08 | "God Doesn't Waste Anything" | Trusting God in Hard Times

From Adversity to Faith: In this heartfelt conversation, Khalila McCoy reconnects with Chauncey Harris Sr., who shares his journey of facing kidney failure and the profound impact it has had on his life and family. He recounts personal experiences of overcoming adversity, including a life-altering car accident that led him to a deeper relationship with God. Through trials, he found grace, forgiveness, and a calling to serve as a youth pastor, impacting the lives of young people. His story highlights the importance of trusting God, embracing imperfection, and the transformative power of faith and community support.

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Transcript

Khalila McCoy 0:00

Hi, I'm Khalila McCoy, and this is the podcast that is here to lift you a little higher. This is where we rise. Hey everyone, welcome to the show. Today we are talking to an old friend of mine, Chauncey Harris. Chauncey has such a heartfelt story rooted deeply in his faith in God and Jesus Christ. He has walked through and is still walking through some difficult and uncertain seasons, but the love, joy, and compassion that flow through him are truly inspiring, and what made me want to reach out to him and have him share his story on the show. Today, Chauncey is gonna take us to church with a word that is for everybody. Let's go. All right, so we got big Chauncey in the house today. So Chauncey and I go way back when I haven't talked to him in years. How long has it been?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 0:57

The last time I beat you in basketball, it's been a long time, 2008, maybe.

Khalila McCoy 1:03

So let's explain this. So we went to college together, and I'm not a basketball player, but I have an amazing three-point shot that I think he likes to forget about. It was like so we used to go to the rec center and play hoops.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:20

They built so many things there now. I went back because I was coaching somewhere. We we skirmished them, and it's so much more there now than it was when we were there. All they have was the rec and the food court. They got a lot more now, yeah.

Khalila McCoy 1:32

So yes, yeah. Ashland is coming up. All that money we gave them, they had to do something with it, right?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:38

Listen, for real. For real.

Khalila McCoy 1:40

It was a fun experience, though. Like it was, it was.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:43

I was playing college football and just uh, you know, meeting new people. It was nice.

Khalila McCoy 1:47

Yeah, yeah. So I don't I don't remember. How did we meet? Do you remember?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:51

I think we met at the rec, if I'm not mistaken. I think that um you might have been shooting or something, maybe.

Khalila McCoy 1:57

And you know you saw how amazing I was.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:59

But I say, you know what? Let me go beat her real quick, doing my confidence up.

Khalila McCoy 2:05

Yeah, no, I used to teach bit of a lot of people. Yes. Yeah, yeah.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 2:12

So we I think might have made met there.

Khalila McCoy 2:14

Yeah. There wasn't a lot of black people at Ashland, so it was easy to buy each other.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 2:20

Right, right.

Khalila McCoy 2:22

But yeah, it was fun.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 2:24

It was.

Khalila McCoy 2:25

And then what have you been doing since your Ashland days?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 2:28

Nothing. Just uh working, coaching football. Also, I just recently became a a youth pastor. So just just kind of moving around a little bit and staying afloat.

Khalila McCoy 2:38

Where are you youth pastoring at?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 2:39

That's the church in Warren called New Jerusalem Fellowship in Warren, Ohio.

Khalila McCoy 2:44

Nice. I've seen a link it later too, but Chauncey posts his videos and his sermons. I was listening to one of the story. I was like, okay.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 2:52

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm trying, I'm learning a little bit of it.

Khalila McCoy 2:55

The one about uh Moses holding his hands up and people on the side holding it up with them.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 3:01

I was like, For sure, for sure.

Khalila McCoy 3:03

So I definitely was feeling that.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 3:05

Yeah.

Khalila McCoy 3:06

Um, so today we're really gonna talk about, I mean, obviously you and all the things that you're going through. Kind of just to get us started. You have some pretty um, I want to say intense, but some strong health issues that you're dealing with, right?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 3:21

Right. Yeah, so um I was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2021, 22. Um, so I've been dealing with that ever since then. Um just dialysis and all the things that come with that uh has been, you know, I would say it's intense. Yeah, yeah. But um, so yeah, that's that's kind of my diagnosis.

Khalila McCoy 3:43

So what was it like when you first got that news?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 3:46

It was, I mean, it was it was it was chilling. It was it was it was shocking. Um, I remember not feeling well for months. Like, you know, and as as men, you know, we don't want to, you know, I played football, I'll box, so we didn't, we didn't, I was telling, I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay, you know. And I would like just fall asleep out of nowhere or just be very like couldn't get up. And I was wondering, like, what's wrong with me? So I went to the hospital. Um, it was after the Ohio State game. They had played, um, you know, I gotta watch football. They they had played Michigan. And I uh I said, Lord, if I make it through tonight, I'm gonna go to the hospital. I was like, I'm gonna go to the hospital. So I um went to the hospital and uh, you know, they I came in, they did blood work and all those things. And they said, uh, it's from to the back. And they said, we got some good news and bad news. And they said, the good news is you're still alive. And I was like, if that's the good news, what's the bad news? Right. He said, the bad news is you had you've had kidney failure. And he said, your kidneys have failed, been failed by the by the the waste in your system. Your kidneys have been failed for a long time. He says it's a it's a miracle that you're even alive. It's the thing your body that kind of measures the waste in there is called creatinine. And that the average, you know, creatine is like from like 0.2 to maybe one. That's like the average waste in your body. Mine's a 22.5.

Khalila McCoy 5:12

Oh my goodness.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 5:13

So it was just filled with waste. And um, it was only a miracle that I was um that I got there. And I remember the doctor said, you know, the amount of waste your body is very dangerous. We don't know, you know, how you how this is gonna go. So we I was in ICU. They started like giving me, they put like tubes in my body and started like giving me um dialysis right there. You know, I was I was frightened, you know, I was scared. I was like, man, because at the time, you go backstory about kidney failure in my family. When I was five, my mother died from kidney failure.

Khalila McCoy 5:44

I didn't know that.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 5:45

Yeah, when I was five, when I was five years old, my mother died from kidney failure. So here I am at the hospital. She was she was around like 30, 31. And here I am at the hospital. I'm about 31. So all that's running through your head. And my youngest son is five years old. See, oh my gosh. My youngest son is five years old at the time. Yes. So I was I was just like, is this about to happen again? Like, is this the repeat of what happened to my mother? And then um I was in an instant depression, but then I kind of made a choice. I kind of like started praying and saying, like, God, at this time I wasn't living a certain lifestyle. I was, I was, you know, uh, a different chancey, I would say. Um, so I was like, God, if if if you get me through this, if I could make it out of this hospital, I I promise to do better. And I was praying, I and I was like thinking about my kids, and I had a few surgeries in there. Because because there was so much waste in my body, I had pneumonia and just so much septic, it was just so much that was going on, but I ended up making out the hospital. So thank God. About a month.

Khalila McCoy 6:50

Okay. Wow.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 6:51

Yeah, yeah. It was it was it was bad. Yeah, it was a month. And then I had to start dialysis, so all that they had to put like, you know, tubes and catheter inside of me. So it was just a whole new like uh bunch of experiences that happened at that time.

Khalila McCoy 7:04

Yeah. I remember um, I don't know if it was that stay particularly, but I remember seeing on Facebook you kind of updating people on like what you were going through and just saying, like, hey, pray for me. I don't know if I'm gonna make it out of here.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 7:17

Yeah, yeah, it was real.

Khalila McCoy 7:18

But the one thing about even in those videos, you always had a smile on your face.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 7:24

Yeah, yeah. I think I've met that.

Khalila McCoy 7:27

And I love how you just said, like, you went through an instant depression, which makes sense, right? That's it too hard. But then you said you made a choice. So if you were a different Chauncey back then, just living a different lifestyle, like, how did you even know what to think of that choice?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 7:40

Because the foundation that my parents and family set.

Khalila McCoy 7:43

Okay.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 7:44

So I grew up, like my family, my dad is very like in the church, and I grew up going to church Wednesday, twice on Sunday, sometimes Saturday. So I was always in church. Man, as a kid, like always, always in church. And um, so when I got of age where I was not forced to go to church, I went totally the opposite way.

Khalila McCoy 8:06

That is the story of a lot of people.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 8:08

Yeah, I just I just did whatever, you know, from you know, just whatever my friends did. Like I was, I was uh, I wanted to be that, you know, I mean, I wanted that freedom that I thought I missed, you know, as a young person. So in going through that thing, I was able, that's why it says in the Bible, it says uh train up a child in the way that it should go. Right. And when he's old, he won't depart from it. So it's like if that foundation came back in my head, like, how did my dad get through? How did my family they had God? They trusted God and they got them through. So that kind of reminded me of where I was supposed to be and how I would get through this thing.

Khalila McCoy 8:46

Do you feel like I know people kind of have moments where they're like, they feel like God has talked to them when they're in their struggle? Was yours more just like, I'm gonna live out my faith, or do you feel like you had like an instant connection right there?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 8:57

No, I I believe that I think God has always been calling me to this. I've always been able to, like you said, put a smile on my face no matter what, or get through things. Like that's always been who I am. I think it was just birthing me. I think that I can't say that God said something specific to me. You know, because a lot of people say that, like, oh, God told me this. Right. I don't know if he said that for sure. But I think the Holy Spirit that God gives you leads you to do good things, leads you to certain paths. I think I was led to come back to God. I mean, sometimes like the Bible says many are um called, but few are chosen. Right. Like when you're chosen, God might use tragedy. He might use tragedy, he might use something to do. To get your attention to get your attention. Like, no, you can't do what everybody else does. And when I would do things, I would always get caught. Everything I did, I got caught. Everything. So everything. So that life was not meant for you. I got caught. It was like my boys always got away, and I'm always getting caught, but God was always like, you know better. Like that, that you know better. So I I don't believe I had a divine, like, specific, like hearing something, but I had a spirit that that led me back to where I'm supposed to be.

Khalila McCoy 10:11

Okay. So you come home from the hospital after that month, did the life change immediately for you?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 10:17

Drastically, drastically. I mean, it changed in almost every aspect of life. So at that time I was working as a caseworker at a um a high school in Youngstown. Okay. But I had to look quit my job because well, they let me go because I couldn't be there. Because you know, we when you go to dialysis, it's it's it's three days a week. And for some, it's like from four to five hours. My time was four hours. So Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I went to dialysis. And after dialysis, it's it's a it's a it's a tough kind of it's hard to explain the feeling you feel. Like you're drained, you're cramping, your body is like, it's just different for a while. So usually at the dialysis, I had to like take a nap, like uh at least a little nap for about two or three hours. And of course, you can't work on a full-time job, right? Missing, you know, all that time and going this Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. So I had to let my job go. So I then I got on disability. So I went from making, you know, I don't want to, I wasn't balling crazy, but I went to making um, you know, a a decent wage to like $12,000 a year. Okay. So a great wage from then go to making $12,000 a year with, you know, four boys, you know, kids and family and bills. So that was like the the immediate change is like financially, you know, the struggle came. And then physically, like, you know, I've always been a I've always been kind of like an athlete. You can't tell by my my belly now. But how how my body felt? It was just a total like after dialysis, you you feel it's it's hard to really explain like the the feeling that that puts on you. Like your whole body is messed up, you have headaches throughout the day, you can barely just get up and go some days. So that kind of was the biggest two things that kind of shifted in my life.

Khalila McCoy 12:05

How long were you doing this four hours dent for?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 12:08

So I'm still doing dialysis.

Khalila McCoy 12:10

Okay. For four hours still every day?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 12:13

So it was at my I was at five.

Khalila McCoy 12:15

Okay.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 12:16

And now my blood work has gotten better. So now I'm at three, three, four, three minutes, three hours and forty-five minutes.

Khalila McCoy 12:21

Okay, three days a week.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 12:22

Three days a week still, yeah. Yeah, three days a week.

Khalila McCoy 12:25

Wow.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 12:26

Until you get a tr, you know, if you get a transplant, all that is, you know, fixed.

Khalila McCoy 12:31

Are you on a list for a transplant?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 12:33

So the the the issues I've had, you know, building to that place was, you know, when you are getting on the transplant list, you have to have like a smooth time without hospital visits. Like you have to have time without that, and your blo your blood pressure has to be a certain place, and your blood work has to be a certain place. And every time I would get closer and closer to the list, I would get infection. So you you so it's this thing called a catheter, they put it in your chest right around here, and they use that to get the blood out to put it in a machine and bring it back in. Until you get something in your arm called like a fistula or a graph, and then they can put needles in your arm. But until then, you gotta have a catheter, and those don't do well with with multiple bodies, they don't last long, and you don't know you're infected until you're at the the sepas place, which is the a dangerous, you know, hospitalization type of place. So I I had maybe, I don't know, like 15 sepas infections. And uh so every time we get closer to the list, I would get an infection. Closer to the list, infection, closer to the list, infection. And those are deadly. Like I thank God that I even made it through those because a lot of people don't make it through the sepsis infections. Um, so doing that for so long, and so I I'm still thank God I've I've had a good few years. So I think soon I'll be able to get a kidney, or you know, I I still believe God can just heal me. Just yeah, I'm not even counting that out, but I am getting closer to being on a list, yes.

Khalila McCoy 14:04

Yeah. Do you struggle sometimes? Like thinking, so like the example you just gave, like you're so close to the list, and then you get this infection, it keeps happening over and over. Are you ever like, what's up, God? Like, why does this keep happening? Why meaning?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 14:17

Yeah, yeah. I think I think anybody that goes through real struggles, like when you're trying to do what's right in life, like we're not nobody's perfect. Like the Bible says that our righteousness is filthy rags. So nobody, everybody has dirt, everybody's not perfect. Right. But when you're trying to do right in your life and you're trying to do what you think God's called you to do, and you keep getting knocked down and knocked down and knocked down. It's like, man, it's like, God, what's up? Where you at? I'm trying, I'm doing my best. But I but what helped me during that time is I started reading about Job in the Bible. And I started to read about his story and how, you know, he was chosen by God. God literally said his name to the enemy. He said, Have you considered my servant Job? He was chosen to go through that stuff. Right. And losing his kids and losing his his wealth and losing his health, like losing everything. And he still was like, you know, though he slayed me yet, will I trust him? And it was like, wow. Like, okay. It helped me to like ID with that. I found myself in that story. I found myself in the story of Joseph. I found myself in their stories, and I say, okay, if if this can happen for them and they can be restored, everything they lost, I believe God has some something similar for me as well.

Khalila McCoy 15:35

That's awesome. So you thought back to those stories that you had heard before and then dive deep into the Bible to understand how that related to you.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 15:41

100%. You see, I can't speak for everybody because everybody doesn't believe in what I believe in, right? Right. But I I can I can attest and say that I know for sure without God in my life, without Jesus, there's no way that I have would have overcome the things that I've overcome so far. And that was, and that was even my worst year. Yeah. That was the worst year of my life. That was that was if I can go back, that was an okay year. That wasn't the worst year. That was even the worst year of my life. The worst year came a couple years later. But I would say that without God, without faith, and without my family and people that love me, you gotta find people that love you not at circumstance. Right. A lot of people love you by what you can do for them or okay, you can party with them and have a good time with them. And that's all those things are beautiful, right? Right. But it's more important to have people that love you when you can't, when you're struggling, when you can't offer anything to them but pain. When you when you're when you're crying and you don't know what to do, people that love you during that time and spend time with you and speaking to you during that time, it is so much more important than having people that with you when you party and having a good time.

Khalila McCoy 16:47

Did you find that the people who kind of left your life during that time was it more like they just didn't know how to approach you or what to say or what to do?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 16:57

Or what do you feel like was Yeah, I think it's it's it's tough getting around people that are going through. Right. Like when you when you sit in a room with somebody that's in a hospital bed or that is that's dying or in a nursing home, it doesn't, it's not a great feeling to you as well. So I think authors, people don't know how to navigate that space. Right. Like navigate, okay, how what do I say or how do I cheer them up? So they tend to like distance themselves. And at that time, I think a lot of my my people that I I consider friends and homies, I feel like they I wasn't doing the same things. I wasn't, I wasn't smoking with them, I wasn't drinking with them, I wasn't my my conversation wasn't about chasing girls. Like those those things changed. And when when those things change, you you find out kind of who is for you, like for real. Like who, and I have some moments that still did those things, but still was like, was in my corner. So it's like it's a balance to the thing. You know, it's a balance. So you kind of find out who was for you when you're struggling. I think people tend to leave when struggle comes.

Khalila McCoy 18:04

What do you feel like? And obviously, like you said, you can't speak for everybody, but what what do you want from people in those moments? Like in your toughest moments, what comforts you?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 18:13

So I've always been a person who was it's a thing called love language, right? Yeah. And um, I think mine have always been like words of affirmation. Okay. Like I've always been big chance, like talk me up, talk me up. Like that's that's always been me. So when people like speak into my life, like Chance, you're gonna get through this. You're so much greater than this situation. God has something for you. Hey, don't give up. You know who you are? Like those things has always like put me, reset me back to who I was supposed to be, like who I think I'm supposed to be. Like it reminds me, I am, I am big Chance. Yeah, you're right, you're right. This don't change who I am. So it kind of like builds that confidence back up to me. That's my that's my kind of language that I I love people who speak into my life positively. Yeah.

Khalila McCoy 18:59

Just send me a text, send me a call, like things like that.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 19:02

This little thing, little thing, praying for you, child. Hey, I appreciate you. Like those little things go so far, and you would think, okay, this is a little text. You might have said six words in that text, but you don't know that text could have been something that saved that person's day, like help them, help their life. So it's never being positive, somebody, it doesn't cost you anything. Right. You know, but it it it can might it might help them in whatever they're going through.

Khalila McCoy 19:29

Yeah. Did you find, especially since this um experience brought you closer to God? Was anything negative about that?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 19:36

Plenty of that.

Khalila McCoy 19:37

Really?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 19:37

Plenty of that. Like, God's how could God be real? You going through this?

Khalila McCoy 19:41

Like, what do you say to that? Like, especially when you are, you know, like obviously you have the faith, but there's has to be some doubt in you at the same time. Like, what do you say to that?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 19:52

I think people who got faith would lie if they say they don't doubt sometimes. Right. Even people that's been in faith for 30, 40, 50 years. Because life, you know, your literary your life situations sometimes point to the other direction. It points to like this ain't going my way. I'm praying, I'm fasting, I'm reading my Bible, I'm not doing this, I'm not doing that, and stuff. Well, you like, is God real? Are you real, God? Yeah. And I think when I've had those, when I've had those doubts or heard those people try to put doubt in my head, you have to go back to what you have already overcome. Okay. Because that that puts you in the place of it reminds you who God is. Overcoming reminds you who God is. When you go back to your mind, you think about when I was 13, I got past this. That I thought I wouldn't get past. When I was 16, I got past that. When I was 21, I got past this. When the doctor said I was supposed to die and I got past that, you remember, like, yeah, no, God is real. You start to tug on your personal experiences. And when you tug on your personal experiences, it's hard to deny that God is not in your life. And I think that has always centered me back. Like even when I have doubts, even to this day when you have doubts, like I I think about the things that I've overcome, and I'm like, it had to be God. Yeah. It had to be God. It was nothing else.

Khalila McCoy 21:19

What if someone's like, nah, you just lucky, bro? Like Right, right.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 21:25

But um, no, you gotta be anchored. It's the word is how you be anchored in your faith. That means like when you think about a boat, you think about anchor and how that plants the boat. Wherever it's at, it's not going to move because that anchor is is it's making it firm. You gotta be anchored in your faith. A lot of people are going to doubt what you're saying and doubt what you think you believe in because they don't subscribe to it. Right. If you don't if you're not putting a t if you don't read your Bible and pray and worship and try to go to church, you know, if you don't do those things, you're gonna think these things don't matter. Because God has still afforded you to live life. Right. You know, but God is real. You have to put time in with God. That's the difference. It ain't about being a Christian. I I I I kind of hesitate always when somebody called me a Christian, because that's like religious. Like I believe in Christ, but I got a relationship with God. Like I spend time with God. Like I spend, I spend, I put time in every single day with God. So it's more about relationship than what a religion is. And when you have a relationship with God, it's He the Holy Spirit guides you a little bit more.

Khalila McCoy 22:31

Yeah. Talk a little bit about your relationship with your children, because I know you said you started this, your youngest was five. How old were your other children at the time?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 22:39

So I don't know. I don't know how it is now. So I got a I got two 16-year-olds, and I have a 15-year-old and a nine-year-old now.

Khalila McCoy 22:48

And all boys, right?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 22:49

Yeah, I was listening. I was wild in college and younger than Chauncey. I was a different dude, man. I was a different dude.

Khalila McCoy 22:55

But God gave you some blessings out of this situation.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 22:58

I thought about uh Facebook said if I was married at 19, I would have 97% less sin. I would have had 97% less sin in my life.

Khalila McCoy 23:09

Did you get married, Chauncey?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 23:11

Huh?

Khalila McCoy 23:12

Are you getting married, you said?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 23:13

Nah. One day, baby. Yeah. One day. Okay. That part is hard, man, because I am stubborn. Okay. I can I I I know what your own ways. Yeah, and I and I don't, it's hard to, I don't know, it's hard. When you're married, you have to like sacrifice. Marriage is a sacrifice. Relationships are a sacrifice. Right. I don't, I don't, I got so many other issues right now. It's like I don't I don't want to put somebody in a position where I'm not giving them a hundred percent of it.

Khalila McCoy 23:47

No, I think that's fair. I think that's important to think about like how you're affecting the other person and how they're gonna affect you, like not just jumping into it for, you know, the physical part or something. Yes, yes. Because a lot of times people do.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 24:00

Yeah. And I just I don't want to, you know, growing up younger, my father, you know, I kind of got my way with women by my father. Okay. You know, he was a smooth dude and he talked to a lot of women, and I saw that young. Um, so I grew up in that. I grew up kind of, okay, this is how you do it. And my dad would say, just keep it in your pants. And that would be, that's not you can't, that's not enough to tell somebody. No. So when I got older and I got of age, I used to sneak and do a lot of stuff, and it was like that became my a part of my identity. Because again, you get confidence in that, you get words of affirmation, you get, oh, you did this, you did that, you're this. And so now and you're feeling that from multiple women, it's and then you date a girl and she and she loves you. Right. And she and she does right by you, but you don't know how to do right by her. So you're mess you're cheating on her, you're messing around with different girls. And that kind of was my my lifestyle, you know, until I got about 30. I was like that, you know, until until I got honestly until I got sick. I was I was that way. So now I'm real hesitant on how I treat women and how I because I I I realize that they are gosh, gosh children too. Right. And you got you gotta pay for those things. Like, you know, you gotta pay for those those negative things. And I and I apologize to many girls and they didn't they didn't accept it most of the time. But I understand though. I understand. Like, yeah. Dudes, dudes, we we get mad at our at our children's mothers forgetting what we did.

Khalila McCoy 25:38

Yeah.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 25:39

You know, they have you know, women carry anger a little differently than we do. Like it's you know, you know, hell has no fear, like a woman scorn. Once y'all get hurt, y'all turn into monsters. Like and a dudu said, that was eight years ago, but she's like, you hurt me. You know, so I I put my all into you. And I had to, once I realized that, it helped me to have more patience with my sons and others.

Khalila McCoy 26:01

Okay.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 26:03

So now it's like, you know, I I'm I'm dating, but I just I gotta be conscious of how I'm treating people. Okay. And you know, this is the first time in my life that I was I've been celibate. Like I haven't been, you know, physically with anybody, which is difficult, right? But it's more rewarding because I know I'm not doing nobody wrong either. Yeah. And I I know that God is honoring my sacrifices. Yes. So that that's it's a growth. Like if you knew me back then, you play Chauncey celibate. Like you play, how? But it's only by the grace of God that I can walk that walk. Because I I don't want I don't want to be famous for my sons. Yes. I realize that my sons look up to me. I have a unique relationship with my kids. Like, my kids love me. They they want to be around me and play. Most kids that age, 16 and 15, but nothing to do with their parents.

Khalila McCoy 26:55

They want to be with their friends.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 26:56

They want to be with me all the time, like play games with me, sit with me, talk to me. But I've built that relationship so I know that they're looking at me in everything I do. Right. And I don't want them to fall in the same places that I fell in or have the same, you know, pitfalls that I was I fell in. So I always talk to them about relationships and women and you know, get you one girl that you like, that you love, and stick to that person. Like, don't try to be a player. It it brings nothing but pain. My kids are blessings. I love all four of my boys. Like I love them too. We the big chance crew. I love my my guys. Also how they came and the the struggles that I had with their mothers, you know, I don't want that for them. Right. You know, you don't want your kid to have to um not be able to see their son because somebody's mad at you. Right. Like stuff like that, like have to go to court to get rights and all. It's just so much that comes with a broken household that I don't want my kids to experience. I see my friends who are married, who got kids, and it's so much more peaceful. Like they're on the same page, you know, if the father has some type of say-so, it's like, so I I always, so now that I'm aware of the wrongs I did, I always try to be like conscious that they're looking at me. You know, if I'm a I'm a if I'm gonna talk and speak in this church on Sunday, how am I at home? Can they say that I'm the same way at home? Right. Can they say that I give them grace? Or am I cussing them out when they don't do the dishes? Like, how am I there? So I feel like the last four or five years, I've kind of found a good balance with that with my kids.

Khalila McCoy 28:26

Do you share like the love of Christ and stuff with them? Are they?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 28:29

Yeah, like if my son was here right now, he if I say, Hey, pray for Khalid, he would come do it. He would, he would understand how to do it. So they're you know, I make them, I make them because you have to make kids. This is a difference team, me and a lot of people's parents too. Like, I make my kids do things. Like kids are foolish. Like the Bible says that kids are foolish, like they need direction and discipline. They they have to have that. So I make sure that I have to I learn the balance a bit what to be a lion to my kids and when to be a lamb. Right. But lying has to come sometimes, right? And that's why kids need fathers, I think, too, because at a certain point, kids see mothers as like, okay, if I want to, I'll do what you say. But it's it's it's very rare for the kids to see their father that way.

Khalila McCoy 29:13

Right. When dad walks in the room, everything they're like, oh right, right.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 29:19

So it's a balance to it. So again, train up a child. So my kids go to church with me. Um you Sundays, they might have a give a word or do a prayer or do offering. Yeah, yeah. I gotta put I gotta post them on my social media. But um, they are they all are faithful. And then like on their TikToks and stuff, because I I'll be checking them out. They uh they'll put like scriptures on her sometimes and Jesus stuff. So it's it's it's it's funny seeing them how that balance because they're both they're all athletes. Okay, they're all pretty popular kids in their schools, but they still don't neglect their faith. Right. And I think that's I think that's so beautiful as a young person.

Khalila McCoy 29:57

Yeah, you're building like a legacy here too. I like how kind of like that transition, like your family, like you talked about your mom introduced Christ with you, yeah, and then now you're you know, following foot and then just going a little bit further, then it sounds like your family was able to do for you. So then it's gonna be amazing to see what your sons are able to do for their friends and families moving forward.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 30:19

And and again, you should always want your kids to be better than you.

Khalila McCoy 30:22

Yes.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 30:22

And everything athletics, spiritually, you know, school, like you should want your kids to be better than you so that they're better than they their kids be better than them, and then your whole legacy is just growing and growing and growing in a positive manner. But you gotta put time in. That's that's the key too. You gotta put time in with your kids. Yes. Like, especially when they turn teenagers, because that's when they start to feel themselves, they smell themselves. They got you, they got you in there. So your characteristics in there, so you have to kind of guide them through that that difficult time of becoming a man, you know. And I I thank God for my kids because they are my why. They've always been my why. Even through health issues and car accidents and all the things that I've been through, they have been like what kept me going. I think God placed my because when I first had kids, I didn't want to have kids. Yeah, I I didn't want to be a father, you know, I was out here, you know, kicking it. So but as time went on, and as I got close to them and I started spending time with them, it was everything that I needed to become a man and to become the person that I am now. Without them, without God putting them in my life, the trials and tribulations I've been through, I don't think I would have made it through without them, without that motivation to be here for my children.

Khalila McCoy 31:31

What are your conversations with them around your health issues?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 31:34

Like we talk about, we sit down and often, they know they know what I have to Alice. Our conversations are kind of like, you know, take care of yourself better. Like when I when I when I when I was an athlete, when I played football and boxing and all that, a lot of legislative, I didn't eat right either. But I was working out, I was always moving around. Yeah, but so when I got older, I stopped working out. Wasn't eating right, and knowing the history of our family, like telling you my your grandmother had this too. So this is something that's probably somewhere in your system, you know. So you have to take care of yourself. You gotta eat bet you gotta work out, get each vegetables, you know, can't drink as much pop, ain't eat as much sweets. I try to be, you know, consistent in what to tell them. Um, and they understand, they understand, and uh hope that they will follow. They don't all they're not perfect. The kids is the kids. Right. But uh they do, they have the knowledge. One word that's important to I think every person in here is uh autonomy. Having the know to okay, I I have to understand you told me what I'm supposed to do. So now I know what to do. At that point, now it's on you. It's it's kind of on you to do what's right or do what's wrong. So I've given my kids autonomy and health. And but they are they are my kids are beautiful. They're good they're good dude, they're good little dudes. Do they ever express like any fear around like your my two of my sons, Kendrick and Kellen, they had a rough year maybe a year and a half ago. So I'm dealing with dialysis, but I'm I'm sick like during this time. Like I'm having rough, rough days. And their mom get cancer.

Khalila McCoy 33:03

My goodness.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 33:04

Yeah, she had a rare cancer. And I remember that day she came over to the house to them to live with me. I got custody of them too. And they she she came over to the house because she wanted to tell them in person. Right. With me there. And I remember her telling them, like, you know, I have cancer, and I remember just seeing them, like, just deplete, like everything. It was like, why us, why my parents, like, why why we had to go through this and crying and um just kind of just erratic. And I remember like grabbing them and hugging them, and um, you know, grabbing their mother's hand and grabbing each other's hand and praying. Just asking God to give us peace. Asking God for healing, of course, but asking God for peace. Right. And peace in in my kids' mind. Because you forget when you're going through it, they are too. They might not have the physical issues, but you're their parents. They love you. They you're their everything. And to have two parents go through at the same time was very hard for them. But again, I've set that foundation of faith. So they knew how to pray. They knew how to go turn on a worship song in and just get in the presence of God. They knew those things. And doing that, it helped them get through. Like I remember my son speaking about it. I think it's one of my first TikTok videos I put up. We was at church on New Year's, New Year's Eve, and he um had a testimony. He was just saying, you know, my mom was going through that, my dad's going through that. I started crying, and he was like, But I trust God. You know, I just trust God. Just give just give it like to God. He's gonna see you through. And thank God, I think maybe uh four or five months ago, his mom was healed from cancer. So that's a that's a beautiful thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She she got a lot of things. Yes, yes, yes, me too. You too. And I was I'm I was grateful that my kids got to see the other side of that. Like, yeah, you're gonna go through trials and tribulations. My my kids have no excuse. Like, some kids have an excuse to like, I've been seeing God do things.

Khalila McCoy 35:04

Right.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 35:05

My kids can't say that.

Khalila McCoy 35:06

They're watching God move every day.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 35:08

They can't say that. They see miracles, they see miracles happen. And uh I'm just grateful that their mom came through and they got to see that. And they got to like experience that that joy of that healing that God promised her and that she got.

Khalila McCoy 35:22

Are all your children's moms believers as well?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 35:26

Yeah, I would I would say so. I would I would I mean, yeah, I think so.

Khalila McCoy 35:30

Okay. No, that's good.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 35:32

They all go to church, you know. So I think they're all believers. They all got some faith background. Okay. But I don't I don't talk to them about those things. We'd rather talk about uh kids. Yeah, I yeah, because I don't want to get cussed out.

Khalila McCoy 35:47

Hey, that's that's a good thing too. Yeah, no, listen. Say in your lane.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 35:52

Yes, yes, yes. But yeah, they're all believers, and I think that that foundation helps, you know, because it also helps us to not cross certain lines as far as like how we talk to each other. Well, how I talk to them. I can't say how they talk to me, but how I talk to them. I learned that. Like, I asked God a couple years ago, I said, Lord, I need peace in the situations because it would get to me when I couldn't see my kids. It would get to me when, you know, they try to take me through mess. It would it would really, you know, get to me in a in a hard way, and it was hard not to express that anger. But then I I said, God, you told me to love those who even hate me. Like, how do I do that? So what I did, I started praying for, praying for them. Like literally, I started calling their names out. It was weird at first. It was it was weird at first. It was like, oh, I don't want to. But I started praying for them, and then it gave me a piece so that when even they started to maybe argue with me or say things, try to bring my character down, I thought, okay, well, you have a blessed day, and I'll talk to you later. You know, I I was able to switch over and not use that venom as venom for me to spit too. Right. I learned that everything's spiritual. Like everything we go through is spiritual. So although they might be trying to talk to me crazy or say something or keep my kids from me, that's spiritual. That's not them. It's the spirit in them. I gotta I gotta bind that spirit and talk and talk to that spirit, but I I can't bind that person as who it's not them, it's the spirit. Right. Once I saw things spiritually, like, okay, it helped me to have peace even when when they try to bring chaos. So I I don't I don't argue. Like once they start arguing, I said, you know, I'm not gonna argue. I don't I don't argue with people because I understand that nothing good comes from it. Never. You just argue, you might have said some things you didn't want to say that you or that you wanted to say that you shouldn't have said, and now all it is is more anger versus the fusing situation, and okay, I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna pray and pray about it.

Khalila McCoy 37:50

How do you encourage people who just aren't where you are in their faith yet or who don't, you know, believe in God or Jesus? What do you say to them when they're going through a tough time or a situation like that?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 38:00

I often say just give them a try. I think it's about the try. People think that when you come to Jesus or you come to God that you gotta be this perfect saint, that you're never gonna do something wrong again, that you gotta give up everything. And that's so far from the truth. Right. That is so far from you're not God it is, right? Because I would make it. I would have made it. But it's it's it's the it's the truth because it's like you're not saved by your actions. Right. You're not saved by your actions, you're only saved by grace and grace alone. Like you're only saved by God's grace, God's mercy. So once you know that you can't do nothing to get to God, then it's easier. Right. Yeah, you don't you don't have to be perfect to come to Christ. That dispel that, that that's a that's a false rumor. And the devil has to put put that city there. God only uses imperfect people. That's it. That's true. Look at the Bible. Look at the the things that's murderers and so much thieves and liars and cheaters. Everything in that joint. It's everything in that joint. Like the Bible's a crazy, if you really read that, it's it's the crazy story. So just know that God knows you're imperfect. That's why he died. That's why he died for your sins, because he knew you were imperfect. So you don't, so I when I tell people it's like give God a try. Because I can't, I can't tell anybody what else to do, because that's that's what I did. You know, I I can't say, you know, turn around three times and jump in the air and you should be all right. I I can't know. So that's the only that that peace that's surpassed understanding is real. It's real. So I tell people all the time, like, you know, give God a try. Give him five days, like of an honest try, like honest prayer, honest time with God. Give him five days. And I believe that once you open that door, I think he'll come in and you'll realize that he's real. I I had a I had a friend that um recently uh that I coach with, and he was an atheist, right? And um, so I'm talking to him, I practice, and you know, I guess I say, hey bro, you should pull up on me. I'm speaking this Sunday at church, and his eyes got real big. He was like, church. He was like, um, you know, I I don't, you know, really believe in God. I'm an atheist. I said, Oh no, it's cool, man. You know, we all got our different ways, you know what I mean? It's cool. I just give you an invite, you know what I mean. He was like, so the practice went on a little bit later, and then we got to like the end of practice. He came, he said, Tossy. I said, What's up, bro? He was like, Man, when I first got here to this school, you were very kind to me. You were nice to me, you had a conversation with me, you got to know me a little bit. And although I'm not a believer, he said, you know, I will, I'll, I'll come hear you speak. I'll I'll be there on Sunday. And he came. He actually, he actually came to church, was fresh, had a fresh little get up on. Had a it was a powerful man, it was a powerful that day. It was it was a very powerful service, and like the spirit was high. And he came to me afterwards and just said, man, chance. He was like, I ain't gonna lie to you, bro. This was one of the best experiences of my life. He was like, I never felt this way. He ended up telling me Monday at practice, he was like, I didn't want to tell you there, but he was like, I was crying in the back. I cried the way home. Uh-huh. And I was just like, man, crying, and I want to give God a chance. And he ended up becoming a believer. We prayed right there, I practice, we prayed right there, and he ended up, you know, becoming a believer.

Khalila McCoy 41:27

So amazing. What a testimony.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 41:29

Well it's like, it's possible, but you gotta give him a chance.

Khalila McCoy 41:32

Yes.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 41:33

And it's not gonna be sometimes it gets harder when you do. People think you, you know, you you go to God and all Rambo's.

Khalila McCoy 41:40

Everything becomes easy.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 41:41

A lot of times it gets rougher.

Khalila McCoy 41:43

Yeah.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 41:44

And because the enemy is is also like, no, come back this way. Like he's trying to fight you. And uh, you gotta just have that perseverance, that perseverance. And um, I'm just grateful that God has been using me. Yeah, little by little.

Khalila McCoy 41:57

You're a youth pastor now, right? How did how did you get into that part of it? Because I know you said you're coaching, so obviously you care for the young people.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 42:06

Yeah, yeah.

Khalila McCoy 42:06

So it's just like your faith in God kind of was at that next step for you.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 42:10

Yeah, so let me explain probably what what led to me being a youth pastor, which what which I said like 2020 was a rough year, kidding third, and all that. 22 was my roughest year of my life. By far the roughest year of my life. So, as I said, I coached football. So we had to do film on Sunday. But we watched film, you kind of analyzed your opponents and your game. But my youngest son lives in Pittsburgh, uh Chauncey Jr., he lives in Pittsburgh. So he had a football game that Sunday. So I went to his game. It was like 10 a.m., 10:30. He played and had a good game. I hugged him, you know, got some ice cream. Was on the road back to um Youngstown to go to our meeting. And I'm driving and then just driving and, you know, music playing. I get a ding on my phone, I look down. My Bible app goes off around 12 with a scripture today. Uh so I look at the scriptures. Romans 8, 28. That scripture says, For we know all things work together for the good of those that love God and are called according to his purpose. So I look at it, okay, whatever. Driving. So I'm getting closer to the exit from Pittsburgh to Ohio. And when I come around a bin, it's traffic on the highway, like backed up all the way on the highway. Because there's only one toll open. Okay. Why would they do that? I don't know. But it was only one toll open. And it's traffic, like literally on the highway. But I'm when I'm coming around the bin, I don't see the traffic. So when I see it, it's like, oh, so I hit my brake, my brakes don't go. I hit it again, my brakes don't go. Then I slam my brakes and it barely catches at the end, and it slides. It's it's it's cars to my left, cars to my right, and we're in like two barricades. So there's nowhere for me to go. Right. So I know they're about to crash. So I boom, I crash, and I hit the back of somebody's car, and like my ears start ringing, and I'm I'm you know, I'm busted. Up in my face, blood everywhere, and um I'm trying to move, but I can't move. I'm trying to get out the car, but I can't move. You know, I'm kind of like a little woozy and delirious, and um, I'm there for a little while. Somebody comes by knock on my door, are you okay? And I'm like, Yeah, I can't move. So I call my family and say, Hey, I've been in a car and said, I don't know where I'm at. And um, but on my first view, I see somebody carrying a kid crying. Like I see right like past me carrying a kid crying. And I started to like, you know, I hope that they're okay. Right. Like I said, I hope that this is okay. And now I'm like, I hope I didn't hurt anybody. And then so I'm wondering why I can't move my leg. So then the ambulance comes and the cops come and they pull me out of the car, and my leg is like excruciating. I broke my femur in a car accident. So my femur broke, my right femur. So they take me into the ambulance and they put me in there and they rush me to the hospital. And um, they cut my shorts open, cut my clothes open, and they they get me to the room. And then the doctor comes in and says, Your femur's broken. So we're gonna set it tonight, and then a couple of days later, we're gonna do surgery. So then after that, a cop comes in. Now I haven't had any medicine, any, you know, anesthesia. Yeah, and he comes in and he said, Were you on drugs? That's the first thing he said, Were you on drugs? I said, I said, no, sir. I'll just uh I tried to hit my break and it went out. He said, Well, you must have been on drugs. He said, Um, I said, no, sir, I wasn't on drugs. And so now I'm getting mad a little bit, but I'm not I'm trying to contain myself. My aunt is in the room. Thank God that my aunt was in the room. And um, he said, uh, well, it was a girl in that car accident, and she's hurt pretty bad. We don't think she's gonna make it. So it was like, like, what? It was like, so it was chilling. It was chilling. It was like, me? Mm-hmm. I said, no. So they they they set my leg and you know, you know, I go back to the room. This is this is the rough day of my life. This is how my day went. So in the morning of that day, like three days later, in the morning of that day, I had dialysis. Mm-hmm. Right? And then after dialysis, I had femur surgery.

Khalila McCoy 46:11

Wow.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 46:12

Same day, femur surgery. And after they wheeled me back in from the room with my femur surgery, my dad's in the room. And uh, he is crying. And I'm like, you know, I'm hurting in pain, I'm woozy from the surgery. I'm you know, they're giving me some morphine. I'm like, what's up, dad? He was like, I gotta tell you something, champ. What's up? He was like, uh, that little girl didn't make it. He said, That little that little girl didn't make it. And I was in a place that I've never been before. Like mentally. Like, I'm like, why me? Like, on top of dialysis, on top of my kidneys, on top of this, on top of my finances, on top of all that. Like, why me, Lord? I said, I I'll give up. I told God, I'm done. Like, take me. I got I'm done. I said, I'm done with faith, I'm done with praying, I'm done reading my Bible. Like, I'm done, take me, Lord. This is 2022. I said, I'm done, Lord. And for the next few days, my room was always dark. Like I told my family, do not come see me. Like, leave me alone. I need time alone. Room was dark. Then I get a phone call, and the state trooper say that I was facing 15 years of prison. 15 years of prison. And I'm like, how? They're like, 'cause we think we do on drugs.

Khalila McCoy 47:34

So they they they're your fault.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 47:36

Yeah, and somebody's dead. So now that's on my conscience. So I'm facing prison, broken femur, dialysis, all in the same time. All this is going on at the same time. And I'm just like so beaten and broken. Like so beaten and broken. And what was what's special about my family is they didn't care what I said. They still came.

Khalila McCoy 48:05

They came good. I'm so happy to hear that.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 48:08

They still came. I don't care, boy. I got a lot of it's like four dudes of my family. It's like only four or five of us, it's all aunties. And um, and and they came in and boy, it's dark in here. And they they they spoken to me. Okay. Uh my cousin Charisse spoken to me. Uh, my cousin Leah, my auntie Lane, my Aunt Marsha, my aunt Charlene. So many, so many people that came into that that time and spoke to me. So many people came in and just like that's wonderful, encouraged me. And then one night I was laying there and I was like, okay, God, if you're real, and I know you are, I need you. I need you now. Mentally, I need you. Physically, I need you, spiritually, I need, I need to spend time with you. I need you to show me you're real. And I started listening to worship music again. I started reading my Bible. I started to dive in prayer more and more. And as I began to get closer to God, He began to take some anxieties off, take some depression off. And then I got to that place where I was like, well, if I gotta go to jail, I can go to prison, I'm gonna tell somebody about Jesus in there. I will. I will, God. I committed my life to God. So then now that I go to dialysis, this and I've been doing this ever since. So now when I got the hospital, maybe like a two months later, I started going to dialysis. At dialysis now, I started devoted my whole time, my whole four hours to God. So I'm reading my Bible the whole time. I'm listening to worship music the whole time. I'm sending I send my family devotionals every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I sent you one, I think, one time. Yes. But I do that every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I send over 50 people devotionals every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And I said, Lord, I'm gonna commit my most painful time to you. And when I did that, blessings happened. So fast forward maybe like six months. And now we're starting to go to court. So it went from 15 years to three years because they found out that, hey, I wasn't on drugs. Right. And hey, I did put pressure on my brake.

Khalila McCoy 50:19

Okay, so they found out that the brakes weren't your Yeah, they found out all that was true.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 50:24

But they still, they, you know, they're gonna try to give me something. Right. So now it's three years for um vehicle or homicide. So I'm still like, okay, God, I thank you for the blessings of not having drugs in my system because I could have during that time, I still was smoking and stuff. So I could have been, thank God I wasn't smoking that day. Right. You know, I mean, or it could have been that. That'll change my whole trajectory of my life. So I we're in court and we had the pretrial hearing, and this is the first time that I meet their mother, the girl's mother. First time I ever meet her and the father. And I'm so like nervous and like there's nothing I could say that would bring the child back. Yeah. And the officer was lying to them and saying I was on drugs. So at first they had a lot of venom for me. And they put that on, they put that in the so I was getting talked about on social media, you know, every website. Yeah, real bad, real bad. Because they that's what that's what they that's what they told the public, because the officer told them that. Right. So now that is out there, and I'm getting called so many racial slurs and just so much that, you know, it was a it was a rough time. So we're in court, we're in court, and um the mu the father speaks and he has something to say. He's he's mad, but he has something. The mother speaks. So she says, Um, you know, Chauncey, you know, I didn't know what I was gonna say to you. Um you know, my daughter is gone, my life has changed forever. Um she said, and I had a lot of hate for you. A lot of hate for you. And because I was told that you were drunk. I was told that, you know, you know, you you were driving recklessly. And um, so I did have a lot of hate for you. But I found out those things weren't true, but I also found out who you were. I I found out how you are in your community, I found out about your kids, I found out about your coaching, I found out about I found out about the things that you do and that you're a man of faith. I found all those things out, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you. She said, What I want you to do is go home, and I want you to be able to go home, and I want you to be able to hug your kids. And have them a little tighter. And uh it was, and I I responded and I said, you know, I mean it was it was it wasn't a dry eye in that in that courtroom. We all were crying. I was crying and just sandhouse. I mean, I'll never get past that. Yeah. Like it'll always be a like Paul said, it's a thorn on my side. It'll always be there. Even sometimes when I see little girls with their mothers, I just I be like, uh, trying to break down. Yeah, because she didn't do anything wrong. You know, she didn't deserve that. Even though I couldn't change what happened. Like I wasn't drunk. I wasn't some days. I wish I was drunk. Like I haven't like I did that because I was drunk.

Khalila McCoy 53:13

Right.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 53:14

Like, not just the happy. Yeah, it was it was like, why this happened? Why my brace go out this time?

Khalila McCoy 53:21

Right.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 53:21

And so I I told I told her the mother that I and the father that I'm sorry and that I wish I could change things. Like I wish I had the power to change things. I said, but either way, whatever you guys need from me, whatever, whenever, like if I could be there for you in any way, call me. I get the mind for me. And I just said, I can't bring your daughter back. I can't. He said, but whatever I can do that will help your pain will ease some of your anxieties, some of your depression, you know, I give that to you, like whenever. And again, it was just very emotional. And even the judge had to take a little quick research. He was crying, the judge was crying. It was one of those moments where everybody was like, I'll just it was it's hard, it was hard to breathe. Just to to see to see a mother who's who's lost a kid, see a father who's lost a kid, and you're you're a parent yourself, to see those things and to just know that it ain't supposed to go that way. They're supposed to bury me, you know, and just to understand those things. So I was it was a rough, rough day. But it's miracles in that. Like she spoke up for me.

Khalila McCoy 54:36

Yeah.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 54:38

She could have said, I want him in jail, I want him in prison, I want bad for him, he ruined my family. But on the contrary, somebody who was my enemy who showed grace and love towards me when they didn't have to.

Khalila McCoy 54:54

And I love it was because she saw your character, she saw who you were.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 54:59

Yes.

Khalila McCoy 54:59

And like I feel like almost like the embodiment of what you know, Christ, of what who he calls us to be, like, live out your faith, don't just talk about it. She saw you living a life that she knew was positive.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 55:12

Yes. And she uh and even the judge said, I've never seen so many people here for a pretrial. It was like my whole family was there. My whole family was there, like uh so many, like 30, 40, 50 people were there just for the pre-trial. Like it was like, you must be loved. The judge said that he said, You must be a loved young man. And everybody said, Yes, we out loud. Yeah, we love my love child. You know, black folks, they're gonna say something.

Khalila McCoy 55:36

I can only imagine all the aunties.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 55:38

Oh man, I love them girls though. So we go, we we recess, right? And then we go. My lawyer calls me outside and shout out to uh Demetrius Macretis, he's a great lawyer in this area. A great dude. We put he's a little older. I was a freshman, he was a senior playing football. He also played for Ohio State, but he's a great, great lawyer, great person. Because I didn't have money during that time, and he still represented me. He still looked out for me. So I always big up him. And if you need a lawyer in the area, he's a he's the one to go get. So He called me to the to the outside. Nobody's out there but me. And him. He was like, his eyes were wide, he was like, chance. He was like, man, I've never seen this happen before. I was like, what? What? He was like, after your testimony and her testimony, and the circumstances that really were behind the accident, they won't, they don't want to give you any prison time.

Khalila McCoy 56:34

Oh my goodness.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 56:36

And you're not even getting a felony, you're getting a misdemeanor, and you just gotta do probation for a while.

Khalila McCoy 56:41

That was a miracle.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 56:42

I went back in the room and I told my family, and it was the joy and emotions. Yes. And just like, wow. Not even a felony. And I was just thanking God for all that he did, and I had to go to processing to like sign some papers for my probation. And the mother was walking past, and um she stopped me and she was like, You hug your babies? I said, Yes, ma'am. And she gave me a hug. And we hugged for a long time, and she cried on my shoulder, and I just said, Thank you for your grace. And um months later, she sent me a message on Facebook and she said, My family doesn't want me to, you know, do this, but I'm a woman, and you know, I've been having dreams about you. And I I I'm not really a believer in God, but I would like for you to pray for me. And, you know, we messaged a little bit, and you know, we haven't, we, we, we haven't got to meet yet, but she wanted to meet. We sit down with me and pray together. Like, all that has happened. And she wanted to sit and pray with me. And I just thank God for her grace. I thank God, I hope God is blessing her in ways that she can't imagine. I know that it's still rough because her daughter was only, I think, one turning two.

Khalila McCoy 58:06

Okay.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 58:06

Yes, um, a little girl. I know that's still hard on her. It'll be hard on me forever. So, but I think I thank her for letting God work to her and give me grace. Because she didn't have to. And so the fact that I came out of that situation first facing 15 years of prison. To three, to nine, yeah. It's hard for you. Somebody tell me God ain't real. It's hard for me. My experiences. And then after that, I'm healing up, getting better, getting better, and broke my femur again.

Khalila McCoy 58:36

How'd you bring it again?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 58:38

It just broke. Like I was walking, I was cool, I had a cane, I was cool, and one day it started hurting. Oh, like, dog. I go to the uh doctor, he like, your screw broken, yo. It's like again, I gotta go back to rehab again. Oh no. In a hospital again. And it's like, after that, femur surgery again, rehab again, months and months and months again. And this time they said, I might never like really walk normal again. But God is a healer, man.

Khalila McCoy 59:11

I feel like, yeah, when you start to hear these things at this point, are you just like, okay, thank you.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 59:15

I'm gonna take this up with God. Like now, now I'll start to accept my afflictions. Yes. Now I was like, okay, I know that something better is coming from there. So one day I go to church. I got invited to uh my home church where I used to go. I was going to a different church. I was going to church in Youngstown, but this time the pastor invited me to come to New Jerusalem. So I said, I'll come. And um, I gave a testimony that day. My kids did too. They all gave testimonies. And the pastor said, I've never seen kids like that. I've never seen a father like what his kids like that. And um he said, You should start coming here more. And I didn't want to, because it's an older church, and I go to a younger church that's turned up a little bit. You know, so it's like, oh God. I said, but I'll I but I'll respect it. So he called me to his house one day, and then his pastor Al Tamaro. He said, Chauncey, you know, I don't do this often, but I believe God is calling you to more than what you're doing. And I was like, okay, cool. You want me to be like a deacon or something at the church? He's like, nah, I want you to be a youth pastor. And I was like, I don't have no experience. I said, You sure me? I got baby mama's pastor. You sure? He was like, No, I see it in you. I thought that night. God kind of led me that night. And so I said, I'm gonna pray about it. So I went home and uh I called my astral pastor, Mark Jackson from the light church. I'm like, he ain't gonna let me leave. Like he's gonna say, no, I need you here. Right. So I was like, what's up? I said, Pastor Mark, what's up? And I said, What's up, shots? I said, man, uh, I gotta ask you something. Like this pastor Warren has asked me to be the youth pastor there and called me to start doing ministry. What do you think about that? I'm thinking I'll say, nah, we we could do that here. He was like, No, I think that's great for you. I was like, what? He was like, no. He said, that is you are that. He said, you are that. And I believe that you can start your own thing and I and I'm gonna support you. And I'm like, no. Like, that's all you were supposed to say. No, stay, stay. Right. And once he gave me the push and I prayed about it, and I got a piece with it, because maybe four months before, somebody prophesied that to me. Okay. They said that they saw me, they don't know how, but they saw me in a suit on stage talking the gospel. Like four months ago, four months before it. And five months later, I was on stage. In the suit, talking the gospel. And ever since then, I've been a youth pastor, and and I think maybe the church only had about three youth there. Now they have now we have about 30. Okay. And uh I think seven of them are getting baptized in two weeks.

Khalila McCoy 1:01:52

That's awesome.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:01:53

Please God. You know, some of them have one of the kids, his name is Gavin. He had a car accident, a really bad one. And my first message was about that. And he started to come to church, and he was having mental battles and and going to like, you know, mental hospitals and all those things. Uh, since then, he hasn't been to a mental hospital. He's been doing better. And a lot of kids have come to Christ. So I just thank God for the ministry he's given me. And I've always been a decent speaker. Um, I've never been too shy. You know, that I came up to you. Like, give me the ball.

Khalila McCoy 1:02:23

Yeah. You're very outgoing.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:02:25

Yeah. So I I got that from my dad. I just I'm naturally my dad's a very confident man, so I naturally got that from my dad. So I thought I would be like nervous and like out of place. I mean, like being like, is this message gonna be good enough? Like, right. Because I don't, you know, I don't I try to study different pastors and preachers. I'm like, is this gonna be good enough? Like, do I got enough in there? Mm-hmm. What should I say? And God kind of guided me, the Holy Spirit guided me to say, your first first summer should be about your testimony. Tell people what you've been through.

Khalila McCoy 1:02:59

Yeah.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:03:00

Tell people how you got through. Tell people how they said you'll never walk normal again. Now you walk smoother than ever. Like, tell people those things. Tell about, and I did, and it was a very like explosive experience. It was a great service. And I think four or five people got saved that day. So it was it was beautiful. So ever since then I've been, you know, the youth pastor, and I'm learning and growing and learning and growing and making mistakes, but getting better and learning. So I'm just grateful that God has put me in a position to do that, to be a leader of young young people.

Khalila McCoy 1:03:34

Yeah. Sounds like they need you. You're a good role model for them as well. So that's good. I try to be.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:03:39

I try to, but I'm real though. I don't think that's what people need.

Khalila McCoy 1:03:43

Like people don't want the fluff. They don't want the like, oh, like we talked about before, just like, oh yeah, I did this and now everything's perfect because they don't see that in their own life, so then they can't relate to it, like the Instagram version of life.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:03:56

Yes, you gotta be real. And I tell people I say it often, just because I'm on this platform don't mean I'm perfect. I ain't sinless or I don't make mistakes. We are all sinners. We all have our own struggles, we have our own battles. I'm just trying to do what's right. Yeah. And you can too. You're not gonna be perfect on this walk. You'll never be perfect, but you can't be righteous, you can't do it the right way. And I try to put that message out. Even my life, even in coaching and in the community, I try to always be transparent. Like, just do your best. God, God doesn't require all of you, He requires your best.

Khalila McCoy 1:04:31

Right.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:04:31

That's it. If you do your best, that's your best.

Khalila McCoy 1:04:34

He's got the rest, right?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:04:35

He got everything else. He does. So that's been beautiful. Yeah.

Khalila McCoy 1:04:40

Gosh, I learned so much about you today. I didn't know all the things that you were going through and dealing with. I see your messages, I see your smile on there, but like there's so much that comes with that.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:04:51

And most people don't know. They would think my life is like peaches and cream.

Khalila McCoy 1:04:54

Yeah.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:04:55

Because of how how my person, even at the at dialysis, like when I see people there, they are missing limbs, they are crying and screaming because they're cramping and they are delirious. And I walk in there and I'm in there playing my music, and I'm different because God has set me apart. Yeah. You know, and even at dialysis, I pray for people at dialysis, at dialysis, like with needles in my arm. But the other hand, I'm praying for somebody. Like I've done that for the nurses, for other patients, for the doctors. So God has been using me through my affliction every step of the way. And I'm just grateful that, you know, even in spite of, in spite of, you know, in spite of his affliction, in spite of the hard times, God has shown himself faithful every single time. Even in finances. I got four boys. Four. And my backtown ain't crazy.

Khalila McCoy 1:05:47

But never have we all those needs are provided.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:05:50

Never have we needed anything.

Khalila McCoy 1:05:51

Yes.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:05:52

Never. So God has just shown me. I know that things are going to get better, and things have been getting better little by little from a period in life. But I know that God. Is going to take care of me. The Bible says the Lord is my shepherd, but that means I have everything I need. That's it. It don't say nothing else. The Lord is my shepherd. I have everything I need. That's enough for me. And he's been that. He's been that. But I've made him my shepherd, though. See, a savior can a savior. Anybody can be a savior. You save somebody. Right. But for them to be your Lord, that means you listen to them. That means you obey them. That means you follow them.

Khalila McCoy 1:06:30

Yes, you let them guide.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:06:32

And that's what I have. Yes, God is my savior. Jesus is my savior for sure. But he is my Lord. He is my friend. He is my father. I spend time with him. And in that time, nothing but peace has come over me. Even when chaos is around me. Like I've been through chaos in football this year. With my school going through some crazy stuff. Like I've been through chaos. And it's still like I never lost my faith because I know what God, I've had the experience to know that God can do things that are impossible to be done.

Khalila McCoy 1:07:04

So what's your final message to the people, your big takeaway that you want them to have from hearing your story? Where do they go from here? How do they arise?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:07:14

So to hear my story and to hear a little about me, and I want people to know that to not give up. You you might, your trials might look nothing like my trials, but you still got trials. You still got tribulations. You still got things that you're gonna go through that are gonna be hard. It's gonna be difficult. You know, you're gonna have battles, you know, the enemy is gonna try to get in your mind and get you to say, My life is terrible. I won't make it, I have nothing, nobody loves me. He wants to get in your ear and say those things, but that's a lie. God has you, and God has people for you. You might not you might not want those people, but he has people for you that's going to help you get through. Because that's what it is what I'm talking about.

Khalila McCoy 1:07:58

No, I like that. It's funny, I didn't think of it that way, but you're right. You want somebody in your life right now who that positive that you're gonna do.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:08:05

But you're like, no, you ain't you don't kick like that though. You ain't doing that, you ain't doing certain things. God has somebody for you. Because God always uses people to get you out of situations. You know, the Bible says, confess your sins to one another and you'll be forgiven. Like, you gotta tell people things that you're going through. And so what I would say is like, trust God no matter what. If you don't believe in God today, say a prayer, you know, put a prayer out there and say, Lord, I'm gonna try. I don't know if you're real. I don't know if you, you know, show me you're real, give me a chance, and I will, if you are real, I will dedicate my life to you. And once you, once you put God first, everything else will be yours that you need. You know, the Bible says in Matthew 6 33, you know, seek ye first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. So seek God first. Whatever you do, we we got a job situation coming up and you don't know what job to pick, pray about it. Talk to God about it. Your kids acting a fool, pray about it. Daily. Your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your husband, your wife getting on your your last serves. Pray about it. Bring it to God first, keep doing the work. And He will He will handle everything else. You know, I didn't understand that day when I got in a car accident why Romans 8 28 popped on my phone.

Khalila McCoy 1:09:26

Yes.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:09:26

And I and I and I didn't realize it till about two years later. Literally all things work together. Work together for your good. If you it if you allow God, if you allow him to be all things, everything.

Khalila McCoy 1:09:44

I'm so excited to see like what happens in the mom's life, like the fact that she's reaching out to you and wanting you to pray for her. Like, yeah, that's just another level of God moving. And we don't even know like who in that courtroom was also affected by that.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:09:57

Yeah, because it was a miracle. I mean, if you was in that building and you felt a miracle, if you knew what happened that day, you you you had to believe God is real.

Khalila McCoy 1:10:06

Yeah.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:10:06

Because things don't just happen by happenstance like that. So I didn't understand in 2022 why that scripture popped. Because I'm thinking in my head, I remember getting to the hospital, like, all things, this is this isn't gonna work out for my good. I remember thinking that I see that all things are working for my good. And God was just putting that there to let me give me peace. You know, it's gonna be rough, man. You're gonna have a season. You're gonna you're gonna have a season that not too many people on earth have. But I chose you to do some things that most people on earth can't do either. And since then, people have been healed from diseases, and so much has happened that God has used me for, and all things are working for your good. So I would tell people out there, trust God, give God a chance. And when you're going through things, talk to somebody. Talk to family, talk to somebody you trust, and don't spend time alone a lot. Like get around people that love you and pick you up. Not anybody, the people that pick you up and love you. Right. And if you do that, God will do the rest.

Khalila McCoy 1:11:04

I love that. Where can people find more about you or listen to your videos?

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:11:10

Um Facebook, uh Chon C. Braun Harris Sr. Um, Instagram at X is last L-A-S-T underscore Chan C-H-A-U-N-C-E. My TikTok is C V Harris5, I believe. I'm not sure if it's that, but I think it is.

Khalila McCoy 1:11:27

We'll find out so we can see it.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:11:30

Yeah, but that's um social media new jewels of fellowship for every third Sunday. I usually speak. Um, so if you're in the you know, Mahoney Trumbull, Cleveland area, pull up on me on Sunday and pull up, pull up on me.

Khalila McCoy 1:11:44

Yes.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:11:44

And um, I would enjoy we enjoy to have you. So that's that's what I'm doing now. I also just got part of a fatherhood initiative in the area. I just I've got chosen to be the lead for this area, which is a beautiful thing. Again, nothing God takes you through is wasted. Right. Because all the issues that I had as a father with, you know, their their the mothers and all that, and and the things I've been doing as a father is gonna help me help people, you know, that's dealing with similar things. So God doesn't waste anything. So I'm part of the fatherhood initiative in the area. So if you're a father and you are kind of have some struggles, yeah, give give me a give me a give me a ring. My email is cvharris88 at gmail.com. But uh the fathers in Mahoney and Trouble County, I helped them out. So if you need help, you know, I'm your guy.

Khalila McCoy 1:12:31

Awesome. All right, Chauncey. Thank you.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:12:34

Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm gonna say thank you for uh allowing me to be on your your platform. You've always been a beautiful girl and a beautiful student.

Khalila McCoy 1:12:41

Thank you.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:12:42

From the get-go, you always been. I I felt bad beating you in basketball sometimes. I did.

Khalila McCoy 1:12:46

I felt bad because you're maybe I'm just really nice and I let you win. Okay, okay.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:12:51

Yeah, we'll we'll say that for your viewers.

Khalila McCoy 1:12:53

No, it's not true. I'll be um I appreciate you.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:12:58

You know, I I thought about doing podcasts so many times, and uh a few people have approached me to do podcasts, and I've said no every time. You know, um, but uh, you know, like I say, you've always been kind, you've always been generous. I appreciate that. And I I pray that whatever you whatever you're doing in life teaching and your podcast, I pray nothing but growth to come from there. I pray nothing but favor to fall upon it. And I actually want to pray before I get off. Yes, please. But I I just I just I'm grateful for you and and I felt comfortable um speaking with you because of your character, your integrity. So you're a blessing as well.

Khalila McCoy 1:13:34

Thank you. So I don't know where you are in your faith journey, but as someone who believes in Jesus and is always trying to grow and improve our relationship, this episode moved me. I recorded this seven months ago, and I still will often think about Chauncey's story. This conversation made me think of a song called Waymaker. You can listen to it on Spotify. And part of the song says, Even when I don't see it, you're working. And it's talking about God. Even when I don't feel it, you're working, you never stop, you never stop working. It's so nice to be reminded that God is still doing miracles and he loves us and is always there, especially when we don't understand why life is going the way it is. Think about Chauncey and the accident, right? Think about Chauncey continuing to get sick so he can't get on the kidney transplant list. He might not feel it and he might not see it all the time, but God is working in him and through him. And he loves Chauncey and everyone Chauncey comes in contact with. I do echo Chauncey's call to rise and encourage you to give God a chance. But I want to encourage you and everybody, no matter what your faith is, to make a choice, just like Big Chaunce did when things got hard. We make choices every day. We make the choice to be good, the choice to be kind, make the choice to be positive, make the choice to see others in a positive light and assume good intentions over a personal attack. I also want to encourage you that if you're going through something, to fight. Chauncey made the choice to fight for his life, to fight for himself, for his kids, for his family, and for his friends. Find those people who will pour into you, who will speak life over you and encourage you to move forward. And if you're that person who can do that for others, go out and share that love with someone. If you are someone who has joy and whose life is going well and you feel like you're on the mountaintop, stay humble, stay grateful, and then share that joy with others. Send that text. Let people know that you're thinking about them and just be encouraging. I want to challenge all of us to rise up and be more and do more than we ever thought was possible. I cannot wait to hear and read what you thought about this episode. So take your time, write out your thoughts in a comment, send me a message, and definitely share this episode with someone who you know will be inspired by it. All right, you guys, before you move through the rest of your day, Chauncey is gonna send us off with a prayer.

Chauncey Harris Sr. 1:16:20

Father God, thank you for your love today. Thank you for your grace, thank you for your mercy, thank you for your kindness, Jesus. Thank you for the opportunity to give you glory through our testimony, our stories, our trials and tribulations. I pray, God, that you will bless this platform, continue to expand it in the name of Jesus. That people who are going through mental battles and things they're going through and situations, let them find this podcast, find this art that my friend has made. And I pray God that you bless it and that you bless them through it. I pray, God, in the name of Jesus, that you bless her, touch her mind, her body, her spirit, touch her students that she teach. I pray God that you increase and enlarge her territory, Lord. I pray God that anybody that watches this, grain faith and knowing that you have them no matter what the situation is, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what they're going through, that you have a plan and a purpose for their life, that you have good things for them, Lord. But sometimes you got to go through hard times to get to those good things. And I pray God that during those hard times, during those stresses, during those rough days, that you give them peace that surpasses all understanding, that you give them joy, you give them a sense of a hope and a future. Let them know that you have them, that you will not withhold any good thing for them. Lord, we just thank you for being God. Thank you for being our Savior. Thank you for loving us in spite of all our shortcomings. And I pray, God, that you bless this day, bless the viewers, bless the hosts, bless the platform, and just give be with us. Lord, we love you, we thank you, and we bless you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.