In this episode of Living Eyes Open, I sit down with my friend Josh Webb to discuss his powerful story behind Success in Suffering. After being diagnosed with a brain tumor, Josh experienced firsthand how God can use even the hardest trials to deepen our faith and redefine our purpose. This is a conversation about pain, perspective, and trusting God when life doesn’t make sense.

After walking through childhood trauma, family fractures, faith, marriage, business, loss, and reconciliation… this episode brings it all to today.

Where do things stand now with my mom, stepdad, stepmom, siblings, and extended family?
What does reconciliation look like when apologies never come?
What does obedience look like when God asks you to go first?

Over the past 23 years of marriage and fatherhood, the Lord has repeatedly challenged me to pursue peace — to make the phone call, send the email, extend the invitation — even when the outcome was uncertain. I’ve learned that obedience doesn’t guarantee restoration, but it always produces transformation.

This episode is about choosing obedience over ego.
Reconciliation over retaliation.
Hope over bitterness.

It’s also about breaking generational cycles and giving my children a clean whiteboard — one where humility, forgiveness, and faith lead the way.

Thank you for walking through this journey with me.

This series reflects my personal experiences and perspective.

Episode 9 - What is a brother?

Is it blood? Shared history? Shared pain? Shared last names?

In this episode of Living Eyes Open: My Story, I open up about one of the most difficult and personal areas of my life — my long and complicated relationship with my older brother.

Over the years, there were attempts at reconciliation, seasons of unity, business ventures, family loss, boundaries, silence… and eventually, conviction. I share where I felt hurt, where expectations broke down, and — most importantly — where I sinned and had to repent.

This episode is not about attacking anyone. It’s about wrestling with what brotherhood truly means as a follower of Christ.

There were moments where I handled things wrong. There were seasons where boundaries were necessary. There were years of silence. And through it all, the Lord showed me something profound:

When earthly brotherhood felt absent, God provided spiritual brothers.
From my time in business school at the University of Georgia, to serving in church, to Christian businessmen and close friends who sharpened my faith — the Lord has never left me without brotherhood.

In this episode, I discuss:
• Attempts at reconciliation
• A treasure hunt that brought hope of rebuilding
• A business venture that tested trust
• The importance of boundaries
• The weight of anger and conviction
• Confession, repentance, and surrender
• And the brothers God sent when I felt alone

This is a story about blood, silence, conviction, and grace.

If you’ve wrestled with estrangement in your family…
If you’ve had to set boundaries…
If you’ve sinned in anger and needed to make it right…
If you’ve longed for reconciliation…

This one is for you.

Because maybe a brother isn’t just someone who shares your DNA. Maybe it’s someone who shares repentance. And maybe God, in His mercy, gives us brothers in Christ when blood relationships fall short.

Thank you for walking through this journey with me. — Stephen

Note: The views and experiences shared in this episode are based solely on my personal perspective and recollection of events.

Episode 8 – Marriage, Fatherhood, and Losing my Dad

In this episode of Living Eyes Open: My Story, I share what it has looked like to become a husband and father without having great examples growing up — and how the Lord met me in my blind spots.

For years, I didn’t realize I was guarded. I didn’t realize perfectionism was protecting wounds from my childhood. I didn’t realize that in trying to be strong, I was holding back my heart from my wife… and placing unrealistic expectations on my son.

At a men’s retreat, I asked the Lord a dangerous question:
“Show me what I’m unaware of as a man, husband, and father.”

What He revealed changed everything.

This episode also shares the story of losing my dad to vascular dementia in 2020 — the grief, the gratitude, the legacy, and the hope that anchors us even in goodbye.

Marriage. Fatherhood. Loss. Growth.
Breaking patterns instead of repeating them.

I’m still learning. Still adapting. Still becoming.

But by God’s grace, we don’t have to pass down the wounds we received.

“My hope is built on nothing less…”

If this episode resonates with you, share it with someone who may need encouragement in their own journey as a husband, father, or son.

The views and experiences shared in this episode are based solely on my personal perspective and recollection of events.

Episode 7 – All In: The Year We Almost Lost It All

The first year of owning a small business almost bankrupted us.

We lost over $100,000 in cash. A consulting firm took us to the bank for $60,000 and delivered nothing of value. Clients didn’t pay.
A wealthy homeowner withheld $25,000 just because they could.
We paid liabilities that weren’t even legally ours just to protect our reputation.

Jennifer and I seriously prayed about shutting the doors.

Instead… we took out a personal loan and gave it to the business.

That moment changed everything.

In this episode of Living Eyes Open: My Story, I share what it looked like to go all in when the numbers didn’t make sense — when fear was loud, when cash flow was thin, and when the pressure of being a husband, father, and business owner felt overwhelming.

We even did a prayer walk around our office building — just like the Israelites around Jericho in the Book of Joshua — not praying for walls to fall, but praying for the Lord’s victory in our business.

This is the story of:
• Faith under financial fire
• Learning to work with your spouse
• Redefining success
• Coaching over 300 baseball games while building a company
• Choosing long-term vision over short-term fear

If you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner, or someone in a season where quitting feels easier than continuing — this episode is for you.

Sometimes the year that almost breaks you is the year that builds you.

The views and experiences shared in this episode are based solely on my personal perspective and recollection of events.

My Story – Episode 6
Faith, Fatherhood & the Fight for What Matters (Age 22–30)

The decade after I got married was supposed to be simple.

Work hard. Build a business. Start a family. Finish college.

Instead, it became the most refining season of my life.

From becoming the top salesperson at Academy Roofing to stepping into executive leadership during my parents’ devastating divorce… from letting go of over 50 employees as a court-appointed restructuring officer dismantled the company… to testifying in court under crushing stress… this was a decade of pressure.

At the same time, Jennifer and I faced fertility struggles — until God answered a prayer like He did for Hannah in 1 Samuel.
Samuel was born in 2008.
Eli followed in 2011 after the heartbreak of losing one of his twin siblings.

We also walked through betrayal in the church.
At a critical crossroads for our marriage, I had to decide: pride or grace?
Anger or compassion?

By God’s mercy, we chose healing.

In 2013, Jennifer and I took a leap of faith and purchased the broken remains of the family business — stepping into what looked like ashes and believing God could rebuild something beautiful.

This episode is about:

• Leadership under fire
• Marriage under pressure
• Forgiveness without apology
• Faith in financial uncertainty
• Choosing integrity when slandered
• Becoming a father while everything else was falling apart

Sometimes God doesn’t remove the fire.
He uses it to refine you.

If this story resonates with you, consider subscribing and sharing it with someone who may be walking through their own refining season.

The views and experiences shared in this episode are based solely on my personal perspective and recollection of events.

Episode 5: When the Dream Came True (Age 20–21)

At 20 years old, I stepped onto a plane headed for Southeast Asia — unaware that God was about to confirm my calling, my future, and my wife… all in one trip.

Months before leaving, I had a dream.

I was standing on a beach, looking across at tents filled with children. I entered one tent but couldn’t communicate — I had no interpreter. So I began drawing the gospel in the sand.

Before the trip, the Lord told me to fast for two weeks because He wanted to show me something.

What happened next shook me.

When we arrived overseas after 36 hours of travel, our plans immediately changed. Radical jihadists in the area were aware of our presence. We had to pivot and stay with local missionaries. That’s where I experienced something I can only describe as real spiritual warfare — and learned firsthand the authority in the name of Jesus.

But that wasn’t the only confirmation.

During this same trip, God began speaking clearly about marriage — through Scripture, devotionals, prayer, and circumstances that were impossible to ignore. The same dream I had months earlier came to pass when we unexpectedly found ourselves at the ocean, and I once again had no interpreter… so I drew the gospel in the sand.

That trip didn’t just confirm a mission.

It confirmed my wife.

Jennifer and I prayed for 40 days for clarity. Ninety days after returning home, at age 20, I asked her parents for permission to marry her. I stepped into roofing sales to learn how to provide. It took 90 days to see my first paycheck — but that year I made $78,000 at 21 years old.

God wasn’t just calling me.
He was forming me.

On July 19, 2003, we were married.

In this episode, I share:
• A dream that came true
• Supernatural confirmation
• Spiritual warfare and the power of Jesus’ name
• Learning to provide as a young husband
• The faithfulness of God in uncertainty

From fragmentation… to covenant.
From calling… to responsibility.
From faith… to action.

The views and experiences shared in this episode are based solely on my personal perspective and recollection of events.

Living Eyes Open: My Story – Episode 4 | Whirlwinds & Wake-Up Calls

At 18 years old, I moved to Colorado thinking it would be a fresh start.

Instead, it became one of the most defining seasons of my life.

I couldn’t find work. I had no direction for school. I felt stuck — isolated, unsure of what God was doing, and questioning what stability even meant.

My family moved to join what we thought was a home church… but it slowly revealed itself to be something very different. Claims of private revelations. Deliverance sessions. Emotional experiences without Scripture. That season forced me to study the Word of God for myself and learn what discernment really looks like.

Then September 11th happened. The country was shaken — and so was I.

Not long after, what began as a dinner with my father turned into a drive across state lines that would take me back to Georgia against my will. Somewhere in Kansas, with tears drying up, I remembered a dream I had months earlier — a tornado lifting my siblings and me and dropping us in Georgia.

What felt like chaos… was actually repositioning.

In this episode, I share:

The danger of false teaching
How instability shaped my trust
The kidnapping that changed everything
The cousins who showed us Christ-like love
And how Romans 8:28 became more than just a verse

Even when we don’t understand the “why,” God is still working.

Sometimes the whirlwind isn’t destruction — it’s direction.

The views and experiences shared in this episode are based solely on my personal perspective and recollection of events.