Hi, I am Johnathan Hurkmans. I am the owner and proprietor of Big Bear’s Forge. Almost 10 years ago, I found myself at a crossroads in life.

As someone who grew up in the church (and with multiple ordained ministers in my family circle) I found myself called to ministry, but, at the same time, felt called to join the US Navy. I could not figure out how this was supposed to work but, being an Eagle Scout and very involved in JROTC in high school, I knew I was well prepared for military service. So, when I visited the Navy Recruiter and he explained the Religious Program Specialist rate (or B720 for a week, if anyone remembers that) I knew it was a perfect fit for me.

Four years later, I was discharged the week after my deployment ended. My new wife of two years and I were forced to live in an RV because all the plans we had for civilian life fell through. The wonderful co-owner of my father’s business stole all his money and disappeared. This business was the key to allowing my wife and I an opportunity to land on our feet. Instead, we fell face-first into the dusty old bed of a 20+ years old RV mattress every night for a year. During this year, I discovered that I was not done processing a few incidents of my time served. Two years later I would be diagnosed with severe PTSD and anxiety. Life only seemed to be getting harder for my little family.

One day, with help from a wonderful friend, I managed to get a desk job at a bank. There were two catches, though. The first being, they would only hire me if I did a period through a temp agency first. Second was, it was the collection department. I flourished there for about a year before they decided to fire me halfway through my wife’s first pregnancy – and her boss subsequently decided to fire her a week before her due date. Both firings came without warning or any form of counseling to let us know that something was not working. Luckily, I had helped get a good friend, and shipmate, hired at the bank with me and he was our roommate, so he was able to pick up a little slack until I was able to start getting the G. I. Bill.

It turned out, however, that getting fired and going to school was the best thing for me. This allowed me to slow down and realize that I was becoming crippled by my mental health issues. I found that it had slowly permeated my life and was making it impossible for me to deal with the abundance of stress that was already present in my life. Thus, I decided to start forging.

No, this was not an incredibly random decision. In fact, I had been studying various forms of forge work throughout my time in the Navy. So, I decided to put this knowledge to use and a very surprising thing happened. It made me happy! I realized that there was something about getting a hunk of steel white-hot and beating it with a hammer until it was something beautiful; it was a very therapeutic process. It allowed me to work through difficult emotions and allowed me to get a better handle on the situation. Even more amazingly, it helped me get closer to God! I began to understand that nothing starts out perfect, and the heat and pressure of life is God making you into something wonderful and unique.

Throughout my time working with counselors, I discovered that the only advice given is worldly advice, especially with government organizations. This creates a big issue for Christians seeking help from someplace other than the Church, which is why I was thankful to find a therapeutic hobby that worked for me. Forging allows me to reflect upon myself and my beliefs while also allowing relief from the stress and anxiety that I currently face. One day, I hope to share this opportunity with others, but, for now, will continue to build Big Bear’s Forge and therapy homestead. Continue to check us out for more of our story and more information on art therapy!