438: A 3AM Wake-Up Call Changed Reginald’s Life: A Heartfelt Story of Rejection to Redemption #FanFav

Kevin Lowe: Today's episode is about you hearing that quiet voice, even when the world is loud, reminding you of your true purpose, of your calling.

Kevin Lowe: So if you could use the story to inspire you, to motivate you, to remind you that, my friend, it's not over till it's over, then that is today's interview with Reginald D.

Kevin Lowe: So if you're in a season of waiting, of wondering, of wondering if it's all worth it, wondering what lies next for you, well, today's conversation is going to remind you that one thing is for certain.

Kevin Lowe: Nothing from your past disqualifies your future.

Kevin Lowe: So my friend, let's go ahead and dive into my conversation with Reginald D because I promise you today's conversation is going to move you.

Kevin Lowe: My name is Kevin Lowe, I am your host, and today is episode 406 of Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

Podcast Intro Theme Song: I got Grit, Grace, & Inspiration on my mind...

Kevin Lowe: What is going on? And welcome back to Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

Kevin Lowe: I'm your host, Kevin Lowe. And today, I have the pleasure of being in the studio with a guy who, man, am I excited to get to introduce you to none other than the real Reginald D. Reginald, welcome to the podcast.

Reginald D: Thank you so much, Kevin. Thank you so much for having me, man.

Kevin Lowe: Oh, man. Well, Reginald, dude, I have been so excited for this ever since we met, ever since you had me on your own podcast.

Kevin Lowe: I've been excited, though, to get to explore your own story and where I would love for us to start at.

Kevin Lowe: And I don't know exactly where it's going to take us, but I know I believe it was back a ways back in maybe like 2005.

Kevin Lowe: You had a series of dreams. Would you mind sharing with me a little bit about that story to kick us off?

Reginald D: Absolutely, Kevin. Absolutely. So, yeah, back in 2005, it was a point in my life I was kind of quiet, I guess, kind of trying to find my own way in life.

Reginald D: And I was kind of to myself.

Reginald D: All I wanted to do is, you know, go to work, you know, come home, go to church, serve in the church and stuff like that.

Reginald D: It wasn't making a whole bunch of noise and anything like that.

Reginald D: And I just wanted to seek God and see what his purpose was for my life.

Reginald D: And I had to get quiet, I felt, to do that.

Reginald D: So I started having these dreams at night and it came to me three nights straight and it woke me up at three o'clock in the morning.

Reginald D: And the dream was I heard myself speaking, but I saw a church, a white church, and then a whole bunch of people outside of the church in this field.

Reginald D: And I dreamed that three nights straight and it woke me up at three o'clock in the morning each night, man, I woke up in sweats.

Reginald D: It was crazy. So I knew after the third night that God had called me and was calling me.

Reginald D: And I got up on my knees after that third night and told God, you know, I will go.

Reginald D: I will go carry your word because I knew that's what he wanted me to do.

Kevin Lowe: Wow. So at that point, you were already a pastor?

Reginald D: No, at that point, I was just going to church. I wasn't a pastor or anything like that.

Reginald D: So after I went and talked to my grandfather, told him about my dreams, And then my cousin, he was actually a pastor in the church my grandfather started.

Reginald D: And we all talked about it. And then I told them that God was calling me to ministry. So they actually licensed me to be a minister.

Kevin Lowe: Okay. Okay. Fascinating. Fascinating. Well, speaking about family, let's back up in your story a little bit and give me a kind of an idea.

Kevin Lowe: Where exactly did you even grow up at? And I mean, I guess the big kind of picture here, you know, tying it back together is I'm kind of curious, what led you kind of on this path of, you know, wanting to get into ministry?

Reginald D: Well, the thing about it, I grew up in Greenville, South Carolina.

Reginald D: I grew up in a very religious family.

Reginald D: You know, we had pastors and preachers all throughout our family.

Reginald D: My grandfather passed his own churches and built his own churches.

Reginald D: My uncles was pastors. And so it was a very religious family, man.

Reginald D: That's all we did a lot of times was church. And that's all we was pretty much that was our foundation.

Reginald D: But I didn't really, you know, I'll tell you one part of my life.

Reginald D: I didn't want to be in ministry at all.

Reginald D: You know, as I got into my younger years in life, I wanted to explore life.

Reginald D: I didn't want to do the church thing. I wanted to, you know, do what you do when you're 21, 22 years old and, you know, trying to go out and have fun. that part of life.

Reginald D: I wasn't really pursuing church like that. And I think one point I had to quit going all together because I just didn't want to do it no more.

Reginald D: I grew up in it. I think I was kind of burnt out in it, but somehow God always, you know, he always steered me in the right direction, even when I steer myself in the wrong direction. So that's how I ended up coming to grips with what my purpose was and who I am.

Reginald D: And that's how I ended up, he started showing me those dreams and things like that and that's how I knew that it was real.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Kevin Lowe: Now, when we speak about family and stuff, when you think of being a kid growing up, was there any, like, in particular figures in your life who were really, like, instrumental in those formative childhood years?

Reginald D: Well, I'll tell you what. I grew up in a single-parent home.

Reginald D: My mom's a single parent. She had me and my sister. I shot her wetlock.

Reginald D: Everybody else, her siblings, there was 11 of them, and everybody else got married and had kids.

Reginald D: You know, I guess they did. Somebody got pregnant and then his wife got married.

Reginald D: I don't know how it went down, but at the end of the day, my mom was, you know, I was born out of wedlock.

Reginald D: And it was kind of different coming from a religious family because they had this old school mentality when it comes to religion and things like that.

Reginald D: And if you're born out of wedlock, you wouldn't want to amount to anything.

Reginald D: And I was told that by some of my mom's siblings basically said that about me when I was like, I'm at nine years old. And that was one of the biggest things that really, really hurt me.

Reginald D: And it's one of the biggest challenges in my life. I think, man, I'm 53 years old. I think that was the biggest thing I had to really mentally overcome.

Reginald D: You got to look at it this way. We're already poor, man. We don't have any money.

Reginald D: We're already struggling. If you want any support, you will want it from your family, you know?

Reginald D: And it just seems like I wasn't getting it from them. What was instrumental in my life was my grandfather. I used to go down to his house in the summertime when I was out of school and stay with him, him and my grandmother.

Reginald D: And, you know, he built a convenience store with a meat market and a rep next door to the house. And then the church was the next door to the convenience store.

Reginald D: And I used to watch them run the business. I used to go in and help out and things like that.

Reginald D: And that's how I really learned how to do business, actually.

Reginald D: And he was very instrumental in my life by showing me, first of all, love. Then he showed me leadership.

Reginald D: And then he showed me how to actually be a man.

Reginald D: And he would not let anyone make me feel like I was less than because I was born out of wedlock.

Reginald D: I remember one incident. We was at their house at a family barbecue.

Reginald D: My cousins and their moms and, you know, my mom said, they packed up in the car. I was like, hey, we're going to run to the mall, but we'll be right back.

Reginald D: So all the kids were piled up in the car.

Reginald D: So I just headed to the car, thinking it was all right for me to jump in since we was coming right back anyway.

Reginald D: And one of my aunts looked at me and said, where do you think you're going?

Reginald D: And I was like, I'm going with you all. And she's like, no, you're not.

Reginald D: And they left me out of the yard, man, by myself, just standing there, you know. And my grandfather got...

Reginald D: He was furious about it, and he kind of gave a piece of his mind of what he felt.

Reginald D: And then my mom was pretty much saying, you know, telling my grandfather, she was like, Dad, don't even worry about it. Don't worry about it.

Reginald D: And I remember him pulling up this money out of his pocket, this water money.

Reginald D: He gave it to my mom and said, hey, take this boy to the mall and get him anything you want.

Reginald D: So now I'm at the mall passing my cousins that I should have been with going there with bags of stuff in my hand.

Reginald D: It was crazy, man. And I'm still saying, even though I'm getting all the stuff I want or, you know, my grandfather gave my mom the money, you know, I'm still saying, man, it shouldn't be like this.

Reginald D: You know, it shouldn't be like this. So it really put me in a different headspace growing up.

Reginald D: And I had to really thank my grandfather for mentoring me and keeping me level headed, because I think when things like that happens to young people, period, kids, that's your foundation.

Reginald D: It can do it can do something to you. You can end it up derailing your life because you got all this animosity.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Now, I have to ask, just because I've never heard of it before, back then when you were growing up, this whole thing about viewing children born out of wedlock is kind of something less.

Kevin Lowe: Was this typical in that area where you grew up at? I've never heard of that before.

Reginald D: I would say it just depends. I'll say it's regular.

Reginald D: You know with a lot of southern religion congregations and things like that it's kind of the teaching is tougher i think and i think a lot of it has been misinterpreted and things like that well i know it is and that's how they used to just view it back when i came from some people just say hey you're born out of wet law you're not gonna not gonna amount to anything now i did not know that until it was told to me when it was told to me i thought i was the first one i ever heard or something like that.

Reginald D: And then as I, you know, we know when something hits you and something damages you or hurts you, you can feel that pain around you.

Reginald D: So then I started hearing things from different people or not even my own family talking about not, you know, being born out of wedlock and not being worthy and things like that.

Kevin Lowe: OK, OK, understandable. Wow. Wow.

Kevin Lowe: Well, there's another story from your childhood, and I'm going to assume it was probably a little bit later on than the story you just shared with us.

Kevin Lowe: But a lot of us as teenagers, we get jobs, a lot of times first jobs instead of drive-thru.

Kevin Lowe: But you have a really powerful story that I believe helps to really illustrate the kind of person that you have always been.

Kevin Lowe: Would you tell the story of how you got a job at the Burger King and why that even came about?

Reginald D: Absolutely, Kevin. Absolutely.

Reginald D: So, like I said, I grew up in a single parent house, just me and my old sister.

Reginald D: One day, my mom came home from work, and she cooked dinner, and she fixed our plates and put the plates on the table, and we came to eat.

Reginald D: And I noticed there's only like two pieces of chicken there.

Reginald D: And I was like, you know, I was going to forfeit mine if that's what I had to do.

Reginald D: And I asked her mom, I said, Mom, you're not going to eat? She said, No, I just cooked enough for you and your sister.

Reginald D: She said uh i'm not hungry i ate a had a big lunch today which i knew it was a lie we just didn't have enough food and i'm sitting here struggling with this thing because you know here i have two women you know my sister was younger than me but she's still a young lady in the house and we struggling to eat man that's that was kind of crazy to me and i i remember you know saying to myself and i was laying in my bed and i was like man that's not fair you know it's not fair and i contemplated

Reginald D: doing all kinds of stuff, man.

Reginald D: I said, man, maybe I need to get out here in the streets like you see people do and you may need to sell drugs.

Reginald D: I don't know what to do, man, but we can't live like this.

Reginald D: That's just the way I was feeling about it. But I'm glad I didn't go down that road because God gives us common sense.

Reginald D: He gives us the ability to create what we need for our lives without doing it the wrong way.

Reginald D: So we ended up going to Burger King one day and we really didn't get Burger King, you know, probably every four or five months.

Reginald D: That's like our treat, like on a Friday night when mom would get a little extra cash from something.

Reginald D: So we go to Burger King and we're standing in line and I saw the manager was talking to my mom and I kind of picked up and he had the hots for my mom, right?

Reginald D: So I went, I looked at him. I said, hey man, I said, I need a job.

Reginald D: And my mom spoke up and she said, no, you can't, you can't work.

Reginald D: You're in school. You're not, but 13 years old.

Reginald D: I said, Ma, I said, I need a job. She said, you're not old enough to work.

Reginald D: And the manager spoke up and said, yeah, he can if you sign a waiver.

Reginald D: And I was like, OK, all right. And then so I pulled my mom out of line.

Reginald D: I said, Mom, I said, listen, I said the other day, the other night I seen you came home hungry.

Reginald D: We didn't have enough food. You went to bed hungry. You working three jobs, playing for seven choirs in the church and going to college.

Reginald D: And you still went to bed hungry.

Reginald D: I said, I'm not going to let that happen. I said, if you say it, I need you to sign this waiver so that won't happen again.

Reginald D: She signed it with agreement that I kept my school grades up and things like that, which I did, man.

Reginald D: And then after that, I was the fry king, man. I was the guy on the french fries.

Reginald D: That was me. But yeah, man. And then when I got paid, that chick came to the house.

Reginald D: It didn't go in my pocket. Came straight to the house. My mom put food on the table and do whatever she had to do with it.

Kevin Lowe: Wow. I love that story so much.

Kevin Lowe: For so many different reasons. But I think the biggest reason is it just shows, even as a 13-year-old boy, the kind of heart and the kind of love that you had even at such a young age.

Kevin Lowe: I think it's just a powerful story that even as adults, we could all learn from that one little story in amongst your whole life story. I think is just, it's so powerful.

Kevin Lowe: And thank you so much for sharing it.

Reginald D: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah. So continuing on, when you're in school and we always kind of reach that pivotal age of graduating and stuff, what direction at that point were you headed in life?

Reginald D: Well, when I was in school, it was kind of weird because when I was 13 years old, then I then I go into high school and things didn't really change that much. I mean, mom did work hard.

Reginald D: She did get home ownership in my ninth grade year, but she bought the house and then had to get a new car because the car was messed up and things like that.

Reginald D: So things still, it was better, but I still had to help out because she still had the responsibilities.

Reginald D: And one thing I didn't want to happen in high school because I went through a state in school where I was bullied it for being poor.

Reginald D: I felt a kid came up to me and just out of the blue, man, it just spit on me, spit in my face, called me poor, and then scuffed up these shoes because we was outside and it was kind of muddy.

Reginald D: He took the bottom of his shoe and stepped on these sneakers.

Reginald D: My mom paid, I think she paid like 10 bucks for these things, man. It wasn't even like we wear now.

Reginald D: It's the cheapest of the cheapest, and he scuffed these shoes up, which I'm like, dude, you know, my mom worked so hard for that.

Reginald D: So needless to say, that outcome didn't come out too good, but not the real.

Reginald D: It is what it is, man. You know, I wasn't upset about the situation that he spent in my face.

Reginald D: You know, I was upset more that he scuffed up these shoes and my mom working so hard to provide for us, you know.

Reginald D: But then, you know, when I got to to high school, I got to high school and I was I had a way of I worked it so good, you know, that I was working three jobs in high school and going to high school.

Kevin Lowe: Wow.

Reginald D: And I was doing that because I was like, hey, you know, you get into high school.

Reginald D: People are going to be looking at you poorly. They're going to be looking all kind of ways and things like that. And then I had my sister coming up right behind me, coming to high school. And I didn't want her to come looking less than.

Reginald D: And you know how kids get, you know, the older you get, the worse it gets.

Reginald D: So I was able to buy the name brand shoes. I was able to buy the stuff that, you know, that mom couldn't get us, you know.

Reginald D: And I was still happy paying bills, you know, in the house.

Reginald D: So I just took it as if, you know, it was my that was my assignment.

Reginald D: And a lot of people I've been asked this question.

Reginald D: And just like, man, how did you feel as a kid growing up knowing you had to do all that stuff? What about your childhood?

Reginald D: And I'm like, oh, what about being a child? I said, I was still a child, but I was just, it was just my moment.

Reginald D: And it's just what I had to do. This was the hand I was dealt at the end of the day.

Reginald D: And I accepted it. And I tell anybody, you know, sometimes situations are situations, man.

Reginald D: And you got to accept it and understand that you're in it in order to overcome it.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Now, growing up, just kind of rounding out this bit of my childhood, growing up, did you guys live close to all of your relatives?

Reginald D: Yeah, yeah. We lived fairly close in the same city.

Kevin Lowe: Okay, okay. Awesome, awesome. So now, as family and stuff, we were talking about when you were a child and kind of being this outcast.

Kevin Lowe: Did that ever change as you got older? Yeah.

Reginald D: Yes, it did. I'll be honest with you.

Reginald D: Yeah, it changed. It did change. It's changed a lot, I think.

Reginald D: I think it's because of the accomplishments that they're seen through me.

Kevin Lowe: Yes.

Reginald D: You know, respect is there. Absolutely. It's there. Yes.

Reginald D: You know, but I mean, but I packed up, man, I worked, I lived in probably located five different times in 10 years, you know, chasing opportunities and things like that.

Reginald D: So it hadn't been easy, but but it paid off.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. So I guess in this story that you have, what was kind of maybe some series of events or that turning point that ultimately kind of got you on this direction that you've been on in life?

Reginald D: I think it's a number of things. I think it's from the childhood and all the experiences that I went through in childhood, because you got to understand now, I talked about being born out of wedlock.

Reginald D: So I had to go through that whole thing in my life without my dad in my life, which I knew my dad existed.

Reginald D: My dad was a police officer in the city, but wasn't a part of my life.

Reginald D: It was my grandfather who really changed me.

Reginald D: But I had to really do something about that because I carried that animosity a lot.

Reginald D: You know, my dad not being there because the crazy part about it, him and my mom reunited when I was like 30 years old and I'm 53 now.

Reginald D: And they got married. So they've been married over 20-something years.

Kevin Lowe: Oh, wow.

Reginald D: Yeah. And it was one of those things after they got married, I'll be honest with you, I still couldn't kind of let this thing go that, you know, he wasn't in my life, you know, after a while.

Reginald D: But, you know, but then I ended up thinking about a few things and thinking about you know, certain things.

Reginald D: And usually I just I mean, God just steps in and you got to let things go, man, at the end of the day.

Reginald D: You know, you got to let things go. And then you got to understand things happen for a reason. And I remember a message that was preached at churches on Father's Day, actually.

Reginald D: And the pastor got up and he said, do not be upset if your father is not in your life.

Reginald D: He said, there's a reason God didn't allow him to be in your life.

Reginald D: He said, that's why the person that's in your life is in your life right now and is mentoring you.

Reginald D: So that stood out. He said, because he did say this he said because the reason god probably didn't allow your dad in your life when you were young because he would have did more damage than good oh wow so that showed me that's the reason my grandfather had you know have me in his life and that's how i grew into who i am because of him you know then my dad comes later on but by the time he gets there 30 years old i'm already built you know what i'm saying.

Kevin Lowe: Wow. Wow. Okay. Okay. Now, I guess, so where does it go from there?

Kevin Lowe: Where does becoming a pastor, getting into just, you know, really getting back into the church?

Kevin Lowe: We talked earlier about, you know, there was a season of your life where you kind of got burned down a little bit and you stepped away from the church.

Kevin Lowe: How do you rebound that to get back doing what you're doing, you know, involved with the church, all of that?

Reginald D: Well, I think it's a series of things that happen, you know, because when I was licensed to be a minister, a lot of people came to me and were saying, hey, you want to be a pastor one day.

Reginald D: Right. And I think they're looking at it. I knew they was looking at it.

Reginald D: They're looking at my family and all these pastors I got.

Reginald D: And I think they think this is one thing that's on our lives that every last one I was supposed to be a pastor. Right.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah.

Reginald D: And they act like, you know, pastoring is the ultimate call when it comes to God, but it's really not.

Reginald D: It's what you call to do is the ultimate call to God, whatever he calls you to do. It could be anything.

Reginald D: So I began to minister and started ministering in different locations, got different speaking engagements.

Reginald D: And I went to one church and I spoke there.

Reginald D: Then I got a call on this day from the board. And it was like, we're looking for a pastor. Would you think about being our pastor?

Reginald D: And I was like, yeah, I would.

Reginald D: So the guy said, well, let me call you back. And then he said, let me work some stuff out. So he did whatever he needed to do.

Reginald D: Then he called me back and he said, yeah, they on board with you being the pastor, but they got one question.

Reginald D: And I was like, what's that? He said, are you married? I said, no, I'm not married. He said, well, you can't be our pastor.

Reginald D: Yeah so that's another religious mindset kind of stuff of you know one of those things, and uh it happened to me again at another church they asked me to be their pastor they found out i wasn't married they said no you can't you can't be our pastor now at this point i'm like okay god you know i'm being obedient to what you want me to do but what was playing back in my mind at nine years old saying you weren't going to be a mouth or nothing, you know, basically you ain't good enough, you know, and that's what I'm thinking,

Reginald D: you know, am I just not good enough, you know, because whatever, maybe this born out of wet law thing is really some kind of curse on me.

Reginald D: You know, I don't know, you know, I don't know why the door's being shut in my face when I'm trying to walk into what he has for me.

Reginald D: So I'm going to tell you how amazing God is. He's going to end up showing you one day when you start down yourself, he'll show you. So I got another call to go speak at this church after I was fed up and I went to speak.

Reginald D: And that night when I went home about 10 o'clock that night, that pastor called me and I don't even, you know, this is my first time ever at this church.

Reginald D: Pastor called, and he said that his congregation received me so well that he was willing to step down and give me his church.

Kevin Lowe: Wow.

Reginald D: So that was confirmation right there. God was like, yo, see, I'm telling you, you're better than good.

Reginald D: You're good enough for this thing. I didn't accept it because I was just like, no, I'm just burnt out with it and things like that. But God was just trying to show me that when I thought that I wasn't good enough, he was like, yo, see, I told you, you are you good enough.

Reginald D: The man want to get his whole church. So he said he probably didn't talk to the congregation about it. Yeah.

Kevin Lowe: Wow.

Reginald D: Yeah, that was one of the things. So what I did, I just started assisting my home church and I was over the outreach ministry in my home church.

Reginald D: And we did a lot of outreach work, man.

Reginald D: It was amazing to me how effective we were. in the community.

Reginald D: And we just started going, you know, downtown into the streets and started talking to people, ministering to people.

Reginald D: We wasn't pushing God and religion on people. We were just hanging out.

Reginald D: You know, we just, we just, these church guys, man, we just hanging out.

Reginald D: We eating hot dogs, we eating hamburgers with everybody.

Reginald D: We don't want nothing. You know what I'm saying? We just want to hang out.

Reginald D: So we started doing that and I ended up, a couple of guys came to church with me one Sunday.

Reginald D: I picked them up in an old 89 Buick Park Avenue.

Reginald D: It's like two of them. I'm like, I already know this thing going to make it to church. And now we're going to try.

Reginald D: But we ended up hitting the streets, man.

Reginald D: And I think within a month, we had this, I think it was this 16-passenger van, church van that we had.

Reginald D: We ended up packing that thing out, you know, within a month's time and bringing people to church. and then, you know, hanging out with them out to church and going out to eat and things like that.

Reginald D: And then I think within two to three months, we had this old church bus that somebody donated to the church.

Reginald D: Nobody never drove this bus for no reason whatsoever.

Reginald D: It had been sitting back there in the woods for like years.

Reginald D: And we was like, man, we got like, we was making more than one trip in this van, picking people up.

Reginald D: I'm like, man, we're going to be, you know, we're going to run out of time and even get church to be over by the time we get there calling people back and forth.

Reginald D: So we got this bus, man. We pulled the bus out.

Reginald D: You know, we got the keys to the bus. And I was like, man, we got to find somebody who was getting this thing started.

Reginald D: So got a guy at a church that was with Canada. We worked on that thing.

Reginald D: We worked on that thing, man. And he got it started.

Reginald D: So we got this big bus. I don't even know what the thing was insured.

Reginald D: I don't know. I don't know what they had on that bus. But we got the bus running, man.

Reginald D: And then we ended up going downtown picking up people. And it was like 56 passengers bus, man.

Reginald D: And we were just packing our bus out every Sunday.

Reginald D: For church. And then we ended up ministering at this transitional housing where people come out of prison or they come out of addiction centers or whatever like that and live on their own in this motel that they're paying wazoo money to live there, but they don't have a stove, they don't have an oven or anything like that.

Reginald D: You got to fend for yourself with the grills they got outside.

Reginald D: And I was like, man, we started basically pouring into these guys like, man, you already on your own. I don't know why you give these people all your money.

Reginald D: You might as well get your own apartment or something where you got access to everything you need.

Reginald D: You know, but make a long story short, a lot of these guys, I can't tell you, Kevin, how many phone calls I got from some of these guys' wives that I had never seen.

Reginald D: And it was like, I don't know what you did to my husband. He is a changed man.

Reginald D: He came back home to his family. Da-da-da-da-da-da.

Reginald D: And it was amazing, man. I got numerous calls from people's wives.

Kevin Lowe: Wow. Wow, that is It's absolutely amazing.

Kevin Lowe: Absolutely amazing. Now, I want you to kind of school me a minute because I kept using the term, you know, pastoring, pastor.

Kevin Lowe: Then we're talking about being minister, ministering. What is the difference?

Reginald D: So pastor basically has his own church.

Kevin Lowe: Okay.

Reginald D: And a minister is just a minister that's in the church.

Kevin Lowe: Okay.

Reginald D: That speaks and goes around, does all the stuff, just depends on what's what, whatever he does. But the pastor is the one who gets up every Sunday morning for the most part and preaches.

Reginald D: And basically, he's a shepherd of the flock, the whole church. Got his own church.

Kevin Lowe: Okay. Okay. Amazing. Now, you talked about moving around quite a bit.

Kevin Lowe: Was that for working at different churches?

Reginald D: No, no, I was just working at this company that I was working for.

Kevin Lowe: Okay.

Reginald D: I was just taking opportunities just to, you know, it was kind of amazing.

Reginald D: But it really brought out the leadership in me to the point where it's, you know, that's where I learned the grunt of it and what it really was.

Reginald D: Because they were moving me to all these locations, and every location they asked me to go to was one that was a zoo.

Reginald D: I never got sent to a good place to do it. It was running fine.

Reginald D: All the world that's a zoo, I was like, oh, man, man, I got to go.

Reginald D: They were like, go turn this around. Go turn this place around. I'm like, Jesus Christ.

Reginald D: But I was fortunate to do it, and it really, really showed me who I was and who I am as a person. because, you know, I've seen a lot of people with the same company.

Reginald D: They went and sent them somewhere and they didn't make it, man.

Reginald D: A lot of them didn't make it. They ended up losing their careers and things like that.

Kevin Lowe: Of course, of course. Well, I want to get to the podcast, but before we can get to the podcast, which everybody's going to see why I say that when we get to it, how did you and your wife meet?

Kevin Lowe: And what is the kind of the story in that relationship?

Reginald D: Well, it's funny. I met my wife at a barbecue where.

Kevin Lowe: Every good relationship begins.

Reginald D: I met her at a, um, at a barbecue back in, I think around 2015.

Reginald D: And, um, when I first met her, I was like, Oh man, you know, I was blown away, but I don't think she was digging me too much.

Reginald D: You know, so I had to keep on, you know, had to keep on pushing that and pushing that, you know, So we finally started dating, you know, and then she lived in Virginia and things like that. So we went back and forth seeing each other.

Reginald D: But with all said and done, we get married in 2020, got married.

Reginald D: And we just been, I don't know, man, it's been great, actually.

Reginald D: It really has. She's really brought out the best in me because I think I was burnt out on being single, you know. Yeah.

Reginald D: I can't even try to take care of yourself and take care of other people out here in the world and things like that and outside the door.

Reginald D: But it was God sent her to me. And we went to church one day, I think maybe 2022 or something like that.

Reginald D: We came home from church. And basically I told her about this dream I had, right?

Reginald D: That I was talking about, those three dreams. I don't think I ever even ever told her that part.

Reginald D: And I told her about it and we came home from church one day and she said, hey, I need you to stand up against the wall. I'm going to take a picture of you.

Reginald D: And I was like, huh? And they're like, what's going on here?

Reginald D: You know, so she took this picture and she said, you're about to start a podcast.

Reginald D: And I was like, what is a podcast? I mean, I've heard of it, but I don't really know what these things are.

Reginald D: But I was like, okay, this is what we're doing. This is what we're doing, right? Man, we started this podcast, Real Talk with Regina D.

Reginald D: And once we started it, man, God has really blessed it.

Reginald D: I mean, up to now, man, we got Apple Podcasts, top 200 shows in 105 countries, you know, and I'm like, every time, you know, episodes come, episodes come as I'm trying to get my momentum and trying to figure out how to effectively do this.

Reginald D: You know, she's managing the whole thing.

Reginald D: And man, we're looking, we in this country, we in this country, we in this country. We got all these five star ratings here.

Reginald D: I mean, everything was just crazy where you took off.

Reginald D: And then when I looked at all these countries, I was like, wait a minute.

Reginald D: It finally hit me after that dream in 2005.

Reginald D: That God was showing me the church in that dream to let me know this is not where I want you to be.

Reginald D: And he showed me those people in the field saying, I'm going to allow you to reach the masses, a bunch of people.

Reginald D: And I said, that's where this podcast came out.

Reginald D: This is those people in all these countries, all those people in that field that God showed me outside of that church.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah.

Reginald D: Years ago, you know, and, you know, and God was just telling me, I'm showing you the church so you won't run in there and be a pastor like everybody else.

Reginald D: It's not what I want for your life. So, and that's how it came, man.

Reginald D: And it's been, and I know it's, I know it's on point because it's been just things. it's been a blessing.

Kevin Lowe: So you have to wonder from the dream in 2005 to starting the podcast in what 2020?

Reginald D: No, 22.

Kevin Lowe: So even longer. So you have to wonder, was God just waiting all that time for podcasting to become a big thing or for him to get through your thick skull?

Kevin Lowe: Like Reginald, I'm telling you man I'm trying to show you.

Reginald D: I think, I think, I think it's both of them.

Kevin Lowe: Yes.

Kevin Lowe: Oh my goodness. No, I love that so, so much.

Kevin Lowe: Your, your podcast, what has been the biggest kind of a blessing for you?

Kevin Lowe: Is it, you know, getting to just be on the mic, being creative?

Kevin Lowe: Is it getting to, to meet people when you interview?

Kevin Lowe: Like, what is it that just keeps you so compelled and driving forward with your show?

Reginald D: People like you, man, you know that.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Yeah.

Reginald D: But yes, I mean, meeting people such as yourself, you know, I mean, when we first interviewed just before we got on podcasts together, you know, we had a blast, but you know, I think meeting, meeting people is one of them.

Reginald D: But I think when you go back and you look at some of the reviews and things like that, and you read it and you hear things like, you know, how what I said changed somebody's life.

Reginald D: And getting all that positive feedback on it, that's what keeps me going.

Reginald D: If I'm making a difference, then that's what's going to keep me pushing.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, yeah, I agree. What do you think your grandfather would say right now?

Kevin Lowe: If you got to sit down with him, what do you think he'd have to say about this new age way you found to touch the lives of people all over the world outside of the church?

Reginald D: He probably would tell me that he's not proud of me yet.

Reginald D: So you got more work to do, boy. But now if I can hear his voice now, he's going to tell me he's proud of me.

Reginald D: And he's going to tell me to, you know, keep pushing and keep being who you are.

Reginald D: And his biggest thing is don't waver. Do not waver. Stay true to it.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I love it. Well, Reginald, your podcast is called Real Talk with Reginald D.

Kevin Lowe: For you, what does that mean when we talk about the real talk?

Reginald D: Well, real talk is basically real talk and the crazy part about it, when I talk, a lot of this stuff is just my life, man.

Reginald D: It's my experiences and what I had to go through.

Reginald D: Just like when it says, I was told I won't amount to anything.

Reginald D: And I try to tell people, you're never meant to be defined by someone else's doubt for you at the end of the day.

Reginald D: Those words were seeds of fear.

Reginald D: But you've got the power to grow faith. I mean, you can grow through this whole thing when things like this happen.

Reginald D: So I'm just kind of speaking to, you know, my life experiences.

Reginald D: And because there's been ups, there's been downs, there's been all this stuff. And it's been a ride.

Reginald D: So we're really talking about Reggie today. I try not to sugarcoat something.

Reginald D: And I'm sure not trying to put something in the atmosphere that's not achievable.

Reginald D: You know, because I don't want to let anybody down. and somebody feel like they're let down or not good enough for life and stuff like that.

Reginald D: It's just, it's going to take a little effort. That's all, and a little faith.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I love it. Well, Reginald, what is next for you?

Kevin Lowe: What's on the horizon? What are you working on?

Kevin Lowe: And most importantly, where can people stay connected with you?

Reginald D: Well, one of the things we're working on is actually still, I mean, the podcast is, like I said, it has great momentum and we're just going to try to keep it going it and try to enhance a few things with it.

Reginald D: The biggest thing that I'm trying to achieve right now, get some momentum with it, is the motivational speaking side of it to go around and do some motivational speaking and things like that to connect with it.

Reginald D: But other than that, it's just to keep reaching people, keep doing what we're doing, and keep being creative.

Reginald D: That's the biggest thing. Just keep being creative. Everything doesn't come to you every day.

Reginald D: I mean, I'll be thinking one thing today, and then by Friday, something will blow me away and I'll be like, oh man, we've got to try this.

Reginald D: Just being open to what God has for me and keep pushing and keep going and see what the end is going to be.

Reginald D: As far as the podcast, Real Talk with Regina D, you can, on the podcast, you can go to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast network.

Reginald D: Social media, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, just put in Real Talk with Regina D you, And it'll pop up.

Kevin Lowe: Yeah, fantastic. Now, what about if somebody was interested in learning about you, about hiring you as a speaker?

Kevin Lowe: Do we have a website or somewhere we can send them?

Reginald D: Yeah, you can go to www.realtalk.org.

Kevin Lowe: Easy enough. Easy enough. Well, I will be sure for anybody interested, all the links to the podcast, the website, all the places are in the show notes.

Kevin Lowe: Reginald, man, you are such a blessing. You're such an amazing guy who I am so grateful that we got connected with one another.

Kevin Lowe: And I thank you so much for being here today.

Reginald D: Well, thank you so much, Kevin. Bless you, brother.

Kevin Lowe: Oh, thank you. And for you listening today, my hope is that you heard something today that can be an impact on your life.

Kevin Lowe: There were so many words of wisdom left to us by simply Reginald sharing his story.

Kevin Lowe: Maybe it's a dream that God gave you that maybe you forgot about.

Kevin Lowe: Maybe it's time to think back, think a little bit bigger, think a little bit better, and also remember that we always want things to happen yesterday. We want it today.

Kevin Lowe: Sometimes, though, in God's time, which is the right time, it just takes a little bit.

Kevin Lowe: It's just up to us to stay faithful and keep walking the walk, doing the thing.

Kevin Lowe: I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, and this, of course, was another episode of Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

Podcast Outro: I got Grit, Grace, & Inspiration on my mind...