Testimonials
Shon Bruellman, the author of Anchors Aweigh, isn’t just an insightful writer but a vessel of God’s work in action. This isn’t a book that sits on a shelf; it’s alive, moving, and transforming. I’ve been walking this journey with him, and what’s remarkable is that Shon doesn’t just guide with words but he steps into the trenches with me.
Today my wife came home and said, “You’re really invested in this book!” I told her, she has no idea what this book is really doing to me. Most authors write a book and leave you to figure it out, but Shon is coaching me through the cold, literally sitting beside me in the ice bath while I work through the material.
A few days into this journey, my wife and I were driving, and I reached over, grabbed her hand, and asked her if we could pray and we did, right there in the car. Now I don’t do stuff like that but I felt God’s presence so strongly, I started to cry. Later that night after the ice bath we were getting warmed up and I turned to Shon and said, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!” LOL I realize it’s God moving through him and the cold water and the lessons to get me breaking chains, getting courage, and finding true freedom.
The ice bath isn’t comfortable and it’s not meant to be but I am growing.
This book isn’t just a story but a call to take a journey, and a hand reaching out from God Himself through Shon to help me step into freedom. —Spenser
"I truly hope that others will step outside of comfort's grasp and join Anchors Aweigh as well!"
Journaling tonight I felt a sense of fullness that other things in life don't give me. It's hard to explain but I just felt like there was a powerful presence when writing things down. This program I believe is completely life changing. And on the other side of comfort, is a life that's driven with purpose and intention. I love how this material isn't about gathering at church eating doughnuts and drinking coffee, it's about intentionally suffering so that we can have a very small glimpse of Christ being beaten with a bone chain, humiliated, dehydrated, and stabbed with a spear. It's about fearing God and surrendering completely. When I get in the ice, everything in me wants to get out pretty much right away. But if I breathe deeply and think about why I am getting in the ice and think about Christ's death, it shows me how little of suffering I am actually enduring. It just amazes me how God, infinitely powerful, is such an amazingly kind entity to send himself in human form to be slaughtered to pay the price for me deciding to continually watch porn over and over again. It amazes me how infinitely massive our universe is as well. We're so fortunate to have a good and loving God. I truly hope that others will step outside of comfort's grasp and join Anchors Aweigh as well! —Caleb
"I allowed shame and bitterness to take root until I had to smoke weed to forget about it. That pattern continued until day 1 of Anchors Aweigh."
Where have I returned to “Fishing” because I believed I was disqualified like Peter?
In Fall of 2025, my wife, Erin was taken away by child protective services. As part of her schizoaffective disorder, she sincerely believed that I physically abused her. She told neighbors and family members that I beat and raped her. She even told the police. Though I, and everybody who knew me knew that was not true, it started to affect me.
I would go on my daily walk around the block, and instead of thinking, “I am so grateful to live in such a beautiful neighborhood,” I would often think, “These people f$*@'ing hate me.” Then I would ruminate on that.
Everyday, I would walk around the block and say the same thing. Soon, I actually started to believe the lies that were being told about me. From there, I began believing I was not worthy of friendships, so I stopped reaching out. The devil told me, “Nobody cares about your f%$ed up family.” I allowed shame and bitterness to take root until I had to smoke weed to forget about it. That pattern continued until day 1 of Anchors Aweigh. I am happy to say those thoughts have no place in my head now. I am free from alcohol and weed. I now walk around the block and say hi to everybody I pass. I do not speculate on whether they like me or not, I simply say “Hello.” —Eric