Addiction, Recovery, Faith, and Film

Jaclyn: 00:00:00

Welcome to the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast.

Jaclyn: 00:00:02

My name is Jaclyn and today I have Rob Ekno with me.

Jaclyn: 00:00:06

He is a bestselling and multi award winning Christian author.

Jaclyn: 00:00:10

He's also a multi award winning screenwriter and broadcaster and was named the 2023 Most Dedicated Speaker of the Year.

Jaclyn: 00:00:19

A member of Hollywood's Screen Actors Guild since 1995, Rob worked four seasons acting on the NBC sitcom NewsRadio, one of my favorites.

Jaclyn: 00:00:29

Rob also spent 15 years as a national TV host.

Jaclyn: 00:00:33

His most recent acting work has included two films with Dean Cain and Eddie McClintock.

Jaclyn: 00:00:38

Rob moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in 2024, where he was led to become the executive director of the Knoxville International Christian Film Festival.

Jaclyn: 00:00:47

Welcome to the podcast, Rob.

Rob: 00:00:50

Jaclyn.

Rob: 00:00:50

Great to be here.

Jaclyn: 00:00:52

and actually, I'm really excited to get to know you.

Jaclyn: 00:00:54

Um, one of my favorite things is interviewing guests that I haven't actually met yet.

Jaclyn: 00:00:58

And so that means everything is brand new to me.

Jaclyn: 00:01:01

So can you tell me a little bit about yourself and then how you got involved in the film industry?

Rob: 00:01:08

um, I will keep it precise here, because the Lord has given me a lot to share about.

Rob: 00:01:13

But the bottom line is, I grew up in southern New England in Rhode Island, in a small town called Coventry, Rhode Island.

Rob: 00:01:20

And when I was going to high school at Coventry, Rhode Island, one of our teachers who had been in the military and in communications came back and asked a bunch of us one day if we would like to help start a, uh, radio station.

Rob: 00:01:34

And so we spent a year and a half and we raised 18, 000, with various entities that we did throughout the community.

Rob: 00:01:42

And we literally put a 40 foot tower on top of Coventry High School.

Rob: 00:01:46

We built a total production.

Rob: 00:01:48

facility in there, a newsroom, a place to do commercials, an office, an on air studio.

Rob: 00:01:56

And it was just as good as any other professional radio station.

Rob: 00:02:00

We got a license from the Federal Communications Commission and Bingo.

Rob: 00:02:03

Many of us started our career there.

Rob: 00:02:05

So that's how I off and running

Jaclyn: 00:02:08

In radio.

Rob: 00:02:09

in radio.

Rob: 00:02:09

Yes.

Jaclyn: 00:02:10

nice.

Rob: 00:02:11

yeah.

Rob: 00:02:11

So then I went from there and I ended up, becoming the top nighttime DJ in Southern New England.

Rob: 00:02:19

that's when my personal downfall started to go in a little bit wacky is, uh, I got, drinking a little bit too much.

Rob: 00:02:26

I was also DJing at nightclubs and, um.

Rob: 00:02:30

Somebody poured some white powder on a table one day and Rob got addicted to that kind of stuff and the downfall started coming.

Rob: 00:02:38

But as my downfall in addiction was moving along, I actually was advancing along in my career and I became a nationally syndicated sportscaster as well, doing a nightly sports show out of Boston.

Rob: 00:02:51

I used to cover the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins.

Rob: 00:02:55

I also got a job after that ended, where I was the news director at an antiquated news station in Providence, Rhode Island, at two stations, an AM FM, and I brought them to associated award winning status, winning awards for myself, and also as the news director.

Rob: 00:03:13

And then, one day I had nothing left 'cause I spent all my money on, drugs and alcohol and I became homeless.

Jaclyn: 00:03:21

Really at the top of your career.

Rob: 00:03:22

at the top of my career here

Rob: 00:03:24

I was, and I, I'm covering the World Series in Minnesota, in St. Louis in 1987.

Rob: 00:03:30

I'm on the field with all Jim Palmer and Reggie Jackson and all the big stars.

Rob: 00:03:36

And, shortly after, I am literally asking my mother to take me to the Greyhound bus station in Providence, Rhode Island.

Rob: 00:03:43

Because I ended up living in her basement after losing everything.

Rob: 00:03:48

And I took a Greyhound bus to go live out of the Greyhound bus station in Fort Lauderdale.

Jaclyn: 00:03:52

Did you end up losing your job as well?

Rob: 00:03:54

Oh, I lost everything.

Jaclyn: 00:03:57

Wow.

Rob: 00:03:58

I lost everything.

Rob: 00:03:59

There was nothing left.

Rob: 00:04:00

No car, no money.

Rob: 00:04:02

I went, from being written about in the newspapers and having people come and, uh, you know, want autographed pictures and all of this stuff to scrounging around on the streets of Fort Lauderdale just looking for a quarter or a dime to go to Winchell's Donuts and, uh, and get a bagel or something to keep me alive for the next day.

Jaclyn: 00:04:21

Wow.

Jaclyn: 00:04:22

Wow.

Rob: 00:04:23

My family disease, my wonderful brother David got me into recovery a few years later.

Rob: 00:04:29

Unfortunately, he started drinking again and passed away at 28.

Rob: 00:04:33

My grandmother, she passed away at 52 without a speck of liver left in her, so It runs in the family and fortunately, as we're doing this show, just a few days ago I was blessed to celebrate 32 years clean and sober thanks to the good grace Jesus.

Jaclyn: 00:04:50

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:04:51

So then let's get into, that.

Jaclyn: 00:04:53

Um, so you went into recovery and then how, what was your journey from that point to getting into the film industry?

Rob: 00:05:03

Of course, I had been in radio for several years up in southern New England and had some good, uh, you know, success there.

Rob: 00:05:09

And then I ended up being down in Fort Lauderdale.

Rob: 00:05:13

As I said, my mom dropped me off.

Rob: 00:05:14

And, you know, I can only imagine what kind of, pain and misery she was suffering through.

Rob: 00:05:19

Right, Jaclyn?

Rob: 00:05:20

And so, I'm down there one day and I literally said, You know what?

Rob: 00:05:25

I don't even know why I'm alive anymore.

Rob: 00:05:27

I don't even know why I'm just existing.

Rob: 00:05:30

It's like I just need to get off of these sidewalks and get out of the way of people that have a life because I have no life.

Rob: 00:05:36

And I was literally walking over to the cruise ship docks in Fort Lauderdale because I couldn't swim.

Rob: 00:05:41

But I'm like, yeah, the one day I really don't want to be able to swim, I'll end up staying above water, and I don't want it.

Rob: 00:05:47

I just want to end this party and move on and, you know, get out of everybody's way.

Rob: 00:05:51

And I was walking over to the cruise ship docks in Port Everglades, where all the big cruise ships leave out of, you know, to head all over the place.

Rob: 00:05:58

And anyways.

Rob: 00:05:59

All of a sudden, I hear a voice in my head, I wasn't someone that heard voices in my head, and the voice, it was literally, if you watch, It's a Wonderful Life , and you see Clarence Oddbody walk up to George Bailey as he's ready to jump off the bridge, that's what it was like for me as I was walking on the sidewalk, And this voice said, Rob, why don't you go out to Hollywood and try to make something out of your life?

Rob: 00:06:23

And I was like, where did that voice

Jaclyn: 00:06:24

Right.

Rob: 00:06:25

I never heard voices before, right?

Rob: 00:06:28

And so, I stopped and pondered for a minute, and I said, you know what, let me go over to Fort Lauderdale Beach before jumping off this bridge and letting a cruise ship just come and wipe me out.

Rob: 00:06:40

Let me go ponder my future.

Rob: 00:06:42

And I did.

Rob: 00:06:43

And I sat there on the beach, and wouldn't you know it, like, almost the same day or the next day I went over to 7 Eleven, they had a free newspaper stand, and it was one of the local papers, and it had an ad for a guy that was looking for somebody to drive his Crown Victoria from Fort Lauderdale to Providence, Rhode Island, my hometown.

Rob: 00:07:03

and they would pay you 200 bucks plus gas money.

Rob: 00:07:06

Boom.

Rob: 00:07:06

And I'm like, oh my gosh!

Rob: 00:07:09

So I got the job.

Rob: 00:07:11

Drove up there.

Rob: 00:07:12

Couple months later, day after Thanksgiving, 1992, I got stopped for DUI at 2.

Rob: 00:07:18

30 in the morning.

Rob: 00:07:19

My ex girlfriend comes to pick me up at 4.

Rob: 00:07:21

30 in the morning.

Rob: 00:07:22

I looked at her from about 20 feet away and I said, can't do this anymore.

Rob: 00:07:27

I'm done.

Rob: 00:07:27

I'm homeless.

Rob: 00:07:28

I'm living out of my friend's basement.

Rob: 00:07:30

I got nothing.

Rob: 00:07:31

I've lost it all.

Rob: 00:07:32

And she looks at me, Jaclyn, and says, I can smell you from here.

Jaclyn: 00:07:36

Oh man,

Rob: 00:07:37

And that was my last drink.

Rob: 00:07:40

of alcohol or line of cocaine, but my first amends before going out to Hollywood... at 10 years old, I had become an acolyte at my church in Coventry, Rhode Island, and one day I wanted some baseball cards or something, so when I took the collection plates into the sacristy, I happened to borrow

Rob: 00:08:01

2 from Jesus.

Rob: 00:08:03

I didn't really ask him.

Rob: 00:08:04

I just kind of, I thought I was hiding it from him, you know?

Rob: 00:08:09

And so I actually thought for the next 23 years that I was being punished by him.

Rob: 00:08:14

That's why I became an alcoholic and an addict.

Rob: 00:08:16

I thought he was punishing me.

Rob: 00:08:17

Well, you know, I come to find out he forgave me the second I did it.

Rob: 00:08:21

My party was done and he was over with it.

Rob: 00:08:23

But when I had 28 days sober, I was staying at my friend Steve's house in Coventry.

Rob: 00:08:29

We were 15 minutes away from that church.

Rob: 00:08:32

He let me borrow his truck on Christmas Eve in 1992 and I went up to the church and I only had a couple dollars to my name and I said, Lord, I don't know how much interest is on two dollars over 23 years, but I got five bucks.

Rob: 00:08:47

And I sat there, Jaclyn, I wrote about it in my award winning book about addiction and recovery, and I sat there, the church is packed, midnight mass, all the hymns are playing, people are singing, 300 people in that church and not a one person sat in the same pew as me, and it was a sell out crowd, basically.

Rob: 00:09:06

And I was only five rows from the front.

Rob: 00:09:08

And so it was like the Lord was letting me, remember where I came from, but also to relish in the fact how far he's taken me.

Rob: 00:09:16

I went from wanting to end my life to now I've got 28 days sober.

Rob: 00:09:21

the collection plate came around, Jaclyn, I kept holding on to that five dollar bill, five dollar bill, I kept checking it, is it still

Rob: 00:09:27

there, I threw that sucker on that collection plate so fast, and I have not had a drink or a line of cocaine since, and that was Christmas of 1992.

Jaclyn: 00:09:37

wow, that's amazing,

Rob: 00:09:39

so then I get sober and six months into it I got a job on an island in Rhode Island at a restaurant for the summer, saved up 10 grand.

Rob: 00:09:48

My dad gave me a old Chevy Chevette car with no air conditioning, no, uh, no electric windows, no nothing.

Rob: 00:09:57

It was as paint falling off

Rob: 00:09:59

and he, he gifted me that and he said, son, if you want to go live your dream, I'll give you a car to at least get you out to Hollywood.

Rob: 00:10:06

And so that was, uh, when I had 11 months sober in 1993.

Rob: 00:10:11

And I ended up going to some acting classes.

Rob: 00:10:15

And three acting classes in a row.

Rob: 00:10:17

Somebody said, man, you look like a car salesman.

Rob: 00:10:20

I'm like, what does a car salesman look like?

Rob: 00:10:23

So I got a job at, in North Hollywood at a car dealership, and a year and a half later, I ended up getting my SAG card in 1995, and, uh, I have been, blessed to, uh, to do a lot of cool things.

Rob: 00:10:36

One of them was, I got on news radio as a background actor stand in, and that gave me the opportunity to act with the regular crew, and every time somebody was Not there, they used me to do all the table reads for the network executives.

Rob: 00:10:54

the first time was James Caan.

Rob: 00:10:56

I actually filled in for James Caan.

Rob: 00:10:58

How

Rob: 00:10:58

cool was that?

Rob: 00:10:59

Yep.

Rob: 00:11:00

And Maura Tierney, who's now on Lauren Otter, uh, and was on ER after News Radio, she came up to me about two hours into my playing James Caan, and she says to me, she says, rest of the cast being nice to you?

Rob: 00:11:13

Are the producers being nice to you?

Rob: 00:11:15

And I'm like, yeah, why?

Rob: 00:11:16

She goes, Well, if they're not, you let me know and I will take care of it for you.

Rob: 00:11:20

and then, and then Andy Dick, who is on the show, he comes over and goes, Dude, if you don't knock this stuff off, we're gonna have to fire James Caan and just let you do the role this week.

Rob: 00:11:30

And so that was when I got my kind of people recognized that I had a little talent.

Jaclyn: 00:11:35

uh huh,

Rob: 00:11:35

And I happen in my book that I have, uh, Cruising Toward Heaven, Navigating From Rough Seas to Miraculous Adventures, which just won the 2024 International Impact Book Award for

Jaclyn: 00:11:47

nice, congratulations.

Rob: 00:11:48

Thank you.

Rob: 00:11:49

In that, is a story called Lost on a Sinking Ship, and I talk about my last show that I did with Phil Hartman, before his wife tragically took their lives.

Rob: 00:12:02

Phil and I had a behind the scene things, because I was sober, and so he, we had a 20 minute conversation before that last show, and, That whole story's in the book, but that was some of the cool things that I had, um, you know, as a result of that.

Rob: 00:12:16

And then I got into TV shopping, of all things, I saw an ad in the LA Times, and I went down to interview and the guy says, Well, if you can sell a 35, 000 car, you can sell a 100 watch, you're hired.

Rob: 00:12:28

I didn't even audition.

Rob: 00:12:30

And it ended up being a 15 year career on multiple shopping networks.

Rob: 00:12:35

I got promoted to executive producer at two of those networks.

Rob: 00:12:39

And so that's how kind of all went about.

Rob: 00:12:41

I've had a whole potpourri of really cool experiences.

Jaclyn: 00:12:46

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:12:46

Sounds like it.

Jaclyn: 00:12:47

That's amazing.

Jaclyn: 00:12:48

When did you, I mean, you had the moment at the church when you gave your five dollars and that's definitely a step of faith.

Jaclyn: 00:12:55

Um, when did faith become, an active role in your life?

Jaclyn: 00:12:59

Was it that moment or later on?

Rob: 00:13:02

Later on, so I get out to Hollywood and I'm there and I'm looking for a place to stay.

Rob: 00:13:07

So I open up the LA Times and I see an ad it says Christian woman looking for roommate, and I'm like, oh, this is great.

Rob: 00:13:14

You know, Christian woman, uh, she probably doesn't drink a lot, probably doesn't smoke a lot, not a lot of partying, great place for me.

Rob: 00:13:22

Yeah.

Rob: 00:13:22

I called her up and she said, Well, I'm a Christian woman and I can't have a guy living in my house with me.

Rob: 00:13:27

Just my beliefs and how I live my life.

Rob: 00:13:30

But, if you go to a church with me, On Friday night, I can introduce you to other people and maybe they have a place for you and stuff.

Rob: 00:13:38

And so I went to this church in Van Nuys, California.

Rob: 00:13:42

And a month later, I am getting baptized and born again.

Rob: 00:13:46

So it, it

Rob: 00:13:47

was, uh, I believe it was the end of November 1993.

Jaclyn: 00:13:51

Wow.

Jaclyn: 00:13:52

That's amazing.

Rob: 00:13:53

yes.

Rob: 00:13:53

but the thing is, I didn't stay with the church.

Rob: 00:13:56

I ran away from the church for nine years and wanted nothing to do with God for nine years, even though I was clean and sober and stuff.

Rob: 00:14:03

God brought my now ex wife into my life who got me to go to the place that you may know about and many listening, the Crystal Cathedral out in Anaheim, California, which is now the Christ's Cathedral.

Rob: 00:14:17

They sold it.

Rob: 00:14:18

But I started going there and I got involved in running the homeless ministry, many years later.

Rob: 00:14:24

So this would have been 12 years ago in that ballpark area because I had 21 years sober when I was going there.

Rob: 00:14:30

So that would be 11 years ago.

Rob: 00:14:32

So And I, volunteered to start running their homeless program.

Rob: 00:14:35

And we took that to great things, as well.

Rob: 00:14:38

And I used to be on the Hour of Power, with Robert Shuler, his daughter and stuff.

Rob: 00:14:43

Uh, the 700 Club came out and, after five hours of a telephone interview over two days, they sent a three man crew out to California to spend eight hours with me.

Rob: 00:14:53

So that they could do a five minute testimony.

Rob: 00:14:56

Um, so that's kind of, uh, that's how I kind of got out there and got into the Lord and kind of gave my life to him.

Rob: 00:15:04

That's kind of a, nutshell

Jaclyn: 00:15:06

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

Jaclyn: 00:15:07

Some of the highlights.

Jaclyn: 00:15:09

I know our lives, uh, it's amazing how we can go down so many paths and, and how God can pull us back from the edge.

Jaclyn: 00:15:18

Like, I have my own story with that, but yeah, it is amazing how God can allow us to go right to that moment.

Rob: 00:15:26

Oof.

Rob: 00:15:26

Yes.

Jaclyn: 00:15:27

Yeah, like, when you were talking about, uh, wanting to just end everything and, you know, jump in the ocean and, get hit by a, cruise ship, you know, reminded me of my own story where, like, I was literally on the edge of suicide and I heard a voice, and I've heard this kind of testimony from people before where they were about to end everything and they heard a voice redirected their entire life.

Jaclyn: 00:15:53

what I love about it is that, like, sometimes God does amazing things and he doesn't even take credit for it in the moment.

Jaclyn: 00:16:01

You know, like, in that moment, I don't know if it occurred to you that it might have been God speaking to you.

Jaclyn: 00:16:06

I know it didn't occur to me, I just, all of a sudden I had wisdom for a situation that I thought was hopeless.

Jaclyn: 00:16:11

And it was later, looking back on it, that I realized, wait, that was, that was God speaking to me, giving me that wisdom and that hope.

Rob: 00:16:20

Yeah, I think the editor of my first book had mentioned that to me, like, and I might have even written something in there.

Rob: 00:16:26

She might have added that, like, you know, was that my first real encounter with God, you know, when that happened?

Rob: 00:16:32

But in the moment, no.

Rob: 00:16:34

I was still drinking, I was still, you know, homeless, and I'm not thinking anything of God.

Rob: 00:16:39

I'm still thinking, this dude hates me for that two dollars I took, and he had forgiven me

Rob: 00:16:45

so far.

Rob: 00:16:46

I, but like you said, He gives us free will.

Rob: 00:16:49

He loves us all equally as much and he says Jaclyn, Rob I love you guys, but if you think you've got a better plan for your life, you know, you're welcome to to go for it but I do love you and you're my son and my daughter and I'm really hoping that you'll you know Start paying attention to me and all the love I have for you and that doesn't mean that life is just gonna be You know, a bowl of cherries, right?

Rob: 00:17:10

And it's like, my only son, he was whipped and beaten and stabbed and had nails pounded in his hands and called every bad name in the book.

Rob: 00:17:17

So why would you think that life is just

Rob: 00:17:19

going to be, oh my gosh, it's just this beautiful day on a, you know, in San Cabo St. Lucas or something.

Rob: 00:17:25

you know,

Rob: 00:17:25

that's not reality.

Jaclyn: 00:17:27

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:17:28

So, have you heard a voice since then?

Jaclyn: 00:17:31

Mm hmm.

Rob: 00:17:31

I have had some incredible things happen.

Rob: 00:17:34

One day when I was two years sober and things were not going all that well, prosperous for me, I was driving to a recovery meeting in Studio City, California.

Rob: 00:17:45

I had my dad's old car and stuff, and I'm complaining about everything in life.

Rob: 00:17:50

I don't have the woman I want, the place I want, my career's not back yet, the car has roll up windows and it's 100 degrees, there's no air conditioning.

Rob: 00:18:00

And I'm literally at 7 in the morning driving up the Ventura Freeway going to a recovery meeting and all of a sudden I hear a voice in my head.

Rob: 00:18:07

And it says, Rob, what are you whining about?

Rob: 00:18:10

And I'm like, thinking, I'm like, what are you talking about, right?

Rob: 00:18:13

And there's all kinds of cars driving around.

Rob: 00:18:16

And I said, did you have a place to sleep last night with a roof over your head?

Rob: 00:18:19

And I'm like, well, yeah.

Rob: 00:18:21

Did you, uh, have food to eat this morning?

Rob: 00:18:24

Yeah.

Rob: 00:18:25

Did you have a shower to use in clean clothes to put on today on your Yeah.

Rob: 00:18:30

Uh, name me one place that this car, this old beat up car that you continue to whine about.

Rob: 00:18:39

has not been able to get you that you were able to get when you were driving your Jaguar a few years back.

Rob: 00:18:44

And I'm like, I'm like, nowhere.

Rob: 00:18:46

I get everywhere.

Rob: 00:18:47

And the voice just said, then what is your problem?

Jaclyn: 00:18:50

Wow.

Rob: 00:18:51

and I write the whole dialogue out in, in one of my books and I do the whole thing.

Rob: 00:18:55

And I said, well, I guess I don't have one.

Rob: 00:18:57

And the voice said, yes, that's correct.

Rob: 00:19:00

And that kind of was a moment that changed for me too, where I learned to, you know, I learned to stop whining about everything.

Rob: 00:19:07

It's like, we're all going to have challenges in

Rob: 00:19:09

life.

Rob: 00:19:10

We all get different stories, all different testimonies.

Rob: 00:19:13

If we all had the same exact testimony, it'd be kind of boring,

Rob: 00:19:17

right?

Rob: 00:19:17

If every woman looked the same and every guy looked the same, it'd be like, oh, that's kind of, you know, if every, bear looked the same and every tree looked the same, no, we want the ones that turn red and orange and yellow and we want all this color.

Rob: 00:19:30

That's what gives us our life and shows us how amazing Jesus is, right?

Rob: 00:19:34

And how amazing God is that he could create.

Rob: 00:19:37

All of this amazingness.

Jaclyn: 00:19:39

Absolutely.

Rob: 00:19:40

But this one here I think you will enjoy.

Rob: 00:19:42

So it's in my, second book, Is It God or Coincidence?

Rob: 00:19:45

Coming to Grips with the Unexpected Wonders in Life.

Rob: 00:19:48

so one day I was in the middle of getting a divorce.

Rob: 00:19:51

My ex wife decided she wanted to go a whole different direction in life.

Rob: 00:19:55

And so I was leaving and I wasn't 100 percent sure on that where she was going at the time.

Rob: 00:20:02

And I was back in Rhode Island for Thanksgiving a few years back.

Rob: 00:20:06

And so I'm sitting there and I said, Lord, tomorrow it's November now, right?

Rob: 00:20:09

Cause Thanksgiving is cold and chilly in New England.

Rob: 00:20:12

I'm like, I'm going to go down to the beach and I want to have a conversation with you.

Rob: 00:20:17

And I want you to tell me if I'm missing something as a man, was I not being a good enough husband?

Rob: 00:20:22

Uh, was it?

Rob: 00:20:23

Because of me that we're not going to have this marriage.

Rob: 00:20:27

And if it is, I want you to tell me.

Rob: 00:20:29

So Jaclyn, I go down there the next day.

Rob: 00:20:31

It's a beautiful sunny day, but it's freezing.

Rob: 00:20:33

It's like 30

Rob: 00:20:34

something degrees out, right?

Rob: 00:20:35

I get down to the beach and I tell God So I had already told him that I was coming, right?

Rob: 00:20:41

Could have picked any one of a number of beaches in Rhode Island.

Rob: 00:20:44

I stop at one of the dollar stores, got a whole bunch of crackers and I end up feeding seagulls.

Rob: 00:20:50

And I got there later in the afternoon, so it got dark.

Rob: 00:20:53

And I'm like, oh man, I can't walk on the beach now.

Rob: 00:20:55

It's dark.

Rob: 00:20:56

I don't want to do this.

Rob: 00:20:56

Yeah.

Rob: 00:20:57

So literally, Jaclyn, this was one of the craziest things of my life.

Rob: 00:21:00

Having not had my conversation with the Lord, but having told him that I was going there, after 45 minutes of feeding the seagulls, I turn around to go to my car, and right behind me, like 10 feet, I didn't even see it the whole time I was there, Giant letters written in the sand.

Rob: 00:21:20

I love you.

Jaclyn: 00:21:22

Oh.

Rob: 00:21:22

I go home reading my Bible the next day in the book of Mark and it talks about Jesus said, therefore I will go before you to Galilee.

Rob: 00:21:32

I was at Galilee State Beach that day before.

Rob: 00:21:37

I mean, these are the kinds of things that have happened to me.

Rob: 00:21:40

A couple months later, I end up getting a job in Juneau, Alaska.

Rob: 00:21:46

the job didn't work out, but somebody, a fabulous woman, let me stay at her house.

Rob: 00:21:50

She had an extra room and they wanted my sobriety to stay in town because, you know, it's a big alcoholic town.

Rob: 00:21:55

Anyways, she's taking me out to the Mendenhall Glacier the next day.

Rob: 00:21:59

And I look and I say, you know, it's a mile walk, you know, one way.

Rob: 00:22:04

I said, but it looks like if we hopped over this little puddle, we might get a little feet wet.

Rob: 00:22:08

it looks like we could cut at least half the distance off.

Rob: 00:22:11

So she goes, okay, I'm willing to jump, Jaclyn.

Rob: 00:22:14

And I was wondering, I had asked God the night before, Lord, do I stay in town?

Rob: 00:22:18

Do I go home?

Rob: 00:22:19

What is your plan for me?

Rob: 00:22:21

We hopped over that thing and I just started yelling.

Rob: 00:22:25

And she goes, what's the matter?

Rob: 00:22:26

I said, look at that.

Rob: 00:22:28

She goes, yeah, in the sand it says, I heart you.

Jaclyn: 00:22:32

hmm.

Rob: 00:22:33

I said, six months ago, back in Rhode Island, I asked God the same question, if I needed to do anything different or not, and he wrote in the sand, I love you.

Rob: 00:22:41

Twice in six months, four, 500 miles

Rob: 00:22:45

away, he gives me the same message.

Rob: 00:22:48

So I have to imagine that he gives messages to all of us,

Rob: 00:22:51

right?

Rob: 00:22:52

But many of us are too focused on ourselves and the problem rather than God who is the solution.

Rob: 00:23:00

So we don't

Rob: 00:23:01

see it.

Jaclyn: 00:23:01

I have similar stories.

Jaclyn: 00:23:03

Yeah, but you do, you have to be paying attention and willing to see stuff like that in order to recognize it when it happens.

Jaclyn: 00:23:10

Although there have been times where I've had people literally come up to me, just strangers, and saying, um, I don't know what you believe, and this is a little bit awkward, but I just really feel like God wants me to tell you He loves you.

Jaclyn: 00:23:21

And I'm like, ah,

Rob: 00:23:23

How cool is

Jaclyn: 00:23:23

I'm like, I do believe.

Jaclyn: 00:23:24

Thank you so much.

Rob: 00:23:26

So here, here's the crazy part of the story.

Rob: 00:23:28

So the crazy part of stories is since I got up to Alaska after the marriage ended, and it was, definitely supposed to be over, she's in a whole different world right now with her life, which is fine.

Rob: 00:23:39

I wish her the very best.

Rob: 00:23:41

but I end up in the tour business.

Rob: 00:23:45

Then I end up getting a job on a small 32 passenger cruise ship.

Rob: 00:23:51

So now I'm the host, the tour guide, and I'm taking people kayaking to see bears eating fish in these giant waterfalls.

Rob: 00:24:00

I'm taking people out to see whales flying out of the water.

Rob: 00:24:04

All of the gloriousness of God.

Rob: 00:24:07

so here I was, and I'm like, Many years ago, going to end my life in front of a cruise ship, the Lord saves my life by saying, Hey, why don't you at least go ponder?

Rob: 00:24:19

And then, 20 years later, I'm up in Alaska, and He's showing me how glorious He is.

Rob: 00:24:26

with glaciers and bears And,

Rob: 00:24:27

whales.

Rob: 00:24:28

And, and Jaclyn, it's amazing, and in my second book, the one I shared, as it got a coincidence, there's a picture one day, on this cruise ship, we did nine day cruises, so every week we were back at the same spot at some point in time, just different people.

Rob: 00:24:44

So we're in front of this one glacier that was calving, which means the ice was breaking off at a very rapid point.

Rob: 00:24:50

It was about four or five years ago when it was really warm up there in the summer.

Rob: 00:24:53

So Anyway, so the point is, it's calving at a rapid pace.

Rob: 00:24:57

We get there five days after the last time we were there and I started screaming.

Rob: 00:25:02

There was a perfectly carved angel in the glacier.

Jaclyn: 00:25:09

Wow.

Rob: 00:25:10

I mean, it's unmistakable.

Rob: 00:25:12

The weirdest part was I started snapping my camera a hundred miles an hour and I'm yelling for people all the passage.

Rob: 00:25:17

Hey, you guys see

Rob: 00:25:18

the angel you got?

Rob: 00:25:19

Well, here's the funny part.

Rob: 00:25:21

it was about 20 on the, on the ship that week.

Rob: 00:25:23

Most of them are like, uh.

Rob: 00:25:25

Yeah, I can kind of see it.

Rob: 00:25:26

what I realized from that moment, it's so clear when you see the picture.

Rob: 00:25:30

In the book that sometimes he's so subtle in how he, he's just talking that Jacqueline's the only one that really needs to

Rob: 00:25:37

get this message today.

Rob: 00:25:38

Rob doesn't need to hear it ' cause that's not what Rob's going through.

Rob: 00:25:42

But this picture was amazing.

Rob: 00:25:44

Okay, so I take the picture, I go home.

Rob: 00:25:47

And I had a wonderful friend, Vicki, back there in North Hollywood, and I showed her the picture.

Rob: 00:25:53

She doesn't see the angel either!

Rob: 00:25:55

I mean, I'm talking as big as Jaclyn, it was perfectly carved.

Rob: 00:25:59

And what the amazing thing was, it had a light from the sunlight shining on it.

Rob: 00:26:04

It was lit up.

Rob: 00:26:05

The whole entire glacier was dark blue.

Rob: 00:26:07

This one angel was bright white.

Jaclyn: 00:26:10

Interesting.

Rob: 00:26:11

now about 50 feet away, there's three blocks of ice.

Rob: 00:26:16

And there's a bigger one, a little one, and a littler one.

Rob: 00:26:19

And what my, friend Vicki noticed, she didn't notice the angels, she said, I see Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Rob: 00:26:25

I said, what do you mean?

Rob: 00:26:26

She goes, that's Joseph kneeling down with Mary with her outstretched arms holding the baby Jesus.

Rob: 00:26:32

And I looked at it and I said, wow, you are right.

Rob: 00:26:35

It's the symbolism.

Rob: 00:26:36

The message that he gave me that day was just beyond powerful.

Jaclyn: 00:26:41

Wow.

Jaclyn: 00:26:42

Tell us where people can find your books.

Rob: 00:26:44

on Amazon under Rob Ekno, E K N O, I have a, uh, the Is It God or Coincidence?

Rob: 00:26:49

Coming to Grips with the Unexpected Wonders is also an audiobook.

Rob: 00:26:53

It's a best selling audiobook on Audible as well.

Rob: 00:26:56

it lasts about four hours and that has a whole bunch of Neat stories, and then my book series is from the cruising.

Rob: 00:27:02

So everything God has done, there's a plan he's had, as much as I tried to screw it up, so, Cruising Toward Heaven is a series.

Rob: 00:27:11

We have two books out right now.

Rob: 00:27:12

Cruising Toward Heaven, Navigating from Rough Seas to Miraculous Adventures is my 2024 international award winning book for addiction and recovery.

Rob: 00:27:21

If you know anybody that's going through a struggle in life for any kind of addiction, I share my life's testimony in all of these stories and a lot of people are using it as part of their recovery program.

Rob: 00:27:33

And the second one in the series that I have out, Cruising Toward Heaven, A Spiritual Odyssey Into Life Saving Rescues.

Rob: 00:27:40

I share all kinds of pictures from Alaska where I show how God uses everything under the sun, even statues and all kinds of stuff to show me how glorious that he really is.

Rob: 00:27:52

And then we actually had two life saving rescues at sea while we were on the cruise ship and how God brought me into all of that and how he had me there to make sure that things went well during that process.

Rob: 00:28:04

So right on, uh, Amazon.

Rob: 00:28:06

Barnes and Noble, Walmart.

Rob: 00:28:07

com, all the online retailers.

Jaclyn: 00:28:10

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:28:10

Sounds like amazing stories, that God wrote in your life.

Rob: 00:28:15

Oh, and that's funny!

Rob: 00:28:16

On the back of the second book, Pastor Dane Johnson out in Las Vegas, he did a little blurb for me on the back, and he wrote, Rob.

Rob: 00:28:26

You know, God keeps writing these amazing stories and lets you be a part of them.

Jaclyn: 00:28:31

Yeah.

Rob: 00:28:32

know,

Jaclyn: 00:28:32

I love when he does that.

Jaclyn: 00:28:33

Yep.

Rob: 00:28:35

you know, and he, he, he likes, he appreciates the thanks, he appreciates you continuing to pray without ceasing, you know, keep talking, loves the conversations.

Rob: 00:28:46

He loves it all, but he expects us to step up to the plate and take responsibility for our lives.

Rob: 00:28:52

He didn't put us here to be victims.

Rob: 00:28:55

He didn't put me here to walk around in shame because I did crazy stuff when I was drinking and using.

Rob: 00:29:01

He's already done with that.

Rob: 00:29:02

He's like, I got bigger things that we will Talk about, uh,

Jaclyn: 00:29:07

in

Rob: 00:29:07

coming up.

Rob: 00:29:08

Yes.

Rob: 00:29:09

How'd you

Rob: 00:29:09

like

Jaclyn: 00:29:10

Yes, that

Jaclyn: 00:29:10

was a great segue.

Jaclyn: 00:29:12

Okay, well, I do look forward to talking with you in our next episode.

Rob: 00:29:17

Sounds fantastic.

Rob: 00:29:18

Thanks for having me here.

Rob: 00:29:19

Have a blessed day, Jaclyn.

Jaclyn: 00:29:20

You