here? Yeah, we pulled up to an empty lot, no water, no power, four kids, it was freezing temperatures. We had three sheep in the back of our pickup truck and I think like four meat rabbits and three cats. I mean, we look like the Beverly Hillbillies rolling into town. I was about to say I remember this show. It was called the Beverly Hillbillies. when Jeremy was describing it.

Oh, yeah. No, the sheep and everything. We stopped to get gas. People were laughing at us and filming us on their phones. You know, like, this is so embarrassing. And then we pulled up in our trailer. It was 27 feet. 26 foot trailer.

26 foot trailer for six people. And night one, the temperatures got really low. So now our dogs in the trailer on top of that. And the water line broke. So I get out of bed to use this composting bucket toilet and I stepped down into water. And the water line, our only water had burst and it was running down the trailer, our only home. And I thought, what the heck have we done? What are we doing?

It was insanity. It was not glamorous, but it was a lot of fun. It was a newfound sense of adventure and freedom for us. And we were riding on high at the time, just powering through. You were running on adrenaline. I mean, did you have the background to be doing it? I mean, it was just like, had you guys been like studying practice? I mean, did you grow up on a farm?

Like, there was no this, I mean, you just straight into it. Yeah. Typical Zach. Did you read a book before you went out? I mean, kind of YouTube was newer at the time. And so I started with a Meat Rabbit channel. So when we were back in Washington, I was trying to learn how to be self-sustainable while he was being a police officer because I wanted to get him out of that line of work.

It was just dangerous and the riots were picking up and, you know, BLM and all of that. And I thought, well, we could slaughter rabbits on the internet and like that could work. And, you know, everything, anything went on YouTube back then. You just needed something unique. And so I got a couple dozen meat rabbits and I started showing how to process a meat rabbit in a minute. And that was how we started on YouTube. And then I thought we could make a go at this. You know, Jace loves to do a good rabbit hole.

He goes down rabbit holes all the time in our conversation. So he's, so is there, you might find a rabbit at the end of the hole and work out some kind of deal. You know, after you're hearing this, Al, I don't think our story about moving to the middle of nowhere and making duck calls. I thought the same thing. This is actually making me feel better about us doing the same thing when I was like eight years old. That's right. But this is more risky because Phil was an avid outdoorsman who, I mean, he lived off the land. You guys are coming into this with no background, which I think is why your channel is blown up and you have so many people that like to watch what you're doing because it's like people wonder, could I survive?

Could I do this? You know, and I think a lot of people, I've always wanted to get self-sustainable, too, but also, I mean, you guys put a lot of work into what you're doing as well. But I mean, how is that resonated with people that, like, in suburban America, as they, because I know you guys hear from them all the time. Yeah, I think we've just shown that it's possible. And, you know, once you sit your mind to something and it was a total leap of faith for us, but as long as you devote yourself to what it is you're trying to accomplish. I mean, anything's possible. And you can do it. It's not that we're experts by any means, but we've figured out.

a lot of things along the way because we really had no choice. We kind of painted ourselves into a corner, burn the ship, so to speak, and just try to make it happen for ourselves. Yeah, we sold everything. There was no home to return to. And we had kids. So it was yeah, it was sink or swim. So tell about the, about the kids. Obviously, you guys are thriving now and what you're doing. So have you seen this, you know, like shape them and change them? because, you know, going from kind of a typical suburbanite life to what you guys are doing now, they have to play a huge role in the process, right? Yeah.

Well, we've always been homeschoolers. I was a elementary teacher by trade. And then when I had my first daughter, I didn't want to put her in the system. And so I literally called from the hospital the day I had her. I called my principal in August and said, I'm not coming back this year. And I've been a stay-at-home mom and a homeschooler ever since. So we homeschooled for 14 years. I mean, they were out there pulling rabbit hides and everything too.

So I don't think it was that big of a transition to them, minus a whole no toilet and house thing. Yeah. Except for that. How many acres do you have? We have 24 acres. Well, there you go. 24 acres.

You can deal with the no toilet for a while, you know. You got a toilet now, right? We got toilets now. Oh, my gosh. It was like a holiday. Oh, I thought that was a big deal. So right now, what all do you have on the property that you guys are like, because you're feeding yourselves? I mean, what all, where are you at in the process right now?

We do garden, but we have really short gardening seasons here. So, you know, we, of course, supplement with items from the store. But we've got sheep here on the property. We're still doing the meat rabbit thing. We've got a couple of horses that are just for leisure since she grew up with horses. She likes that. We have chickens. an abundance of wild turkey elk.

I saw moose the other day. So a lot of hunting opportunities as well. But yeah, that's basic setup here as far as sustainability goes. We realized hunting was more sustainable than actually trying to raise livestock because it's expensive to raise livestock. So if you live in an area abundant in wildlife, which we can wake up and see 30 head of elk in the front yard. So you can literally just sit on our porch swing. 40, 50 turkeys every morning, just pecking around, making a mess. It's very easy to hunt here.

Well, how many ducks do you see flying around? There's two. Oh, two! There's this little swampy lake by our house. We call it, we call them Shrek and Fiona because they're the only two ducks that hang around in this little swamp. And we've got those two. Well, look, my greatest.

adventure in all the places I've duck hunted and I've duck hunted most states I guess west of the Mississippi River but the Snake River in Idaho I have at the top and places along that so I didn't I was curious how close you you are to the Snake River I've made multiple trips up there so I was pretty close we're up north yeah you're up north so you are just in the mountainous yeah yeah very different terrain and topography here, yeah, for sure. Yeah, if you ever want to get into Turkey. Yeah. Who come to our place?

Turkey's pretty good. Well, that's interesting. Yeah. And what I love about you guys, though, is it's interesting because you kind of, it sounds like you made this lifestyle decision for your family. And I would assume, because you mentioned about the riots and stuff like that, and kind of being in such a blue state. in terms of being people of faith.

And obviously you seem like conservative people too. I would think some of that is fleeing out of that sort of tyranny is what I call it when I go to those states and talk to folks. But at the same time, because of what you're doing with the YouTube, and you're doing a lot of other stuff, and we're going to mention you just wrote a children's book, but you're so engaged still in what's going on in the world. It's not like you, it's not like you built a monastery someplace and you're trying to disappear. You're actually influencing a lot of people by what you're. what you're doing and raising a lot of money too because you guys do a big thing about child cancer right tell us a little bit about that too yeah well um i mean we never set out to influence anyone that was

never really the goal it was just we live in the middle of nowhere what can we do to feed ourselves and we never expected you to become anything but we felt extremely called to come out here i told jeremy if we don't go i feel like we're ignoring god like i had just had this voice from god saying pick up your stuff and go right now. And I didn't know if something was about to happen or, but really what it boils down to is God just had plans for us. And so we got out here and things just started going on YouTube and we were surprised every time we would get new subscribers. Like, who are these people? Why are they watching? And it was such a blessing because we built such an amazing community and all along the way we knew that it wasn't us. We weren't that interesting. It was.

It was God bringing this community around us. And so we knew that we were supposed to do something with the platform. And for years, we were not quiet about our faith, but we didn't really bring it up. You know what I mean? We were careful Christians where I was like, oh, they'll know us by our fruit. Well, no, you need to speak it. And we needed to get over that fear of insulting people or losing subscribers because it was God who gave us the platform.

And so we started the childhood Cancer Coalition Toy Drive for that purpose, kind of as a, it was our way of tithing and giving back and using our platform to honor God for what he had given us. And it was something we could do with our community.

And so we were bringing faith into the toy drive, but we still weren't bringing it into all of our platforms, which is what led us to the podcast. We thought the podcast, is where we can talk. We can talk about politics and policy and people's testimonies and our faith in Christ and our walk with God, our imperfect walk with God. And we took a lot of arrows for it at first. But I feel like that's okay because now we're walking and we're sitting in our truth when we do this. But yeah, the toy drive really started as a way of using the platform to honor

God. So it's hard to find something that everybody can rally behind, but children fighting pediatric cancer, it was something that we thought, you know what, this is kids, amazing, incredible kids in the fight of their lives. And this is something everybody can agree on. And there's very little that everyone can agree on. And you're right. It's a commonality that it's bipartisan in sense of, you know, when you hear something like this for a family, your heart goes out. You don't talking about, you know, who they voted for or anything else. And the one thing you can find, even in faith in moments like that, is because everybody has to have something bigger than themselves when you're going through that particular battle for sure. We just had a 15-year-old

that we were praying for recently and sent a little shout out to because, you know, your heart just goes out. And I think that's the reason why we loved your story, Jen, who's one of our people that works with told us about you guys. And I saw so many similarities like Jason, mentioned because we kind of did what you guys did, move down on the river and just were living off the land. But, you know, I don't know. I only had part of my childhood, Jason, Willie and Jeff, their whole childhood was spent out there on the river.

But we wouldn't trade it for anything. I mean, the sense of self-reliance we had. And we felt just like you guys, when we got on television and dad famously said, nobody's going to care about watching our family. Like, this will never work, you know, unless he said the almighty's behind it. And obviously he was for us, just like with you guys, because we wanted to honor him in all things. And so I think that's what led us to, you know, what success we've had has been success because we went all in on Jesus, you know. And our podcast is kind of like that.

So it's a very similar story to what you guys have. And we all have different charities that we are a part of as well. I want to talk about your children's book. Jace has it there on the table. And this is, I think this is the latest brave books, right? Are you the latest one? I believe so. We have a standalone book.

Ours isn't part of the series. So I think they're still doing books in the series, but this is the latest standalone. Yeah, it's really great. And it's called Made to Be Ludo. And Melissa, you wrote this. Tell us a little bit about it. It's a wonderful story about contentment, which I thought was really powerful. So what led you to that?

And how did you connect with the guys that break? Well, I think that was another complete God thing. So I'm 42 and I just had a baby, which is crazy. So we had our four kids and then we were not planning on having any more kids. And we were kind of grumbling about our daughter becoming an adult because she's 19 now. And we were just really mourning that time period when our kids were little. And it's God's sense of humor to say, okay, because I kept. saying on the podcast, I wish I could just do it one more time. And then, you know, it was like, oh, here's some baby dust for you. All of a sudden, bam, pregnant. And so I had this baby in April, which is such a huge blessing, but I didn't know how to do the toy drive this year. Because I thought, how am I going to be out in the barn sorting gifts for all these families and the toy closet and doing this huge toy drive in the cold? And so I called them and I said, I don't think I can do it this year. I'm so sorry. And I was just kind of calling out to God and praying to God,

how can I take care of CCC, which is the Childhood Cancer Coalition? How do I still use our platform to honor them? And then Zach, over at Brave Books, I don't even know how he found us, but all of a sudden he called me the next day. And he's like, do you want to write a children's book with us? And I was like, okay, this has to be the answer to prayer. And so we decided that we were going to give all of the proceeds to CCC. So we're not making any money off this book. 100% of the proceeds goes to the childhood cancer coalition. Well, there you go. What a shame nation. Get to buy. And the really cool thing is, so I was just diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease after I had the baby. And then all of a sudden it's like, okay, I have to get better. I can't be going on this

book tour that we were planning. Brave had us all booked on all these podcasts. You guys, we were book to go on your podcast, and now I can't travel for a few months. And so then Brave being so incredible said, I thought they were going to be mad. Like, okay, we're writing this book with you, we're putting everything on the line, and now you're not going on the book tour. You're not going to go promote this book. But instead of getting angry at us, they decided they were going to match all donations. So they actually blessed us in the most incredible way. So we're giving all of the proceeds for the book and then everything's being doubled by brave. So it was the most incredible answer to prayer that they stumbled upon us. Well, the book is great. I read it last night. I can't

wait to take it home and read to my grandkids because we get all the brave books. You know, we're in the club. Yeah. And they love the stories. And yours is great as well. It's about, it's about a dog who wants to be a horse until it becomes a horse. And then he realizes he had a job as a dog. And I think any of us could relate to that and it's really good for kids because it's almost always like want to be someone else or something else than what God has planned for you. And so, you know, like all brave books, it really teaches some great lessons about contentment. And when I was reading it, Melissa, I thought about the verse, one of my favorite verses that Paul says in Philippians 4, he says, I learned to be content, whatever the circumstances, I know what it is to be in need,

I know what it is to have plenty, I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, or compost buckets, I guess, whether living in plenty or in want, I can do everything through him who gives me strength, which is a verse that's quoted a lot and tattooed on people. It's not really about the, it's about the contentment, is what leads you to the idea that you can always trust Christ. Because if you know that and you know he has a role for you, then you're going to understand that. So that was something I took out of your book that I thought was really good.

I love that. Yeah. Made to Be Ludo, it just seemed so universal. With the internet, all we do is compare ourselves. We're, again, comparison is the thief of joy. It's so true. And with kids, we grew up before the internet. We knew life before that.

But these kids don't know life before the internet, and they never will. That day and time is gone. And so now they're always comparing themselves in filters and AI and everything else that they're inundated with is just ruining their sense of identity. And so I thought it was so important to write a children's book that says, you're perfect the way you are, the way God made you with the gifts that he gave you. Don't worry about the gifts that other people have. You have your gift and your purpose embrace that.

Yeah, it's a beautiful message. And so good for us because, again, you can appreciate what other people are doing without having to be envious or, you know, or look at yourself and somehow be lacking. You know, it's interesting, I didn't know this about the baby, but the more I hear your story, you guys are like an Abraham story because you got the call, right, to go to a place that you didn't know where you were going exactly. show up there and it takes you a while to get there. It took a while to get there as well. And then you find out once you get there, you're going to have a baby, you know, have your own grandchildren. So it's, it's pretty amazing. I was old and he's not calling you old. Wasn't she like 90?

Yeah. Well, I'm saying it's a modern version. You know, you're not 90, but it's a modern version. I think you say of 42 is the new 90. 42 is the new 90, Melissa. I bought 42 as in he was 30. Yeah. Oh, man. Yeah, I don't, yeah, I don't think you're Abraham and Sarah at all. I just want you to know.

I mean, you're in great shape. You guys are out there slaying it in the wilderness. So what, what, I'm curious, though, like, so your kids are out there. How's that been transition for them? You know, you got teenagers and what's it like being, I mean, what going from, I don't know, like the social aspect of it. How have you guys seen that transition? It's been an interesting transition.

I think they really enjoyed their time here for the most part, especially when we first got here and they were all younger and they had the opportunity to just roam around, have fun, and play with sticks and rocks and each other. As they've gotten older, I think it has definitely been become more challenging as far as social outlets go. There's not a ton of youth sports here, let's say.

And because we do live so far out from everybody else in town, there are fewer opportunities there for them to interact with people their own age. So we try to facilitate that as much as possible. But what that really has ended up doing is just bringing us closer together as a family. And I think as a set of siblings, they've really bonded with one another because of that. So it's been a transition for sure, but they've adapted to it. And we've been here long enough now that they're very accustomed to just the way we do things here. Yeah.

And we really look up to your family because Willie, for example, was telling us about how you've based built this neighborhood around your family. I think you guys are the most beautiful example of a family that just sticks together, works together, plays together, hunts together, has dinner whenever people can make it. And that is so rare in today's society that we use you guys as an example all the time and we're talking to our kids. I want don't you build out in the pasture. We'll pick up more land and why don't you guys build out there? And then I want my grandkids just running through my slider all the time. And I love the way that your family has done things. Well, let me just tell you, it's not quite as sexy as it sounds because the last time I was in town,

my kids were running through Jason's yard. And then, and apparently they caused some damage that I later heard about. Which was awesome because they, I don't think they'd experienced discipline from an uncle like they did. But because that goes back, you know, Willie created the compound when he was what, Al 10? He said, I'm out of here. Of course, we're out in the middle of nowhere like y'all. I'm out of here means he moved to the cook shack and lived there. He furnished it and, you know, my parents just let him do it.

He would work on it like all weekend. He would fix it all up and he has a little bed and he'd have a little TV down there that he would run an extension cord. I mean, he made all these little homes for himself when he would get angry at Jace or upset up with mom or dad or something. Oh, yeah. He was constantly leaving, but he always came back when the food was ready. That's usually what drew him back in.

That's kind of what happened, but I do think you figure out how to work it out, because like at 14, I moved out and I built me a fort, which it was 50 yards from the house. And I would do the same thing. When I would run away, I would just go climb up on the roof and thought, how long will they go before they send out the search party? And I figured out, they're not coming. There is no search party.

There's no search party. He's either, we'll see him at the resurrection or he'll be back. And that's just, I think it was a good lesson for me to learn. Jay's, you know how I viewed it. It was just one more serving that I got to eat without you there. So it was, you know, we were praising the Lord that he would stay away for three meals. I remember the first time I did that I was laying up on that roof. I was mad about something staring.

at the stars and the smell of that fried chicken just went into my nostrils. You know, it's not so bad. Oh, man. You know, they got the thing now called gentle parenting. I feel like the way we all were raised was hostile parenting or it was more like going after you. You figure it out and you come back, but the chicken's in the friar. Well, it's one of the reasons my wife, Mary,

me because she was not raised in the middle of nowhere and everything I do is contrary to how she was raised but she finds some kind of security in in that because she's constantly saying i just i like a man i like my man because he can do stuff and she just means like go fishing you know i mean these types of things that you would think everybody knows how to do just live off the land and be able to survive the wilderness. I mean, that is seriously really appealing to her. I mean, she's like, if this place all goes down, we'll be fine. I mean, I'm going to a man.

So I'm actually grateful for our upbringing because of that, you know, and just learning how to survive in the land. There's something kind of liberating about it. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, and it's unique this. Everyone used to live like that. And now not very many people live like that anymore, which is what made you guys so intriguing.

It was, I think that's why people like a lot of that kind of content. It's just everyone worries about living in the city. If things actually go down, if they turn those EBT cards off in a couple days, like, you know, things could get real at Walmart. And that's scary to people. It'll be no tap every day, won't it? Yeah, I told a crazy story about my car. wouldn't tap, you know, and they're like, well, you need to call somebody. Is that, you know, earlier was like, get you another credit card.

I was like, you know, I'm just, I'm not worried about it. You know, there's, there's at the end of the day. That is a picture, Jay's of what, what you guys are talking about it and what you're doing is that you get so hooked on technology or things. Or modern convenience. Modern convenience that you have to have it. And let's face it, I mean, you see. things go south quickly when you do have a problem in situations like that. I mean,

and I think it was wise probably for you guys to do what you did. And you mentioned us, which I appreciate your kind of words by our family. But that was part of for sure the allure of the idea of our family and our show and building a business together, kind of like what you guys have done and a platform to help people because it's not like you're not trying to again be inward. You guys are thinking outward. But you're just doing it as. a family and doing it together, but as you raise your children, now you have one that's, you know, almost grown, you start to realize that you want to raise them in a way to have a relationship with them for all of their lives. And as long as you're here on the planet and then

for eternity. So, so the idea is we want to have those interactions and we feel the same way about our kids now. I mean, I have a 40 or about to have 40 year old and a 38 year old. But I raised them in a way that I could spend that time with them. And they live on the other side of my house and my grandkids, I'm in their lives. They're in my life, you know, every, every time I'm there. And that makes a huge difference to me. And that's the way we want to raise them. We're training them. We're raising them right. But at the same time, you know, we're doing this for a lifelong relationship. And I can't imagine, I said this many times before, I can't imagine, and I know a lot of people do this, but live in a situation where I got to see my grandkids once or twice a year. That's just,

that would be very sad to me. Yeah. Yeah, that's beautiful. You're living our dream. Yeah. That's kind of the vision that we have for ourselves. We're hoping that's the way it plays out. And so yeah, your family's a huge example of that working. And people will criticize us for it. You're sheltering your kids. You're keeping your kids away from society or reality. And when we go to the city now, if we go take them to a conference or, you know, they go to a turning point event or something like that, and we walk around the city, they're shocked by what they see. We took them to Hollywood. You see the stars. And they were, our little girls, like, I'm scared.

I want to leave. And then people thought, you know, that's really sad that your kids are that sheltered. And I don't see the word as sheltered as a negative. We're supposed to shelter our children. We're supposed to protect them. Yeah, and you should be shocked when you see that. You should be shocked. You shouldn't be numb and desensitized to it.

That's the whole problem with cell phones and internets. I mean, you're handing small children. and you're giving the world access to your child. And what are they going to put in their minds? And you're wondering why we have such a problem in our culture. When y'all were talking, I thought of a funny story. One of my sons, as a teenager, he called me at work, and he's like, Dad, this clunker truck that you got for me, which it was a clunker,

because I wanted him to embrace the struggle. I'm giving you a truck. and he's like, it broke down. I'm like, I need you to come get me. I was like, I'm working to pay for that truck. This is the moment now where you have an opportunity to walk. He's like, what? I was like, get out, use the two legs you got, and walk to the house.

He's like, well, it's three miles. I was like, that's nothing. I could walk three miles. During that three mile journey, I want you to think about how awesome. it was to have something where you didn't have to walk. So next time you won't call me at work, who's financing this? He's like, okay, I got it. And look, I never had another problem.

But I think it just, it teaches them an appreciation for these things that they are to be used. You were trying to tell him the search party is not coming to look for you. Search party is not coming. This is part of the growing up. The search party's not coming, buddy. Yeah. Yeah, all of the sending chicken.

The time on the roof. Yeah. When I got married, we had one vehicle, which I went through this story with him on said phone call. I was like, when I got married and Missy had the car, guess what? I walked. This is what I did. Now I appreciate what I have, which is what you need to do. So I think it was a good life lesson.

I had this conversation yesterday a couple days ago with Lalo. She's married. My daughter's married. She's 21. now lives in Nashville and she hit a she said she hit a log in the middle of the road I don't really know what happened but it long story short she bused two of her tires and had to get the truck towed or her vehicle towed and then had to get four new wheels it's a whole deal and she's just like it cost me like $1,400 like how did you how did you how did you all do this and I was like

we sweated we worried about it what you make you make it happen but that I had to tell The search party's not coming. I love you. I love you so much, Lila. You remember when I gave you away that night? I gave you away. Call your husband. No give backs.

Yeah. Oh, I know. I think that's part of it too is we were saying the kids, our older kids remember the struggle, but they're looking at the baby going, wait a minute. He's not going to, he wasn't here for the come up. He's just going to get everything. And it's like, you know, we're not just going to give him everything because we have a flushing toilet now. That's fancy.

They remember having to haul buckets and stuff, which isn't fun in negative temperatures. But it is. It does build character. And obviously, you guys are impacting a lot of folks. So made to be Ludo is the new brave book. So I want to encourage Unashamed Nation. Check that out. You already heard everything that.

And when you buy this book, everything goes to their charity, which you can also check out. So it's New World Old Soul is the podcast. Is that right? And then how do they find you on YouTube? What was the name of that again? Good Simple Living is the family lifestyle channel. And we just feature whatever we're up to. And then we get way more lippy on the podcast if you want to hear more of our political opinions that tend to get people. we like Lippi, especially on none of shame. So you guys are a perfect fit for our audience. Thank you for your kind words about our family.

We feel the same way about you guys. I'm so glad we got to meet you. I'm so glad you got an upgrade from Willie with a decent conversation, not in a bathroom. So hopefully we get, we do want you to come to Louisiana sometime. That way we can be on your show and you can be on ours again. So with that ever happened. Yep. We'll have to, we want to introduce our daughter to Sadie as well because.

There you go. I know she's a big fan. So, yep, we'll have to make it out there. Sadie's amazing. It's great having you guys on. God bless you. And keep living. Keep living the dream.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.