WHO ARE THEY…. Ryan Stephens

[00:00:03] Speaker A: Where are they? [00:00:04] Speaker B: They're probably upstairs. They never answer the door. Oh, wait, it's Monday night. They're on the second floor. [00:00:24] Speaker A: Hey, guys. Welcome back to second floor Sessions. Today we have another guest, a special guest. A very, very long time friend of mine have went around the world. [00:00:36] Speaker B: And mine too. And mine too. Okay. [00:00:40] Speaker A: Just not as long. Not as long, but not as many stories and memories. Anyway, great guy. Matt knows him too, but Ryan Stevens is with us. [00:00:51] Speaker B: Yep, we got Ryan today. Thanks for tuning back in on the second floor. Ryan's super special to me. Awesome customer of mine, but we're going to get into who Ryan is and his story, so let's just get in it. [00:01:07] Speaker A: Yeah. And just to speed. Speed everybody up a little bit here. So just like me and Matt, friendship has kind of went off the rails with lives. So, yeah, we say we're really good friends and have been, but literally hardly ever talk to each other just because of what we do, so. [00:01:26] Speaker B: But we could pick up the any. All three of us could pick up the phone, like, tonight and say, hey, come on, I need this, I need that. And we would be there for each other. [00:01:35] Speaker A: So today we're catching up with everybody else. [00:01:40] Speaker B: Yep. [00:01:41] Speaker A: So, all right, Ryan, start us out. Who is Ryan? What have you done? [00:01:47] Speaker C: There's nothing really special about me, but. And to be honest with you, I really didn't want to come do this tonight. [00:01:55] Speaker A: That makes us feel good. [00:01:58] Speaker B: Well, it was a quick notice, so. [00:02:00] Speaker A: It was. We'd already rode it off. [00:02:01] Speaker B: No preparation here. [00:02:02] Speaker C: Off the bat. Yeah. [00:02:03] Speaker A: No. [00:02:03] Speaker B: No preparation. [00:02:05] Speaker C: When I got off the phone, I couldn't get it off my mind that somebody out there might need to hear this story. And it'll get tough, but we'll get through it if you just bear with me through it. But I just a kid born in Knoxville. We moved down to Philadelphia about first grade. Spent my whole school time in Philadelphia until high school. I believe me and Bo met in Philadelphia when we was playing basketball together. I don't. You didn't go to Philadelphia. [00:02:45] Speaker A: I don't think we met before. So we met before that we were playing. We knew who each other were because we played basketball together. [00:02:50] Speaker C: Yeah. But, yeah, met mad, I believe, in [00:02:52] Speaker B: high school, high school, freshman or sophomore year, something like that. [00:02:56] Speaker C: But had good times in school. Can't say much for it. I didn't really care for it. I don't think much of any of us really did. [00:03:04] Speaker B: No, we had to do it, though. [00:03:05] Speaker A: Nor did we use a ton of it, obviously. Some of it we do. [00:03:09] Speaker B: Well, yeah, yeah, a little bit. But they don't use a whole lot of it. Not a fraction of what we thought we learned, we had to endure. [00:03:17] Speaker C: Yeah, we got through those days. Yeah, we had a lot of good times. [00:03:23] Speaker B: This is a very. I don't. The first time I ever remember seeing Ryan. And I don't remember exactly where we were at, but I know he was riding a skateboard. [00:03:32] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:03:33] Speaker B: And he used to burn some skateboarding up. [00:03:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:03:36] Speaker B: And back in my lighter days, still to this day, I could not get on one right now without breaking something. I would absolutely hit the ground to [00:03:45] Speaker A: this day, definitely probably breaking something. Well, well, well. [00:03:49] Speaker B: Yeah, that. But I mean, as far as, like, I've tried skateboarding, I can't do it, you know, So I. I thought that was pretty cool. [00:03:56] Speaker C: We did everything. Bicycle skateboards, tried rollerblades once. [00:04:01] Speaker A: We skated a bunch. [00:04:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I could do some rollerblading. [00:04:05] Speaker A: Well, see, we had friends that. Bro being one of them, that roller play. They played hockey and Rollerblade. Had a rollerblade hockey team they played for. So it was hard to believe it was natural for them. But. But yeah, we all skated. We had a big time doing that. [00:04:20] Speaker B: How did you even get to somewhere where you even. I didn't even know that Loudon at that time had anything to do with skating. Like, what did you. [00:04:25] Speaker A: We didn't. We didn't have skate parks back then. [00:04:27] Speaker C: No. [00:04:27] Speaker A: Most of the time we had Ride down to Philadelphia school and skate around. Like, around the school or even high school. [00:04:33] Speaker C: We didn't know where we'd go that far. Okay. Back when you could roam the country and be somewhat safe, I guess. [00:04:40] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah, we used to do that all the time. [00:04:44] Speaker B: Yeah, we. I used to use Ryan. I was like a little cheat code in high school through chemistry class. Had to get a couple answers off of you. Absolutely hated chemistry. Couldn't stand it. But anyways, him and Lucas. Him and Lucas both. Yeah. Best, yo, best. [00:05:04] Speaker A: I'd like to see him. I ain't seen him in a long time. [00:05:06] Speaker C: I work with him now. [00:05:08] Speaker A: Yeah, [00:05:10] Speaker B: he bought a mower from me. Yeah, sure did. [00:05:13] Speaker C: I seen two of them out here. Still ain't got no commission. [00:05:16] Speaker B: Well, I'll get you that commission check. I will. It's in the mail, I think. [00:05:21] Speaker A: I didn't realize he was working off commission. [00:05:26] Speaker C: Only with real good friends. [00:05:28] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, right. That's it. Well, since we kind of got through, you know, a little bit of. Let's. Let's talk about when we. When you graduated school. Where did you go? What was the. [00:05:43] Speaker C: Not long. Right after graduation, I actually moved to Orlando, Florida to go to motorcycle school. MMI in Orlando. Spent two years there and graduated from there. Being certified in Suzuki and Honda motorcycles. [00:06:03] Speaker B: That's cool. [00:06:04] Speaker A: Longest two years of my life. [00:06:05] Speaker C: Yeah, mine too. Trust me. [00:06:09] Speaker A: I went to the orientation with you. [00:06:11] Speaker C: Yeah, we went to. [00:06:12] Speaker A: I went to the orientation with it. It was in like North Carolina or something, wasn't it? [00:06:16] Speaker C: Me and Alan Van went too. Did Alan go with us? [00:06:21] Speaker A: We rode with your mom and dad. [00:06:22] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:23] Speaker A: Alan may have been in there, but I think. [00:06:25] Speaker C: I think Alan went with us too. [00:06:27] Speaker A: Was it in North Carolina? [00:06:28] Speaker C: It was the. Yeah, it was the NASCAR school though. [00:06:31] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's where. [00:06:33] Speaker C: Yeah, we went there. And I don't think it was orientation. I think we were just touring it or something. Yeah, looking at it. [00:06:39] Speaker A: Well, somehow I went. I wasn't planning on going, but I got in that car. I was. I was with him all the time. [00:06:43] Speaker C: Man, you should have went. I enjoyed the school itself. I didn't enjoy the area. Orlando was a horrible place. [00:06:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I didn't like. I don't like Orlando. [00:06:54] Speaker C: Any person like me. But the school was really good. I really liked the theory that they taught you about everything. Like the first six weeks of that school was all book work. Just telling you the theory behind even a four stroke engine, how it works, why it works, and just went through. Down to the scientific level of what causes this engine to work. And it was really interesting stuff and learned a lot, but came up here and didn't really use it at all. I remember that because Petro there wanted to hire me to work the counter, be a counter person at first. And I told him no. [00:07:34] Speaker B: Gosh, that was so short, man. I do remember that now. It wasn't long. [00:07:38] Speaker C: It was literally like two weeks, maybe three weeks. [00:07:41] Speaker A: Because Petro came calling. [00:07:43] Speaker C: Petro called. They'll hire you as a mechanic. Starting out and went that route. Worked there with my brother and learned a whole lot more stuff. Became a ASE master tech. Wound up actually going to an internal competition they do there. And I think I took 10th place in that competition between everybody. So that gave me rights to go to the national competition in 2017. I got to do the national competitions back down in Orlando. [00:08:22] Speaker B: Can't get away. Can't get away. [00:08:23] Speaker C: But we did get to stay at the World Center Marriott down there. Really nice hotel. And that was. That was an experience and enjoyed that. Had a good time. Felt really dumb during that. You got these People watching you do these hands on things and stuff. But the people. [00:08:42] Speaker B: I guess so it's the. Is it the people that are judging or watching you? [00:08:46] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:08:46] Speaker B: So they know it inside and out and. But yeah, okay. Okay. Yeah, I would be. [00:08:50] Speaker C: I don't know that they know it inside and out, but they got the answer out there. Okay, so they know the answer. Okay. And there. There was crazy stations in there that I never even thought about. Like a cyber security station for trailers, like wiring GPS to their semi trailers. [00:09:07] Speaker A: And so you gotta know how to get through that. [00:09:09] Speaker C: Yeah, I didn't. [00:09:11] Speaker B: I promise you. [00:09:12] Speaker C: I failed that one. [00:09:13] Speaker A: Yeah. So out of those 10 or out of when you place 10th, how many technicians are we talking there? And was it like Tennessee? Was it like nationwide? [00:09:25] Speaker C: That's nationwide with all sites. [00:09:28] Speaker B: Gosh, that's crazy. [00:09:30] Speaker C: But. And they also took. [00:09:32] Speaker A: We must have some dumb technicians. [00:09:36] Speaker C: Thanks a lot. [00:09:38] Speaker A: Anyway, so nationwide. So how. How many people do you think was competing in that? [00:09:44] Speaker C: I feel like there was probably 25 or 30 there. And they. The problem was they took like the first eight anyway because a lot of them had already been to the national competition. And. And if you go to the national competition and win a particular station, you score the highest, they automatically take you the next year. [00:10:05] Speaker A: So this is like Petro is trying to be proud of themselves, saying, hey, these are the guys we employ and they've won this competition against other competitors. Yeah, okay, okay, I got it. [00:10:18] Speaker C: And there was prizes too. I don't even remember what all the prizes were, but I didn't win any prizes. But I did get a free trip to Orlando to do that. And. And the crazy part to think about in that is that national competition is all companies nationwide, FedEx, everybody was there. [00:10:38] Speaker A: Okay. And Ryder, whoever's got tax for semis, wow. [00:10:45] Speaker C: And the first day you do a written test, which is like 100 question ASE test. And you have to score high enough in that to even make it to the hands on competition. And I scored high enough in that to make it. I believe they only took a hundred or maybe. Maybe close to 200. I ain't sure how many they took. For the truck side. You could do truck side or you could do trailer side competition. And I picked truck and I scored high enough in that and wound up taking, I think 56 or 57 in the nation. That was my final score. I'm proud of that myself. That's something to speak about. But again, I felt really dumb. [00:11:36] Speaker A: So you think there was like 100 to 200 people in that after the [00:11:40] Speaker C: written test there was only like 100 left. [00:11:43] Speaker A: Okay. [00:11:44] Speaker C: Before that there was all kinds. I don't even know how many. [00:11:47] Speaker A: Okay. [00:11:50] Speaker C: You had to score high enough on the written part to even make it to the second day. [00:11:53] Speaker A: So you're half as good. Well, let's not say that you were. [00:11:57] Speaker C: Once upon a time. I was. [00:11:59] Speaker A: You were better than half of the people that could have tried. In other words, you're close to. [00:12:04] Speaker C: Give or take. [00:12:04] Speaker B: Close to it. Yeah. [00:12:05] Speaker A: That's pretty impressive. [00:12:07] Speaker C: Yeah, I. I'm proud of it. [00:12:08] Speaker B: Yeah, it is. Absolutely. [00:12:10] Speaker A: I have no, no accomplishments like that. [00:12:13] Speaker C: You didn't know that about me, did you? [00:12:15] Speaker A: No, I didn't know those specifics. No, I did not. I did. I did not know that. [00:12:19] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm pretty sure I took. It was either 56 or 57th in the nation. [00:12:23] Speaker B: What was pretty. What's pretty wild is when I remember when he got out, when he got out of there and he started. I guess, I guess that's why I thought about when he started working with us. I was like, man, he's going to go find like a motorcycle job. And then it wasn't wanted to. And then, and then, and then he went to work on big trucks. I was like, dang. As you went from. To. From motorcycles. A little bitty intricate all this to like big, huge, you know. So I thought, well, I guess I mean, whatever. But I mean, it was good money too though, I guess. I guess the money probably would out. Outdo probably the motorcycle mechanic side of it, I mean, at a certain level. [00:13:03] Speaker C: Well, the problem with motorcycles in Tennessee is seasonal, you know, and. And there's not a lot here as far as motorcycle shops go. [00:13:11] Speaker A: Everybody went on freaking Harley too, you [00:13:14] Speaker C: know, and I hate working on them things. Yeah. [00:13:16] Speaker A: If you're not one of those mechanics you don't really have. There's not a lot of places like that. Well, at least not right here that I know of. [00:13:22] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:24] Speaker A: So how long did you. How long were you at Petro Total? [00:13:29] Speaker C: I was going into my ninth year there, I believe. [00:13:34] Speaker A: So I've got to imagine. I know that they're 24 7, so that's working day shift and night shift at some time, right? [00:13:42] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:42] Speaker A: Okay. [00:13:43] Speaker B: The. [00:13:43] Speaker C: The bulk of my days there I was four to midnight and most time I turned into four to four. A lot of late nights. [00:13:52] Speaker A: Yeah. But yeah, I. I've got to imagine. I just can't even begin to imagine that there never was like it was just calm and cool. I've got to imagine at a Truck stop full of truckers and what goes on and the nightlife at truck stops. You bound, you bound to witness something that you can. That is stuck in your head. [00:14:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I could probably tell a few stories, but I shouldn't. [00:14:18] Speaker A: I don't, I don't mean like witnessing the murders here or nothing, you know, I'm talking about just something diabolical. You'd never think that, you know, you'd witness. You don't remember anything that you could speak of. [00:14:36] Speaker C: Nothing great for, for on air. [00:14:38] Speaker A: Okay, well, it's not good. Skip it. [00:14:43] Speaker B: I don't, I don't know what good. I'm not saying anything. What good comes out of a truck stop? I mean, honestly. I mean, I'm sure there are people out there. I don't mean anything by that. But you stop at some truck stops late at night, you see all kinds of stuff. I know, yeah. So there's nothing that's going to be. That I would probably want to talk about. [00:15:04] Speaker A: But you gotta think. I mean, it ain't like he's sitting there staring outside looking. I mean, he's working on stuff. [00:15:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I can tell. One thing I just thought of, I used to have to do Landstar inspections. I was one of the only ones that could inspect Landstar trucks. And one guy, I. I couldn't even remember his name now if I had to. But he drove one of them big house type semis and would always come to me for his inspections. Every time he'd pull up, he'd hand me a plate full of chocolate chip cookies, fresh baked. Out of the truck. [00:15:34] Speaker A: Out of the truck. Oh, okay. Like he baked them in. Like he lived around his wife, lived [00:15:38] Speaker C: in there with him and something good. That's something good. [00:15:42] Speaker A: That is something. Were they good? Yeah. Well, that's what you need to play. Chocolate chip cookies working night. [00:15:49] Speaker B: And some milk. [00:15:50] Speaker A: Yeah, go ahead and grab a big thing of meal. Well, that's. That is one thing though. In the automotive industry, people bring like baked goods. [00:16:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:01] Speaker A: Stuff to you all the time, you know. So I had. [00:16:04] Speaker B: I'd done some work for a customer on a lawnmower. Well, he's just. He got some bad gas, whatever the case was, and had water in his gas tank. I drained it out, charged him an hour labor. He come back the next morning with these big. The best. I've never ate anything like it. It was like a deep fried doughnut, like crispy. I don't know how you get it crispy. Like on the outside. Super, super crispy and soft in the middle. With strawberries and whipped cream and all kinds of stuff in it. It was amazing. [00:16:34] Speaker A: And this dude had made this? [00:16:36] Speaker B: No, he bought it somewhere. He told me his wife made it when he first come and then we brought it back when he come back to me to pick his mower back up. He did tell me that. That he bought it somewhere. And I don't know where he bought it at. They said down at Tasty Kings. So the one down here in. No, this one's in Vor now. One. I've got one here in Vor. Oh, yeah, down the road. So. [00:16:55] Speaker A: Well, you'll be over every time the doors are open. [00:16:59] Speaker C: What happened? [00:17:00] Speaker B: This is. What's funny is he went back home, done the same thing again, the same exact fuel. He's 80 years old, but he just forgot. And he remembered after it quit running again. So he drained the gas on it the second time and he brought it back to me to make sure he got all the water out of it, which I think he kind of did. [00:17:17] Speaker A: What did he do, leave the cap off? [00:17:18] Speaker B: No, undoubtedly he got a batch of bad gas somewhere had water in it. And I told him, I said, make sure because this thing was full of water. And he done the same thing again, went straight back home, filled it up out of the same jug. I felt bad for him. He was 80 years old, you know, man. And so I didn't charge him anything. He's like, you're going to get one in the morning. I was like, okay. So he probably bring me one tomorrow. [00:17:40] Speaker A: Yeah, okay. Working for dessert. [00:17:43] Speaker B: Yeah, working for sweets. [00:17:45] Speaker A: So nine years in the big truck world. [00:17:49] Speaker C: More than that. When I left there, I went to xbo. [00:17:52] Speaker A: Oh, that's right. [00:17:53] Speaker C: Logistics for almost. That was almost a year before the city job came up. Nice government job with great benefits that I just couldn't pass up. So. [00:18:04] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:18:05] Speaker C: That's where I currently work now. [00:18:06] Speaker A: I bet you were happy when you got to quit driving a nostril. [00:18:10] Speaker C: Yeah, it was 52 miles one way. I thought I was bad. [00:18:17] Speaker B: I had 40. I was like 42, 43 a day is what I would push. [00:18:22] Speaker A: Not a day, one way. [00:18:24] Speaker B: One way. [00:18:24] Speaker C: I'm sorry. [00:18:24] Speaker B: Yes, I'm sorry. Yeah, one way. And they use that one way or a day? That's one way. [00:18:29] Speaker A: That's what I thought. [00:18:29] Speaker C: Yes. [00:18:30] Speaker B: Over 100 miles. [00:18:31] Speaker A: Wow. [00:18:31] Speaker C: Yeah, about 104, I think it was. And I. I was not overnights. So I was driving to work at. I had to be there at 9, so I was driving to work at 8 o' clock at Night. And by. By the time that year was up, I got to where I was falling asleep, going to work at night. So it got a little hairy sometimes. [00:18:52] Speaker B: That would be awful, man. [00:18:54] Speaker A: I can't. I can't do that. [00:18:55] Speaker C: There was many days driving home, windows wide open, you know, 20 degrees outside, just smacking myself. [00:19:04] Speaker B: That's rough, boy. [00:19:05] Speaker C: And that's rough. [00:19:06] Speaker A: We've had an episode on here about that. We talked about that. We both fell asleep driving before. I have multiple. [00:19:13] Speaker C: I can do it in broad daylight. Yeah. [00:19:15] Speaker A: No, I can, too. One time. [00:19:17] Speaker B: I think that's just an age thing. [00:19:18] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Getting too old for our own good. [00:19:20] Speaker A: Yeah, I get. I get fired up, ready to go to the beach, man, on the way, and I dread driving back. I won't make it to Chattanooga, you know, as far as I can get the fresh. Well, I'm saying, like, getting there, you know, I'm just fired up. I'm ready to go. And, man, I make it. I make it like two counties away. And I'm like, you're gonna have to drive for a little while. Let me get some sleep. [00:19:43] Speaker C: See, it always feels like to me, the return trip home was always quick, faster. [00:19:48] Speaker B: Yes, for me, it does. [00:19:50] Speaker C: It just seems that way. I know it ain't, but. Yeah, it does me. Seems like an easier trip. [00:19:55] Speaker B: It always does for me, too. [00:19:56] Speaker C: And maybe it's because I'm tired of the beach by the time I get. [00:19:59] Speaker B: Yeah, I gotta get back home. [00:20:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:01] Speaker A: There's some people live there, but I can't do it. Yeah, I want to get back home. Well, so we've made it through. [00:20:12] Speaker B: Petro, when'd you get married? [00:20:16] Speaker C: You have to ask that question, you [00:20:18] Speaker B: better answer it right. [00:20:19] Speaker A: That's all I can say. [00:20:21] Speaker C: Got married about six or seven years ago. Amber. Okay, perfect. And we had two children. And that's the. That's the tough part I want to speak about. If y' all are ready, I can [00:20:37] Speaker A: tell you right now, I ain't ready. [00:20:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm ready. But we'll. We'll get through it. [00:20:42] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:42] Speaker A: Are you ready? Here we go. Stay tuned. Here, right here. This is what we need to pay attention to. Here we go. [00:20:50] Speaker C: We had two children. Eli, Elijah and Everly. And thank the good Lord we still have Everly at this time. But my son passed away when he was 4. And I wanted to go through. Go through this section here in the Bible. [00:21:14] Speaker A: And this is important, though. And how long ago was that? [00:21:17] Speaker C: That was 2016. That was November 20, 2016. [00:21:23] Speaker A: Years ago. Well, will be. [00:21:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:27] Speaker A: Will be. [00:21:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:28] Speaker A: Okay. So the. So listeners know 10 years ago that happened. Here we go. [00:21:33] Speaker C: I want to read to you this section. [00:21:35] Speaker B: It's. [00:21:37] Speaker C: It's probably the hardest part of the Bible for me, but also has my favorite verse in it that we'll get to. But we'll start 2nd Samuel, chapter 12, verse 13. And it says, and David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the Lord also hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. The child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. And Nathan departed unto his house, and the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David. And it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth. Now, as I read that section there, I think back to it, and I think we can all say we have been that man. We're the center. I was the sinner, and I was that man. But we see, we know this. If you know the story. David had a child with Bathsheba and he wound up killing Uriah, His. Her. Her husband because of it. Just a totally bad situation, full of sin. Nothing like that. But. But nothing to discount that I was a sinner. And this day come upon us. It was November 20, 2016, as I said. And I can remember it like it was yesterday. And, you know, it was a Sunday. I remember it being Sunday. And we didn't go to church back then. I didn't even know the Lord back then. But we went to the grocery store. And I remember that morning we ate pancakes. These are the things I can remember. And I remember on the ride home, just looking back at him and looking in his eyes. I could remember that. But the thing that pains me is I can't remember the last words and [00:24:24] Speaker B: hurts. [00:24:25] Speaker C: I ain't gonna lie like it don't, but. It. It happened. And. And if you read further in the beginning of this story, there's kind of a warning shot. And I think back to my life, even that. That there was a warning shot for us. He had seizures before. [00:24:57] Speaker A: Well, y' all were trying to battle that. [00:24:59] Speaker C: Yeah, we. We had him at doctors and checking, and nobody found nothing, of course, but there was no rhyme or reason to it. The doctors told us it was febrile, that he was sick with something, and his fever spiked real fast and caused a seizure. Said it's Real common in boys. And that was a way for us to dismiss it, I guess you would say. [00:25:24] Speaker A: Well, it's uncommon for people to have seizures. I mean, it was. It is uncommon for what happened to Eli. [00:25:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:25:34] Speaker A: I mean, for that to happen. [00:25:35] Speaker C: That's. That's all it was. We. We laid him down in bed for a nap when we got back from the store, and he had a seizure and got over on his face and couldn't breathe. Not. Not even 15ft from him. And nothing. Nothing I could have done, but I was the one that went in and found him. And I'm thankful that I didn't freeze. By no means. I tried CPR until the paramedics got there, and. And when they got there, they continued on him, and I wrote an ambulance. And that's the other part I want to get to. In that verse, it says, david, therefore besought God for the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth. And I think back to that night, and that was the first time I called out for the Lord since I was a kid. I. I failed is what I've done. But I called out to him in the ambulance, but it had already been decided at that point. And I believe if we read more of this story here, it's amazing to me how this goes with it. Verse 17 says, and the elders of his house arose and went to him to raise him up from the earth, but he would not, neither did eat bread with them. That's talking about David. And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice. How will he then vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead? And I look back on that night, and I feel that the paramedics probably knew when they come in. Looking back on it now, there were signs, and I believe they knew, but they didn't want to tell us there. But when we got to the hospital, they kept working on him, and. And finally the doctor in the room leaned down over my head and told me, there's nothing else we can do. And whoo. I can't. I can't even begin to describe to you how that feels. And I know, and I hope nobody else out there goes through it, but I know that people do, but they will. That's why I'm here. I want to share this. And it says but when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said unto his servants, is the child dead? And they said, he is dead. And it says in verse 20, it says, then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his apparel and came into the house of the Lord and worshipped. Then he came to his own house and when he required, they set bread before him and they did eat. So as we see that, I think back to my salvation day, the best day since we spent, since he passed. We spent two of the longest years of my life just searching. You know, we didn't know he was searching at the time, but there was nothing you could grab a hold of that would help it at all. You know, I was a drinker then and I didn't get into any drugs. But I look back on it now and we were blessed to still have Everleigh because I don't know where we'd have been at that point if she would have moved on. And I can't imagine the pain of people that lose them all. And I know it happens, but I think back to my salvation. I'm lucky that the church that I'm at, East Hills there in Loudoun, the people were in the right spot at the right time. The preaching was in the right spot at the right time. It was actually my brother and sister in law that took Everly to Bible school. And we didn't go. Amber, Amber and I didn't go. But we went for commencement night to watch, watch Everly, watch her. And it wasn't for Everly, it was for me and Amber. And I just remember I'd always thought way back in my life that, you know, what if God is not real? What's this life for if he was not real? I never, never knew the truth until that night that he's real. And he came calling upon my heart that night. And I can't even tell you what the preaching was about, but I remember my heart just thumping out of my chest. And I tell, every time I tell the story of my salvation that I feel like my heart was going to jump out of my body and run up to that altar without me if I didn't go. And thankfully I went and I stepped out and Amber stepped out. And I don't remember seeing nothing at that point but that altar. I just seen tunnel vision. And that's where I had to go. As soon as I got down there, as soon as I got there. Relief, peace, the most relief you've ever felt in Your life, if you've never experienced salvation, you've got to seek it. You've got to seek it. But. And I can't say all the pain is gone. I can't, honestly. I'm sure. But absolutely, he helps me through it now. He's always there for me. I anointed myself, changed my apparel, and came into the house of the Lord. I'm a new creature in Christ Jesus, and I can tell you, he changes you that. It was just probably two weeks after that that the preaching actually got to the drinking. And that was for me as well. And I decided to go down there and lay it down. I ain't touched it since. I ain't needed to. Does my flesh still want a little? Sure, yeah, I'm sure. But the Lord can take that from you. The Lord. I used to cuss like a sailor. I'm sure y' all remember. [00:33:08] Speaker B: We all did. [00:33:09] Speaker A: Oh, no, I don't. I don't remember. [00:33:11] Speaker C: He was always a good, good little boy. But the Lord can fix it all. He can be that alcohol for you, that drug for you. He. He can be it all. But you gotta seek him. You gotta ask for it. It's a free gift. Doesn't cost you a dime. But you gotta seek it. You gotta ask. [00:33:34] Speaker B: It's. It's. It's. [00:33:35] Speaker C: It's super, super, super special. [00:33:38] Speaker B: Salvation is. It's. It's something if you have. Like he said, if. It's. Oh, it's. It's. And people. People think. People sometimes think that. That we're crazy or we're this or we're that, which we might be a little bit crazy, but, man, I can remember. I'll say this, and, you know, I ain't gonna dive deep into it, because tonight's. You're not. But I remember talking about, you know, people's like, wow, you can't talk to the. You can't talk to Jesus. You can't talk. Yeah, you can. [00:34:07] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:34:08] Speaker B: I remember just when we were in. When we were in treatment, this is one of my. My most. You know, we were going through, you know, our cancer treatment, and they were doing his resection surgery, and the doctor said, you know, we're gonna have to go in there and take it out. I'm like, okay. You know, and in my flesh, I wanted that miracle story. I wanted that miracle story. I wanted it. When they went in there to go get it, it wasn't there, you know, And I was sitting up in the breezeway up there, and I'll never forget, and I Was just out there by myself. And they were in there, you know, the next morning was going to be resection surgery. And man, it was like, man, like us just sitting in here talking. Right now, I'm sitting out there on the bench and I'm just praying. [00:34:58] Speaker C: And [00:35:01] Speaker B: I remember him saying, just as plain as day, you know, this is what I'm asking for as a human. [00:35:08] Speaker A: And. [00:35:09] Speaker B: And it was like a slap in the face when he told me. He. He said, if I do this, if I. If I do this, you're just gonna. That's what I prayed for. That's it. [00:35:20] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:35:20] Speaker B: So for the next 18 months, you know, because they go in there and the next, you know, for the next 18 months, man, I was heavy in prayer. [00:35:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:35:33] Speaker B: But he did tell me that, that, that and his w. So what I keep saying, it's wild. It's not wild. It's just the way God works. But that my. Your son's not. His life's not in jeopardy is what I. There's just always this revolving door is, you know, this. For me, it felt like it was to bring all of our family, all of, you know, friend. Just everything. Everyone closer to him, because that's realistically what matters, you know? And. And I remember when they went and done the resection surgery, doctor said take four hours. He was almost under the knife for nine hours. He's going on nine hours. [00:36:16] Speaker A: And. [00:36:16] Speaker B: And I knew, talking about a dude over here, it was absolutely. I mean, I was. I was in a bad way because I was already expecting. Because I done accepted that, that, that I didn't accept what he had told me. And I was already in my flesh, you know, the next morning I wake up, I'm in flesh mode again. [00:36:34] Speaker C: We're going to have a miracle today. [00:36:36] Speaker B: And then we've got a four hour surgery that turns into a nine hour surgery. And it went from a. A, you know, a golf ball size. And then the doctor comes out, you know, because I'm up there for four hours, Boom, I'm up there. [00:36:47] Speaker C: Hey, what's going on? [00:36:48] Speaker B: They're still in surgery, you know, six hours, boom, I'm back up there. Y' all gotta let me know something's going wrong. Now the doctor comes out, you know. Yeah, something's happening. Yeah, exactly. [00:36:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:57] Speaker B: And the doctor comes out almost eight or nine hours later, and he's like, it's the size of a softball. A softball. I mean, it went from a golf ball. And I thought, okay, Lord, all right, I will never have to do this again, you know, but anyways. So anyway, we'll get. [00:37:14] Speaker A: We'll. [00:37:15] Speaker B: We'll move on. We'll. We'll pass. We'll wait till later. [00:37:18] Speaker A: We'll wait till. Coop story. That's Coop. [00:37:20] Speaker B: But anyways, I understand so much about when the Lord talks to you and you know. You know, it. You know, it's what it is. You know what I mean? It's something special. It's something special. Absolutely. That was good. [00:37:36] Speaker A: I remember when that happened. You remember when I came over to your house? You probably don't even remember it after Eli passed. [00:37:49] Speaker C: Yeah, I remember seeing you at the funeral home. I remember that. [00:37:55] Speaker A: I came over the next day. Michael was there. I didn't go because it was in the evening. Yeah, it was in the evening. It was night time and all that stuff. You said it was a Sunday. [00:38:07] Speaker B: Yep. [00:38:09] Speaker A: So then it would have been Monday after work, I guess I came home and I told Megan, I said, I'm gonna go over Ryan's. I'm like, I don't know what to expect, you know, but I'm gonna go over there. And I remember you coming out and talking to me about it. [00:38:25] Speaker B: Just. [00:38:26] Speaker A: I couldn't believe that you were the way you were. He was just probably in shock and trying to understand everything, I'm sure. But I remember just thinking, God, he's so strong. [00:38:40] Speaker B: Oh, I want that. To funeral home. I told Alex, I said, I don't even know how I can go in here. I said, I don't even know I did. I don't think. I mean, you find strength through Christ, through something like this. But, I mean, like you said at that time, you wasn't. It wasn't even there, you know, that's [00:38:54] Speaker A: why I think he was just like. [00:38:56] Speaker B: It was such a. [00:38:57] Speaker A: You know, because I feel like that's probably the way I'd be, you know, But. [00:39:01] Speaker C: Oh, man, I think you realize how helpless you are. Yeah, I don't. I don't. I can't. [00:39:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:07] Speaker C: I don't know. [00:39:08] Speaker A: Yeah. You didn't even remember me coming over there, so. Yeah, but I remember. I remember going over there. Yeah, I went over. I did. You. Wasn't important at that time, I don't think. No, I wasn't. But I don't think I talked to Amber. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I didn't, because I think I stayed outside, I think, and probably Brittany was inside with Amber. Michael was there. I talked to Michael first. [00:39:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:33] Speaker A: You know, and he. [00:39:34] Speaker C: And they had already lost Hayden at birth. [00:39:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:38] Speaker C: They'd already been through it. But [00:39:43] Speaker A: I've never done it either way. But I think that's totally different. [00:39:46] Speaker C: Yeah, I do. [00:39:48] Speaker A: And. And I've already talked to Matt about this. You know, my. My youngest spent a lot of days in icu, you know, and it wasn't. I didn't feel that way. [00:40:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:01] Speaker A: Like Megan did, you know? [00:40:03] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:05] Speaker B: So. [00:40:06] Speaker A: But I. I didn't know him. [00:40:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:09] Speaker B: I kind of get what you're saying. When you get in a relationship with, you know, you're. How old was he? [00:40:14] Speaker C: Four. Yeah. [00:40:16] Speaker A: You know. Yeah. [00:40:18] Speaker B: I'm sure not taking away from even a. A. A baby being born that, you know, that doesn't make it. [00:40:28] Speaker A: Yeah, it's all hard. I'm not dealing with. None of that. [00:40:29] Speaker C: Hurts. [00:40:30] Speaker B: Yeah, it hurts. Absolutely hurts, too. [00:40:32] Speaker A: But it's just you're. You're comparing two things that are so much alike yet to me, so far apart, though. [00:40:42] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:42] Speaker B: I can understand what you're saying. Yeah, absolutely. [00:40:44] Speaker C: Yeah. You. You go through life after, and there's. The memory will pop in and just tear you to pieces, or you can smile and enjoy it and. [00:40:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:00] Speaker C: I'm sure, you know, you're always walking around with an empty seat beside you, and it. Yeah, it kills you. It does. [00:41:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:12] Speaker B: I guarantee it does, but. I guarantee it does. [00:41:15] Speaker C: I've got a helper. [00:41:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:17] Speaker A: Yeah, we do. [00:41:18] Speaker B: We do. Absolutely. [00:41:19] Speaker C: I get sad, but he's always right there to say. That's. That's the part I want to get to. We got to verse 21. And it says, then said his servants unto him, what thing is this that thou has done? Thou didst fast and weep for the child while it was yet alive. But when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, while the child was yet alive. I fasted and wept. For I said, who can tell whether God will be gracious to me that the child may live? But now he is dead. My favorite verse in the Bible, but now he is dead. Wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. And the man that taught me that went through the same thing, lost his daughter. I believe it was a heart issue. She was having surgery on her heart, but I believe she passed away on the operating table. [00:42:23] Speaker A: The preacher? [00:42:24] Speaker C: No, this man's name was. [00:42:26] Speaker A: Oh, that taught you the message. [00:42:28] Speaker C: Yes, in Sunday school. Probably the next week, because we got into church after we got saved. The next week after we got saved, it was either the next week or the next. [00:42:39] Speaker B: Amazing how that stuff lines Up. [00:42:41] Speaker C: Absolutely amazing. He taught me that. [00:42:44] Speaker A: It's almost like it was designed. [00:42:46] Speaker C: He had been through it. He knew it. And that lesson was for me. [00:42:51] Speaker B: He didn't know you was coming Sunday? [00:42:53] Speaker C: No, he didn't know me from Adam at that point. [00:42:55] Speaker B: Yeah, he didn't. Yeah, exactly. [00:42:57] Speaker C: I cried on his shoulder and hugged him afterwards. It. It was. It was there for me. This story is there for me. [00:43:04] Speaker B: So wild how God works. It's crazy. [00:43:07] Speaker C: It's. And here to think you wasn't coming tonight. That's what I said. I. I hope somebody out there needs a good story, Ab. It's powerful. Everything about the Lord is a good story. [00:43:23] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:43:24] Speaker C: No matter what, how painful, no matter what situation you go through in life, he's right for it. He can help you through it. He may not always take it away and give you that miracle. [00:43:36] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. [00:43:38] Speaker C: He can walk you through it. He can, if you'll trust in him, if you'll ask for it. But you got to seek it. You got to seek salvation. And the one that taught me that has now passed away. And. And I look back on it, and his last service was the day Everly got safe. [00:44:01] Speaker B: Wow. [00:44:01] Speaker C: His last service of being there. And I. I don't. [00:44:03] Speaker B: So is he an older guy? [00:44:05] Speaker C: He was late 40s, I believe, but he had bad heart issues. He'd been in the military and everything. [00:44:14] Speaker B: Crazy, though. Golly bum. It's just like it's set up. I mean, that is crazy. I mean, if you'd have said 80, I wouldn't have thought much about it, but, you know, he was 70, but 40 years old. Yeah. There was definitely a reason that he was put in your path, for sure. [00:44:33] Speaker C: And I don't know much about their story, but I know they used to go to church up in Knoxville, and for whatever reason, they started coming down to our church there at East Hills. And now. [00:44:46] Speaker A: Where's that. Where is that at? [00:44:48] Speaker C: Back behind Carl's. [00:44:49] Speaker B: We're next to Lewis Lackland across the bridge. [00:44:52] Speaker A: You ever know what happened to him? [00:44:54] Speaker C: No. [00:44:54] Speaker A: Okay. We talk about it at work a lot. I didn't know you was probably. [00:44:58] Speaker C: He was. He was. [00:44:59] Speaker B: He was in a living facility. [00:45:01] Speaker A: He was. So you knew more than I knew how to find that out. [00:45:05] Speaker B: Well, that's just. What. I wasn't a reliable source, but it was. JD Told me that ten years ago, so. [00:45:13] Speaker A: Okay. I told him. We still don't know where he's at, [00:45:16] Speaker B: so I don't even know if he's still living. [00:45:18] Speaker C: Anyway, that's the main point. I Wanted to get across is to seek Jesus. I know people search, search for him in all different things. In the bottle, in the pills and whatever. But he's right for all of it and he could fix it. [00:45:38] Speaker A: Well, I knew you guys having Everly would have been your saving grace. I mean, keeping you busy, having something else to do. You can't give up because of it. All those things. I mean, you know, at that time when that happened, we only had one, you know, And I'm like, God, if that happens to me, I'm done for. Ain't got nothing to live for, nothing to do. You know, that's the way I would have felt it. Oh, it have been terrible. [00:46:02] Speaker C: It completely changes your life. But I can't imagine. [00:46:07] Speaker B: I can't. [00:46:07] Speaker C: With Jesus. You can walk through. [00:46:10] Speaker B: You're living proof. Absolutely. [00:46:13] Speaker A: So I've got a question about that. And yes, I've drank many of beers with you back in the day, but to me, alcohol and there's a lot of people out there, including close people that I know that have issues with alcoholism or have been an alcoholic or are an alcoholic or whatever. [00:46:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:46:44] Speaker A: To me, I have never felt the incredible desire to have. [00:46:50] Speaker B: To have it. [00:46:51] Speaker A: I've never felt the need, the want, or the addiction to it. I can have a couple beers and not until somebody offers me one, not have another one. You know, it could be months. I've never had that draw that just made me feel like I've got to have it or I want to do it, but a lot of people can't look away from it. [00:47:14] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:47:15] Speaker A: When you gave it up, how did you feel, Feel about it? Did you feel like that was something you had to have? Not from like, I want it, but like a necessity. [00:47:25] Speaker C: I didn't feel that way about it. [00:47:27] Speaker A: Like, in other words, did you feel like. I mean, before you decided to put it down because you felt like that was contributing to everything bad around you? I guess. Did you feel like, I can quit this if I want to? Did you feel like that? I always and like truly feel that way. [00:47:45] Speaker C: Thought I felt that way, but looking back on it now, I don't think I. I would. I would probably still be drinking now. [00:47:51] Speaker A: You don't think you could have done it? [00:47:52] Speaker C: No. [00:47:53] Speaker A: Or you didn't want to bad enough? [00:47:54] Speaker C: Yeah, I definitely didn't want to bad enough. [00:47:57] Speaker B: My thing was I was always afraid [00:47:59] Speaker A: that you get hooked on. [00:48:00] Speaker B: I never have drunk a lick. I don't even know. I know what it smells like, but I have no idea what it tastes like. I don't know. I was scared to death. I mean, of course, part of me wants to try it, you know, just see what it tastes like. But the problem is, is my family. No. Well, here's the thing. If, If. [00:48:17] Speaker A: If you've got it in your family. [00:48:18] Speaker B: You mean if, if it. Well, all my. A lot of my family is addicted, just like you're saying, like, cannot put it down. [00:48:25] Speaker A: Well. [00:48:25] Speaker B: And am I going to be that? [00:48:27] Speaker A: You know what I mean? If you tasted it. No, not that. You have to. You would have to. You would have to consume it. [00:48:34] Speaker B: You'd have to get the effects of it. Yeah. [00:48:36] Speaker A: You would have to have the buzz off of it. Well, it might take. But the thing is, is it would creep up on you. You'd never know it. The next thing you are, you're in this darkened slump that some people get into that I can't even fathom and understand because I. I don't have it. So I don't know. [00:48:53] Speaker B: Well, but that was my reason. I'm never drinking it. I was actually. I was afraid of it. I don't care to say I was afraid of this stuff. I don't know what it's going to do to me. I know what it done to my uncle. I know what it done to my other uncle. You know, I seen all that stuff, you know, But I don't think they were my aunt. [00:49:07] Speaker A: I don't think they were trying it. You know what I mean? [00:49:09] Speaker B: Well, no, they probably wasn't trying, but they tried it one time. [00:49:12] Speaker A: Trying. Trying to apply. It's not like trying this math. That is not the same. You don't just take a little math and then. And then. Okay, you know, it's not the same thing. [00:49:26] Speaker C: So, you know. [00:49:27] Speaker B: Well, I'm just saying that's why I've never had any. Any. [00:49:31] Speaker A: Well, it ain't going to do you no favors, I'll tell you that. [00:49:33] Speaker C: Okay, there you go. [00:49:34] Speaker B: There you go. [00:49:34] Speaker A: You ain't gonna get nothing from it. [00:49:35] Speaker C: There. There's two reasons that I. I completely stay away from it. One is with my story and the way it went and laying it down and truly giving it to him and not needing it anymore. I feel like it'd be a sin for me to pick one back up. [00:49:52] Speaker B: No, absolutely. [00:49:53] Speaker C: And for two, I think it would hurt my testimony if I still needed that, you know, if I want. I. I can't lie. Like my flesh ain't wanted one. I'm not sure in these years, but if I still needed it, it would hurt that testimony. There's Power. That's powerful. That's all testimony with God, and I don't want to hurt that. [00:50:16] Speaker B: As soon as you said second Samuel, I was like, he's gonna read that story. Yeah, it's coming. That. And it was. Oh, it's perfect. Oh, it's great. [00:50:27] Speaker C: Lines up with every bit of it. Amazes me. [00:50:30] Speaker B: It's. [00:50:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:32] Speaker C: Wow. [00:50:32] Speaker A: Now, does Amber have her own stuff that she's linked together on her side or is or what? [00:50:42] Speaker C: I'm sure she does. [00:50:46] Speaker A: I don't know if she's, like, vocalized it and said, like, you. [00:50:50] Speaker C: I can't say we've talked much about each other's feelings in the situation. [00:50:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:56] Speaker C: But I know she has struggles just like I do. [00:50:59] Speaker B: Sure. [00:51:00] Speaker C: All you can do is try to be there in that moment. [00:51:06] Speaker B: And I [00:51:09] Speaker C: look back on it and our situation, you know, we were made for each other. I know the situation. We got together, but there was something stronger pulling us together. Together for this, I believe, to walk through this together. Even I didn't know it back then. [00:51:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Even further back. Yeah. [00:51:27] Speaker C: But I feel like we was made to walk this journey together. [00:51:36] Speaker A: Sometimes it takes something stronger than any of us are to pull people the way in the direction you need to go with, man. [00:51:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:51:46] Speaker A: I mean, I. How many times did I try to get you to come over my house on a Saturday night and spend the night and go to church with us on Sunday? [00:51:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:51:52] Speaker A: How many times did you do that? Do you remember? [00:51:54] Speaker C: I remember going a few times with you there. [00:51:57] Speaker A: There was a few times now I was made to go. [00:52:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:52:03] Speaker A: You know, it wasn't like I had a choice. You know, I'm not. Don't. Don't get me wrong. When I'm. I'm like. I'm not a. I'm not a Bible thumper. I'm not a. I'm not. I'm not. I went to church for 18 years straight. Unless I had strep throat, that is the only time I got to not go. I mean, so I was forcing it. So when I got out, when I got 18, you know. Oh, oh, oh, dad here, now Dad's grown. I ain't going. I don't want to go. I'll go here later if I want to. Whatever, you know? And so I was at an early age, I was pushed away from the church. It's just like everything else in my. I'm stubborn. So don't. Don't push me to do it if you want me to do it. Tell me you don't want me to do it and then I'm more than likely going to do it. You know, I'm opposite of that. So my parents. No, and they didn't go. They made me go with my aunt, my mama, you know, you. You had went before. You know how he did it. But I. I was forced to go and it put a bad taste in my mouth. Not towards church itself, but just towards. I don't know, it's like I wanted to be. I wanted to make my own decision. If I could decide to do something different now that was made to do before, that's what I wanted to do. It gave me power, I guess you could say. You know, And I mean that truthfully at that point, I mean, I still was at the house. I mean, they could have probably made me go, you know, if they wanted to, but they just kind of gave up on me, I guess, and, and thought, well, here it is. So it took a long time. I mean, I still went back every now and then, but I mean, but it took a long time for me to get comfortable back in it or to have a. A true desire to want to go. And. And nowadays it's weaker than it ever was because of. Oh gosh. I don't want to sound like somebody playing a blame game here, here, but we travel on Sundays to travel ball. And it's not every Sunday though, you know, and. And Megan ever since COVID Covet and Avery, those two things. My youngest boy in Kobe, you know, the churches shut down for a while and you couldn't go and all that. And at that time I was teaching Sunday school, you know, I was. I was in it. I was in it all the time. And, and we went and I did not know that. Oh yeah, yeah. And we had a. You know, it's. It's almost like you. You need to be. In order to. To get there every Sunday. For me it is. You need to have the habit of. Yo. You know, it's easy for me to follow the habit and fall out of the. What it takes to get there because for me, my church, there's. I'm gonna go to one or two churches. I'm either gonna go and I don't go with the Nazarene like I used to. Downtown sound loud. [00:54:50] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:54:51] Speaker A: You know, I go to Corinth if we wake up late and everybody's not sick and there's not a travel ball game at 11 and blah, blah, blah. And if we wake up early enough, we'll make the 30 minute drive all the way to Madisonville to Go, you know, to our home church where we're actually members at, so. But it's one of the two. But it's, it's hard right now for us to go the way we need to with everything. And for the longest man, gosh, so bad. Oh, he was just terrible little boy. But he's gotten better now and he'll actually go downstairs, you know. And to me it was like, well, there's a part I wouldn't send my kid to the nursery with him tearing the walls off of the church. You know, there's so I would go down there and I'm like, I'm not even getting anything out of this, you know, I'm down here, so. Oh, I got that. [00:55:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I get that. Because kids are, they're like, they got this. I feel like it's a six month window that they're just little terrors and you can't do nothing with them. Nobody can do nothing with them except mom and dad. And that's when you like about, about ring their necks, you know, and you [00:55:54] Speaker A: can't do that in the middle of the church. You gotta go outside, you know, it's just like if I'm gonna create more problem. And of course the church family, you know, they're like, oh, it's okay, we love them like that. We accept them all, you know. And I know it's true, I'm sure it is. And they all really feel that way. But still, the way we're brought up and we're raised, it still means something, you know, you don't get in there and act like that. So now though, I don't hesitate to bit a bit to take him now because he'll just go downstairs and do his thing or whatever and they'll teach him and you know, Bible school or the children's church or something like that while we, while we're able to set up there. So it's, it's gotten a lot better, you know, I don't have that excuse though. [00:56:35] Speaker B: I do think it's a good habit to be in though. Absolutely. Oh yeah, as much as. [00:56:39] Speaker A: But for me, it truly needs to be. [00:56:41] Speaker B: No, absolutely. [00:56:42] Speaker A: I need to have the hat. [00:56:43] Speaker B: I get that. Yeah. [00:56:44] Speaker A: Like, I don't need to wake up and go, you know, right now. This is how it is for us. We going to church tomorrow. We're going to church this morning, we're going to church today, Whatever. We don't need to ask that. Right? Like, it just needs to be. Yeah, it needs to be like you're going to work that night, you know, that's how you need to make it. [00:57:04] Speaker C: You know, you gotta purpose it in your heart to do that. [00:57:07] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:57:09] Speaker C: We're lucky with Everleaf's Travel Ball. Most of the time the tournaments are just Saturday. But this weekend we got a three day. I'm hoping it's over on Saturday so we can get back to church because [00:57:20] Speaker A: how's that work with a three day? [00:57:22] Speaker C: It's. They. They got a camp on Friday and then they start the tournament and pool play on Friday. Yeah. After that camp. [00:57:33] Speaker A: So the actual championship games gonna be on Saturday? [00:57:35] Speaker C: I don't know. No, I don't know yet. Okay. [00:57:38] Speaker B: You can be like my one, my. [00:57:39] Speaker C: I'm hoping. It sounds like they're only taking the top five teams to the championship, so I'm hoping maybe we'll be below that and we'll get to come home Sunday and be at church. Because I. I hate to miss. [00:57:55] Speaker A: Makes you wonder what everybody thinks about you, don't it? It does me. Well, look at them. People ain't been here in a month. What are they doing back over here? I must have done something bad, you know. [00:58:04] Speaker C: Well, that does happen, that they think that and they wonder where your heart's at and. And I get that too. [00:58:14] Speaker A: That's just natural because we're all human. We're all human. [00:58:17] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yeah. [00:58:18] Speaker A: That's somebody. That's something. That's something creeping in there. [00:58:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:58:21] Speaker A: You know, that's somebody creeping in there. Wanting you to think like that. [00:58:24] Speaker B: But I had a pastor tell me that I was going to go to hell because I used to go out and play music all the time. [00:58:29] Speaker A: They all say that. [00:58:29] Speaker B: Well, no, I'm serious. Because I. Because I. I used to go out and play music all the time. And I would. Literally, when we go. I mean, we used to play. [00:58:37] Speaker A: But you were playing church music. Yeah. [00:58:39] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:58:39] Speaker B: Well, yeah, Undoubtedly. That didn't matter. He knew I was. But it wasn't because I was going to his church. Didn't think. He thought I was going to go to hell for her. [00:58:49] Speaker A: Did he know what you were doing? [00:58:50] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. I needed to be at that church playing the bass instead of going out. [00:58:55] Speaker A: Really. [00:58:57] Speaker B: And that. We left shortly thereafter. My mom's like, we're not dealing. We're not dealing with that. I will not stand for that. She said she'd witness it. [00:59:05] Speaker A: Huh. [00:59:07] Speaker B: She asked me, said, what did she do? What'd he say? He said I was going to go to hell if I didn't start playing bass here. Like, wow, geez. How did. She just shook her head. She's like, okay, I'll handle that. She relinquished all of her stuff to the church. Well, she was a part of the women's group or whatever. She's like, okay, here you go. She was like, the counting or whatever. She's like, y' all can have this. We're out. Yeah, he's still there, a preacher there today, so [00:59:36] Speaker A: I don't know how you can decide someone's fate. That's insane. [00:59:40] Speaker B: I thought I was doing the right thing, but, I mean, I was. But you know what I mean, that time I was like, gosh, I've looked up to this cat, you know, and he tells me something like that. [00:59:50] Speaker A: Yeah, you've really got to get a church where you feel comfortable at, you know? And I'm glad you do, Ron. I'm glad you do. We're. We're. [00:59:58] Speaker B: We. [00:59:58] Speaker A: We love our church that we go to. The problem is, it's so far away. I literally drive past the many churches to get there. It's crazy. That's one problem. I'm just like, this is crazy. Look, there's one. There's one, there's one, you know, But. [01:00:12] Speaker C: Well, these tails ain't too far away, baby. [01:00:14] Speaker A: No, it's just in town. How many. How many members y' all got? [01:00:17] Speaker C: I don't even know, to be honest with you. [01:00:19] Speaker A: I like a small one. [01:00:20] Speaker B: It's. [01:00:21] Speaker C: It's small. Okay. They're. They're going to know you, so you going to have to show up. [01:00:25] Speaker A: I got a bunch of them. A bunch of people that I know. I'm sure D. Loud, you know? [01:00:29] Speaker C: Well, host is preacher right now. Yeah, I don't know. [01:00:33] Speaker A: I know who he is. [01:00:33] Speaker C: He went to school with him. [01:00:34] Speaker A: Yeah, but I don't know. [01:00:35] Speaker C: Yeah, I didn't know him in high school either, but he's a good pastor. I like it. It. I tell everybody his. His preaching is kind of like a preaching and a Sunday school lesson all together. [01:00:45] Speaker B: That's what you want, though. That's. Yeah, I think you need that. [01:00:49] Speaker C: He goes through it line by line and sticks with it. [01:00:52] Speaker A: Yeah. And we. That's the way our preacher does, too. [01:00:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:00:55] Speaker B: Well, usually I don't take anything away from the salvation message, but with a small congregation or a congregation that is pretty much dead set, you know, even 100 members or, you know, or whatever, the salvation message is the most important thing. But teaching also, after we have salvation is a huge, huge part. Our walk is. Is, you know, and. And the. The preacher, you know, is. Needs to be a. A stair. Step to that. You know, where he teaches you those things. [01:01:34] Speaker A: What do you mean? Exactly? [01:01:36] Speaker B: So, okay, so you're talking about. Have you ever been to a. [01:01:39] Speaker A: You're talking about fishers of men. [01:01:40] Speaker B: So have you ever been to a church where. Where I'm not. [01:01:46] Speaker A: Probably not. [01:01:47] Speaker B: Well, I'm sure every single Sunday is a salvation message. You're going to die and go to hell. [01:01:54] Speaker A: Yeah. If you don't do this or that. [01:01:55] Speaker B: Yeah, well, yeah, exactly. [01:01:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:01:58] Speaker B: So that's what I'm saying is when you have a smaller congregation, but it's nice to have a preacher who will do, like, what he's saying is actually [01:02:04] Speaker A: teach you instead of, you know, like, have a lesson. Have a lesson to preach instead of Preach to the lesson and it ropes back. Yeah, yeah. [01:02:13] Speaker B: And you're going to go out here. [01:02:15] Speaker A: No, I don't want to even. I don't want to sit through that. No, I'd rather have. Yeah, that's the way. [01:02:20] Speaker B: That's what I meant. It's a. It's a good. [01:02:22] Speaker A: That's good to have that. [01:02:23] Speaker B: You know, don't. Don't forget the salvation message. But. But teach me something while I'm there. [01:02:28] Speaker A: Well, you can most likely find something relatable. [01:02:30] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that's. [01:02:32] Speaker A: That's where it's at. Is that, you know, so. But no, I'm with you. I'm with you. [01:02:40] Speaker C: I'm trying my best to teach Sunday school there with another member, and I'm actually blessed to be a deacon there. Trying to be the best I can for everybody, but of course, we all fail time and time again, but [01:02:58] Speaker B: just [01:02:58] Speaker C: gotta seek the Lord's guidance in everything. Just. He's right. For all of it. [01:03:06] Speaker B: For anyone. All of it. Anyone. [01:03:08] Speaker A: One. [01:03:09] Speaker B: Absolutely. [01:03:11] Speaker A: So we've gotten through everything. Is that all of it? [01:03:20] Speaker C: I think so. [01:03:21] Speaker A: Anything about Ryan? [01:03:23] Speaker C: Yeah, as far as I'm aware. What else you want to know? [01:03:27] Speaker B: Definitely the most important. [01:03:28] Speaker A: I believe that's. I believe that's. But I believe that's. That's current, right? Yeah, we are current at this point. [01:03:35] Speaker C: Nothing good about me but Jesus, that's all of us. [01:03:39] Speaker A: Hey, I loved you when you didn't have Jesus, man. [01:03:41] Speaker C: I loved you, too. [01:03:44] Speaker A: All right, well, guys, thanks for tuning in. This. This episode got. Got heavy. It got real heavy. [01:03:51] Speaker B: Yeah, it was very good. It was awesome. Yeah, it's what the soul needed tonight for sure. For me, anyway. [01:03:58] Speaker A: Yep. All right. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Tune in with us next week. We'll figure out who we're going to have on next. Thanks. Continue to watch, like subscribe, tell your friends, have a good night. [01:04:11] Speaker B: See you all next time.