1 00:00:25,780 --> 00:00:28,580 This episode is powered by Outpost Roasters. 2 00:00:28,580 --> 00:00:31,100 Small batch, high quality coffee with soul. 3 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:35,320 Outpost Roasters in Johnson City specializes in freshly roasted, 4 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:38,720 small batch, ethically sourced, fair trade local coffee. 5 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:40,960 That's what sets them apart from the big guys. 6 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,240 They work directly with small farms and co-ops to ensure 7 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:48,480 responsible practices and rich, balanced flavor in every single 8 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:50,440 cup. Whether it's early mornings or 9 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:54,320 late nights, their 12 ounce bags deliver bold, smooth coffee at a 10 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,680 totally fair price. Head to outpostroastersjc.com to 11 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,160 explore their blends and single origins. 12 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:05,040 Outpost Roasters coffee that's definitely worth waking up for. 13 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:09,480 OK, all right. Morning, Lou. 14 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:11,080 Good morning. How are you? 15 00:01:11,320 --> 00:01:14,120 I am awesome, I'm awesome. You may help you with that 16 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,000 intro. Well, what I would like you to 17 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:21,320 do is go ahead and say your name and just a little. 18 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,240 Well, first of all, I guess you can talk about smash meals or 19 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,360 you can talk about church, but just go ahead and give a little 20 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:29,760 intro. OK, cool. 21 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,000 So my name is Louis Kaiser. If you didn't know that most 22 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,920 people call me Lou. My dad's Louis. 23 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:37,800 I'm Lou. My son we call LB. 24 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,240 He's the third. OK, so let's see. 25 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,240 I've been a United Methodist pastor since I was 18 years old 26 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:51,840 and I love being a pastor and few years ago, eight years ago 27 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:56,280 and back to my current current. I don't know if that's the right 28 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,080 word, but my wife at the time and I started Smash Mills and 29 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,880 now I own it by myself. We're not we're not nonprofit. 30 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,760 We're a gluten free meal prep company. 31 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,919 Also do catering currently serve 2 churches in our area in Bluff 32 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:12,440 City and right outside of Bristol. 33 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:17,320 And two kids and they're amazing. 34 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:19,880 They turned 16 on Friday. No, Thursday. 35 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:20,840 Yeah. So they're. 36 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,160 Yeah. Boy and girl, LB and Daisy. 37 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,480 They turned 16 tomorrow. Oh my gosh, yeah. 38 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,960 Well, and this morning was a little sad for you. 39 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:35,360 Yeah, it was sad 'cause you know, you, you take them to 40 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:37,560 they're born, right? I drove them home from the 41 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:41,080 hospital and it was February. They were born February 26th. 42 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,920 They were five weeks early. Kind of funny story. 43 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:47,760 I'll get to the 16 a second. So we, we go in on the 25th 44 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:49,960 because she wasn't feeling well and she had a doctor's 45 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:52,840 appointment and she had to take this urine test. 46 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:54,760 And then they call us back and they're like, hey, you know, 47 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,840 there's some something going on and if you feel kind of weird, 48 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,600 call us back. So it's like 9:00 at night and 49 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:02,560 she's like, look, I'm feeling weird. 50 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:04,880 So I called the doctor and the doctor was like, well, just come 51 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:06,960 on out of the hospital. We lived in malls night at the 52 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:08,480 time. So we drove to Johnson City to 53 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,240 the specialty hospital. And before we left, she was 54 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:12,400 like, hey, are we going to take the dog? 55 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,400 Because the dog went everywhere with us at this time. 56 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,440 Could we have kids? And I was like, no, no, no, 57 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:18,960 let's leave the dog just in case. 58 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:20,480 So we get to the specialty hospital. 59 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:21,680 Like, hey, you're going to spend the night. 60 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,880 So, you know, as a dude, I just went to sleep right on the couch 61 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:28,320 and I don't have anything to do. And they checked her all night 62 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:29,360 long. The next morning they wake up 63 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:31,360 and it's her birthday, February 26. 64 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,280 And they were like, Hey, congratulations, you know, happy 65 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:36,240 birthday. Got good news and bad news. 66 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:37,920 Which one you want first? And she's like, well, that's the 67 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,120 bad news. You can't stay at this hospital. 68 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,320 You got to go to the Med center. What's what's the good news? 69 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:45,320 And like, well, we're going to need to take your babies today 70 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,320 on your birthday. So February 26th, 2010, they 71 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,000 were born. But so they were like, do you 72 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:53,280 want to do you want an ambulance? 73 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,440 And I was like, no, we don't need an ambulance to go from the 74 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:57,920 specialty hospital to the Medical Center. 75 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,520 It's just right on the road. They're like, OK, Are you sure? 76 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,320 And I'm like, yeah, So her and I aren't thinking it's a big deal 77 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:05,840 at all. Yeah, we're just like moving to 78 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,960 another hospital. So we go out and get in the car, 79 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:11,160 we drive and I'm like kind of hungry. 80 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,800 So I go to go to Hardee's and they had like the two for 222 81 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,600 bacon, egg and cheese biscuits. So we pull through the drive 82 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:19,600 through, we get to the hospital and we just wait in the parking 83 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:20,880 lot. We call our parents. 84 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:22,920 Hey, today's going to be the day we're going to have the babies. 85 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:27,960 And I finished both my biscuits. We take our time, we walk down 86 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:29,680 to the hospital. I didn't even drop her off the 87 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:30,960 door. Like, you know, walk down to the 88 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,040 hospital, there's a whole team of surgical people waiting on us 89 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:34,960 and they're like, where you been? 90 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:38,680 I'm like, I went to get biscuits and they were like, she's having 91 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:43,480 the babies right now. And we went from the door to the 92 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,160 surgical room. Wow. 93 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:47,880 Like, yeah. And on the way, they put gowns 94 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,160 on me and they put gowns on her as soon as she got in there. 95 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,680 And we had the babies within like 15 minutes of us getting to 96 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:55,400 the hospital. Well, did they end up telling 97 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,360 you why it was so? Preeclampsia. 98 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,360 But nobody told us that, you know, and so we didn't think 99 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:02,360 anything of it. Yeah. 100 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,040 But so we, we were in the hospital for about a week. 101 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:09,400 They were five weeks premature. And the day we were going home, 102 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,800 it's snowing. So I got a 45 minute drive to 103 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,120 from John City to Mawson and like I'm doing like 20 miles an 104 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,960 hour, right? And it's snowing and like 105 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,560 there's cars and I'm slamming on the brakes, like nervous is all 106 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:23,240 get out. So, you know, and I'm in this 107 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,720 morning when I woke up, that was my vision of me taking them home 108 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,200 from the hospital. And today I got up and drove 109 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:34,280 them to their to the high school, you know, and 110 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:35,920 technically it's the last time I'm going to drive them to 111 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,080 school. Yeah, because tomorrow morning 112 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:40,520 they're skipping the first period so they can go get their 113 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:44,520 driver's license. And you know, for, for me as a 114 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,320 dad, like I remember driving them home from the hospital. 115 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:49,360 I remember driving them to preschool for the first time, 116 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:52,120 kindergarten for the first time, you know, all the way just 117 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:55,880 driving them everywhere. And now, you know, they, my son 118 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,840 has a 72 Ford F-100. That's why he wanted an old 119 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:00,640 truck. So he found him. 120 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:04,480 One of my girls got like a 2013 Ford Escape and like like 121 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:08,280 technically tomorrow they don't need me to drive them anywhere. 122 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:10,680 And so on the way to school today, I was I was crying a 123 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,560 little bit and I said to Daisy, and I'll be I said before you 124 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,080 get out, just just to warn you when you get out the car today, 125 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,440 I'm giving you all the hugs and kisses like like it's a big 126 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:21,840 deal. But you know, I love my 127 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:23,200 children. They're, they're incredible. 128 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,920 My day, my little girl, she's always, she'd been in gymnastics 129 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,000 and then she at six years old, she won the state championship 130 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,240 for her little gymnastics and she was competing against like 131 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,400 15 to 16 year olds. And my son's been a swimmer. 132 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,720 Now they play golf together and they're, they're, they're so 133 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:43,280 unique. You know, you have twins. 134 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:47,480 You never know how you, you, you raise them at the same time, 135 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:49,560 right? I mean, potty trained at the 136 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:51,200 same time, learn to talk at the same time. 137 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:53,840 You know, they went from cribs to beds at the same time. 138 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,360 Everything's at the same time, but then you, you get to this 139 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,680 moment and you're like, how are they going to be different? 140 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:03,400 You know, I remember early on somebody said because you 141 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,040 couldn't really tell apart early on when they had clothes on. 142 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,480 And somebody said, how do you tell apart when they're when 143 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,400 they don't have clothes on? I was like, oh God, boy, girl, 144 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:16,720 you know, but you know, as they've grown up, like it was 145 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,120 amazing because we didn't do anything different. 146 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,800 And to see them progress and have their own personalities. 147 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,160 It's been really, I think been amazing for for me as a dad. 148 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:29,000 Yeah. Like to see that and to see them 149 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,120 come with who they are. Last night, LB went up to a girl 150 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:33,640 on a date. Of course I had to drive them, 151 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,160 you know. So, yeah, the dad met us at the 152 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:37,560 Drake's parking lot. And yeah. 153 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,680 And of course I jumped fast and, and he jumps out of the car 154 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:42,280 'cause I'm on. I'm like, oh, cool, the dad's 155 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:43,160 here. I'm gonna meet him, meet the 156 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:44,640 girl. I never met the girl for her. 157 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,840 And I shake his hand and, and I'm like, hey, I'm Lou Kosher. 158 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:49,240 Of course my son was on the other side. 159 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:51,880 He's coming around and he had a rose for the little girl and, 160 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,400 and he was exciting. So they kind of like met him and 161 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,840 the dad and I met and then I met the daughter and and I was like, 162 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:57,800 I've never met your daughter before. 163 00:07:57,800 --> 00:07:59,120 He's like, I've never met your son before. 164 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,000 And so about an they, they went and had dinner. 165 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:03,960 I went and did something else. And then I picked him back up 166 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,360 after a couple hours and drove him to the Blackbird bakery. 167 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:08,160 And I go, hey, I was like, I think it was really cool to meet 168 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:09,520 your dad. And he's like, yeah, he was 169 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:10,800 going to come. So he could be all tough and 170 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:12,800 bad. And I laughed because here I 171 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,080 jumped out of the car and like, kind of like I didn't realize I 172 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:17,040 was diffusing anything or calming him down. 173 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,840 And then we found out it was her first ever date. 174 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,480 Oh, wow. And so my son, I was so proud of 175 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,040 him because he, you know, he got her a rose to give her on her 176 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,240 first date. And then they went to Blackbird 177 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,760 Bakery and they had coffee and sat and talked for, for a long 178 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:31,400 time. And I sat out on the on the side 179 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,799 of the road, you know, and I, I just took all that moment in 180 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:37,159 because I won't probably never get an opportunity again. 181 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,200 You know, I remember taking Daisy on her first dates and you 182 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:45,200 know, and as a dad, right, for me anyway, you know, I know your 183 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:50,320 mom, but like to to remember some of these moments because 184 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,560 over the last 16 years of their life, there's so many moments I 185 00:08:53,560 --> 00:08:58,240 forgot, you know, and I'm lucky enough as a pastor, you know, 186 00:08:58,240 --> 00:08:58,800 they go with. Me. 187 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,560 You're making me. Cry sorry, you know, as a 188 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:06,720 pastor, they go with me everywhere, you know, and and I 189 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:08,520 think it's cool thing about being an entrepreneur and being 190 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,800 a pastors, you know, you don't have an 8 to 5 and a 191 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:12,440 manufacturing job where they can't go. 192 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:14,120 You don't, you know, I'm not a truck driver. 193 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,360 So you know, my buddy grew up his dad was a truck driver. 194 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:18,200 So then sometimes he would drive with him, but throughout the 195 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,560 year he didn't get seen much. But, you know, to be a pastor 196 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:24,320 and to be an entrepreneur and own my own business, you know, 197 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:28,200 they're with me a lot. And I and I love that about 198 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:29,360 that. You know, they've, they've 199 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:31,080 gotten to see the great things about church. 200 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:32,560 They've gotten to see some hard things about church. 201 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:35,040 They've got to see some great things about growing a business. 202 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,240 But at the same time, they've seen some hard things about 203 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,440 growing a business. And you know, between being a 204 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:43,040 pastor where you work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because 205 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,200 you're always on call and on your own business, where you 206 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,480 think about your business 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 207 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:49,680 And you put those together, they're like, you know, they, 208 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,080 they see it all. And you know, they've been 209 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:56,240 working for, for Smash Mills since the day we started it. 210 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:01,560 I mean, they end, it's amazing. Now people ask, you know, you 211 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:05,040 know, yesterday I took LB also to his first flying lesson. 212 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:07,840 And the instructor said, well, do you have any chefs? 213 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:09,560 Do you have? And I was like, wait, he's one 214 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:11,640 of my main ones. I mean, he does such an amazing 215 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:16,000 job cooking meat and, and I know I've taught him, but he's better 216 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:18,640 than me at that. And then Daisy is so good at 217 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:20,880 making all the desserts and running the kitchen and, and 218 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,360 telling people what to do. And so like when we're all three 219 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:28,280 there together, it works so well because they're almost an 220 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,000 extension of my hands, but but better, right? 221 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,360 Because as an entrepreneur, you have to learn as you go, but 222 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,640 then you teach the people that are important to you or the 223 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,640 people that are close to you, the things that you learned 224 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:41,320 after you went through all the mistakes. 225 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,800 And then so they can do it better than you, you know, And I 226 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,920 think that like as a dad, like that's something that I really 227 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:53,920 love to see, see them be better at me than things than I was. 228 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:56,400 You know, I, I didn't always listen to my parents. 229 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,760 I wish I would have, you know, because they teach us so much 230 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:01,520 because they've been there and done that. 231 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,760 They're trying to like keep you from going through there and do 232 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,280 that. And to see them do things that 233 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,760 I've taught them really is, is really cool. 234 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,080 Like yesterday we finished his falling lesson. 235 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,160 It was an advent and we had to take one of his buddies went 236 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:19,880 with him 'cause he, he's also wants to fly. 237 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:22,440 And we dropped him off and we were trying to figure out where 238 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,680 we're going. And he's like, oh, dad, I got to 239 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:28,000 get her a flower. And he was like, he's like, 240 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,720 where, where do we do that? And I thought, oh, there's a 241 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:32,000 waggles there. And I was like, we'll just go to 242 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,000 the waggles and he's like, there's not flowers at the gas 243 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,600 station. I'm like, there's always flowers 244 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:38,680 at Waggles and he's like is. That how you pronounce it, 245 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:40,200 waggles. That's how I pronounce. 246 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:41,920 It OK? I thought it was Wiggles. 247 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:43,080 You know, but. I'm not. 248 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:44,840 I mean, I don't waggles. OK, we're. 249 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:46,000 Just going to go with it, OK? Yeah. 250 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,800 Let's roll with it. And if you're on the company and 251 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:50,960 you're watching this podcast, you just let us know. 252 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,720 But I've said waggles my whole life and I'm sure that I'm sure 253 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:56,720 I say it wrong, but we're going to go with it, OK? 254 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:57,960 I mean, that's how it's all good. 255 00:11:58,000 --> 00:11:58,960 Yeah, all good. So. 256 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:00,120 But he's like, how do you know that, Dad? 257 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,160 I'm like, I've been in enough of them. 258 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:05,160 I know they always have flowers. And so on the way home, he's 259 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,720 like, thanks so much, Dad for knowing that. 260 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:09,400 Yeah. And, and and like, that was like 261 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:11,400 a cool moment. He probably didn't think twice 262 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:15,840 of it, but I I was excited that he knew that I that he thanked 263 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:17,920 me for knowing that there was a flowers that wax. 264 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:19,000 Yeah, that's hilarious. Yeah. 265 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,240 But so we go back to Smash Mills for a second. 266 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:26,600 I mean, we've been around for for eight years and it started 267 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,320 in our home, which is kind of crazy. 268 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:33,320 So Ashley is my ex-wife, the kids mom's name. 269 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:38,400 And I was the hospital one night and there was a man who was 270 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,480 dying and I was with his family and and we knew it was intimate. 271 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,720 So I or intimate, not intimate. Well, they're both either way. 272 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:50,440 Yeah, I know what you mean. So we're there and it's probably 273 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,880 like a 5 hour thing. And I, I checked out with her a 274 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:55,240 few times. How the kids, what's going on? 275 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:57,480 And she sends me this text message. 276 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,240 She's like, so I think I just started a, a, a business and I 277 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:01,040 was like, oh, cool, that's great. 278 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,640 Because she, she's like, she's really good at starting 279 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:07,720 businesses. Like, and so like throughout 280 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:09,720 when we were married, so like every time she'd want to start 281 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:13,000 something, I was fully on board. Like, you know, I think 1 as a 282 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,800 dad, as a husband, as a friend, like I'm going to support you 283 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:18,480 wholeheartedly. You have an idea. 284 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:23,000 I'm going to go with it all in. And, and so I got home and I was 285 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,760 like, So what would you start? And she said, well, some friends 286 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:28,560 of mine wanted me to go grocery shopping for them. 287 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:30,680 She was a personal trainer. And she's like, why don't I just 288 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:34,960 cook food for you? And I was like, OK, So what? 289 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:36,240 What, what are you going to cook? 290 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:38,040 And she's like, well, I'm going to have this menu and blah, 291 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:39,240 blah. I was like, where are we going 292 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:40,840 to cook it? And she's like, well, in the 293 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:42,720 kitchen. And we only had like one tiny 294 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:45,600 little stove with those little coil burners, you know, not even 295 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,200 a great stove. We had a tiny refrigerator. 296 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:50,400 I was like, where are you going to put it when you cook it? 297 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,720 I don't know. And so her and I worked out 298 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:53,880 those details where we're going to put it. 299 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:55,080 I was like, how are you going to deliver it? 300 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:57,760 I don't know. So we sat there and worked out 301 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,160 those details and I was like, I was like, what are you going to 302 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:01,440 put it in? I don't know. 303 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:04,680 So we worked out those details. And so like starting a business 304 00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:07,200 from scratch, you have to like think about all those little 305 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,640 details. And I think I sometimes when you 306 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,240 start business by yourself, you spend your mind just running and 307 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:14,960 running and running, but when you have somebody to bounce 308 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,560 ideas off of. So we started this business and 309 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:23,240 it grew up really, really quick. And so I quickly realized we 310 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:26,520 need to get like a sales tax, we need to get licenses, all that. 311 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:28,240 So I started reaching out to the state, what do we need? 312 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:30,320 So the state tells me everything we need. 313 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,960 So I send them money, they send me the stuff, they all the stuff 314 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:40,440 that we need, right? And about 11 months later, just 315 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:43,200 got this phone call and it's from the health department. 316 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:46,440 They're like, hey, we've been hearing you running food prep 317 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,080 business. Absolutely. 318 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:49,400 We got all the paperwork you need. 319 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:50,720 Do you need copies of it or something? 320 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,840 They're like, no, you've never applied through the health 321 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:55,840 department. I was like, didn't know you 322 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:57,720 needed to. We, we contacted the state. 323 00:14:57,720 --> 00:14:58,800 We asked them what all you need to do. 324 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,200 They told us I was like, I've been paying sales tax now for 11 325 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,600 months. Y'all collected thousands of 326 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:06,840 dollars and now you think it's a good idea to reach out to me? 327 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,160 And they were like, well, somebody's complained about you. 328 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:11,960 And I was like, oh, so they're like another business, you know, 329 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,400 complained about us taking their business. 330 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:15,440 I'm not really sure what happened. 331 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:18,600 So I was like, well, what does that mean? 332 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,000 They're like, well, you cannot keep being a business until you 333 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,280 have the health inspection. I was like, well, when you 334 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:26,640 coming, coming tomorrow? And he's like, no, I'm going to 335 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:29,520 come next week. And he's like, you keep running 336 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:32,000 your business this week. I'll be there next week and then 337 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:34,920 we can make a plan. So the guy shows up at our house 338 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:37,960 and I'd done a lot of due diligence over the 11 months to 339 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,240 figure out what all you needed. We had stainless steel 340 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:42,400 everything. We had sinks, we had all the 341 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:44,360 stuff. And he comes in and you know, we 342 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:47,960 didn't have, we didn't have a no smoking sign outside of our 343 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:49,440 house. Got to have a no smoking sign. 344 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:52,960 We didn't have hinges on our doors in our bathrooms. 345 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:55,000 You got to have hinges on doors and bathrooms. 346 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,560 And we didn't have a, we had a two base sink instead of a three 347 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,000 base sink and we didn't have a, a separate hand washing sink. 348 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:04,880 And he's like, everything else is perfect. 349 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:07,720 That's all you need and you got 30 days to get it done. 350 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,040 And you can keep running your business during these 30 days. 351 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:16,040 So that that went out and a buddy of mine, his, his brother 352 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,640 worked for Chick-fil-A and they were doing a demo at Chick-fil-A 353 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:21,560 in Morristown and they had an extra hand washing sink and a 354 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:23,200 three base sink that they were fixing to throw away. 355 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:27,040 Drove down there, put it in my trailer, drove it back, drilled 356 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,320 holes in my floor, installed a three base sink, installed a 357 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,320 hand washing sink and got hinges off of Amazon and a no smoking 358 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:36,920 sign to put outside. And he came back and we got 100 359 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:42,120 the first try and we ran that until 2020 there and we moved it 360 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:43,720 to meta view where we are currently. 361 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,840 We have a full commercial kitchen at Meadowview Convention 362 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:48,040 Center. It's actually in the back 363 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,160 parking lot. And, you know, we've seen a lot 364 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:53,480 of ups and downs, you know, through that. 365 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:57,520 And obviously we went through a divorce, which was extremely 366 00:16:57,520 --> 00:16:59,640 hard. You know, any time that you 367 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:02,000 start something, you always want to succeed, succeed. 368 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,119 For sure. And you know, so to go through a 369 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,440 have a business partner that your your wife that you're going 370 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:10,720 to get divorced, then we stay business partners for a while. 371 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:12,880 Then, you know, she wanted to kind of do her own thing. 372 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,920 And so I she was like, I want to close the business and I was 373 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,560 like, I don't want to do that. And that, you know, that was a 374 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:19,760 tough decision. I was scary. 375 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,440 You know, you start something with somebody and you become 376 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:25,040 reliant on them, right? You have your role, they have 377 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,119 their role and you kind of you work together. 378 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:28,800 And, you know, she was the face of Smash Mills. 379 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:31,320 She's a personal trainer and, you know, she knew everybody. 380 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,560 I just kind of stayed back and kind of did my own thing. 381 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:36,480 You know, I made sure we cooked, I made sure we had all the 382 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:38,000 supplies. When I made sure we had all the 383 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:41,960 groceries, I made sure to order pallets of containers and bags 384 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:45,720 and everything we needed. But to see her walk away was 385 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,160 like was really, really scary. And I didn't think I would 386 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,560 succeed. Honestly, I thought I would. 387 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,320 I was going to give it a shot, but in my mind I thought I would 388 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,840 fail. Not because she wasn't there, 389 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:58,080 but because I couldn't do it all. 390 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:04,880 What year was that? That was two years ago, so 2023. 391 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:07,760 Maybe it's more than longer than that. 392 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,040 I think she stepped out December of 2023. 393 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,280 So I started January 1st of 2024. 394 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,800 But it was scary, you know, I mean, I knew how to run the 395 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:20,040 kitchen. I knew all the recipes because I 396 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,000 knew how to do everything. But to become fully reliant on 397 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:27,000 yourself. I remember the the first day it 398 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,560 was just me because a lot of our employees left when she left, 399 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:32,280 you know, because they thought we were shutting it down and we 400 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,360 didn't. And there was just, there was 401 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:38,360 just four of us in the kitchen. And you know, normally there's 402 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:42,120 nine or ten of us. And like my mom was just 403 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:48,240 spinning out of control. It was it was it was hard. 404 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,240 But you know, I'm sitting here two years later we did. 405 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:55,120 I was almost actually today out this morning. 406 00:18:55,120 --> 00:19:01,840 I looked and year over to year from February or March 1st of 407 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:08,280 2024 through February of 28th of 2025 now and then February 28th 408 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,160 to March 1st of whatever this year is, we're up, we were up 409 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:15,440 50% so last year. So we were, you know, so to be 410 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,920 up 50% when you thought that you, you weren't, I wasn't sure 411 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:23,440 if I would survive to being up 50% in sales, you know, is a big 412 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:24,640 deal. Yeah, congratulations. 413 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:25,480 Oh, thank you. Thank you. 414 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,880 Yeah, it's been, it's been interesting to see it, you know, 415 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:34,040 because I do, I do a lot, you know, between being a pastor 416 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:36,400 full time, being a dad full time, being a business center 417 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:40,200 full time, like there's a lot to juggle in all that. 418 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,160 The lady that I'm dating, we've been dating for a while now. 419 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,760 Her name's Kelly. She said to the this morning. 420 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:52,800 She said, she said, you know, I hear you say so often on Sundays 421 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:57,440 about trusting God and then I hear you at the same time talk 422 00:19:57,440 --> 00:19:59,600 about your business and not have trust that God's going to be 423 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:01,480 with you and you feel like you're going to be a failure. 424 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:02,920 And she's like, which one is it? Luke? 425 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,760 Do you, do you, do you trust God or do you not? 426 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:09,880 And, and that we literally she said that to me about 45 minutes 427 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:19,920 ago and having, you know, business and ministry come 428 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,440 together. And trying to do it all, and 429 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:25,480 yeah, it's not the easiest thing in the world. 430 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,920 No, well, sometimes we can speak the words right. 431 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:33,080 And then just like that, we're like, Dang it, yeah. 432 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:37,680 Then it's like, oh, hey, listen. God was like, Hey Lou A. 100%. 433 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,080 Practice would you preach, which is not easy. 434 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,680 I mean, we're totally all guilty of that, but that's why we have 435 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,480 grace, which is, you know, an unbelievable thing. 436 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:51,880 A. 100% But, yeah, when you said that, it reminded me like, you 437 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,000 know, I know I've already talked about this with taking them kids 438 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:55,440 home on the first day and I was driving and. 439 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:57,080 Yeah. And I was like, everybody just 440 00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:58,040 move out the way. Yeah. 441 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,600 You know, I, I wish I was like Superman at that moment, you 442 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,520 know, like I'm gonna have like a force field around me and cars 443 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:05,200 just stop. Yeah, or. 444 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,720 Andre the Giant and Princess Bride, and he's like everybody 445 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:11,800 boom, everybody just like hearts. 446 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,000 Yeah, yeah, that'd be cool. Have Andre the Giant walking 447 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,440 around with. You that would be kind of good, 448 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:18,360 but. Are you right, PR? 449 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,000 Yeah. You know, Grace goes a long way 450 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:22,360 though, doesn't it? Yeah. 451 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:24,240 How long have you been a pastor now? 452 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:26,560 80? That's right, since you were 18. 453 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:30,800 So let's see, I'm 44 this year, so I started, well, I'm terrible 454 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:33,000 at math when I'm doing it like in my mind like that. 455 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,120 But it's OK. I know I'm really good at cross 456 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:37,920 multiplication in case anybody wants to know. 457 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,000 Like that's my jam. I can figure out anything as 458 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:45,480 long as I can cross multiply but. 4 * 4 go. 16. 459 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:47,600 What did you times 8? No, I got nothing about it. 460 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,320 I'd have to like think about it, but you know, you think about 461 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:56,800 like I, I started in, I was 18 and it was the IT was the year 462 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:01,680 2000 kind of crazy thing about and the very first time. 463 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:07,440 I love the story. So a buddy I was, I was he, we 464 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,160 had just we had driven around the country before we drove 465 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:11,680 around the country. I had this phone call and this 466 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:14,440 guy goes, hey, my, my name. I can't remember the guy's name, 467 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,400 but he's like, Hey, we know you're going into ministry 468 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:19,520 because 16 I accept the call to ministry. 469 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:24,120 And so like that was my path. And he's like, we want you to be 470 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:25,680 the pastor of these two churches. 471 00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:29,800 And I was like. How did he get in touch with? 472 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,920 You well, so the way the Methodist system works is like 473 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:35,520 when you want to become a minister or going to ministry, 474 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,120 you go in front of your church and your church kind of like 475 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,880 votes on you to say, OK, we, we will stand behind you. 476 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:45,120 Then you write letters and you fill out paperwork and you send 477 00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:46,960 that to what they call the district, which is over a bunch 478 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:48,600 of churches. And there's a district committee 479 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,560 that interviews you and talks to you about like the next steps. 480 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:52,720 And so like, it's a huge process. 481 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,080 And the Methodist Church, it takes a long time to be 482 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:57,840 ordained. So you can serve churches before 483 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:02,160 you're ordained, but it took me until, I mean, eight years, nine 484 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:03,880 years to be ordained. Wow. 485 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:07,000 So it's a, it's a long process. So they, I was in the system and 486 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,400 I was going to school at Lambeth University in Jackson, TN. 487 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:11,720 And, and he calls me and he's like, hey, so we want you to be 488 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:13,600 this pastor. And I'll never forget. 489 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,600 I was like, so, So what, what do I do? 490 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:19,240 Like, hey, come on, What does a pastor do? 491 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:21,960 And he's like, what you're going to preach and you're going to do 492 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,520 some baptisms, you'll do weddings, you'll do funerals, 493 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:26,400 and you're going to be in charge of these two churches. 494 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,960 And I said, I still remember this because, you know, back 495 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:31,120 then we had the phone on the wall. 496 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:33,960 So I was like, I was like, I'm going to have to call you back. 497 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:36,760 And he's like, OK, I was like, I need to go ask my parents 498 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:41,680 permission because at 18, you know, like, what do you what do 499 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:43,600 you really say? I mean, I didn't know. 500 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:45,240 I was like, I need to ask my parents permission. 501 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,760 So I like went to the room and I was like, this guy calls me and 502 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:49,400 he wants me to pastor of these two churches. 503 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,120 And they're like, OK, that's what you want to do. 504 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:53,240 So I call him back. And I was like, sweet, when, 505 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:55,280 when do I start? And he's like, well, you're 506 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:56,680 going to start the middle of June. 507 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:58,160 And I was like, yeah, that's not going to work. 508 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:00,760 He's like, what do you mean? I'm like a buddy and I've been 509 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,920 planning this trip and we're leaving June 10th and, or June 510 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:07,480 11th and we're driving around the country for six weeks. 511 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:09,320 So I can't start until I get back. 512 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,920 And he was like, OK, when you get back, you can start. 513 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,320 Wow. So, so a buddy and I, we, we got 514 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:22,080 in a, an old 1995 Chevy truck and we had, we put a red camper 515 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:23,920 on top of it. We had our two kayaks on top, 516 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:26,560 bicycles on the back. We had camping gear, we had 517 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:30,000 cooking gear, We, we had extra gallons of gas, we had clothing. 518 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,920 We just drove the first day we drove all the way to Colorado 519 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:36,920 and we stayed outside of Colorado with this rest stop. 520 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,000 And now from Memph or from Malatassee to Colorado is a long 521 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:42,920 way. And you know, at one point I 522 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:45,880 remember seeing the sign that says 599 miles to Colorado. 523 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:49,040 And here we are, 218 year old kids like trying to figure the 524 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:51,320 world out. And we get to Colorado and we're 525 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,000 staying at this rest stop. And the next one we get up, 526 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:58,240 we're cooking breakfast and and we went into the gas station or 527 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:04,080 the bathroom to brush our teeth. And this guy pulls up and it's 528 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:09,960 in a old VW van and he's like, hey, boys need any weed? 529 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,680 And, and I'll never forget I got sitting next to Matt and I 530 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,360 looked over and there was this old van that was like, they were 531 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:19,160 sleeping next to us. Like we don't, but they may. 532 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,760 And so he just drops off. And then these people that were 533 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,600 staying in this van, they come out of the bathroom and they're 534 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:28,240 sitting there and they're, we're cooking and they're like, hey, 535 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:29,720 what are you doing boys doing? They're like, oh, we're just on 536 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:31,760 a trip for the next six weeks. We don't know what we're doing. 537 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:32,720 And I was like, what are y'all doing? 538 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,200 They're like, oh, we're on the way to Vegas to start at church. 539 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:41,040 And I remember like, Oh my God, I just clearly judge these 540 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:43,120 people based on their appearance, you know, and their 541 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:46,240 van and, and, and they're going to Vegas to start a church. 542 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:50,120 I'm hoping I would love I I I'm sure they're successful, but I 543 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:51,560 don't have a clue do. You remember what they looked 544 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:52,320 like. No. 545 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:53,640 OK, you didn't try and. Fight. 546 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:55,560 They were just, no, they were just two hippies. 547 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,400 They're, you know, married couples out starting a church. 548 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:03,040 But every day him and I would flip 1/4 to see which direction 549 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:05,200 we were going to go. Like we had no plans. 550 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:06,840 If we saw a hitchhiker, we picked him up. 551 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:11,560 We drove 1 hitchhiker 350 miles to Green Valley, a Green 552 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:13,560 Mountain State Park or something. 553 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,680 To me it was beautiful. But we so we traveled all over 554 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,840 the country, Canada, Mexico, ended up coming back sometime in 555 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,920 late July. And then the first or second 556 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,240 Sunday of August was my first Sunday. 557 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,400 And then the next week is my birthday. 558 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:33,200 But I was 18 and on 1st Sunday and I get to the first church 559 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:38,160 and there was like, besides me and my family, OK, if you take 560 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:40,320 us out of the equation, there was 15 people there. 561 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:43,400 Wow. And if you include me and those 562 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:49,360 15 people, take my family out, the average age was 77 and I was 563 00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:54,440 18. And before church starts, the 564 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,040 pianist says to me, hey, just want you to know this is my last 565 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,920 Sunday. I was like, Oh well, who's going 566 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:02,640 to play next Sunday? And she's like, I don't know, 567 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:03,640 that's your job to figure it out. 568 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:09,000 Oh man. OK, so I get going. 569 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:09,960 Of course. You know, I've been in church my 570 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:12,200 whole life. And we get to that point where 571 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:13,480 we're going to say the pastor's prayer. 572 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,040 So I say a prayer, I say Amen, We're done. 573 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,040 And everybody just looks at me. Oh, yeah, the Lord's Prayer. 574 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:21,400 I forgot. You're supposed to do the Lord's 575 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:21,960 Prayer. Oh, OK. 576 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,480 So, well, in our church, in the method church, we do the Lord's 577 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:25,240 Prayer. So. 578 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,120 So we do the Lord's Prayer. It's time for my sermon. 579 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,040 So I have a sermon written out, my very first sermon. 580 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,880 So I get done preaching my sermon and I said, and that's 581 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:37,280 all I know about Jesus. Let's pray. 582 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:40,960 Those exact words. That's all I know about Jesus. 583 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:43,120 Let's pray. And I fix to be these people's 584 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:45,480 pastor. Yeah, guess you don't know how 585 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,400 long that sermon was. Hold on, let me guess. 586 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:50,640 OK, 18 minutes. Nope. 587 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:57,240 Shorter or longer? Shorter. 5 minutes shorter. 2 588 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:01,440 minutes and 47 seconds. Did you time yourself? 589 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:03,920 No, somebody else did. All right, so. 590 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:05,720 Do you still have that sermon written down somewhere? 591 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:09,280 No, no, no. But I mean, I love that sermon 592 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,240 actually, because I I when we got ready to go on our trip, I 593 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,320 bought a brand new pair of Vasque hiking boots. 594 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:17,520 The very first day we're going to go on a hike out in Colorado. 595 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:20,440 I never wore them. I took the tags off, put them 596 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,760 on, and we're fixing to start a six week journey of like hiking 597 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:25,400 and kayaking. Yeah, that's not how you do it. 598 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:26,760 I got. Blisters everywhere. 599 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,000 Yeah. So the title of my sermon was 600 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:32,680 it's it was title of my sermon was never go hiking with new 601 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,200 hiking boots. And, and, and, and it was, you 602 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,360 know, for me it was important because like here we are, I'm 603 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,920 starting something new and I'm going to get a lot of blisters 604 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:42,520 because I don't, I didn't know what I was doing. 605 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,800 I had no clue, so I'll leave that that I had two churches so 606 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:49,120 that one was from not supposed to be from 9:00 to. 10 is that? 607 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:51,360 Is that a usual thing to have? Yeah. 608 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:56,240 OK, so Methodist pastors are, you know, their circuit riders 609 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,680 basically. So early on, the Methodist 610 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:01,560 churches were everywhere. There was more Methodist 611 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,560 churches than there were post office early on in the, you 612 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:06,840 know, when Methodism first started spreading throughout the 613 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:10,400 area. In fact, many post offices early 614 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,160 on were inside Methodist churches. 615 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:14,320 It's kind of an interesting thing. 616 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:16,120 But most of them were small because they would just put, put 617 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:17,400 them in the little communities everywhere. 618 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:20,440 So it's still a, you know, tradition to have multiple 619 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:21,760 churches. Now, some people with their big 620 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:25,600 churches, they just have one. But I leave that church and I go 621 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,800 to my next church and I get there and there's more people 622 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:30,080 there. It's probably like 18. 623 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,160 But growing up, I'd always worked, started working when I 624 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:37,200 was, you know, 12 years old, like probably 10 years old. 625 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,720 I, my, in the summer time, I'd go help people carry shingles up 626 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:41,960 on roofs 'cause I just love to work. 627 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,200 And then when I was 12, I started working at Greenway 628 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,560 Nursery. And then when I was 16, I 629 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,080 started working at Sears selling appliance, delivering appliance, 630 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,240 stuff like that. But my boss's name was Gary and 631 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,520 Gary was a black man and I never thought anything of it. 632 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:58,240 My family, we were always around black people. 633 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:02,480 Like, no racism anywhere in my family. 634 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:06,000 Like in my grandfather, every Tuesday when I was growing up, 635 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:09,680 one of his best buddies, Jude, who was a black man, would drive 636 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:11,840 him to my dad's office and they would pick me up from school and 637 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,280 we'd go and have lunch together. And, you know, so it never 638 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,720 thought anything of it. Like, we grew up, my town was 639 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,440 half black, half white, Never thought anything of it. 640 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:25,800 OK, so I get to this church and on the very first Sunday, I'm 18 641 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,160 years old. I just preached my first sermon, 642 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,480 2 minutes, 47 seconds. And I invited my Gary. 643 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:35,000 He's my boss, like from Sears. I love this man Gary Lou Jenkins 644 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,960 is the name. And and he walks in and he's 645 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,320 going to sit with my family and I'm introducing myself and this 646 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:43,080 couple. This lady looks at me, this man 647 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,360 looks at me and she says those people aren't welcome here. 648 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:48,360 And I said, I'm so sorry. My family's here. 649 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,240 That's my family. And he's like, your family can 650 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:53,320 stay. But that black man, he, he's not 651 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:57,880 welcome here. And I, I had no idea what to 652 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,000 say. And so these are the words come 653 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,480 out now. If you would like to leave, 654 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,560 you're more than welcome. But he's with me. 655 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:11,160 It was like a defining moment in my ministry. 656 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:16,240 The first Sunday here, somebody who is so important to me was 657 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,360 they wanted to exclude and they never came back. 658 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:22,240 They got up and left. They never came back to church. 659 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:28,080 I couldn't tell you their names if I wanted to, but that was a 660 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:34,480 it was a hard moment for me to see that not everybody in church 661 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:36,840 is there with intentions. Now, of course, you know, Jesus 662 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:39,520 said I didn't come for the for the well. 663 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:42,920 I came for the sick, you know, And so it was also a reminder 664 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:46,760 that we often times we look at people who make mistakes in 665 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:50,280 churches, who fail, who get divorces, who go to prison, who 666 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:52,320 do stupid things, who say stupid things. 667 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:54,360 Oh, they're in church. They should be better than that. 668 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:56,960 No, they're in church. They're they're there to, to get 669 00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:58,240 better. They're not there because 670 00:31:58,240 --> 00:31:59,000 they're better. Yeah. 671 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:01,440 You know. We're all already sick, that's 672 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,840 why we're there. 100% and that's, you know, we go back to 673 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:05,080 your, what you said earlier with the grace. 674 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,840 And I think that's, you know, but it did teach me a very 675 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,680 quickly that being a pastor isn't just about preaching and 676 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:15,680 it's not just about doing funerals. 677 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,640 It's about trying to your best to help people who are sick just 678 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:22,480 like you are. And you know, I was, I was the 679 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:25,360 pastor there for three years, my sophomore, junior and senior 680 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,240 years. And then then I moved across the 681 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:29,840 state when I graduated from college. 682 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:31,920 And that's how I ended up in East Tennessee. 683 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:36,120 Became a pastor of two small churches in in East Tennessee. 684 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:40,240 Sunbright, which is a town of 600. 685 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:41,440 Have you ever heard of Sunbright? 686 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:42,120 No. Where is it? 687 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:46,840 It's north of Oak Ridge, TN, north of Wartburg and the. 688 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:48,800 Oak Ridge is over by Knoxville, right? 689 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:50,400 Yeah, yeah. So you got like, you go 690 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,880 Knoxville, then you go Oak Ridge, then you go Wartburg and 691 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,000 then Sunbright. That's the little town I lived 692 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:56,720 in and I was a pastor there, but I had two churches. 693 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,040 So Sunbright and then Rugby Road, now Rugby. 694 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:01,960 If you've never been to Rugby, y'all need to take a field trip 695 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,360 there. It's an old English settlement. 696 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:06,840 So like these people came over from England and wanted to 697 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:10,120 create this English settlement. And it's still like today you 698 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:12,400 can go in there and get like straight up food from England, 699 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,000 like rabbit Stew and stuff like that, but. 700 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:16,800 That's cool. Write it down, Brian. 701 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:18,920 Rugby. Rugby, Tennessee. 702 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,440 Yeah, a Rugby Tennessee, but Rugby Rd. 703 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,400 What's the name of the church? Because it was on the road to 704 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:25,760 Rugby. Yeah, imagine that. 705 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:27,360 Yeah. But so I had these little 706 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:33,080 churches and I drove 3 hours to seminary each week. 707 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:36,880 So seminary was in Asbury Theological Seminary up in 708 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:41,200 Wilmore, KY and so Hwy. 27, which used to be the main 709 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:45,720 corridor in America before 75 and 40 and 81, all the 710 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:49,000 intersects were built. So 27 is where I would drive up 711 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,040 every every Monday I would. Three hours. 712 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:54,000 Yeah, so I would, I would stay. Yeah. 713 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:55,600 So I would stay. Well, I'd stay there Monday 714 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:56,680 night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night. 715 00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,360 And I would drive back after class on Thursday. 716 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,680 And I was a pastor Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, then 717 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,160 Monday I would drive back. And I do that for four years. 718 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:07,760 Wow, yeah. It was, it was quite the 719 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:09,400 journey. I mean, you know, becoming a 720 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:11,360 pastor, going to seminary and being ordained. 721 00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:13,760 And that's where I met Roger Galloway. 722 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:17,679 Roger is this, it's just, it's cool man. 723 00:34:17,679 --> 00:34:20,639 You know, he, he's married to Jane and, and Jane Ronders had 724 00:34:20,639 --> 00:34:22,639 two daughters. And, and when I first moved 725 00:34:22,639 --> 00:34:25,400 there, like Roger came over and helped me fix some things and he 726 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:27,280 asked me one day he's like, what is something you want to do? 727 00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:32,719 And I was like, I always wanted to fly an airplane and, and that 728 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:35,639 was all that was sent. And Roger and Jane, they, they 729 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:39,400 knew I was poor as all could be. And you know, here I am a single 730 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:43,480 20 something year old trying to live in a town of 600 and go 731 00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:45,480 back and forth. And I really, I didn't have my 732 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:47,880 family. They lived in Milan and and my 733 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:49,520 uncle did Morristown. So you come over and see me 734 00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:51,560 every once in a while, but they would Take Me Out to eat. 735 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:54,679 And I loved it because, you know, here, they they they have 736 00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:57,480 plenty of resources to pay for it, you know? 737 00:34:57,480 --> 00:34:59,320 And then if they found out I was going to date, he would give me, 738 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:03,040 like, that $2550 handshake so I could, like, go on a, like, real 739 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:04,440 date, you know? Yeah. 740 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:06,840 So one day, Rodger calls me, and he's like, Lou, I heard what you 741 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:10,320 said. And here's this guy's name and 742 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:11,680 number. His name's Ryan Heil. 743 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,400 You have an appointment tomorrow morning at the Oneida airport. 744 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:17,880 I'm going to pay for your half your flying lessons. 745 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:22,320 Oh, that's awesome. And so I went out and met Ryan 746 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:26,040 and during, during seminary, learned how to fly an airplane. 747 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:28,760 It was incredible. And I, and I think about like 748 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:30,720 Roger asked me another things like, what else do you want to 749 00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:31,640 do? I was like, I always wanted to 750 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:33,360 jump out of an airplane. He's like perfect, let's go. 751 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:36,240 I mean, and I, I, I think he was in his 60s at this point. 752 00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:38,320 We drove down to Atlanta and we both jumped out of airplanes 753 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:39,200 together. Wow. 754 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:42,400 You know, but I look back on that and and I don't know why he 755 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:46,800 did that, but but to have somebody invest inside in you, 756 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:51,600 like changes your life for sure, because if somebody outside of 757 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:55,320 your family believes in you and wants to help you succeed, 758 00:35:56,120 --> 00:36:00,000 imagine now I look and I look at people that I want to help 759 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,960 succeed because I want out. You know, we always say pay it 760 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:05,400 forward or whatever that whatever word you want to use, 761 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:10,440 but to know that he, you know, did that was it was pretty 762 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:12,400 incredible. And yesterday sitting, I 763 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:13,920 actually got to fly with my son yesterday. 764 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,240 I was sitting in the back seat. I haven't flown in 20 years do. 765 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:19,160 You still have your license is. It I mean, you technically 766 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,520 always have your license. I wouldn't go fly on an airplane 767 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:24,560 until I got, you know, kind of recertified and checked out. 768 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:26,960 But but to sit back there and all of a sudden it came back, 769 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:29,840 but to I was sitting there and my son pulled the yolk back for 770 00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:31,360 the first time and we began to take it off. 771 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:35,000 And all I could think about was like Roger and Jane, you know, 772 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:39,240 like they believed in me. And I still to this day, they 773 00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:43,680 send me cards, you know, at Christmas and they call me on my 774 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,720 birthday, you know, and, and those are people that you know, 775 00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:50,280 I met when I was young and dumb. I'm sure you've met people when 776 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:51,840 you were young and dumb that still check on you. 777 00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:56,200 Yep, 2005. I'm just telling you my whole 778 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:57,840 life story. Wait, hold on. 779 00:36:57,840 --> 00:36:59,840 Before you do that, can you turn the heat up a little bit? 780 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:01,840 Are you cold? Oh, it's really cold in. 781 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:03,880 Here I am freezing. Yeah. 782 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:05,280 Thanks. Thanks, Bray. 783 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:09,320 I was just wondering, I was like, I probably should have 784 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:11,880 wore long sleeves, and I was looking over you with your 785 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:14,960 sweater or sweatshirt, you know? And I'm like, well, she's lucky. 786 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:20,400 Well, I mean, it is supposed to be like I think in the 50s or 787 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,480 60s today. But yeah, no, it's OK. 788 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:24,520 Yeah. All. 789 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:26,240 Right. You're good. 790 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:27,040 You're good. Keep. 791 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:27,840 Keep going. Keep going. 792 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:29,480 Sorry, sorry. So an O5. 793 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:33,200 Life story, yeah. So here you go. 794 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:38,920 In O5I was with my buddy Matt. That's the guy I Trove rode the 795 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:40,920 country with. He had a best friend for a long 796 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:42,120 time. What's Matt doing now? 797 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:43,880 Do you guys still talk? Oh, yeah, yeah. 798 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:50,280 So Matt is he's a lawyer down in Chattanooga, and he wears flip 799 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:52,000 flops to his office every day. Nice. 800 00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:56,120 And they're not just like real flip flops, like 1. 801 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:59,840 Like maybe he's a rainbow flip flop and the other one might be 802 00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:01,400 from Walmart. They don't even match. 803 00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:03,600 He puts duct tape on his clothing. 804 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,680 And he's a successful lawyer. And he, his boss one day said to 805 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:11,040 him, he said, is that duct tape on your jacket? 806 00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:13,560 And he's like, absolutely. I've got this jacket for 25 807 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:14,880 years. You don't think I'd get rid of 808 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:16,040 it because I got a little tear in it. 809 00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:18,400 Do you know? Like, he's that kind of lawyer, 810 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:19,480 you know, he just. Yeah. 811 00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:22,160 Gets it done. Yeah, he gets it done. 812 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:25,840 And so, yeah, we've been, we've been, we travel every year 813 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:27,200 together. We go fishing together, we go 814 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:29,480 snowboarding together. This past summer we went to 815 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:32,320 UTILA with our families together and just had a great time. 816 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:37,720 So Matt's always been around, but I drove down to Chattanooga 817 00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:40,200 to see and actually I might have flown down there. 818 00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:42,880 I can't remember because I would fly down my plane. 819 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:45,240 I was renting and it was back then, it was real cheap. 820 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:50,680 But so I'm down there and we drove by Harley-Davidson ship 821 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:52,800 dealer and I was like, you know, I would love to save some money 822 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:57,080 on gas. I should get a motorcycle now. 823 00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:59,360 Why? He didn't say no, you're not 824 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:02,480 going to save money. But he was like, that's a great 825 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:05,360 idea. So we pulled that 826 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:08,960 Harley-Davidson dealership and they had this bright yellow 827 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:13,200 Harley-Davidson and they had this bright orange jacket and 828 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:16,000 I'm like perfect. I was like, can we if I buy 829 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:17,800 this, can y'all put extra loud pipes on it? 830 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:19,800 I want people to hear me so I don't get, you know, it's not 831 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:21,480 dangerous. And they're like, Oh yeah, Matt. 832 00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:24,080 Oh, the whole time was just, that's a great idea of the loof. 833 00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:31,160 So February of 2005 I bought a brand new Harley-Davidson. 834 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:35,240 Yellow Harley-Davidson. Did you get the orange jacket? 835 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:37,880 Oh, A. 100% good, good. And the L pipes. 836 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:44,360 And so I'm test driving this thing after I bought it because 837 00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:47,160 they were going to put some some accessories on it and sure 838 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,840 enough fell over in the parking lot first. 839 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:53,440 Yeah, that's a common thing though, right? 840 00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:55,560 Yeah, Brian, that's a common thing with cuz Brian used to 841 00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:57,000 ride. He used to have a motorcycle, 842 00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,840 OK. And that's a common thing, 843 00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:02,840 right, Of people when they first get their motorcycles. 844 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:07,040 Or I remember, I remember when I was young, we were at a 845 00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:09,160 stoplight and it was me and my dad. 846 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:12,520 And there was a gentleman in front of us that was at the 847 00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:15,960 stoplight, brand new bike, and he'd like literally had fallen 848 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:17,800 over. And so my dad was like, ah, 849 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:19,560 shoot. So like you put it in the park 850 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:23,160 and like got out and, you know, helped the guy get the bike back 851 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:24,280 up. And then he was like, are you 852 00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:26,000 OK? And then he's like, I'll follow 853 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:27,280 you for a little bit or something. 854 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:29,440 You know, we just like kind of followed the guy for a little 855 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:31,440 bit to make sure he was good. And then like we went on our 856 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:33,240 way. But it's just like, it's a funny 857 00:40:33,240 --> 00:40:36,760 thing with motorcycles that's it's not uncommon. 858 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:39,680 I'm sure it's a statistic we. Can, I'm sure it is. 859 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,080 I I bought that thing and and I put it on a trailer because 860 00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:45,320 after that I was like, I'm going to trailer this thing to a 861 00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:48,520 parking lot and I went to a church parking lot in Ottawa, 862 00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:50,720 Tennessee. Ottawa United Methodist Church. 863 00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:53,320 You ever heard of Ottawa? No, it's right outside of 864 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:55,920 Chattanooga. And I drove around that parking 865 00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:58,480 lot for two hours getting comfortable yeah. 866 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:00,760 And then I would go a little bit further than back a little bit, 867 00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:04,600 you know. And so that was in February of 868 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:07,760 20/20/2005 Ski. Cold. 869 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:09,240 That's kind of a cold time to ride. 870 00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:11,280 Yeah, yeah. But I had that leather jacket. 871 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:14,040 I had leather gloves. I mean, I had chaps, I had the, 872 00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:15,640 I had the whole 9 yard. I mean the. 873 00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:18,440 Pipes were blowing out some. Oh, yeah, yeah. 874 00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:21,360 I mean, I look like that guy that never driven a motorcycle 875 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:26,600 in his life, ridden a motorcycle, you know, So I was 876 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:28,880 driving it back and forth to school and it, and I did save a 877 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,240 ton of money on gas because I mean, things burn hardly 878 00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:34,160 anything and there's three hours each way. 879 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:38,760 And, and so I decided I'm going to go visit my parents and I 880 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:40,120 didn't tell anybody about a motorcycle. 881 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:46,600 Ain't nobody except Matt. So I drove from Lexington, KY on 882 00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:54,200 a Tuesday, I think, and I drove to Mylan, Tennessee and pulled 883 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:55,600 up in the driveway up. Here how far is that? 884 00:41:56,560 --> 00:41:58,400 It's probably like 5 1/2 hours. Oh, OK. 885 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:02,800 And I pull up and my dad thinks he's all one of his old buddies 886 00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:05,960 until I take my helmet off. And then my mother's like, what 887 00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:08,720 did you do? And my dad like, yeah, you know, 888 00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:10,920 'cause he drove motorcycles his whole life. 889 00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:13,840 And so you know what Dad takes out for a spin. 890 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:16,560 And like, I'm so excited to drive to my aunt's house and 891 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:18,000 heriage. Like I look up to her. 892 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,960 Like she was like that aunt that that took care of me when I was 893 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:24,040 little, you know, she became a pilot. 894 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:26,720 She rode 3 Wheeler. She haunted, you know, she's 895 00:42:26,720 --> 00:42:28,280 done it all. And like, I'm kind of like, I 896 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:31,400 want to be her, you know, like, like you have like that family 897 00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:33,960 member that you look at their life and you're like, yes, 898 00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:35,960 that's the life I want. And that was her. 899 00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:41,840 And and then it was Good Friday, 2005 S March 25th, 2005. 900 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:46,480 And I had to preach that night. And so I got up that morning and 901 00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:48,960 went to Nashville, had lunch with a friend of mine, Jennifer 902 00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:54,840 Mills with been friends forever. And I got back on the road and I 903 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:57,560 wanted to take Highway 70 instead of the Interstate home. 904 00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:00,840 And I missed the turn. I couldn't find it. 905 00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:04,280 So I pulled over next to the Titan Stadium and ask a police 906 00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:06,400 officer. In fact, police officer was 907 00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:08,640 working a motorcycle wreck. This is kind of crazy to think 908 00:43:08,640 --> 00:43:10,960 about. And I and I said I'm looking for 909 00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:12,960 Highway 70. Can you tell me how to get 910 00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:16,680 there? And he told me, and that's the 911 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:21,960 last thing I remember. I was evidently, according to 912 00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:24,880 witnesses, I was sitting in a turning lane waiting to get into 913 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:28,160 a gas station and a truck pulled out of the turn at the gas 914 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:32,880 station and ran me over. And so March 25th, 2005, I was, 915 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:36,720 you know, hit by the truck, destroyed my motorcycle, cracked 916 00:43:36,720 --> 00:43:41,360 my had a full helmet, cracked it completely in half and burnt my 917 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:45,280 right leg and broke every bone of my, my, my hip, my femur or 918 00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:49,080 not my hip, my femur, tibula, fibula, all the months of my 919 00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:51,400 feet and spent six months in a wheelchair. 920 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:54,920 Wow. And that was it was tough. 921 00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:57,920 So you don't remember, like you don't even remember waiting to 922 00:43:57,920 --> 00:43:59,040 turn. No. 923 00:43:59,960 --> 00:44:03,080 You just got taken out and then did you wake up in the hospital? 924 00:44:03,240 --> 00:44:07,800 Woke up in the hospital. I remember waking up and there 925 00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:09,080 was like something around my neck. 926 00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:12,200 I remember trying to grab it like I couldn't figure out where 927 00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:14,280 I was or what was going on and they were. 928 00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:15,960 Like that's got to feel weird. They were like, you need to calm 929 00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:19,120 down, you know, and I, and then the next day, I remember waking 930 00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:22,680 up from surgery. But, you know, a couple of the 931 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:26,040 stories from that moment, about a year later, I went back to the 932 00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:28,560 gas station and. And I just wanted to like, see 933 00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:31,040 if I can remember it. And I walked in and I said to 934 00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:35,000 the cleric, I was like, hey, a year ago it was a motorcycle 935 00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:35,880 wreck. Do you remember that? 936 00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:38,280 They're like, yeah. And I was like, well, tell me 937 00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:39,480 about it. And the guy was like, well, I 938 00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:40,560 don't. I never saw the wreck. 939 00:44:40,920 --> 00:44:43,320 All I could hear was the screaming coming from the man 940 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:45,320 that was laying on the ground. And we thought he was going to 941 00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:48,040 die. And I was like, why? 942 00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:49,760 And he's like, because he was in so much pain. 943 00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:52,760 I was like, well, that was me. And I pulled up my leg and I 944 00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:54,680 showed him the hole in my still have a hole in my leg. 945 00:44:56,360 --> 00:45:02,200 And my parents must, you know, I just got, you know, cell phones 946 00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:05,000 weren't new, so. But I had evidently the nurse 947 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:07,160 had asked me my mother's name. And my mother's name is Jane. 948 00:45:07,720 --> 00:45:10,480 And guess who the first Jane they called was Roger and Jane. 949 00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:13,720 And he called mother Jane. And my mother, my Jane was like, 950 00:45:13,720 --> 00:45:16,920 no, you called, he called the wrong Jane, you know, but I 951 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:19,640 think they either have my number or her number somehow. 952 00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:22,600 They call mother and my mother, they're like, hey, this is or 953 00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:25,680 abandoned hospital and you're looking at a motorcycle wreck. 954 00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:28,120 He's alive and but we're going to cut his leg off. 955 00:45:28,680 --> 00:45:29,920 My mother's dude said, what do you do? 956 00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:31,840 Whatever you got to do to save his leg. 957 00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:35,880 And my dad's an eye doctor and and I guess she wait till he's 958 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:41,560 done without a patient and and she tells him and you know, my 959 00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:46,720 parents, they got the car and my sister works for him and they 960 00:45:46,720 --> 00:45:51,000 drove to Nashville, but they called a girl named Christy. 961 00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:54,640 Christy was like when I was a little kid, like she was my 962 00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:56,800 sister's best friend and she lived in Nashville. 963 00:45:56,800 --> 00:45:59,400 In fact, Christy was the first girl I ever took on a date. 964 00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:01,200 It wasn't a real date. I thought it was when I was a 965 00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:03,240 little kid, but she's just being nice. 966 00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:05,160 But we took her to Pizza Hut and they worked. 967 00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:09,880 Pizza Hut, Yeah. Christy came and they let her in 968 00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:13,880 the in the emergency room and I don't remember this at all, but 969 00:46:13,880 --> 00:46:16,400 this is a story she tells. She says that the nurse kept 970 00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:18,160 saying Lou like how bad's the pain? 971 00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:21,120 And all I would say is it's not that bad. 972 00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:25,840 And they were like, but you got to give us a scale like 1 to 10 973 00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:27,320 how bad it's been. And they were out. 974 00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:29,160 And I would say it's just not, it's not that bad. 975 00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:33,000 Now you got to think about it. My leg, I broke every bone in 976 00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:35,560 it. Like the bottom part of my leg 977 00:46:35,560 --> 00:46:37,800 was going the wrong way. Like it was burnt. 978 00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:41,040 Clearly it was painful. And they finally said, well, why 979 00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:43,960 is it not that bad? And I just said because Jesus is 980 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:48,680 with me and God is with me. And so it's not that bad. 981 00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:52,920 And then she said, I greeted up and I grabbed her hand. 982 00:46:52,920 --> 00:46:54,840 I don't remember this. And I said, you need to lay 983 00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:56,360 hands on me right now and pray for me. 984 00:46:56,960 --> 00:47:00,280 And she's like, here I came to the hospital to take care of 985 00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:02,480 you. And you know, she's sorry. 986 00:47:02,480 --> 00:47:03,960 She's saying. And she's like, and then you 987 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:09,920 reached up and was like, pray for me, you know, and like I, I 988 00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:12,040 look back on that and I think about that all the time, no 989 00:47:12,040 --> 00:47:14,920 matter what I'm going through in life, it's not that bad. 990 00:47:14,920 --> 00:47:17,600 Why? Because God is with me and, and, 991 00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:20,640 and I don't remember saying that I'm thankful that somebody told 992 00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:23,800 me I did. But no matter of what's happened 993 00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:26,640 since then, that's what I think. It ain't that bad. 994 00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:29,840 No matter how painful something is, no matter how much you make 995 00:47:29,840 --> 00:47:32,400 a mistake, no matter what you've went through, no matter, you 996 00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:36,280 know, divorce was awful, right? Like making mistakes is awful, 997 00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:38,200 but it ain't that bad. Why? 998 00:47:38,200 --> 00:47:40,760 Because God is is with me. Jesus is with me. 999 00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:45,720 I spent six months in a wheelchair and it was a long six 1000 00:47:45,720 --> 00:47:48,120 months because I had to move back into my parents house. 1001 00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:49,680 Yeah, you know, I had the freedom of living. 1002 00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:51,440 How old were you at this point? I was 20. 1003 00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:53,640 Oh, OK. Yeah, well, I guess I was more 1004 00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:57,520 than older than that. 2005 to 81, That's 2324. 1005 00:47:58,200 --> 00:47:59,680 I can't do math evidently right now. 1006 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:01,920 Sorry. Only it's not multiplication. 1007 00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:04,080 Yeah, yeah, that's true. That's not your strength suit. 1008 00:48:04,080 --> 00:48:06,360 So I guess I was 23. You were in your 20s. 1009 00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:10,680 Yeah, and I've been living on my own since, you know, for a 1010 00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:13,040 while. And here I am moving back into 1011 00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:16,240 college, back into my parents house and had to rely on my mom 1012 00:48:16,240 --> 00:48:19,720 to help me go to the bathroom. And you know, I couldn't take 1013 00:48:19,720 --> 00:48:22,000 care of my churches anymore. So I had to send somebody to 1014 00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:23,360 take care of my churches while I was going home. 1015 00:48:25,160 --> 00:48:27,320 I had to finish my classes. Like, once I got better, I could 1016 00:48:27,320 --> 00:48:30,000 finish my classes online. But that was horrible, too. 1017 00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:32,160 But it gave some great time. My dad drove me to school. 1018 00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:33,400 Like, you know, I'll say I never. 1019 00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:36,400 He had to drive me to school so I could take finals, you know, 1020 00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:39,360 And, you know, I never wished that upon my kids. 1021 00:48:39,360 --> 00:48:41,600 But I promise, if they need me to drive to school again one 1022 00:48:41,600 --> 00:48:45,040 day, I will. That was a hard year. 1023 00:48:45,200 --> 00:48:48,680 Yeah. 2005. So it was 21 years ago. 1024 00:48:51,360 --> 00:48:55,200 But I learned a lot, you know, from them, you know, having a 1025 00:48:55,200 --> 00:49:00,680 motorcycle rack and a buddy, Matt, he's like, you ever going 1026 00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:02,680 to quit talking about that? I'm like, I can't hurt every 1027 00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:06,960 every day when I wake up after I'm in so much pain when I first 1028 00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:08,960 start walking because it still hurts. 1029 00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:14,640 But I, I use that no matter what, where I go, what I'm going 1030 00:49:14,640 --> 00:49:16,480 through. I use that because, you know, 1031 00:49:16,480 --> 00:49:21,840 even if I've been hurting for 2025 years, right, and or 20 1032 00:49:21,840 --> 00:49:25,560 years, 21 years every day, but it's not going to slow me down. 1033 00:49:25,720 --> 00:49:27,280 Why would I let it slow me down? Yeah. 1034 00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:29,960 You know, I can either hurt doing nothing or I can hurt 1035 00:49:29,960 --> 00:49:31,840 doing everything. Yeah, it doesn't really matter. 1036 00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:35,160 Yeah. There was a, a woman. 1037 00:49:35,320 --> 00:49:38,600 So I moved. I grew up in the Midwest and 1038 00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:42,720 then we moved to the Northeast before my junior year of high 1039 00:49:42,720 --> 00:49:46,000 school, which, you know, in hindsight wasn't that big a 1040 00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:48,720 deal. But if you're a sophomore in 1041 00:49:48,720 --> 00:49:52,560 high school and your parents are like, we're moving to a 1042 00:49:52,560 --> 00:49:55,040 completely different state on a different part of the country, 1043 00:49:55,680 --> 00:49:58,560 let's go have some fun. It wasn't, I wasn't too thrilled 1044 00:49:58,560 --> 00:50:01,760 about it at the time. I was like, what are you doing 1045 00:50:01,760 --> 00:50:05,800 to me? You know, So we moved to the 1046 00:50:05,800 --> 00:50:08,760 Northeast and that's, I actually met Brian in high school. 1047 00:50:09,080 --> 00:50:11,080 We were best friends in high school, but we didn't date. 1048 00:50:12,360 --> 00:50:15,640 And so I, and it's so funny 'cause like the, there's a 1049 00:50:15,640 --> 00:50:18,600 couple core people in my life that I'm still friends with to 1050 00:50:18,600 --> 00:50:20,400 this day. And I met them. 1051 00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:24,120 I met them when I moved, which is funny, but there's this woman 1052 00:50:24,120 --> 00:50:25,840 and it's so funny. You've gotten me twice today. 1053 00:50:28,720 --> 00:50:34,800 So before my senior year of high school, my parents moved again. 1054 00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:37,520 I don't know why I'm crying so much. 1055 00:50:38,440 --> 00:50:40,240 Excuse you got me emotional today, Lou. 1056 00:50:42,160 --> 00:50:47,560 So I just, it was my senior year and God was like, I'm not done 1057 00:50:47,560 --> 00:50:50,160 with you here yet. Your parents are going to move, 1058 00:50:50,160 --> 00:50:54,400 but you can't. And I was like, what? 1059 00:50:54,720 --> 00:51:00,320 I, I'm just, you know, 17 year old kid, you're not done with 1060 00:51:00,320 --> 00:51:01,360 me. What the heck does that mean? 1061 00:51:01,360 --> 00:51:03,080 I didn't even want to be here in the 1st place. 1062 00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:05,360 Like I don't want to stay in this place. 1063 00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:08,000 I want to move and get out of here. 1064 00:51:08,120 --> 00:51:11,040 Like it was, I was, I was like, I don't want to stay. 1065 00:51:11,040 --> 00:51:14,800 And I was like, Dang it, all right, OK, got so I went to my 1066 00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:18,120 parents and I was like, I'm not supposed to move. 1067 00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:23,280 I don't really know what that looks like for you guys, but so 1068 00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:25,080 they, they're my neighbor at the time. 1069 00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:30,680 Was this like 75 year old woman? Laura, this is crazy. 1070 00:51:32,880 --> 00:51:35,240 Brian's like, yes, this is going to be good for the podcast. 1071 00:51:35,760 --> 00:51:38,440 He is losing it. Kidding. 1072 00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:44,400 So she you're reminding me this because she would wake up every 1073 00:51:44,400 --> 00:51:49,680 day and take care of people who are dying and she would get up 1074 00:51:49,680 --> 00:51:52,280 and she would say, hey, you're in pain. 1075 00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:57,000 Are you living or dying today? So it was really cool because 1076 00:51:57,000 --> 00:52:01,080 like my, my senior year, my parents paid for me to live with 1077 00:52:01,080 --> 00:52:04,400 her, which was like, you know, gosh, I'm like 18 years old 1078 00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:08,440 living with this 7 year old woman who just gets up and even 1079 00:52:08,440 --> 00:52:11,520 on like tough days for me of like, why the heck does God have 1080 00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:13,520 me here? Or like, what am I doing? 1081 00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:16,560 I don't want to live here. Like what I want to be with my 1082 00:52:16,560 --> 00:52:19,800 family, like all those things. And she'd be like, well, are you 1083 00:52:19,800 --> 00:52:24,920 going to live or die today? And I was like, OK, Laura, I'm 1084 00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:30,040 going to live, you know, like typical high school, like, you 1085 00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:33,960 know, in the 90s. OK, I'll go put on some silver 1086 00:52:33,960 --> 00:52:35,560 chair and drive myself to school. 1087 00:52:36,640 --> 00:52:39,920 So it's just really funny. So that just reminded me like of 1088 00:52:39,920 --> 00:52:43,040 those moments, you know, that you said, it's like, we have 1089 00:52:43,040 --> 00:52:44,720 some of those moments. And it's like, huh, it's really 1090 00:52:44,720 --> 00:52:45,720 cool. So here we go. 1091 00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:47,880 Here we go. Let's just edit all of that out 1092 00:52:47,880 --> 00:52:52,440 because I'm a mess now. Right. 1093 00:52:53,480 --> 00:52:54,920 It's all right. Yeah. 1094 00:52:54,920 --> 00:52:56,480 Anything is that I. Think it should be a perfect 1095 00:52:56,480 --> 00:53:01,600 time for Beth and her, her, her. What is her business called? 1096 00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:05,440 The the new one from women. Yeah. 1097 00:53:05,440 --> 00:53:08,120 This segment was brought to you by Beth Jinx at Pro Compounding 1098 00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:10,240 Pharmacy. If you're in your 40s and you 1099 00:53:10,240 --> 00:53:12,760 start crying out of random moments, you need to reach out 1100 00:53:12,760 --> 00:53:14,800 to Beth Jinx. She will take care of you. 1101 00:53:15,680 --> 00:53:17,560 It's like perimenopause in its finest. 1102 00:53:17,560 --> 00:53:22,920 Oh, gosh, that and coupled with like not much sleep last night. 1103 00:53:24,800 --> 00:53:25,920 Gosh, no. But you know what? 1104 00:53:25,920 --> 00:53:29,720 Anything that comes to like, God, a lot, it gets me any 1105 00:53:29,800 --> 00:53:33,520 anyways, like I, I'm a, I'm a crier to begin with, but yeah, 1106 00:53:33,520 --> 00:53:36,840 total perimenopause moment. And then, you know, our son came 1107 00:53:36,840 --> 00:53:38,240 into our bedroom at what, what time? 1108 00:53:38,240 --> 00:53:40,080 What was that like 1:00 this morning? 1109 00:53:40,600 --> 00:53:42,760 And he was just like, hey, guys. What's happening? 1110 00:53:42,920 --> 00:53:49,520 Can we can we be awake? And we were like, no, looking at 1111 00:53:49,520 --> 00:53:52,280 the clock like, gosh. So it's funny because the only 1112 00:53:52,280 --> 00:53:56,080 so my mom will watch this and then she'll she'll be crying 1113 00:53:56,080 --> 00:53:59,760 with me because, you know, she'll be like, and then 1114 00:53:59,880 --> 00:54:02,360 everybody will laugh at the maybe Beth will watch it. 1115 00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:05,200 And then she'll be like, yeah, Beth, I just got so a lot of 1116 00:54:05,200 --> 00:54:07,160 blood work done. I got to get to Beth so she can 1117 00:54:07,160 --> 00:54:10,800 like analyze it. So anyways, there we go if. 1118 00:54:10,800 --> 00:54:13,680 Analyze you learn something. I can promise you that, whether 1119 00:54:13,680 --> 00:54:17,840 it's mentally or physically. Sometimes she'll call me and 1120 00:54:17,840 --> 00:54:18,880 she's. Over now anyways. 1121 00:54:19,120 --> 00:54:21,360 She'll say, She'll say I need to tell you something. 1122 00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:23,320 Oh, gosh. What do you need to tell me 1123 00:54:23,320 --> 00:54:24,560 today? Because I know I'm going to 1124 00:54:24,560 --> 00:54:25,440 learn something. Yeah. 1125 00:54:26,320 --> 00:54:28,080 But she has like, her voice, though. 1126 00:54:28,080 --> 00:54:30,720 It's just so great. What you know who has the best 1127 00:54:30,720 --> 00:54:33,080 voice ever is Audrey. Oh yeah. 1128 00:54:33,360 --> 00:54:36,080 Who's in our class? Like I if I if I ever have 1129 00:54:36,080 --> 00:54:38,720 something wrong with me, I want Audrey to deliver that 1130 00:54:38,720 --> 00:54:42,720 information because she has like literally the best voice all. 1131 00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:45,360 The time when she, when she speaks over there, I'm like, oh, 1132 00:54:45,360 --> 00:54:46,560 that's so nice. Yeah. 1133 00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:50,640 I'm just going to close my eye. Where is Audrey right now? 1134 00:54:52,560 --> 00:54:58,480 Well, and that's how we met though was we met you at one of 1135 00:54:59,520 --> 00:55:01,400 you know, because we're in a cohort together, we're all 1136 00:55:01,400 --> 00:55:04,480 learning about how to successfully use AI and 1137 00:55:04,480 --> 00:55:07,040 integrate it into our marketing. Yeah, y'all sat next to me. 1138 00:55:07,160 --> 00:55:08,920 Yeah, we sat. Next row because I'm a front row 1139 00:55:08,960 --> 00:55:10,880 kind of guy. And then we were like, wow, 1140 00:55:10,880 --> 00:55:14,120 smash meals because I have a gluten intolerance. 1141 00:55:14,600 --> 00:55:18,160 And so we just do, we don't, we don't have gluten in our house. 1142 00:55:18,160 --> 00:55:20,080 And I was like, Oh my gosh, we got to talk to this guy. 1143 00:55:20,560 --> 00:55:24,120 And then you also offer a discount to our tenants at 1144 00:55:24,120 --> 00:55:26,560 Gumball properties. And so like, that's just it's 1145 00:55:26,560 --> 00:55:29,080 really cool because we actually have a a girl that moved into 1146 00:55:29,080 --> 00:55:34,240 one of our houses recently and she was like, I was like, Hey, 1147 00:55:34,240 --> 00:55:36,680 tell me a little bit about yourself because we like to know 1148 00:55:36,720 --> 00:55:39,680 if, you know, we either have a lot of involvement with our 1149 00:55:39,680 --> 00:55:41,680 tenants or none at all, whatever they want. 1150 00:55:41,920 --> 00:55:44,560 But a lot of times if it's somebody like she's relocating 1151 00:55:44,560 --> 00:55:47,680 here. And so it's like, Hey, I need a 1152 00:55:47,680 --> 00:55:48,640 church. OK, here you go. 1153 00:55:48,680 --> 00:55:50,560 Here are a couple of churches. Try these outlet me know if you 1154 00:55:50,560 --> 00:55:51,680 like them. Oh, I need a gym. 1155 00:55:51,880 --> 00:55:54,400 Here you go. Here are some local restaurants. 1156 00:55:54,400 --> 00:55:57,680 Like it's so it's really cool that we have the opportunity to 1157 00:55:57,680 --> 00:56:01,400 offer discounts to our tenants. And she was like, Oh, I have a 1158 00:56:01,400 --> 00:56:05,400 gluten, I have a gluten allergy. And I was like, girl, I got you 1159 00:56:06,000 --> 00:56:09,920 smash meals, here you go. And so it's just, it's just 1160 00:56:09,920 --> 00:56:13,000 really cool to be able to partner together like that too, 1161 00:56:13,000 --> 00:56:16,600 because we love just partnering with other local businesses that 1162 00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:18,880 it's just really cool. It's just, and I've talked about 1163 00:56:18,880 --> 00:56:22,600 this before that the business culture here is so inviting and 1164 00:56:22,600 --> 00:56:26,240 it nothing is threatening. Like nobody feels threatened by 1165 00:56:26,240 --> 00:56:29,760 what business you do. And it's it's cool to have the 1166 00:56:29,760 --> 00:56:31,520 collaboration. And then we were like, Hey, Lou, 1167 00:56:32,160 --> 00:56:33,880 would you mind giving our tenants a discount? 1168 00:56:33,880 --> 00:56:35,320 You were like, sure, let's do it. 1169 00:56:35,440 --> 00:56:39,760 Here you go. And we were like, oh, OK, cool. 1170 00:56:39,760 --> 00:56:40,720 Why not? Yeah. 1171 00:56:40,920 --> 00:56:44,040 And so it's just really fun. And then we got to partner 1172 00:56:44,040 --> 00:56:46,440 together with you for the hurricane relief stuff. 1173 00:56:46,440 --> 00:56:49,360 That was really cool. And that was amazing. 1174 00:56:49,400 --> 00:56:51,880 It was that was like in and of itself. 1175 00:56:52,240 --> 00:56:55,880 You were, you were pulled in so many different directions than 1176 00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:58,360 you normally are anyways. Yeah. 1177 00:56:58,680 --> 00:57:02,000 So like, are you still involved in any of that? 1178 00:57:02,000 --> 00:57:04,600 It's funny you say that. So, you know, I don't know. 1179 00:57:04,640 --> 00:57:07,840 When did that happen? October of 2024. 1180 00:57:07,920 --> 00:57:13,400 And that was on a Friday. And that Sunday I drove to, I 1181 00:57:13,400 --> 00:57:15,840 found a way to get to Asheville, NC. 1182 00:57:15,840 --> 00:57:19,200 It took me 5 hours, which is normally like an hour full of 1183 00:57:19,200 --> 00:57:21,840 supplies and dropped them off for at a friend of mine's house 1184 00:57:21,840 --> 00:57:24,480 so that she could distribute them from there. 1185 00:57:24,640 --> 00:57:26,280 And she wasn't even there because she was stuck at the 1186 00:57:26,280 --> 00:57:27,920 hospital. She was a nurse, right? 1187 00:57:27,920 --> 00:57:31,600 And, and I remember like knocking on her door after 5 1/2 1188 00:57:31,600 --> 00:57:34,880 hours and her son comes to and he's like, Lou, how did you get 1189 00:57:34,880 --> 00:57:36,080 here? I was like, I don't, I don't 1190 00:57:36,080 --> 00:57:37,640 have a clue. Now I got to figure out how to 1191 00:57:37,640 --> 00:57:39,960 get back. I don't even know how I got here 1192 00:57:40,080 --> 00:57:42,760 'cause I kept turning down roads and there'd be a bridge washed 1193 00:57:42,760 --> 00:57:43,720 out and I turned down another Rd. 1194 00:57:43,720 --> 00:57:45,960 There'd be, you know, half the road washed out. 1195 00:57:45,960 --> 00:57:49,120 And my son was with me and, you know, we navigated and figured 1196 00:57:49,120 --> 00:57:51,760 it out. But through that, you know, I 1197 00:57:52,120 --> 00:57:54,280 was able to help so many thousands and thousands of 1198 00:57:54,280 --> 00:57:58,880 people with with food and gas and, and diapers and wipes and 1199 00:57:58,920 --> 00:58:02,560 bottles of water and, and a friend of mine, her name is 1200 00:58:02,560 --> 00:58:05,080 Cindy. Cindy's mom would see stuff I 1201 00:58:05,080 --> 00:58:08,000 put on the Internet and Cindy's mom would send Cindy money who 1202 00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:10,400 would send it to me, who then I would go spend it and I would 1203 00:58:10,560 --> 00:58:12,160 thank her, you know, 'cause there was a lot of people that 1204 00:58:12,160 --> 00:58:15,280 helped me with that. I mean, I spent a lot of my own 1205 00:58:15,280 --> 00:58:19,120 money, but but people help me, you know, to be able to pull 1206 00:58:19,120 --> 00:58:20,640 that off. Like y'all showing up and 1207 00:58:20,640 --> 00:58:24,120 delivering and, and helping pack and, and do all that. 1208 00:58:24,600 --> 00:58:26,520 So Cindy's mom lives in West Virginia. 1209 00:58:26,520 --> 00:58:28,240 And so every once in a while Cindy will call me and she's 1210 00:58:28,240 --> 00:58:31,240 like, hey, you almost know if you do anything, like I do stuff 1211 00:58:31,240 --> 00:58:32,400 all the time, I just don't talk about it. 1212 00:58:32,760 --> 00:58:34,240 And she's like, all right, she's sending you some money. 1213 00:58:34,560 --> 00:58:36,920 So then every time Cindy's mom sends it, she sends it to Cindy. 1214 00:58:36,920 --> 00:58:39,240 Cindy sends it to me. And then I'll like, I'll make a 1215 00:58:39,240 --> 00:58:41,760 video or I'll make a post so that she knows Cindy's mom knows 1216 00:58:41,760 --> 00:58:44,800 what the money's going towards. So our most recent money that 1217 00:58:44,800 --> 00:58:47,480 she sent me, well, not the most recent because that was here, 1218 00:58:47,760 --> 00:58:51,080 but about a few months ago we went back to one of the areas we 1219 00:58:51,080 --> 00:58:58,000 worked in and over in the Green Mountain area and we took $1000 1220 00:58:58,000 --> 00:59:00,840 worth of Christmas toys and just dropped them off. 1221 00:59:00,840 --> 00:59:03,000 The local fire department said y'all do whatever you want with 1222 00:59:03,000 --> 00:59:04,080 it. Y'all know who needs help. 1223 00:59:04,680 --> 00:59:06,880 And I mean, I, I was, that was amazing. 1224 00:59:06,880 --> 00:59:13,720 Just, you know, having people trust me to trust, to bless 1225 00:59:13,720 --> 00:59:16,800 others. You know, that that's been that 1226 00:59:16,800 --> 00:59:19,160 for the hurricane. That was something that just 1227 00:59:19,360 --> 00:59:22,880 kept blowing my mind because people from Texas, Oklahoma, 1228 00:59:22,880 --> 00:59:30,200 California, Colorado, Oregon, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, 1229 00:59:30,200 --> 00:59:32,840 Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, 1230 00:59:33,240 --> 00:59:34,600 Mississippi. There was a church in 1231 00:59:34,600 --> 00:59:37,240 Mississippi. It sent me $5000 and they were 1232 00:59:37,240 --> 00:59:40,400 like, just go and give it away, you know, and I went and bought 1233 00:59:40,400 --> 00:59:43,200 $5000 worth of propane. That's a lot of propane. 1234 00:59:43,280 --> 00:59:45,160 That's a lot of propane, but necessary. 1235 00:59:45,160 --> 00:59:47,880 I mean, there's so many people that would was one of the major 1236 00:59:47,880 --> 00:59:51,040 things that people needed. Yeah, and just to have people 1237 00:59:51,040 --> 00:59:53,600 trust me to go and do God's work. 1238 00:59:54,240 --> 00:59:57,560 And we we look back and just like that Lady, right? 1239 00:59:58,320 --> 01:00:01,360 Somebody trusted that Lady, that your parents trusted her to take 1240 01:00:01,360 --> 01:00:03,920 care of you, but she wasn't entrusted to take care of the 1241 01:00:03,920 --> 01:00:05,960 people. And that probably wasn't the 1242 01:00:05,960 --> 01:00:07,880 only thing that she did. That's just what stood out in 1243 01:00:07,880 --> 01:00:10,640 your mind, right. And so hurricane relief is not 1244 01:00:10,640 --> 01:00:13,000 the only thing I do, but some people know me just as the 1245 01:00:13,000 --> 01:00:15,880 hurricane relief guy. Somebody called my one of the 1246 01:00:15,880 --> 01:00:19,920 guys in my church. And they were like, hey, we're 1247 01:00:19,920 --> 01:00:21,640 on the way to Tennessee from Indiana. 1248 01:00:21,640 --> 01:00:24,000 And we heard that that there was that guy that was helping 1249 01:00:24,000 --> 01:00:25,880 people. And they were like, what guy? 1250 01:00:25,880 --> 01:00:27,120 And they were like, you know that guy? 1251 01:00:28,000 --> 01:00:30,720 And they figured out it was me, but they just knew me as that 1252 01:00:30,720 --> 01:00:33,720 guy. They drove from Indiana to 1253 01:00:33,720 --> 01:00:36,200 Tennessee because they heard about that guy. 1254 01:00:36,520 --> 01:00:38,960 And I'm like, and it's weird for me to hear people think about 1255 01:00:38,960 --> 01:00:42,920 like that because like, I, I'm just doing what God tells me to 1256 01:00:42,920 --> 01:00:45,520 do. Like, and to be trusted through 1257 01:00:45,520 --> 01:00:49,800 that is, is a big deal, you know, and we all have those 1258 01:00:49,800 --> 01:00:52,640 moments in our lives where, and I hope we do, where we are 1259 01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:55,920 entrusted to do something great. We're entrusted to do something 1260 01:00:55,920 --> 01:00:59,360 small, we're entrusted to do something big, but we have to go 1261 01:00:59,360 --> 01:01:01,120 and do it. You know, I think a lot of times 1262 01:01:01,120 --> 01:01:03,760 I'm, I'm working with this guy in my church right now and he is 1263 01:01:03,760 --> 01:01:08,400 like the best friendship evangelist out there, but, but 1264 01:01:08,400 --> 01:01:09,720 he doesn't always make the next step. 1265 01:01:10,800 --> 01:01:12,360 And I'm like, you got to take him to the next step. 1266 01:01:12,920 --> 01:01:16,840 You know, it's one thing to be, to be called to do something. 1267 01:01:17,880 --> 01:01:18,920 There's another thing to go do it. 1268 01:01:19,680 --> 01:01:22,040 For sure. And I think there's there's huge 1269 01:01:22,640 --> 01:01:25,800 disconnecting our Society of people who know they're called 1270 01:01:26,360 --> 01:01:28,720 but they don't do it I. Think they're scared, yeah. 1271 01:01:30,160 --> 01:01:34,680 And they don't know like how or they and they don't have like 1272 01:01:34,680 --> 01:01:37,880 they don't have somebody around them to be like take the dive or 1273 01:01:37,880 --> 01:01:39,560 do this. And I think that they just get 1274 01:01:39,560 --> 01:01:41,760 scared and they get in their own head. 1275 01:01:41,760 --> 01:01:45,680 And then just with the way that our society is, it's so 1276 01:01:46,760 --> 01:01:51,520 self-serving. And so it's really anti God's 1277 01:01:51,520 --> 01:01:54,520 message, right? Because it's not God's message 1278 01:01:54,520 --> 01:01:56,800 is completely upside down. It's not self-serving. 1279 01:01:57,280 --> 01:02:00,480 It's oh, they're serving. And so like our society, like we 1280 01:02:00,480 --> 01:02:04,120 become so selfish. And so I think that's people's 1281 01:02:04,120 --> 01:02:06,040 problems is that they're in their head and they're like, oh, 1282 01:02:06,080 --> 01:02:09,040 I can't do that because then somebody else might see it or 1283 01:02:09,040 --> 01:02:12,120 social media or something else. And then like, I might lose my 1284 01:02:12,120 --> 01:02:14,040 job or I might. And then they just kind of 1285 01:02:14,040 --> 01:02:16,240 spiral and then they talk themselves out of it. 1286 01:02:16,240 --> 01:02:17,680 So. It's almost like you were at my 1287 01:02:17,680 --> 01:02:21,520 church last Sunday because when I was in 6th grade and I 1288 01:02:21,520 --> 01:02:24,240 preached on this last Sunday, we had the self esteem day. 1289 01:02:24,480 --> 01:02:28,360 And I know they meant well, but we have this whole day set aside 1290 01:02:28,560 --> 01:02:32,520 to boost our self esteem, right? And they brought in speakers, 1291 01:02:32,520 --> 01:02:35,720 they brought in like all this stuff and they were like, you 1292 01:02:35,720 --> 01:02:37,600 can do it. You can believe in yourself, you 1293 01:02:37,600 --> 01:02:40,200 can work harder, you can be smarter, you can be wiser, you 1294 01:02:40,200 --> 01:02:42,560 can be stronger if you just believe in yourself and you have 1295 01:02:42,560 --> 01:02:45,920 self esteem, whatever. The very next Sunday. 1296 01:02:45,960 --> 01:02:47,440 So like that was on a Thursday or Friday. 1297 01:02:47,440 --> 01:02:50,080 I go to church on Sunday. My preacher stands in the pulpit 1298 01:02:50,080 --> 01:02:51,920 and says, you're never going to be smart enough. 1299 01:02:51,920 --> 01:02:53,640 You're never going to be strong enough, you're never going to be 1300 01:02:53,640 --> 01:02:55,000 wise enough, you're never going to have enough money. 1301 01:02:55,360 --> 01:02:58,280 And once you realize that, then you can count on God and God 1302 01:02:58,280 --> 01:02:59,600 will pick you up and you can do it. 1303 01:02:59,920 --> 01:03:02,400 And I remember in my mind being a 6th grader and thinking, OK, 1304 01:03:02,400 --> 01:03:04,680 my school tells me that I'll be smart enough, strong enough, 1305 01:03:04,680 --> 01:03:07,120 wise enough, I can do anything that I believe in. 1306 01:03:07,120 --> 01:03:11,040 And my preacher tells me I cannot because in that moment 1307 01:03:11,040 --> 01:03:12,880 you have to count on God. And so I got my preacher and I'm 1308 01:03:12,880 --> 01:03:14,720 like, you're going to tell me. And he's like, he's like, well, 1309 01:03:14,720 --> 01:03:19,800 society means well, but what God is wants is you to realize you 1310 01:03:19,800 --> 01:03:21,880 cannot do it on your own. You're never going to have 1311 01:03:21,880 --> 01:03:23,120 enough money. You're never going to be strong 1312 01:03:23,120 --> 01:03:24,880 enough, smart enough, wise enough, look good enough, 1313 01:03:25,080 --> 01:03:27,000 whatever. And once you realize that and 1314 01:03:27,000 --> 01:03:29,920 you start counting on God, God's going to lead you, right? 1315 01:03:29,920 --> 01:03:33,760 Because then you focus on God. But school is trying to help you 1316 01:03:33,760 --> 01:03:37,880 to be smart enough, but the focus is the wrong direction. 1317 01:03:38,360 --> 01:03:39,480 Yeah, of course you want to study. 1318 01:03:39,480 --> 01:03:41,360 Of course you want to work out. Of course you want to do all 1319 01:03:41,360 --> 01:03:44,000 these things, but at the end of the day, you're never going to 1320 01:03:44,000 --> 01:03:46,440 be good enough. And that's where Jesus was sent. 1321 01:03:46,800 --> 01:03:49,720 Jesus was sent to make that connection because we were never 1322 01:03:50,000 --> 01:03:53,320 going to be good enough. And once we realize that, you 1323 01:03:53,320 --> 01:03:55,480 know, it's like the the little engine that you could, you know, 1324 01:03:55,480 --> 01:03:57,880 I think I can, I think I can think it's the wrong story. 1325 01:03:57,880 --> 01:04:00,680 We're teaching our children. It's not about, I think I can, 1326 01:04:01,040 --> 01:04:06,120 it's with God's help, I can, with God's direction, I can, 1327 01:04:06,120 --> 01:04:10,520 with God's love, I can forgive. With God's help, I can serve the 1328 01:04:10,520 --> 01:04:14,200 needy, you know, but if you try to go do it on your own, you're 1329 01:04:14,200 --> 01:04:18,320 going to fail, you know, and, and I, I truly believe that with 1330 01:04:18,320 --> 01:04:21,200 all my heart that we teach our society wrong. 1331 01:04:21,800 --> 01:04:27,280 Well, our society isn't moral, so it doesn't. 1332 01:04:27,440 --> 01:04:29,960 Our society as a whole doesn't have that moral compass. 1333 01:04:29,960 --> 01:04:35,120 And so they don't, they don't feel the creator in that sense. 1334 01:04:35,240 --> 01:04:37,360 You know what I mean? Like they don't, they're not. 1335 01:04:37,560 --> 01:04:40,480 So if you are not, which is funny because we're all bent 1336 01:04:40,480 --> 01:04:43,440 towards that because of how we were created. 1337 01:04:43,520 --> 01:04:46,880 We're how we're supposed to be, But every day we end up, we're 1338 01:04:46,880 --> 01:04:50,000 falling, obviously because of Adam and Eve. 1339 01:04:50,000 --> 01:04:51,960 That's how it started. So like we already, we're 1340 01:04:51,960 --> 01:04:53,200 already starting in the negative. 1341 01:04:53,600 --> 01:04:56,320 And so that is just where a lot of people are operating and 1342 01:04:56,320 --> 01:04:59,320 they're so just, they're just never going to come from here 1343 01:04:59,320 --> 01:05:02,640 because they just, they can't. And society doesn't know how to 1344 01:05:02,640 --> 01:05:06,520 handle that as a whole because they've just gone so well. 1345 01:05:06,520 --> 01:05:07,520 Right? That's what I think. 1346 01:05:07,520 --> 01:05:09,960 I don't know, maybe that's, it's pretty, we're getting pretty 1347 01:05:09,960 --> 01:05:12,040 deep here, Lou. I don't mind as long as I don't 1348 01:05:12,040 --> 01:05:14,200 have another perimenopause moment where I just like 1349 01:05:14,800 --> 01:05:16,960 Brian's. Like cash, please, yes. 1350 01:05:18,160 --> 01:05:20,080 I don't know. I say release it, just let it 1351 01:05:20,080 --> 01:05:21,920 out. What's that? 1352 01:05:21,920 --> 01:05:23,160 What's that? What's that saying? 1353 01:05:23,160 --> 01:05:26,440 That the tears clean the soul? You know, I used to make fun of 1354 01:05:26,440 --> 01:05:28,800 my grandfather in my mind all the time because he would cry 1355 01:05:28,800 --> 01:05:31,280 over everything. And then my dad started crying 1356 01:05:31,280 --> 01:05:33,640 over everything. And then I realized I started 1357 01:05:33,640 --> 01:05:35,520 crying over everything. Oh, man. 1358 01:05:35,640 --> 01:05:38,040 You know, like, like, what's going on with me? 1359 01:05:38,320 --> 01:05:41,600 And I think you finally get to that moment, for me anyway, that 1360 01:05:42,040 --> 01:05:43,520 it's OK to release. Yeah. 1361 01:05:44,320 --> 01:05:47,560 Well, crying has always been if I'm happy, if I'm sad, if I'm 1362 01:05:47,560 --> 01:05:50,280 stressed, if I'm frustrated, crying has always been there. 1363 01:05:50,280 --> 01:05:53,560 And so The funny thing about going through perimenopause is 1364 01:05:53,560 --> 01:05:57,160 that like, I mean, I don't, I don't, I'm, I'm already there 1365 01:05:57,160 --> 01:05:58,960 all the time anyways. That's just how I operate in 1366 01:05:58,960 --> 01:06:01,360 that emotional level of, oh, I just got to cry it out and then 1367 01:06:01,360 --> 01:06:03,520 I'll feel better. But I mean, it's just, you know, 1368 01:06:03,600 --> 01:06:07,040 just hilarious. So a question I have for you and 1369 01:06:07,760 --> 01:06:09,800 if both of y'all had their mics and I'd ask you both, they're 1370 01:06:09,800 --> 01:06:13,440 like what do you think about smash meals? 1371 01:06:13,440 --> 01:06:15,240 Like besides the idea of it, like what? 1372 01:06:15,240 --> 01:06:20,400 What have you seen like as a business, as another 1373 01:06:20,400 --> 01:06:22,360 entrepreneur, Like what is something that you see as a 1374 01:06:22,360 --> 01:06:24,360 positive or something you may be today? 1375 01:06:24,360 --> 01:06:26,320 You could teach me like you could say, you know, Lou, if you 1376 01:06:26,320 --> 01:06:27,800 did this better, it might help your business. 1377 01:06:28,200 --> 01:06:31,520 Well, we've tried your food, We've had your food. 1378 01:06:31,840 --> 01:06:34,400 Brian doesn't have a microphone, so you're gonna have to just 1379 01:06:34,400 --> 01:06:36,920 kind of talk through me or I'll just talk for both of us. 1380 01:06:37,520 --> 01:06:38,760 Brian doesn't like being on the microphone. 1381 01:06:38,760 --> 01:06:39,840 He likes being behind the camera. 1382 01:06:41,160 --> 01:06:44,440 And we think you crush it. We think that the social media 1383 01:06:44,440 --> 01:06:46,360 is fun. We've, we've gotten to know you 1384 01:06:46,360 --> 01:06:49,640 on a personal level though, too. And so we just know your heart 1385 01:06:49,640 --> 01:06:51,920 and we know how genuine you are. And I think that that comes 1386 01:06:51,920 --> 01:06:55,720 across through Smash meals is that it's not just something 1387 01:06:55,720 --> 01:06:58,800 that you can order online or that you can go pick up at one 1388 01:06:58,800 --> 01:07:01,480 of the gyms, or I mean, you're in so many different locations 1389 01:07:01,480 --> 01:07:03,040 too that you can just go and pick up. 1390 01:07:03,760 --> 01:07:06,360 And I just think it's, I think that you can feel the 1391 01:07:06,360 --> 01:07:08,160 genuineness through everything that you do. 1392 01:07:08,640 --> 01:07:11,880 And even because you've talked about, you told us before, when 1393 01:07:11,880 --> 01:07:17,200 you go into different stores or gyms and stuff you like, you 1394 01:07:17,200 --> 01:07:19,480 don't sell them. Like you don't try and like do 1395 01:07:19,480 --> 01:07:22,080 all these things like you have a partnership with these 1396 01:07:22,080 --> 01:07:24,800 businesses, right? And then you don't expect them 1397 01:07:24,800 --> 01:07:26,080 to pay a lot of money you'd like. 1398 01:07:26,080 --> 01:07:28,640 It's just things like that, like you just take care of people 1399 01:07:28,640 --> 01:07:32,400 along the way. And so you can see that through 1400 01:07:32,400 --> 01:07:34,200 all of Smash meals. Oh, thank you. 1401 01:07:34,200 --> 01:07:37,000 And you can feel it too, when you're eating Smash meals too. 1402 01:07:37,320 --> 01:07:40,000 Thank you. And so I don't do we do we have 1403 01:07:40,000 --> 01:07:45,360 any advice for Lou? What? 1404 01:07:47,160 --> 01:07:50,120 He's crushing it. I already said that. 1405 01:07:50,280 --> 01:07:53,120 Ryan crushing it a. Yeah, Brian's. 1406 01:07:53,240 --> 01:07:55,680 Brian's actually having a perimenopause moment in the 1407 01:07:55,680 --> 01:08:00,200 corner and he's crying too, No? Kidding, it's funny you said 1408 01:08:00,200 --> 01:08:04,120 that yesterday I did a catering event for 90 people at John City 1409 01:08:04,120 --> 01:08:07,920 Eye Clinic and my son said to me, he's like, you know, a 1410 01:08:07,920 --> 01:08:11,400 couple years ago, LB or dad, you would have freaked out if you 1411 01:08:11,400 --> 01:08:14,080 had a 90 person catering event. He's like today you didn't even 1412 01:08:14,080 --> 01:08:16,600 think about it. You just we just did it. 1413 01:08:16,640 --> 01:08:20,479 And so yesterday I reached out to one of the people that was 1414 01:08:20,479 --> 01:08:22,520 there and I just said, hey, thank you for letting me come 1415 01:08:22,520 --> 01:08:25,040 and serve your clinic. They have 90 employees there, by 1416 01:08:25,080 --> 01:08:25,520 the way. Wow. 1417 01:08:26,840 --> 01:08:29,800 And I'd like a baked potato bar, a salad bar. 1418 01:08:29,800 --> 01:08:31,920 I had grilled chicken that was kind of cut up so you could put 1419 01:08:31,920 --> 01:08:33,200 it on the baked potato or the salad. 1420 01:08:33,200 --> 01:08:35,479 And I make homemade ranch dressing and white, homemade 1421 01:08:35,479 --> 01:08:38,960 white balsamic vinegar. And we had sour cream and butter 1422 01:08:38,960 --> 01:08:41,040 that we whipped up. And, and I add a little bit of 1423 01:08:41,040 --> 01:08:43,560 salt and honey to it, you know, And I thought that'd be perfect. 1424 01:08:43,560 --> 01:08:48,680 And, and so I said, how was it? She's like, everybody loves it 1425 01:08:49,359 --> 01:08:50,399 perfect. You know, that's the normal 1426 01:08:50,399 --> 01:08:53,359 answer you get. You know, Facebook last night, I 1427 01:08:53,359 --> 01:08:55,560 kind of posted a picture, you know, the naughty, I was like, 1428 01:08:55,560 --> 01:08:56,800 naughty people. It's no big deal. 1429 01:08:56,800 --> 01:08:58,240 Whatever you got, we can take care of. 1430 01:08:59,120 --> 01:09:01,680 The first comment was somebody who was there that ate the food 1431 01:09:01,680 --> 01:09:04,000 and they were like, that food's amazing. 1432 01:09:04,000 --> 01:09:06,479 And I was like, oh, thank you. What was the your favorite part? 1433 01:09:06,479 --> 01:09:09,399 And she was, she said the salad with the chicken and the 1434 01:09:09,399 --> 01:09:11,240 cookies. And I just laughed because, 1435 01:09:11,240 --> 01:09:13,960 like, I didn't even remember that I left cookies, you know, 1436 01:09:13,960 --> 01:09:16,760 But I, you know, we make, we make homemade cookies, chocolate 1437 01:09:16,760 --> 01:09:19,040 chips, sugar cookies. We make all sorts of cookies. 1438 01:09:19,040 --> 01:09:24,080 And, and I think a lot of people think gluten free is horrible. 1439 01:09:24,160 --> 01:09:25,840 Yeah. But, well, it used to be. 1440 01:09:25,880 --> 01:09:29,160 Until you try our gluten free cookies, most people you can't 1441 01:09:29,160 --> 01:09:31,880 even tell. Like if you really start 1442 01:09:31,880 --> 01:09:34,160 thinking about it and you know, it's gluten free, then you can 1443 01:09:34,160 --> 01:09:37,560 start picking up some of the different textures in them. 1444 01:09:38,080 --> 01:09:41,640 But it made me happy, you know, like to know that that that was 1445 01:09:41,640 --> 01:09:42,880 something I didn't even think about it. 1446 01:09:42,920 --> 01:09:44,319 Like honestly didn't even think about it. 1447 01:09:44,319 --> 01:09:46,720 But she loved the salad that made me happy. 1448 01:09:47,399 --> 01:09:50,200 Daisy, she makes the best salads when she's there. 1449 01:09:50,200 --> 01:09:52,600 Like, it's amazing. My children are so different. 1450 01:09:52,600 --> 01:09:56,080 Like LB just wants to cut meat, cook some meat, you know, and 1451 01:09:56,080 --> 01:09:58,400 Daisy's over there making the salad and she's putting the 1452 01:09:58,400 --> 01:10:00,920 cucumbers and the tomatoes and it making it look all pretty 1453 01:10:00,920 --> 01:10:03,880 and, and, and, and it's amazing how different they are. 1454 01:10:03,880 --> 01:10:07,040 But, you know, I got to help somebody and, and, and I love 1455 01:10:07,040 --> 01:10:09,960 that, you know, so. Yeah, gluten free food. 1456 01:10:10,080 --> 01:10:13,320 So I think it was, I was in, I was living out West at the time. 1457 01:10:13,320 --> 01:10:18,040 I was, it was 2011 and I was just like feeling lethargic and 1458 01:10:18,040 --> 01:10:21,480 just, I just didn't feel myself. And so I went to the doctor and 1459 01:10:22,200 --> 01:10:24,600 I was telling her, you know, my symptoms and she was like, well, 1460 01:10:24,600 --> 01:10:26,520 you might have a, a gluten intolerance. 1461 01:10:26,520 --> 01:10:30,360 And I was like, OK, she's like, so let's cut out, you know, 1462 01:10:30,360 --> 01:10:32,600 breads and all that kind of stuff that has gluten in it and 1463 01:10:32,600 --> 01:10:35,400 then see how you feel. So I did and I and then I went 1464 01:10:35,400 --> 01:10:37,800 back, I don't know, probably did it for a month or two. 1465 01:10:38,920 --> 01:10:41,520 And I was like, I feel great. I don't have any problems 1466 01:10:41,520 --> 01:10:42,560 anymore. And she was like, well, then 1467 01:10:42,560 --> 01:10:44,720 there you go. Just don't, don't need it 1468 01:10:44,720 --> 01:10:46,440 anymore. And that was 2011. 1469 01:10:46,440 --> 01:10:50,040 And at that point I was traveling for work like 1470 01:10:50,040 --> 01:10:52,960 constantly. I was, I was out West, but I was 1471 01:10:53,000 --> 01:10:55,320 literally coming to Florida like every week. 1472 01:10:55,320 --> 01:10:58,440 And so I and I moved from Florida to Portland. 1473 01:10:58,480 --> 01:11:00,800 And so I never went the whole time I lived out West. 1474 01:11:00,800 --> 01:11:04,320 I still lived on East Coast time because everybody that I spoke 1475 01:11:04,320 --> 01:11:06,960 to was still on the East Coast. So I would get up at like, you 1476 01:11:06,960 --> 01:11:10,800 know, two or three in the morning and like start my day 1477 01:11:10,800 --> 01:11:13,120 and everyone thought I was crazy over there, but I was like, 1478 01:11:13,120 --> 01:11:16,280 well, hey man, I mean everything operates over there. 1479 01:11:16,280 --> 01:11:18,640 That's like, you know where I'm at right now. 1480 01:11:18,640 --> 01:11:21,720 So it's just funny. So then traveling, it was really 1481 01:11:21,720 --> 01:11:24,920 difficult to find gluten free options. 1482 01:11:24,920 --> 01:11:28,200 And so the only option I had was to go to the grocery store and 1483 01:11:28,200 --> 01:11:31,440 get my own like food. And then the company I was 1484 01:11:31,440 --> 01:11:34,400 working for, I was like, I got to book a hotel that has a 1485 01:11:34,400 --> 01:11:37,320 kitchen because I need to be able to cook my own food because 1486 01:11:37,320 --> 01:11:39,000 like I can't can't go to these restaurants. 1487 01:11:39,000 --> 01:11:40,280 They don't know what the heck I'm talking about. 1488 01:11:40,280 --> 01:11:41,480 They don't know what gluten free is. 1489 01:11:41,920 --> 01:11:47,080 And then I don't know when the trend started changing, probably 1490 01:11:47,080 --> 01:11:54,400 like 2018-2019 people were like, oh, oh, gluten, OK, gluten free. 1491 01:11:54,840 --> 01:11:59,360 And then I would say like, like post COVID, it's really changed 1492 01:11:59,360 --> 01:12:01,720 a lot. And then now you know, it used 1493 01:12:01,720 --> 01:12:05,360 to maybe be like this big in a grocery store or like one shelf 1494 01:12:05,640 --> 01:12:08,880 and it was like, you know, your cardboard was not not good 1495 01:12:08,880 --> 01:12:10,520 options. Terrible back in the day. 1496 01:12:10,760 --> 01:12:13,000 It was really bad. We we saw at a natural Foods 1497 01:12:13,000 --> 01:12:14,640 Market as well now. Yeah, and that was cool. 1498 01:12:14,720 --> 01:12:16,040 That was kind of a cool thing for me. 1499 01:12:16,880 --> 01:12:19,080 We've been around 8 years. Then to be invited into a 1500 01:12:19,080 --> 01:12:20,120 grocery store. Yeah. 1501 01:12:20,120 --> 01:12:22,160 To sell food, to have pick up location. 1502 01:12:22,160 --> 01:12:25,240 Yeah. But man, they have so much good 1503 01:12:25,240 --> 01:12:27,560 food that you can take home and buy, you know, make yourself. 1504 01:12:28,440 --> 01:12:32,960 I've recently learned that tapioca flour is really good for 1505 01:12:32,960 --> 01:12:35,840 making a Roux for tomato soup if you're ever you know because a 1506 01:12:35,840 --> 01:12:39,480 lot of times you get coconut flour, almond flour, but tapioca 1507 01:12:39,480 --> 01:12:42,120 makes the best Roux if you know for a piece of nice. 1508 01:12:42,360 --> 01:12:43,600 Well, that's good to know. Yeah. 1509 01:12:43,680 --> 01:12:45,040 Yeah. Because coconut flour and almond 1510 01:12:45,040 --> 01:12:49,000 flour, coconut flour's dense especially that is like, that's 1511 01:12:49,000 --> 01:12:52,240 a tough one. I always keep some tapioca in my 1512 01:12:52,600 --> 01:12:56,440 in my cupboard because there's a really good recipe for like, I 1513 01:12:56,440 --> 01:12:58,680 think they're called Brazilian, Brazilian cheddar bread. 1514 01:12:59,320 --> 01:13:00,640 You ever had that I've. Never had that. 1515 01:13:00,640 --> 01:13:02,800 It's. Just tapioca flour and basically 1516 01:13:02,840 --> 01:13:04,840 like cheese and eggs. I'll have to send you the recipe 1517 01:13:05,040 --> 01:13:08,920 because it's like it's, it's really, really good and only a 1518 01:13:08,920 --> 01:13:11,280 few ingredients, so it's pretty easy to make. 1519 01:13:12,200 --> 01:13:14,320 Let's check that out. Yeah, I'll tell you, I've 1520 01:13:14,320 --> 01:13:17,440 learned a lot owning a kitchen that makes gluten free. 1521 01:13:17,720 --> 01:13:20,480 I have to think 7 days in advance, like, OK, so if I make 1522 01:13:20,480 --> 01:13:23,000 something, somebody's going to eat it 7 days from now. 1523 01:13:23,600 --> 01:13:25,960 And that's really hard when you're making like breads or 1524 01:13:25,960 --> 01:13:29,120 something like that, because it's really good the 1st two 1525 01:13:29,120 --> 01:13:31,880 days, three days. But then further out, it's not 1526 01:13:31,880 --> 01:13:32,480 great. Yeah. 1527 01:13:33,280 --> 01:13:37,720 But cottage cheese has been like a huge game changer for me and a 1528 01:13:37,720 --> 01:13:40,960 lot of the things that we've been making because it's really 1529 01:13:40,960 --> 01:13:42,680 good seven days later. Yeah. 1530 01:13:43,640 --> 01:13:45,760 So that's a, that's a. That's a interesting thing about 1531 01:13:45,760 --> 01:13:47,120 owning a meal prep company. Yeah. 1532 01:13:47,120 --> 01:13:49,160 Because you're not eating food for people to present. 1533 01:13:49,200 --> 01:13:51,320 Here's your beautiful table. Yeah, here it is right now. 1534 01:13:51,320 --> 01:13:52,040 Eat. It's good. 1535 01:13:52,240 --> 01:13:53,680 Yeah. You're like, it's going to be 1536 01:13:53,680 --> 01:13:55,200 good when you warm it up. Yeah. 1537 01:13:55,360 --> 01:13:57,440 You know how hard it is to learn to cook a steak? 1538 01:13:57,840 --> 01:13:59,840 It's going to somebody's going to warm up six days later and 1539 01:13:59,840 --> 01:14:01,320 still be good. A. 1540 01:14:01,360 --> 01:14:05,600 Long time we went through so many cuts of meat and so many 1541 01:14:05,600 --> 01:14:07,960 ways to cut it and, and how should we trim it? 1542 01:14:07,960 --> 01:14:11,120 And, and still we, we fail sometimes, you know, but in 1543 01:14:11,120 --> 01:14:14,080 order to have a good piece of meat seven days later, it needs 1544 01:14:14,080 --> 01:14:17,720 to be a sirloin or a fillet because you got to get all the 1545 01:14:17,720 --> 01:14:20,280 fat off. And if you try a rib eye, it's 1546 01:14:20,280 --> 01:14:22,160 going to be hard. And you can only cook it to 1547 01:14:22,160 --> 01:14:25,840 about 1:30 because if you cook it to 1:40 or 1:45 and they put 1548 01:14:25,840 --> 01:14:27,080 in the microwave, it's going to be chewy. 1549 01:14:27,440 --> 01:14:30,040 So a lot of our customers when they first get our steak and 1550 01:14:30,040 --> 01:14:32,880 they cut into it, they're like, this is not done. 1551 01:14:32,880 --> 01:14:35,960 I'm like, go ahead and put in the microwave and warm it up and 1552 01:14:35,960 --> 01:14:38,040 then see, then call me back. And they're doing, they're like, 1553 01:14:38,040 --> 01:14:40,200 how did you get that steak to be soft and chewy? 1554 01:14:40,200 --> 01:14:43,240 I'm like, well, it marinates for 24 hours, then only cook it to 1555 01:14:43,240 --> 01:14:46,400 130°, you know, and, and there's like so many different steps 1556 01:14:46,400 --> 01:14:48,120 that you never even think about when you're meal prepping. 1557 01:14:48,120 --> 01:14:51,200 I think a lot of people fail when they meal prep because they 1558 01:14:51,400 --> 01:14:54,400 find one or two recipes and that's all they cook ever. 1559 01:14:54,400 --> 01:14:56,760 And then they're tired of it, You know, for smashed meals. 1560 01:14:56,760 --> 01:14:58,280 We realize that in the first month. 1561 01:14:58,440 --> 01:14:59,720 Yeah. And so we. 1562 01:14:59,720 --> 01:15:03,880 You guys have a great variety all the time. 12 week runnings 1563 01:15:03,880 --> 01:15:06,920 menu, you're never going to have the same thing in 12 weeks. 1564 01:15:07,320 --> 01:15:09,880 And so I think for some people that's frustrating because they 1565 01:15:09,880 --> 01:15:11,720 get one food they really like, they want it on the menu again 1566 01:15:11,720 --> 01:15:13,360 and it's not going to be on there for three months. 1567 01:15:13,360 --> 01:15:15,000 But for everybody else, they're like, I love it. 1568 01:15:15,040 --> 01:15:18,120 I'm never eating the same thing, you know, week after week. 1569 01:15:18,280 --> 01:15:20,840 Yeah, and that I think that you hit the nail on the head because 1570 01:15:20,840 --> 01:15:22,440 a lot of times when people are like, oh, I'm going to start 1571 01:15:22,440 --> 01:15:24,880 meal prepping and they, you know, they carve out their 1572 01:15:24,880 --> 01:15:27,400 sundae or whatever day they do and they just like meal prep for 1573 01:15:27,400 --> 01:15:29,320 the week. And it's like you just made 1574 01:15:29,320 --> 01:15:32,440 chicken and rice and broccoli for that week and then the next 1575 01:15:32,440 --> 01:15:34,960 week and you go and do it. You might be tired of that 1576 01:15:34,960 --> 01:15:37,320 chicken, rice and broccoli. But that is another thing that 1577 01:15:37,320 --> 01:15:39,560 you guys do really well is changing it up. 1578 01:15:39,600 --> 01:15:41,880 And I can't imagine how hard it is. 1579 01:15:41,960 --> 01:15:46,400 I mean, as a mom who cooks all the time, I, I do understand 1580 01:15:46,400 --> 01:15:49,240 from that standpoint, 'cause it's like, Oh my gosh, trying to 1581 01:15:49,240 --> 01:15:52,200 figure out what these little boys eat, 'cause you know, we're 1582 01:15:52,200 --> 01:15:56,080 in that four and five year old phase of actually it's really 1583 01:15:56,080 --> 01:15:57,840 cute. Our four year old at this point, 1584 01:15:58,640 --> 01:16:00,640 if it's not, I mean, he's our dairy boy. 1585 01:16:00,800 --> 01:16:05,800 If it's not like yogurt or milk, he doesn't really want it. 1586 01:16:05,800 --> 01:16:08,240 Like he's just like, he just loves dairy. 1587 01:16:08,680 --> 01:16:11,800 So his thing now because his older brother, who's 5 has 1588 01:16:12,040 --> 01:16:15,000 really started to try more things as as he's gotten, you 1589 01:16:15,000 --> 01:16:17,000 know, he's 5, so he thinks he's older now. 1590 01:16:17,400 --> 01:16:19,080 But our four year old says, I'll eat it. 1591 01:16:19,240 --> 01:16:22,720 I'll try it when I'm 5. And that's the last night I was 1592 01:16:22,720 --> 01:16:26,080 like, OK, buddy, you're going to have a lot of food to try when 1593 01:16:26,080 --> 01:16:29,280 you turn to five years old later this year. 1594 01:16:29,280 --> 01:16:31,320 And he's, and he just kind of sat there and he was like, I 1595 01:16:31,640 --> 01:16:34,360 don't know, in that moment he was like, Oh my gosh, what did I 1596 01:16:34,360 --> 01:16:36,520 do to my. I'm in trouble. 1597 01:16:36,960 --> 01:16:39,800 We're just going to set up a giant table like this, and we're 1598 01:16:39,800 --> 01:16:42,320 just going to put all this food out and be like, here you go, 1599 01:16:42,480 --> 01:16:43,960 you're 5. You're 5, Joy. 1600 01:16:44,080 --> 01:16:46,040 Happy birthday. Yeah, have fun. 1601 01:16:46,680 --> 01:16:47,720 No, it's just really cute though. 1602 01:16:47,720 --> 01:16:50,200 But it's always fun to go through those little. 1603 01:16:50,200 --> 01:16:51,960 We're trying to treasure those moments. 1604 01:16:51,960 --> 01:16:56,040 Don't forget with with our dudes, it's not always easy in 1605 01:16:56,040 --> 01:16:58,640 in the moment. The it's tough. 1606 01:16:58,880 --> 01:17:00,720 I mean, they're, we get asked all the time if they're twins 1607 01:17:00,720 --> 01:17:02,440 too, because they're four and five. 1608 01:17:03,080 --> 01:17:05,160 So. And sometimes it's easier. 1609 01:17:05,160 --> 01:17:09,440 I just go Yep. Cuz it's yeah, pretty much. 1610 01:17:09,440 --> 01:17:12,160 I mean, they twin boys. I don't mean, I don't, I don't 1611 01:17:12,160 --> 01:17:14,760 think they look that much alike, but they both look like this 1612 01:17:14,760 --> 01:17:15,480 guy. Yeah. 1613 01:17:15,760 --> 01:17:17,920 Minnie Bryant literally. Look, that's right. 1614 01:17:17,920 --> 01:17:18,520 You've met him. Yeah. 1615 01:17:18,520 --> 01:17:21,320 And they look nothing like me. I'm like, Are you sure you were 1616 01:17:21,320 --> 01:17:25,400 part of this? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was. 1617 01:17:25,680 --> 01:17:29,040 But they're, they're funny. They they actually really love 1618 01:17:29,280 --> 01:17:31,360 your protein balls and the protein bars. 1619 01:17:32,520 --> 01:17:35,440 They, they, I mean, and anything they can grab with their hands, 1620 01:17:35,440 --> 01:17:37,600 like that's, that's their MO because they just want to keep 1621 01:17:37,600 --> 01:17:38,720 playing. So they just want to eat 1622 01:17:38,720 --> 01:17:41,760 something quick, fast and get some protein in them. 1623 01:17:41,760 --> 01:17:45,600 And and that's that's it. So besides dairy, Levi will eat 1624 01:17:45,600 --> 01:17:47,600 those too. Good, good peanut butter we make 1625 01:17:47,640 --> 01:17:49,480 like, who doesn't like peanut butter and chocolate? 1626 01:17:49,480 --> 01:17:50,480 Yeah. Who doesn't? 1627 01:17:50,600 --> 01:17:53,760 And you know, it's got the, it's, it's actually really good 1628 01:17:53,760 --> 01:17:55,560 for you. I mean, some people stay away 1629 01:17:55,560 --> 01:17:57,520 from it because it's got maybe a little bit high in carbs, but 1630 01:17:57,520 --> 01:18:00,200 we, it's got a lot of protein. We make hundreds of those things 1631 01:18:00,200 --> 01:18:01,640 a week. And that I think that's, that's 1632 01:18:01,640 --> 01:18:02,320 another thing. It's hard. 1633 01:18:02,320 --> 01:18:04,760 Like you have these certain, we have certain menu items that 1634 01:18:04,760 --> 01:18:06,520 stay on there every week. And like, I have to remind 1635 01:18:06,520 --> 01:18:08,800 myself every week, Oh, I need to make sure somebody's making 1636 01:18:08,800 --> 01:18:10,240 that. Because if you don't, then all 1637 01:18:10,240 --> 01:18:13,520 of a sudden it's crunch time and you know, we might make 1000 1638 01:18:13,520 --> 01:18:15,720 meals that week. I cannot forget the other things 1639 01:18:15,720 --> 01:18:17,360 that we have to have every single week. 1640 01:18:18,600 --> 01:18:20,520 And I know that people at Walmart, they laugh at me 1641 01:18:20,520 --> 01:18:26,080 because we order our, our oats. But every once in a while I'm 1642 01:18:26,080 --> 01:18:27,160 like, Oh, I wonder if we have enough. 1643 01:18:27,160 --> 01:18:29,520 And so I just grab like random things of oatface and oats. 1644 01:18:29,520 --> 01:18:31,760 And it's like every time I go to Walmart, I have a thing of and 1645 01:18:31,760 --> 01:18:34,000 I'm not, I know the people are like, I wonder how many oats 1646 01:18:34,000 --> 01:18:36,040 that man eats? And it's just like, I don't want 1647 01:18:36,040 --> 01:18:37,440 to run out. Because when you run out as a 1648 01:18:37,440 --> 01:18:40,160 business owner, it's it, it's frustrating. 1649 01:18:40,280 --> 01:18:42,840 Yeah, for sure. Well, they just did a study on, 1650 01:18:43,000 --> 01:18:44,880 I can't remember where. I think it might have been 1651 01:18:44,880 --> 01:18:47,800 Germany. They had a bunch of people who 1652 01:18:48,560 --> 01:18:52,560 did nothing but oatmeal for two days a week. 1653 01:18:52,600 --> 01:18:55,640 I think for every single meal, they had 10 ounces of oatmeal. 1654 01:18:55,920 --> 01:18:58,760 And they only had fruit, and I think it was just fruits and 1655 01:18:58,760 --> 01:19:03,000 vegetables in the oatmeal. And it literally helped every 1656 01:19:03,000 --> 01:19:06,080 single one that did that study, it lowered their cholesterol. 1657 01:19:06,280 --> 01:19:10,800 They lost an average of £5 in that week just by doing 2 days 1658 01:19:10,800 --> 01:19:12,120 or some. I'll try and find it. 1659 01:19:12,120 --> 01:19:14,240 I'll send it to you. It's like, it was so weird. 1660 01:19:14,240 --> 01:19:16,240 Like I was reading it to Brian the other day and I was like, Oh 1661 01:19:16,240 --> 01:19:17,640 my gosh. Because we love oatmeal. 1662 01:19:17,640 --> 01:19:19,680 Yeah. And we'll eat it all the time. 1663 01:19:21,080 --> 01:19:23,320 And our oldest loves it too. He calls it OPA Meal. 1664 01:19:23,480 --> 01:19:25,600 OPA Meal, which we think that's a better name. 1665 01:19:25,600 --> 01:19:27,640 So we call it OPA meal. Makes me. 1666 01:19:27,640 --> 01:19:32,840 Think. Willy, Willy Wonka, Oompa 1667 01:19:32,840 --> 01:19:34,880 Loompa. And so, yeah, that was a, a 1668 01:19:34,920 --> 01:19:37,400 crazy study. I think carbs and oatmeal too 1669 01:19:37,400 --> 01:19:40,920 have gotten a bad rap. And we've always liked oatmeal 1670 01:19:40,920 --> 01:19:45,680 because we're we lift weights and like a lot of people, you 1671 01:19:45,680 --> 01:19:48,000 know, in the weightlifting community, not like we're like, 1672 01:19:48,360 --> 01:19:51,480 we're not like power lifters, but oatmeal is a, an important 1673 01:19:51,480 --> 01:19:54,880 staple just because it, it actually is good carbs for you. 1674 01:19:55,240 --> 01:19:59,040 It fuels your muscles, it helps you, sustains you for longer. 1675 01:19:59,520 --> 01:20:00,560 And I don't. I mean carbs. 1676 01:20:00,920 --> 01:20:02,920 There's always something on the chopping block. 1677 01:20:03,080 --> 01:20:05,360 Always. I mean, what the 70s was eggs? 1678 01:20:05,640 --> 01:20:08,600 Was cholesterol eggs? Cholesterol, yeah. 9 I don't 1679 01:20:08,600 --> 01:20:12,000 remember what the 80s was, but then the 90s was fat. 1680 01:20:12,000 --> 01:20:14,520 Fat 100%. Yeah, that was crazy. 1681 01:20:14,520 --> 01:20:15,920 I don't. What would the 2000s be? 1682 01:20:17,640 --> 01:20:18,840 I don't have a clue. Yeah, I don't. 1683 01:20:19,000 --> 01:20:19,720 I don't know. Oh man. 1684 01:20:20,520 --> 01:20:23,040 I don't. Know I think fat we're still 1685 01:20:23,040 --> 01:20:27,920 operating in the the fat zone of fat free even the fat doesn't 1686 01:20:27,920 --> 01:20:29,800 make you fat fat super important. 1687 01:20:29,800 --> 01:20:32,000 I think people have started realizing the importance of 1688 01:20:32,480 --> 01:20:34,000 their fats and. The brain power. 1689 01:20:34,280 --> 01:20:36,560 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't even know. 1690 01:20:36,560 --> 01:20:39,280 I'd have to think of because there's always a trend like for 1691 01:20:39,280 --> 01:20:42,200 some 10 years there's something that's bad for you and then you 1692 01:20:42,200 --> 01:20:45,360 find out later that it's it's. It's good, yeah. 1693 01:20:45,640 --> 01:20:48,600 We, we put our macro nutritional information on everything we 1694 01:20:48,600 --> 01:20:51,200 cook. And it's interesting to me 1695 01:20:51,200 --> 01:20:54,880 because I'll get these phone calls and, you know, I, I treat 1696 01:20:54,880 --> 01:20:58,200 every customer like they're my only own customer, you know, And 1697 01:20:58,400 --> 01:21:00,360 so these phone calls and they're, they're asking specific 1698 01:21:00,360 --> 01:21:03,040 questions and it takes me normally a couple minutes to 1699 01:21:03,040 --> 01:21:05,760 realize what diet they're trying to like, talk about, but not 1700 01:21:05,760 --> 01:21:09,560 talk about it, you know, and then I'll try to steer them, you 1701 01:21:09,560 --> 01:21:12,360 know, OK, well, if that's what you're trying to do, you know, 1702 01:21:12,360 --> 01:21:14,760 that's why we have sides. You know, we have every meat you 1703 01:21:14,760 --> 01:21:16,440 can think of. We have all these side 1704 01:21:16,440 --> 01:21:18,440 vegetables. This is where you want to go. 1705 01:21:18,440 --> 01:21:20,720 And then somebody else's, you know, I need more fiber. 1706 01:21:20,720 --> 01:21:23,840 So most of our stuff has how much fibers in it, you know, and 1707 01:21:24,440 --> 01:21:27,680 it's interesting because whether it's the Mediterranean diet or 1708 01:21:27,680 --> 01:21:32,120 the keto diet or the, OR the paleotithic diet or the low 1709 01:21:32,120 --> 01:21:36,800 carb, no carb or whatever, it is like we pretty much can serve 1710 01:21:36,800 --> 01:21:41,200 any diet out there basically because we have so many 1711 01:21:41,200 --> 01:21:44,720 different options. But we don't want to discourage 1712 01:21:44,720 --> 01:21:48,720 anybody from trying something for themselves because if you're 1713 01:21:48,840 --> 01:21:52,120 at least trying something for yourself, you're not staying who 1714 01:21:52,120 --> 01:21:55,000 you used to be. So often in life, we become 1715 01:21:55,000 --> 01:21:57,760 complacent, whether it's through reading our Bible, through, 1716 01:21:57,800 --> 01:22:00,320 through, through our maybe it's through our appearance or 1717 01:22:00,320 --> 01:22:03,200 through our health or through our food or in our 1718 01:22:03,200 --> 01:22:05,840 relationships, like we become complacent. 1719 01:22:06,080 --> 01:22:08,960 And so in every aspect of our body, our life, we should 1720 01:22:08,960 --> 01:22:12,800 constantly be trying something new to help us to become who we 1721 01:22:12,800 --> 01:22:16,480 think God wants us to. Yeah, you know, and, and I never 1722 01:22:16,480 --> 01:22:17,960 want to discourage somebody for trying. 1723 01:22:19,800 --> 01:22:21,560 I can't always fulfill everything. 1724 01:22:21,960 --> 01:22:24,520 Yeah. Recently we had a customer who 1725 01:22:24,520 --> 01:22:27,680 had bariatric surgery. And so she said, can you do 1726 01:22:27,680 --> 01:22:30,960 something for me? And I was like, honestly, I have 1727 01:22:31,000 --> 01:22:33,280 no idea what that means. Yeah, I know you had your 1728 01:22:33,280 --> 01:22:35,400 stomach cut. I I'm going to have to do some 1729 01:22:35,400 --> 01:22:37,000 research. And so I was at a basketball 1730 01:22:37,000 --> 01:22:41,520 game and I went to ChatGPT and I said, I need you to tell me 1731 01:22:41,520 --> 01:22:45,080 everything you know about bariatric surgery and how what 1732 01:22:45,080 --> 01:22:46,200 they have to eat. And all of a sudden I just 1733 01:22:46,200 --> 01:22:48,120 realized they need smaller portions in low carb. 1734 01:22:48,720 --> 01:22:50,840 That's it. I'm like, that's no, that's a no 1735 01:22:50,840 --> 01:22:53,880 brainer. So I just made-up 12 menu items 1736 01:22:53,880 --> 01:22:56,400 that are low, are smaller portions in low carb. 1737 01:22:56,400 --> 01:22:59,440 I try to take different meats and you know, I realize that 1738 01:22:59,440 --> 01:23:01,480 some of them can't eat chicken, some of them can't eat beef. 1739 01:23:01,480 --> 01:23:03,360 And so I can kind of have a mixture of that and it's got to 1740 01:23:03,360 --> 01:23:05,640 be smaller, you know, cut smaller because their stomachs 1741 01:23:05,640 --> 01:23:08,240 are so small. And the first we could put it on 1742 01:23:08,240 --> 01:23:12,080 the menu, we sold, you know, 10/15/20 and next week you sold 1743 01:23:12,080 --> 01:23:16,080 150 of these items. And I realized that a lot of 1744 01:23:16,080 --> 01:23:18,440 people are scared of the word bariatric because they, they 1745 01:23:18,440 --> 01:23:20,440 associate that with something wrong with their stomach. 1746 01:23:21,040 --> 01:23:24,320 And so I had to put a slash low carb, you know, so people can 1747 01:23:24,320 --> 01:23:26,640 understand they were actually just smaller portions. 1748 01:23:27,120 --> 01:23:31,760 But I think we all in our life, we read something and we, we 1749 01:23:31,760 --> 01:23:33,960 don't want to be associated with that word or we don't want to. 1750 01:23:34,360 --> 01:23:38,360 We, we, maybe there's a stigma to bariatric surgery, but why 1751 01:23:38,360 --> 01:23:40,840 wouldn't you encourage somebody to get healthier? 1752 01:23:41,280 --> 01:23:44,640 You know, and it might take a surgery, it might be going to 1753 01:23:44,640 --> 01:23:47,960 join the gym, you know, it might become leaving an environment 1754 01:23:47,960 --> 01:23:49,280 but going to a different environment. 1755 01:23:49,880 --> 01:23:53,240 But whatever it takes like a smash meals when it comes to 1756 01:23:53,240 --> 01:23:54,400 food, we want to be there for you. 1757 01:23:55,000 --> 01:23:57,200 You know, whether it's your wedding, you know, somebody's 1758 01:23:57,200 --> 01:24:00,680 funeral, meal prep, catering, the whole 9 yards. 1759 01:24:00,680 --> 01:24:06,200 Like we want to be a part of it. It, it's funny, I, I did in this 1760 01:24:06,200 --> 01:24:10,000 last year, I had multiple weddings that I was the pastor 1761 01:24:10,000 --> 01:24:13,760 of and also the caterer. And I had some funerals that I 1762 01:24:13,760 --> 01:24:17,080 was the pastor of and the caterer, you know, and, and it's 1763 01:24:17,080 --> 01:24:19,120 watching those two kind of combined. 1764 01:24:19,440 --> 01:24:24,320 And I was always kind of shot away from it until until 1765 01:24:24,320 --> 01:24:29,440 Hurricane Helene, I, I rarely ever talked about being a pastor 1766 01:24:29,960 --> 01:24:32,560 while talking about smash meals, and I rarely ever talked about 1767 01:24:32,560 --> 01:24:34,880 smash meals while being a pastor. 1768 01:24:35,040 --> 01:24:36,320 Did you just want to keep them separate? 1769 01:24:36,320 --> 01:24:38,840 I wanted to keep them separate because it was uncomfortable for 1770 01:24:38,840 --> 01:24:40,520 me. I didn't want to exclude 1771 01:24:40,520 --> 01:24:42,800 anybody. I didn't want anybody to feel 1772 01:24:42,800 --> 01:24:46,000 like I was whatever it was. Like I didn't want anybody in my 1773 01:24:46,000 --> 01:24:47,920 church to ever feel like they had to buy my food. 1774 01:24:48,280 --> 01:24:50,920 Like, I never want that. And I never wanted anybody who 1775 01:24:50,920 --> 01:24:52,920 bought my food to feel like I was forcing them to come to 1776 01:24:52,920 --> 01:24:55,720 church. And then Hurricane Helene hit 1777 01:24:55,720 --> 01:24:58,920 and I was like, forget it. I'm just going to tell everybody 1778 01:24:58,920 --> 01:25:01,480 everything I'm doing and I'm going to figure out how to join 1779 01:25:01,480 --> 01:25:03,440 them together. And that was a huge moment of 1780 01:25:03,440 --> 01:25:06,720 relief for me that you know what, I can be proud of who I, 1781 01:25:06,760 --> 01:25:11,200 who God has created me to be. And, and, and that was a big 1782 01:25:11,200 --> 01:25:16,040 moment and to, to just accept where I am in my life. 1783 01:25:16,560 --> 01:25:18,480 You know, I've been a pastor since I was 18. 1784 01:25:18,480 --> 01:25:21,640 I've been a meal prep owner for eight years, right? 1785 01:25:21,640 --> 01:25:26,480 So, so at the end of the day, I can be both and I can put those 1786 01:25:26,480 --> 01:25:30,200 together just like you can be a podcast person and you can own 1787 01:25:30,200 --> 01:25:33,040 rental property, you know, and you can help clients. 1788 01:25:33,360 --> 01:25:34,720 They don't have to listen to your podcast. 1789 01:25:35,040 --> 01:25:37,640 They don't have to stay at your, your places that you you rent, 1790 01:25:38,000 --> 01:25:41,480 but they can do both. And I think many times for me 1791 01:25:41,480 --> 01:25:44,240 anyway, I feel like I need to separate different parts of my 1792 01:25:44,240 --> 01:25:47,440 life. And then I look back and I 1793 01:25:47,440 --> 01:25:49,040 realized that was a mistake. Yeah. 1794 01:25:50,720 --> 01:25:55,120 Why don't we blend our lives, you know, and try to realize 1795 01:25:55,120 --> 01:25:58,480 that we are, we have different parts of our who we are, you 1796 01:25:58,480 --> 01:26:00,080 know? I think that's a defense 1797 01:26:00,080 --> 01:26:02,160 mechanism. When we do that, when we try to 1798 01:26:02,160 --> 01:26:06,600 compartmentalize things is in case it does something doesn't 1799 01:26:06,600 --> 01:26:11,000 work out, then it's small and we don't really have to tell 1800 01:26:11,000 --> 01:26:14,880 anybody about it because we just kind of kept it over here, you 1801 01:26:14,880 --> 01:26:16,560 know? And I think that we do that a 1802 01:26:16,560 --> 01:26:20,800 lot with things in our lives. And so I think that just letting 1803 01:26:20,800 --> 01:26:25,000 it all just tell people go for it, like it's, it doesn't, it 1804 01:26:25,000 --> 01:26:27,000 doesn't hurt because then there it, it, there's some 1805 01:26:27,000 --> 01:26:29,360 accountability too. When you do that, when you shed 1806 01:26:29,360 --> 01:26:32,560 some light on it and you open it up, it's kind of like, OK, I'm 1807 01:26:32,560 --> 01:26:34,960 going to try and do this and here we go. 1808 01:26:34,960 --> 01:26:38,000 Let's see how it works. And then it's and it just, I 1809 01:26:38,000 --> 01:26:39,640 think it helps, you know? So I'm with you. 1810 01:26:39,640 --> 01:26:42,080 I hear, I hear you. Yeah, It's it's funny because 1811 01:26:42,080 --> 01:26:45,400 people have said so wait. You know, if I've talked to them 1812 01:26:45,400 --> 01:26:47,960 about being in the podcast, they're like, but wait a minute, 1813 01:26:47,960 --> 01:26:52,800 Don't you guys do like rentals, like corporate corporate 1814 01:26:52,800 --> 01:26:53,880 rentals? So you guys just do fully 1815 01:26:53,880 --> 01:26:57,800 furnished rentals. And I'm like, yes, we do, but we 1816 01:26:57,800 --> 01:27:01,880 also do photo video and we do all of our own photo video for 1817 01:27:01,880 --> 01:27:03,840 our business. So we actually have two 1818 01:27:03,840 --> 01:27:07,240 businesses. And then I, but it's like, 1819 01:27:07,240 --> 01:27:10,440 listen, that's not what the podcast is going to be about. 1820 01:27:10,440 --> 01:27:13,720 We just want to for people to come on and share their story 1821 01:27:13,720 --> 01:27:17,160 and who they are and what their business or whatever, whatever 1822 01:27:17,280 --> 01:27:18,720 they want to share and you're probably going to on. 1823 01:27:18,720 --> 01:27:22,120 The platform start a jacket company right with some yeah you 1824 01:27:22,120 --> 01:27:25,120 know it's so cold here you know like like we will also sell you 1825 01:27:25,320 --> 01:27:27,520 thermal underwear when you come to our packet I. 1826 01:27:27,520 --> 01:27:29,920 Feel like it hasn't warmed up in here at all if. 1827 01:27:30,920 --> 01:27:32,920 I ever come back, I'm going to have to like call you the day 1828 01:27:32,920 --> 01:27:34,360 before. Hey I need to know what to wear. 1829 01:27:34,440 --> 01:27:36,480 Like, yeah, yeah, seriously. Should have wore some. 1830 01:27:36,520 --> 01:27:39,520 Thermal wear. Do we have a Do we have blankets 1831 01:27:39,520 --> 01:27:41,920 in the car? Do we have blankets in the car? 1832 01:27:41,920 --> 01:27:45,680 Are you cold, too? I asked Cody if there was 1833 01:27:45,680 --> 01:27:47,080 another thermostat. Oh, OK. 1834 01:27:47,080 --> 01:27:48,400 Oh my gosh. Well, we have blankets in the 1835 01:27:48,400 --> 01:27:50,840 car. So you want your your next 1836 01:27:50,840 --> 01:27:53,280 person, you need just like a stack of blankets right here and 1837 01:27:53,280 --> 01:27:56,160 be like, OK, hey, we got you. Yeah, just start layering. 1838 01:27:56,160 --> 01:27:58,880 We need a blanket sponsor. That's what do we need next? 1839 01:27:59,040 --> 01:28:00,160 My pill. What was that? 1840 01:28:00,160 --> 01:28:02,760 What was that, Snuggie? You can put everybody in like 1841 01:28:02,760 --> 01:28:04,440 Snuggies and then they could sit here. 1842 01:28:04,720 --> 01:28:07,000 Yeah, I actually, I still have a Snuggie. 1843 01:28:07,000 --> 01:28:08,400 Oh. I'm I'm jealous. 1844 01:28:08,400 --> 01:28:11,320 It's a rainbow brite, Snuggie. You're you're winning. 1845 01:28:11,320 --> 01:28:15,320 It's awesome because, I mean, you know, you're a child of the 1846 01:28:15,320 --> 01:28:16,600 80s as well. Yeah. 1847 01:28:16,600 --> 01:28:19,000 Rainbow Brite, man. I mean care, brothers. 1848 01:28:19,000 --> 01:28:22,160 For life, Gosh. Care Bears, Well, I had I had 1849 01:28:22,160 --> 01:28:26,360 two older brothers and so I had a pretty good mix of like 1850 01:28:26,440 --> 01:28:29,840 Rainbow Brite Care Bears, but then also like Ninja Turtles and 1851 01:28:29,840 --> 01:28:31,920 like GI Joe and like Transformers. 1852 01:28:32,240 --> 01:28:34,800 And then, you know, so like I had that really good balance of 1853 01:28:34,800 --> 01:28:36,520 the girls half. And two older sisters. 1854 01:28:36,520 --> 01:28:39,320 Oh yeah. So I played Barbies, you know. 1855 01:28:39,600 --> 01:28:41,320 Yeah, yeah. They had a Barbie car. 1856 01:28:41,960 --> 01:28:44,560 Oh, the Barbie car and. We had those little Barbie 1857 01:28:44,560 --> 01:28:46,280 houses that we. Oh wow. 1858 01:28:46,360 --> 01:28:49,280 Yeah, that was, that was fun. I remember when they got bunk 1859 01:28:49,280 --> 01:28:53,320 beds. I was so excited, you know, And 1860 01:28:53,320 --> 01:28:55,560 then we, we got the trampoline, you know? 1861 01:28:55,560 --> 01:28:57,520 Wait, Barbie had a trampoline? No, no, no. 1862 01:28:57,520 --> 01:28:59,760 I'm just telling you, like, my things my sister's got. 1863 01:28:59,880 --> 01:29:02,400 Oh, and I was so excited about, you know, like, we had a 1864 01:29:02,400 --> 01:29:04,960 trampoline and. Yeah, and, you know, you know 1865 01:29:04,960 --> 01:29:06,920 how dangerous those things were when they first came out. 1866 01:29:06,920 --> 01:29:10,240 Like, like, here you go. Good luck. 1867 01:29:10,440 --> 01:29:13,120 You know we. Oh, I mean, who hasn't 1868 01:29:13,520 --> 01:29:15,080 accidentally jumped off a trampoline? 1869 01:29:15,240 --> 01:29:17,640 And who hasn't had one leg go through the springs? 1870 01:29:17,760 --> 01:29:19,080 Yeah. And the other stay on the top. 1871 01:29:19,080 --> 01:29:20,080 Like it? For sure. 1872 01:29:20,200 --> 01:29:23,880 We've all done that, a lot of injuries on the trampolines, but 1873 01:29:23,880 --> 01:29:27,120 now there's Nets now, now there's like so many safety 1874 01:29:27,120 --> 01:29:30,120 measures for everything. I don't know if we've gone in a 1875 01:29:30,120 --> 01:29:35,320 good direction with that or like because there's as a kid, you 1876 01:29:35,320 --> 01:29:37,160 gotta. You gotta break something. 1877 01:29:37,280 --> 01:29:38,880 Yeah, you gotta live a little bit. 1878 01:29:38,880 --> 01:29:42,480 And accidentally, although I'm saying that as a mom and I like 1879 01:29:42,560 --> 01:29:45,560 freak out over things. Like I try though it's hard. 1880 01:29:45,680 --> 01:29:48,880 It's hard as the mom of boys because I know that they I know 1881 01:29:48,880 --> 01:29:50,800 they got to wrestle. I know they have to do like some 1882 01:29:50,800 --> 01:29:52,840 of those boy things that just like whatever. 1883 01:29:52,840 --> 01:29:55,160 And so I have to be like, OK, I'm a girl. 1884 01:29:55,160 --> 01:29:58,280 I didn't do some of that. And LeBron would be like, it's 1885 01:29:58,280 --> 01:30:00,720 totally normal. And I'm like, OK, all right, 1886 01:30:00,880 --> 01:30:04,080 I'll just try and like look away or do something else. 1887 01:30:04,680 --> 01:30:07,640 But it's funny. We we always wanted boys too. 1888 01:30:07,760 --> 01:30:10,000 You never, I mean, whatever God was going to give us, we were 1889 01:30:10,000 --> 01:30:13,240 going to have fun with anyways, but we were just like, man, we 1890 01:30:13,240 --> 01:30:18,400 just feel like we're supposed to have boys and we got married 1891 01:30:18,400 --> 01:30:20,640 later in life. So we had our boys a little bit 1892 01:30:20,640 --> 01:30:23,840 later in life too. And so it's it's it's weird 1893 01:30:23,840 --> 01:30:29,720 because having kids is not and it, it's harder as AI don't want 1894 01:30:29,800 --> 01:30:32,760 to call myself middle-aged, but I mean, you know, it's harder as 1895 01:30:32,760 --> 01:30:35,840 somebody because I got pregnant and I had the boys 39 and 40. 1896 01:30:35,960 --> 01:30:38,960 Oh, wow. And so yeah, yeah. 1897 01:30:38,960 --> 01:30:42,560 So like, yeah, wow, yeah. So I was born in 81, and we had 1898 01:30:42,560 --> 01:30:44,000 them in 2010, you know, and, yeah. 1899 01:30:44,440 --> 01:30:45,760 And I felt like I was old then, you know? 1900 01:30:46,000 --> 01:30:49,400 I was 2526, Yeah. And you know. 1901 01:30:50,360 --> 01:30:50,840 Wow. Yeah. 1902 01:30:51,080 --> 01:30:52,720 So that's us. Welcome to our life. 1903 01:30:52,960 --> 01:30:54,200 Welcome. So it's funny when you talk 1904 01:30:54,200 --> 01:30:57,920 about these moments with your kids, I'm just like, oh, man, 1905 01:30:58,480 --> 01:31:01,680 I'm excited about those moments. And then we always have to like, 1906 01:31:01,680 --> 01:31:04,040 we literally will be like, OK, when they're 20, we're going to 1907 01:31:04,040 --> 01:31:08,920 be how old just because we're like, God, please help us be 1908 01:31:08,920 --> 01:31:11,800 here long enough to like see some of these things or, you 1909 01:31:11,840 --> 01:31:15,200 know, but it's, it's just funny. But that's just where we're at 1910 01:31:15,200 --> 01:31:16,840 with with life. It's. 1911 01:31:16,840 --> 01:31:18,960 I tell you what, if you ever have me back, I would love to, 1912 01:31:20,160 --> 01:31:23,080 like, sit around and just like, talk about, like stories from 1913 01:31:23,240 --> 01:31:26,320 early on in my ministry. And like, there's so many times 1914 01:31:26,320 --> 01:31:27,680 people are like, oh, did you write that down? 1915 01:31:27,680 --> 01:31:28,880 And I'm like, no, I got to give memory. 1916 01:31:29,160 --> 01:31:30,720 Yeah. But sitting here today is like 1917 01:31:30,720 --> 01:31:33,840 been fun thinking about like things that happened to me early 1918 01:31:33,840 --> 01:31:37,080 on in my ministry. And you know, I would love to to 1919 01:31:37,080 --> 01:31:39,640 hear about you too. Like I want to hear like what? 1920 01:31:39,640 --> 01:31:41,400 You want me to cry more? Is that is that? 1921 01:31:41,560 --> 01:31:43,360 I actually want that. I want Beth to be sitting here 1922 01:31:43,360 --> 01:31:46,240 and like jotting things down. Oh, she'll watch this and be 1923 01:31:46,240 --> 01:31:48,040 like the you need. I know what you need. 1924 01:31:48,120 --> 01:31:50,800 Yeah, but I would love to like, I want to know more about that 1925 01:31:50,800 --> 01:31:53,120 Lady, like. Yeah, Miss Laura. 1926 01:31:53,120 --> 01:31:54,200 Miss Laura? Like what? 1927 01:31:54,200 --> 01:31:55,880 Happened. She passed away a few years ago, 1928 01:31:56,560 --> 01:31:58,440 so I only lived with her one year. 1929 01:31:58,440 --> 01:32:02,960 It was just my senior year. So like my family moved down to 1930 01:32:02,960 --> 01:32:07,160 Florida and then I stayed and rented a room from her my senior 1931 01:32:07,160 --> 01:32:11,640 year of high school. And it was so weird because so I 1932 01:32:11,720 --> 01:32:18,080 I in Minnesota, I came from a giant, well known, awesome high 1933 01:32:18,080 --> 01:32:21,360 school. And then I went to little tiny 1934 01:32:21,360 --> 01:32:25,720 nowhere, Connecticut and my graduating class had like 84 1935 01:32:25,720 --> 01:32:28,280 kids and I was like, what is this? 1936 01:32:28,280 --> 01:32:31,040 This is crazy. But I like specifically remember 1937 01:32:31,240 --> 01:32:34,840 the first day of school. I, I was a cheerleader in high 1938 01:32:34,840 --> 01:32:37,680 school, which I know sounds funny to say, but I, I never, I 1939 01:32:37,680 --> 01:32:40,360 always loved to do dance and gymnastics and I didn't get the 1940 01:32:40,360 --> 01:32:44,400 chance to do those. Like I, it wasn't, I did extra 1941 01:32:44,400 --> 01:32:46,400 school curriculars. Those are those, what I, what I 1942 01:32:46,400 --> 01:32:49,360 could do when I was growing up and cheerleading was the closest 1943 01:32:49,360 --> 01:32:51,560 to gymnastics and dance that I could get. 1944 01:32:51,560 --> 01:32:53,880 So I was like, all right, I'm thinking, do some cheerleading. 1945 01:32:53,920 --> 01:32:56,800 I'll have some fun. So the first day of school, 1946 01:32:56,800 --> 01:33:00,680 junior year, we had a, a game and I had to wear my uniform and 1947 01:33:00,680 --> 01:33:05,840 I was like, I'm going to get freaking typecasted as like this 1948 01:33:05,840 --> 01:33:07,680 cheerleader. I don't know any of these kids. 1949 01:33:08,400 --> 01:33:10,960 Great, great. You know, and I just remember 1950 01:33:10,960 --> 01:33:14,520 walking and standing at the school steps and I was like, I 1951 01:33:14,520 --> 01:33:16,920 don't know anybody in this building right now and I'm about 1952 01:33:16,920 --> 01:33:20,560 to walk in as a junior. All right, here it goes. 1953 01:33:20,600 --> 01:33:22,320 And so I just that I just did it. 1954 01:33:22,320 --> 01:33:24,560 I walked in and and so junior year was weird. 1955 01:33:25,560 --> 01:33:27,880 And then at the end of junior year, my parents were like, all 1956 01:33:27,880 --> 01:33:32,360 right, we weren't military, but my dad took a a job opportunity 1957 01:33:32,360 --> 01:33:34,000 in Florida. They're like, we're moving to 1958 01:33:34,000 --> 01:33:35,640 Florida now. And that's when God was like, 1959 01:33:35,760 --> 01:33:37,400 I'm not done with you here yet. And I was like. 1960 01:33:38,560 --> 01:33:41,840 Why? You know, and then Laura, who is 1961 01:33:41,840 --> 01:33:44,760 our next door neighbor, like out of the kindness of her heart, 1962 01:33:44,800 --> 01:33:48,040 you know, she's in her 70s. What she she's going to have 1963 01:33:48,040 --> 01:33:50,360 like a 17 year old move in with her. 1964 01:33:50,360 --> 01:33:55,080 Like God bless her for that. And so that's it. 1965 01:33:55,080 --> 01:33:58,680 I mean, she and you know, this is a funny story. 1966 01:33:59,640 --> 01:34:04,840 She wasn't the best cook and one of my friend Murr, she's going 1967 01:34:04,840 --> 01:34:10,040 to watch this one time she came over and Laura's particular 1968 01:34:10,040 --> 01:34:12,240 terrible dish was macaroni and cheese. 1969 01:34:13,480 --> 01:34:17,720 She just did macaroni and then she took like any kind of cheese 1970 01:34:17,720 --> 01:34:20,000 that was in the fridge and melted it and threw it over the 1971 01:34:20,000 --> 01:34:22,800 top. So it didn't ever, it was like 1972 01:34:22,880 --> 01:34:24,520 coagulated. It was it was gross. 1973 01:34:24,520 --> 01:34:26,840 And so one time my friend Mer came over for supper and I was 1974 01:34:26,840 --> 01:34:29,200 like, Hey, Laura, can you what are you making? 1975 01:34:29,200 --> 01:34:30,600 And she was like macaroni and cheese. 1976 01:34:30,600 --> 01:34:33,560 And I was like, oh, gosh. So we had choked it down. 1977 01:34:33,560 --> 01:34:35,800 And I was like, hey, Martin loved it so much. 1978 01:34:35,800 --> 01:34:37,920 She wants more. And she looked at me and she was 1979 01:34:37,920 --> 01:34:43,440 like, you know, like, I hate you because she's in her 70s. 1980 01:34:43,440 --> 01:34:44,840 She's not going to like not eat it. 1981 01:34:44,840 --> 01:34:48,480 She just fell so badly. But anyways, she was just such a 1982 01:34:48,480 --> 01:34:51,240 wonderful lady. And she had just a hard after 1983 01:34:51,240 --> 01:34:54,840 God, she just loved helping people that were sick and dying. 1984 01:34:54,880 --> 01:34:57,840 You know, some of these, most of these people were younger than 1985 01:34:58,240 --> 01:35:01,600 she is that she was. And so then I lived here for 1986 01:35:01,600 --> 01:35:04,240 that senior year of high school and then I graduated and then I 1987 01:35:04,360 --> 01:35:08,600 joined my family in Florida and, you know, kept in touch with 1988 01:35:08,600 --> 01:35:10,920 Laura over the years a little bit after that. 1989 01:35:10,920 --> 01:35:13,880 Yep, Yep. And Brian, and those are like, 1990 01:35:14,040 --> 01:35:17,240 you know, just like my 2 best friends ever when I met them 1991 01:35:17,240 --> 01:35:19,320 both happened to meet them both in Connecticut. 1992 01:35:19,320 --> 01:35:21,720 So that's just, that's, that's why like, I was like, I'm not 1993 01:35:21,720 --> 01:35:24,840 done with you yet. And it's so funny because Brian 1994 01:35:24,840 --> 01:35:28,080 and I, you know, we were best friends in high school and I, if 1995 01:35:28,160 --> 01:35:31,600 I was ever having a bad day, I'd be like, where's Brian? 1996 01:35:31,800 --> 01:35:34,960 I just need a hug from Brian. And so, like, I just needed a 1997 01:35:34,960 --> 01:35:37,480 hug from him. He just put a heater behind you. 1998 01:35:37,480 --> 01:35:38,960 I. Was like, oh, it feels so good. 1999 01:35:39,000 --> 01:35:40,160 Yeah. Where'd that come from? 2000 01:35:40,520 --> 01:35:44,040 Like I'm like here. We go, yeah. 2001 01:35:44,040 --> 01:35:46,640 And so it's just really funny that that at that moment, God 2002 01:35:46,640 --> 01:35:50,720 was probably like, you kids, you don't even, you don't even get 2003 01:35:50,720 --> 01:35:52,480 what's going to happen in like 20 years. 2004 01:35:52,480 --> 01:35:56,120 But you know, then we had to make some of the mistakes of our 2005 01:35:56,120 --> 01:35:57,680 20s. Like I was also married in my 2006 01:35:57,680 --> 01:36:01,280 20s and I got divorced and I was a business owner also. 2007 01:36:01,280 --> 01:36:04,920 So when you said that I could really resonate with you because 2008 01:36:04,920 --> 01:36:09,520 I had I had a business with my ex-husband, but it was really my 2009 01:36:09,520 --> 01:36:11,760 business because it was a hair salon and tattoo parlor. 2010 01:36:12,560 --> 01:36:14,480 And that was what I was trained in. 2011 01:36:14,480 --> 01:36:16,880 I was, you know, I did hair forever. 2012 01:36:17,520 --> 01:36:23,320 And so that was weird to figure out about closing the doors or 2013 01:36:23,320 --> 01:36:26,920 what I wanted to do and got it opened up an opportunity for a 2014 01:36:26,920 --> 01:36:28,760 job on the West Coast. That's why I moved. 2015 01:36:28,760 --> 01:36:31,200 And so I'd had my salon for three years. 2016 01:36:31,600 --> 01:36:35,800 Then I went through the divorce and I was like, I, I, I'm, I'm 2017 01:36:35,800 --> 01:36:37,360 done. I got to get out of Florida for 2018 01:36:37,360 --> 01:36:38,960 a little bit. And so that's when God took me 2019 01:36:38,960 --> 01:36:44,640 to the West Coast and take, I needed time to heal from that 2020 01:36:44,720 --> 01:36:48,080 too, because it was not, it was, it was not great, but it made me 2021 01:36:48,080 --> 01:36:51,320 who I was today. And so that's, it's just, it's, 2022 01:36:51,480 --> 01:36:54,240 it's really interesting those the steps and where we go and, 2023 01:36:54,320 --> 01:36:56,520 and what we do in our 20s. And then Brian and I 2024 01:36:56,520 --> 01:36:59,800 reconnected, Gosh, when we were like our mid 30s, then we 2025 01:36:59,800 --> 01:37:02,320 started, I mean, we, we'd stayed in touch over the years and you 2026 01:37:02,320 --> 01:37:07,160 know, social media, Myspace had started in the early 2000s, you 2027 01:37:07,160 --> 01:37:08,280 know. Probably wasn't in your top 2028 01:37:08,280 --> 01:37:10,720 five, but you know. Top. 2029 01:37:11,120 --> 01:37:15,960 Well, it got to top 8.8, right? Remember, you could have music 2030 01:37:15,960 --> 01:37:18,480 on there. You have like a theme song. 2031 01:37:19,080 --> 01:37:21,560 Did you have there was a headline you could change that 2032 01:37:21,720 --> 01:37:25,680 to your top eight. Yeah, that was like it was one 2033 01:37:25,760 --> 01:37:29,000 of the best ones. You talk about best friends and 2034 01:37:29,360 --> 01:37:31,360 like Jennifer Mills is one of my best friends growing up. 2035 01:37:31,480 --> 01:37:35,400 And I remember I bought a book called HTML for Dummies and I 2036 01:37:35,400 --> 01:37:39,120 wanted to write web pages. OK, So I knew she liked 2037 01:37:39,120 --> 01:37:40,920 butterflies. Like we're just like buddies, 2038 01:37:40,920 --> 01:37:42,800 right? And still the buddies to this 2039 01:37:42,800 --> 01:37:44,200 day. Like I love her husband to 2040 01:37:44,200 --> 01:37:46,320 death. He calls me all the time. 2041 01:37:46,720 --> 01:37:51,080 But I I wrote code to make a web page with butterflies flying 2042 01:37:51,080 --> 01:37:52,880 across. That was my first ever web page. 2043 01:37:52,880 --> 01:37:55,000 I wrote, I made and. Still. 2044 01:37:55,000 --> 01:37:57,080 Wait, is it still active? Can we find it? 2045 01:37:57,080 --> 01:37:58,400 Oh. Gosh almighty, wouldn't that be 2046 01:37:58,400 --> 01:37:58,880 amazing? I. 2047 01:37:58,880 --> 01:38:01,080 Have that would be hilarious. But I mean, we're talking about 2048 01:38:01,080 --> 01:38:03,040 dial up. That's that's when I was making 2049 01:38:03,040 --> 01:38:04,680 this thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 2050 01:38:05,240 --> 01:38:06,800 But I remember, like, sending it to her. 2051 01:38:06,800 --> 01:38:07,800 I was like, I made you something. 2052 01:38:08,120 --> 01:38:11,320 And she's like, oh, that's cool. And I'm like, I worked hours 2053 01:38:11,360 --> 01:38:14,880 trying to figure out how to code to make butterflies fly across 2054 01:38:14,880 --> 01:38:16,600 the screen, you know? And then I had another buddy 2055 01:38:16,600 --> 01:38:19,120 named Ricky. And Ricky moved from Michigan to 2056 01:38:19,120 --> 01:38:21,440 Tennessee in the 5th grade. And it's his first day of 2057 01:38:21,440 --> 01:38:23,000 school. I don't know him. 2058 01:38:23,000 --> 01:38:26,520 He doesn't know me. And I was terrible back then. 2059 01:38:26,800 --> 01:38:28,120 I was what? Do you mean you were terrible? 2060 01:38:28,120 --> 01:38:30,480 I was an awful kid. I always in trouble, didn't 2061 01:38:30,480 --> 01:38:33,240 listen to parents. Like I was not a good kid. 2062 01:38:34,080 --> 01:38:37,120 And first day of school, I didn't bring anything that my 2063 01:38:37,120 --> 01:38:39,280 mother packed me. And so I saw this random kid the 2064 01:38:39,280 --> 01:38:40,720 whole head. And I was like, man, you got a 2065 01:38:40,720 --> 01:38:43,360 pencil? He like a pencil. 2066 01:38:43,440 --> 01:38:44,560 I like, yeah, I didn't bring any pencils. 2067 01:38:44,560 --> 01:38:46,440 He's like, it's the first day of school, how do you not have any 2068 01:38:46,440 --> 01:38:47,480 pencils? And I was like, I don't know. 2069 01:38:47,920 --> 01:38:49,760 So he gives me a pencil. And then I was like, hey, where 2070 01:38:49,760 --> 01:38:52,040 you going after school? And he tells me, like, I'll walk 2071 01:38:52,040 --> 01:38:53,800 with you. And he's like, you're just going 2072 01:38:53,800 --> 01:38:56,560 to walk with me. So we walked home, you know, and 2073 01:38:56,560 --> 01:38:57,840 he's like, you can't come to my house. 2074 01:38:58,000 --> 01:39:00,560 And I was like, OK, so I walked to his house, knocked on the 2075 01:39:00,560 --> 01:39:01,840 door. You know, his dad comes to the 2076 01:39:01,840 --> 01:39:03,560 door. He looks looks at me. 2077 01:39:03,560 --> 01:39:06,120 And I was like, is Ricky here? And he just slams the door. 2078 01:39:06,280 --> 01:39:09,120 And I hear, hey, Rick, some fat kids out here to talk to you. 2079 01:39:10,520 --> 01:39:11,960 That was my introduction to their family. 2080 01:39:12,080 --> 01:39:14,040 Yeah. And so we've been great friends 2081 01:39:14,040 --> 01:39:16,000 for a long time. But you know, you think about 2082 01:39:16,000 --> 01:39:19,360 those friendships that form from random connections of, you know, 2083 01:39:19,600 --> 01:39:22,440 of moving, you know, and that's how Ricky was. 2084 01:39:22,440 --> 01:39:24,480 And Matt, on the other hand, we grew up together. 2085 01:39:24,480 --> 01:39:25,560 We were born in the same hospital. 2086 01:39:25,920 --> 01:39:28,000 His dad was the guy that delivered me. 2087 01:39:28,080 --> 01:39:31,640 He was my, he was my doctor my entire life until I was forced 2088 01:39:31,640 --> 01:39:36,240 to get another doctor because he retired, you know, I mean, and, 2089 01:39:36,280 --> 01:39:38,560 and, and, you know, you think about that like we were born in 2090 01:39:38,560 --> 01:39:39,840 the same hospital. His dad was my doctor. 2091 01:39:39,840 --> 01:39:41,800 We became buddies. And in fact, every time I'm 2092 01:39:41,800 --> 01:39:43,720 around his dad, like I'm like, I'm still mad at you. 2093 01:39:43,720 --> 01:39:46,240 And I'm like, you cut off too much when you circumcise me. 2094 01:39:47,520 --> 01:39:51,120 And he just laughs. I mean, yeah, it's 1981. 2095 01:39:51,120 --> 01:39:52,320 We still laugh at that. Yeah. 2096 01:39:52,720 --> 01:39:56,200 And so Matt and I became great buddies, and then we traveled 2097 01:39:56,200 --> 01:39:58,160 the country together. And so I tell you a funny story 2098 01:39:58,160 --> 01:39:59,720 about eating. Where does he live now? 2099 01:39:59,800 --> 01:40:01,680 He lives in Chattanooga. Oh, wait, no, oh, wait. 2100 01:40:01,680 --> 01:40:03,040 What's Matt? And then Rick? 2101 01:40:03,040 --> 01:40:03,680 Ricky. Yeah. 2102 01:40:03,680 --> 01:40:05,240 Oh, where does? Ricky live, he lives close to my 2103 01:40:05,240 --> 01:40:07,240 parents house. In fact, he sees my parents and 2104 01:40:07,240 --> 01:40:09,040 my family more than I do. OK, All right, He. 2105 01:40:09,200 --> 01:40:11,240 He's all the time of my parents. I mean, he sends them a Mother's 2106 01:40:11,240 --> 01:40:13,040 Day and Father's Day cards, you know, like that kind of 2107 01:40:13,040 --> 01:40:17,160 relationship. And so, so I'm, we're travelling 2108 01:40:17,160 --> 01:40:18,840 the country going back to when I was 18. 2109 01:40:18,880 --> 01:40:23,480 And this lady I knew growing up who would make my family these 2110 01:40:23,480 --> 01:40:27,520 cakes and he's like cheese bread and like phenomenal food. 2111 01:40:27,760 --> 01:40:30,840 She moved to Washington State. And so we're like travelling the 2112 01:40:30,840 --> 01:40:32,760 country and we didn't eat at any restaurants. 2113 01:40:33,120 --> 01:40:35,520 We cooked, we bought groceries and we cooked outside of our 2114 01:40:35,520 --> 01:40:38,440 truck every single night. Like, and I was like, so we're 2115 01:40:38,440 --> 01:40:40,160 like in Canada. And I was like, you know what, 2116 01:40:40,160 --> 01:40:42,760 I'm going to call a mother and see where this lady lives in 2117 01:40:42,760 --> 01:40:45,200 Washington state. I mean, we can stop by her. 2118 01:40:45,200 --> 01:40:48,440 She's like this phenomenal cook. And so like we're looking 2119 01:40:48,440 --> 01:40:51,080 forward to a home cooked meal. So I made arrangements. 2120 01:40:51,080 --> 01:40:53,080 We're going to go see her. She lived next to an Indian 2121 01:40:53,080 --> 01:40:54,200 Reservation. Like I don't. 2122 01:40:54,240 --> 01:40:54,800 Oh. Wow. 2123 01:40:55,680 --> 01:40:58,200 So we travel and of course we didn't care where we went. 2124 01:40:58,320 --> 01:41:01,400 We get to this lady's house OK, and literally we realized she 2125 01:41:01,400 --> 01:41:04,760 lives on an Indian Reservation. Like don't don't know how she 2126 01:41:04,760 --> 01:41:06,880 got there. I still couldn't figure out what 2127 01:41:06,880 --> 01:41:08,160 the story was if I told you again. 2128 01:41:08,280 --> 01:41:11,360 So we get there and like I'm thinking she knows we're coming. 2129 01:41:11,720 --> 01:41:13,320 She's going to cook this phenomenal food. 2130 01:41:13,560 --> 01:41:16,400 So it's about dinner time and she's like, boys, I got y'all 2131 01:41:16,400 --> 01:41:20,320 some good dinner tonight. And so we sit down at the table. 2132 01:41:25,480 --> 01:41:32,320 She brings this bowl of water. It's been bowling with these red 2133 01:41:32,320 --> 01:41:35,200 dot Wiener dogs like. Oh my gosh. 2134 01:41:35,200 --> 01:41:38,080 And. They're like the most nastiest 2135 01:41:38,240 --> 01:41:41,160 hot dog you've ever imagined in your life. 2136 01:41:41,160 --> 01:41:43,080 And now Matt doesn't eat hot dogs. 2137 01:41:43,200 --> 01:41:45,800 He doesn't eat mayonnaise. He doesn't eat ranch dressing, 2138 01:41:46,080 --> 01:41:47,160 OK? He doesn't eat hot dogs. 2139 01:41:47,600 --> 01:41:53,040 And he just looks at me and. He did he think you planned it? 2140 01:41:53,480 --> 01:41:56,280 I don't know what he thought. Oh my God. 2141 01:41:56,280 --> 01:41:58,440 And then she's like, tonight, boys, for entertainment. 2142 01:41:58,440 --> 01:42:00,400 We're going to go watch them sell fireworks. 2143 01:42:01,840 --> 01:42:04,000 Like, we literally just drove across the country and we did 2144 01:42:04,000 --> 01:42:05,720 not want to go watch somebody sell fireworks. 2145 01:42:05,720 --> 01:42:07,360 Yeah. Wait, did you eat the food? 2146 01:42:07,640 --> 01:42:10,240 Well, I did. I don't know what Matt did. 2147 01:42:10,280 --> 01:42:14,200 Yeah, he drank the water. I'm sure he drank the water. 2148 01:42:15,320 --> 01:42:18,760 But, you know, at one point, like, we left that house and 2149 01:42:18,760 --> 01:42:22,960 he's like, you, punk, you know, here you've been talking about 2150 01:42:22,960 --> 01:42:28,440 this lady's food for hours and weeks, and you served me the 2151 01:42:28,440 --> 01:42:32,200 giant red hot dog. And he still talks about that, 2152 01:42:32,200 --> 01:42:34,000 you know, And I'm sure if you called your friend today, you'd 2153 01:42:34,000 --> 01:42:36,480 be like, so won't eat macaroni. Yeah. 2154 01:42:36,560 --> 01:42:37,920 Oh, yeah. We still joke about it. 2155 01:42:37,960 --> 01:42:40,840 We still joke about the macaroni for sure. 2156 01:42:41,000 --> 01:42:43,520 And she's, you know, I don't know if she's upset at me still 2157 01:42:43,520 --> 01:42:45,480 to this day about that. I mean, I wouldn't blame her. 2158 01:42:45,600 --> 01:42:47,800 Yeah, Matt still Matt. He, he'll bring it up. 2159 01:42:47,920 --> 01:42:50,920 We go fishing every year together and we we spend a week 2160 01:42:50,920 --> 01:42:53,000 in the Boundary Waters with our with our sons and friends. 2161 01:42:53,800 --> 01:42:57,960 I'm the cook obviously, and everything I cook he gives me a 2162 01:42:57,960 --> 01:43:00,320 hard time about every single. Thing please tell me one of 2163 01:43:00,320 --> 01:43:03,280 these times you've brought ridiculous hot dogs. 2164 01:43:03,280 --> 01:43:04,360 You know what? I've never. 2165 01:43:04,600 --> 01:43:06,960 I never have. I'm this year I'm bringing big, 2166 01:43:07,120 --> 01:43:09,520 big hot dogs. See where you can find them. 2167 01:43:09,520 --> 01:43:12,160 Get something absurd and like. Sniggle. 2168 01:43:12,160 --> 01:43:14,040 Been there. Yeah, keep it a secret and then 2169 01:43:14,400 --> 01:43:16,320 get a bowl of water, recreate it. 2170 01:43:16,360 --> 01:43:18,360 Yeah. And then, you know, that'd be 2171 01:43:18,360 --> 01:43:19,040 great. Yeah. 2172 01:43:19,040 --> 01:43:20,680 He'd probably be like. You Dang it. 2173 01:43:20,760 --> 01:43:22,560 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's hilarious. 2174 01:43:23,440 --> 01:43:27,120 Like, I like, he hate he, he, he, he finds these little things 2175 01:43:27,120 --> 01:43:29,880 to pick on me about. And like, one of them's my, my 2176 01:43:29,880 --> 01:43:32,840 Bacon's never flat enough. And you know, I'm cooking in the 2177 01:43:32,840 --> 01:43:34,640 woods. Like, there's no electricity, 2178 01:43:34,880 --> 01:43:36,640 there's no running water, there's nothing. 2179 01:43:36,640 --> 01:43:38,960 There's no cell phones. We're 10 miles from everything. 2180 01:43:38,960 --> 01:43:40,720 If you haven't been to the Boundary Water Canoe Area, 2181 01:43:41,080 --> 01:43:43,360 highly recommend it. It's the like the most peaceful 2182 01:43:43,360 --> 01:43:46,760 place in the world and you have nothing but out there. 2183 01:43:46,760 --> 01:43:50,000 He'll still complain about the bacon, you know, And it's not 2184 01:43:50,040 --> 01:43:55,120 it's, it's too, it's too curly. Oh man, it's. 2185 01:43:55,440 --> 01:43:56,720 Like a pig's tail. Literally. 2186 01:43:56,720 --> 01:43:58,960 He can't handle it. No, it's funny. 2187 01:44:02,080 --> 01:44:05,200 I want to commend you on sitting still for this long, by the way. 2188 01:44:05,520 --> 01:44:06,240 Oh, thank you. Yeah. 2189 01:44:06,240 --> 01:44:09,000 Because you said this morning, you said that this almost gave 2190 01:44:09,000 --> 01:44:12,280 you anxiety because you don't like to sit, you're always 2191 01:44:12,280 --> 01:44:14,400 moving. So from the second your eyes 2192 01:44:14,400 --> 01:44:18,000 wake up and you take that little time to get your body moving, do 2193 01:44:18,640 --> 01:44:20,560 you do any stretches to help with some of the pain? 2194 01:44:21,120 --> 01:44:24,600 No, I just, you have to stand on it and just pop just like, yeah, 2195 01:44:24,600 --> 01:44:27,000 So evidently when I was in high school, I broke my ankle playing 2196 01:44:27,000 --> 01:44:28,560 football. I thought I sprained it 2197 01:44:28,640 --> 01:44:31,880 evidently and broke it. And so in 2005, I graduated high 2198 01:44:31,880 --> 01:44:34,320 school 99, 2005. My doctor says to my parents 2199 01:44:34,320 --> 01:44:37,360 hated he break his ankle. They're like, no, they're like 2200 01:44:37,360 --> 01:44:38,960 he's got a hole in his ankle. Yes, he broke it. 2201 01:44:39,360 --> 01:44:41,120 That's what they told they like they never broke it. 2202 01:44:41,440 --> 01:44:43,160 Found out I broke it. I just lost sprained it. 2203 01:44:43,160 --> 01:44:45,400 But so and then when it was re entered the motorcycle wreck 2204 01:44:45,400 --> 01:44:48,080 like there's still a hole in my ankle and so I have to break it 2205 01:44:48,240 --> 01:44:50,000 loose. But no, I just get up and go. 2206 01:44:50,120 --> 01:44:52,880 I mean, there's no there's, you just got to get up and go. 2207 01:44:53,720 --> 01:44:57,320 And so are you constantly moving from when you wake up to when 2208 01:44:57,320 --> 01:44:59,000 you go to bed. Yeah, if I sit down and go to 2209 01:44:59,000 --> 01:45:02,480 sleep, yeah, it's. You didn't do that here though. 2210 01:45:02,640 --> 01:45:07,200 Yeah, well, no, you let me talk. When so when do you Do you have 2211 01:45:07,200 --> 01:45:10,160 to set time aside to write your sermons for Sunday? 2212 01:45:10,480 --> 01:45:12,840 Like how? How does the flow work between 2213 01:45:13,680 --> 01:45:16,800 figuring out all the smash meals and then figuring out what your 2214 01:45:16,800 --> 01:45:19,120 congregation needs? That's a great question. 2215 01:45:19,120 --> 01:45:23,560 So when I was in Chattanooga, one of my ministries, I worked 2216 01:45:23,560 --> 01:45:25,720 as as an associate for a guy named Mark Gooden. 2217 01:45:26,200 --> 01:45:29,720 And Mark was the senior pastor of Signal Crust United Methodist 2218 01:45:29,720 --> 01:45:33,520 Church. And he wrote his sermons a year 2219 01:45:33,520 --> 01:45:36,840 in advance. So he would sit down in June and 2220 01:45:36,840 --> 01:45:40,880 start sketching out and he knew every sermon title in scriptures 2221 01:45:41,320 --> 01:45:43,760 for a year. And so he got me in the habit of 2222 01:45:43,760 --> 01:45:48,440 doing that. And so I have every sermon title 2223 01:45:48,520 --> 01:45:51,360 and scriptures planned out all the way through December 31st. 2224 01:45:51,880 --> 01:45:55,560 So then on Monday morning when I wake up and I get going, I open 2225 01:45:55,560 --> 01:45:58,680 up my my phone and I go to what the scripture is going to be for 2226 01:45:58,680 --> 01:46:01,200 the following Sunday. And I read all those scriptures 2227 01:46:01,600 --> 01:46:04,920 and I read the sermon title and then throughout the week when 2228 01:46:04,920 --> 01:46:07,960 things happen and I'm reading the scriptures and I'll read the 2229 01:46:07,960 --> 01:46:11,600 scriptures around it. And then I began to write my 2230 01:46:11,600 --> 01:46:14,240 sermon. And then on Thursday I actually 2231 01:46:14,240 --> 01:46:17,040 sit down and, and sketch it out like after I've written. 2232 01:46:17,040 --> 01:46:19,600 So I've written all week and then Thursday I put it in long 2233 01:46:19,600 --> 01:46:22,720 form and send it off to our tech guys to put it on screens. 2234 01:46:23,560 --> 01:46:27,080 But it's a, it's a week long, you know, it's a process. 2235 01:46:28,040 --> 01:46:34,000 But so the month of November, I take the whole month to get 2236 01:46:34,000 --> 01:46:37,320 ready for the next year. And then I, so that's when I 2237 01:46:37,320 --> 01:46:41,040 normally, you know. And if if there's something that 2238 01:46:41,040 --> 01:46:45,560 happens that you feel like you need to address something, it's 2239 01:46:45,560 --> 01:46:47,800 differently if you need to pivot the sermon I'm. 2240 01:46:48,080 --> 01:46:52,840 Telling you the most amazing thing is it no matter what seems 2241 01:46:52,840 --> 01:46:57,760 to happen in our society, in our world, in my life, that sermon's 2242 01:46:57,760 --> 01:47:00,120 ready for it. It's the most amazing thing that 2243 01:47:00,120 --> 01:47:01,400 I've ever experienced in my life. 2244 01:47:02,000 --> 01:47:04,640 Because even when COVID hit, like the sermons that I've 2245 01:47:04,640 --> 01:47:09,600 prepared a year in advance worked perfect with COVID, If 2246 01:47:09,600 --> 01:47:11,560 there's something that's happened in our society, I'll go 2247 01:47:11,560 --> 01:47:14,720 to that scripture for that week and I'll be like, how? 2248 01:47:15,520 --> 01:47:17,840 Like, how did we know that that was going to be the scripture? 2249 01:47:18,520 --> 01:47:21,520 And it blows me away. And I've been doing this for 2250 01:47:21,520 --> 01:47:24,960 years and it still blows me away to this day because it seems it 2251 01:47:25,080 --> 01:47:28,480 to me anyway, as a as the writer of the sermon, that feel like 2252 01:47:28,480 --> 01:47:34,080 what God's giving me. It always lines up and it and 2253 01:47:34,080 --> 01:47:35,880 it's it's been that way for a long time. 2254 01:47:35,880 --> 01:47:41,480 So often times I'll pull in different scriptures, but the 2255 01:47:41,480 --> 01:47:44,600 theme never changes. And it and it and it's always 2256 01:47:44,600 --> 01:47:46,280 been aligned with what's happened in our society. 2257 01:47:46,280 --> 01:47:48,760 It's cool. Yeah, well, that's God going 2258 01:47:48,760 --> 01:47:50,200 before you on that one. Oh, absolutely. 2259 01:47:50,800 --> 01:47:53,240 Yeah, Give God the grace on that, you know, credit on that. 2260 01:47:53,240 --> 01:47:56,760 And my buddy Joe, he always says, you know, God is awesome. 2261 01:47:57,120 --> 01:47:59,840 He's like, if I ever catch somebody saying God is good, and 2262 01:47:59,840 --> 01:48:01,560 I always like, Nope, God is awesome. 2263 01:48:02,240 --> 01:48:04,080 And he's a preacher. And he said anytime somebody 2264 01:48:04,080 --> 01:48:06,280 says that's a good sermon, he's like, all right, God, good job 2265 01:48:06,280 --> 01:48:08,120 up there. You know, like we're not going 2266 01:48:08,120 --> 01:48:11,000 to take the credit for that. So it's not, it's not an easy 2267 01:48:11,000 --> 01:48:12,800 thing. I mean to, to write sermons 2268 01:48:12,800 --> 01:48:17,520 every single week and, but to have repetition, you know, and I 2269 01:48:17,520 --> 01:48:19,960 know when I got to do certain things and you know, it's just 2270 01:48:19,960 --> 01:48:25,040 like, just like buying certain products, buying certain food to 2271 01:48:25,200 --> 01:48:27,520 cook, like there's just process for it all. 2272 01:48:28,120 --> 01:48:30,240 And I just kind of follow the process of going what I do. 2273 01:48:30,600 --> 01:48:31,840 What's the name of your church right now? 2274 01:48:32,240 --> 01:48:35,240 So I have two Bluff City United Methodist Church, which is in 2275 01:48:35,240 --> 01:48:38,320 the middle of Bluff City, and then Weaver Union Church, which 2276 01:48:38,320 --> 01:48:42,160 is out kind of like next to Sylvan East High School closed 2277 01:48:42,160 --> 01:48:44,080 out there. And it's an interesting church 2278 01:48:44,080 --> 01:48:47,240 because it's a Union church and Union churches are made-up of 2279 01:48:47,240 --> 01:48:49,920 multiple different churches. So we are a Presbyterian 2280 01:48:49,920 --> 01:48:52,760 Methodist Church. I'm the only pastor there. 2281 01:48:52,880 --> 01:48:55,960 But back in the day when Union churches were about, when they 2282 01:48:55,960 --> 01:48:58,240 first kind of came about, a Methodist pastor would be there 2283 01:48:58,240 --> 01:49:00,480 one Sunday, a Presbyterian pastor would be there the next 2284 01:49:00,480 --> 01:49:03,040 Sunday, a Baptist prized pastor would be the next Sunday. 2285 01:49:03,040 --> 01:49:05,200 And then and they'd rotate through that. 2286 01:49:05,360 --> 01:49:09,680 And so it's really cool to see, you know, multiple different 2287 01:49:09,760 --> 01:49:12,640 people who who have slightly different theologies coming 2288 01:49:12,640 --> 01:49:16,480 together to worship. I love that about our churches. 2289 01:49:16,520 --> 01:49:18,640 You know, both my churches are awesome. 2290 01:49:19,280 --> 01:49:21,480 I'm really happy to be there. Have you always had two? 2291 01:49:21,520 --> 01:49:23,960 Seems like the recurring theme is you've always had two at one 2292 01:49:23,960 --> 01:49:27,240 time. So my, my first charge was, you 2293 01:49:27,240 --> 01:49:29,400 know, 2 churches in Mount Carmel and Oakfield. 2294 01:49:29,400 --> 01:49:31,200 And then I went to Sunbright and Rugby Rd. 2295 01:49:31,440 --> 01:49:34,040 Then I went to a a stand alone church signal Crest. 2296 01:49:34,840 --> 01:49:37,440 And then from Signal Crest down in Chattanooga, I moved up to 2297 01:49:37,440 --> 01:49:43,200 Easton up up this area and I was at Mossam and Hardin Valley and 2298 01:49:44,520 --> 01:49:48,360 and then I went to Salem, which is a one point church and 2299 01:49:48,360 --> 01:49:51,240 because it was a bigger church. And then and then I was there 2300 01:49:51,240 --> 01:49:53,480 for eight years. And then after that I came to 2301 01:49:53,480 --> 01:49:55,480 these two small churches. OK, Yeah. 2302 01:49:56,080 --> 01:49:58,440 So it's been a journey. Yeah, and so are you. 2303 01:49:58,440 --> 01:50:00,640 Is the church looking for a Presbyterian pastor too? 2304 01:50:00,640 --> 01:50:02,240 To no share the load? No. 2305 01:50:02,240 --> 01:50:04,720 No, no, no. We'll just as long as I'm there, 2306 01:50:04,720 --> 01:50:05,960 they'll just, they'll just have me. 2307 01:50:06,120 --> 01:50:08,520 And then maybe the next pastor will be a Presbyterian pastor. 2308 01:50:08,520 --> 01:50:09,760 You just never know. Yeah. 2309 01:50:09,920 --> 01:50:12,920 Yeah. So back to smash meals for a 2310 01:50:12,920 --> 01:50:13,600 second. OK. 2311 01:50:14,160 --> 01:50:20,640 Do you like have any experience like prior to this of being any 2312 01:50:20,640 --> 01:50:24,480 kind of a chef or a cook or have you just always enjoyed cooking? 2313 01:50:25,520 --> 01:50:27,240 No, the answer is absolutely not. 2314 01:50:27,360 --> 01:50:29,320 I've always enjoyed cooking. Never. 2315 01:50:29,800 --> 01:50:33,320 So when I was a little boy, my mom would help me cook, my dad 2316 01:50:33,320 --> 01:50:35,600 would make me go out and start the grill and cook steaks. 2317 01:50:35,600 --> 01:50:38,040 And I remember crying one day because I couldn't figure out 2318 01:50:38,400 --> 01:50:40,640 how to start the grill. And then one time I started the 2319 01:50:40,640 --> 01:50:45,200 grill and it caught the porch on fire and and and I was ran 2320 01:50:45,200 --> 01:50:47,480 inside dad the porch on fire. And like, he's like, we'll go 2321 01:50:47,480 --> 01:50:49,640 get a water hose and I come out there and I'm like, and it and 2322 01:50:49,640 --> 01:50:51,600 it and ember had fallen and it was on fire. 2323 01:50:51,600 --> 01:50:54,520 And my dad, he, he literally, I guess I was taking too long. 2324 01:50:54,520 --> 01:50:56,920 So he just peed and put it out. Like, I remember being as like a 2325 01:50:56,920 --> 01:51:00,040 little kid like, and that's the coolest way to put a fire out, 2326 01:51:00,040 --> 01:51:05,240 you know, like, but so I always just cooked for my family and I 2327 01:51:05,240 --> 01:51:08,440 enjoyed that. And then when I was in seminary, 2328 01:51:09,480 --> 01:51:12,200 I had a week, of course, I lived on campus a couple days a week. 2329 01:51:12,200 --> 01:51:15,040 And so I started cooking for the, for the guys that live with 2330 01:51:15,040 --> 01:51:16,520 us. And every week we'd have 2331 01:51:16,520 --> 01:51:19,040 community meals and people just throw money in a pot. 2332 01:51:19,040 --> 01:51:20,760 I would go to the grocery store and come back and cook. 2333 01:51:20,760 --> 01:51:26,360 And so I've, I always loved cooking for people and a lot of 2334 01:51:26,360 --> 01:51:28,520 times when I cook, read when that's something I miss about 2335 01:51:28,520 --> 01:51:33,080 meal prep is I love to see their reactions to them enjoying the 2336 01:51:33,080 --> 01:51:37,560 food because I, I'm the most confident in what they're going 2337 01:51:37,560 --> 01:51:39,800 to enjoy. So I'm scared to give people 2338 01:51:39,800 --> 01:51:41,240 gifts. It's a fear of mine. 2339 01:51:41,240 --> 01:51:43,960 I don't know what you call that if there's a, a word for it, but 2340 01:51:44,840 --> 01:51:46,960 I'm constantly scared that when I give somebody a gift and they 2341 01:51:46,960 --> 01:51:48,760 open it, they're going to be disappointed. 2342 01:51:49,320 --> 01:51:52,360 And so I rarely wrap gifts because I don't want to see 2343 01:51:52,360 --> 01:51:56,600 somebody's disappointment. But when I cook food, I doubt 2344 01:51:56,600 --> 01:51:58,840 they're ever going to be disappointed because I know what 2345 01:51:58,840 --> 01:52:03,960 it tastes like. And, and so being a a cook or a 2346 01:52:03,960 --> 01:52:07,680 chef, I've learned a lot from being a smash meals and I had to 2347 01:52:07,680 --> 01:52:09,680 learn a lot, but I've always enjoyed it. 2348 01:52:09,680 --> 01:52:13,400 And I think that that helps, you know, I want to taste good food. 2349 01:52:13,680 --> 01:52:17,560 And so therefore I want people to taste good food, but I, I do 2350 01:52:17,560 --> 01:52:20,760 miss that because I never get to see anybody eat my food. 2351 01:52:21,120 --> 01:52:23,160 And most catering events is just drop and go. 2352 01:52:23,360 --> 01:52:25,960 And so like sometimes I'll, I'll stand back and just watch people 2353 01:52:25,960 --> 01:52:28,160 at first, you know, but I really, I want to know what 2354 01:52:28,160 --> 01:52:29,880 people think. I don't know what they don't 2355 01:52:29,880 --> 01:52:31,680 like or they do like or what kind of do different. 2356 01:52:31,960 --> 01:52:33,680 Like that's how you grow a business, right? 2357 01:52:33,680 --> 01:52:36,240 You get feedback. Like somebody recently said, 2358 01:52:36,240 --> 01:52:38,520 Hey, I wish on your salad you would put cheese in a container. 2359 01:52:38,520 --> 01:52:40,600 So I called him this week and I was like, you know what I've 2360 01:52:40,600 --> 01:52:42,760 been thinking about your comment from now on, we're going to put 2361 01:52:42,760 --> 01:52:44,800 all our cheese in a container, you know, like a little bowl. 2362 01:52:45,000 --> 01:52:46,360 So that doesn't just sit with a salad. 2363 01:52:46,360 --> 01:52:49,720 We're going to, you know, and hopefully that helps them enjoy 2364 01:52:49,760 --> 01:52:54,040 their food more because I want constant feedback of what I can 2365 01:52:54,040 --> 01:52:55,280 do better. A guy called me yesterday. 2366 01:52:55,280 --> 01:52:59,760 He's like, Hey, your burger, We have burgers on the menu and we, 2367 01:52:59,840 --> 01:53:02,040 you know, whenever we sell burgers, what do you think I got 2368 01:53:02,040 --> 01:53:04,600 to cook it to? I cook it to right 1135, right? 2369 01:53:05,440 --> 01:53:08,080 Most people aren't going to eat their burgers red, But if I cook 2370 01:53:08,080 --> 01:53:10,840 it to one 45150 and they warm it up in the microwave, it's going 2371 01:53:10,840 --> 01:53:12,560 to be hard as a rock. So he calls me and he's like, 2372 01:53:12,560 --> 01:53:14,320 hey, I'm a little nervous about eating this burger because it's 2373 01:53:14,320 --> 01:53:16,800 red inside. And I said, we do that on 2374 01:53:16,800 --> 01:53:19,360 purpose because when you warm it up, it's it's not going to be 2375 01:53:19,360 --> 01:53:20,960 red. I was like, but it's cooking 2376 01:53:20,960 --> 01:53:22,880 temperature. You can technically eat it 2377 01:53:22,880 --> 01:53:26,400 without even warming it up and it's you're fine, but you need 2378 01:53:26,400 --> 01:53:28,520 to warm it up because you know, it's better. 2379 01:53:28,560 --> 01:53:31,920 And so he's like, thank you, you know, but a lot of times people, 2380 01:53:32,560 --> 01:53:34,960 you know, they don't always understand why we do what we do. 2381 01:53:35,800 --> 01:53:40,360 And I think that, you know, for chicken, you know, 165, you 2382 01:53:40,360 --> 01:53:41,520 don't want it to be a degree more. 2383 01:53:41,520 --> 01:53:42,880 You don't want it to be a degree less. 2384 01:53:42,880 --> 01:53:45,840 I mean, and that's a fine line because you cook it over 165 2385 01:53:45,840 --> 01:53:47,000 now. Now it's going to be hard. 2386 01:53:47,600 --> 01:53:50,480 You know, if you cook it less and it's raw and you're killing 2387 01:53:50,480 --> 01:53:52,360 people. So we have digital thermometers 2388 01:53:52,360 --> 01:53:54,800 everywhere. And but if you go back to your 2389 01:53:54,800 --> 01:53:58,840 original question, I have always just loved cooking and it's been 2390 01:53:58,840 --> 01:54:02,240 a passion of mine. 1 Christmas and I don't know how much time 2391 01:54:02,240 --> 01:54:03,840 we have left Brian. Brian keeps looking at me but. 2392 01:54:05,840 --> 01:54:09,960 No, you can keep going. Christmas, my, my dad comes home 2393 01:54:09,960 --> 01:54:12,200 and he's like, all right, this year for Christmas, we're giving 2394 01:54:12,200 --> 01:54:15,040 away sourdough bread. And somebody gave him a starter. 2395 01:54:15,440 --> 01:54:19,640 And so we started with a sourdough starter and of course 2396 01:54:19,640 --> 01:54:21,880 you had to feed it. And so that night we gave away, 2397 01:54:21,920 --> 01:54:23,360 or the next day we gave away 3 loaves. 2398 01:54:23,360 --> 01:54:25,760 That's all we made. Well, then our starter grew, 2399 01:54:26,000 --> 01:54:28,760 then we gave away 6 loaves. Then our starter grew some more. 2400 01:54:28,760 --> 01:54:31,280 We gave away 12 loaves. Then our starter grew some more 2401 01:54:31,280 --> 01:54:33,440 and we were giving away 24 loaves of bread a day. 2402 01:54:33,560 --> 01:54:36,000 And it was like a whole process. We had bowls everywhere. 2403 01:54:36,000 --> 01:54:39,760 And we had, we had, and at first we hated it, right? 2404 01:54:40,040 --> 01:54:43,720 Because all we saw was we were kneading and cutting and pulling 2405 01:54:43,720 --> 01:54:46,480 and and cooking and, and yeah, we loved eating the sourdough 2406 01:54:46,480 --> 01:54:48,160 bread, but it was like exhausting. 2407 01:54:49,160 --> 01:54:51,400 Well, then people started telling us how much they love 2408 01:54:51,400 --> 01:54:53,600 the food now from mom and dad. I don't think it ever was 2409 01:54:53,600 --> 01:54:56,640 something they were said about. But for kids, we went from 2410 01:54:56,760 --> 01:54:59,760 dreading it to loving it because we knew we were giving away 2411 01:54:59,760 --> 01:55:01,520 people. We were giving bread to people 2412 01:55:01,600 --> 01:55:03,560 and they were loving it. And like, and it's that moment 2413 01:55:03,560 --> 01:55:05,240 for me. Of course it goes back to that 2414 01:55:06,280 --> 01:55:09,960 validation of somebody saying, we love your bread, can you cook 2415 01:55:09,960 --> 01:55:12,800 some more of it? And so we gave away so many 2416 01:55:12,800 --> 01:55:14,600 loaves of bread. So a few years ago, when my kids 2417 01:55:14,600 --> 01:55:17,720 were, you know, younger, I decided one year I was going to 2418 01:55:17,720 --> 01:55:19,480 give away 100 loaves of bread there in December. 2419 01:55:19,800 --> 01:55:22,360 And so I did it at my home because, you know, sour dough 2420 01:55:22,360 --> 01:55:23,520 bread, you can make it gluten free. 2421 01:55:23,520 --> 01:55:26,000 It's kind of hard, But so I, I was just making regular 2422 01:55:26,000 --> 01:55:29,240 sourdough bread and we gave away 100 loaves one year. 2423 01:55:29,240 --> 01:55:31,000 And I, and I was telling my kids, I was like, one day you're 2424 01:55:31,000 --> 01:55:33,280 going to look back on this and you're going to, you're going to 2425 01:55:33,280 --> 01:55:34,760 thank me. I know right now you don't, you 2426 01:55:34,760 --> 01:55:37,920 don't appreciate it, but we're touching people's lives. 2427 01:55:37,960 --> 01:55:39,800 And we would keep bread in our car. 2428 01:55:40,040 --> 01:55:42,840 And if I stopped the stoplight, I would roll next to the 2429 01:55:42,920 --> 01:55:44,600 person's and wind it down. I'd be like rolling, wind it 2430 01:55:44,600 --> 01:55:46,200 down. And I would give them, I'm like, 2431 01:55:46,200 --> 01:55:48,360 hey, I made this this morning. Here's a free loaf of bread. 2432 01:55:48,360 --> 01:55:50,960 Or I was in Pigeon Forge and we're going to watch the 2433 01:55:50,960 --> 01:55:52,800 Dollywood Stampede. I waited out in the parking lot 2434 01:55:52,800 --> 01:55:55,200 and I just gave people random loaves of bread, you know, 2435 01:55:55,440 --> 01:55:59,000 because it made me happy to see somebody receive something, you 2436 01:55:59,000 --> 01:56:03,400 know, And so I don't even know why I told you a story, but my 2437 01:56:03,400 --> 01:56:06,760 parents kind of instilled the love of, of cooking. 2438 01:56:06,760 --> 01:56:10,800 I mean, my sister owns a a bed and breakfast and, and she owns 2439 01:56:10,800 --> 01:56:13,800 charity chocolates. And so she makes chocolate for 2440 01:56:13,800 --> 01:56:17,760 people. And, you know, so like over the 2441 01:56:18,200 --> 01:56:22,320 month of February, like she sells 10s of thousands worth of 2442 01:56:22,320 --> 01:56:25,120 dollars worth of chocolate, you know, and it's her joy. 2443 01:56:25,280 --> 01:56:29,120 And you know, I, I love that this weekend we're going to 2444 01:56:29,120 --> 01:56:31,920 California to celebrate my kids birthday out and Big Bear, 2445 01:56:31,920 --> 01:56:34,200 California, we're going to take them snowboarding and my, my 2446 01:56:34,200 --> 01:56:36,480 other sister's coming in. And her first question was, Hey, 2447 01:56:36,480 --> 01:56:38,920 I'm bringing food. You know, like, like she was 2448 01:56:38,920 --> 01:56:41,640 excited to bring us food to cook at our condo. 2449 01:56:41,640 --> 01:56:43,120 We're all going to stay together out there. 2450 01:56:43,120 --> 01:56:46,120 And, and you know, when we get together 4th of July as a big 2451 01:56:46,120 --> 01:56:48,880 family, we're all, we all would make a meal and, and that's a 2452 01:56:48,880 --> 01:56:51,120 big deal. Like dinner time for us is a big 2453 01:56:51,400 --> 01:56:54,440 important meal because we would always sit around the table and 2454 01:56:54,440 --> 01:56:59,360 talk and discuss the day and, and actually, you know, just 2455 01:56:59,360 --> 01:57:02,840 watching your family eat together is so important. 2456 01:57:02,840 --> 01:57:05,680 And I don't do that enough. And I'm very guilty of that. 2457 01:57:06,080 --> 01:57:10,560 I provide for a lot of people, but because I do work so much, I 2458 01:57:10,560 --> 01:57:14,280 often don't take that time from my kids and I just just enjoy a 2459 01:57:14,280 --> 01:57:18,560 meal together and I need to be better about that. 2460 01:57:19,040 --> 01:57:22,400 Yeah, you need to choose one night a week you can start that, 2461 01:57:23,120 --> 01:57:25,120 that that's that's an important thing. 2462 01:57:25,120 --> 01:57:29,720 I remember growing up too, we had every meal together and 2463 01:57:30,280 --> 01:57:32,840 every meal every night. And then Saturday night was 2464 01:57:32,840 --> 01:57:36,520 pizza and a movie and we just had we just. 2465 01:57:36,960 --> 01:57:38,800 But then again, you know, we didn't have cell phones and 2466 01:57:38,800 --> 01:57:39,760 things like that back in the day. 2467 01:57:39,760 --> 01:57:41,520 We didn't have all the distractions that we have these 2468 01:57:41,520 --> 01:57:45,520 days, but and now you're finding a lot more like restaurants are 2469 01:57:45,520 --> 01:57:49,400 putting baskets in the middle of tables and so that you can put 2470 01:57:49,400 --> 01:57:52,240 your phone away and be present for the meal. 2471 01:57:53,200 --> 01:57:57,040 And it's you know what? We try to not have our phones 2472 01:57:58,440 --> 01:58:00,520 when we have supper together and, and things like that. 2473 01:58:00,520 --> 01:58:02,760 But it's not, it's not easy because especially being a 2474 01:58:02,760 --> 01:58:05,520 business owner, there's so many distractions for us all the 2475 01:58:05,520 --> 01:58:07,680 time. But then sometimes we just have 2476 01:58:07,680 --> 01:58:10,760 to go, all right, we know that God's going to control the 2477 01:58:10,760 --> 01:58:12,720 situation. We're going to take that 30 2478 01:58:12,720 --> 01:58:16,600 minutes and just try and enjoy this 30 minutes or whatever it 2479 01:58:16,600 --> 01:58:19,480 is, enjoy this meal. So that's that's something you 2480 01:58:19,480 --> 01:58:23,600 can challenge yourself for is maybe one night a week try and 2481 01:58:23,600 --> 01:58:24,920 do that. That's a good challenge. 2482 01:58:24,960 --> 01:58:27,640 Yeah, I'll like that. Or even Sundays try and just 2483 01:58:27,640 --> 01:58:29,880 have. I know that's probably a crazy 2484 01:58:29,880 --> 01:58:33,480 day for you, though, but just have that day really be nothing 2485 01:58:33,480 --> 01:58:37,120 else but pouring into those two twins of yours. 2486 01:58:37,240 --> 01:58:39,160 Yeah. Wait, that's a double negative, 2487 01:58:39,160 --> 01:58:40,080 isn't? It it doesn't. 2488 01:58:40,080 --> 01:58:42,000 Matter 2 twins. I like it OK. 2489 01:58:42,800 --> 01:58:44,920 We're going with it. It's set in stone. 2490 01:58:45,160 --> 01:58:47,480 Webster Dictionary. Yeah, we're setting you in 2491 01:58:47,480 --> 01:58:49,520 stone. 2. Twins of yours. 2492 01:58:49,520 --> 01:58:52,280 Done, Yeah. We want to make sure that we 2493 01:58:52,280 --> 01:58:54,560 know there's two of them. I actually knew a girl who had 2494 01:58:54,560 --> 01:58:55,920 two sets of twins. Really. 2495 01:58:56,440 --> 01:59:00,680 Yeah, she's 4 kids, two sets. Never been pregnant any just 2496 01:59:00,680 --> 01:59:03,720 literally 2 sets of twins. Were there twins run in her 2497 01:59:03,720 --> 01:59:05,920 family? No, I think it was just kind of 2498 01:59:05,920 --> 01:59:07,200 a random fluke thing that happened. 2499 01:59:07,200 --> 01:59:10,360 So here's something cool that maybe somebody out in the 2500 01:59:10,360 --> 01:59:12,760 audience wants to know. So we didn't. 2501 01:59:12,760 --> 01:59:15,160 There's no twins in my family, no twins in Ashley's family. 2502 01:59:15,760 --> 01:59:18,440 So we were unsure of how that happened. 2503 01:59:18,440 --> 01:59:18,880 Right? Yeah. 2504 01:59:19,960 --> 01:59:24,800 We read a study that sweet potatoes increase fertility. 2505 01:59:26,040 --> 01:59:29,880 Ashley was gluten free, so she ate a ton of sweet potatoes. 2506 01:59:29,920 --> 01:59:33,360 Like at that time she was eating sweet potatoes for every meal. 2507 01:59:34,200 --> 01:59:36,920 And I look back and I'm really think that it was a sweet 2508 01:59:36,920 --> 01:59:40,440 potatoes that increased her fertility that created one of 2509 01:59:40,440 --> 01:59:44,120 the reasons we had twins. And now I'm not a doctor. 2510 01:59:44,320 --> 01:59:47,200 I've never done any scientific research on that, but I will to 2511 01:59:47,200 --> 01:59:49,640 this day state that that's the reason why we had twins is 2512 01:59:49,640 --> 01:59:52,040 because of sweet potatoes. So if there's somebody out there 2513 01:59:52,040 --> 01:59:54,200 they're trying to get pregnant, you know what, just start they. 2514 01:59:54,200 --> 01:59:55,920 Want twins? All the sweet potatoes. 2515 01:59:56,240 --> 01:59:57,640 Eat sweet potatoes. Just go for it. 2516 01:59:57,640 --> 02:00:00,360 Give it a shot. Well, they're they're delicious. 2517 02:00:00,960 --> 02:00:02,520 You know how many sweet potatoes I go through a week? 2518 02:00:02,920 --> 02:00:05,280 Probably a lot. Yeah, about 160 lbs. 2519 02:00:05,280 --> 02:00:10,440 What do you go through the most? Chicken, Yeah, yeah, cuz I mean, 2520 02:00:10,440 --> 02:00:12,480 we have it for lots of different meals. 2521 02:00:12,480 --> 02:00:14,720 Chicken, sweet potatoes, russet potatoes. 2522 02:00:16,160 --> 02:00:19,040 I go through a lot of steak. A friend of mine, she wanted to 2523 02:00:19,040 --> 02:00:22,800 buy a cow with me And, and so I was like, well, it's got to be 2524 02:00:22,800 --> 02:00:25,560 USDA, you know, certified. Like I can't just sell random 2525 02:00:25,560 --> 02:00:27,120 meat. And she's like, oh, no, no, 2526 02:00:27,120 --> 02:00:29,160 they're fully inspected. It's fully, everything's done. 2527 02:00:29,160 --> 02:00:32,360 I was like, OK, so you know, we, we pick it up from the 2528 02:00:32,360 --> 02:00:35,080 slaughterhouse like, you know, and it has a label and like, OK, 2529 02:00:35,120 --> 02:00:38,120 we're good. And, and so she thinks it's a 2530 02:00:38,120 --> 02:00:42,400 big deal that we bought a cow. And so like a few weeks go by 2531 02:00:42,400 --> 02:00:44,000 and she's like, oh, I'm really enjoying this cow. 2532 02:00:44,000 --> 02:00:45,560 And I was like, Oh yeah, it was great. 2533 02:00:46,240 --> 02:00:48,120 And she's like, what did you say What? 2534 02:00:48,120 --> 02:00:51,520 I was like, Oh yeah, I've already moved on to the next 2535 02:00:51,520 --> 02:00:53,440 Cal. Like, like that's gone. 2536 02:00:53,440 --> 02:00:55,800 And she's like, how did you go through that much meat? 2537 02:00:55,800 --> 02:00:59,120 And I'm like, well, you know, we, you know, about 100 lbs of 2538 02:00:59,440 --> 02:01:02,440 beef or of steak a week, 100 lbs of of beef. 2539 02:01:02,440 --> 02:01:04,760 We use the brisket, you know, we use everything. 2540 02:01:04,760 --> 02:01:07,200 And, and she's like, Oh my gosh, that's going to last me a whole 2541 02:01:07,200 --> 02:01:09,160 year and you're done with it. And I was like, that's part of 2542 02:01:09,160 --> 02:01:12,240 being a yeah, I'm a meal prep company. 2543 02:01:12,800 --> 02:01:16,200 Yeah, I don't think people can realize that they can buy like 2544 02:01:16,360 --> 02:01:19,200 that is literally the definition of buying in bulk is buying like 2545 02:01:19,560 --> 02:01:22,800 half a cow, 1/4 of a cow, because that's a lot, but you 2546 02:01:22,800 --> 02:01:24,800 need a deep freezer for that because it's gonna fill. 2547 02:01:24,800 --> 02:01:26,000 You do, I do. Hunt. 2548 02:01:26,280 --> 02:01:28,840 I do hunt so we this year my son killed 2 deer. 2549 02:01:29,080 --> 02:01:32,120 Oh, nice. And he was excited, so that was 2550 02:01:32,120 --> 02:01:33,000 a cool moment. So. 2551 02:01:33,000 --> 02:01:34,920 Was this his first time hunting? No, we've been hunting for a 2552 02:01:34,920 --> 02:01:37,400 long He's missed. He's missed hundreds of deer. 2553 02:01:37,880 --> 02:01:40,800 And then this year, the 2 deer he shot at, he killed them both, 2554 02:01:40,840 --> 02:01:43,840 thank goodness, but that we, we got to the first one that he 2555 02:01:43,840 --> 02:01:46,280 killed and I was teach him how to feel dressed and to walk him 2556 02:01:46,280 --> 02:01:49,680 through that process. And, and we had a prayer and we 2557 02:01:49,680 --> 02:01:52,480 thanked God right there around this deer that we just killed 2558 02:01:52,480 --> 02:01:55,360 for God providing. And so the next year he killed, 2559 02:01:55,520 --> 02:01:57,600 he's like, thank you God for providing. 2560 02:01:57,600 --> 02:02:00,040 And, and, you know, and, and it was a big moment for me 'cause I 2561 02:02:00,040 --> 02:02:01,160 said, dad, you know, you're teaching him. 2562 02:02:01,160 --> 02:02:03,200 And then, then we're eating it and we're, you know, and he, of 2563 02:02:03,200 --> 02:02:05,240 course, he's a good chef. So all the, all the deer he 2564 02:02:05,240 --> 02:02:08,320 cooks is phenomenal. And I, I love that. 2565 02:02:08,320 --> 02:02:11,720 Now there's a place down in in Greenville now I think it's 2566 02:02:11,720 --> 02:02:15,120 called Sands Meat Market. And you can go in there and you 2567 02:02:15,120 --> 02:02:18,600 can buy a quarter of a cow and it comes right now with a free 2568 02:02:18,600 --> 02:02:20,040 freezer. What? 2569 02:02:20,440 --> 02:02:23,800 Yeah, they will give you a freezer stand up freezer. 2570 02:02:23,840 --> 02:02:26,680 Write it down, Brian. Sands Meat Market I believe is 2571 02:02:26,680 --> 02:02:28,560 the name of. It and it's like beach sand 2572 02:02:28,560 --> 02:02:31,240 SAND. SANS and. 2573 02:02:31,760 --> 02:02:32,680 Brian, you're not writing it down. 2574 02:02:33,600 --> 02:02:36,800 He's memorizing it but you can go and literally if you buy I 2575 02:02:36,800 --> 02:02:39,560 think it's either 1/4 or half a cow, they will give you a free 2576 02:02:39,560 --> 02:02:40,640 freezer. Wow. 2577 02:02:40,680 --> 02:02:43,160 Yeah, how cool is that? That is really cool. 2578 02:02:43,680 --> 02:02:45,520 It just tastes really good. Oh, it's so good. 2579 02:02:46,480 --> 02:02:52,320 I tell you one thing that I love about buying meat like that 2580 02:02:52,680 --> 02:02:55,960 versus meat in the grocery store is when you cook it and if you 2581 02:02:55,960 --> 02:02:59,840 cook it side by side, you can smell the difference just. 2582 02:02:59,840 --> 02:03:01,000 Smell. You can see it too. 2583 02:03:01,000 --> 02:03:03,720 Well, yeah, but if you just close your eyes, you can know 2584 02:03:03,720 --> 02:03:07,160 which one was not come from a grocery store. 2585 02:03:07,160 --> 02:03:08,880 Yeah. And it's quite amazing. 2586 02:03:09,280 --> 02:03:14,320 Yeah, we have chickens and we just lost, like we just lost ten 2587 02:03:14,320 --> 02:03:17,320 of them to a raccoon. Yeah. 2588 02:03:17,320 --> 02:03:20,680 That was traumatizing just to open up the coop door and then 2589 02:03:20,680 --> 02:03:22,120 to see a couple of them on the floor. 2590 02:03:22,120 --> 02:03:24,160 And yeah, chickens are cannibalistic. 2591 02:03:24,160 --> 02:03:26,560 So a few of them were like eating their sisters. 2592 02:03:26,560 --> 02:03:30,120 And we're like, gosh, get get off of her, you know, like. 2593 02:03:30,800 --> 02:03:33,480 And then the most disappointing part is that we can't enjoy the 2594 02:03:33,480 --> 02:03:35,520 meat because it's, you know, been spoiled. 2595 02:03:35,680 --> 02:03:38,200 Yeah, but and raccoons are weird because they'll go for the head 2596 02:03:39,040 --> 02:03:40,880 and then they go for the intestines because they want the 2597 02:03:40,880 --> 02:03:43,080 undigested food and then that's it. 2598 02:03:43,080 --> 02:03:44,360 They won't touch the rest of the bird. 2599 02:03:45,960 --> 02:03:49,280 So, you know, they were pretty mutilated in the coop. 2600 02:03:49,280 --> 02:03:52,680 But you can you can definitely tell the difference because, you 2601 02:03:52,680 --> 02:03:56,240 know, farm fresh eggs are girls free range for the most part. 2602 02:03:57,480 --> 02:04:02,920 And the the yolk color, the everything like tastes so good. 2603 02:04:03,160 --> 02:04:06,560 It's so buttery when they're like, you know, happy healthy 2604 02:04:07,000 --> 02:04:10,720 hens. And we in our in this bunch, we 2605 02:04:10,720 --> 02:04:12,360 got 2 Roosters. We didn't know that we're going 2606 02:04:12,360 --> 02:04:15,800 to get any Roosters sometimes. So rural King does this thing 2607 02:04:15,800 --> 02:04:17,280 called dollar days. Oh yeah. 2608 02:04:17,680 --> 02:04:19,360 Where you can get your chicks for a dollar. 2609 02:04:19,480 --> 02:04:23,480 They already feathered out. Who doesn't love rural King? 2610 02:04:23,640 --> 02:04:25,920 If you have kids, go there. Make it like. 2611 02:04:25,920 --> 02:04:27,640 It's such a fun place. Yeah. 2612 02:04:27,880 --> 02:04:30,560 And so we only buy chicks when they're a dollar because why 2613 02:04:30,560 --> 02:04:31,760 not? They're already feathered out. 2614 02:04:31,760 --> 02:04:33,920 So they've already fed them the first few weeks of their life 2615 02:04:34,440 --> 02:04:35,880 and they feed them an organic feed. 2616 02:04:35,920 --> 02:04:37,840 We were like surprised to find that out. 2617 02:04:37,840 --> 02:04:39,280 We were like, wow, OK, well that's cool. 2618 02:04:40,320 --> 02:04:43,720 And they're not like vaccinated chicks like you. 2619 02:04:43,760 --> 02:04:46,720 You have control over your flock and what you want to do with 2620 02:04:46,720 --> 02:04:49,040 them. And so that's where we've gotten 2621 02:04:49,040 --> 02:04:53,760 all of our dollar chicks from. And they just like just love 2622 02:04:53,760 --> 02:04:55,880 keeping chickens. There's hilarious. 2623 02:04:55,880 --> 02:04:56,760 They're fun. Do. 2624 02:04:57,760 --> 02:05:00,520 You have any Guineas? No, OK, no. 2625 02:05:00,520 --> 02:05:03,400 Do you know Guineas? I learned this when I lived in 2626 02:05:03,400 --> 02:05:06,280 some bright Guineas around chickens. 2627 02:05:06,280 --> 02:05:09,840 Guineas will go and eat all that random animals and or random 2628 02:05:09,840 --> 02:05:12,360 bugs that help the chick that don't that will attack the 2629 02:05:12,360 --> 02:05:16,880 chickens and they keep Roosters away or like garments away like 2630 02:05:16,880 --> 02:05:20,000 mice and and maybe raccoons. But maybe you should get a 2631 02:05:20,000 --> 02:05:21,760 Guinea. Maybe. 2632 02:05:21,880 --> 02:05:24,000 They're loud though. Yeah, they are really they. 2633 02:05:24,240 --> 02:05:27,680 Well, I mean, our Roosters we have, I mean, one of them is 2634 02:05:27,680 --> 02:05:30,640 pretty pretty. He, he constantly crows. 2635 02:05:31,160 --> 02:05:34,360 But the next day after the raccoon attack, one of our 2636 02:05:34,360 --> 02:05:39,000 Roosters was a little beat up. And so we were like, maybe, you 2637 02:05:39,000 --> 02:05:43,480 know, maybe he attacked the raccoon and got him out of 2638 02:05:43,480 --> 02:05:46,400 there. So it, it was interesting. 2639 02:05:46,400 --> 02:05:49,480 It was a weak point in our food system that we had. 2640 02:05:49,560 --> 02:05:52,000 We have a little automatic feeder that we have a cut a hole 2641 02:05:52,000 --> 02:05:55,120 cut out and the feeder is really heavy and it's big and it's 2642 02:05:55,120 --> 02:06:01,320 what's it made out of. It's just steel, what stainless 2643 02:06:01,320 --> 02:06:03,120 steel. And so it's like it's a pretty 2644 02:06:03,120 --> 02:06:05,960 decent especially when it's filled with a 4050 LB bag of 2645 02:06:05,960 --> 02:06:09,160 feed. And so and it's on a little 2646 02:06:09,160 --> 02:06:11,680 platform and we haven't anchored it or had to do anything. 2647 02:06:11,680 --> 02:06:14,360 We've never had any problems with any predators getting in 2648 02:06:14,360 --> 02:06:18,000 the coop. Well, the raccoon figured out to 2649 02:06:18,160 --> 02:06:21,520 pull it down and so then it left the opening. 2650 02:06:21,600 --> 02:06:24,440 So our, the, the food was like tipped over like this. 2651 02:06:24,800 --> 02:06:27,400 And then he just went in there and then went to town and we 2652 02:06:27,400 --> 02:06:30,640 have all the roost bars. Like we, we built it out of old 2653 02:06:30,640 --> 02:06:34,240 pallets and then we take old branches as the roosting bars to 2654 02:06:34,240 --> 02:06:36,440 kind of make it feel like the most organic for the chickens. 2655 02:06:38,040 --> 02:06:39,320 Plus it's in the yard. It's free. 2656 02:06:39,320 --> 02:06:43,080 It's, you know, branches And so it, some of them, I don't know 2657 02:06:43,080 --> 02:06:45,560 if you could get up there, but the Roosters, I don't know. 2658 02:06:46,040 --> 02:06:48,800 So we should get a trail Cam and put it in the. 2659 02:06:49,640 --> 02:06:51,480 I think it's a great idea. Oh, that would have been pretty 2660 02:06:51,480 --> 02:06:53,760 tough to see. But we try and keep it real for 2661 02:06:53,760 --> 02:06:56,560 our boys. Like we like the girls, you 2662 02:06:56,560 --> 02:06:58,360 know, they were dead. We threw them out. 2663 02:06:58,360 --> 02:06:59,920 One of the boys wanted to touch it. 2664 02:06:59,920 --> 02:07:01,760 And we were like, OK. And so we got a stick and he was 2665 02:07:01,760 --> 02:07:04,680 like poking it. And we've had to, we had to 2666 02:07:05,000 --> 02:07:09,040 slaughter a few that have either gotten, like, mauled or had, you 2667 02:07:09,040 --> 02:07:11,160 know, Yeah. So Brian has to you. 2668 02:07:12,480 --> 02:07:14,080 Know that made me think about Cold Mountain. 2669 02:07:14,080 --> 02:07:15,280 You remember the movie Cold Mountain? 2670 02:07:15,280 --> 02:07:18,120 Have you ever seen that movie? I don't wait. 2671 02:07:18,120 --> 02:07:20,040 Nicole Kidman and Jude Law, right? 2672 02:07:20,040 --> 02:07:22,400 Don't ask me, people. Just okay, I think so. 2673 02:07:22,400 --> 02:07:23,360 I think that's it. Yeah, yeah. 2674 02:07:23,880 --> 02:07:26,480 They grew up on the farm, they had raised the chickens and do 2675 02:07:26,480 --> 02:07:28,960 all this stuff and for some reason that just popped on that 2676 02:07:28,960 --> 02:07:30,400 cold melt and that was a great movie. 2677 02:07:31,240 --> 02:07:35,240 Raising chickens is really fun. It's like they, they just have 2678 02:07:35,240 --> 02:07:37,160 their own personality. They're just so cute. 2679 02:07:37,160 --> 02:07:38,840 They're just really fun. Like we'll go outside and 2680 02:07:38,840 --> 02:07:42,240 they'll just like run over to us and be like, Hey, hey, how's it 2681 02:07:42,240 --> 02:07:43,760 going? And they look at you like, 2682 02:07:43,760 --> 02:07:46,040 they'll go Kirk because they're, they have crazy eyes. 2683 02:07:46,040 --> 02:07:48,760 So one eye looks up for predators and then one looks 2684 02:07:48,760 --> 02:07:52,120 down for like you can't like, that's just how they're always, 2685 02:07:52,200 --> 02:07:54,120 there's always going, you can't see it. 2686 02:07:54,360 --> 02:07:55,720 That's just how they, their eyes operate. 2687 02:07:55,720 --> 02:07:57,280 They're just always looking up and always looking down. 2688 02:07:57,440 --> 02:07:59,640 So when they look at you, they'll be like and they'll, 2689 02:08:00,360 --> 02:08:02,800 it's just really funny. We just love having chickens. 2690 02:08:02,800 --> 02:08:06,200 We need more though, because now we've got we're coming off 2691 02:08:06,200 --> 02:08:09,720 winter, so we're at like 6 to 10 a day of eggs, Yeah. 2692 02:08:10,600 --> 02:08:13,920 Or you didn't go to Royal King. It's $1.00 eggs or dollar dollar 2693 02:08:13,920 --> 02:08:15,720 chicks. Well, that's the hardest part is 2694 02:08:15,720 --> 02:08:18,240 raising them though, because it just takes, you know, it's like 2695 02:08:18,240 --> 02:08:20,280 4 months before they start producing. 2696 02:08:20,640 --> 02:08:22,480 So then you're in the negative for those four months? 2697 02:08:22,680 --> 02:08:24,440 I want I tell you something about Royal King. 2698 02:08:24,600 --> 02:08:27,520 Obviously, I love the popcorn. I love walking around and seeing 2699 02:08:27,520 --> 02:08:28,240 everything. Yeah. 2700 02:08:28,240 --> 02:08:31,760 So I take my kids there one day and they had Coleman 4 Wheelers 2701 02:08:33,920 --> 02:08:36,680 and my kids were like on a four Wheeler. 2702 02:08:37,240 --> 02:08:39,440 Yeah. And I was like, you know what, 2703 02:08:40,040 --> 02:08:42,000 why not? They were like $1900. 2704 02:08:42,760 --> 02:08:46,080 So I go to the register and they were like, would you like to to 2705 02:08:46,080 --> 02:08:49,920 buy the lifetime warranty or the five year warranty? 2706 02:08:49,920 --> 02:08:52,080 I guess it was five years. And I was like, well, I don't 2707 02:08:52,080 --> 02:08:53,880 know, we'll tell you about it. And they're like, well, if 2708 02:08:53,880 --> 02:08:57,280 anything happens in five years, we'll fix it or replace it free 2709 02:08:57,280 --> 02:08:58,920 of charge. I was like, how much? 2710 02:08:58,920 --> 02:09:01,480 And it was like 190 dollars is like 10% of the price. 2711 02:09:02,040 --> 02:09:04,040 And I was like, so I said to the salesperson, I was like, so 2712 02:09:04,040 --> 02:09:06,960 you're telling me that if my fault were then I'm fixing to 2713 02:09:06,960 --> 02:09:11,920 buy from you rolls into the lake because we live all like that. 2714 02:09:12,320 --> 02:09:14,600 You will fix it or replace it for free for five years. 2715 02:09:14,920 --> 02:09:16,640 Absolutely no questions to ask. I said. 2716 02:09:16,640 --> 02:09:21,040 So you're telling me that if it rolls over multiple times? 2717 02:09:21,040 --> 02:09:22,760 Yeah. You're going to fix it or 2718 02:09:22,760 --> 02:09:25,200 replace it for free, Absolutely no question to ask. 2719 02:09:25,480 --> 02:09:29,320 So you're telling me the chain and you're going to fix it or 2720 02:09:29,720 --> 02:09:32,080 replace it for free? They were like, yeah, 2721 02:09:32,920 --> 02:09:35,680 absolutely. It's the greatest day of my 2722 02:09:35,680 --> 02:09:36,440 life. Yeah. 2723 02:09:36,440 --> 02:09:40,320 So I take them folders home and within three weeks both of them 2724 02:09:40,320 --> 02:09:42,600 are broke. Load them back up on my trailer, 2725 02:09:42,960 --> 02:09:46,760 take them over there, they fix them, get them back home, ride 2726 02:09:46,760 --> 02:09:49,920 them for another 3 or 4 weeks, they break again, take them back 2727 02:09:49,920 --> 02:09:51,760 over there. So this goes on for a couple 2728 02:09:51,760 --> 02:09:55,600 years. Well, my kids quit like riding 2729 02:09:55,600 --> 02:09:59,440 them because they were small and so I was getting ready to sell 2730 02:09:59,440 --> 02:10:00,320 them and I was like, you know what? 2731 02:10:00,320 --> 02:10:01,760 Before I sell them, I'm gonna take them there and get them 2732 02:10:01,760 --> 02:10:03,920 fixed one more time. I take them to real king. 2733 02:10:03,920 --> 02:10:05,480 I'm like, hey, I need y'all to fix these 4 Wheelers. 2734 02:10:05,760 --> 02:10:09,840 They're like OK, so I don't think about it for like 3 or 4 2735 02:10:09,840 --> 02:10:13,200 months, like just for a month. All of a sudden I'm like Oh my 2736 02:10:13,200 --> 02:10:14,360 gosh, I gotta go with them 4 Wheelers. 2737 02:10:14,560 --> 02:10:17,400 I go back to real king. They can't find my 4 Wheelers. 2738 02:10:17,400 --> 02:10:18,320 Oh. My gosh. 2739 02:10:18,680 --> 02:10:23,960 Somebody had thrown them away. Real King gave me all my money 2740 02:10:23,960 --> 02:10:26,080 back because they couldn't replace them because they quit 2741 02:10:26,080 --> 02:10:29,480 selling them. So I got all my money back. 2742 02:10:32,320 --> 02:10:34,760 That's what my kids enjoyed them for three years and they still 2743 02:10:34,760 --> 02:10:37,520 have that deal at Rural King. You go buy any farm equipment 2744 02:10:37,520 --> 02:10:38,800 over there and you pay for the warranty. 2745 02:10:39,080 --> 02:10:42,000 They will fix it or replace it for free, no questions asked. 2746 02:10:42,360 --> 02:10:43,160 Wow. Yeah. 2747 02:10:43,680 --> 02:10:45,840 So I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah. 2748 02:10:45,840 --> 02:10:46,640 Wow. Yeah. 2749 02:10:47,120 --> 02:10:50,560 That's that's crazy. It's such an, such a different 2750 02:10:51,040 --> 02:10:53,640 awesome store. Like we, until we moved to 2751 02:10:53,640 --> 02:10:57,320 Tennessee, we didn't know what rural king was and we were like, 2752 02:10:57,320 --> 02:11:00,440 what is cuz we tractor supply is more normal. 2753 02:11:00,760 --> 02:11:03,000 You know, where we, where we lived. 2754 02:11:03,000 --> 02:11:06,120 And so it's like RK is the best. That's what we call, but our 2755 02:11:06,120 --> 02:11:09,160 boys call it the so they call chickens Kikis. 2756 02:11:10,240 --> 02:11:12,240 That's you know how kids come up with names for things. 2757 02:11:12,240 --> 02:11:14,160 Open meal. We already talked about kikis. 2758 02:11:14,160 --> 02:11:18,200 That's chicken in our house. And so they call it the Kiki 2759 02:11:18,200 --> 02:11:19,520 store. They're like, let's go to the 2760 02:11:19,520 --> 02:11:23,520 Kiki store and get some popcorn, you know, gets whatever some 2761 02:11:23,520 --> 02:11:25,920 feed or stuff. We actually just watched a video 2762 02:11:25,920 --> 02:11:31,120 yesterday on how to make your own chicken feed from black fly 2763 02:11:31,960 --> 02:11:34,760 larvae. So you attract black flies by 2764 02:11:34,760 --> 02:11:39,240 composting and then you you can create your own chicken feed 2765 02:11:39,240 --> 02:11:41,240 basically. And then it's supposed to help 2766 02:11:41,240 --> 02:11:42,880 the it's supposed to help the eggs taste even better. 2767 02:11:42,880 --> 02:11:43,960 Isn't that what they said in the video? 2768 02:11:43,960 --> 02:11:44,440 I'm. Sure. 2769 02:11:44,440 --> 02:11:46,160 I mean I watched Ace Ventura Pet Detective. 2770 02:11:46,160 --> 02:11:49,280 He ate the the guava, you know, from the bats I mean. 2771 02:11:49,800 --> 02:11:52,440 Guano. Yeah, Yeah, I remember that. 2772 02:11:52,440 --> 02:11:55,000 It's good times. It's good times. 2773 02:11:57,560 --> 02:11:58,920 Of course we're going to have you back, Lou. 2774 02:11:59,040 --> 02:12:01,880 I would love to, you know, have you ever watched the I Am Second 2775 02:12:01,920 --> 02:12:05,640 videos where they sit in like little white chairs with a black 2776 02:12:05,640 --> 02:12:07,360 backdrop and they tell their child like their story. 2777 02:12:07,360 --> 02:12:09,040 They're fake. How they OK, check it out. 2778 02:12:09,040 --> 02:12:11,280 It's I Am second. It's a good video series. 2779 02:12:11,760 --> 02:12:14,080 But as I was sitting here today, I was like, I was like, oh, I 2780 02:12:14,080 --> 02:12:16,640 just went away from the mic And I was like, oh man, I would love 2781 02:12:16,640 --> 02:12:20,680 just to come back and just like really like write down like 2782 02:12:20,680 --> 02:12:23,080 stories from the last 20 something years of me being a 2783 02:12:23,080 --> 02:12:26,000 pastor. Because, you know, as a pastor, 2784 02:12:26,000 --> 02:12:29,480 you have all these stories that you hold on to of places you've 2785 02:12:29,480 --> 02:12:33,520 been, people you've met, you know, so many people are and so 2786 02:12:33,520 --> 02:12:36,240 important to you, you know, and I think about them, but I don't 2787 02:12:36,240 --> 02:12:37,800 ever talk about them. Like, I mean, sometimes I'll 2788 02:12:37,800 --> 02:12:40,360 mention them in sermons, but like, you don't really just go 2789 02:12:40,360 --> 02:12:42,880 around tell Oh, let me tell you about Billy. 2790 02:12:42,920 --> 02:12:46,960 You know, Billy Ward, this guy I met in some right, who owned the 2791 02:12:46,960 --> 02:12:49,960 race team, who, you know, I never know what he's going to 2792 02:12:49,960 --> 02:12:52,440 say, but he somehow loved me. I don't, you know, our, our Doug 2793 02:12:52,440 --> 02:12:54,880 and Chris are Torrance or, you know, you're just random people. 2794 02:12:54,880 --> 02:12:59,000 You know, I get this guy named Clifton, you know, and I mean, 2795 02:12:59,000 --> 02:13:02,240 it's just so many people that, that I've had a chance to 2796 02:13:02,240 --> 02:13:05,160 interact with in my life that I think it'd be fun to put on 2797 02:13:05,160 --> 02:13:08,040 video or audio and just, you know, 'cause there's so much we 2798 02:13:08,040 --> 02:13:11,280 can learn from people that but we don't stop to go back and 2799 02:13:11,280 --> 02:13:12,840 listen. And I was telling a buddy of 2800 02:13:12,840 --> 02:13:14,520 mine, Adam, he's in college at Chattanooga. 2801 02:13:15,080 --> 02:13:17,920 His dad's one of my best friends, Bruce Miller, He's an 2802 02:13:17,920 --> 02:13:19,280 orthopedic surgeon over in Kingsport. 2803 02:13:19,440 --> 02:13:22,200 And Adam was like, oh man, you're gonna do podcasts. 2804 02:13:22,200 --> 02:13:23,880 I love podcasts. I was like, what do you love 2805 02:13:23,880 --> 02:13:25,760 about it? And he's like, well, I start in 2806 02:13:25,760 --> 02:13:29,320 Chattanooga and I push play. And I love Joe Rogan 'cause he's 2807 02:13:29,320 --> 02:13:32,680 3 hours long and it's the same amount of distance as it takes 2808 02:13:32,680 --> 02:13:34,080 from get to Chattanooga to Kingsport. 2809 02:13:34,280 --> 02:13:37,920 And I get to hear people's stories of what they've went 2810 02:13:37,920 --> 02:13:40,800 through and he's like, and then one day that story will come 2811 02:13:40,800 --> 02:13:43,560 back to impact me. And and that blows me away 2812 02:13:43,560 --> 02:13:48,360 because as pastors, we take 15 to 20 minutes and we tell 2813 02:13:48,360 --> 02:13:52,960 stories and people are done. So like, what, what is podcast 2814 02:13:52,960 --> 02:13:56,040 getting that that preaching is not or, or what is regular 2815 02:13:56,040 --> 02:14:00,000 conversation that why do people enjoy podcasts so much? 2816 02:14:00,000 --> 02:14:03,040 And and I think it's because they don't have to respond, 2817 02:14:03,840 --> 02:14:06,240 right? Because one of our issues as 2818 02:14:06,240 --> 02:14:10,120 humans is if you're telling me a story, often times instead of 2819 02:14:10,120 --> 02:14:13,240 just listening to that story, I'm waiting to tell you my 2820 02:14:13,240 --> 02:14:15,480 story. Whereas a podcast, you don't 2821 02:14:15,480 --> 02:14:17,160 ever get to tell them your story. 2822 02:14:17,360 --> 02:14:20,800 So you get to fully invest yourself into their story 2823 02:14:20,960 --> 02:14:22,600 because you don't have to respond. 2824 02:14:22,600 --> 02:14:26,040 And I think if that's a powerful key to a podcast, something I 2825 02:14:26,040 --> 02:14:29,200 heard the other day and I, and I, and I've been really trying 2826 02:14:29,200 --> 02:14:31,280 to do this and I, I want your opinion. 2827 02:14:31,280 --> 02:14:34,280 Am I doing it? It said that if I were to say to 2828 02:14:34,280 --> 02:14:38,360 you, hey, my kid is or you were to say to me, my kids join the 2829 02:14:38,360 --> 02:14:42,200 band because he's in the 6th grade or whatever, most people 2830 02:14:42,200 --> 02:14:44,440 will respond. I remember when my kid joined 2831 02:14:44,440 --> 02:14:47,040 the band. But what if your response was, 2832 02:14:47,600 --> 02:14:50,600 were they nervous? How are you as a parent handling 2833 02:14:50,600 --> 02:14:53,240 the noise? And you asked him 5 or 6 2834 02:14:53,240 --> 02:14:55,240 questions about what they just said. 2835 02:14:55,480 --> 02:14:57,760 And then eventually you can say, hey, let me tell you about my 2836 02:14:57,760 --> 02:14:59,360 kid when he was enjoying the 6th grade. 2837 02:14:59,720 --> 02:15:01,920 And imagine how much different our conversations would flow. 2838 02:15:02,400 --> 02:15:04,720 And I think that's what a podcast does, because you don't 2839 02:15:04,720 --> 02:15:07,560 have a chance to interrupt their story. 2840 02:15:08,920 --> 02:15:11,520 And so I, I think that that's one of the things powerful about 2841 02:15:11,520 --> 02:15:13,400 what y'all are doing. Yeah, well, and that's what we 2842 02:15:13,400 --> 02:15:15,000 want to. That's what we're learning how 2843 02:15:15,000 --> 02:15:17,360 to do too, because we want to be better listeners. 2844 02:15:17,360 --> 02:15:20,440 I don't, I don't, you know, I'll interject a story or maybe I'll 2845 02:15:20,440 --> 02:15:23,520 hysterically cry like I did earlier while telling a story. 2846 02:15:23,840 --> 02:15:25,480 But like, it's not really about me. 2847 02:15:26,160 --> 02:15:29,000 It's about the other person. But it's a conversation and 2848 02:15:29,000 --> 02:15:30,760 that's what's cool. And those are the kind of 2849 02:15:30,760 --> 02:15:33,240 podcasts that we enjoy too is just like, Oh my gosh, cool. 2850 02:15:33,240 --> 02:15:36,440 That's so fun to learn about that person or learn about that 2851 02:15:36,440 --> 02:15:38,280 field. You know, with Joe Rogan always 2852 02:15:38,280 --> 02:15:42,960 having crazy people on there that like, you know, some crazy 2853 02:15:42,960 --> 02:15:45,600 chemical engineer that worked on like a single cell Organism for 2854 02:15:45,640 --> 02:15:47,480 three, 300 years and he's still alive. 2855 02:15:47,520 --> 02:15:49,040 Like I don't know anything about that. 2856 02:15:49,160 --> 02:15:50,000 Cool. All right. 2857 02:15:50,360 --> 02:15:52,040 And so that's what's just really fun. 2858 02:15:52,560 --> 02:15:55,880 And so that's what's cool too about this is that the audience 2859 02:15:55,880 --> 02:15:57,680 is local and the people are local. 2860 02:15:57,840 --> 02:16:00,760 And so if anyone wants to come and talk about their story, so 2861 02:16:00,760 --> 02:16:02,480 we would absolutely love to do that with you. 2862 02:16:03,800 --> 02:16:05,040 Right? Yeah. 2863 02:16:05,040 --> 02:16:07,800 Brian's like heck yes, yeah. You just tell us one. 2864 02:16:07,800 --> 02:16:10,840 We'll get another date. We'll call this one Part 1. 2865 02:16:10,840 --> 02:16:12,920 OK. And then we'll have Part 2. 2866 02:16:12,920 --> 02:16:14,440 And then we'll have Lou Part 2 it. 2867 02:16:16,440 --> 02:16:20,400 Even rhymes Lou. Yeah, Part 2. 2868 02:16:20,960 --> 02:16:24,920 So where can people find smash meals? 2869 02:16:24,920 --> 02:16:30,960 So give me website, social media handles and then also church. 2870 02:16:31,560 --> 02:16:35,480 OK so for smashmailssmashmails.com I'll 2871 02:16:35,480 --> 02:16:37,080 practice that all the time. smashmeals.com. 2872 02:16:39,040 --> 02:16:42,879 So that's a place they go. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, all 2873 02:16:42,879 --> 02:16:48,400 smash mails, Reddit subreddit, sub stack, all the things smash 2874 02:16:48,400 --> 02:16:50,320 mails. I even have a Twitter account 2875 02:16:50,480 --> 02:16:51,520 who knew? And a YouTube. 2876 02:16:51,840 --> 02:16:55,480 My YouTube actually gets more views than any others combined. 2877 02:16:56,200 --> 02:16:59,959 I get every time I do something on YouTube like thousands and 2878 02:16:59,959 --> 02:17:01,600 thousands. I mean I have one it's like a 2879 02:17:01,600 --> 02:17:03,680 couple million. I'm like, I didn't even know 2880 02:17:03,680 --> 02:17:05,520 people watch YouTube. But anyway, smash mills on there 2881 02:17:05,520 --> 02:17:08,360 too. That's the place you can go to 2882 02:17:08,360 --> 02:17:10,080 order. You can go learn about the 2883 02:17:10,080 --> 02:17:13,920 smashmills.com, a lot of information locally. 2884 02:17:15,040 --> 02:17:17,719 We have in Kingsport at Meadowview where it's where our 2885 02:17:17,719 --> 02:17:22,520 local located, the Great Body Company is in Kingsport. 2886 02:17:22,520 --> 02:17:25,200 We sell food out of the refrigerator and you can get 2887 02:17:25,200 --> 02:17:27,959 that build power grind on Fort Henry. 2888 02:17:27,959 --> 02:17:32,000 You can pick up there Clark Chiropractic. 2889 02:17:32,000 --> 02:17:35,559 They've been our first ever supporters, Clark Chiropractic 2890 02:17:35,559 --> 02:17:37,160 and they so they been with us for eight years. 2891 02:17:37,440 --> 02:17:39,600 And so you can pick up there. You can order food and pick up 2892 02:17:39,600 --> 02:17:43,840 there on Sundays. Misfits Fitness and then we have 2893 02:17:44,680 --> 02:17:48,360 Natural Foods Market, which I'm excited about because we got not 2894 02:17:48,360 --> 02:17:50,440 only you can pick up food pre-order, but you can go in 2895 02:17:50,440 --> 02:17:51,639 their grocery store and pick up food there. 2896 02:17:52,200 --> 02:17:56,719 They sell, which is cool. Then we have, I know I'm going 2897 02:17:56,719 --> 02:17:58,160 to forget something, Olson Martial Arts. 2898 02:17:58,160 --> 02:18:01,160 You can go outside on Mondays. You can meet in the parking lot 2899 02:18:01,160 --> 02:18:05,840 and we have Greenville CrossFit, Arcane, Elizabethan Ridge Runner 2900 02:18:07,360 --> 02:18:11,160 CrossFit. You can pick up there in Bulls 2901 02:18:11,160 --> 02:18:13,160 Gap. There's a place called Center of 2902 02:18:13,160 --> 02:18:16,200 Strength, really cool lady owned gym. 2903 02:18:16,280 --> 02:18:18,080 It's really cool. They're in like heavy lifting 2904 02:18:18,080 --> 02:18:21,080 and a really neat place that you can pick up. 2905 02:18:21,360 --> 02:18:26,120 We ship all over the country. We FedEx food out, so there's a 2906 02:18:26,120 --> 02:18:30,320 ton of places that you can, you can find smash meals. 2907 02:18:30,520 --> 02:18:34,360 Most people pre-order, but we do have a lot of people that just 2908 02:18:34,520 --> 02:18:37,040 will go to random jails where they sell our food and they just 2909 02:18:37,280 --> 02:18:39,920 pick it up as they go. So those are some great 2910 02:18:39,920 --> 02:18:41,520 opportunities for smashmeals.com. 2911 02:18:41,799 --> 02:18:45,040 But remember this, it changes every single week. 2912 02:18:46,240 --> 02:18:49,320 All of our sides stay the exact same, but our main breakfast and 2913 02:18:49,320 --> 02:18:52,400 entrees and, and a lot of times our desserts change every single 2914 02:18:52,400 --> 02:18:55,040 week. So for our churches, we're on 2915 02:18:55,040 --> 02:18:57,400 Facebook with Bluff City and we reunion. 2916 02:18:57,400 --> 02:18:59,440 All my sermons are on there every single Sunday. 2917 02:18:59,440 --> 02:19:01,200 So you can go back and watch any star when you want. 2918 02:19:02,240 --> 02:19:06,240 And Bluff City starts at 11 and we reunion starts at 9. 2919 02:19:06,520 --> 02:19:11,480 They're small churches. Bluff City is, you know, 40 to 2920 02:19:11,480 --> 02:19:15,200 60 on Sunday and we reunion is going to be 15 to 25. 2921 02:19:16,000 --> 02:19:18,280 Really cool little churches. We have a lot going on. 2922 02:19:18,520 --> 02:19:20,360 One of the neat things that we've been doing recently is 2923 02:19:20,440 --> 02:19:24,760 every we have a free meal every every Thursday night at 6:00 and 2924 02:19:24,760 --> 02:19:27,760 anybody can come get a free meal and sit and eat. 2925 02:19:27,760 --> 02:19:31,719 It goes from 6:00 to 7:30. That has been really cool just 2926 02:19:31,719 --> 02:19:35,120 to see people coming to eat. Last week I did a Taco bar for 2927 02:19:35,120 --> 02:19:39,320 people and I thought I cooked enough and we ran out of 2928 02:19:39,320 --> 02:19:40,719 everything but rice. For some reason. 2929 02:19:40,719 --> 02:19:42,559 I don't know what I was thinking when I was making the rice 2930 02:19:42,559 --> 02:19:45,680 because normally I make rice and it's 30 lbs at a time and 2931 02:19:45,680 --> 02:19:48,960 instead of thinking I'm cooking for 30 people, I made 30 lbs of 2932 02:19:48,960 --> 02:19:51,040 rice. So we have plenty of rice, but 2933 02:19:51,160 --> 02:19:51,800 a. Lot of rice. 2934 02:19:52,320 --> 02:19:54,640 Yeah, yeah, yeah. But those things you found out 2935 02:19:54,640 --> 02:19:58,720 about us, our church and you can see see find me on TikTok, Lou 2936 02:19:58,720 --> 02:20:01,120 Kaiser. I love doing TikTok. 2937 02:20:01,440 --> 02:20:04,800 I don't know why I like it, but I crack up every time I make 2938 02:20:04,800 --> 02:20:06,480 one. I was doing this one last year 2939 02:20:06,480 --> 02:20:08,960 and it got it got a lot of views, like a couple 100,000 I 2940 02:20:08,960 --> 02:20:13,880 think, But it was this guy doing I'll fly away and he was like a 2941 02:20:13,880 --> 02:20:17,320 DJ doing I'll fly away. But it was with like a like a 2942 02:20:17,320 --> 02:20:20,440 rap song kind of like. And so I was in there just 2943 02:20:20,440 --> 02:20:25,160 giving a little jam, you know, like Tik Tok's like that avenue. 2944 02:20:25,160 --> 02:20:26,520 I don't really care what people see. 2945 02:20:26,520 --> 02:20:28,520 You know, I'm just going to do whatever, whatever I'm thinking, 2946 02:20:28,760 --> 02:20:30,760 whether if I'm video somebody. My kids, I'm going to post 2947 02:20:30,760 --> 02:20:32,680 those. But one of the things I love 2948 02:20:32,680 --> 02:20:36,320 about social media is when I look back at my childhood, we 2949 02:20:36,320 --> 02:20:40,120 got like 2 pictures, right? And my parents were amazing 2950 02:20:40,120 --> 02:20:41,960 parents. They literally just didn't have 2951 02:20:41,960 --> 02:20:44,800 time to take pictures. And so those cool pictures, I 2952 02:20:44,800 --> 02:20:47,880 cherish when I see those, but that's all I have. 2953 02:20:48,240 --> 02:20:50,400 So we have my kids come around, we have social media. 2954 02:20:50,560 --> 02:20:55,000 So I post about them on TikTok, on Facebook, Instagram all the 2955 02:20:55,000 --> 02:20:58,200 time. And then I can't wait see what 2956 02:20:58,200 --> 02:21:00,120 my memories of the day was to remember that moment. 2957 02:21:00,600 --> 02:21:03,760 And I think as much as social media has destroyed our country 2958 02:21:03,760 --> 02:21:07,440 and our society and our ability to talk to people for our 2959 02:21:07,440 --> 02:21:10,480 memories, it's really been beneficial. 2960 02:21:11,320 --> 02:21:14,640 So many people live through social media and their lives are 2961 02:21:14,640 --> 02:21:16,040 not actually who they are on social media. 2962 02:21:16,040 --> 02:21:17,200 It's who they want to pretend to be. 2963 02:21:17,880 --> 02:21:20,480 And, and, and yes, that has destroyed so many people's 2964 02:21:20,480 --> 02:21:24,400 ability to communicate because they've created a persona that's 2965 02:21:24,400 --> 02:21:26,840 really not them. And we all do it, whether we 2966 02:21:26,840 --> 02:21:30,000 know it, we're doing it or not. But for me, the most powerful 2967 02:21:30,000 --> 02:21:35,760 thing that we have is memories. And I know one day my memory is 2968 02:21:35,760 --> 02:21:40,680 going to fade, but I can look back on Facebook and I can watch 2969 02:21:40,680 --> 02:21:43,640 my kids grow up. I can see my life changing, you 2970 02:21:43,640 --> 02:21:48,120 know, and, and I don't delete stuff, you know, So almost every 2971 02:21:48,120 --> 02:21:51,200 day there will be something that comes up about my ex-wife, 2972 02:21:51,640 --> 02:21:53,640 right? And as a memory, I mean, it's, 2973 02:21:53,920 --> 02:21:58,040 it's not like I just all of a sudden forgot, you know, our, 2974 02:21:58,040 --> 02:22:01,280 our, there'll be something like my, my car rash, a car wreck 2975 02:22:01,280 --> 02:22:04,440 will come up or my mother's wreck or something bad that will 2976 02:22:04,440 --> 02:22:06,400 happen that I posted about her, I showed a picture of. 2977 02:22:06,880 --> 02:22:10,120 And that's part of who I am. And we, we can never deny who we 2978 02:22:10,120 --> 02:22:12,760 are just because we're somebody different, right? 2979 02:22:12,760 --> 02:22:14,920 That's, that's what got us to where we are. 2980 02:22:15,200 --> 02:22:19,240 I tell my kids all the time I did the best I could with the 2981 02:22:19,240 --> 02:22:22,200 information I was provided, with what I understood about life at 2982 02:22:22,200 --> 02:22:24,800 that moment. Just because it wasn't the best 2983 02:22:24,800 --> 02:22:27,920 decision then doesn't as we look back, doesn't mean I didn't 2984 02:22:27,920 --> 02:22:30,040 think it was the best decision at that moment, right? 2985 02:22:30,040 --> 02:22:33,200 Because I, I have, I knew what I had, but I enjoyed looking back 2986 02:22:33,200 --> 02:22:36,680 on that because it helps me to see who I am, you know, and, and 2987 02:22:36,680 --> 02:22:40,320 as I continue to grow, you know, when I create new relationships, 2988 02:22:40,320 --> 02:22:42,760 one day my kids will have kids or, you know, the lady I'm 2989 02:22:42,760 --> 02:22:44,280 dating. Hopefully we get married one day 2990 02:22:44,280 --> 02:22:47,480 and, and then we'll look back on memories that we created, you 2991 02:22:47,480 --> 02:22:48,960 know, and I'll be proud of those. 2992 02:22:49,000 --> 02:22:51,160 And, and, you know, of course one day there'll be a memory 2993 02:22:51,160 --> 02:22:54,480 that will pop up of, of somebody I dated and, and, and somebody 2994 02:22:54,480 --> 02:22:56,720 I'm married to and maybe my ex-wife and they'll all be on 2995 02:22:56,720 --> 02:22:58,080 the same day. But I look back and I'm like, 2996 02:22:58,360 --> 02:23:01,600 thank you God for letting me come through those moments. 2997 02:23:02,480 --> 02:23:05,160 And I think that that's a, I think it's something that's 2998 02:23:05,160 --> 02:23:08,480 important for all of us. We can never forget where we 2999 02:23:08,480 --> 02:23:11,120 came from. And that was yesterday or 10 3000 02:23:11,120 --> 02:23:14,920 years ago or 40 years ago. That's where we came from, you 3001 02:23:14,920 --> 02:23:19,200 know, And I hope that you you'd sit here today, you take what 3002 02:23:19,200 --> 02:23:22,480 you learned about that Lady who took you in her house, you know, 3003 02:23:22,520 --> 02:23:26,520 and when you're 70, you take somebody in, you know, because 3004 02:23:26,720 --> 02:23:30,000 that's part of who you are. And that's, that's, that's part 3005 02:23:30,000 --> 02:23:33,080 of growing, you know. Yeah, maybe tonight you go home 3006 02:23:33,080 --> 02:23:35,720 and cook some macaroni and put some awful cheese on top of it. 3007 02:23:37,080 --> 02:23:41,040 Just now. And I can get you a Weiner, you 3008 02:23:41,040 --> 02:23:43,880 know, big red hot dog. Yeah. 3009 02:23:45,760 --> 02:23:47,440 Yeah, well, thank you for having me. 3010 02:23:47,560 --> 02:23:51,040 Yeah, thank you, Lou. And let's get Part 2 going. 3011 02:23:51,080 --> 02:23:53,600 Yeah, it's just fun. And then I think, I think by 3012 02:23:53,600 --> 02:23:57,120 then you'll be like, and now we have Lou Kaiser back for Part 2 3013 02:23:57,120 --> 02:24:01,600 of his A Crazy Journey journey. If you look back, you remember I 3014 02:24:01,600 --> 02:24:03,280 cried. I don't know if anything else 3015 02:24:03,280 --> 02:24:04,960 happened. Yeah, I blacked out. 3016 02:24:05,000 --> 02:24:07,320 Yeah, get your popcorn ready, folks. 3017 02:24:07,320 --> 02:24:10,120 I think, I think the intros, you know, I think, I think what 3018 02:24:10,120 --> 02:24:13,440 Brian was trying to say is, is your intro could be today. 3019 02:24:13,480 --> 02:24:15,960 I'm Leah and we're going to talk to Lou Kaiser. 3020 02:24:16,320 --> 02:24:19,360 I have no idea what he's going to talk about, but here we go. 3021 02:24:19,520 --> 02:24:21,080 Yeah. Here it goes. 3022 02:24:21,480 --> 02:24:22,400 Dive right in. Yeah. 3023 02:24:22,400 --> 02:24:24,400 And I also might randomly cry. Yeah, we'll just. 3024 02:24:24,400 --> 02:24:25,480 We'll just. Where's Beth? 3025 02:24:25,880 --> 02:24:28,200 Yeah, Beth can just be. Do you remember when Tom Green 3026 02:24:28,200 --> 02:24:30,600 started? Did you ever watch Tom Green? 3027 02:24:30,600 --> 02:24:31,720 Yeah. I mean, I remember who he was. 3028 02:24:31,880 --> 02:24:34,000 Yeah, Yeah. He had Glen Helm plank in the 3029 02:24:34,000 --> 02:24:36,600 background and that was just like, he would just have a cup 3030 02:24:36,600 --> 02:24:37,840 of coffee and he would just be sitting there. 3031 02:24:37,840 --> 02:24:39,400 We'd just laugh. He just wouldn't participate. 3032 02:24:39,400 --> 02:24:42,000 He would just sit there and, like, laugh in the background. 3033 02:24:42,000 --> 02:24:43,600 Yeah. So originally I told Brian I was 3034 02:24:43,600 --> 02:24:45,320 like, that's you should just do that. 3035 02:24:45,560 --> 02:24:47,960 You don't like doing anything. You can just hang out in the 3036 02:24:47,960 --> 02:24:51,000 back and just like laugh and, you know, drink some coffee or. 3037 02:24:51,000 --> 02:24:53,000 Something I love that, but absolutely. 3038 02:24:53,120 --> 02:24:54,720 It'd be hilarious. That'll be Beth, and she'll be 3039 02:24:54,720 --> 02:24:55,760 like Leah. You need some. 3040 02:24:56,040 --> 02:24:58,160 Yeah, I got you. I got you, girl. 3041 02:24:58,240 --> 02:25:02,240 I got you girl. Hey, now, look, in July, Beth 3042 02:25:02,280 --> 02:25:04,960 has this amazing party every July. 3043 02:25:05,240 --> 02:25:07,800 And so it's the weekend after the 4th. 3044 02:25:07,800 --> 02:25:09,440 OK, Y'all need to put that on your calendar. 3045 02:25:09,920 --> 02:25:11,720 It's a Friday, Saturday and Sunday at her house. 3046 02:25:11,720 --> 02:25:13,920 Like last year. There's like 150 people there. 3047 02:25:13,960 --> 02:25:16,520 Wow. And we float the river and I 3048 02:25:16,520 --> 02:25:19,800 cook for everybody and there's a band and, like, tents and chairs 3049 02:25:19,800 --> 02:25:21,560 set up because she lives on the river. 3050 02:25:21,600 --> 02:25:23,040 Yeah. And I can't wait for this year. 3051 02:25:23,160 --> 02:25:24,560 Nice. So you need to put it right now 3052 02:25:24,560 --> 02:25:27,160 on your calendar the weekend after the 4th. 3053 02:25:27,200 --> 02:25:29,320 OK OK. People from all over the country 3054 02:25:29,320 --> 02:25:30,960 fly in for this event. Really. 3055 02:25:30,960 --> 02:25:34,160 And it's phenomenal. She gets T-shirts, hats, like it 3056 02:25:34,160 --> 02:25:37,320 is the coolest thing, and then we just have a ball. 3057 02:25:37,320 --> 02:25:42,400 So imagine 100 floats tied together floating down the 3058 02:25:42,400 --> 02:25:43,720 river. That's what we do. 3059 02:25:44,120 --> 02:25:45,520 That's amazing. Yeah, Yeah. 3060 02:25:45,920 --> 02:25:47,320 Good times, it's good times, all right. 3061 02:25:48,440 --> 02:25:50,160 All right, cool. Thank you. 3062 02:25:50,280 --> 02:25:51,160 Thanks, Lou. All right. 3063 02:25:51,280 --> 02:26:10,560 Appreciate you. This episode is powered by 3064 02:26:10,560 --> 02:26:14,200 Outpost Roasters small batch high quality coffee with Seoul. 3065 02:26:14,640 --> 02:26:18,440 Outpost Roasters in Johnson City specializes in freshly roasted, 3066 02:26:18,440 --> 02:26:21,880 small batch, ethically sourced, fair trade local coffee. 3067 02:26:22,080 --> 02:26:24,120 That's what sets them apart from the big guys. 3068 02:26:24,360 --> 02:26:27,360 They work directly with small farms and co-ops to ensure 3069 02:26:27,360 --> 02:26:31,600 responsible practices and rich, balanced flavor in every single 3070 02:26:31,600 --> 02:26:33,560 cup. 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