He spent years running from God. God found him anyway.

David was nineteen years old, drunk, living the rockstar dream, and coming down off cocaine after playing a music festival in Minnesota.

And then he heard the voice.

Not out loud. In his chest. Like words pressed into his heart.

David. Where are you?

The same words God said to Adam in the garden after the fall.

In that moment everything came to a hilt. The alcohol. The chaos. The broken home he'd been running from his whole life.

He walked to a lake. Sat there until the sun came up. And gave it all to God.

That was the beginning.

Eight years in seminary followed. Then a leather business built from a calling. Then an Australian wife he fell in love with over video calls during COVID. Then a daughter who screams "Papa pick you up" in the middle of the night.

David is the founder of Oré Moose — handmade leather goods that make faith felt. The rosary pouch on my desk is his. The journal my son smelled and declared "it smells like Jesus" — his.

This episode went deep.

We talked about what it means to run from God and what it takes to stop. About faith as a relationship — not a checklist. About seminary as an initiatory process for young men that most of us never had. About art as food for the soul. And about building a home where faith is the natural backdrop — not something pushed, but something lived.

One line from David that I can't stop thinking about:

"Prayer changed the ecosystem of my life from a landfill to a botanical garden."

That's the episode.

Listen here: Episode 72

And if it lands — send it to a man who needs it.

// Raise them up in the way.
x Rob

P.S. — David's work is at Oré Moose. The journals, the rosary pouches, the Bible covers. All handmade. All worth it. My son said it smells like Jesus. High praise.