1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,280 Welcome to the God's Goodness podcast, where our mission is to encourage as well as highlight 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,840 God's goodness and modern-day miracles. 3 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:17,640 We are your hosts, Josh and Shelley Hankins. 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,640 Tonight we have with us a special guest from church. 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:25,760 His name is Joey Swidrack, and he's going to lead us in a little prayer. 6 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,280 And let's just start off there. 7 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:29,280 All right. 8 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:34,280 Father, we thank you in Jesus' name for this opportunity tonight, this time right here 9 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:35,280 right now. 10 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,600 Just the three of us in Budn, gathered together. 11 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:43,000 I have a conversation, and let people know your goodness. 12 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:48,520 Holy Spirit, we ask that you lead me and us into what you would have us say tonight. 13 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:50,080 We thank you in Jesus' name. 14 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:51,080 Amen. 15 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:52,080 Amen. 16 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:58,680 So, the Holy Spirit asked me to ask you on this episode, because my husband, he got to 17 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,560 know you a little along the way with doing men things. 18 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,240 Oh yeah, a couple of venture fasts, some men's breakfasts. 19 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:11,080 Yeah, and he says you have a really cool story to tell, and it could just share God's 20 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:15,080 goodness just by you telling what God turns messes into messages. 21 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:19,440 So, let's hear about your mess through this message. 22 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:21,520 I always wonder where to begin. 23 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:23,080 I know nothing about you. 24 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,440 Like, I know a little bit about you. 25 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:31,160 So I was raised, I guess, in a Pentecostal family. 26 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:37,040 Back then, I think, as I look back, like a little bit of, like, law-ish Pentecostal family, 27 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:42,760 we did go to an assembly of God where our pastor was on literal fire during his sermons, 28 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,480 like, Pastor B times 10. 29 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,360 I was raised around God, around, you know, knowing the Lord. 30 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:57,320 I do remember when I was 12, riding home from buying speakers with my dad in the van, and 31 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:01,200 saying a prayer with him, accepting Jesus into my heart. 32 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:09,000 And then, from then, I don't remember anything until, like, I now have just had sex. 33 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:15,880 I've started drinking and smoking, and I think that's about a year later. 34 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:19,400 So all that around the time I was 13, 14. 35 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:24,120 And then I just continued to really go my own way. 36 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,000 Knowing that God was there, occasionally talking to him. 37 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,080 I was kicked out of youth group for smoking. 38 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:33,080 Was it smoking? 39 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:34,080 Yeah, cigarettes. 40 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:35,080 Yeah. 41 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:36,840 That they knew about. 42 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:41,360 So yeah, like, all that really just continued on and on. 43 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:46,760 But I was never, like, a bad kid or a bad person, moms and dads like me. 44 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:51,720 But it sounds like you had a hole that you were trying to fill, like a lot of us do. 45 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:53,520 Like, there was something missing. 46 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,520 Yeah, but I don't think I ever thought of it like that. 47 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:03,000 I think I was just doing what, you know, my friend and I were smoking together. 48 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,840 We'd go hiking, we'd go camping, we'd build bonfires, and we'd hang out. 49 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:11,080 And he was four years older than I was, so we were drinking beer and doing whatever. 50 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:12,880 Gave into the flesh. 51 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:13,880 Definitely. 52 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:18,760 And then I got into the restaurant and bar business. 53 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:23,920 Actually, Wendy's at like 14, 15, 15, 16. 54 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:29,560 And then as soon as I could wait tables and all that, yeah, I was working in these places 55 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:31,720 that had a lot of alcohol and everybody was drinking. 56 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:36,360 And I was able to drink because nobody asked me my age or anything. 57 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,800 Yeah, I had lots of experiences. 58 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:45,680 And I wouldn't trade any of it because, I mean, I lived in, so I'm from Cleveland, 59 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:46,680 Go Browns. 60 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:48,680 That was for you. 61 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:50,480 That was for you. 62 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:55,680 First, like, 18, 19, 20, working downtown in all those bars and restaurants. 63 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:01,240 And then I moved to Miami for a year, almost a year, which I worked for another restaurant 64 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:02,240 down there. 65 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,360 And we had a cocaine dealer that sat on our stoop. 66 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:10,600 So whatever we wanted was what we had to do is walk out our front door. 67 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:11,600 Yeah. 68 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,040 So pretty much every libation was open to you. 69 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,440 And all of our friends were the higher ups and all the restaurants down there. 70 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:24,040 So we got in every door for free or every back door for free. 71 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,600 Then came back to Cleveland for a few years. 72 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:33,160 And now I know God had his hand in this, but even though I wasn't with him or following 73 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,840 him, my cousin and I, we've always done these things together. 74 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:38,520 Usually my cousin's big idea. 75 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,680 And I'm like, okay, let's do it. 76 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:41,680 All right. 77 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:42,680 Miami was one. 78 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,800 We did a road trip across the country and back for a month. 79 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,800 That was his idea, but we had a great time together. 80 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:55,000 So growing up, he's absolutely my best friend, Josh, miss his name. 81 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,520 I pray that one day he does listen to this. 82 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,440 Like I do pray for him almost every day. 83 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:05,200 So after that, yeah, a couple of years, two years back in Cleveland and I was sitting 84 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:06,200 on my couch. 85 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:08,120 I love this story. 86 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,600 Sitting on my couch, actually at my mom's house visiting my mom and I was watching the 87 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:20,000 Cleveland Indians game hanging out with mom and the phone rang. 88 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:24,120 And I think this was before cell phones or maybe flip phones or something. 89 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:25,120 I don't know. 90 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:29,960 But so I went and answered it and it was my cousin and I was like, Hey, what's up? 91 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,160 And he's like, Hey, I'm in Chicago. 92 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:34,000 He's like, you need to move here. 93 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,560 I was like, Oh, okay, let me think about it. 94 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,160 You know, I was like, give me a week or two and I'll think about it. 95 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:45,040 Of course, immediately I'm like, I think I should be going to Chicago. 96 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:49,800 Like I was probably already made up my mind as soon as I hung up the phone. 97 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:51,840 But following Sunday, same thing. 98 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:57,920 I was at my mom's and I went to pick up the phone to call him and there was no dial tone. 99 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,560 And I said, Hello, and it was him. 100 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:02,520 And I said, Shut up. 101 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:04,760 I said, I'll be there in two weeks. 102 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:09,600 Now I literally like just went back to work for two weeks, made like 500 bucks and moved 103 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,000 to Chicago, packed up my car. 104 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,160 And yeah, that was a great experience. 105 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,520 Every single person I met there was just awesome people. 106 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:25,600 Like it was definitely God's hand on it, but he wasn't very in it, I should say, because 107 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:32,640 I was again, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, my roommates were all musicians, all stuff 108 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,600 like that. 109 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,120 So I was there for I think almost 13 years. 110 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:45,400 I would have stayed, but I was like, I don't want to be in the restaurant business anymore. 111 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:47,560 I got out of bars and restaurants. 112 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:51,680 I went to work for Op-Belly Sandwich Works. 113 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:56,600 But yeah, I worked for them for five years and I was rapidly growing with them. 114 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:58,840 I was opening new stores. 115 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:04,480 I was working at corporate office store where they do all the testing and all that and where 116 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:05,480 I bounced around. 117 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:11,400 It seemed like I would be sent to stores to help fix small problems, get help get them 118 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:13,920 on track or back on track, stuff like that. 119 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:20,920 And at that point, I was after five years of that, it was like 60 hour work weeks and 120 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,960 you're not making the money as a bartender. 121 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:31,280 So there's a lot of other restaurants and bars in between all that 13 years in Chicago, 122 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:37,600 but they offered me a position and it would have been like the biggest craziest store they 123 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:39,100 had. 124 00:07:39,100 --> 00:07:45,080 But I know that people go there, they either die or they go on to really succeed. 125 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,880 But I had cake, man, like where I was. 126 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:50,560 I had good staff. 127 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,840 My bosses were like the corporate bosses. 128 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:55,840 I would see corporate every single day. 129 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,920 I'd see the owner, like they knew my name. 130 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:03,600 So I would have gone somewhere regardless if I would have chosen that or not. 131 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:07,360 So they offered me to go to this store and my next step would have been like having my 132 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:09,000 own store. 133 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,520 And this is 30s now. 134 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:15,240 So yeah, we skipped a lot. 135 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:16,840 But it's still the same Joe. 136 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:24,080 It's the same party and every night, you know, like, yeah, my body obviously will get to 137 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,040 that didn't like me after a while. 138 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:33,440 So when I turned them down, it was actually my dad had just passed and I did not want 139 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:39,120 to take that responsibility and I did not want to live that life at that store because 140 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,760 it was twice as much as what I was already doing. 141 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:45,040 So I wanted out. 142 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:52,360 So again, my cousin at this point has now left Chicago with his soon to be or with his 143 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:56,040 new wife and moved to Mexico. 144 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,840 I had been down there once with them. 145 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:04,240 They went to a little town in Mexico, say Alita, hey, say Alita. 146 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:09,920 So I was like, well, there's really not much, you know, going on. 147 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:14,200 I had a relationship that I had before that did not work out. 148 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,400 So I was like, hey, let's get out of Chicago. 149 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:17,400 Let's go. 150 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,080 So me and my dog packed up and said, we're going to Chicago. 151 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:25,200 Well, down to Mexico, wasn't that easy. 152 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:32,160 Left Chicago back to Cleveland for six months to work with my cousin land floor, blah, blah. 153 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:37,040 Ended up by the time I was done with that, we'd spent most of the money partying, going 154 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:41,520 on the road with my cousin and all his guys working in different towns. 155 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:49,360 So when I left, I left with enough money and got down to Mexico was down there for beautiful 156 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:50,360 place. 157 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:51,360 Awesome. 158 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:58,880 My dog ended up, but Bert, that's Bert, ended up coming down a few weeks after I did. 159 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:00,760 And yeah, we hung out on the beach. 160 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:06,640 I was working for an Italian restaurant in Mexico, which was weird, but cool. 161 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,400 I totally get it. 162 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:10,040 I went to a Chinese restaurant in Germany. 163 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:11,600 It was the best Chinese I've ever had. 164 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:16,200 Best pizza down there and like not that place, but pizza places we would go. 165 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:17,200 Yeah. 166 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:18,480 But yeah, you're on the beach every day. 167 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:19,480 It was great. 168 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,160 And it was nothing but fun in the sun, lots of tequila. 169 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:24,160 And yeah. 170 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:31,680 So after two years of that, I was like, this is probably not a place that I can stay because 171 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:34,280 I will probably end up drinking myself to death. 172 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:38,720 I'm sure I said that to myself, but didn't want to admit that. 173 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:40,840 So went back to Cleveland. 174 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:45,560 Ten years, 34 to 44 back in Cleveland. 175 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:47,120 That was like 2010. 176 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:51,600 Again, all my friends there, they're all younger than I am. 177 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:54,760 I'll still not know what they're doing in life. 178 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,280 And partying. 179 00:10:57,280 --> 00:10:58,280 That's what we did. 180 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:03,840 Well, I know at this point, like mom didn't want me around my sisters. 181 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:09,280 They would hang out, but didn't want me like living around them or things like that. 182 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,720 So I need to be honest about it because I don't know how honest I've really been with 183 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:14,720 myself. 184 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,600 I think there was a point where like nobody wanted me around. 185 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,440 Like did your sisters have families at that point? 186 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:21,440 Yeah. 187 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:26,800 Like I said, for a couple months, my one sister, I stayed in their basement just because I 188 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:31,480 think I was coming back at that point and really had nowhere else to stay. 189 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,720 And then I think mom's basement for a while. 190 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:41,520 And then mom moved out with her who's still boyfriend, 15 years. 191 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:42,760 They moved down to his house. 192 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:45,760 So I had her condo for a while. 193 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:53,960 Then oh yeah, cause Josh decided, oh, unfortunately got a divorce and decided to move back to 194 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:54,960 Chicago. 195 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:58,840 So he was like, Hey, I'm in Chicago again. 196 00:11:58,840 --> 00:11:59,840 You should come. 197 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:04,800 And I have a feeling like somebody said I wasn't doing well. 198 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,840 And like it was like, Hey, come to Chicago, like maybe I can help. 199 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:09,840 Right. 200 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,040 Like, and I know like I wasn't making a ton of money. 201 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:18,240 I think at this point I was now delivering pizzas for a big pizza company and not doing 202 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:25,840 the work that I had been doing in the restaurant business management and like the stuff I should 203 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:26,840 have been doing. 204 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:27,840 I just didn't want to do it anymore. 205 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:32,800 And I do remember for a few years, like Lord, just give me the next step. 206 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:33,800 Show me the next step. 207 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,560 Like, how do I get out of this? 208 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:42,240 But I just could never decide like what else or not just decide, but I had nothing else. 209 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,040 Like, what else could I do? 210 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,080 I wasn't taught to do anything else. 211 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,680 I here and there, I did some painting job in Mexico. 212 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:55,400 I did start a painting company to work in the summers when I wasn't doing the restaurants. 213 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,480 That was heavy duty work in the summer heat. 214 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:03,280 And yeah, I wish I would have pictures of all that because I feel like what were you 215 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,520 doing again? 216 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:09,520 Flip phones, no good cell phones for pictures. 217 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:10,520 Yeah. 218 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:18,240 So I went back to Chicago for about six months and I went to work at a restaurant to help 219 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:19,240 them out. 220 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,400 They were really great concept. 221 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:26,800 And I don't know if they're still there or if they've opened other stores, but it was 222 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:28,600 called Taco in a Bag. 223 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:34,280 Legit, like, taco shells in a bag and whatever they had just dumped in there and you ate 224 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:35,800 it with a fork. 225 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,920 It was great, but they were open until like four in the morning. 226 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:43,160 So like, I would go to work, come home, take care of the dogs. 227 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:47,840 My cousin was actually working on the road, so he was only home on weekends. 228 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:52,760 The place we were living in, he was trying to sell, so it had to be perfectly spotless 229 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,400 with two dogs in there, especially when people were coming. 230 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:59,320 And I couldn't be there when people were coming to look at it. 231 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:04,200 So all I did was drink and go to work and take care of the dogs. 232 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,040 When the dogs needed to go out, we'd go for big walks. 233 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:14,120 I mean, still did the things I needed to do, but after that, I was like, all right, this 234 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:15,120 isn't working out. 235 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:19,280 My cousin's like, I've sold the place, I'm moving to Indiana, so I'm like, okay, what 236 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:20,280 am I going to do? 237 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:21,280 That's so fact-cleave-ing. 238 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,800 That's just number four, number three. 239 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:31,040 So yeah, that is the point where definitely nobody family-wise wanted me to live with. 240 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:36,960 That must have been rough, you know, knowing that they loved you, but at the same time, 241 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,720 feeling that the activities you were doing were detrimental to the family. 242 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,440 But I don't think I realized it at that point. 243 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:44,560 Now, though. 244 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:51,880 But yeah, now like, yeah, because I know the strain, like my sister, my younger sister 245 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:53,960 and I, I'll get there. 246 00:14:53,960 --> 00:15:01,680 Anyways, so okay, so the years are like kind of squeezing together when I get a little 247 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:07,200 lost here and there's reason why that, and I'll say that in a little bit, but I end up 248 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:08,680 coming back on the way back. 249 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,600 I'm like, who am I going to go live with? 250 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:12,600 So I call it my cousin. 251 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:14,840 Hey, me and my dog are coming back. 252 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:20,680 And my dog at the time is a crazy white lab who sheds like a snowstorm you're following, 253 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:21,680 right? 254 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:28,560 So there's two guys living in a house and my cousin and our friend Jordan, what's up, 255 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:29,560 guys? 256 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:34,760 They probably will listen to this and they probably have more like better stories about 257 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,480 this than I do, but I'll get through that quick. 258 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:43,320 So yeah, like I went and I was there, so there was two, maybe three of us even at that point 259 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:44,960 in a two bedroom house. 260 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:50,560 I decided the back porch room was going to be my bedroom and that's, and it was great 261 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,360 little spot, but, and I went and lived with them. 262 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:56,160 And again, we're all still partying. 263 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,560 So we're just working and partying, working and partying. 264 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:05,600 And with them, I started gaining weight like crazy. 265 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:09,240 I started not really caring about too much. 266 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:16,280 I think I was a little upset, depressed about Chicago and, but all of a sudden, like I look 267 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:18,960 in the mirror like, and I'm like, what? 268 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:19,960 That's not me. 269 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:24,760 Like, you know, I'm talking to somebody and I'm leaning the countertop because I don't 270 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,280 have energy to stand there. 271 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,560 I start conversations just like this. 272 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:34,400 And I'm out cold in the middle of the sentence. 273 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:41,280 One time I had pulled up to a stoplight and fell asleep, bumped a guy in front of us. 274 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:45,920 Yeah, was going to get away with it, except for we pulled off the road into the fire 275 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:53,800 department and just so happened to police officer pulled in and didn't get in trouble. 276 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:55,480 I think I got a ticket for that. 277 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:56,480 Gas pumps. 278 00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:03,880 Started falling asleep, getting back into my car after pumping gas and just falling asleep. 279 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:07,480 So turns out it's not just really tired. 280 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:13,240 It's sleep apnea, which I had for years because I've had girlfriends wake me up in the middle 281 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:15,600 of the night saying, you've stopped breathing. 282 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:17,960 So, but I didn't know what it was forever. 283 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:20,200 So yeah, that kind of got pretty serious. 284 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:24,360 And then, you know, conversations with my mom, she's like, why don't you go to the hospital? 285 00:17:24,360 --> 00:17:25,360 Why don't you go to the hospital? 286 00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:27,360 Why don't you go to the hospital? 287 00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:30,960 Well, I started seeing a doctor and he kept saying, you got to quit drinking. 288 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:32,600 You got to quit smoking, you know? 289 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:36,760 And then here, here, this will help you sleep, right? 290 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:42,640 And after probably that was the maybe the first year I went in to see the doctor, my 291 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:43,880 cousin wife. 292 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,960 So my cousin worked there and they had a little baby. 293 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:53,480 And it was her first day back and I branded into them and I'm like, oh, baby, I, you know, 294 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:55,760 meeting my second cousin, I guess. 295 00:17:55,760 --> 00:18:01,160 And I stuck my head like inside of her little carriage and she took a picture of the two 296 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:02,400 of us. 297 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:08,480 And my head was so big, like I'm like, something is wrong here. 298 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:11,320 So I go again, conversation with mom. 299 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:14,640 She's like, go to the ER, something's not right. 300 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:21,000 And I went and I went in and signed in and all that stuff. 301 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:22,600 They said have a seat. 302 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:24,960 I woke up 12 hours later. 303 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:26,480 Nobody had come checked on me. 304 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:27,920 Nobody had seen me. 305 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:32,280 I'm like, at that point, I'm like, I got to go have a cigarette. 306 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:36,200 So I go outside have a cigarette come back in and I'm like, you know, I've been here 307 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,760 for a really long time and I think you forgot about me. 308 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:41,680 And she's like, oh, I'm sorry, blah, blah. 309 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,680 So a few minutes later, they, and at this point, I'm just angry. 310 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:49,880 They come and they take me into the back and they said, well, we're going to have to do 311 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:51,920 this and you're going to be here for a while and blah, blah, blah. 312 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:54,760 And at this point, I'm angry and I just, I want to leave. 313 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,520 I want to drink and I want another cigarette. 314 00:18:57,520 --> 00:18:58,920 And that's not happening. 315 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:03,120 So a little while later, they're like, blah, blah, blah, and I'm like, I'm leaving. 316 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:08,360 They're like, if you leave, this is going to happen and you know, you'll have to go 317 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:09,360 through this and that. 318 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:10,480 And I'm like, I don't care. 319 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:12,240 I'm just, I'm not even signing out. 320 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,120 I just left. 321 00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:17,960 I don't know how I got back home, but I did. 322 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:23,880 And then I think two weeks went by and mom again, I'm like, mom, take me back. 323 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:25,760 Just dropped me off. 324 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:31,920 So I walked in, had my last cigarette outside and I went in and I sat down and told the 325 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:32,920 lady my name. 326 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:36,920 I remember saying my last name and woke up three days later in ICU. 327 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:37,920 Oh, wow. 328 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:38,920 Right. 329 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:42,000 So my sister's beautiful. 330 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:43,920 My sister Julie, she's my older sister. 331 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:46,440 I have a younger sister, Amy. 332 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:51,080 She was, unless it was a dream, like she was sitting right there in my face as I opened 333 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:52,080 my eyes. 334 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:57,520 And I did, I asked her, I think yesterday, like, is there anything about the hospital 335 00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,760 like that you want to tell me about? 336 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,280 Like anything that I maybe don't remember. 337 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:09,840 And all she could say was, I wish I would have found out who the nurse was because she 338 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:10,840 did something. 339 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:15,880 I think she gave me something after my sister asked like, this was at a point. 340 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:21,640 So I woke up three days later, but during those three days, what I was told was it was 341 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:25,560 like time, like tell your family to come say goodbye. 342 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,120 Yeah. 343 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:34,440 So I didn't know this for a little while after like, so thank you nurse from the hospital. 344 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:40,440 If you ever hear this, you had a lot of tattoos and I can't remember what my sister said about 345 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:41,800 your hair. 346 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:47,160 I want to say it was fentanyl like they gave me or something like that that like kept me 347 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:54,800 alive for another day and so then I woke up on my own to my sister's face and from ICU, 348 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,280 they put me in a smaller room when they moved me out of ICU. 349 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,440 My cousin was there. 350 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:09,240 My cousin came from Mexico to say goodbye to his best friend and like, I'm so fat, I'm 351 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,400 364 pounds. 352 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:13,400 And this is, yeah, not now. 353 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,080 No, yeah, not now. 354 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:19,080 I think it was like 70% water gain. 355 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:22,760 I had, so I'll run through the list that I remember. 356 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,560 Adema, I believe it's called, which is swelling. 357 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,000 My legs were before the hospital. 358 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:33,240 I had gotten them wrapped because they were all damaged and they were so swollen that 359 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:37,840 they had developed scabs and bleeding splitting open. 360 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:38,960 So sleep apnea. 361 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:43,360 I had congestive heart failure, COPD. 362 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:51,640 And one of the big reasons why I was falling asleep was often my oxygen level would drop. 363 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:55,520 The reason why I passed out in the hospital after telling her at the emergency room after 364 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:59,040 telling her my name was my oxygen level would drop to about 10. 365 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:00,040 Wow. 366 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,680 So I think 92 to 98 is about right. 367 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,120 They like 95 and above. 368 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:08,720 But if you're 92, I wouldn't worry about it. 369 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:13,640 Why don't you get below that and you start having organ failure and bad things happen. 370 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:17,800 I'm pretty sure something had to be wrong with my liver. 371 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:22,480 But I don't remember them specifically saying like, you need a liver transplant or anything 372 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:23,480 like that. 373 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:29,440 So, yeah, I had some interesting roommates as I was in the hospital for six weeks and 374 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,320 would have been in there longer, but my insurance ran out. 375 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:37,800 But while that was going on, so when I woke up at the hospital, like obviously it took 376 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:39,840 a day or two to even think about it. 377 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:42,040 First thing I wanted was a cigarette. 378 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,400 So dummy me was like, I'm not going to be able to get a cigarette. 379 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:47,200 Somebody get me a patch or something. 380 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,720 Oh, I mean, dude, you're out for three days. 381 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:51,720 Just quit, right? 382 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:53,720 That's what I'm thinking today. 383 00:22:53,720 --> 00:23:00,240 Yeah, eventually I got my cigarette and during my six weeks they had take my little oxygen, 384 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,960 take outside and bomb a cigarette from somebody. 385 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,920 But I had no desire for alcohol. 386 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:07,280 Absolutely none. 387 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:10,040 And when I thought about it, I didn't crave it. 388 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,120 I didn't want it. 389 00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:14,880 I knew like that point. 390 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,440 Thank you, Lord, for waking me up. 391 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:18,440 Thank you. 392 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,640 Every little bit I still wanted to smoke some weed, you know, because I was uncomfortable 393 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:27,280 and I remember like weed will make me comfortable. 394 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:31,920 But I didn't for the six weeks that I was in there, ended up like after. 395 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:33,120 So I'll get to that. 396 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:34,720 Some interesting roommates. 397 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:41,040 I mean, nurses, they probably weren't as mean as I made them out to be. 398 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:46,280 So thank you all just going through all that and not wanting to be there. 399 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:49,160 Like I'm sure I was not very nice. 400 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:55,760 So I knew like the only way I'm alive right now is because of the Lord, because of God. 401 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,480 There's only one way, right? 402 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:02,520 So there was stipulations for me to be able to leave. 403 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:04,880 Like I had to lose a certain amount of weight. 404 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,360 Like I was on oxygen and they said oxygen the rest of your life. 405 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:10,440 Yeah, I don't see any in your house. 406 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:11,440 No. 407 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:12,440 Well, you're breathing it. 408 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:16,680 So I meant like tanks, tanks, concentrators. 409 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,720 And since the day I left the hospital, I have not been on it. 410 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:24,960 I did continue to do like treatments for I think another couple of months and I got bored 411 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:26,360 with it and. 412 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:27,760 And do you take any treatments now? 413 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:28,760 No. 414 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:29,760 Which is pretty phenomenal. 415 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:31,760 I don't know anything about COPD. 416 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:32,760 Yeah. 417 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:33,760 Well, yeah. 418 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:34,760 That's pretty phenomenal. 419 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:40,640 I do have an inhaler that's like a rescue and every once in a while I'll take it. 420 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:44,480 And it's usually more like a hot day or something like that. 421 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:51,040 And well, COVID wasn't, I wasn't dying, but didn't help with the lungs. 422 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:52,040 No. 423 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:53,040 No. 424 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:54,040 Okay. 425 00:24:54,040 --> 00:25:01,280 So six weeks and after the six weeks, I went to the second, I say most dangerous, homeless 426 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:02,360 shelter. 427 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:04,400 This is when I knew nobody wanted me. 428 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:05,400 We're still in Cleveland. 429 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:06,400 We're still in Cleveland. 430 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:08,840 And the hospital was in Cleveland, all that stuff. 431 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:10,840 So insurance ran out. 432 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:12,360 They said, you have to leave. 433 00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:18,360 And it had been brought up to me by my aunt, by Janice, my aunt Nancy, Janice's a wonderful 434 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:20,400 woman who's been part of our family. 435 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:24,000 As long as I can remember, we call her Aunt Janice because she's that close to us. 436 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:28,120 I love you guys and thank you because I know you'll definitely hear this. 437 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:30,480 And my mom, they would visit all the time. 438 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,920 They started telling me like, you're going to have to go to some kind of place because 439 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:36,800 you're not living with us. 440 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:40,840 And my sisters were like, you're not living with us. 441 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:41,960 And I'm like, there's no way. 442 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:42,960 I'm not going there. 443 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:43,960 I'm not going there. 444 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:44,960 I'm not going there. 445 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:52,080 You know, so finally I had lost, I think maybe 40 pounds of the water weight and I could 446 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:55,640 walk like a quarter mile without. 447 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:56,640 That's tremendous. 448 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:57,640 Yeah. 449 00:25:57,640 --> 00:25:59,480 So that was the stipulations of getting out of there. 450 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:07,000 So I think I went and stayed with mom for like two days before I had to go to my new 451 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,720 permanent residence at this homeless shelter. 452 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,400 I mean, it is a city mission. 453 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,520 I think they're affiliated with the city mission here. 454 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:16,520 Not sure. 455 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:17,520 I should know. 456 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,120 I do go to the thrift store here. 457 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:24,960 So there's my kickback to them. 458 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,160 Does that go often? 459 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:28,160 We're talking. 460 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,960 Yeah, so this is now on the east side of Cleveland. 461 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:35,480 East side of Cleveland is known for, well, it depends on what part, but east side of 462 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:41,640 city proper Cleveland is inner city, lots of gangs, drugs, all that stuff. 463 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:44,840 I am not the same color as everybody else. 464 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:48,000 And I was told that. 465 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:51,560 So there was maybe four white guys, the rest were black. 466 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:57,640 All of them either coming off a crack, coming off a heroin, coming out of prison, everything 467 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:04,160 from rapists to murderers to somehow they're not in prison and they're now in this place. 468 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:09,880 My aunt, I can't remember how she knew the guy who was like the director of this place. 469 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:12,600 So I shouldn't have been allowed in. 470 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:17,280 Like other places it was like, or getting too close to the holiday. 471 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:18,480 So they're already full. 472 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:20,880 Like this was like my last place to go. 473 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,320 Otherwise I'd have been on the streets. 474 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:27,760 And they, I never talked to the guy, he just told my aunt to tell him to show up, we'll 475 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:28,760 take him. 476 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:30,200 And nobody said, Hey, you need to be sober. 477 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:31,200 Nobody said you need this. 478 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,280 And I like the night before was like, I'm out of that. 479 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:35,400 I'm out of the hospital. 480 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:36,600 I'm at mom's. 481 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:38,880 Let's smoke some weed. 482 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:44,160 So I go there the next day, get dropped off and I'm like, I'll see you later. 483 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,040 I guess this is what's happening. 484 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:48,840 And the first thing they do is give you a drug test. 485 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:54,920 Well, you go in like it's bulletproof window, bulletproof door. 486 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:59,920 They come and let you in to a room full of guys. 487 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:03,840 The other side, I mean, all the guys that are staying there are in this room. 488 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,840 So they get to like, check out the new guy walking in. 489 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:12,160 Well they take you through it to the bathroom so you can immediately pee, you know, and 490 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:13,880 there's your drug test. 491 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:21,000 I'm like, nobody told me this, failed it and they wanted to be like, kick me out. 492 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,600 Like right then and there, like five minutes later, they're like, you just failed for, 493 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:26,000 you know, failed your drug test. 494 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:27,000 You can't stay here. 495 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:28,520 We don't allow people to come in here. 496 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,400 I'm like, well, so and so. 497 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:38,200 And luckily, well, obviously not luck, but God, right there was like, you know somebody's 498 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,480 name, like say the name and they're like, well, how do you know him? 499 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:46,400 I'm like, my aunt knows him. 500 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:47,600 Aunt Janice. 501 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:49,200 So they let me stay. 502 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:50,200 So I was there. 503 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:55,880 I don't even remember how long, but I'm an unlikable person. 504 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:56,880 I'm friendly. 505 00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:57,880 So I made a few friends. 506 00:28:57,880 --> 00:28:58,880 I agree. 507 00:28:58,880 --> 00:28:59,880 Totally. 508 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:01,400 My life wasn't being threatened. 509 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:07,280 There was one, one who did not like me and he let it know, be known a couple of times. 510 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:09,000 So I stood up, you know. 511 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:14,720 So I think standing up to like one of the biggest guys in the room, like other people 512 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,960 are like, all right, cool, leave him alone. 513 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:23,000 But that was nothing but like, well, not nothing, but they, it was a Christian organization. 514 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:29,240 So every morning you have some kind of service, a word of God, some worship and, and you know, 515 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:36,080 you go and eat, then you go take a class and then lunchtime and then service on and on 516 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:38,960 the day, you know, dinner and service at night. 517 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:46,840 So every day was like that, but it was all classes, geared tour, like not alcoholics. 518 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:50,040 Still, no desire for any of that. 519 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,280 And at that point, like I didn't want to smoke weed anymore. 520 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,080 I didn't, but everybody smokes cigarettes. 521 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:59,240 So it was, and like, I'm not on oxygen. 522 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:00,320 I do not have an ox. 523 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:08,200 I think I showed up with an oxygen tank and they gave me, yeah, I'll actually a bypass. 524 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:10,360 I couldn't do the CPAP. 525 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:12,280 That was the worst experience ever. 526 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:13,280 You never get a test. 527 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:17,280 Shave your head first. 528 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,680 Shave your head first because I glue that stuff to your head to check your body and that 529 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:22,280 was not fun. 530 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:29,640 So yeah, I've survived that and I actually spent Thanksgiving dinner that year with all 531 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:36,680 the homeless guys at a big homeless church dinner and then went and spent the day with 532 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:42,200 the homeless downtown and then went to another homeless shelter to get to know a bunch of 533 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:43,200 people. 534 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:49,240 So like I was a legit homeless and becoming a homeless guy staying at a shelter. 535 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:55,160 And after a while, so they do offer like a way out for people, but these are people who 536 00:30:55,160 --> 00:31:00,600 don't have like any life experience as far as jobs go, things like that. 537 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,280 Like I felt like I don't need to do that. 538 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:08,120 I don't need your 12 month class to get out of here and go get a job. 539 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:12,840 I'm overqualified because you had to wait tables and serve drinks. 540 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:17,840 I could have done that or go back to managing all that, which that's coming. 541 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:18,840 Yeah. 542 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:23,640 It got to a point where I'm like, well, every day, like somebody's name gets called and 543 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,040 you're, so there's like step ups. 544 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:30,560 Like at this point, you're sleeping every night in a room with a hundred other guys, 545 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:36,200 a fold out cow, like an army cot that you put away every night and set up every night. 546 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:37,200 Super comfortable. 547 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:38,400 You're lucky if you get a blanket. 548 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:43,960 You're lucky, you know, like you're sleeping on your clothes and all that. 549 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:49,200 And do laundry once a week, which half your stuff gets taken. 550 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:50,200 That was fun. 551 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:54,640 It was like a couple of weeks into it and I'm like, why is my name not getting called? 552 00:31:54,640 --> 00:32:00,040 Why am I, I know so and so like I'm friends with all the guys who have moved out of here. 553 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:01,680 Like, and I thought about it. 554 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:03,920 I was like, well, I don't want to do that. 555 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:08,240 Do I go and say anything to anybody or do I just sit here until I can figure a way out 556 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:09,240 of here? 557 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:14,160 And pretty much it came to that point where like, they forgot about you just like that. 558 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:15,160 Yeah. 559 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:19,600 So, and all of a sudden one day is like, I think I actually went and said, all right, 560 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:20,960 well, I got to get out of here. 561 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:25,160 Let me at least take a class or can I get out and get a job or part time something or 562 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:26,160 other. 563 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:28,800 And so I'm still like, there's no exercise. 564 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:33,080 There's nothing like that, but I am loving the services. 565 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:34,680 I'm loving the worship nights. 566 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:39,080 There are days where I'm spending right after service and I don't care who's walking by 567 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:45,880 me on the cement steps on my knees after praying and thanking God like for bringing me out of 568 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:48,880 there, but now get me out of here. 569 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:49,880 Right. 570 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:54,000 So, right before Christmas, like they weren't going to let me out for Christmas because 571 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,080 I wasn't at that point with them. 572 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:59,160 I'm like, wait, I've been here for this long, you're not going to let me out. 573 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:00,160 I'll return tomorrow. 574 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,720 I've got nowhere else to go. 575 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:06,760 And I did say something to somebody and they're like, well, we're kicking you out because 576 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:09,440 you're 30 days or whatever, 60 days is up. 577 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:13,960 Like, I'm like, well, nobody came and talked to me about doing the work program thinking, 578 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:16,640 okay, get me another week in here. 579 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:20,360 So because I haven't figured it out yet. 580 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:26,120 And they said, okay, well, then I was like, started taking like a class with a bunch of 581 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:30,480 rehabilitating drug people and I'm like, this isn't me. 582 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:32,280 I don't need this. 583 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:34,040 I don't need to be here. 584 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:40,400 And of course I did, but not in the same sense as they did like heroin addicts. 585 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:46,000 Like, yeah, that's, I need like somebody to talk to me about alcohol if I needed anything. 586 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:51,480 But at this point, I still am not, I have no desire and to this day, it doesn't matter 587 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:53,920 where I'm at, what I'm doing, what I'm around. 588 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:55,520 I don't have the desire for it. 589 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:58,680 I don't have that gut feeling like I need a drink. 590 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:02,120 I need, so God, and this is six years later. 591 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:03,440 So I was like, all right, I'm out of here. 592 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:08,840 I like somehow tired of trading smokes and scratching off lottery tickets. 593 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:11,160 I got to get out of here. 594 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:17,320 But the way God provides even to have my cigarettes or a dollar for a scratch off every single 595 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:21,640 day that I was in there and nobody giving me money, like I'm not earning money every 596 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:22,640 day. 597 00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:23,640 How is this happening? 598 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:24,640 Right? 599 00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:26,360 $15 can go a long way. 600 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:27,840 So call mom. 601 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,240 I'm like, mom, I got to get out of here. 602 00:34:30,240 --> 00:34:36,480 Like these people are like, they should all be in prison. 603 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:40,440 I've seen some good stuff happen with a lot of guys in there and God coming through for 604 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:41,760 a lot of guys in there. 605 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:46,360 So I know it was a good place and I know the work that they do is great. 606 00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:52,600 And I did keep in touch for a little while with a few guys, but they just disappeared. 607 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:54,560 But so I get to go to mom's house. 608 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:57,080 So mom's like, yeah, okay, fine. 609 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:58,080 Living the basement. 610 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:01,400 So the basement's been lived in by me. 611 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:05,200 My sister's like, so it's like, it's pretty comfortable down there. 612 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:09,360 So I set it up and bed down there and that kind of stuff. 613 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:10,760 So I'm getting healthy. 614 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:16,760 Like, and my mom and I feel like they kind of needed me, like I needed them for the time 615 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:17,760 being. 616 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:18,760 Like I was over there. 617 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:21,480 I was cooking for them every single day. 618 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:25,200 And across the street was a gym, plant a fitness. 619 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:32,440 So I joined plant fitness and went and every day I'd go to plant a fitness, whether I was 620 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:37,880 just getting on the treadmill, but this time, 60 pounds gone. 621 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,280 So working at it, working at it. 622 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:44,640 I don't remember the weight that I got to by the time I left mom's after six months, 623 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,760 but it was definitely under 300. 624 00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:53,200 So I start looking for a job as I'm feeling like I'm healthy enough to do that. 625 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:54,200 What am I going to do? 626 00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:57,880 Like, all I can look for is restaurant stuff. 627 00:35:57,880 --> 00:35:59,520 That's all I know. 628 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:04,440 So I ended up, like, I think it was in a newspaper, which is really weird because at this point, 629 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:06,920 I mean, we're, this is only six years ago. 630 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:09,200 So you think you'd be online or whatever. 631 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:16,280 And there was an ad for like a camp host type person, like this little place. 632 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:18,240 I hope it's still, it is still there. 633 00:36:18,240 --> 00:36:19,800 I hope it's the same owners. 634 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:26,760 I'm not really sure, but Firefly Beach Resort on Lake Erie, this awesome little place. 635 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:32,640 Campers had these little cabins, a couple acres, like right on the lake, and they had 636 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:35,240 a bar restaurant. 637 00:36:35,240 --> 00:36:40,600 And I told them, like, part of my story, like, I do not want to work in your bar, but I will 638 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:43,520 come and take care of people because I do that well. 639 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:45,280 I can cut grass, all that stuff. 640 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:49,200 So after a few interviews and in the wintertime, this was still in the winter. 641 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:51,440 So right after Christmas, I got the job. 642 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:53,000 So I'm all excited. 643 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:54,360 And I got it like a month ago. 644 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:59,080 I get nice and healthy, be able to do all this stuff. 645 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:01,640 And I move out to this place. 646 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:03,360 I buy a camper. 647 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:04,600 Like a Mary. 648 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:05,600 I love you. 649 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:06,920 Thank you. 650 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:14,840 My friend Mary threw me like 15 or 1700 bucks to buy this broken up camper that basically 651 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:19,080 got dropped off by the guy who owned it that just towed it there. 652 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:20,320 And I fixed it up. 653 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:23,800 It made it really nice and made the outside of it really nice. 654 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:27,840 And for the next year, I was living in this camper on the lake and doing what I thought 655 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:29,640 I was supposed to be doing. 656 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:30,840 So I'm like, all right. 657 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:34,560 I'm like, God showed me like I can do something else. 658 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:40,280 And then about a month into it, the guy that they hired to reopen this bar restaurant is 659 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:41,280 a flake. 660 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:45,560 And I'm sorry, Eric, if you ever hear this, I hope to God you're sober now. 661 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:53,280 And I hope that you found Jesus because you are terrible. 662 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:56,360 So he can't handle the whole thing. 663 00:37:56,360 --> 00:38:00,000 So they asked me if I'd run the bar, run the bar. 664 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:01,120 I'm like, sure. 665 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:05,320 I need to make money because you're not paying me enough money. 666 00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:08,480 Ended up being a fantastic summer. 667 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:10,680 I'm behind the bar the whole time. 668 00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:11,960 I'm helping in the kitchen. 669 00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:18,240 I'm like, basically the place just becomes mine, which is kind of how, you know, been 670 00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:21,280 before my atmosphere, my bar. 671 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:23,640 Any temptations come while you're doing that? 672 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:25,200 No, no. 673 00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:32,240 It was not crazy, but I see it now, like I know it was God because I had no desire, 674 00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:36,280 but I did have an opportunity to tell some of this testimony to people sitting at the 675 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:38,000 bar in that area. 676 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:39,840 It's all like summertime community. 677 00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:45,480 So people are there either every day or they're in for the weekends with their kids. 678 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:49,400 So like, I got to meet and become friends with all these people. 679 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:52,480 I don't really talk to anybody anymore because I'm here. 680 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:55,440 I can't believe I'm here. 681 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:56,440 Last place on earth. 682 00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:57,440 Stealer country. 683 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:01,600 Last place on earth, but God definitely has a plan. 684 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:04,720 So yeah, I was running this place. 685 00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:06,720 Tiki bar kind of atmosphere. 686 00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:11,400 So a lot of fruity mixed drinks, some lots that I never made before. 687 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:14,240 So I actually would be like, taste with the straw. 688 00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:16,760 Does this taste like it's supposed to? 689 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,840 Or, you know, like, does this taste good? 690 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:22,640 You know, making stuff up didn't bother me. 691 00:39:22,640 --> 00:39:24,520 Never, you know, like, oh, I'm getting a buzz. 692 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:25,520 No, it wasn't like that. 693 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:27,520 It was like, whatever. 694 00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:32,120 Stocking beer one time and we had only cans at one point. 695 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:36,640 Can dropped and hit something in the cooler and exploded. 696 00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:37,640 Shot into my mouth. 697 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:41,240 So that was like, yeah, that was the only alcohols. 698 00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:47,560 And then one time my sister gave me some cold medicine and forgot that it was, and I was 699 00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:52,440 like, what was in that because my whole face just lit up on fire. 700 00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:53,560 Oh, I'm sorry. 701 00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:57,760 I forgot that's the one with the alcohol on it. 702 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:05,400 Yeah, so yeah, it's been four years, I think now since I smoked pot once around the fire 703 00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:11,120 with I won't bust Jack, but the people I love. 704 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:14,760 We don't judge, but we understand that others that might listen might. 705 00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:20,560 Now they don't, whatever today and everybody's smoking weed in this world. 706 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:21,560 Nobody cares. 707 00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:27,120 When it helps people with their pain and it does and the CBD is amazing. 708 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:29,200 And I knew that a long time ago. 709 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:36,120 And yeah, I mean, with cancers from, you know, all kinds of different things. 710 00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:39,440 And I think it's, it's, you know, it's a plant. 711 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:43,640 God gave us at some point, man, just turn it into something that wasn't supposed to 712 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:44,640 be. 713 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:46,120 Yeah, it just freaked me out. 714 00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:47,240 Like I was sitting there. 715 00:40:47,240 --> 00:40:53,000 My, the people I was with put on love to do their little live streams on Facebook. 716 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:57,240 So hey, everybody, we're sitting by the fire. 717 00:40:57,240 --> 00:40:58,680 I was like, turn that thing off. 718 00:40:58,680 --> 00:40:59,840 I was super paranoid. 719 00:40:59,840 --> 00:41:02,320 I was like, I don't need this anymore. 720 00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:03,560 I don't need it anymore. 721 00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:08,080 And I don't think that I've tried since then. 722 00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:09,760 So through it all. 723 00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:10,760 Yeah. 724 00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:11,760 And then Pittsburgh. 725 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:15,160 He's like, Hey, I've been talking to Uncle Larry. 726 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:19,120 You want to go check out his roofing business in Pittsburgh? 727 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:22,200 I'm like, well, I'm like, it's a way out, right? 728 00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:23,440 It's not the bar business. 729 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:27,160 And it's winter now in a place that only survives in the summer. 730 00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,280 So yeah, let's go check out. 731 00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:33,800 I have been in Pittsburgh now, I think five years. 732 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:36,880 This is the first time I've been in Pittsburgh. 733 00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:43,280 Check out, I have been in Pittsburgh now, I think five years this January. 734 00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:49,000 And as soon as I got here, I found a church and I did at the, you know, after the homeless 735 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:54,120 shelter, find church and really start to look at towards the Lord. 736 00:41:54,120 --> 00:42:02,000 And the difference between me then and now is only because of him and completely set 737 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:03,000 free. 738 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:05,520 I do not have COPD. 739 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:09,560 I do not am not affected by congestive heart failure. 740 00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:11,960 My heart pumped perfectly. 741 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:12,960 Praise Jesus. 742 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:16,360 Still no problems with the liver blows away. 743 00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:18,880 I do not have a problem sleeping. 744 00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:20,360 I do not snore anymore. 745 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:24,560 I do not wake up in the middle of night gasping for air. 746 00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:30,240 So I say I'm healed from all of that sleep apnea, all of that. 747 00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:31,480 That's great. 748 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:32,480 Completely healed. 749 00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:36,200 Of course, you know, I owe it all to him. 750 00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:37,200 Absolutely all to him. 751 00:42:37,200 --> 00:42:41,280 Do you ever wonder like maybe God is giving you the Noah treatment? 752 00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:47,520 Like it seemed like he forgot about you, but then he remembered. 753 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:51,320 Like I, a little bit like I think about that, like why? 754 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:53,720 Well, what I want to know is why? 755 00:42:53,720 --> 00:42:58,440 Like I, and I remind, but I don't want to know, but I know that's what has built my 756 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:03,360 faith and why I can wake up every day and know that God has something better for me 757 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:05,800 is because why did you bring me through all of that? 758 00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:12,000 Let me do all that for myself and, and almost lose my family, almost lose, you know, everything 759 00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:16,780 and beyond the streets and not know it. 760 00:43:16,780 --> 00:43:22,040 And then here I am today sitting here and I'm a big part of my church. 761 00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:23,800 I'm a leader for middle school kids. 762 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:26,520 I am part of our men's ministry. 763 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:28,760 I'm a, you know, it was a greeter. 764 00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:30,320 It all started with greeting. 765 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:33,800 Everybody become a greeter, especially if you're new at a church. 766 00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:35,640 It's a great way to meet people. 767 00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:37,440 I wasn't going to do any of that. 768 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:42,720 I got, I got suckered in the children's ministry and you love it. 769 00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:43,720 You know it. 770 00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:48,440 So like the Lord has absolutely blessed me and working for four years with uncle Larry, 771 00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:50,960 he taught me enough to go out on my own. 772 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:59,960 I'm just started my second year with a roofing, siding, gutters, uh, saw fit, fascia, all exterior 773 00:43:59,960 --> 00:44:03,160 home improvement, painting company. 774 00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:06,720 It's not where I want it to be, but he keeps showing up through it all. 775 00:44:06,720 --> 00:44:10,040 Every time I want to say, why am I doing this? 776 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:11,040 He says here. 777 00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:16,920 Have you ever heard the phrase, it's an old phrase that one often meets his destiny on 778 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:17,920 the road. 779 00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:18,920 He takes to avoid it. 780 00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:21,280 I think you could replace destiny with God. 781 00:44:21,280 --> 00:44:25,120 And one often meets God on the road he takes to avoid him. 782 00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:26,600 God is our destiny. 783 00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:29,920 And so when you were at these moments and you're wondering, you know, why did I go through 784 00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:30,920 this or why? 785 00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:35,000 That's because you were avoiding him and he still met you on that path. 786 00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:36,000 Absolutely. 787 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:39,680 I think it's wonderful that he created us for relationship and that he wanted you so 788 00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:43,960 much that he refused to let you ruin it for him. 789 00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:44,960 Right. 790 00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:46,480 And he's still refusing. 791 00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:47,480 Yeah. 792 00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:48,480 For all of us. 793 00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:51,680 It's just like when you gave your heart to him, when you were, was it 14? 794 00:44:51,680 --> 00:44:52,680 12. 795 00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:57,120 12, that he took it seriously, even though you couldn't honor it then. 796 00:44:57,120 --> 00:45:00,960 And he held you to that standard the entire time and brought you back to him. 797 00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:01,960 What do they say? 798 00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:04,840 If you're in his hands, nothing can take you out of it. 799 00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:05,840 Pretty awesome. 800 00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:06,840 It is. 801 00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:07,840 It is pretty awesome. 802 00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:08,840 It is pretty awesome. 803 00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:11,240 Joe, you want to thank you so much for being on our show tonight. 804 00:45:11,240 --> 00:45:12,280 I really appreciate you. 805 00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:13,280 I love you. 806 00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:15,160 It was an instant connection when I met you. 807 00:45:15,160 --> 00:45:16,160 Absolutely. 808 00:45:16,160 --> 00:45:17,160 That person. 809 00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:18,160 Even though you talk so much. 810 00:45:18,160 --> 00:45:19,160 My goodness. 811 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:23,120 I said so much, not too much. 812 00:45:23,120 --> 00:45:26,560 You guys are all in for a treat for the rest of these podcasts. 813 00:45:26,560 --> 00:45:30,080 We're in for a treat for the rest of our lives, don't we know you? 814 00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:31,080 Me too. 815 00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:32,720 I am blessed to know you both. 816 00:45:32,720 --> 00:45:33,720 Absolutely. 817 00:45:33,720 --> 00:45:34,720 And I thank you. 818 00:45:34,720 --> 00:45:35,720 Thank you. 819 00:45:35,720 --> 00:45:37,120 And thank God for this opportunity. 820 00:45:37,120 --> 00:45:38,120 Absolutely. 821 00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:39,120 Thank you. 822 00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:43,360 I appreciate you taking the time to have us over and recording with us and sharing this 823 00:45:43,360 --> 00:45:48,360 testimony from that mess into a message. 824 00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:49,360 Wonderful. 825 00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:55,680 And if this episode has blessed you in any way whatsoever and you just feel reminded of 826 00:45:55,680 --> 00:46:00,160 somebody comes to your mind, if you could share it with them, that would be a blessing. 827 00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:02,440 God works through all of us in little ways. 828 00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:07,360 You don't have to do a whole podcast or a sermon to help somebody, but just you thought 829 00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:08,920 of them, here's a podcast. 830 00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:10,240 You might like it. 831 00:46:10,240 --> 00:46:13,080 So if you could do that, that would be wonderful. 832 00:46:13,080 --> 00:46:17,120 And we appreciate you taking the time out of your day to listen to us and we'll talk 833 00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:43,800 to you next time.