He was thirteen when he started stealing his dying mother's pain pills so he wouldn't have to feel her leaving.

By the time Ashton met me, he'd buried his mom at her funeral and buried himself in everything that would numb it — pills, cocaine, anything to sedate. He'd cheated on the mother of his daughter and told her he didn't want to be with her anymore. He was angry at the world and angrier at God. In his words: "I told myself I hate God."

That was three years ago.

On this episode, Ashton is 22. Married to Emma — the girl he's loved since he was 14. Two kids, one on the way. Sober. And when I asked him what life is like now, he said: "It's pretty beautiful, actually."

This is a conversation about the long road between those two sentences. About a young man who was so close to losing his whole family — and didn't. About what it costs to stop running, and who has to be in your corner when you finally do. He said it plainer than I could: "That's not who I am anymore."

This is the work. This is why we do it. And this is why we are building something beyond The Yellow Coat Club.

There are young men out there in need of formation, in need of brotherhood. For 3 years, Ashton has stayed in the fold, committed, and I have watched his life radically change. It is the fruit in his life that INVICTUS is being built from... Stay tuned for the next podcast to learn more.