From Combat to Courage: Sean Murphy’s Story of Resilience and Redemption

In this episode of the Courageous Crossroads podcast, host Jeffrey L. Johnson welcomes former Navy SEAL Sean Murphy, a dedicated family man and retired military veteran. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Sean shares his journey from a challenging childhood to becoming a Navy SEAL, a role that shaped him both personally and professionally. Now retired, Sean resides in Bentonville, Arkansas with his wife and two children, where he continues to lead a purpose-driven life. As a mentor, speaker, and executive director of Beyond the Brotherhood, Sean helps other Navy SEALs transition into fulfilling careers while emphasizing the importance of faith and family.

In this insightful episode, Sean Murphy opens up about his life’s pivotal moments, from growing up as one of the “Murphy boys” in Oklahoma to becoming a Navy SEAL. He shares deeply personal reflections on how faith transformed his perspective during the most difficult times, including his courageous decision to turn his life over to Christ in the midst of combat. Jeffrey and Sean dive into the themes of courage, resilience, and the power of faith in overcoming adversity. Listeners will be inspired by Sean’s humility, the lessons he’s learned as a father, and his commitment to guiding others through life’s courageous crossroads.

Thank you for listening! We hope you feel inspired and encouraged by our conversation today. If you did, be sure to share this episode with others.

Let’s stay in touch:

• Follow us on Instagram @crossroadsapologetics
• Email us at info@crossroadsapologetics.org
• Visit our website www.crossroadsapologetics.org

See you in the next episode! Be blessed!

Full Transcript

Intro:
Welcome to Courageous by Crossroads Apologetics, a look into what motivates us to step out in courage and the everyday bravery of men and women like you. In each episode, we hear a personal story of bravery centered around this question. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? And now your host, founder of Crossroads Apologetics, Jeff Johnson. 

Jeff Johnson:
Hey, everybody, this is Jeff. Welcome back to another edition of the Courageous Crossroads podcast, where we ask the question, what’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? And I can’t wait to hear what your story is. So make sure that you reach out to us@crossroads apologetics.org there’s ways to get in touch with us on our website. You can see past episodes there hosted on our website, as well as finding us on Spotify and Apple podcasts and all the rest. But we’d love to hear from you. And if you’ve got a story of courage, and if you’ve got a way to answer that question, and I know that you do, we would certainly love to hear from you. You know, Ronald Reagan said, there are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. 

Jeff Johnson:
So we must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. And there it is again, you know, this idea of courage, having the courage to do the right thing. I think we are all edified when we hear stories of courage from our brothers and sisters. And we’ve got another one today, the second Navy seal. I’ve had the opportunity to interview Sean Murphy on the podcast today, and he has an amazing answer to that question. And I just know that you’re going to be as enriched listening to it as I was in real time conducting the interview. But something interesting about Sean, which also gives us insight into not only his person, but, you know, his idea about courage. He asked at the beginning of the podcast, he said, jeff, do you pray? And we had that interesting conversation. 

Jeff Johnson:
Do you pray before the podcast? And I asked him, would you like to pray? And he said, yes, I would. What a beautiful way to begin. And so we start this podcast with the prayer offered by our guest, Navy SEAL Sean Murphy. 

Sean Murphy:
Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you today to thank you for this opportunity, and we ask for your blessings that may our time together and our words and actions speak on behalf of you, Lord. And may we have the lead the life that Jesus Christ would want us to live, and may we have a good time and change the lives and. And carry out your will, Lord. And we ask you, watch over us and bless this podcast that we’re about to do. And in your Jesus name we pray. Amen. 

Jeff Johnson:
Amen. Thank you, Papa. I love you so much. Thank you, God. You’re my best friend. Thank you for bringing Sean on today. And with that, Sean, I’ll say welcome to the courageous Crossroads podcast. So grateful to have you on. Thanks for joining us. 

Sean Murphy:
Hey, thank you for having me. 

Jeff Johnson:
Do you owe somebody some money or something for doing this, or are you just doing it out of the kindness of your heart? 

Sean Murphy:
Kindness of my heart. I probably owe somebody some money somewhere. 

Jeff Johnson:
Good, good. Well, I. I started to listen to a podcast that you did with Jocko, and I was captivated at the very beginning, but I shut it off knowing that I had this interview coming on because I didn’t want to know anything more. I do. And so I’m. I’m. I don’t want to say, Sean, I’m excited for this podcast to end so I can go back and listen to that one, but I just wanted to. I just wanted to get you fresh because you and I haven’t had the opportunity to meet each other, and you were recommended to me, and I reached out to you, and you’re kind enough to come on the podcast. So let’s start with where you were born, where you from, where do you hail from? Where are you talking to me from right now? A little bit of background. 

Sean Murphy:
Yeah, absolutely. Born and raised in Oklahoma, little small town called Claremore. I lived in the northeast corner, and when I was real young, my parents split. My father moved to Arkansas, and I was still. I was really young. I don’t quite know the dynamics or anything, but he moved there. And so I went back and forth as a kid, left, went to college, and now I. I went to the military, as most people already know now. Went through the SEAL teams, retired last year officially. But what I did is I got out of the military and I moved right back here, where I’m talking to you from now, in Bentonville, Arkansas. So that’s where I’m coming from. 

Jeff Johnson:
Coming today is Arkansas and family. You married? You got kids? 

Sean Murphy:
Oh, yeah. I got married in 2018 to my beautiful wife, Annelise. She had a two year old son, which is my adopted son. He’s not truly adopted. Jack, he’s now 11. And then my daughter, we have a daughter that we had together, Amelia, she’s four years old, and she runs the household. Wow. 

Jeff Johnson:
So you got it. You say 11 year old and a 4 year old? 

Sean Murphy:
Yes, sir. Jack is 11 years old, the smartest man in the house. And Amelia is the most energetic person in the house and she’s four. 

Jeff Johnson:
Oh, 100. Is Amelia more like her mother or more like you, or can you even say? 

Sean Murphy:
Well, it depends on if she. Who catches her acting up. Come and get your daughter. That’s just like you. No, I’m just. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s right. 

Sean Murphy:
She’s. I think she’s got a little bit of my fire and grit inside of her. I see it quite a bit. Come out with her. Some people call it stubbornness. I just call it the will to see things through. So, so that’s even when I’m telling her no. But she has me wrapped, so it’s bias. So I think there’s a lot of me and her. I. It’s a good balance, to be honest with you. 

Jeff Johnson:
Nice. 

Sean Murphy:
Between me and mom. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, we’re not to turn this podcast immediately around and talk about myself, but my wife and I are expecting our very first grandbaby. The due date for my oldest daughter, Meredith is today. So we’re sitting here on pins and you know, we can’t call anybody. We can’t call anybody just to see how they’re doing because they all know and on the other end of the line they’re like, is there a baby? Are you calling to tell us there’s a baby? 

Sean Murphy:
Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
So we can’t wait. But wonderful with the 11 year old. Four year old. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Is it, is it fun being a dad down in Bentonville? You have plenty of stuff to do. 

Sean Murphy:
Oh, I love it. It’s so amazing. There’s so much to do here. Walmart has done a fantastic job of building this community. When I was young, I mean, it was much smaller, but coming back here after 22 years, it’s just grown so much and there’s so much for them to do. We have space and that’s truly what. Why we moved back here. One of the main reasons is we want space for our kids so we can have a garden and grow things and teach them how to live off the land and be self sustaining. Kind of the bigger lessons in life that you can’t get from. Well, I’m sure you can. I just couldn’t give it to my kids of living in the city. 

Sean Murphy:
So we have a lot of space out here and we have our nightly four wheeler rides that are a lot of fun and pretty dangerous. Don’t let a four year old try and drive a four wheeler even if she’s good at it, because that’s where I. Back to what were talking about, she’s all about me or all me. When she’s on the four wheeler, she’s using not one hand, but two hands to push the throttle full forward to see how fast she can go and go over the hills and. 

Jeff Johnson:
Really? Yeah, I did. 

Sean Murphy:
Mom’s yelling, make sure you’re wearing a helmet. 

Jeff Johnson:
I’ll bet. I. You know, I’ve got such admiration for people that were in the military, and particularly the Navy SEALs. My father served in the Marine Corps, and I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for him, but I did not serve. And so, anyway, at first, I’d start off, Sean, by telling you, thank you so much for your service. I appreciate you keeping our country safe and doing everything that you do. When you go out and hang out with your kids, though, here’s a question I want to ask a Navy seal. Do you call them, like, operations? I mean, do you, like, pretend like you’re on ops with your kids, stuff like that when you do four wheels? 

Sean Murphy:
Absolutely not. We disconnect and we become kids again. 

Jeff Johnson:
Oh, good. 

Sean Murphy:
So it’s. It’s anything. It’s. It’s literally. Well, I can only speak for myself here. When I get to go play with my kids, it’s. If there was Operation Fun, that’s kind of what it’s all about, is I want to go and just disconnect and not be. Have no. Any structure. It’s like, let’s go be curious about life and go have fun. And that’s. I’m usually leading the charge that sometimes my wife will yell at me, like, hey, it’s kids. You. You can’t be doing that. Make sure everybody’s wearing a helmet and be safe. And I’m just like, oh, yeah, okay, I gotta be a dad, too. 

Jeff Johnson:
Nice. So you’re disconnected from that now, but you’ve. 

Sean Murphy:
You. 

Jeff Johnson:
You did serve for many years. And I’m curious, I guess, jumping right in the deep end. When did you know you wanted to be a Navy seal? Or when did you know you wanted to pursue the military as a career? 

Sean Murphy:
So I really didn’t. That was something in my life that was missing was structure. And I was in college at the time, going through Army ROTC only. And the only reason why I did that is I. I was in Missouri Western playing football, and I was just getting my butt kicked there every day. Loved it and realized that the NFL wasn’t calling. Jumped into Army ROTC because I really love the uniform. I. I love the way that I had a lot of policemen in My life that growing up, were always in trouble. Sheriff was always at her house or some. Somebody was at her house for some reason, doesn’t really matter what. They probably were patrolling by. They said, let’s go check on the Murphy boys. And so I recognize that the impact they had. They were always dressed very well. Just the. 

Sean Murphy:
The presence they had a positive impact on me. And when I would get in trouble, I got in some trouble, they would mentor me. They treated me like humans. And they. Even though I felt like the lowest form of earth or form on earth, it. They still talk to me like, hey, you can’t do this. Like you’ve got a future ahead of you. And it kind of gave me perspective on when people have moments of mistakes. You know, the law enforcement were there to pick me up and help me, redirect me, or at least the ones I interacted with. And so that’s kind of what I wanted. I, I didn’t find that same path when I was in college through criminal justice, studying that. And I saw the uniform in Army RTC and I said, I would love to do that, go and tried. 

Sean Murphy:
It didn’t necessarily like some of the things that I saw there. It didn’t hit. Hit the spot for me. And so I went down to the recruiter’s office and was going to go to the Marine Corps and that door was closed and happened to walk in next door. And. And this, at this point in time, like, people have to realize, like, I’m old if they, if you can’t tell already, but 22 years ago, social media and the way that Navy SEALs are looked at now, no, I had no idea. I had never read a book, saw any post Instagram otherwise and just walked into the Navy recruiting office. And I think their slogan is something about see the world or something. I was like, well, I got to do something with my life. 

Sean Murphy:
There’s nothing here for me and I’m definitely not going back home. And walked in, they popped in a video and it was. I kind of told my background, I want to be a SEAL or not a seal, but I want to be part of a team. Because I played sports growing up and they showed me the SEAL video and they. When it ended, I said, I would like to do that. And they kind of chuckled. And that’s what kind of spurred me is like, you can’t tell me what to do. 

Jeff Johnson:
And well, they chuckled in a we don’t think you got the stuff for it kind of a way did. Were they chuckling in A we don’t think you got the right stuff sort of a way. 

Sean Murphy:
Yeah, kind of it. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s the way you took it. 

Sean Murphy:
I said this out loud. I can’t remember if I said any other podcast or not, but I said, don’t they make seals in like some sort of secret government facility? There’s a movie out there. I can’t remember what it is, but it was like they made these superior military members in like a program. And so that’s kind of what I thought. Like, seals are like, they’re born and raised in some secret compound somewhere. And then they went off and did this thing and they said, no, they go through buds. And that’s kind of why they chuckled, said, but you’ll. You. You won’t make it. Nobody ever makes it through. And so I was like, well, why not me? And that’s kind of what started me down the path. Blindly and ignorantly. I had no idea. 

Sean Murphy:
And it wasn’t like some story of I always wanted to. I met it. My dad was a sealer. So whoever was a seal, I had no idea. And then I said, you know what? I’ll give it a shot. So you. 

Jeff Johnson:
So, so you enlisted post 9 11? 

Sean Murphy:
No, sir. It was pre 9 11. 

Jeff Johnson:
It was pre 9 11. And your. Your motivation was you were running towards something or you were running away from something. I don’t want to press on you too much, but I mean, was it a tough. Was it a tough childhood and you didn’t feel well, it. 

Sean Murphy:
So growing up, it was almost like I was told you’ll never make something of yourself. Everywhere went was the Murphy boys. You know, there’s those Murphy boys. I felt every time walked into a classroom, teacher would Murphy boy. Yeah, we did act out. So were wild kids. And you just felt it that nobody appreciated the Murphy boys. And so I was like, well, I’m not going back to that. I need to go make some myself, strive for something better. I need to actually have a life because I don’t want to end up down a path of going to jail, which I probably would have if I hadn’t have found this career. I could have gone back home and who knows, you know, just. I know my personality, that I’m a go getter, I’m a fighter. And I. 

Sean Murphy:
I’m glad that I went and found the structure. I wasn’t necessarily running from something, but I was running towards. It’s kind of both like trying to find myself is truly what it was. I wanted to find who Sean Murphy was. And I didn’t have any idea or concept at that time. And that’s what I ultimately found was the military. It had some attraction, you know, from running around with my friends as kids in the ditch to now, hey, this is. Could be a path I could be on. So I was running towards that. Of that image of what I saw as respectful. And that’s something that I really wanted because I didn’t feel like I got it as a kid. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. I heard somebody say one time, gosh, I should be able to attribute this quote. He said, when you’re born, you look like your parents, and when you die, you look like your decisions. 

Sean Murphy:
That’s good. 

Jeff Johnson:
And I think that’s a very profound kind of a quote. Now, I want to stop right here where you’re talking about a point in your life where you’re making a decision. I can go one of two different ways. You know, I can decide to end up in jail or cause more trouble or do whatever, or I can really go make something of myself. Now, this podcast is the courageous crossroads, and we’ll get to the question, what’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? But not yet, because I’m already smelling a little bit of courage right there. Do you. Did you feel that. Did you feel like that was a courageous or a brave decision that you were making when you decided to go into the military? 

Sean Murphy:
Yeah, I reflect on that quite a bit because it comes full circle. I have felt those times again, especially when I was transitioning out of the military, is you’re uncertain. And I think that plays a big role in life, is the uncertainty of things. And when you can’t clearly see a path, are you going to walk on it? And that’s something that I had no idea. And if you want to call it courage, yes, I was fearful of this, and I had to make that move. I don’t want to call it blindly, but it kind of was to say, hey, this is what I’m going to commit to. And I jumped right into it. And I would never change anything from my childhood or in my past. I would only change the future. 

Sean Murphy:
And that’s one of the things I reflect back on, is when those moments that I had of being uncertain of where I was going to go, what was going to happen. Yes, that was, I believe, a courageous moment. I don’t think it is a big one, but it’s definitely one that I know a lot of people go through, and they make that choice, and that is very courageous. But I look at the grand scheme of things, and I don’t want to reduce it. But yes, it was courageous to an extent when I made that choice. 

Jeff Johnson:
You know, I had the opportunity to interview another friend of yours, Drew Forsberg, and he talked about when he went into the military, he went right into SEAL training. Is that what you did as well? 

Sean Murphy:
Yes, I did. I went, I went in on a contract. They had a, a screener, which they did. You did a swim run, pull ups, push ups and sit ups. And you had to hit a certain score before they’d even accept you into the program. And it was like the bare minimum, it was very low. I can’t remember exactly what it was. Like 12 and a half for a swim, 11:30 for a run. That was a mile and a half. And then I think 42 push ups, 42 sit ups, I in six or eight pull ups. And at the time, at an 18 year old kid that I didn’t know, I was in really good shape playing football. But that was a challenge for me. 

Sean Murphy:
And so I did, I passed all that and then I went to what is called a delayed entry program because I still was in college and I had to finish out that semester. And so I got to train. They put me in touch with a, a dive motivators, I think they’re still called that, a dive motivator. Which was the first time I ever met a Navy seal. His name was Chief Roger Roberts. Roberts. He was out of the Kansas City MEP station that he came down and met with me in St. Joseph, Missouri where I was going to college. And he kind of let me know, like this is what a Navy SEAL does. I said, oh, that’s kind of cool. I probably should have done some more research. 

Sean Murphy:
But yeah, I went right in, right away into boot camp and then I got head in a school. Then I went to buds. 

Jeff Johnson:
Was it what you thought it was going to be when you got into BUDS and you went through the program or. I mean, I did the only thing I could. I can’t even relate it to this, Sean. Forgive me, I shouldn’t even wade into your end of the pool. So I’m backing right back out. But I’ll say this, I. I’ve got seven skydives under my belt and I did them just privately here in Iowa with a place. And I did a accelerated free fall kind of training where I had an instructor on my right hand side and another one on my left hand side that had my ankle and my WR and whatever. And I went through, I don’t know, a couple hours of training on the ground, how to articulate and how to arch your back and how to do all this stuff. 

Jeff Johnson:
And I remember when I got up in the Cessna and they opened the door and I stepped out on that wheel and I thought to myself, I’m going to die for sure. I mean, it was 9,500ft or whatever, and I jumped out and I don’t remember anything until my shoot went. I actually had to have one of the instructors pull record for me. I shouldn’t be sharing this, but it was. It was a clear demarcation between. This is all the training that I had. I clearly understood what it was that I was getting involved with, but once I actually did the thing, all the training and everything understanding went right out the window. Was. Was the BUDS training at all like that, or was it. What. 

Sean Murphy:
I didn’t even have a reference. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay. 

Sean Murphy:
I had no idea. That’s something that, like I said, there was no videos. I had heard certain things, like, it’s tough. It was the hardest military school in the world. And, like, the rumors were out there and I was like, but people do it. So, like, I want to try. And when I got there, by the time I got there was other people that had told me all these things. And it. I guess the ignorance was truly bliss. The first time that I. That I went in and I would say that it was a lot more as I could only imagine what they were going to do with me, but once I got there, I was overwhelmed with the differences. So it was. I couldn’t anticipate anything because I had no idea. Wow. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. What was some of the hardest parts of that? If you could share with our audience, you know, people don’t. 

Sean Murphy:
Every single day was. Was waking up. Like, if you. If you’ve ever had a struggle and then you wake up and that struggle is right in your face again, that it wears down on you, that. That’s probably what a lot of the struggle was for me, was waking up every single day. And I did. I. I know you haven’t heard the podcast, so I won’t spill too much, but I. I had multiple occurrences where I had to redo the very first phase, which is the hardest phase of buds, but it went through that five times and wore me down. It. It definitely was rough, but at the same time, like, you know, if you have a goal and you set your heart on it, then I think that you’ll. You’ll do fine. If you stick with it and don’t talk yourself out of it. 

Sean Murphy:
And that was, I say the mornings because that was the only time that ever had that contemplation of do I want this? Because I had been through several times and I remember the, the alarm clock saying 4:38. I’m pretty sure that was the time. And I woke up and I was cold, but I was underneath my warm blanket in bed and I had a moment of weakness of like, do I want this? Like, I could just go away right now and I, I, I could go do something else. I could have all these other things, but because the waves, I could hear the waves crashing and the icy cold Pacific waters that were calling my name and that’s usually the first thing that happens. You run and then you go get told, hit the surf and you jump in the ocean and you’re miserable. 

Sean Murphy:
And then that’s how you start the day, that’s how you end the day is miserable. And so all I had to do is I, I told myself, hey, take one step to see what one step is like. And I took one step and that’s all it took. And then I was on my next step and then I forgot, then I was out running around. I was like, man, that was so dumb. Why did I think that way? And after that I was fine. I was like, nope, made that commitment and pressed on. 

Jeff Johnson:
Do you associate your training in BUDS and all of your Navy SEAL training as being a courageous endeavor? I mean, do you see courage as a fundamental part of that or was it more fortitude or, I mean, how would you. I’m trying to come down on the topic of courage and how it fits in with your military training. Where does it fit in? 

Sean Murphy:
Well, Jeff, I’m going to push back a little bit on that because here’s kind of my overall picture is that I, I, I deal with this a lot today. It’s, I’m more than a Navy seal, and my life is more than that. That was one piece of the puzzle that makes up my life. And so I’m still building more pieces that, to make the whole picture. And so I look at courage throughout the military was, I was trained. And the, I guess the uncertainty and unknown, that fear, yes, that could be part of courage, but I was also trained and I anticipate, I knew that some way, shape or form that was going to be there. And I don’t want to discredit any courage like there. You need to have courage through fear. But I wasn’t fearful of. 

Sean Murphy:
The only fear that I had truly was all in my mind. And that’s, I think, a lot of fear. Anyways. That’s. It’s. It’s on your mind. And what I mean by that is what I was thinking of myself. It’s not necessarily of the action. It was thinking of myself, of failure and judgment, all the things if I didn’t. If I wasn’t able or capable of doing things. And I know that Navy SEALs are. Are looked at as, like, very courageous, and they are, but at that time, like, I was more than I. I think the whole. The. The value the person has, the whole concept of, like, there was more to it. I look at the things that I went through in my life and that I’m going to continue and go through later on in life. 

Sean Murphy:
All of it plays a part in being courageous. And I. I don’t want to attribute that to one thing. It’s the person. It’s more like Navy seals are courageous, but so are so many other people. And it’s, I think, an internal thing and not necessarily something that comes with a job title. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s very well said, Sean. That’s very well said. Well, let me dig in on this courage idea. How would you define it? 

Sean Murphy:
Courage? Yeah. Courage, I think, is more defined of what you fear that you are going to have change you. And that. That’s kind of. Look, if you look at the different actions you can take, there’s physical. And I don’t want to confuse it with being stubborn because you can stubbornly go into things. I look at courage as you have to make a decision to act, whether that’s in fear or. And confidence to make that decision of whatever you attribute it to a change. A. Well, a lot of it’s going to result from change, but it’s more geared towards, like, overcoming that fear and taking that step. And that’s usually a mental thing. And that’s something that I look at, defining courage that way. 

Jeff Johnson:
Where does it come from? 

Sean Murphy:
Your heart? Your heart. I think that because you. Like I said, you can internalize things, and if your heart’s not in it, you’re going to have bias towards one thing or the other. You know, the perception that somebody may have internally. But if you let your heart drive you, I think that’s going to have a profound effect on. On courage. Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
Are you familiar with the Rudyard Kipling poem? If it’s. No, it’s. It’s a fantastic one. They used to. Shame on our education system. They Used to memorize that, you know, when you were in primary school years ago. But it starts off with, if you can keep your head when all those about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you. If you can trust yourself when most men doubt you, but leave allowance for their doubting too, you know, and it goes on and on. It’s beautiful. But the last stanza of the poem is, if you can fill that unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run, then yours is the earth and everything that’s in it, and which is more, you’ll be a man, my son. And it gives me goosebumps just thinking about that. 

Jeff Johnson:
But I feel like that’s what you’re describing, you know, from the heart, if you can press in and just keep going. And you talked about that already with this, with the seals cold underneath your blanket. But I would imagine you’ve got that too, as a father, huh? With courage and just getting up and going every day. 

Sean Murphy:
Well, there, that’s a whole different motivation. Oh my goodness, that’s, that makes you get out of bed whether you want to or not to. I mean, I think of the, well, my wife, all full disclosure, my wife gets up earlier than I do. We have like inverse schedules. But anytime that like my daughter comes in, like, I can sense her coming and I’m wide awake. That’s more of like a, I think a fatherly thing that you’re up and you’re ready to get the day started. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Sean Murphy:
Type of things. 

Jeff Johnson:
Who do you, who do you admire when you think about the topic of courage? Who represents courage to you? 

Sean Murphy:
Oh, my goodness. So I, have you seen the series chosen? 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Sean Murphy:
Now, I know this might seem cliche, but I absolutely love the way that they portray Jesus Christ that, the courage, I think going through, you know, what they did, the disciples and Jesus, that all through that time, like, that truly is courage. And there’s so many different ways you can drive that conversation of, you know, who is courageous, who do you admire that showed courage? And without a shadow of a doubt, like you’re losing everything and what’s it for? It’s bigger than yourself. And that’s truly what I found fascinating. That’s who I, I, I look up to. 

Jeff Johnson:
Are, Are faith and courage the same thing? Faith and courage? 

Sean Murphy:
I don’t think so. I think that you have to, well, in a way they are, they interact because you’ve got to have courage to have faith. And it’s internal courage versus external courage. And that’s something that, I think that the external pressures of what you believe and if you express that outwardly, then you have to have courage, but you also had a faith and that’s something within yourself that you have to make that decision and make it right for yourself based and everybody’s going to be different. But for me, I, I think that having faith that it was something that I had have courage to do just because of the own, the pressure I was putting on, I would put on myself. That’s the best way I think I could describe that so long way saying Jesus, yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
I don’t mean to be so self effacing. Sometimes I think I should have better interview skills or something like that. But I’m not going to beat myself up. I’ve got, I’ve got Sean Murphy on the other end and you’ve got, I could ask you to read the phone book and it would be engaging, John. So. Oh, okay, let me jump over, let me know. Let me jump over and ask you another question then from a face standpoint. And then I think the question that I’m going to get to after this one is the one we come down to. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? But before we get to that, there’s this story in Second Corinthians, chapter 12, which I’m sure you might be familiar with. But anyway, this is the Apostle Paul talking about. 

Jeff Johnson:
He heard a story of a man and people think that he’s talking about himself that was caught up to the third heaven. And he had a thorn in his side and he asked God to take that thorn out. Three times he asked God to do it and God wouldn’t do it. And so God told him that my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. I think about the idea of courage. I think about the idea of your background and your history as a Navy seal. You know, you’re talking about coming from maybe a place in your youth, from brokenness, and you’re making a decision to make something of your life. You know, that represents maybe a little bit of weakness. 

Jeff Johnson:
But Paul finishes up, he says, therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, insults and hardships and persecutions and difficulties. For when I’m weak, then I am strong. I would love to know your take on that last little passage there. For when I’m weak, then I am strong. What do you think about that, Sean? 

Sean Murphy:
When I am weak, I am strong. Let me think on that for a second. Because there’s stuff that comes to mind when I think of what I’ve been through, that it’s not about that one weak moment. Actually, here’s something that I just had the opportunity to talk to a group of high school kids yesterday, and moments of weakness do not make you weak. Moments of strength do not make you strong. When you continue to have moments of weakness and you give in to that makes you weak. When you have, continue to have moments of strength, that also makes you strong. But there’s two parts. You become strong by continuing to learn and grow. And so if you refuse to make a change, whether you’re weak or strong, that’s what makes you weak. 

Sean Murphy:
And so when I say that the moments of weakness also make me strong is it gives you the opportunities, the blessings. There could be two parts to that, too, if you really think about it. The, when you’re weak. And I, I, I say this because at, through my life and discovery, there were times that I was so weak that I prayed hard for strength and I didn’t know what I was doing. Like, it was almost like, God, where’s my easy button? Like, get me out of this. And so that’s truly, I think, like, in a longer, bigger picture of that is the strength that happens. You’re building strength because you recognize the ability to persevere through those times. 

Jeff Johnson:
Sean Murphy, what’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? 

Sean Murphy:
It, it blends in with being a Navy seal, but it wasn’t about being a Navy seal. My very first operation I went on, I was trained, prepared to go to war. I had learned from the best that there was. And I had just lost my best friend a few months ago not too far down the road, and I had just redeployed, and we’re going out on our very first operation. And the feeling that I had, I could feel my heart beating through my chest, you know, the sweat. Every, every little sense was just overwhelmed. Every emotion was just stirring around fear, anxiety. It was real because all, everything that you thought about going to war and doing certain things that most people never even get to dream of, that you’re doing in real life. 

Sean Murphy:
Well, I was walking about 100 yards, and I, I thought back to what is expected of you as a Navy seal. You have to be, you know, reliable to keep the other person in line alive. And so that was overwhelming me is like, can I Do this when the bullets start flying. It could happen any moment. Is there? So I kept thinking, is there somebody over there? Is there somebody over there? And so everything was overwhelming me, and I, I became ineffective because I thought, like, am I going to die? And I kept going, am I going to die? Is it going to happen to me if I get shot? Am I going to die instantly? Am I going to suffer? Am I going to be courageous in these final moments? 

Sean Murphy:
Like, if I could see myself, will I perform the way that I would honor and respect myself? And it got to the point where I realized that as I was closing out, you know, my vision, everything, I wasn’t effective. I was not being a good teammate that needed to focus and take control of myself. And so I, I, I felt like everything was stuck. And so it was the hardest, I think I’ve ever prayed in my entire life. And so I decided, you know, I prayed before. I’ve been to all kinds of churches. I prayed before. But this is the time that I said, you know what? I’m going to give my life over to Jesus Christ and put it in his hands, because I can’t control it right now. 

Sean Murphy:
There’s nothing I can do that can control if that bullet has my name on it, if my time, my ticket is pulled, I can’t do anything about it. But what I can do is I can perform. And right now, my mind is not able to perform to where I need to be. And so I prayed and I said, you know what, God? I’ve not been a good Christian. I know that I’m not, you know, the spitting image of where you. I should be in your eyes. But I give my life. And I, I say that is courageous to me because I think of all the judgment that I’ve had throughout my life, even that I’ve been guilty of passing on to people of, oh, you’re a believer and Bible thumper. 

Sean Murphy:
Because I grew up in the, you know, the Midwest and the Southern Baptists, you know, thing. So I was in this moment where I needed a change, I needed to do something. And yes, it was in a dire moment, but I made that commitment that, you know, what if I die, I can see there’s a bigger picture here. It doesn’t matter what other people think. And I, I made that commitment at that point in time because I would. Before I was so fearful of, like, if I became this person that gave my life over Jesus Christ. What, what does that. I mean, am I going to be cool or. It was so like, small. In those moments that changed me, it actually, I lost who I was because of that. And so at that moment in time, I said, you know what? 

Sean Murphy:
I’m gonna do it. And so I just. I prayed and I said, guide me. You know, take my life and. And it’s yours. You know, I’m gonna do. I’m gonna make changes. Probably can’t do a lot, not right now, because I got things to do, but, you know, I connected, and it was like a. A big weight was just lifted right off my shoulders. I could breathe, and the. The little aperture of sight that I had started to open up, and I could see more. And I had a lot more moments where I prayed really hard. But that was the first moment that it really made a change in my life that, you know, no matter what, from here on out, like, be courageous that you made this choice. And that’s something that stuck with me for a very long time. 

Sean Murphy:
That, That I look back on that I was like, man, why was I. Why was I so weak in those other times? And this time it was. I think I looked at life differently. It changed my perspective on. You could die at any moment in time, and when you face those, you have a different perspective on things. And that’s. That’s what truly grabbed a hold of me in my heart and said, you know what? I turn over to you. I turn over to you, Lord, and that’s. That’s the end of it. And there’s no other questions that. That I need to have in my head. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. So the courage is found at the end of that process or during that process. 

Sean Murphy:
I think it’s leading up to. To be quite honest and to make that. That decision as, you know what. Because I had to reflect on what is holding me back. And it was myself. It was just simply the. The fabricated, manifested judgment that I. I anticipated that would come if that’s who I. I wanted to be. And I had let so much external pressure sway me from being who I needed to being who I truly was deep down in my heart, and I was suppressing. And so the. I think leading up to that, I was courageous enough to say, you know what? Okay, enough is enough. Let me take that one step. And that’s what I did to really trust God absolutely, 100%. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, see, isn’t that. This is just the same thing for when I’m weak, then I’m strong. Okay? I’m. I’m all in, Lord. It’s all yours, 100%. You know, I wasn’t out on some kind of operation or anything like that, Sean. But I was dealing with a family business that I was afraid was failing. And I ended up out on the shop floor on my knees, and I said, I’ve tried everything I can. God, this is. I’m giving it all to you. And everything changed from that, from the time when I really, really meant it. And I think there’s a lot of people out there that are listening to you talk right now that can relate to that, where they’ve come to the end of themselves and they’ve really committed to the Lord. And I think that’s such a powerful thing. 

Jeff Johnson:
What happened to you after you did that. 

Sean Murphy:
Like I said, the immediate effect was I felt like I could breathe again. It was almost like all the anxiety, all the stress and pressure that was placed on me that I was so ineffective in every capacity in those moments, that it was just, like, released. And so it. It gave me confidence again to be Sean Murphy, and that all the. The only person that I needed to worry about passing judgment on me was that one person, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. That’s all that I needed. And. And that. That made me feel so much better, because in a way, I’m not going to say that, like, I was all high and mighty. In a way, it gave me hope. And I know there’s a lot that I have to answer for that I’ve done throughout my life. 

Sean Murphy:
And I’m not perfect by any means. I’m furthest thing from it. But at that point in time, like, I relinquished the. The feeling that judgment had control over me, because it did. It did for a long time. And then at that point in time, I was like, you know what? I’m done. Like, those are only one person that has control over. Over the. The judgment that’s coming my way, and that’s the only one that matters. I don’t need to worry about, like, who’s going to be there in the long run. And that’s. That’s really kind of what I keep running through my head is who’s going to be there in the long run. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Sean Murphy:
And that’s. That’s kind of what. What kind of made it for me. 

Jeff Johnson:
Did you have now, not to just pigeonhole in your Navy SEAL experience, but did you have other people that you noticed that same. Once you made that decision, your eyes were open, let’s say, did you notice that you had a lot of other people around you that had done that same thing, that were completely sold out to Christ and Really let him in. 

Sean Murphy:
I, not immediate because again, I was so focused on my own journey that for me, I know there was different guys out there even that were, you know, very, you know, hardcore Christians and they were very boisterous and I was more internalized. And so I did that for a long time. And so for me, I was more inward focused than I could be opening up. But I, now that I talk to people and I, I hear from some of the guys that I deployed with and that worked with that they also had the same, you know, they’re very religious. I never knew. It was almost like it was compartmentalized and there’s a lot of them out there. 

Sean Murphy:
I, I found more and more it wasn’t until recently I found that there’s a group of guys that have devotionals together and that I probably found them throughout my career. But again, I wasn’t exactly looking for that because it was a small step and it was a major step. But I look at, I had so many small steps that I was only focused on my journey of, to figure this out. I, I had to figure out not only who Sean Murphy was, but now that I give my life to Jesus, like, does it look like. And I, I’m not going to say that it went very well because I, I had a lot of struggles after that. It was definitely. I did not live up to the promise that I made throughout that time. 

Sean Murphy:
And so I, I, I was blinded by my own journey, if you will. Like I said, I keep saying journey, but that my own path that I was on kind of blinded me of seeing the other opportunity. And I think that was probably by design to, for me to discover this and develop that courage to find who I am. And I, I look at, like I said before about the puzzle pieces, these are little puzzle pieces that paint the entire picture. And not just that you can have one puzzle piece, but it doesn’t define you. You can have a moment of weakness. That doesn’t define you. You have moment of strength. That doesn’t define you. It’s the bigger picture. 

Sean Murphy:
I think that was, I was collecting up all the puzzle pieces to help see the vision or see the picture that I needed to have. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, it’s got to inform you as a father and as a soldier and as a husband and as a friend and everything. Your faith. 

Sean Murphy:
Yeah, at first I, I was very uncomfortable with it because I didn’t know what was coming with it. And so not that I, I still had friends that I hung out with that probably weren’t the best choices, but at the same time, like, I didn’t want to lose friends, but I wanted to be on my journey. So if my journey was somehow impactful to them in longer life that I. I had, you know, I think a. A beacon for them to see. Yeah, you’re not perfect. I definitely never said I was. But here are some changes that I made. Here’s some things that I’m confident in. So if somebody needs someone to stand up and be like, I’m good with it, then I’m not going to cast judgment on you. Like, look, I could go back through my whole history. I’d rather not, but. 

Sean Murphy:
And explain that I had so many. I fell down so many more times after that. That moment that I was not courageous. I was weak. I was extremely weak and fell down so many times. But I got back up and I kept taking another step forward. And so I kept making those things, making those different choices to better myself. And, you know, with my friends that were surrounding me, I. I think that, you know, they were on their journey too. So I can’t take away from their journey and they can’t take away from mine. We can only live our own journey and. And hopefully they. We cross paths again. 

Jeff Johnson:
You said you were known in your small town as one of the Murphy boys. 

Sean Murphy:
Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
I’ll bet that’s changed. 

Sean Murphy:
Yeah, I. We definitely. When we left, I think the town collectively sighed whenever. But I know that there’s another set of Murphy boys out there somewhere that’s. That are from a different family that uphold the. The terror that we. We brought on to our school of talent. Yes, we are definitely completely different. And I think that. That the Murphy reputation had. Had died off and we’ve created a new one. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Sean Murphy:
At least I hope so. We’re going to continue to try and do our best. 

Jeff Johnson:
Amen. Amen. I’m not going to have too many more. I. I’m going to beg you to come back, Sean, of course. But. And do this again to catch up with you later on, because there’s so much more that we could be talking about. But I just got a few more questions for you, but I do. I don’t want to be remiss. I’m sure my listeners would be curious to know if there was a particular situation or. Or, you know, nothing specific, but just in general, when you were operating as a Navy SEAL where your faith in action made a real difference, you know, your courage kicked in and that sort of thing. I mean, you must have felt that just with you the whole time. 

Sean Murphy:
Yeah. So there was a lot of instances that, you know, like I said, I prayed so many times that I didn’t. Even if I didn’t have time to pray, there was a thought and the. As many times that I had been in an operation where I, I don’t know how I survived there. There was a particular one, I think I did. Yep. I did talk about it on Jocko’s podcast where I was with my friend A.J. James, and he’s my driver wearing these side by sides. And we had seen. We had been taking fire from a town and then from a bongo truck is a little truck that had some bad guys in it and they jumped up and we. It seemed like it was like feet away, but it was probably maybe 20 yards away from us. 

Sean Murphy:
And some automatic machine gun fire came flying towards us and bullets were flying every which way. And I, I remember seeing sand kicking up next to me where the bullets were hitting. And I mean, there’s been plenty of those, but this is one particular that I, I remember and having the courage to react, the ability. And I, and again, I, I delineated between courage as a Navy SEAL, because we’re trained for this, but there’s also the courage to not be succumb or not succumb to the pressure of that operation, of when you have that feeling of like I could die and going back to already making that commitment and saying, God, I’m in your hands. And that came through again time and time again is I, I didn’t have to stop and think. 

Sean Murphy:
I didn’t have to stop and say, oh, I haven’t been a good Christian. I haven’t done the right things. And so I, I had already made that commitment and continued. And so I had the ability to respond. I didn’t hesitate. And I think that’s what it took is not allowing external pressures to cause you to have second thought and to hesitate. And that’s something that you build courage over time. It takes little things. I, I build courage all the time. Like, I, I could talk about praying and even if you wanted to get into, if we got time, like on some of the things that have impacted me now that I have a family on the steps that I take to build up courage. 

Sean Murphy:
But, and in my faith, but the praying, like those are things that, if you ever think of this is, I’m only speaking personally. I don’t know if other people go. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, but Please share, Sean. Yeah, for sure. 

Sean Murphy:
I. I used to never pray in public because I thought I was scared. You know, I had a little bit of, like, okay, looking around, are people gonna. If I’m gonna bless my food, are people gonna, like, hiss and moan at me? And. And I also didn’t, you know, certain things, like being in a group setting and talking about your faith, because I didn’t know. I didn’t want to be the. The person that I. I imagined that’s on the street yelling at you. Repent now, or because you’re a bad person. I felt so shameful that. That was something that I felt very heavy was, am I going to be shamed? Is there something that’s going to hinder me from being a good person? Like, are people going to outcast me? And then I’m going to be off on this island? 

Sean Murphy:
And so I started taking small steps. Okay, I’ll pray. Let me pray. And the more I did that it actually released a little bit of. Of that anxiety of. Of getting away from, like, I wasn’t so bad. It was almost like taking that. Those small steps. And it built over time. And I didn’t even know how to pray. Like, I’d been through church, and I’ve seen people speak in tongues. I had seen people take a knee and pray and seen people have beads and pray. Because I’d been through many different churches as a kid, I bounced around. And so I didn’t truly understand. No one had sat down and said, sean, this is how you. To God. And. And so I just had no clue. And so that kind of gave me some more anxiety. I was like, am I even doing this right? 

Sean Murphy:
Like, are people going to laugh at me? Like, are people going to shame me because I’m doing something that I’m not praying the right way? And so I started taking small steps. And funny little story about prayer is that I pray every night with my kids, pray at the dinner table. And it. It took a lot to get to that point, but that was. Start Small steps I started taking is taking a knee by their bed and praying with them every single night. And so that helped me, like, build up the courage. Like, okay, I can do this in front of my kids. I can do it in front of other people. Well, I. I started to learn the Lord’s Prayer because I didn’t know how to pray. And that was one that I heard was in the Bible. 

Sean Murphy:
And so I was, all right, let me look this up. And I memorized it. And so I started Seeing with my daughter every night. And so keep in mind, I didn’t know how to pray. I would pray really long for just about everything that I could, Just trying to figure it out. Praying for people, praying for the safety of everyone. Thanking God for sending his son down the cross for our sins and. And for all things that he’s blessed us with and. And so many things that I’m grateful for now. And when I would say these prayers with my daughter and. And Jack, my son, sometimes Jack would fall asleep, and so I’m praying, and then I would hear snoring, and I’m like, okay, it’s time to wrap it up, I guess. And so I would. I let him say prayers and. 

Sean Murphy:
And then I would go into my daughter’s. Or I used to. 

Jeff Johnson:
Beautiful, huh? That’s beautiful. I love this. Keep going. Yeah. 

Sean Murphy:
My. My daughter. So this is when I started to learn, like, maybe I shorten it up is because my daughter, When I would go in to say prayers with her, I would say them so long, and she’s like, daddy, say the short prayer. And I’m like, I don’t know what she means by that, but okay, I’ll try and keep it short. But then she started saying, daddy, say the Lord’s Prayer. And then she would try and memorize it with me. She’s like, hey, I want to say it with you. And so we would say it line by line, and now she has it memorized. And so that, to me, was like a huge dad moment. I was like, my gosh, this is beautiful. I’m teaching my kids how to pray. I didn’t have this. 

Sean Murphy:
I’m not saying my parents didn’t pray, but I didn’t think of that when I was a kid. But then I realized my daughter, when I would walk in, she’d say, daddy, say the Lord’s Prayer. I want to close my eyes. And she. Because she would be tired. And then if I would keep saying prayers, she would used to tap me as I’m praying. She’s like, daddy, can I close my eyes? So she was going to sleep tonight. I think that even though it’s great that she says the Lord’s Prayer, we say the Lord’s Prayer when she’s tired. That way she has a predefined end spot of when dad prays, because sometimes dad can be long winded. 

Jeff Johnson:
That is so precious, Sean. You have to go on now. What else are you doing with your. With your faith and with your. Now that you’re retired as a Navy seal, what Other kind of endeavors are you into? 

Sean Murphy:
So. Well, let me go into. You mentioned that your reference to me is from Steve Gatina and he owns pray.com and I downloaded that app to start listening to stories from the Bible because Jack, my son, came to us and said he wanted to be baptized. And he, at that point in time, like, as a dad, and he’s now asked because we’re watching that series Chosen. And I saw myself in all. Each one of the. The apostles and I, I could relate to like every single one saying that they are imperfect and that’s why they’re there. And so all those moments of weaknesses that I had, I’m like, oh my gosh. If they. And this is. Like I said, I’m continuing to discover these things and it’s a journey. 

Sean Murphy:
And so I saw that myself in there and I was like, this is amazing because now it takes the fear and anxiety away of like, that’s why he died on the cross, is because he knew that were. We were that way and he’s going to forgive us if we truly ask forgiveness. And so it started to resonate with me. And then Jack said I wanted to be baptized. And now I’m like, that’s wonderful. But when we’re watching the Chosen, he starts asking questions. I was like, I don’t know, buddy. Like, I gotta figure this out. So I downloaded pray.com and I would. I started. I started binging through the Bible in a year as much as I could. I was overwhelming myself with information. Like, and it’s just my personality is like, I’m going to take as much as I can. 

Sean Murphy:
And I was not doing myself any service because I, I was. There’s so much in every single story that you can unpack. And you know, I really like the Jacob wrestling with God in a creek. And so I was starting to take through these stories. I had to slow myself down and take into account that you need to unpack these things and truly understand it’s not you. It’s not like you skim through a book just to get the highlights. There’s so much in there. And so that’s what I started doing. He challenged me, but my military mind, Jeff had to go and buy the. The timeline. There’s this. There’s this timeline, the Bible timeline. It’s a giant map. It’s huge, the size of a wall. And because I wanted to know where I placed, when I’m reading the story, where it placed in things. 

Sean Murphy:
I’m a visual learner. And so I started doing that just to get the bigger picture, to understand where like the Old Testament, the New Testament and kind of where these stories, these hap. Happen. So. And understand how they’re all connected and through series and stuff like that to figure it out. So I could talk to Jack, my son, as he’s asking. He’s smart. Like I said, he’s smarter than I am. He started asking me questions like buddy, I, I don’t know. And so we’re learning together and it’s actually nice to have a little buddy to, to grow and learn. And so those. I take that into everything that I do now and I, now that I’m retired, I have a couple different paths that I take that is pretty unique. 

Jeff Johnson:
Man, that’s fantastic, Sean. I mean that continuation of learning. And I’m. Look, let’s just be friends for the rest of our life because I’m a big time reader. I got so many books over here and I love going through Christian apologetics and I’ve got those kind of maps and that sort of thing too. And there’s so much to discover about what God has to teach us about his world. So I just applaud you for doing that and especially motivated by your son. I think that’s just absolutely fantastic. What else you got going on? 

Sean Murphy:
So I, I, as far as personal, I, I have a consulting company that I come in and I, I do different talks, mentorship, a lot of team building. I do team building with professional athletes and then organizations where high performers or they need a group to come together and be able to work effectively and find certain things that usually is communication that break down. I come in and help build them up and follow them through. And I do a certain team building curriculum there and I, I’ve done a lot of speaking now we’ve got a lot gotten out and done a lot of speaking to organizations. 

Sean Murphy:
That’s really, I really find that therapy sometimes because I like to be interactive with some of the crowds and talk about different topics, culture, diversity, teamwork, mindset, all things that are very easy for me to do and it’s great if people are interested. I didn’t realize, you know, my journey was building value that’s going to last later on in life. And I could share that with people because I look at two different sides of things that I can provide value on. Not just your business, but also personal life. And then I’m. The passion I have right now is I’m the executive director of beyond the Brotherhood where we help Navy seals, we screen and select them and then we onboard them and help them transition to the next purpose in life and connect them with good organizations to employ them. 

Sean Murphy:
And so it’s almost like a good return on investment there. But we screen and select them. What’s great is we have a psychologist on board, Jay Harrison puts them through an assessment to where our goal is not to just be the, the touch point and then get them going. We want to make sure that they’re happy because happiness, you know, if you come to work and you’re happy, you’re going to perform a lot better, you’re going to be good at what you do for one, but you’re also going to be happy. And that goes a long ways. And that’s what we want for our fellows or our BTB members is for them to be happy. And so his assessment finds their characteristics and attributes that closely align with who they are in an industry. 

Sean Murphy:
And then we package that up and we use Morgan Benjamin and other talent acquisition groups that help us find jobs and placement in organizations to, for them to succeed. And I look at that as if you’re happy at work and you can come home happy that is a win all day long no matter what you do. Because you’re going to bring that energy home and if you’re unhappy you’re going to bring that energy home. And so unfortunately our community suffered a lot of suicide and that’s some, that’s what this is our way of solving that problem. And we also have everspan life that when the funds come in, we get enough funding, we allow guys to get the holistic approach to healing their bodies because we’ve put ourselves through so much that you know, we’re just machines that turn and turn. 

Sean Murphy:
Well, those machines break and now it’s our time to. When guys slow down, that’s when things notice that they’re broken. And so we help them so they don’t end up on pain pills and all the other stuff that causes them to go downhill. And it’s not like we’re a one stop shop. We, we are that long term vision, we’re building a community of seals and good partners that if a guy, and this is something we’re discovering three to five years down the road. 

Sean Murphy:
If an individual is not happy in where they are, we will make sure it’s a change one for the organ for the individual so that they don’t have somebody that’s coming to work unhappy Every single day, we want to make sure that they reassess where they are, make sure they’re a good fit, and then continue on and keep building that community with them so that, like I said, that they come home happy because that’s truly what’s important is bringing guys home to their families because that’s their next mission in life is to be a husband or father, and that’s something we’ve been doing. 

Jeff Johnson:
Sean, you’re impressive on a lot of different levels, and it’s just, it’s. It’s a blessing to get to meet you and learn a lot more about you. We’ll put your information in the show notes so if people are interested in getting a hold of you and having you come visit their organization or reaching out to you, they’ll be able to do that. Last question before I let you go here. I assume you want your kids to be courageous. Is that a. Is that a positive attribute, a good quality that you look. Look for handing off to your children? 

Sean Murphy:
Yes, absolutely. That’s something that. Go ahead. 

Jeff Johnson:
Sorry, I’m interrupting. Can it be taught? That’s my question. Can it be taught? Can it be cultivated? How do you draw that out of somebody? 

Sean Murphy:
I. So that’s a great question because it goes so deep. This is Sean Murphy’s approach to it. Every parent’s going to have their way of raising their children, and they should, because they’re going to know their kids better than anybody else, and they have the most impact on their lives. I look at it as I, I’m not going to tell them to be me. I’m going to tell them to be themselves. Because if you go back to what I said before, like, I was so afraid of judgment and shame, of what other people thought, and I want them to have the courage within to be able to be themselves, to not let external pressures sway them from being true to themselves. 

Sean Murphy:
That’s something that I think for, you know, for any individuals, no matter who you are, if you’re a husband, father, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, we all have external pressures that can sway us from challenges or the challenges can sway us from being true to yourself. And that’s how you build courage within, is learning that you can be yourself. Don’t let the external pressures, don’t let the challenges deter you from being yourself. Be true to yourself. And that’s. It’s the little incremental things that matter over time. Like I said before, that one small amount of weakness does not define you, it doesn’t, definitely does not make you weak. If you continue to have these weaknesses and you refuse to make a change, that’s what makes you weak. And so I, I, the same thing with my kids. 

Sean Murphy:
I have the opportunity because I have the influence to be able to come in and talk to them. Like, I, I am very strict with my kids in certain capacities that I’m not going to allow them to run wild. But I’m also not going to have such a hard hand of discipline that they are now afraid of me. I want them to be able to understand that they can trust me and I’m going to love them no matter what. And I’m gonna, I have conversations with them, I have more talks with my kids and kind of express to them, kind of what I just mentioned is that all these things is my job as a man now is to raise you into a good man. Same thing with my daughter. 

Sean Murphy:
When she gets old enough, I can have those conversations is to let her know that I love her and see her for who she is. She’s going to make mistakes, but it’s my job to help shepherd her along. And be true to yourself, because it’s just like lying over time. Excuse me, over time, the lies catch up to you and you dishonor yourself. And so if you keep doing that, if you lie to yourself, that’s the same thing. So be true to yourself. And that’s what I’m really hoping to shepherd along my kids, is that’s going to build that courage inside of them that they can be true to themselves and they can discover who they are quicker than letting society discover who they are. And that’s not discovery. That’s actually labeled. And society is labeling them. 

Sean Murphy:
I want them to have that internal courage to say, I’m going to be who I am. And that’s something as a father that I try and instill for all my kids. So in a way, yes, it can be taught, but it’s got to be in the right manner. It can’t be forced. It’s got to be. You got to see the longer picture. 

Jeff Johnson:
Sean Murphy, you’re a good man, and I’m a better man for having had this little time with you. So thank you so much. 

Sean Murphy:
Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Jeff. 

Outro:
Thank you for joining us today on Courageous. If you’d like to hear more about the work and ministry being done at Crossroads Apologetics, please visit our home on the web@crossroadsapologetics.org Would you or someone you know, like to be featured on Courageous. Send us an email at infoorossroadsapologetics.com or infocrossroad telling us about the most courageous thing you’ve ever done.