Podcasts about Roanoke

ROANOKE, VIRGINIA: The morning of Friday, October 25, 2013, began as usual for Christopher Douthat. His mom dropped him off at work around 6:30 a.m., and said she'd see him later.The crew finished early that day, and Chris had time to kill until 5:00 p.m., when a friend was going to pick him up.His movements were traceable that afternoon- via phone records- and they were typical. Until they abruptly stopped around 4:30 p.m.While on the phone, he said he saw someone he knew, and the phone disconnected.Chris hasn't been seen or heard from, since.Where is Christopher Douthat?MISSING CHRISTOPHER DOUTHAT Facebook Page The Where are they? Podcast can be found on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter with regular case updates.Follow us for case updates & information: Facebook: www.facebook.com/wherearetheypodcast Instagram: @thewherearetheypodcast Email me: Canwefindthem@gmail.com Join our online detective group at Patreon & help support the families of the missing: ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/wherearetheypodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠Support our mission: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wherearethey⁠⁠

Book Besties Season 10 Episode 4: SlewfootThis week the Besties are joined by the one and only Francesca Zappia as we talk about the dark and twisty Slewfoot. Join the Besties and Chessie as they talk about this witchy historical horror, April makes it clear Molly forced her to read this, and somehow everyone has a desk sword but Molly.Things talked about in this episode:Bunny Shifter Books : https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/bunny-shifterThe Lost City of Roanoke: https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/discover/resource-hub/trend-tradition-magazine/trend-tradition-spring-2025/lost-colony/All things Chessie: https://www.francescazappia.com/Slewfoot artwork: https://www.bromart.com/novelsMeet Molly and April, they bonded over books and became Book Besties. So, what do you do when you find your book bestie? Start a podcast of course. Hang out with April and Molly as they talk about everything they love and hate about books. Follow the Book Besties on Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube. If you'd like to contact the Book Besties, please email us at bookbestiespod@gmail.com or visit our website bookbestiespodcast.com. This episode is sponsored by Carpe Librium: Bookish Things for Bookish People. Use the code besties10 to save 10% off your total order through February at https://beawesomereadbooks.com

In this episode of “Why I Teach,” Dr. Kimberly D. McCorkle, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), sits down with Dr. Kevin E. O'Donnell, Professor of English and recipient of the 2024 Stephen L. Fisher Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Appalachian Studies Association. With more than 30 years of experience teaching literature, composition, and environmental writing, Dr. O'Donnell shares insights on storytelling, writing pedagogy, the impact of technology in the classroom, and the power of honesty in writing. He also discusses teaching The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green, Appalachian literature such as Serena by Ron Rash, and his upcoming book, The Woodlands of the Mind: Rambles Through Campus Forests. Find out more: ETSU Common Read: https://www.etsu.edu/provost/common-read.php ETSU Festival of Ideas: https://www.etsu.edu/festival/ ETSU College of Arts and Sciences: https://www.etsu.edu/cas/ Podcast Transcript:  [Music] Dr. Kevin O'Donnell I love John Green's writing for one thing. It's really accessible. His voice draws you in. He starts with these quirky topics. He'll be writing about Super Mario Kart. Within a few pages, he's talking about community and luck versus skill, and these bigger issues. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Hi, I'm Kimberly McCorkle, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at East Tennessee State University. From the moment I arrived on this campus, I have been inspired by our faculty, their passion for what they do, their belief in the power of higher education, and the way they are transforming the lives of their students. This podcast is dedicated to them: Our incredible faculty at ETSU. Hear their stories as they tell us why I teach. In this episode, we will sit down with Dr. Kevin E. O'Donnell, Professor of English and recipient of the 2024 Stephen L. Fisher Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Appalachian Studies Association. A native of Northeast Ohio, Dr. O'Donnell earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and has taught at ETSU for more than 30 years. His courses include Advanced Composition, American Literature, Literary Nonfiction, and Environmental Writing. He's the author of numerous publications, including Seekers of Scenery: Travel Writing from Southern Appalachia, co-authored with Helen Hollingsworth. This year, he looks forward to the release of a new book, co-written with his ETSU colleague, Dr. Scott Honeycutt, titled The Woodlands of the Mind: Rambles Through Campus Forests. Enjoy the show. Dr. O'Donnell, welcome to the show. I start my podcast with the same question for every guest. Take me back to your first day as a faculty member at ETSU, and looking back on that day, what is one piece of advice that you would have given yourself? Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Well, it's a great question. I have to think back and see if I can remember 30 years. It's half a lifetime ago, you know. But if I could give myself advice, I would say, young Kevin, trust the process. With writing, it's so challenging. You get papers from the students, especially in the first-year classes on the first day. And they've got all kinds of issues, and the first thing you see are the problems when you read them, and you want to fix everything. But just trust the process. You know, if they've got 15 weeks, if they get four or five good writing experiences, including revision and feedback, and over the course of 15 weeks, you can do a lot. Yeah. Thank you. Reflecting on your 30-plus years in the classroom here, how has your approach to teaching literature and composition changed over the years? Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Yeah, that's kind of a related question. I don't think my philosophy has changed, but a lot of the technology has changed. I mean, I kind of developed the belief in grad school that you learn to write by having an audience, writing for audiences. But 30 years ago, typically, students would print one copy, and if you were lucky, you could circulate it, do some group work and stuff, but you couldn't publish it. And then with the development of the internet, making easier access to the internet available, I started publishing my students' work on the web, and then they started publishing their own, and you get it out in front of an audience a lot more. And that's great for writing pedagogy. And then multimedia, doing this kind of stuff, like the Whisper Room over in... We were talking about that earlier over in the Innovation Commons. Yeah. I've had my students doing that, so that's part of writing now, I think, is multimedia. You can't just think of it as words on a page. Typically, anything, it's words on a screen, and then the spoken word component, recording. So that's changed how I teach a lot. I'll have my students do an audio piece and then post it on YouTube, say. That's what they did last semester. They must enjoy that. Dr. Kevin O'Donnell The response to it was great. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle   How do you see the connection between storytelling and how we understand our environment, culture, and region? Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Yeah, storytelling, I mean, it's... You could argue that all understanding is narrative. Like, people understand things in terms of people in places doing things, which is character-setting-plot, you know? So with the Environmental Studies minor, there's a required course that's environmental writing. We get students who are being trained in science, like biologists, who take that minor, and they come in and read some environmental literature, and you've got these science writers using narrative to make sense of the science. So I think it's a crucial component. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Which literary work or author has been especially rewarding for you to teach over the years, and why? Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Yeah, I love that question. There's been a lot of them. I'm teaching a book this semester, a 2008 novel by Ron Rash called Serena, which is a super well-written, super fun novel, but it takes place in Haywood County, North Carolina, in the 1920s when the Smokies were being logged. So it's set against the backdrop of this huge natural resource extraction story that shaped Appalachia, the logging of the great Appalachian forest. But it's also really dramatic. It's got these tightly written chapters. There's some great villains and some shocking murders, and it's a great book. And Ron Rash is coming to our literary festival in April. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Fantastic. Dr. Kevin O'Donnell So students are reading that novel, and I've taught that four or five times over the years, and it's a great, great book for an environmental writing class. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Is he a regional author? Dr. Kevin O'Donnell He's at Western Carolina. He's down in Cullowhee. He's probably about ready to retire, but he grew up in upstate South Carolina. And yeah, he's a great writer. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle It must be great for students to connect to a book that's about the region. Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Yeah, and a lot of students didn't know the story that it tells, and people know the area, recognize places where scenes take place. Yeah, so it's great. That's a good one. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Earlier this year, you presented an outstanding lecture to kick off this year's Common Read, The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. What about that book resonated with you, and why do you think it was a good fit for ETSU's campus community? Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Yeah, I think it was a great fit, or it seems to be getting a good response from students. And part of it, for 15 years or more, I was a fan of the Vlogbrothers. They do their YouTube science stuff. And the format is, it's basically the essay format. You've got two, 3,000 words. I love John Green's writing, for one thing. It's really accessible. His voice draws you in. And he starts with these quirky topics. Like he'll be writing about Super Mario Kart. And within a few pages, he's talking about community and luck versus skill and these bigger issues. And so I like that they're inviting, these essays are inviting and they draw you in. They're really accessible. You can read one in 15 minutes. And the five-star review format is kind of fun. Like that, my students want to write those. You give that as a writing assignment. Here's an essay, you're going to make it ostensibly a review of something. That you're going to give five stars. So your job is to evaluate. Students like it. So I think it was a good choice. I'm excited about him. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle That's great, yeah. I know, as you said, a lot of students are excited. They've connected to his work for a long time. Students who've said he taught them what they know about history, for instance. As you know, we are excited to be able to welcome John Green to campus in just a few days to speak at the ETSU Festival of Ideas. From your experience, how does engaging with an author and hearing them talk about their work deepen students' connections to a text compared to just reading it in a classroom? Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Yeah, I think it's a big deal. It can change your relationship to the text. It sure humanizes it, you know? One thing about reading, even if you're reading for a class, reading seems like a really solitary activity. You go to your quiet space and you're sitting by yourself. But then these students are going to come together and see hundreds of other people who have also connected with the same text and see the author. It just makes it very visceral, the sense of how social reading is, even though it feels solitary in some ways it is, but it's a deeply social act. And I think one of the things I'm excited about is it's fun seeing other people who are excited about writing that you're excited about. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Right, yeah. Feels like you're in a community of readers when you watch an author talk about their work. Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Right. Yeah, yeah. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle As I mentioned in the introduction, you have a book coming out this year. Will you please share a preview of The Woodlands of the Mind and a bit about what inspired you and Dr. Honeycutt to write the book? Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Yeah, thanks for asking about that. So it was really inspired by the ETSU campus. We've got, well, you know about University Woods south of the railroad bypass there. We've got 30 acres of, couple dozen at least ancient oak trees up there. And it's a really special place. And Scott Honeycutt and I, for years we'd been taking our students over there to do classrooms and to do awareness stuff and to do walks. And back in 2018, I think it was before COVID, we wrote a small grant and brought an author to class, author to campus rather, Joan Maloof, who is a biologist from Maryland who's also written some very good books, including one that Scott and I are fans of called "Among the Ancients" where she goes around and visits different old, remnant old growth forests and writes about them, but also writes about regional history and natural history. So we brought her to campus. It turns out she's the founding director of the Old-Growth Forest Network. And long story short, she came to campus, did a public nature walk with people over in the woods and then did a talk in the evening at the old East Tennessee Room and generated a lot of excitement, which led to us forming an ad-hoc committee to see if we can get the University Woods to be part of the Old-Growth Forest Network. As a community forest, Dr. Noland, our awesome president, was very supportive of this. So long story short, later that spring, Joan came back on her own dime for a dedication ceremony we did where Dr. Noland spoke and read a little poem on some other people, and we designated it as a community forest. So that experience, Scott and I to look around and it turns out a lot of universities have often old-growth remnants, which are rare attached to their property, partly because of the history of universities and land use, especially in the East. So we started learning about these places. So we thought, well, no one's written about this. So we've selected 15 places from Rome up to Maine, some small colleges, some bigger schools, like Virginia Tech and Penn State. And we split them up and we went around and wrote, kind of inspired by Joan Maloof, these travel essays with history, natural history, and we package them together and sent our proposal to the University of Georgia Press, and the editor called us back the next day and said she wanted to publish it. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Congratulations. Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Yeah, thanks. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Look forward to reading it. Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Awesome. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle What books do you have on your to-read pile and do you have any favorite books or authors that you'd recommend for consideration for future common reads at ETSU? Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Right. Yeah, my to-read pile is pretty big and half of them I never get to. I own a lot of books I've never read. I'm glad to hear that it makes me feel less guilty. But something about owning them, I hope that maybe I'll soak up. I don't know. And even better if you put them on your bedside table to look at you, yes, yeah. Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Yes, one I was thinking about that I read recently is Beth Macy who is, she wrote a book called Dopesick that the Hulu miniseries starring Michael Keaton was based on, was pretty much directly from that book. And it's a great book. But more recently in the fall, she came out with a book called Paper Girl. It's sort of a memoir she tells about growing up underprivileged in rural Ohio and then goes back there now and finds a version of herself and to look at how kids don't have the same opportunities, basically, young people. And in the process she's also talking about being a journalist and how people respond or don't respond to journalism and conspiracy theorizing has sort of moved into the vacuum where journalism has moved out of and which sounds all serious, but it's a fun book and it got a lot of attention in the fall. That one, she lives down at Roanoke. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Interesting. Dr. Kevin O'Donnell We should get her up here. That would be a good one. But my dream author would be Elizabeth Kolbert. She's a New Yorker magazine writer who probably about 10 years ago she published a book called The Sixth Extinction which won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction which is an amazing book. It's about the planet that is currently undergoing a major extinction event, which is a grim topic. But she writes these essays where she goes around and talks to people and they're really engaging. She's the best science writer I know and she's a best seller. I think there'd be enthusiasm about her. She's got a new book, which is a collection of her New Yorker essays. So Elizabeth Kolbert--I don't know if we could get her. I don't know if she does campus visits but she'd be a good get. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Great suggestions. Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Yeah. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Finally, what impact do you hope you've made on your students? Dr. Kevin O'Donnell Gosh, that's a big one. Been thinking about that a lot now that I'm 30 years into this. I would hope when my students leave my class they understand that good writing is about honesty. Because I think students come in and when they're supposed to do academic writing they feel like they need to adopt this persona that's the voice of authority. And they don't feel confident in that authority. So they put on a role. And that, as much as anything, leads to tangled sentences and unclear writing. But if you can be honest about your relationship to your material and your audience, and in a simple way, not like deep profound, doesn't have to be deep profound honesty, but that's honesty is what good writing is about. That's, I would hope students would leave my class with that understanding. Dr. Kimerly D. McCorkle Dr. O'Donnell, it's been a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you for your thoughtful reflections on teaching, literature, and the Common Read experience. Thank you for the way you engage your students with literature. I'm looking forward to adding your new book to my reading list this year. Thanks for listening to "Why I Teach." For more information about Dr. O'Donnell, the College of Arts and Sciences, or this podcast series, visit the ETSU Provost website at etsu.edu slash Provost. You can follow me on social media at ETSU Provost. And if you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to like and subscribe to "Why I Teach" wherever you listen to podcasts. (soft music)  

Andrew Kehoe's twisted vendetta against a small Michigan town led to a tragedy so horrifying, its echoes still haunt Bath, Michigan to this day—both in memory and hauntings.*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*IN THIS EPISODE: After spending ten years in prison, Sam Sheppard was acquitted of his wife's murder. But for some, questions remain. (The Shocking Twists Of The Sam Sheppard Case) *** “If this stone is real, it's the most significant artifact in American history of early European settlement,” said geologist Ed Schrader. “If it's not, it's one of the most magnificent forgeries of all time.” Could the 430 year mystery of what happened to the colony of Roanoke finally be solved? (430 Year Mystery of Lost Colony of Roanoke Finally Solved) *** I'll tell you about the horrors and hauntings of the Bath School Massacre in 1872. (Hell Came to Bath, Michigan)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:52.622 = Show Open00:03:18.395 = Hell Came To Bath Michigan, Part 100:13:17.524 = Hell Came To Bath Michigan, Part 2 ***00:34:39.632 = The Mystery of Lost Roanoke Finally Solved? ***00:40:09.008 = Sam Shepphard: The Wrong Man00:53:02.977 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakHELPFUL LINKS & RESOURCES…https://WeirdDarkness.com/STORE = Tees, Mugs, Socks, Hoodies, Totes, Hats, Kidswear & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE = Hope For Depression or Thoughts of Self-Harmhttps://WeirdDarkness.com/NEWSLETTER = In-Depth Articles, Memes, Weird DarkNEWS, Videos & Morehttps://WeirdDarkness.com/AUDIOBOOKS = FREE Audiobooks Narrated By Darren Marlar SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Hell Came to Bath Michigan” by Troy Taylor and Rene Kruse from the book “A Pale Horse Was Death”:https://amzn.to/2udv3OZ“The Mystery Of Lost Roanoke Finally Solved?” by Kara Goldfarb for All That's Interesting: http://bit.ly/33i3WRN“Sam Shepphard: The Wrong Man” by Orrin Grey for The Line Up: http://bit.ly/33qv2X7 (with an excerpt from the book, “The Wrong Man” by James Neff also used in this story: https://amzn.to/2NHNgfu)=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: July 11, 2018EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/BathMIABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all things strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold cases, conspiracy theories, and more. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “20 Best Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a blend of “Coast to Coast AM”, “The Twilight Zone”, “Unsolved Mysteries”, and “In Search Of”.DISCLAIMER: Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.#WeirdDarkness #BathSchoolMassacre #AndrewKehoe #TrueCrime #DarkHistory #ForgottenHistory #SchoolBombing #MichiganHistory #TrueCrimeHistory #HistoricalCrimes #MassMurder #DarkAmericanHistory #ParanormalMichigan #HauntedMichigan #GhostStories #TrueCrimePodcast #CriminalHistory #SchoolDisaster #AmericanHistory #UnsolvedHistory #ColdCaseHistory #HauntedPlaces #GhostChildren #RealHauntings #CreepyHistory #MorbidHistory #HistoricalAtrocities #WeirdHistory #DarknessPodcast #TrueCrimeHorror

Thu, Feb 19 4:25 AM → 4:25 AM Rescue 7 has an open microphone for about 25 seconds. You can hear some kind of breathing then control advising of an open mic then a giggle then a mic close. Radio Systems: - Roanoke Valley Radio System II

This week Abby and Alan discuss the real history of the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island, from the first English expeditions to the colony's unexplained disappearance in 1590.We talk through the major historical theories, including integration with Indigenous tribes, disease, violence, the supernatural and failed rescue attempts. Finally, we explore how this mystery shaped modern horror, including references in Storm of the Century by Stephen King and American Horror Story.Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord. Check out Abby's book Horror Stories. Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep.Support your favorite podcast by wearing some haunting and highly specific clothing. Check out our merch store here. Consider joining our Patreon for bonus episodes, spooky literature and deep dives into horror and history. Click here to learn more. Consider donating and volunteering with organizations like National Immigration Project, Immigrant Defense Project, Legal Aid Justice Center, Amica Center and the ACLU. Thanks to a post by @thefinancialdiet for originally shouting out this information. Support the show

Jay Brooks with Paul Davis Restoration of Lynchburg, Roanoke & Southside, VA, shares how the company was established locally, inspired by the owners' strong family ties and commitment to community service. He discusses the challenges of standing out in a competitive market, how his military background shaped the company's values, and the strategies they use to build trust through local engagement and effective marketing. Jay also highlights the rewarding experience of helping families recover after disasters and addresses common misconceptions about restoration services.

May Pang is our guest this week on The City's Backyard Podcast! Few people knew John Lennon as intimately as May Pang. Pang was Lennon's lover during the infamous “Lost Weekend” which lasted 18 months. During this creative time for Lennon, Pang took candid photos of Lennon in a comfortable, relaxed environment.Matt Zako interviews May about her relationship with John Lennon, her documentary called The Lost Weekend and the May Pang "The Lost Weekend" photo exhibition! Check out the May Pang “The Lost Weekend” photo exhibition. Free Admission, All Photographs available for purchase. May Pang will be in attendance.***Please note – As per gallery requirements, May can only autograph items purchased at the exhibition.Friday, February 20 – Sunday, February 22, 2026Athens, GA (Winterville, GA)Winterville Cultural Center, 371 N. Church St, Winterville, GA“The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang” featuring May Pang appearanceHours: Friday 4p-8p, Saturday 12p-6p & Sunday 1p-5pTuesday, February 24 & Wednesday, February 25Roswell, GA (Atlanta area)“The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang” featuring appearance by May PangMimms Museum of Technology & Art, 5000 Commerce Parkway, Roswell, GAHours: 12p – 7pFriday, February 27 – Sunday, March 1Macon, GA“The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang” featuring May Pang appearanceGallery West, 447 3rd Street, Macon, GAHours: Friday 12p – 7p (opening reception 5p – 7p), Saturday 11a – 5p & Sunday, 12p – 4pFriday, March 13 – Sunday, March 15Jacksonville, FLGallery 725, 13475 Atlantic Blvd, Jacksonville, FL“The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang” featuring May Pang appearanceHours: Friday 5p – 8p, Saturday 1p – 6p and Sunday 12p – 4pFriday, March 20 – Sunday, March 22, 2026Winter Garden, FL (Orlando, FL)The Grotto at Stoneybrook West, 12572 Stoneybrook West Pkwy, Winter Garden, FL“The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang” featuring May Pang appearanceHours: Friday 4p – 7p, Saturday 12p – 6p & Sunday, 12p – 4pSaturday, March 28 – Saturday, April 4“Flower Power Cruise featuring the Beach Boys, Rascals, Micky Dolenz, Tommy James, Cowsills & more!Fort Lauderdale, FLFriday, April 17 – Sunday, April 19, 2026Roanoke, VAWilson Hughes Gallery, 117 Campbell Ave SW, Roanoke, VA“The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang” featuring May Pang appearanceHours: Friday 4p – 7p, Saturday 12p – 6p & Sunday, 12p – 4pTuesday, April 21 & Wednesday, April 22Richmond, VAanne's Visual Art Studio gallery, 208 W. Broad Street, Richmond, VA“The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang” featuring May Pang appearanceHours: 1p – 7pFriday, April 24 – Sunday, April 26, 2026Virginia Beach, VAStravitz Sculpture & Fine Art Gallery, 1217 Larkin Rd, Virginia Beach, VA“The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang” featuring May Pang appearanceHours: Friday 10a – 6p, Saturday 10a – 6p & Sunday, 12p – 4pFriday, June 5 – Sunday, June 7Rochester, MNStudio 324 (First Floor in the Fagan Studios Bldg.), 324 Broadway Ave S, Ste 100, Rochester, MN“The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang” featuring May Pang appearanceHours: Fri 2p – 7p, Sat 12p – 6p & Sun 12p – 4pTuesday, June 9 & Wednesday, June 10Fargo, NDUnderbrush Gallery, 1450 25th Street South, Fargo, ND“The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang” featuring May Pang appearanceFor more info and dates click on the link:https://www.maypang.com/

On today's show, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill is buzzing about Black History Month. A couple of weeks ago we premiered our newest episode starring Harrison Museum of African American Culture as it moves into its new home at Melrose Plaza in Roanoke. Here we share the audio of that episode hope you'll go to our YouTube channel to watch it in its entirety. Or better yet, go visit the museum for yourself!Speaking of Black History Month, our next new BUZZ stars the Franklin County NAACP, which recently unveiled a new statue in Rocky Mount, Va., honoring the 70 Black men born in the county who fought for the Union and freedom in the Civil War as members of the United States Colored Troops. We were there for the unveiling – a spectacular day that actually included a video tribute from NBA great Steph Curry, who has family from Franklin County.

Special Patreon Release: Emotionally Healthy Familial Relationships with Cherilyn Orr   "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4b (KJV)   *Transcription Below*   Cherilyn Orr is passionate about helping parents, teachers, and guardians raise emotionally healthy and resilient children. She has worked with families and educators in North America, Europe, and Africa to help them build safe schools, homes, and communities where children can flourish. The Stoplight Approach that she developed was born out of her experiences as an educator, a foster mom, and a mom to seven through birth and adoption, and it combines biblical truths with the latest brain science. Connect with her on her Website, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube.   Topics and Questions We Cover: What are a few helpful tips for us to understand brain science 101? How can we repair the relationship when we don't disciple and discipline from our Green zone? Within the stoplight approach, can you provide some examples of how we can calm a red-rooted misbehavior?   Thank You to Our Sponsors: Chick-fil-A East Peoria and The Savvy Sauce Charities (and donate online here)   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”   Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”   Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”   John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:09 - 2:07) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.   I want to say a huge thank you to today's sponsors for this episode, Chick-fil-A East Peoria and Savvy Sauce Charities.   Are you interested in a free college education for you or someone you know? Stay tuned for details coming later in this episode from today's sponsor, Chick-fil-A East Peoria. You can also visit their website today at Chick-fil-A.com/EastPeoria.   If you've been with us long, you know this podcast is only one piece of our nonprofit, which is the Savvy Sauce Charities. Don't miss out on our other resources. We have questions and content to inspire you to have your own practical chats for intentional living.   And I also hope you don't miss out on the opportunity to financially support us through your tax-deductible donations. All this information can be found on our recently updated website, TheSavvySauce.com.   Cherilyn Orr is my guest today. She is kind and humble and a woman who's passionate about helping parents, teachers, and guardians raise emotionally healthy and resilient children. She's going to share how she combines biblical truths with the latest brain science to build healthy relationships in the family. Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Cherilyn.   Cherilyn Orr: (2:07 - 2:08) Thank you. I'm really happy to join you today.   Laura Dugger: (2:08 - 2:10) And will you start by just giving us a snapshot of your life right now?   Cherilyn Orr: (2:08 - 3:11) Yes, I am actually talking to you from Athens, Greece. That is where our family resides right now. And we've been here for the last few years. And before that, we lived in Uganda and Africa.   I have seven children and my oldest is now a mom herself. And she just gave birth a couple months ago to a preemie little baby. And I am so excited because now I have entered the world of grandparenthood.   But I'm also in the throes of life with a 12-year-old, a 14-year-old, and a 17-year-old. And I have a university student living at home. My next son is 21, and he's also living at home, going to university. So those are my four at home.   I have one in Canada, working there. And I have two that are married. One that lives in Africa with his wife, and they're working there. And another one with my grandbaby that's living here in Greece, working with the church here.   Laura Dugger: (3:12 - 3:19) That is quite a full family and a global family. What has taken you to the different parts of the world?   Cherilyn Orr: (3:20 - 3:44) Well, we are a missional family. But we believe that everybody's called to be a missional and to serve God. And God happens to have taken us to different places.   I've been working with The Stoplight Approach now for a few years now. My husband does leadership training as well. So that's kind of what's taken us around the world. Now that we're in Greece, I'm also involved with refugees as well here.   Laura Dugger: (3:45 - 4:06) Well, we are fortunate to live in a time with access to scientific knowledge about the brain. And it all points back to our brilliant Creator, God. But you make this brain science so simple to comprehend. So, can you just share a few helpful tips for us so that we can understand kind of brain science 101?   Cherilyn Orr: (4:08 - 6:40) Yes, I think for me, it's been a journey. But it came when after we adopted a child and she was having an all-out meltdown. And it would have taken me an hour or so to regroup her.   And it was just amazing. I was with a friend and she is a behavioral consultant. And she said, “Let me.” And this was after we had had her for at least a couple of years at this point. And she just said, “Let me.”   And she got down on the ground where my child was screaming hysterically. And she was able to get her back sitting on her seat, doing what she was supposed to in less than, I don't know, 10 minutes.   And I was shocked because here I am an educator. I have a master's degree. I'm a special needs teacher. I have been working for years with children in different settings around the world. And here I was looking at her doing something that I just didn't know how to do.   It was a huge paradigm shift for me when she said afterwards, I said, “What did you do?”   And she said, “It's by understanding the brain. The brain is like three parts. It's like a stoplight.”   So, she said, if you can think of it that way, as there's that bottom part of your brain, which is that fight, flight, freeze. When you are just only using 50% of your capacity and you just can't hear anybody's perspective.   And then there's that middle part of your brain, which is the limbic system. And she said, you know, that's when you're using 75% or so of your brain capacity. And that's when you're stressed, you're worried, you're anxious, and you're just not at your best.   And then there's your top part of your brain, which is your neocortex, which you are just ready to learn. And you can problem solve and you can think and you are the best version of yourself at that moment.   And she talked to me a little bit about that. And she's just said, this is what's happening in your brain. For me, that was a wow, you know, because it's like understanding the brain is so opposite than anything that I had ever done. And as an educator, I've been trained to control children. I've taken courses on behavior management. And this was just like changing the equation. When you understand the brain, then it changes how you can relate to the child in your care.   Laura Dugger: (6:41 - 7:05) And also, I will just sprinkle in a few little things that I found fascinating in your book. One of your conclusions was that relationships are the biggest factor in brain development and for it to develop in a healthy way. So, is that what you found true throughout the years of our life, that relationships are vital?   Cherilyn Orr: (7:05 - 8:02) It's for everybody. And it needs to start with that relationship. And that relationship has what I would say three pillars, which is safety, which is your red brain. In order to come out of that fight, flight or freeze, you have to feel safe.   And in order to come out of yellow brain, which is your limbic system, you need to feel connected and you need to feel respected. And respect means to be seen, heard and valued. And when you're in that yellow brain state, you don't feel connected. You feel disconnected.   So, in order to get people to green brain, you need to make them feel seen, heard and valued. So, if we want healthy relationships and we want green home, then we need to be able to help our children get to that green brain state. But it starts by making them feel safe and making them feel connected. So, relationship is foundational.   Laura Dugger: (8:02 - 8:24) And you've combined your knowledge of the Bible and all of this brain science to write a book entitled Signals: How Brain Science and the Bible Help Parents Raise Resilient Children. So, will you elaborate now on that Stoplight Approach that you teach and write about?   Cherilyn Orr: (8:27 - 11:10) Well, yes, I am so excited because we just looked at, you know, those three elements, safety, respect and being connected, and then we could teach it. And when we look at the Bible and we say, “How does God view me and how does He work with me?”   I go back to the fact is when God sees me in my mess ups and He sees my anger or my gossip or my addictions or whatever I'm struggling with. He looks at me and He says, “Come to me. I am your safety. I am your refuge.”   He wants us to bring Him our messes. He says, “Come to me just as you are, not as you want to be, not as you should be and not as you could be.” And in that context, He says, “I delight in you. I know you. I know every hair on your head. I know you. I know your name and I love you. You are in the palm of my hand and I delight in you.”   And Zephaniah talks about and He sings over us, not because we've done something, not because we're worthy, because He knows that unless we feel safe and unless we are in that connection and can relationship with them, then He cannot help us to train us and to walk with us and guide us through the process of growing and becoming that healthy person that He desires for us to be.   So, I was so excited when I looked at who God is and how it matches with what brain science is teaching us about red, yellow, green and how we can't teach anybody. It takes 12 to 15 times to teach a child a new skill when they are in green. That same child, that same skill when he's there in red will take 350 to 400 times because that is not the part of the brain where you can do problem solving or critical thinking or even to have empathy for anybody else. That part of the brain can only do rote learning. So, it will take you so long to teach a child when they're in that part of the brain.   And I love it because that obedience is an outflowing of a relationship with us, with God. And when we look at our child, that's what we want is we don't want them to obey us because they fear us, but we want them to obey us because they are connected to us. Just like God wants us to obey Him in that relationship, not because it's the rule and that's what we need to do.   So, I'm so excited to see how that brain science is catching up to who God is.   Laura Dugger: (11:11 - 12:07) Oh, my goodness. That is amazing to also just think of the Lord as obviously our parent and we want to model after Him. Some of this is reminding me there was a previous episode with Dr. Josh and Christy Straub where they were looking at research findings about parenting. And one of them was that it was so important for us to be self-regulated when we're responding to our children. And there's a connection.   So, in your book, I'm just going to read this one quote from page 56. You wrote, “One of the most shocking things I realized as I learned about brain science was that it is impossible to make a child feel loved when the parent is in yellow or red. They feel our stress. They feel our disapproval.” And so, would you like to elaborate on that as well?   Cherilyn Orr: (12:09 - 13:41) Well, we have this thing that we talk a lot about in The Stoplight Approach. We talk about the stoplight starts with me. You cannot give what you don't have.   So many parents will say, “I love my child,” but the child does not feel loved. And when I was doing seminars and training throughout North America, you know, often people say, “We are a yellow society.” And that broke my heart.   We are a yellow society. We're running our kids at five in the morning to this program, to hockey or this or programs late at night. And we're just running.   And I feel like if we are yellow and we are stressed, then there is automatically a disconnect. There's almost like a gate that says, do not enter. You can't go through it unless you are in green.   You're in red, then your whole house turns to red. Mama's in red, everybody's in red. Or if you're in yellow, you'll start to see the children in your care are in yellow.   And I find that in my house. When I start to see my house going to that yellow space, I start to have to do like, what color am I in? If I'm in yellow, then they're going to be in yellow. And you start to see them fighting amongst themselves or bickering or just not cooperating. And there's that tension that comes because they're picking up my yellowness and my stress.   Laura Dugger: (13:42 - 14:04) And so, let's go a little bit further with that scenario. If parents are in a very stressful season and there are quite a few to-do's that have to get done on top of the daily things. If that parent identifies they are in the yellow, maybe in the red, how can they get back to green even in the midst of a crazy time of life?   Cherilyn Orr: (14:06 - 16:26) Well, you know, you don't have to be perfect. You don't have to be a perfect parent. But what science is showing us and it's what God wants from us is that sense of repair. We need to look at how do we repair because that's what our child needs because life is not perfect and we are not perfect. And I am certainly far from being a perfect parent. But how do I repair the damage and how do I connect?   So, we call it fix it, treasure it and change it. So, fix it is: Yes, I am sorry. Mommy yelled at you. I am so sorry I did that. I was in yellow and I was really stressed. Would you forgive me? I love you and you did not deserve me to yell at you. I care about you and I did not handle that appropriately.   And I want you to help me. This is what I've said to my children. I want you to help me when I'm going to red or I'm going to yellow. Just remind me and say, “Mom, you're going to yellow.” And then that can help me to make some changes right then and create that gap so that I'm not reacting. Or maybe I could take a walk or maybe I could get myself back to green.   When I react in that yellow or red brain state, it's not safe for you. It's not safe for others. So, let's work together on this.   And then we can talk about maybe what was happening in our house at that time as well. And maybe how they can help things to go smoother in our house. So that they could take some responsibility in helping because Mommy didn't feel seen, heard and valued. You know, I had asked you five times to do that. So how do we work together to make this house run smoother?   So being red and yellow are not bad things. It's not like you are horrible because you went to red and yellow. It's warning. It's like an alarm going off to say, be careful, be careful.   It's an opportunity to reflect and say, what's not working here? What's the deeper issue here? Yes, maybe I was overtired and maybe I did this. But what else is going on? And I may need to look back on things that maybe are triggering me that are deeper. And maybe things that relate back to my own childhood or how I was raised.   Laura Dugger: (16:26 - 16:52) That makes a lot of sense, that reflection. Because I studied psychology and marriage and family therapy. And we were always taught, name it to tame it. And sometimes that really does help when we can pinpoint and identify and name. What is that trigger? It helps to tame it. And I think the biblical concept is when you share it with somebody else, when you bring it into the light, it does lose a lot of its power.   Cherilyn Orr: (16:53 - 17:46) Definitely. Because if I can say I'm in red, it helps me know what I need to do to get myself back to green. So, if I can start to recognize when my body is starting to get tense, when I'm starting to get stressed, I can say, oh, this is my warning. I need to do this. I need to have a shower. I need to go for a walk. I need to regroup myself so that I'm not reacting to my children in my red brain state. I can get myself back to green first. So, I can create that gap.   So, naming it, that's what I think the success of Stoplight is. It's the common language that says how do we help each other when we are moving to yellow and we are moving to red so that everybody in the family knows that red is not bad, but how do we help that person in their red to get back to green?   Laura Dugger: (17:48 - 17:52) What is the Stoplight Approach to discipline and boundaries?   Cherilyn Orr: (17:54 - 22:32) Well, sometimes people think, oh, is The Stoplight Approach permissive? You know, we just let kids do what they want and let them be in green. If anybody has multiple children, you know that if one child is being self-centered and they're in their own world, it's going to create chaos for the rest of the family.   And so, Stoplight is not about permissiveness. And I think we need to be looking at the word discipline comes from the word disciple, which means to train. If you can kind of get that word discipline, because so often we've mixed that word discipline with punishment. So, it's all about punishing a child, whereas actually discipline is not about punishing. It's about training a child.   And everybody, every child needs boundaries. Boundaries help to keep us safe. They help to keep our family safe. It helps to keep that relationships in a healthy way.   So, we often use that word to look at how do we as parents, we've always got boundaries. Don't run in the road. We want to keep you safe. Don't touch the hot stove because you'll burn yourself. So, we look for ways to keep our child safe, and we look for ways to help them be safe in relationships. Yes, you want that ball, but you don't hit the other child to get the ball. So, what could we do differently?   Proverbs 13:24 is a common phrase that I grew up hearing. It was kind of like the parenting theology of my generation. “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but who loves him diligently disciplines him.”   So that was a verse that I heard a lot in my life. But then as I was studying and looking at brain science and really studying about who is God. And I had to look at what is my image of God? Is He this harsh judge up there that maybe subconsciously I believed? Or is He that loving father like the prodigal son that's waiting for his son? Not to punish him, but to love him and to connect with him. And it says in the New Testament, Jesus says, if you've seen him, you've seen the Father. So, He's a good, good father.   So, then I started to dissect this. What is the rod used for? And it talks about the rod being a comfort and a rod being a sense of protection. And we often hear it used in relationships to sheep. You know, if we're going to keep sheep safe, then we need the rod. That shepherd used a rod to protect his sheep from wild animals. So, as we look at that word rod, it's a protection tool.   So, we take apart that and then hates his son. I think, wow, a parent that does not protect their child or teaches their child to be aware of the dangers in this world. So, as a young child, you're protecting them and teaching them to make safe choices. And then as they get older, you still have to continually, continually teach them that. And so, when I look at that word rod and hates his son, that would be a neglectful. In my words, a parent who is neglectful to teach.   The second verse talks about diligently. And that reminds me in Deuteronomy, when we're told to teach our children all through the day, when we're walking, when we're sitting, when we're at mealtimes. We should be using our days to continually teach our children and to discipline them, which would be to train them in the way that they should go.   And I look at God as our creator of our brain. And He loves us so very, very much. And He wants the very best for us. And we know that children and human beings do better when they feel better. So how do we connect with our child? How do we protect our children? And how do we take that opportunity to be present with our child?   Those are hard things for a lot of parents these days to be present, to be engaged with them and to look for ways to continually be working with them and protecting them and keeping them safe.   Laura Dugger: (22:33 - 22:58) Wow. And I just want to share one of my favorite takeaways from page 143, where you write “Green rooted misbehavior needs coaching. Yellow roots need connection. And red roots need calming.” So, can you provide some examples with that last one of how we can calm a red rooted misbehavior?   Cherilyn Orr: (23:00 - 27:00) Yes, I certainly can. So, all three of these are so important because we often miss it. I'm going to say that red root, it needs us to speak the red language, speak red brain. And to speak red brain means to stop talking about the problem.   That child does not have capacity to hear you when they are in a red brain state. They need me to be calm. They need me to be in green. And they need me to stop talking. And maybe to only use words that feel safe. You're safe. I'm here. You're safe. I'm here. There's no point in talking to anybody in red brain because they have no capacity to hear.   And then also to be able to go for a walk with your child. Repetitive patterning activities are really helpful. Like for my children, each of my children have, they have a green plan. It's like, what do I do when I'm starting to go to red?   So maybe for one of my children, we have a hammock outside. So, she goes there. These are planned ahead of time when they are in green. These are discussed ahead of time. So, another child will, you know, might listen to music, have a shower, go for a walk. Every single one of us, whether it be an adult or child, should look at what do I need to do to get back to green.   As a parent, when we're looking at green rooted misbehaviors, red rooted misbehaviors and yellow roots misbehaviors, you could have the same issue like two kids fighting. You come around the corner and there you see your two siblings fighting. As a parent, often we go to red immediately. Our brain state goes because it feels threatening. It feels fearful to us. And then we react.   So, I have to take a deep breath myself and I have to say, OK, what brain state is this child in? And sometimes we don't know. So, we can call the children and say, what's going on? Just stopping and asking the question will give us the opportunity to hear what brain state our child is in.   If they happily look it up and say, we were playing Pirates of the Caribbean or something that they had seen on a TV show, then you can say, OK, well, what you're doing is unsafe and somebody is going to get hurt. But they're just acting.   And then if it's a yellow brain state, it's like he pushed me, he touched me. And they're just kind of bickering at each other. They're not really all out fighting. But, you know, you can look at them and say, let's stop and let's make each other feel seen, heard and valued. So, you can work with that child because that child at that point is in yellow brain. And then we can speak yellow brain, which is people don't feel that they're being heard. They don't feel respected. And that's when you can talk about what other things that they could do instead.   And then, of course, we have red brain when these children are all out to hurt each other. They are mad. So that's when we can go into that red brain and say, OK, both of you need to get back to green. We're not going to talk about this right now. I want you to use your green plan and get yourselves back to green. And then we will talk.   Some children can do that independently and some children need you to do it with them. And sometimes it might be that you just take those two children out and say, we're going to run around the block together.” And it's how do you connect with your child at that particular time and keep them safe and get them moving and get their brain state back up to green before you talk with them.   Laura Dugger: (27:01 - 32:37) And now a brief message from our sponsor. Did you know you can go to college tuition free just by being a team member at Chick-fil-A East Peoria? Yes, you heard that right. Free college education. All Chick-fil-A East Peoria team members in good standing are immediately eligible for a free college education through Point University.   Point University is a fully accredited private Christian college located in West Point, Georgia. This online self-paced program includes 13 associates degrees, 17 bachelor's degrees and two master's programs, including an MBA. College courses are fully transferable both in and out of this program. This could even be a great option to complete your general education courses and then transfer to the college of your choice and save money in the process.   So, if you're looking for an affordable college option while simultaneously gaining valuable work experience and earning an income, Chick-fil-A East Peoria is the place for you. You don't have to go into debt to get a great education. To apply today, please go to Chick-fil-A.com/EastPeoria and click on the careers tab. You can also call the restaurant at 309-694-1044 to find out more. And if you aren't located near Chick-fil-A East Peoria, make sure you check with your local Chick-fil-A restaurant to see if they also participate in the Elevate program with Point University. Thanks for your sponsorship.   Are you utilizing Savvy Sauce Charities to full capacity? Other than our special Patreon release episodes, our content is now available in video form in addition to our audio only. And we have written transcriptions for every episode. Visit our website today, TheSavvySauce.com, to access all these forms of interviews. And while you're there, make sure you sign up for our email list to receive encouragement, questions, and recommended resources about once a month to promote your own practical chats for intentional living.   I also want to remind you about the financial side of Savvy Sauce Charities. As you know, we recently became a non-profit, which means all your financial support is now tax deductible. There are multiple ways to give, and we would be so honored if you would share your financial support with us so that we can continue producing free content that is accessible to the general public. Your money will go to support creatively getting the gospel message of Jesus Christ to the nations as we continue to share the good news on every episode. And I say this is reaching the nations because The Savvy Sauce podcast is downloaded in all 50 United States, as well as over 100 countries around the world. Your financial support also supports practical needs, such as aiding our team to continue producing helpful content that is practical and uplifting and always pointing to Jesus. Your financial support, furthermore, will help us continue to expand our reach and secure future projects we have planned for this ministry.   If your ears are hearing this message right now, I am specifically asking you to give. We are so grateful for any amount, and our team will continue to seek to be good stewards of the gifts offered to us. So, if you want to write a check or set up an ongoing payment with your bank that delivers a check to us each month, this is the most beneficial way to give because no percentages are taken out for processing fees. You can make your checkout to Savvy Sauce Charities at P.O. Box 101, Roanoke, Illinois, 61561.   Additionally, with our new website, we now have a donate button. There are processing fees that we cover for these donations, but we wanted to offer listeners a seamless way to share their finances with us when we share our content with them. So just visit TheSavvySauce.com and find the donate page under the tab support. Another way to find it is simply type in donate to the search bar on our website and just click the first picture shown.   We are all about sharing around here, sharing resources, sharing joy, and sharing the good news about Jesus Christ. We ask that you also will share by sharing financially, sharing the Savvy Sauce podcast episodes, and sharing a five-star rating and review. You can also share any of our social media posts on Instagram or Facebook. We are grateful for all of it, and we just love partnering together with you.   Now, back to the show. And then on our side, I love how you also bring in the repair piece. So how can we practically repair the relationship when we don't disciple and discipline from our green zone as the parent?   Cherilyn Orr: (32:38 - 34:39) Yes, I feel like that is, it's really hard to ask your child to do anything that you're not doing because they're not going to actually be able to take that to heart. And if you say to a child, “I want you to say sorry to your sibling,” they're just going to look and go, “Sorry,” and have no meaning whatsoever.   And that's why we've done a lot of apology notes in my home over the years, because it's an opportunity to really sit down and reflect and talk. And we talk about how the card needs to be beautiful because we need to treasure that person. And so, they need to apologize for what they did. They need to talk about why on earth are they even writing this apology note? Why is that person of value? Because they're our sister or they're our brother or they're our friend or they're the teacher or the coach. And they are a part of our community and our family. So, we need to write that apology note to value that person.   And then we talk about what are we going to do next time. So those three points go into every single apology note my kids write: fix it, treasure it, change it. But you cannot do that when the child is in red. You cannot do it when they're in yellow. You need to have them back to green and then we can talk through it. And then they can go and deliver that to that person and then talk about how they can reconcile the situation. But I find that that's a really good reflective piece that I've used over the years.   But as a parent, it's hard to say sorry to your kid. It's easier to jump in and just treasure the child. You know, let's go to the park. Let's do this and just value the child. But then you end up having an insecure relationship because you've never acknowledged the problem. Therefore, you cannot change it. So therefore, you cannot have a healthy reconciliation.   Laura Dugger: (34:40 - 34:57) And how have you seen this Stoplight Approach work across the world? So many different settings with different countries and cultures or families who foster and adapt or even ones raising children with special needs?   Cherilyn Orr: (34:59 - 36:53) Well, the great thing about science is it doesn't change based on where you are in the world and what culture you're in. Every human has a brain, and all human brains function the same way. And all human brains need safety, connection and coaching.   So that's been the exciting part about understanding brain science. So, you know, even when I work in Africa, I'll say to people when I get malaria, do they give me a different medication because I'm from Canada or do they give me the same as you? And everybody says, of course, malaria is malaria. You know, it's because of science.   And I love that whole element of science that our brains are made the same. It doesn't matter what culture you're in and it doesn't matter what special needs you have. If I see a child and they're under the table and they're holding their ears, I might not know that child at all. But I know that that child is in red brain. I don't have to know if they're special needs. I don't have to know anything else. I can immediately diagnose what brain state that child is in. And then I can work at creating safety for that child. And connecting with that child. And then we can find out how do we move that child and work with that child, whatever their needs are.   And I have four adopted children, and I have fostered many children. In the process of doing that, I have recognized that every child needs to feel safe, connected, and then we can train them. So, it's like changing the equation for how we work with the children. But it works for all people. So, I don't have to have a different philosophy of parenting for my adopted child or my foster child or my biological children. Does that make sense?   Laura Dugger: (36:53 - 37:03) Yes, absolutely. And to personalize it, how has The Stoplight Approach then worked in your life and with you and your husband raising your own children?   Cherilyn Orr: (37:05 - 41:32) I just love the fact that it's a common language. So, I can give you an example of one day there was company coming and I was really stressed. And it seemed like everywhere I looked; every room was a disaster. You know, I had teenagers who were cooking and making themselves food and it was a mess. I had children that had used the bathroom and made a mess all through the bathroom. And then I had toys everywhere and sheets being made into forts. And I had company showing up.   And so, I was going into to Red Brain and I started going, “Who did this? What did you do? Who left this here? Who made this mess?” And one of my kids went and says, “Dad, mom's going to Red.” And that wasn't a judgment. That was like, this is a fact. We need your help here.   And so, dad comes along and he says, he puts his hand on my shoulder and he says, “You're going to Red.” He says, “Why don't you go for a walk? I'll do zone cleanup with the kids because I'm in green. And you can come back in 20 minutes and then you can do all the final tidy up before the kids come. And then that we could greet the company and green.”   So, it just becomes that common language of understanding. And he knew my need at that time. I was feeling unsafe because the house was a disaster. And my brain just was it's a brain issue, right? It's not a behavior issue. But then it was like, how do we support mom in this moment? And then I came back 20 minutes later and did the final little cleanups, and we were able to greet the company in green.   So, there's an example of using the common language as a way to help others in our family know what brain state you're in to support one another. And to be able to identify and connect.   I mean, I could give you tons of examples, even from the smallest child. They start to understand. “He made me go to red” or “I'm in red now.” So, then it's like, OK, so what do we need to do? How do we do this?   I mean, there's been days when all of a sudden I hear everybody kind of not doing too great. And I get them all to sit at the table. And I said, “So what color is our home right now?” And somebody say red. Somebody else says yellow. Then you're saying, “OK, but what kind of home do we want to have?” And they'll say green. So, what do we need to do to get it to green?   So, I think there's there's many, many different ways. But I think it's that common language that even the small child that's two and three can start to learn when they're in red or we can start to use it to teach empathy. When you did that to your sibling, what color did we make him? He didn't feel seen, heard and valued.   Just a few weeks ago, my daughter. Here's here's a recent example. We've had a refugee staying with us for a couple of years, a little girl, and she was about three. All of a sudden there was this blood curdling screaming, you know, just screaming. And I come around the corner going, “What's going on?” And my 12-year-old, very responsible, is holding scissors. She's running with scissors.   And so, my 12-year-old here was a chance to talk. And I said, “OK, so when you took her scissors away, she did not feel seen, heard and valued. Because when you took them away from her, you didn't actually speak to her. So, you need to get down on your knees, and you need to look at her and say, what did you want the scissors for? And we need to teach her. Where do we have scissors? How do we use them?”   So, she was being responsible to keep her safe. But she didn't make her feel seen, heard and valued and listen to her and say, “Oh, you want to cut your hair. Oh, only mommy cuts hair. You can't cut your hair, but we could use our scissors at the table.” So, using red, yellow and green helps to give incredible opportunities to teach empathy and to look at themselves, self-awareness and how to grow and take responsibility.   Laura Dugger: (41:34 - 42:06) And I love how you talk about this common language in such a proactive way with our children, with our families. So that when we are in red, we've got a path and a plan to get back to green. And we've got some tips for repair.   So, when we go to the proactive side and kind of tie this back into the beginning, when we talked about relationships are the foundation for brain health and development. What are some ways to securely attach with our children during different ages and stages?   Cherilyn Orr: (42:08 - 45:54) I think it comes back to being intentional. I often think of it as the 5-10-5 rule. Five minutes in the morning, five minutes in the evening and five minutes before they go to bed at night. It's that opportunity to stop what you're doing and to just focus in intentionally connecting with my child.   It's not easy. It's not easy. But it's how do I connect first thing in the morning when that child has been disconnected from me all night long? How do I connect with them first thing in the morning before they start their day? And then how do I connect with them like after school, before dinner? And how do I hear about what they want to tell me about their day? What part was red? What part was yellow? What kind of day they had?   One of my kids goes, “It was lime green.” And I'm like, “Okay, so how did that happen?”   “Well, I was in green and then I lost my backpack. So, I went to yellow, but then the teacher helped me find it. So, then I went back to green.” So that's how she described her day.   And then you have that connecting before they go to bed at night. That's just like, I see you, I know you, I hear you.   And so that can look differently according to different ages and stages of life. But I think holding that 5-10-5 is a good principle. And there are so many of my children that that 5-10-5 happens in hours and hours. Because they are children that demand my attention. And they are there and they are wanting that continual attention. So, some kids it happens more naturally too.   And then there are some children, and especially as they start getting older, it's a lot more challenging to be able to find that 5-10-5. And that doesn't mean in the busyness of the dinner table or in chore times. But it's about trying to connect with them and say, “I hear you. Tell me about your life. And where are you at?” Or just really just having fun with them. And just connecting to them and laughing with them and playing a game with them as well. Or going for a walk. We do a lot of that.   And with teenagers, and especially boys, it was all about the food. I would show up in their room with a milkshake or something else. Or call them out of their rooms to connect with them at different times. So, you have to be creative. It's not about my schedule sometimes. It's about looking at when they are open as well. Especially as you start getting into teenagers.   And I found that one of my teenagers, she'd always like to come and sit on my bed. Just at 11 o'clock at night. Just as I feel like I'm down for the night. And you know that baby is going to start waking up at 6 or 7. And you're just dying to go to sleep. But you know that this is important. She's ready to talk. And so, I need to be available.   Which isn't easy. But also, I think, how do we do that with seven children? Because that's a lot of kids. But my husband and I, we look at dividing and conquering. And then we look at special times. Like daddy time. Or going out with mom. Where I'll take one child to do a chore. Or go shopping. And I think that is really important to think about. How am I intentionally connecting with my child? So, I took a child to Canada recently. And I often will take a different child on different trips that I'm going on.   Laura Dugger: (45:55 - 46:15) Okay, so five minutes right in the morning. Greeting each other. Five minutes before bed. And finding ten minutes of intentional time to connect. Is that one-on-one throughout the day?   Cherilyn Orr: Yes.   Laura Dugger: You've given us so many helpful tips to apply. Is there any other encouragement that you want to make sure that we don't miss out on?   Cherilyn Orr: (46:16 - 47:52) I think when you hear a lot of these stories. First of all, I want you to know that I am not perfect. As a mom, it's a journey. And I don't want you to go away feeling like, I could never do all this. It's a journey one baby step at a time. And I encourage you to get the book. Listen to podcasts. And be able to join that journey. But don't be hard on yourself. And don't feel that sense of guilt and shame. That says, oh my, I messed up. That's okay.   Being able to recognize you messed up is a good thing. And also recognize that you think, oh man, I messed up on my kids. I did all the wrong things. I want to tell you that we all do the best we can with the knowledge that we have. And that's really, really important to know. It's like, this is a journey. And you are doing the best.   I learned all about behavior management. How do I control my child's behavior? And that was how I parented when I started this journey. And it has been a journey to shift into brain science. And to learn as much as I can about the brain science. And how it impacts my child. And to grow and be the parent that God wants me to be. But don't be hard on yourself in that way. That would be my biggest thing is. And to take one baby step. To decide one baby step that you take.   Laura Dugger: (47:52 - 47:57) And where can people find and learn more from you online?   Cherilyn Orr: (47:58 - 48:14) Well, look at the StoplightApproach.org. So that is our website. And you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. And you can preorder and sign up for your book (Signals: How Brain Science and the Bible Help Parents Raise Resilient Children). You can get that on Amazon.   Laura Dugger: (48:15 - 48:32) Wonderful. We will add those links to the show notes for today's episode. And Cherilyn, you may know we are called The Savvy Sauce. Because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so is my final question for you today. What is your Savvy Sauce?   Cherilyn Orr: (48:33 - 48:55) I would say that it's not about controlling behavior. It's about connecting with my child. Relationship first rather than behavior first. It's like changing the equation. Relationship is the key. And everything else will flow out of that. And then if you can think of change the brain. Then you'll be able to change the behavior.   Laura Dugger: (48:56 – 49:20) Oh, I love that. That is memorable. And I really appreciate your emphasis on relationship. And it's so helpful to hear your stories of how this has played out over time. And cultures. And how we can now take this common language into our own homes. So, Cherilyn, thank you so much for sharing this research. And your book with us. And thank you for being my guest today.   Cherilyn Orr: (49:21 – 49:23) Thank you for having me.   Laura Dugger: (49:24 – 53:06) One more thing before you go, have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you, but it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior, but God loved us so much. He made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life. We could never live and died in our place for our sin.   This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished. If we choose to receive what he has done for us, Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   So, you pray with me now. Heavenly father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you.   Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life? We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus name we pray.   Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me. So, me for him, you get the opportunity to live your life for him.   And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you're ready to get started.   First, tell someone, say it out loud, get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes and Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it.   You can start by reading the book of John. Also get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.   We want to celebrate with you too. So, feel free to leave a comment for us here. If you did make a decision to follow Christ, we also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “in the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

In this episode, Duane Mancini welcomes Aileen Helsel, Director of Innovation at Carilion Clinic, to discuss the exciting advancements in healthcare innovation in Roanoke, Virginia. Aileen shares her journey from academia to technology transfer and ultimately to her current role, emphasizing the transition from research to real-world application. They explore Carilion Clinic's unique position serving a diverse population, including rural communities, and how this drives impactful healthcare solutions. Aileen Helsel LinkedInCarilion Clinic InnovationDuane Mancini LinkedInProject Medtech WebsiteProject Medtech LinkedInThank you to our sponsors: Ward Law and JumpStart Inc.

Thu, Feb 5 9:40 PM → 9:57 PM EMS responds for a Bravo-level back pain at the Rescue Mission of Roanoke and instead finds a physical altercation between individuals and requests priority 1 police response Radio Systems: - Roanoke Valley Radio System II

It is my pleasure to welcome to Necronomicast, Rachel McCarthy James!  A native of Kansas, she is the daughter of baseball's Bill James and artist Susan McCarthy. At Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, she studied political science and creative writing. Her first book, The Man from the Train (coauthored with her father) chronicled the serial killer behind the Villisca axe murders. Published in 2017, The Man from the Train was nominated for an Edgar award for best fact crime, and won the Kansas Notable Book award. Her newest book, Whack Job, is the story of the axe, first as a convenient danger and then an anachronism, as told through the murders it has been employed in throughout history: from the first axe murder nearly half a million years ago, to the brutal harnessing of the axe in warfare, to its use in King Henry VIII's favorite method of execution, to Lizzie Borden and the birth of modern pop culture. Whack Job sheds brilliant light on this familiar implement, this most human of weapons. This is a critical examination of violence, an exploration of how technology shapes human conflict, the cruel and sacred rituals of execution and battle, and the ways humanity fits even the most savage impulses into narratives of the past and present.  Official Website of Rachel McCarthy James "Whack Job" available at Amazon Support Necronomicast at "Buy Me A Coffee".  Thank you!

*ICE :) -Roads are still bad in VA *JMU students upset classes not cancelled *Kaine hammers Rubio? *General Assembly set to punish and restrict. *Why are nurses full of hate? Is there a trend? *Affordability? Really? *NFL's "Chief Kindness Officer" *Roanoke 3rd Grader is a lobbyist? *One proposed redistricting map is simply astonishing. *And more.

What role did women actually play in England's early colonial experiments? In this Tudorcon 2025 talk, Colleen Parker explores the overlooked but essential role of women in early English colonization, beginning in Ireland and continuing through Roanoke and Jamestown. Rather than treating women as background figures, this talk shows how they functioned as household managers, negotiators, landholders, cultural intermediaries, and, in many cases, the key to whether a colony survived at all. Topics include: • Women in the Irish plantations as a testing ground for colonization • The role of women in Roanoke and the mystery of Virginia Dare • The Jamestown Brides and why “mail-order brides” is a misleading label • Women as property holders and legal actors in early Virginia • Daily survival, childbirth, labor, and negotiation with Native communities This is a rich, thoughtful look at how women shaped colonization on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Episode 433 of Airey Bros Radio, we go belly-to-belly with Nate Shearer, Head Wrestling Coach at Washington & Lee University, for a deep dive into what it really takes to build a championship-level Division III wrestling program while maintaining elite academic standards.Coach Shearer breaks down his 13-year journey leading the Generals, how W&L climbed from small rosters and forfeits to becoming a conference champion and national contender, and why the ODAC's growth has made D3 wrestling in Virginia more competitive (and more fun) than ever.We also get into high-academic recruiting realities (early decision, fit-first recruiting, national pipeline), what W&L students actually study (business, engineering, health professions, CS), the culture shift that keeps athletes thriving, and the behind-the-scenes “CEO” side of running a program—travel, film, training, community, and consistency.Plus: Springsteen, the Stone Pony, coffee setups, saunas, vinyl, and the most dangerous guilty pleasure in America: ice cream.Follow Washington & Lee Wrestling:Website: generalsports.comSocial: @generalswrestle (Instagram/X)Support Airey Bros Radio (Value for Value):BuyMeACoffee.com/aireybrosTimestamp / Show Notes 0:00 ABR mission: shining light on JUCO/NAIA/D2/D3 opportunities + recruiting conversations we wish we had1:29 Intro: Nate Shearer, Head Coach at Washington & Lee Wrestling (Year 13)3:16 2025–26 snapshot: season context + ODAC dual stretch ahead3:52 Where recruits/parents should go: generalsports.com + @generalswrestle4:18 Through-line: ODAC talk + shoutout to Coach Nate Yetzer (Roanoke)5:05 Virginia D3 wrestling growth: from “only program” to a full conference6:43 Has ODAC expansion changed recruiting? Why it's helped, not hurt8:32 Origin story: “I didn't want to wrestle” — thrown into a tournament with zero prep10:08 Mark Coleman connection + early chaos of learning wrestling the hard way12:58 When coaching became the path: Ohio Northern → mentorship → wrestling finally becomes “fun”16:09 First coaching years: volunteering, teaching, GA role, building a youth club from scratch19:09 Coaching philosophy: building athletes up, not tearing them down23:54 Year 1 vs Year 13 at W&L: tiny roster, forfeits, growing in “small chunks”24:58 Turning point: first national qualifier (2016) + expectations shift25:27 Admissions reality: low acceptance rate + recruiting the right academic fit26:37 Culture + community: families/alumni, packed home invite, “it's not hard to be here”29:19 High-academic recruiting pace: Early Decision deadline + why the “funnel” moves fast31:25 Best wrestling state debate: NJ guys pounding the drum… but the data loves Connecticut33:24 What majors recruits choose: business, health professions, engineering, CS + sciences35:29 Facilities + Lexington vibe + being next door to VMI (two closest wrestling campuses)37:17 2025–26 season report: best rankings in program history, injuries, staying steady39:29 Date to circle: Friday, Feb 6 @ Roanoke (potentially stacked ranked lineup)40:22 Brisket at matches? Not yet—“need a clone” (but recruiting camp meals are real)41:15 Historic flex: 1936 wrestling championships hosted at W&L + gym built in the early 1900s44:06 “Head coach as CEO”: what he actually manages (training, travel, film, recruiting)45:04 Resources matter: why W&L is positioned differently (support systems, fewer corners cut)48:33 Department success + top programs across campus + the “full package” student-athlete experience52:03 Coffee talk: Americano life, pour over hacks, road-map coffee shout54:32 Daily ritual: basement sauna + outdoor shower (recovery > cold tubs)56:45 What he's listening to: Steven Wilson Jr. + vinyl collecting58:01 Flea market circuit upbringing: baseball cards, memorabilia, Ohio hustle1:00:36 Cleveland baseball + Major League quotes + stadium nostalgia1:01:14 Prize vinyl: Springsteen — Nebraska1:03:13 Airey Bros Stone Pony classics: Warped Tour, Deftones, Pennywise, Sublime, Blink, 3111:05:16 Springsteen deep cut: “Atlantic City” + NJ States mindset story1:07:46 Guilty pleasure: ice cream (Reese's/peanut butter + Butterfinger ice cream bars)1:09:33 Wrap-up + where to follow W&L + what's next on ABR

Thu, Jan 29 3:23 PM → 3:41 PM Roanoke City Mayday Radio Systems: - Roanoke Valley Radio System II

Meet Mama Jean's BBQ founder Madison Ruckel, who first started live-fire cooking with Home Team BBQ in West Ashley. From that foundation, hear where he assigns credit for his ongoing success (spoiler: the hard work of his wife, Kelli, and some wise business decisions play a big role). Learn what to expect during a visit to his Roanoke, VA, restaurant, which opened last year after 7 years of food truck life in a 1956 Airstream trailer. Get Madison Ruckel's inside tips for making Mama Jean's BBQ collards, what it takes to feed the NFL's Washington Commanders, and how global cooking adventures have influenced his barbecue journey. Don't miss your chance to sample Madison Ruckel's barbecue entrée at Carolina BBQ Festival's Brisket and Biscuits barbecue brunch, March 28. This episode is sponsored by Carolina BBQ Festival, April 17-18 at Victoria Yards in Charlotte. 30+ pitmasters from the Carolinas and beyond celebrate the traditions of whole hog barbecue while supporting Operation BBQ Relief. Reserve your tickets today for the Kickoff, the Festival, or a full weekend of barbecue. Visit The Low & Slow Barbecue Show website here!

4pm: Talking Sports with Ry // Ry’s prediction last week: Seahawks 31 - Rams 28 // Seattle rallies past Rams 31-27, earns first Super Bowl trip in 11 years // Seahawks vs Patriots: Everything to know about Super Bowl 2026 // John dons blue hair for the Roanoke conference of WA Republicans // Cooper Kupp’s Profound Postgame Interview

6pm: Talking Sports with Ry // Ry’s prediction last week: Seahawks 31 - Rams 28 // Seattle rallies past Rams 31-27, earns first Super Bowl trip in 11 years // Seahawks vs Patriots: Everything to know about Super Bowl 2026 // John dons blue hair for the Roanoke conference of WA Republicans // Cooper Kupp’s Profound Postgame Interview

Special Patreon Release: Better Together with Jon and Jolene Rocke   "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Mark 10:9 (KJV)   *Transcription Below*   Questions and Topics We Discuss: What are you so thankful you did in every season of marriage, from newlyweds to empty nesters that you see the pay off now in the present? How has grace and forgiveness benefited your relationship? What advice do you have for all of us married couples as we seek to grow as one, rather than grow parallel or even grow apart from one another?   Jon and Jolene Rocke are my local friends and my guests for today. They work side by side at Peoria Rescue ministries, and they have so many lovely gifts of leadership and hospitality and teaching, but the topic we are going to focus on today is marriage. From the first time we met, Mark and I adored them and appreciated their sweet bond with one another, and I'm so thrilled to introduce you to them today. Here's our chat:   Jon and Jolene both grew up in Christian homes and accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord at the age of 15.  Jon is from Morton and Jolene from Elgin, IL. They met on a bus ride to a Youth Gathering in Minnesota.  They sat together and talked the whole way home about life, the Bible and God.  Jon played his guitar and sang John Denver songs and their match was made with “Sunshine on my Shoulders”.   They married at the age of 18 and had their first child, Janelle, at 19.  They left for Grace college in Winona Lake, Indiana with an 18 month old toddler in tow and had another baby girl born while in college named Jaime.  At graduation in 1984, they were accepted to Trinity Seminary to follow Jon's desire to be a Professor of Theology, but became pregnant with their son, Jordan, which changed every plan and sent them back home to build up their finances.   They came back to Morton and worked in the Family Business and felt called to stay.  They raised their 3 children in Morton working in the business until God loosened their tent pegs and called them to Peoria Rescue Ministries in 2017. Jon is the Executive Director and Jolene is the Ministry Ambassador.  They are thankful to be working side-by-side in this new season of their marriage.   Jon and Jolene will celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary and have 3 married children and have 10 grandchildren. Their son Jordan and his wife Jessica live in Sandpoint, Idaho with their 3 Kids.  Their daughter Janelle and husband Ryan live in Kennesaw, Georgia with their 3 children.  And their daughter Jaime and her husband Jonathan live here in Morton with their 4 children.   Related Episodes from The Savvy Sauce: 5 Love Languages with Dr. Gary Chapman Traveling with Your Family with Katie Mueller   At The Savvy Sauce, we will only recommend resources we believe in! We also want you to be aware: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.   Five Love Languages The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers A Teen's Guide to the 5 Love Languages   Thank You to Our Sponsors: Chick-fil-A East Peoria and The Savvy Sauce Charities (and donate online here)   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook, Instagram or Our Website.   Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”   Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”   Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”   John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:10 - 2:05) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here. I want to say a huge thank you to today's sponsors for this episode, Chick-fil-A East Peoria and Savvy Sauce Charities.   Are you interested in a free college education for you or someone you know? Stay tuned for details coming later in this episode from today's sponsor, Chick-fil-A East Peoria. You can also visit their website today at https://www.chick-fil-a.com/locations/il/east-peoria.   If you've been with us long, you know this podcast is only one piece of our nonprofit, which is the Savvy Sauce Charities. Don't miss out on our other resources. We have questions and content to inspire you to have your own practical chats for intentional living.   And I also hope you don't miss out on the opportunity to financially support us through your tax-deductible donations. All this information can be found on our recently updated website, thesavvysauce.com.   Jon and Jolene Rocke are my local friends and my guests for today. They work side by side at Peoria Rescue Ministries, and they have so many lovely gifts of leadership and hospitality and teaching. But the topic we're going to focus on today is marriage. From the first time we met, Mark and I adored them so much and really appreciated their sweet bond with one another. And I'm so thrilled to get to introduce you to them today.   Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Jon and Jolene.   Jon Rocke: (2:05 - 2:06) We're so happy to be here, Laura. Thanks so much for having us.   Laura Dugger: (2:07 - 2:43) Well, it's truly my pleasure. And will the two of you just start by giving us a little background on how you came to know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?   Jolene Rocke: (2:07 - 2:43) Yeah, I grew up in the Chicago area in a suburb and in a Christian home. So, I was very thankful to know about God. And I came to know Him as my personal Savior at 15. And so, then I really had a complete change. And from then on, I have just followed Him as close as I can. So very thankful for Jesus.   Jon Rocke: (2:44 - 2:59) Yeah, and I was actually 15 as well. Became overwhelmed with my sin at 15 and knew that I did not know Christ. And so, since then, a very imperfect following, but glad to be part of the family.   Laura Dugger: (3:00 - 3:15) Well, and that's awesome that both of you were 15 and never knew that piece of your story. But I'm assuming you were living in different places. So then how did the two of you meet and fall in love?   Jolene Rocke: (3:15 - 4:40) That is such a funny story. Because I, along with a friend of mine from Elgin, jumped on a Morton bus going to Morris, Minnesota. And they picked us up in Rockford. And we got on the bus, went to the same youth gathering for our church denomination. And on the way home from that weekend, we sat on the bus the whole way home and talked.   And Jon had what was so interesting to me, a study Bible. And I had never seen a study Bible in my life. And so, he showed me what an open Bible was with notes at the bottom. And because I came to Christ at 15 and started Bible study on my own with just a spiral notebook, a pen, and my Bible, I was fascinated by this Bible.   And I heard from Morton girls that he carried his Bible everywhere. So, he was kind of different than the rest of the guys. And I told them that's the kind of guy I was looking for. And then to top it all off, he had a guitar. And he sang John Denver songs to me. So, Sunshine on My Shoulders, I think, really made me happy.   Laura Dugger: (4:40 - 4:45) Just knowing your family music is such a big part of worship. Yeah. That's part of what wooed you, too.   Jon Rocke: (4:40 - 5:35) Yeah. Part of the crazy story is that it's a long trip. It's like a 12-hour trip. And so, we left Morton at like 5 in the morning. And so, I'm sleeping on the floor. And we picked these girls up. And I wake up, and I'm like, “Oh, an angel just got on the bus.” That's what I thought. And she was like, she didn't really have anything to do with me the whole weekend till the way home.   But we have a lot of fun with that story. And so that was the beginning. I think I sent flowers the next day. And we began, actually, a very long-distance, over-the-phone relationship, getting to know each other. And we actually went through, I think, the Book of Romans together over the course of, I guess, a year. And then got married. And we were pretty young.   Jolene Rocke: (5:36 - 6:47) Yeah. We met when Jon was just 16. And then two weeks after his 18th birthday, we got married. And I'm a year older. So, it was very young. But we are so thankful because we're going to celebrate 44 years of marriage here.   So, God knit us together, I think, through the fact that we were both really pursuing the Lord individually. And then we were so happy to find somebody like that. I thought I was headed to be a missionary in Africa at the time I met him. And he was, like, searching, too. But both all out pursuit of Christ. And so, I think that's what knit our hearts together. And it didn't hurt that he sent flowers the next day.   Laura Dugger: (6:47 - 7:15) It was a wise move. But I love it because the two of you have really grown up together. Totally. You've been meeting as teens. When you reflect back, what are you so thankful that you did in every season of marriage, from newlyweds to now empty nesters, that you're getting to see the payoff now in the present?   Jon Rocke: (6:49 - 8:10) Yeah, I think sometimes you are intentional. And we've tried to be intentional. But I think sometimes God brings circumstances into your life that sort of force something. So not only were we young when we got married, but nine months after we got married, yeah, we had Janelle, our oldest daughter.   And so, we had to realize we still needed time together. And we had a little baby. It began, I think, an intentional course for us to carve out time. So, you know, we put our kids to bed early. It was a big deal for us as parents that we had our time after they went to bed because we didn't get a whole lot of time.   And other little silly things, the kids didn't get to sit in between us at church. That was the rule. You can sit on either side of mom and dad, but you can't sit in between us. And so that was just, you know, again, a little thing that we did. And some things we had to learn. I'm more of a night person. Jolene's more of a morning person. Part of that, we had to learn at one point, you know, let's make sure we prioritize going to bed together. Just so, again, we had that time. So, there's been all sorts of different steps along the way that we've tried to prioritize each other.   Jolene Rocke: (8:10 - 9:01) So the two words that come to my mind with regard to that are compromise. You're two different people, and you're suddenly thrust together into a home situation. Well, that took compromise on both of our parts. So that's kind of sacrifice, too. That means he doesn't get to stay up until midnight if we want to go to bed together, and I'm going to have to push myself to stay up later just so that we can make a common bedtime.   So, compromise, and then I think the other major thing to me would be communication, because we didn't have a relationship before marriage where we were in the same town and could see each other all the time or go on dates. We didn't have that. So, we had letter writing. This is 43 years ago. So, we had letter writing daily.   Jon Rocke: (9:02 - 9:04) Some of us were daily. He was daily.   Jolene Rocke: (9:05 - 9:11) I wasn't quite as good at letter writing every day, but I was in college by now.   Jon Rocke: (9:11 - 9:13) You were still in high school. Now we know.   Jolene Rocke: (9:14 - 10:15) But I think the communication factor, that actually helped us because, yes, I realize face-to-face dating is a great thing, but to not be able to do that and have nothing but be able to write your day out, what happened during your day, you're learning to tell the other person what happened in your day, how you felt about that, what your dreams, your goals are. So, it started, to me and us, I think a great foundation of communication.   Laura Dugger: (10:15 - 10:30) And is it Song of Songs, I believe, 5:16, where part of it says, “This is my lover, this is my friend,” and that's what I'm hearing, is that you were really deepening your friendship in those early years and that from witnessing your lives, it seems that has only continued.   Jolene Rocke: (10:30 - 10:35) Yeah, exactly. We are so thankful. It's a very different story than most people, but we're so thankful.   Jon Rocke: (10:16 - 10:39) I think also, for us, it was Genesis 2 in the sense that you need to leave everything else and cleave together. We were young. It's hard to believe. When we look back, we think about our kids and our grandkids and would we want that for them, and yet I don't think we'd trade it for the world.   Laura Dugger: (10:40 - 10:52) I love that. And what encouragement do you have for others then who are also wanting to build a foundation of remaining connected and intimate in all the aspects of their own marriage?   Jon Rocke: (10:53 - 12:07) That's one of those things about being intentional. Matthew 19:6, where Christ repeats that adage from Genesis 2, that God created them male and female, they need to leave mother and father and cleave together, but then he adds this, “and no one should tear that apart.” And we often think about that, I think, as other people tearing that apart, and that's true.   But the same goes, we can tear ourselves apart if we're not going to make sure everything else, all other distractions, because they're going to continually come, right? And again, we had kids so early that I think we knew we had to carve that time out, because if we wouldn't have, I'm not sure how that would have worked. We would have been so consumed early. But career, we've just known that we've had to say, if we don't make sure that we're the priority, it's so easy to get lost in all the other things of life that are not bad. Kids are not bad, they're great. And your careers and your work, that's all good. But it can be the enemy of great in a marriage.   Jolene Rocke: (12:07 - 12:32) Yeah, we talked about the fact that this is how we started all those years ago. But a pursuit of God individually actually enhances a pursuit of God together. I'm still in the Word individually. Jon's still in the Word individually. But we also then read and pray together every night. So just this pursuit of God.   Jon Rocke: (12:32 - 13:06) But that wasn't something we did from day one either. I mean, that was a learned scenario where one time we were just kind of convicted of the fact that together we're not taking time to pray and read together. And so, then we just made that part of routine at night. So then again, that made us say we're going to go to bed together. Because if we didn't, then we didn't have that time. That opportunity to pray together and read together has just become a connection point that we wouldn't want to trade.   Laura Dugger: (13:07 - 13:55) I think that's encouraging in so many ways because you've grown into this. And I think for anyone just starting out, it's so helpful to see you didn't let excuses get in the way. It reminds me of a supervisor in college who said, “If you want something done, give it to a busy person.” And I think in a unique way with you two being launched into parenthood nine months after you were married, you didn't have the luxury of being frivolous with your time. And you chose intentionality. And it seems like God really has blessed that and honored it.   Jolene Rocke: (13:55 - 14:05) Yeah and continued it to this day. You're very right. We continue to be busy. And that's still the struggle to combat that with intentional time together. So definitely.   Jon Rocke: (13:55 - 14:31) You talk about seasons in our lives. So, I had to have a hip replacement. So, from like 23 till I had that at 50, I couldn't take long walks. But now we get to walk together, which is a huge privilege. And so, I always think about it. I'm not into exercise to exercise, but I'm into being together. And exercise is a thing we can do together. The other thing we did in our, I guess it was on our 25th. We got a tandem bike. And we love doing our tandem bike.   Jolene Rocke: (14:31 - 16:21) But he wanted a tandem bike right when we got married. And I kept saying, no, I didn't really want to sit on the back and have no control. And not be able to see when I thought I should break or when I wanted to turn.   So, this is something that I often encourage women that are moving into the emptiness season of life. I was driving to church alone. And the Lord really impressed on me that the extreme lavish amount of love that as a homemaker I gave to my children who were now gone, I needed to transfer that to my husband.   I've always loved Jon first and best. But I needed to take even the time commitment. What could I do to show Jon I loved him lavishly the way I tried to my children? So that was a time thing for me. And it was like get a tandem bike. So, I was willing then to get the tandem and sit in the back. And you really do; you're called the stoker. You really do work in the back. You don't just sit there. You work. But I no longer had the control of that. And I am learning to see butterflies land on corn stalks. And I actually love our tandem bike. But God had to grow me. And that was part of my several gifts to him in emptiness period that has helped us keep a strong marriage, I think.   Laura Dugger: (16:21 - 16:30) And isn't that interesting how there's a gift in it for you? Like you offer this sacrifice and yet he's teaching you new things.   Jon Rocke: (16:21 - 16:22) I love it, yeah.   Laura Dugger: (16:23 - 16:45) What would you two say is the biggest personality difference that you've recognized in your own marriage?   Jolene Rocke: (16:45 - 17:22) We just had a personality test yesterday. We have an executive team leadership at Peoria Rescue Ministries, and we had to do personality tests again. And that always is quite glaring to see how different we are. So, we're on two ends of the spectrum. But we can encourage any marriage that that can work and actually maybe be in your favor as long as you work hard at it. So, it just takes work and communication to say, you're very logical thinking, I'm very emotional, so how do we come together then in situations where I'm flustered and he's calm because he at times looks as if you don't care.   Jon Rocke: (17:22 - 17:53) Right, yeah, it can be that. You're highly relational. I'm definitely more process. And I think you're going to learn quickly, especially if you have kids, that all your kids are going to have different personalities. That's the weirdest thing, right? They all grew up in the same home and they're all just completely different. And so being able to help them understand kind of a little bit who they are and how that works has been a good thing that we're not the same.   Jolene Rocke: (17:53 - 20:01) God didn't make one good and one bad. He made all of us different, all in His image, to His glory. We all bring value to the family, and we both bring value to one another as helpmates because I'm able to sharpen Jon in areas that are blind spots for him. He's able to totally sharpen me and calm me in blind spots that are mine. So, I think in a marriage, it's just actually, it's been helpful. Differences are good.   Laura Dugger: (20:01 - 20:25) Oh, I love that. Differences are good. It sounds like God sanctified even your views of that. And so, getting really practical, when was a time when your differences were working against each other or caused conflict? And then how, through maturing and more time together, how do you celebrate and even lean into and appreciate those differences?   Jolene Rocke: (20:25 - 21:00) Well, one thing for sure is we had what we call our valley, where we learned that Psalm 23 wasn't just a funeral psalm, but it's a life psalm, and it's a way of life psalm. So, at that time, I had three family members pass away, and Jon had his family business go down. So, we watched our personalities within that in handling loss and grief. So, here's the optimist really down, and here's realist trying to be cheerleader and be up.   And so actually God did it, and we know without a doubt that God can work beyond personalities and bring you to a point where you can actually support one another well. But there again, it's got to be intentional. It's got to be me saying, we need to sit down now and have a meeting, talk about how you're feeling, whether you want to talk about feelings or not, because I need to know where you're at so that I can help you best.   Jon Rocke: (20:01 - 21:20) Yeah, and on a practical level during that time, I found myself not communicating some of what I thought was either scary or just the long drag of it. And so that was a potential way for us to disconnect because all of this is swirling from at least our livelihood standpoint, swirling in my head, and I'm not going to want to share that. And yet we realized we had to, but then those are not always easy things because Jolene, like most ladies, likes security as an important thing, right? Of just knowing what's going to happen.   In the end, it did make us really, again, Joe mentioned Psalm 23, and if he is our shepherd, what else could we want? We both had to end up clinging to that because our security was gone. Part of our sense of who we were, and particularly me in a family business for three generations, was gone. And so, we certainly had to make sure that our tendencies, like in communication, those kinds of things, we had to work through those during that time.   Laura Dugger: (21:21 - 21:30) Thank you for sharing that. I think that's very relatable to hear about the ups and the downs. And so, do you have any specific stories of a time when you were both in your strengths, and even though they were very different, they worked well together?   Jolene Rocke: (21:30 - 23:12) Yeah, I think that it's the learning what your strengths are that you may not know that God gives you at the time, and that's his grace. So, at the time, for all those years previous to the valley, Jon was the one that pushed me to communicate, and shutting down was not an option, which is what I wanted to do. So, I'd rather just not talk about it and go to bed. And he would push, push, push me to keep communicating, and that we would work through everything before the sun went down, as the Bible says.   Well, in the valley, it was Jon that was shutting down. And suddenly, you know, I had to be the one to push communication. So, this is something I heard on a sermon. A personality is not an excuse for sin. So that just means that I can't say, well, I'm not comfortable in conflict, so I'm not going to communicate and I'm going to shut down. No, you need to push yourself, ask the Lord for help, and go as his helpmate and say, you have to talk about it, you have to tell me, how are you doing? How are you feeling? So, I feel like it's just, it was such a beautiful valley when we look back now.   Laura Dugger: (23:12 - 23:25) Another previous guest had said she noticed when she was in the valley, that's when you're closest to the living water.   Jon Rocke: (23:13 - 24:41) Oh, absolutely. For sure. That's how creeks run, through valleys. Yeah. And I think our parenting, it was helpful for us to have both sides of our personality in parenting because I think we could address situations with our kids from different viewpoints and different ways to think about things, and those were helpful things as well.   But we also, during all sorts of the periods of time in our marriage, we had some little things that just reminded us. We had little words. So one was, you know, “we need to swim back.” So, you can often find yourself, because of a season of time or a season with your kids or whatever on the different islands, and we would just say, we got to swim back. And so that was one of our things that we did. And then we also had a, if we went too long, we just realized we weren't intentional about our intimacy of any kind. It was just basically, “Hey, you didn't kiss me today.” And we used to make that, “No, you didn't kiss me today.” And it was just a thing we tried to do to make sure that we had these little things that just kept us reminded. And so, they were really, they were kind of practical, just little code words for us that made a difference and got our minds back to where it needed to be.   Jolene Rocke: (24:41 - 24:50) Yeah, and in the busyness, that's easy to remember those little swing thoughts.   Laura Dugger: (24:50 - 30:17) Swim back. And now a brief message from our sponsor.   Did you know you can go to college tuition free just by being a team member at Chick-fil-A East Peoria? Yes, you heard that right. Free college education. All Chick-fil-A East Peoria team members in good standing are immediately eligible for a free college education through Point University. Point University is a fully accredited private Christian college located in West Point, Georgia. This online self-paced program includes 13 associates degrees, 17 bachelor's degrees, and two master's programs, including an MBA. College courses are fully transferable both in and out of this program. This could even be a great option to complete your general education courses and then transfer to the college of your choice and save money in the process. So, if you're looking for an affordable college option while simultaneously gaining valuable work experience and earning an income, Chick-fil-A East Peoria is the place for you. You don't have to go into debt to get a great education. To apply today, please go to https://www.chick-fil-a.com/locations/il/east-peoria and click on the Career tab. You can also call the restaurant at 309-694-1044 to find out more. And if you aren't located near Chick-fil-A East Peoria, make sure you check with your local Chick-fil-A restaurant to see if they also participate in the Elevate program with Point University. Thanks for your sponsorship.   Are you utilizing Savvy Sauce Charities to full capacity? Other than our special Patreon release episodes, our content is now available in video form in addition to our audio only, and we have written transcriptions for every episode. Visit our website today, thesavvysauce.com, to access all these forms of interviews. And while you're there, make sure you sign up for our email list to receive encouragement, questions, and recommended resources about once a month to promote your own practical chats for intentional living.   I also want to remind you about the financial side of Savvy Sauce Charities. As you know, we recently became a non-profit, which means all your financial support is now tax deductible. There are multiple ways to give, and we would be so honored if you would share your financial support with us so that we can continue producing free content that is accessible to the general public. Your money will go to support creatively getting the gospel message of Jesus Christ to the nations as we continue to share the good news on every episode. And I say this is reaching the nations because the Savvy Sauce podcast is downloaded in all 50 United States as well as over 100 countries around the world. Your financial support also supports practical needs such as aiding our team to continue producing helpful content that is practical and uplifting and always pointing to Jesus. Your financial support, furthermore, will help us continue to expand our reach and secure future projects we have planned for this ministry. If your ears are hearing this message right now, I am specifically asking you to give. We are so grateful for any amount, and our team will continue to seek to be good stewards of the gifts offered to us. So, if you want to write a check or set up an ongoing payment with your bank that delivers a check to us each month, this is the most beneficial way to give because no percentages are taken out for processing fees. You can make your check out to Savvy Sauce Charities at P.O. Box 101, Roanoke, Illinois, 61561. Additionally, with our new website, we now have a donate button. There are processing fees that we cover for these donations, but we wanted to offer listeners a seamless way to share their finances with us when we share our content with them. So just visit thesavvysauce.com and find the donate page under the tab support. Another way to find it is simply type in donate to the search bar on our website and just click the first picture shown.   We are all about sharing around here, sharing resources, sharing joy, and sharing the good news about Jesus Christ. We ask that you also will share by sharing financially, sharing the Savvy Sauce podcast episodes, and sharing a five-star rating and review. You can also share any of our social media posts on Instagram or Facebook. We are grateful for all of it and we just love partnering together with you.   Now, back to the show. What encouragement do you have for healthy communication and healthy conflict resolution in marriage?   Jon Rocke: (30:19 - 31:31) God's grace. It's going to have to take time. You have to find that time together. So, I think it's all about prioritizing that time. I don't necessarily like conflict, but I know in our marriage you can't avoid it. And so, we just had to work through it right away. And so, I would say don't let time simmer conflict because that usually never makes it better.   Certainly, there's a sense of if there's something that's really emotional and maybe you need some space. My problem is I often don't give Jolene that space and that's hard on her, it really is, and sometimes not fair. But in the same vein, for me it felt like I didn't care if I just said, “Well, go ahead and be angry or be whatever or be upset about this or just let's not deal with it.” And she was gracious in pressing in and doing that. But I think don't let time go, just deal with it.   Jolene Rocke: (31:32 - 33:26) And two, the encouragement I think of is that Jon and I tell each other everything, every little thing. And we are very aware of couples that don't. And when Jon was holding back for me in that valley time, I really noticed it and I felt pretty alone. So, if you're always telling each other everything, there should be no secrets. So that just means there might be conflict then. If you're going to tell each other everything, then there might be conflict and you need to be prepared for that.   But that's better than me not saying anything. I sometimes say it's like a teapot, you're simmering or you're spouting. What's the perfect in the middle balance? It's really important to not simmer because you will spout eventually and then that's a harder conflict than if you just kept talking, kept telling every little thing. And so, we do tell each other every little thing.   Laura Dugger: (33:26 - 33:40) Well, and to go with that metaphor, if you have a release valve where that hot air can escape, it sounds like your communication has been that where you can get the water temperature back to a healthy place in the relationship.   Jolene Rocke: (33:40 - 33:55) Yeah, yes. And that takes work. So, I mean, honestly, what encouragement? Don't give up. Just keep going because it's worth it.   Laura Dugger: (33:55 - 34:10) Well, and I'm thinking back. Okay, so you had three kids. They're somewhat close together and you were young. So those years when all of your children were in the home, even elementary school age, that timeframe, what did that look like for communication? How did you still make sure you connected every day?   Jon Rocke: (33:26 - 34:31) Well, then throw in, we went to college after we had kids, which was actually, again, just God's grace and gift to us that we were able to leave town, leave the family business for a while, didn't think we were going to be involved in family business, went out to Indiana, went to school, and we didn't have anybody else but ourselves. And so that, again, was just his gift to us as young. We went in 1980, so that was two years after we were married. So, we already had Janelle at that point, and then Jamie came along soon after. And so, I had school but had to work to support. Jolene had to work and she was mom to two little ones. And so, again, I think it was just those times of making sure that we said nothing else can get in the way of us. Again, another phrase that we just had was, you know, we can get through anything together and nothing apart.   Jolene Rocke: (34:32 - 35:21) And that's not a flippant statement for us. That means we're trying and we're going to find the intentional time, put them to bed early, and make sure on weekends we're connecting well. And that meant sometimes driving with our kids. We'd go on drives. But that's Jon and I being able to talk. And then if they're goofing off in the back seat, it's okay. It's just fine because we actually are having talk time. Drive time has always been great communication time for us.   Laura Dugger: (35:21 - 35:35) That's really helpful, I think, for parents in any season. And you're talking about God's grace. So how has grace, and even forgiveness, benefited your relationship?   Jolene Rocke: (35:35 - 35:40) It's everything to our relationship.   Jon Rocke: (35:22 - 37:12) It's the only thing in everything. The parable of the unjust steward in Matthew 18 and just this idea that if you catch the enormity of your sin, then you can forgive others. And so that has been, I think, an important part of what we do because I love that whole story. Peter is asking that question, “How many times do I have to forgive somebody?” And if you think about a marriage context, well, that's a great question because my guess is it's going to be thousands upon thousands of times for whatever little or big things they are. And he's kind of like loading up. I feel that he's getting ready to say, “I've already forgiven this person six times. So, is it seven? And then after that, there's no more?” And the whole point of that is, oh, you really want to keep numbers, Peter? Here's the numbers. You've been forgiven zillions. And so, what's the little trifle amount that you're not going to forgive? And so, I'm thankful that Jolene is gracious because she's had to forgive me and continues to. We're still learning in a new season of life where now we get to work together, which to me is a really great joy. But it's also a different reality where we have a lot of work talk. Well, that's great. And we love that. But that can't dominate everything either. And so that's another one of those things that we have to figure out how to carve out our time away from work. Even though we enjoy working together and it's really fun, it's a new thing. That can't get in the way of us either.   Jolene Rocke: (37:13 - 40:14) There's got to be grace on both parts that now as I look at him as a boss also. And my husband, you know, I need to give a lot of grace to realize he's working within a momentum around a team and a leadership. But then as he comes home, and I'm very fully aware now of what a hat change that means for a man. That means that he's taking off his hat now and becoming my husband at home. And so, it's grace on both sides as he sees me working even under him or with him as a team. But it's a lot of grace and forgiveness over the years because in the early years as you're raising children, there might be unmet expectations is something I wrote down because I feel like as I think back to this pursuer of God and who I married and I remember those early years thinking, well, wow, he's not leading in devotions in the family. And I'm kind of struggling to find, I need to, as the mom then, pick that up and make sure we're doing with the children some family devotions. Well, that can create controversy. It can be that I would be upset, but I needed to forgive him for the fact that he didn't mean to do that and abdicate that responsibility. He just didn't know. And so, there's so much about being graceful as a wife to say, okay, I understand. That wasn't maybe how you were raised, or you didn't see that modeled in the home. But this is what I would desire for our family. And so, you just keep working and you keep forgiving because we've been forgiven so much, as Jon said. So, we know that. And I think the other key thing then with forgiveness becomes no record keeping, just as love is in 1 Corinthians 13. It doesn't keep the record of wrongs. I don't need to sit around with my time and in my brain and think about how much I've forgiven Jon. I need to think about the fact that God's forgiven so much in me, and he has to forgive me all the time. So, you're on this equal footing with forgiveness rather than trying to harbor a record of wrongs.   Laura Dugger: (40:14 - 40:40) Well, and I think you bring up examples for how it works in our families as well with children. And so, it's clear you two have such a solid marriage and you also have a thriving relationship with your adult children and your grandchildren and all their families. So, I think you just have a lot that you could teach us about raising a family as well. What are you so thankful that you did when your kids were living at home that you're now getting to see the payoff as they're adults?   Jon Rocke: (40:16 - 41:43) We literally grew up with our kids. So sorry for our kids that they had to, you know, grow up with their mom and dad. But that's been a lot of fun too because we did a lot of play. Again, these are just little things for us, these little words. So, as the kids were young, we used to, something that bothered them is I would tell them pretty plainly that I love mom most. And so, kids will always try to drive a wedge between mom and dad. That's just part of the fallen nature of kids. And so, we really communicated early. Our kids will tell you that was a hard lesson for them to learn that they didn't quite understand at that age, right? But they've really come to appreciate that in their own marriages. And then the other thing that we said was we choose you second. So, they knew we choose each other first because you're going to be gone someday and mom's not. And so, but we will always choose you second. So, friends were not a higher priority or social or hobby or anything. You know, the kids were always knew they were second. And so our kids are scattered all across, although we have Jamie and Jonathan here, one family here in Morton that we love to live life with. The others are gone, but I think we're still close in a lot of ways from that.   Jolene Rocke: (41:45 - 45:27) Yeah, I think we're a close family because we have stuck together through not just the ups, but the downs, but we're fun loving. Jon and I like games. We like to do stuff, and we like to go places. We prioritized vacation when they were little so that we were all together in an intentional environment that was away from home. And so, we were together, they enjoyed going to Florida every year and it was always what we called just happenstances that were so adverse. It wasn't your ideal. And so, we did not have ideal things happen on any trip, actually, that we go on. So, what we decided to call them is adventures. So, we intentionally took adverse situations, whether that's a flat tire, going to Florida with all the kids and it's the middle of the night and we're all sitting at a gas station on the curb waiting for the next tire to get fixed. It's just, we just always called them adventures and I'm not sorry for that. That's something our kids are passing on to their kids when things happen. Our son in particular, Jordan, his family seems to have a lot of adventures, like Jon and I have had. And that's what they call them to their children. So, I'm not sorry for the word adventure. Jon taught me a saying that he used to say, you love your children, even if you don't like them or you will lose them. And that was really important in the teenage years. When one of our children was struggling in junior high, I knew even if I didn't like the way this one was acting, I needed to just keep loving them as scripture says, right? Not if they're perfect, but all the time. And so, we didn't lose her through that time, I think because there was so much intentional loving beyond the liking. The other thing that I would just mention with that to encourage any, any mom or dad, I picked up the book, The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman and had this daughter read it with me so that we can learn, how do we love each other? Well, through this time when it feels like we don't really like each other that well. So, well, wow. I had no idea. It was physical touch for you. And I, I thought it was the acts of service. And you would notice that I picked up your room because I knew you had a hard day in a test at school. Well, there was never any knowledge or awareness that I did that for her. But whenever I put my arms around her and gave her a giant hug and wouldn't let her go until she melted in my arms, I realized, yes, that's what she, that's how I can love her best.   Laura Dugger: (45:27 - 45:50) That is awesome to hear that story. It is helpful to have actionable things that we can replicate. And so, I am going to link in the show notes to a few of our episodes that may be beneficial. If people want to take that concept a step further, Dr. Gary Chapman has been a previous guest. I'll link to those. And then also Katie Mueller talked about traveling with your family and the lessons that the Lord teaches his children about traveling in the Bible and how that applies to us. That's great. So, if you're willing, will you share anything more about the honeymoon? I'm so curious now.   Jon Rocke: (45:27 - 46:35) We will. I feel like we're taking too much time here.   Jolene Rocke: (46:35 - 46:36) I don't know, but well, we knew that this was setting the tone for marriage as far as adventures.   Jon Rocke: (46:36 - 46:37) But well, the very first off we, we got on a plane. So, we got married on a Sunday and we were flying out down to Florida on Sunday night. We got to Atlanta where we were supposed to connect to another plane. We were supposed to go to Fort Myers, Florida and there had been a storm and, and they were rushing to get us on the right flights or to get us to the next flight. And they put us on the wrong plane. You know, this was back in the day where that could happen. Couldn't happen today, but put us on the wrong plane. We ended up in Melbourne, Florida at midnight last flight of the night. You know, we're newlyweds. We're supposed to be, you know, on our honeymoon. They put us up at a Holiday Inn Express with the crew and said, you know, we'll get you out a flight. You have to be up at 4 a.m. And so, you know, I was, our first night was not necessarily what you would, you know, call the most romantic night that we could have. And then do you want to tell the second story of our honeymoon?   Jolene Rocke: (46:36 - 46:37) The canoe trip.   Jon Rocke: (46:37 - 46:37) Yeah.   Jolene Rocke: (46:37 - 47:28) The canoe trip is, I have such bad allergies to many things. And so, Jon knew that because we tried to go horseback riding and I thought I'd be okay because it was outdoors, but the dander on the horse made me just blow up into a big ball on my face. And so, he realized how much I have a problem with allergies, but we decided to go canoeing in a very narrow mangrove swamp. That was really depleted in, in its depth that day. And so, we were canoeing along, but we, we got into the side of the mangrove trees and out came a Hornets, Hornets out of this giant nest and stung me all over my back.   Jon Rocke: (47:28 - 47:50) And so Jon went into, I'm like thinking that my six day, you know, marriage is over. My wife, who's so allergic, we're half hour out on our journey and I'm, she's like going to die on the spot. Cause I figured if she's so allergic to animals, then this many, you know, bee stings or wasp stings, she's, you know, she's dead.   Jolene Rocke: (47:52 - 48:12) So he jumps, jumps out. Yeah. First, the truth is he took my top off and started taking mud from the bottom of the creek and, just plasters me with mud on my back. And then he jumps out of the canoe and starts running the, the canoe. Cause it was pretty shallow.   Jon Rocke: (48:12 - 48:31) I decided it was going to be quicker to get her back in time. I figured I had about 30 minutes, you know, to, to try to get her to some medical attention. And so, yeah, so I'm running the canoe back instead of paddling it. Cause I knew I could get faster. Well, then I cut my foot on a shoal and we're a mess.   Jolene Rocke: (48:31 - 48:37) I mean, he had it. What? Like six-inch stitches. So, we ended up in the ER here.   Jon Rocke: (48:37 - 48:38) Yeah.   Jolene Rocke: (48:38 - 48:52) Both of us with me, with stings, Jon, with a cut. And, and that was just the start of the honeymoon that we called a giant adventure adventure since it wasn't great.   Jon Rocke: (48:52 - 48:55) It's been a 44-year adventure.   Laura Dugger: (48:55 - 49:15) You did start with quite the adventure. I love that. And I think the husbands' listening will appreciate, of course you took their top off first.   Jon Rocke: (49:03 - 49:04) That's right.   Jolene Rocke: (49:05 - 49:07) It was a little embarrassing.   Jon Rocke: (49:08 - 49:10) It was a good thing. Nobody else.   Jolene Rocke: (49:10 - 49:15) Nobody else.   Laura Dugger: (49:15 - 49:25) Sorry. I had to tease on that part, but through various seasons, how did you prioritize one another above your kids, your career and your own families of origin?   Jon Rocke: (49:25 - 50:35) We just knew we had to have time. So, a couple of things. I mean, we had a fortunate built in mechanism too, to take trips together. So, within our family business, we had conferences and such that we had to attend. And so, we made that a priority that we were going to do those together. I wasn't going to just go by myself. And so, a couple of times a year, and now that we're working together, it can feel like life blurs between everything. So, while we're at home, we're still talking about work and we're still dealing with ministry. And the other thing is with our kids away, a lot of our trip time is spent with our kids. So, we have to make that, that's gotta be a priority, but we realized we still need just our time away. and when we got, we went down to Florida and we just said, okay, no work talk for these five days, you know, no work talk. And it was pretty fun because most of the time Jolene broke that rule. And I would say, wait a minute, no work talk.   Jolene Rocke: (50:36 - 50:36) It's true.   Jon Rocke: (50:37 - 51:09) It's very true. But those, so trips were a big thing for us, and they don't have to be a big deal trip, but a weekend away to break the routine. You know, the example of that was, that's why God created festivals and holidays were to break routine and to have a stop in our everyday lives. And so, he knew we needed that to reconnect with him. Well, we know we need that in our marriages is to break the routine.   Jolene Rocke: (51:10 - 52:17) Very intentionally. Jon was wise enough to know we needed that as even as young as he was. Can you imagine the volumes of love that that spoke to me, that he wanted me to go with him on the trips. So that meant so much to me. And it still does today because he always wants me to go with him. And then I, I just have over the years, like when the kids were at home, that was days of rest for me when he was in meetings. But as I started growing too, as a person and not needing as much rest, I also would go into all the meetings because I liked the learning. But even as we went through college, like I just was always a part of the learning. And, and I liked that, but Jon included me. That said a lot to me.   Laura Dugger: (52:18 - 52:25) And I love your companionship, how you prioritize that. What advice do you have for all of us married couples as we seek to grow as one rather than start to grow parallel or even worse, start to grow apart from one another?   Jon Rocke: (52:18 - 52:47) Yeah, I think find things to do together. That's part of how even the biking, the tandem thing came about. Cause if we went out on bikes on our individual bikes, then I'm like, I'm wanting to run ahead. Well, you know, and then, and she's like, you know, you're not getting very much exercise or whatever the case may be. But then on a tandem, we could accomplish everything together. And so, finding some of those things.   Jolene Rocke: (52:47 - 54:56) So there's seasons of time when you're raising your children, like that, Jon was biking by himself and with some other men in a fast pace for extreme exercise. And I was doing my thing. And so, I'm not saying that hobbies apart from one another are negative, but for us, they've been mostly together. And so that just means that even there was a period that yes, Jon would go out golfing, not in excess, but when our kids were around and little, I think I was communicating even in that, that you don't just go off golfing every Saturday and leave your wife with the kids on a Saturday because you now that's your day off work. No, it's, we never get a day off work. So, you need to kick in at home too. So, there was this balance, I think is a really good word for how do you, how do you do like even individual hobbies and exercise even, but then mostly we're always trying to figure out how we can do things together. So, taking a back seat, literally on a tandem bike and knowing that that was going to help our marriage to be together. I also said recently now in a decade ago, I will learn how to golf. And so that, that just meant, again, I have no, no interest that much in golfing. I thought I loved riding the car around and being outside, but now it's like, yes, I will learn to golf if that means that that's another hobby and a sport and an activity that we can do together. So, we started a Friday night golf time, just Jon and I, it's a date night of golf and Dairy Queen supper. We call it Dairy Queen supper because we just don't eat supper, but we eat Dairy Queen after we go. So there again, there's just like, what are, what can we do together? And we're still doing date nights because it's just, we actually are really good friends still.   Jon Rocke: (54:57 - 55:51) Well, I think like I say, every season has been different for us. There was a time where kids were intense and Joe was a phenomenal mom and, was totally engaged in that. And you're in your career phase too. And so, all those things are competing. Well, then we've come back in the last five years and now we work together. So that's a different whole different dynamic. And so that's why we needed, you know, yeah, we need a golf and Dairy Queen night because we just need to get away from the intensity of our work relationship, you know, and take that break on our tandems. We usually ride for breakfast. So, most things have to do with food. It's not about exercise. It's about how to eat. So that's kind of just part of what we do.   Laura Dugger: (55:51 - 56:19) I love it though. That's an interest for all people. It's something that we have to do multiple times a day. Well, what do you want to leave us with? Whether it's a challenge or scripture, it can be anything, but how would you like to wind down our time together today?   Jolene Rocke: (56:19 - 56:30) I'm going to just say to encourage everyone. Our marriage has taken compromise and it's taken communication and it pays off in the end.   Jon Rocke: (56:19 - 57:11) You know, Ephesians 5 is really an important understanding that it's submitting to each other. The idea of wives submit to your husband, you're not catching the whole picture of that. If that's what your focus is, because it's husband loves you, love your wives as Christ loved the church. And so, and it starts the whole section off with submit to one another. And so, we have to be just intentional and committed. One of my favorite sayings is from Augustine, who says, when he was in prayer one time says to God, “Command what you will, but give what you command.” And so, when I think about our marriage, that's what grace is all about. Yes, it takes intentionality and commitment, but that only comes by his grace.   Jolene Rocke: (57:11 - 57:55) And one other thing that I thought of is that we always taught our kids to remember whose they are. And that just means that if you do that within a marriage too, and you're remembering that you're the Lord's, you're made in his image, then you relate and you will love the other one better. Even as you know your identity in Christ first, you will love your mate better.   Laura Dugger: (57:55 - 58:05) Amen. And you too may know we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so, as my final question for both of you today, what is your savvy sauce?   Jon Rocke: (57:56 - 58:07) You know, I just say submission is a good thing. It's not associated that way, but in a marriage it's such a good thing.   Jolene Rocke: (58:08 - 59:13) So that's both submitting to each other, not just the wife being clamped down. But our savvy sauce would be that sacrifice and submission are good things. They're not bad words. So, in our experience, a savvy sauce for our 44-year-old marriage is that sacrifice and submission have been very good things on both of our parts.   Laura Dugger: (59:13 - 59:20) Well, you clearly live this out, and you've been great role models to Mark and to me and our family. You love one another with such an intensity, and you love your Lord that way, and you love your children that way in your community. And I just see the way that He's had this ripple out from being intentional in the most key important parts of life, and that He's really blessed you in that, but He's also blessed all of us around you. So, thank you for sharing your journey with us. Thank you so much for being my guest.   Jolene Rocke: (59:20 - 59:22) It's been so great to be here with you. Thanks for asking, Laura.   Jon Rocke: (59:13 - 59:27) Yeah, it's been a privilege for us just to take the time to reflect again and realize the challenges, but really just celebrate what God has done through His grace in us and our marriage. So, thanks.   Laura Dugger: (59:27 - 1:03:10) One more thing before you go, have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you, but it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior, but God loved us so much. He made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life. We could never live and died in our place for our sin.   This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished. If we choose to receive what he has done for us, Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   So, you pray with me now. Heavenly father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you.   Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life? We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus name we pray.   Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me. So, me for him, you get the opportunity to live your life for him.   And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you're ready to get started.   First, tell someone, say it out loud, get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes and Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it.   You can start by reading the book of John. Also get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.   We want to celebrate with you too. So, feel free to leave a comment for us here. If you did make a decision to follow Christ, we also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “in the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

As we celebrate 250 years of being a country this year, it all started out being lost. While the Roanoke Island colony was unsuccessful, it set a precedent for future English colonization efforts in the New World and giving us a foothold in North America.

In this deeply personal episode of the AART Podcast, host Chris Stafford sits down with acclaimed American film editor Jazzy Kettenacker for an intimate conversation about life, identity, and a career shaped by storytelling. Rather than focusing on technical process, this episode explores the human journey behind the edit — the experiences, values, and turning points that have defined Jazzy's path in film and beyond. Jazzy Kettenacker reflects on growing up with a creative instinct, discovering film as a way to make sense of the world, and how editing became not just a profession but a way of thinking and living. She speaks candidly about navigating the film industry, finding her voice as an artist, and the emotional intelligence required to shape stories that resonate. This is a conversation about resilience, intuition, and the unseen labor that gives films their emotional rhythm. Throughout the episode, Jazzy opens up about the realities of sustaining a creative life — the doubts, the breakthroughs, and the personal evolution that comes with long-term artistic work. Her story highlights the importance of trust, collaboration, and empathy, revealing how an editor's sensibility is deeply intertwined with who they are as a person. The AART Podcast is known for thoughtful, biographical conversations with artists across disciplines, and this episode is no exception. Chris guides the discussion with warmth and curiosity, creating space for reflection on creativity, identity, and what it truly means to build a life in the arts. Whether you're a filmmaker, artist, or simply someone interested in honest creative journeys, this episode offers rare insight into the inner life of a film editor whose work — and perspective — is shaped by lived experience.BIOJazzy Kettenacker, a St. Louis native and full-time Editor at BSS Outpost, is known for her dynamic editing style and relentless work ethic. A Hollins University graduate and Premiere Pro wiz, she's collaborated with top brands like The North Face, Disney+, MLS, Rolling Stone, Under Armour, Pepsi, and FX. Jazzy's dedication to creative excellence drives her to push boundaries and redefine cinematic storytelling.  Born in 199 in Columbia, MI, Jazzy is the only child of Donna Garrett, a lieutenant for the St. Louis Police Department, and Lynn Hard, a retired Home School Communicator.  She attended Compton-Drew Middle School, Webster Groves High School and Hollins University—an all women's University in Roanoke, VA. Her love for film and the process of filmmaking that she learned in college guided her to a career that began behind the camera before she realized the magic for her was to be found in the edit suite. With experience across the genres, Jazzy has now found her metier in documentary film.Keywords:Jazzy Kettenacker, Jazzy Kettenacker film editor, American film editor, film editing career, women in film, film industry stories, creative life podcast, artist biography podcast, AART Podcast, Chris Stafford podcast, film editor interview, life in film, creative identity, storytelling in cinema, behind the scenes film, artist conversations, biographical podcast, independent film voicesHost: Chris StaffordProduced by Hollowell StudiosFollow @theaartpodcast on InstagramAART on FacebookEmail: theaartpodcast@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.A Hollowell Studios ProductionInstagram: @theaartpodcast Email: hollowellstudios@gmail.com© Copyright: Chris Stafford | Hollowell StudiosAll Rights Reserved

***Originally aired on Place to Be Nation Wrestling on 1/14/2022***   On episode 33 of NWA Crock and Roll, the full crew is back together to start the journey of March 86! Tully sends Dusty a clear message about the National title, while Dusty wants a fan to kiss his ass. A BIZARRE set of promos between Ron Garvin and Arn Anderson leading to a TV Title match. Crockett Cup location announced along with the debut of The Crockett Cup Spotlight, looking at matches with teams in the upcoming tournament. Up first, The Fabulous One's vs. The Guerreros in a cage. 5 house show matches from Roanoke and Charlotte, end of show awards and more!

ABOUT THE EPISODE Our next episode we talk with Roanoke College Head Coach Nate Yetzer about their incredible run at the 2026 NWCA National Duals. The Maroons beat #1 Wartburg, #2 Augsburg, and #3 UW La Crosse to win the National Duals title.Twitter & Instagram - @D3NationPodcastABOUT THE PODCAST Hosted by Anthony and Gennaro Bonaventura, former DIII wrestlers at Waynesburg University, current DIII Head Coach at Stevens Institute of Technology & DII Head Coach at Fairmont State University. The D3 Nation podcast mission is to provide DIII wrestling news and updates throughout the year. We also look forward to delivering episodes featuring DIII coaches and wrestlers as special guests to share their stories. We are both passionate about DIII wrestling and want to use this platform to keep the wrestling community educated on what is happening in DIII plus raise awareness of the amazing stories in DIII Wrestling.

ABR 428 is OUT NOW on Spotify + Apple Podcasts — and the timing couldn't be crazier.We went live on 12/22 with Coach Nate Yetzer, the head man who built Roanoke College Wrestling from the ground up… and THIS WEEKEND the Maroons won the NWCA/USMC Multi-Division National Dual Meet Championships — taking down the giants and changing Division III history.In this episode, Coach Yetzer breaks down the blueprint behind Roanoke's rapid rise:✅ How to build a program from scratch (and why he actually prefers it)✅ Culture as the real “competitive advantage”✅ Recruiting philosophy + what a “Roanoke Kid” really is✅ Why D3 can be the best fit for development + career outcomes✅ Scholarships, academic/need-based aid, and how families should approach the money side✅ Fan experience + building a brand people want to watch✅ Areas Roanoke recruits (VA/NC/Atlanta, New England… and why Denver is next)✅ Advice for athletes: how to email coaches, sell yourself, and find the right fitABOUT THE TITLE RUN: Roanoke went to Iowa and shook the sport — beating Augsburg and Wartburg to bring home the national duals crown. The “Augsburg/Wartburg era” isn't automatic anymore.

Cody Journell is a vertically integrated real estate operator in Southwest Virginia and the founder of Haven Management Group, where he specializes in stabilizing underperforming small to mid sized multifamily assets. A former Division I athlete and Sports Illustrated All American at Virginia Tech, Cody transitioned from professional sports into real estate by mastering property turnarounds and operational improvements. He currently manages roughly 70 units, owns approximately 20 units, and focuses on disciplined underwriting and execution driven growth across the New River Valley and Roanoke markets. Cody joined Rod's Warrior Group at the end of 2024 to further scale his investing platform with the goal to purchase a 25 unit in 2025.   Here's some of the topics we covered:   From Division I football to winning in real estate Why starting in single family forced Cody to think bigger The exact deal sizes Cody and his team target Why great project management makes or breaks returns How to asset manage small properties like a pro Cody's first Warrior Group deal and what he learned Turning C and D class properties into value add wins The cash out refi strategy powering Cody's exits RUBS explained and how it boosts NOI fast   If you'd like to apply to the warrior program and do deals with other rockstars in this business: Text crush to 72345 and we'll be speaking soon. For more about Rod and his real estate investing journey go to www.rodkhleif.com

Fri, Dec 19 2:21 AM → 2:41 AM A stabbing occurred at 1012 Montrose Ave SE. There were 2 victims one critical. Both were transported to the hospital and command was terminated. Radio Systems: - Roanoke Valley Radio System II

"So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23 TPT   *Transcription Below*   Thank You to Our Sponsor: The Sue Neihouser Team   Katie M. Reid is an author, speaker, podcast host, and songwriter who inspires others to live out their purpose with tenacity, wisdom and grace at katiemreid.com. She is the author of Made Like Martha: Good News for the Woman Who Gets Things Done, A Very Bavarian Christmas novel (which is becoming a movie) and the co-creator of The Digital Peace Pact and the Check Your Selfie Story-Coloring Book. Katie is also the co-host of The Martha + Mary Show podcast. As the Inspiration Doula, Katie coaches creatives, helping them bring life to their projects. Her album, Echoes of My Heart, the Daughter song, and The Very Bavarian Christmas musical soundtrack can be accessed here and on other music streaming platforms. Katie delights in her husband and five children. Musicals, iced tea, and cut-to-the-chase conversations are a few of her favorite things.   Questions and Topics Discussed: As a woman who excels in getting things done, what tips can you share as it relates to getting things done around our home? What are some of the changes you've made to your lifestyle that have led to the greatest results? What habits and rhythms do you have in place to support your personal development and spiritual growth?   Other Episodes Mentioned from The Savvy Sauce During Episode: 183 Leading Your Family, Marriage, and Self with Justin Maust Patreon 47: Business, Leadership, and Legacy with Justin Maust    Other Episode Mentioned During Episode: Mary & Martha Show: Benefits of Chiropractic Care with Dr. Lianne Coombe   Other Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce: 81 Sacred Rest with Doctor, Author, and Speaker, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith 150 Brain Science and Spiritual Abundance with Ken Baugh 256 Gut Health, Allergies, Inflammation and Proactive Solutions with Emily Macleod-Wolfe   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:11 - 1:29) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.   Thank you to the Sue Neihouser Team for sponsoring this episode.   If you're looking to buy or sell a home this season, make sure you reach out to Sue at 309-229-8831. Sue would love to walk alongside you as you unlock new doors.   Welcome to the final episode of The Savvy Sauce for 2025. We look so forward to meeting you back here after today's episode on Monday, January 5th.   But for today, my guest is Katie Reid. She is wildly creative and also completely grounded in her faith.   She's an author, speaker, former podcaster, and coach for creatives. She's going to share on a variety of topics today, ranging from health to discerning God's leading for what's next in each of our lives. Here's our chat.   Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Katie.   Katie Reid: (1:30 - 1:33) Thank you so much for having me, Laura. This is such a treat.   Laura Dugger: (1:33 - 1:45) Oh, it's a delight to get a chat with you. And I want to go back. I want to hear the origins of your writing and podcasting journey and how it's led to the work that you get to do today.   Katie Reid: (1:46 - 3:00) Well, in about 2014, I had a bucket list. And on that bucket list, there were things like make a quilt and sing the national anthem in a professional sporting event and bake an apple pie and writing a book was on it. And so, Laura, I've always been a very driven and purposeful person.   So, it felt like it was the time to write a book. And I had no idea how hard it was going to be and that it would accidentally turn into a career that I forgot to ask my husband if I could start. But it was when I started writing and I had been writing, you know, just as a kid here and there.   But it turned into what I did as a career. And it was not necessarily easy. But God has refined me through the process.   And so, my first book Made Like Martha came out in 2018. And then I have dabbled in fiction books as well. And then I have a Bible study that is out now.   God, What Do I Do? based on Judges one through five. So, I kind of write a little bit of everything. And it's been a wild and wonderful journey.   Laura Dugger: (3:01 - 3:07) Wild and wonderful for sure. Going back to that bucket list, have the other ones also become realities as well?   Katie Reid: (3:08 - 3:28) You know, I have sang the national anthem at some not  professional sporting events, but, you know, high school events and that kind of thing at my college. I have made an apple pie. My mom is a quilter and I just decided she can do that.   I kind of removed that off the list. But now I can check off, write a book.   Laura Dugger: (3:28 - 3:53) That's incredible, which is a huge undertaking. So, thank you for your labor of love. And even going back, I love how you've identified that you kind of relate more to the Martha personality rather than the Mary personality.   So, can you define what that means and share some of the benefits and the drawbacks of each personality leaning?   Katie Reid: (3:54 - 6:41) Sure. So, in the Bible, in Luke 10:38-42, we meet two sisters, Martha and Mary, and they had a brother, Lazarus, as well, and they were friends of Jesus. And Martha it seems like your firstborn type A, you know, to do list kind of gal.   And Mary was like a disciple of Jesus sitting at his feet, maybe more relationally driven. And so, when I read this story that has, you know, Martha gets a lot of flack because a lot of people like, “Oh, we need to all be like Mary.” And so, this story, I always wanted it to go differently.   Martha goes to Jesus. She's worried and distracted by all her preparations. She's housing or hosting Jesus and his disciples at her home.   And Mary's sitting there listening to Jesus teaching. And so, Martha goes to Jesus and says in the Katy paraphrase, “Hey, Jesus, I'm here doing this all by myself. Tell Mary to get off her duff and help me.”   And I so, Laura, wanted Jesus to say, “Martha, you are right. Mary, get in there and help your sister.” But that's not what he did.   And so, I want to take a closer look at the story and see what did God really say? Because I think over time, we've probably read books or heard different sermons that paints Martha in a certain light. And I wanted to see for myself, you know, have we added things to this that aren't really there?   And what I discovered is, you know, Jesus made us. We know this from Psalm 139 on purpose and for a purpose and intricately. And so, it was no mistake that Martha was made to do and to get things done.   But she got a little out of whack kind of with her heart posture, as I say, you know, kind of trying to strive and earn versus working from a place of love. She was working for love and she already had that love right there in Jesus in her home. And so, that's what Made Like Martha is about.   But I see how, you know, a lot of us are a blend of both of these women, you know, task oriented, relational oriented. But I think we lean more one way or the other. But the world needs all kinds of people in it.   And so, I think sometimes we view it as a competition when actually it's just different. But we can never go wrong with sitting at Jesus's feet. But also, we can be at peace and settled on the inside in our relationship with the Lord, even when our hands are busy.   Because if we just all sit, things will not get done. And, you know, we are both busy moms, Laura. And, you know, there's just there's a to do list every day, isn't there?   Laura Dugger: (6:41 - 7:00) There is. But you are someone who really does excel at getting those things done. Like you said, it's in your wiring from the Lord.   So, what tips can you share with all of us? And maybe starting with how does that specifically look for getting things done around our home?   Katie Reid: (7:01 - 8:47) Yes, I think there's a resource I have on my website that we can share in the show notes, and it's called the “All Done Calendar.” And I don't know about you, Laura, but my to do list can have like 25 things on it, which is just very unrealistic. Right.   I am not going to get 25 things done in a day. And so, I created this all done calendar and it's a blank calendar. It's got some pretty designs on it.   And what you do is you write down a few things each day that you actually got done. And cleaning half of the bathroom can totally count. You don't even have to do the whole thing. But it's a way to celebrate what you've already done instead of just being fixated on all there's left to do. And so, that's something that helps me is to be like, OK, I did not get the 25 things done. But what with the Lord's help did I get done?   And sometimes I might have had these really lofty goals, but maybe instead I had a meaningful conversation with my team. Or maybe instead I left the dishes and sat down and watched a movie with my family and likely fell asleep 10 minutes in because I sat down. But I think we can just feel, especially in this Pinterest world and comparison with social media, we can feel like we're behind all the time.   And so, this all done calendar is just a really practical way to just look back over the month and be like, look what I did do. And sure, there could be lots of things left, but it's a way to just remind ourselves of what we have in that gratitude. I call it a lavish list instead of a lack list.   You know, instead of counting all the things you don't have, give thanks for all the things you do.   Laura Dugger: (8:48 - 9:05) Wow. And that gratitude really does change everything when our mindset is changed. Do you have any other tips that you use then for meal planning or logistics?   Because you can introduce us to your family as well. You've got quite a few kids with your husband.   Katie Reid: (9:05 - 11:47) We do. We have five kids. The oldest is almost 21. She's a girl. Our youngest is a girl also, and she's almost nine. And then we have three boys in the middle, 18, 16, and 12.   And so, we are a lively and a loud family. I think for me with meal planning, I actually do enjoy cooking and my daughter had a lot of culinary training. So, I know some women are just like, it happens every day and I don't like it.   But what I often do with our busy schedule is on Saturday or maybe Sunday afternoon, I like to cook things in bulk. So, maybe I'll make a soup and some taco meat and put pulled pork in the crock pot so that we can kind of eat off that. And during the week, I kind of batch cook.   So, I don't feel like I'm doing it all the time. And we also from a young age have equipped our kids to make their food. I remember we had someone stay with us, Laura, and they were like almost appalled.   They're like, “I mean, these young kids just got up and made their own food. Where was the mom?” And my husband said, “That's actually what we've trained them to do.”   I mean, they were getting like cereal. The other day, the baby of the family is almost nine and we do probably too much for her as one tends to do with their youngest child. And so, I equipped her and empowered her.   I said, “You know, Lark, you can make your own eggs.” And so, sure enough, she got a stool. I just reminded her to spray the pan and turn off the oven.   And she made herself, you know, eggs with bacon bits in it. And you can see that sense of pride. She was a little hesitant at first.   But I believe in working smarter, not harder. And so, we do divvy up, you know, chores around the house. In fact, I dare not say this too loudly.   But when I started writing, my husband said to our kids who were quite a lot younger at the time, “Guess what? Mom's not doing the dishes anymore. So, you guys are each going to have a night or two. And you're going to do those because we want her to be faithful to what God has also asked her to do. And you guys need to learn how to do this.” And so, Laura, when they first started loading the dishwasher, I had to fold my hands because they were not doing it in the way I would have envisioned.   But it was still getting it done. So, I have this little mantra. If someone else can do it with at least 75 percent, you know, effectiveness, then that should be good enough.   Because I think sometimes as women, we kind of want it my way or the highway. But then we wear ourselves out because we're trying to control or manage everything. And sometimes 75 percent is good enough.   Laura Dugger: (11:48 - 12:21) Katie, you sound like a wonderful mother. I think that's such a gift to your kids. Their studies show doing chores and being more self-sufficient, being trained that way is beneficial to them across the board.   So, I applaud you. Well done. But another one of your sweet spots that you seem to get after is healthy living.   And so, I'd love to know, what are some of your most beneficial lifestyle changes that you've implemented in your family? And now they've led to the greatest results.   Katie Reid: (12:22 - 15:12) Yeah, so, one of the things we do as a family is we go to the chiropractor. And I know that some people have mixed feelings about that, but we love our chiropractor. And, you know, I'll probably get the statistics, you know, not quite right. I'm a creative brain versus a very logical brain. But I do know there are many health benefits to chiropractic care. It boosts your immune system.   I can for me personally, some of the benefits is I used to get vertigo sometimes, which is a terrible thing if you've never had it, where the room is like spinning and I'd have to just lay in bed, which is not a great thing, you know, for our busy lifestyle. And so, I have less vertigo. I can move my head back and forth freely and lots of other things.   But one thing that was interesting, and we did interview my chiropractor on the Martha & Mary Show on the podcast, is there's so many things that can be benefits to it. And at my age, I'm almost 48. I can see 50 from a distance.   And my friends and I, Laura, are talking about our bodies so much. We are now like our moms would do. And even going to the bathroom more regularly can be a benefit of chiropractic care or, you know, your cramps not being as bad, all that.   So, that's one of the things we have done. This year, we are trying to walk a lot more. So, my husband and I and our two youngest children, we have this little half hour route that we do. And we were even doing it in the middle of winter. And then as things have gotten busier, that's fallen a little bit by the wayside, but just fresh air. We have some great conversations.   And the other thing, too, is I don't know if you're like this, Laura, but during COVID, we put on a lot of weight and we didn't realize it. We could see it in other people, but we went to the doctor and I was shocked by what I weighed. And I went to a naturopath and I just said, “Can you help me?”   And so, I thought I was taking good care of myself, Laura. But looking back, I surely was not. And a lot of it was what I was eating.   I was not drinking enough water. So, anyway, that helped to just the education of that our food has such an impact. And so, really it you know, we are not like health freaks by any means, but trying to have more vegetables, some healthy options.   I had no idea what a big deal protein was. I just didn't know, you know, as kids who ate SpaghettiOs and, you know, mac and cheese growing up in the 80s. There just wasn't as much out there about, you know, that connection with what you're putting in your body and how you're feeling.   Laura Dugger: (15:13 - 18:23) That's such a good point. I love hearing these habits and I very much enjoyed that episode that you did with your chiropractor. We'll have to link to that as well in the show notes.   And now a brief message from our sponsor. With over 28 years of experience in real estate, Sue Neihouser of the Sue Neihouser Team is a RE-MAX agent of Central Illinois. And she loves to walk alongside her clients as they unlock new doors.   For anyone local, I highly recommend you call Sue today at 309-229-8831. And you can ask her any real estate questions. Sue lives in Central Illinois and loves this community and all that it has to offer.   When unlocking new doors with her clients, Sue works hard to gain a depth of understanding of their motivations and dreams and interests in buying and selling their home. And then she commits to extensive market research that will give them confidence in their decision. Sue truly cares for each of her clients and the relationship she forms with each family along the entire home buying or selling process.   This was absolutely our experience when we worked with Sue and her team. The house that we desired at the time was actually not even on the market. But Sue had a connection and was able to ask those homeowners if they would be willing to sell.   She was timely in her response as she walked us through this whole process. And she helped us sell our home with the right offer coming in hours after it was listed. We kept saying she's thought of everything.   And Sue's continued generosity was astonishing. I remember one afternoon after we had settled into our new home and she was knocking on the door, dropping off a goodie bag for our family that came from the local bakery. Our daughters also loved getting to know Miss Sue as she assisted us in finding truly our dream home.   So, whether you're looking to buy a home for the first time, looking to upgrade, or downsize, or making the big decision to move to an assisted living from your home of many years, Sue will be there to help you navigate the big emotions and ensure the process is smooth and stress-free. And that the new doors to be unlocked are ready and waiting for more memories to be made. So, call her today at 309-229-8831 or visit her website at sueneihouser.com. And that is sueneihouser.com. Thanks for your sponsorship.   Katie, you're such a go-getter and in the midst of homeschooling and writing this book, you also still pursue personal development and spiritual growth. So, do you have any systems or rhythms in place to support that growth?   Katie Reid: (18:24 - 21:43) Yeah, I think a couple of them. I often want to talk to people, talk about the Mary and Martha event. Some people are that way with Bible study and prayer. There are some who just love to study the Bible. There're others who lead with prayer. I've been the Bible study girl. I love to study, you know, as a teacher. Maybe that's just my thing. But prayer was something that I felt like I was always getting like a D minus in. And it's not that I never would, Laura, but, you know, I just have a friend, Lee, who co-hosts The Martha & Mary Show with me, and she is a prayer, a pray-er. And so, one of the things I did was I know accountability is key in developing healthy practices, whether that's physically or spiritually or emotionally.   And so, we started a mom's prayer group at our church that meets most Fridays throughout the year because I knew, I mean, surely I wasn't going to just pray on Fridays. But I knew if I had that group and I was helping lead it and show up that that would be a discipline that would get into my life. And it really has, but it just felt very daunting.   Another tip my friend gave me just with incorporating more prayer is to have like a trigger. So, every time you open a door to pray or every time you interact with water, let it serve as a reminder to pray. And again, I just need that kind of accountability in my life. I can get distracted easily.   And so, that was just another thing that helped me to just have that in the forefront of my mind. And I also feel like having teen and young adult children, you will just start praying much more naturally because you realize that your influence is shifting. You're more of a coach and a support than you are kind of that direct supervisor. And so, God gave me this phrase of like, "Prayer is the way sometimes we got to parenting, but prayer is also what we need to get through parenting."   And so, I have been doing much more prayer lately, but I just encourage the listeners, whether it's Bible study or prayer, which are essential to our spiritual growth, grab a friend and ask them, you know, you could text each other in the mornings, like, "Hey, I'm praying for you about this. Or will you pray about this?" But it is when we link arms, we have more effectiveness, I think, because we're not just trying to do it on our own. And I feel like in our culture, especially with all the pressures of, you know, social media and all of that, we try to be all things to our family, like, you know, grow organic vegetables and sew our kids' clothes and homeschool and you fill in the blank. But yet it's so much more accessible done in community. For example, I love batch cooking. So, maybe I could make an extra lasagna for someone and then I don't love to fold laundry, but maybe my friend comes over and we fold laundry together. I just think we can be so isolated. And we're missing out on sharing our strengths with others and them with us. And I just think family life is best done in community, if at all possible.   Laura Dugger: (21:44 - 22:15) That's so wise and so practical. I love that. Even the tip of when you interact with water to pray. That's really helpful. And speaking of spiritual growth, I do want to highlight some parts of your amazing book, which, as you said, it's entitled, God, What Do I Do? So, I want to just dive into a couple of the sections, beginning with, "God, what do I do with what you've given me?" So, Katie, can you just expound on that topic?   Katie Reid: (22:15 - 23:38) Yeah, for sure. So, we've all been given time, talents, treasures. You've probably heard those three Ts before. And at the end of my life, Laura, I want to be able to stand before the Lord and by His grace say that I was a faithful steward with what He has entrusted me. And I think we often are told, particularly as women, to keep everything in balance. And I don't know about you, Laura, but that just feels like pressure to me. Like, surely I'm going to drop one of these plates I'm spinning. And so, I like to think about it as being a faithful steward with what's right in front of me, because that feels more manageable. And yes, we still need the Lord's help to do that. But right now, we're doing this interview. So, I want to be a faithful steward of that. And then next, I'm going to go hang out with my college roommates and we're going to have a little reunion. And I want to be faithful with that. But I think we can get really overwhelmed when we're just trying to do everything perfectly. And in the study, we talk about faithfully stewarding the people, position, and place that God has put you in or that's before you. And I think that happens one decision at a time. And again, it feels more manageable when we think about it like that.   Laura Dugger: (23:39 - 23:48) I love that. I even love the questions that you ask about those specifics. Do you want to share those three questions?   Katie Reid: (23:49 - 26:27) Yeah. So, we talk about, you know, what people have you been entrusted with? What position have you been entrusted with? And what place have you been entrusted with? And I think that helps us recognize our purpose as well, like in the current season that we're in. But going back to the time, talents and treasures, you know, time, I feel like right now is such a precious commodity. And we talk about, you know, at church, like tithing your finances. But the idea I've heard people explain, what does it look like to tithe your time?   And I can cram so many things into the day that my husband and I are walking through this process of me having more margin in my life, more white space. And that's a part of stewarding our time. It doesn't mean we have to burn out and just run ragged. You know, we see this pattern in Jesus' life. He would minister and then He would retreat and recharge and then He'd minister. And I think there's some unhealth that we see in our culture and even in my own home with sometimes of just the unrealistic expectations I have.   And life happens. We could have a perfectly executed plan. But then this is a true story. The dog ate chocolate and we have to run for an emergency vet visit. Or I don't know about you, Laura, but you know, sometimes my kids want to have deep conversations at a time that is very inconvenient. But we want to take advantage of those times and take that opportunity.   And so, just going before the Lord and saying, "God, you have given me time. You've given me talents. You've given me treasures. And I want to faithfully steward them. Show me how to move forward in a way that honors you." And I think we have to be careful sometimes. I think we need to put some blinders on because what you are called to might be totally different than what your sister is called to or what I'm called to. And that we need to listen and have the abiding relationship with the Lord because we need to faithfully steward what He's asked us to do, not what He's asked someone else to do. And so, I love that word, too. What God has "entrusted" to us, again, could look a lot of different ways. But He doesn't require perfection. That's why Jesus came, because we couldn't do it. And He's with us in it. And we want to move forward with Him as we manage the people and the place and the position that He's entrusted to us.   Laura Dugger: (26:27 - 27:14) Oh, that's so good. And just to dig a little deeper then, too, I feel like I'm in a similar place where I sense the Lord asking me this week, asking me to ask Him, "What pace do you want me to be living at? What pace is healthy and sustainable? And what changes do I need to make?" So, I feel like I'm just on the beginning of this journey. But if you and your husband have already been diving in to margin, which is a word that I feel like I could answer with, and maybe slowing down a little bit, how do you do that? You're a creative as well, and you've got all these ideas and these good things that you want to go after. Do you have any practical parameters or pieces of discernment in place to know how to create margin as well?   Katie Reid: (27:15 - 29:12) Yeah, I think one thing that I am still learning is that “yes" has a cost to it, right? Now, of course, if Jesus asked us to do something, we want to say yes, regardless of the cost. But let's say someone asked me if I would write an article for a website and I'm launching these books. That sounds like a great idea. But Laura, sometimes I forget what that yes will mean. That's going to be at least three hours of time. And so, to almost look at the ask and associate them with time. And so, while that's a great thing, I also have kids that are in sports right now, and I don't want to miss those sports. Or could I use an article I've used before? Do they want original content? And so, I think with our yes' and no's, just thinking about, again, unless it's an obedience thing where the Lord has just made it so clear.   The other thing my husband often says to me is, "OK, Katie, that is a great opportunity. But what is going to come off of your plate to make room for that?" Where I can just keep heaping it on and it's spilling on a potluck when you overfill your plate and it's all spilling out and just making a mess. And so, that's another thing of like, "OK, what will come off?" I also run things by my husband or a close friend to say I have this opportunity for this. "What do you think?" Because sometimes we have those blind spots where we can't see what that might mean in the future. So, kind of a board of advisors, if you will, people who know you well know your personality. And just because it's a good idea doesn't mean it's a bad idea. And that can be so hard, especially if we're good at something. Sometimes we think it's an automatic yes, but we have to evaluate the season that we are in as well.   Laura Dugger: (29:13 - 30:26) Did you know that this podcast is 100% listener supported? We love producing free content that's available to everyone around the world with our monthly newsletters when you sign up for our email list and with our weekly episodes. We pray that this has been a benefit to you, that if any episode has ever impacted you, what we ask is that you will partner with us now and generously and prayerfully give financially before the end of the year.   There're multiple ways to do this online at TheSavvySauce.com. You can donate through Stripe or PayPal or Venmo with just a simple click, or you can send snail mail to us at Savvy Sauce Charities, P.O. Box 101, Roanoke, Illinois, 61561. We hope you choose to support us today.   The word discernment comes to mind with your book. It's a lot of discernment, a lot of these questions as we're turning to God. So, can you share any of the parts of the section that you wrote about, "God, What Do I Do Next?"   Katie Reid: (30:27 - 34:11) Absolutely. You know, I'm a pretty decisive person, but I know a lot of people are not, and they can be overwhelmed. I mean, even at the grocery store, if we're trying to pick out cereal or Band-Aids even, there are so many options that it can just become overwhelming. We're inundated by information. And so, I think when we are not sure what to do next, there are things we actually can decide, even if we don't specifically know what to do about a situation. And that's a lot of what is found in God, What Do I Do?.   And we follow the Israelites as they're entering the Promised Land. They made some not great choices sometimes, and they made some good choices sometimes. But the idea of their leader had died and they needed to know what to do next. And one of the first things they do, we see in Judges 1:1, is they inquire of the Lord. They go to the Lord and ask Him what they're supposed to do. And Laura, we can never go wrong doing that.   I have a dear friend who told me one time, "Katie, I don't like praying out loud because I just have really simple prayers. They are not eloquent." And I reassured her, you know what? SOS prayers totally count. So, if you find yourself in a situation where you do not know what to do next: "Lord, help me. Lord, I need you." You cannot go wrong praying those prayers. And there's actually, the Bible study goes through six decisions we can make, even if we don't know specifically what to do. And the first one in the introductory lesson is the decision to remember. The more kids I've had and the older I've gotten, I get a little more forgetful. I used to be so good at Memory, that game. And now it's like, I don't know, I'm going to pick the same ones every time. We can be forgetful. But when we recount God's faithfulness in the Bible and also what He's done in our own lives, it can help us make more clear-headed decisions. We have this little box in our home that we decorated back in the scrapbooking days. And inside it, we have a couple pictures and objects that remind us of things God has done for us in the past. One of the things He had asked us to do when we did not have much money, we were getting ready to move across the country and we had two vehicles. And we could have really used the money from the vehicle, one of our vehicles, but the Lord put on both my heart and my husband's heart to give away a vehicle.   And so many people, even Christian believers close to us, Laura, were like, "I don't know, that doesn't seem very wise." But we knew God's voice. We knew what He was asking and it was such a blessing in it. And so, we have a picture of that car, and we have that in the box. And so, I have not done a great job of pulling the box out a lot, especially with our younger kids. But it's just kind of those memorial stones of "Remember how God did this."   I remember one time we were having car difficulties, and I told the family, I said, "You know, wouldn't it be great if someone at church just handed us an envelope with the money we need to repair this vehicle?" And my kids kind of rolled their eyes. "Oh, there's mom and her big faith again." And Laura, wouldn't you know it, someone came up to my husband and said, "We just want to gift you this." And it was like $200 and it was exactly what we needed. And so, it's like stories like that to remember God has been faithful in the past. He will continue to be faithful, even if I don't know specifically what to do about a situation. He will be with me in it.   Laura Dugger: (34:12 - 34:42) Wow, that is incredible. And those spiritual markers build confidence and faith in us with our own journey. But like you said, passing them along to the next generation, that is huge and sharing these stories of God's faithfulness. And this is just such a small sample of your book, because I just want to make sure we highlight one other piece, but you share this insight about one part of the question, "God, what do I do to encourage those around me?"   Katie Reid: (34:43 - 36:25) Yes. So, we look in Judges 4, we met a judge Deborah and there was a military commander named Barak. And so, Deborah was a prophetess and judge, and she goes to Barak and reminds him of what God has already told him. Isn't that a good friend? And she said, "Hey, hasn't God said," and then reminds him. And you know what I love about this is we see this collaboration for the Kingdom.   And maybe it's more of an exhortation than an encouragement. But then later on in Judges 5, there's the song that Deborah and Barak sing. And part of the song is they are calling out those that helped them in battle. And, you know, it's an encouragement. They also call out those who didn't help in a different kind of call out way. But sometimes it bolsters our faith.   If someone else speaks into our life and says, "I see this in you." And a lot of times we think that encouragement, but we don't give voice to it. And I can look back over my life when people have taken the time to encourage me. It's like we cling to those words to keep going. Something we do at our church is the last Sunday of the month we have testimony time. And it is so encouraging to hear what God is doing in other people's lives. And in our own struggles, it can really bolster our faith to keep holding on and to celebrate what He's doing in them. So, I think giving credit to God for what He's done in testimony can really help encourage those around us as well.   Laura Dugger: (36:26 - 37:12) Wow, that is awesome. I love that you do that at your church. Such a practical way to live out so much of the Bible that talks about sharing His story, sharing His faithfulness, and that we overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, which is already taken care of, and the word of our testimony. That's so powerful. And Katie, you're just fascinating and multifaceted. And there's a piece of your bio that I just love. You say that you're an "Inspiration Doula". So, I want to hear some of your favorite ways, whether it's questions or stories or bits of wisdom, to share so that you can encourage creatives, which is hopefully all of us because we're created in our Creator God's image.   Katie Reid: (37:14 - 40:11) You know, Laura, I love to see what God, how He has wired different people and encouraged them to share that gift with the world. I love holding the ladder for people so they can climb higher and do more. And sometimes I think on this crazy journey of podcasting and writing and speaking, sometimes I get the sense that God is allowing me to walk through these doors so that I can turn around and help someone else do it but even go further and do more than I have.   Nothing brings me more joy than seeing someone using their giftings. For example, we had a writing retreat recently that really turned into a spiritual renewal retreat. And one of my friends, she is very content to stay home with her kids. She is pretty introverted, but God has given her these talents that she is using more and more. For example, she directed a skit that's, you know, at our church for Easter and did such a great job. And she has written this book that's kind of like a Little House on the Prairie-esque book. And she was working on it at the writing retreat. And, you know, she's around these other women that are speaking all over the country and doing all these things. And so, some way she's like, "What am I doing here?"   And we reassured her she was right where she should be. And so, this fall she's going to teach this class using her book with homeschool students. And then they're going to write their own books. And Laura, I just think it's so fun to see her using what God has placed in her hands in her sphere of influence. And so, I love to—a lot of times people just need that nudge and a little bit of cheerleading to take those next brave steps. I also sometimes they just need to see somebody else doing it to realize that they can do it too.   And again, it can look so many different ways from having people into your home. I have a friend named Cherry and she started a ministry called "Welcome to the Table" where once a month she welcomes women into her home. They share a meal and it has just exploded because people are hungry literally and figuratively for that kind of community. So, a lot of times my coaching looks like encouragement, looks like some practical steps that they can take. A lot of times creatives are not finishers. And I have this weird blend of creativity and administration.   And I just love to help people kind of have a roadmap for what would it look like to get it done. And so many people do not set deadlines, Laura. They're like, "Yes, I'm going to write that book. Or yes, I'm going to start that event. Or yes, I'm going to start a book club." But then they don't give themselves a deadline. So, even just that little tip of like tell somebody else your deadline can really help get the wheels turning.   Laura Dugger: (40:11 - 40:41) That's good. Again, such practical advice. And Katie, you are such a natural encourager. There's even a joy or lightheartedness in your voice and a warmth. And I love how you come alongside others and help develop them and see their dreams fulfilled. So, I love that generosity of spirit. But I also want to hear what else is coming next for you, including, will you tell us about this novel that's becoming a movie?   Katie Reid: (40:42 - 42:40) Yes. So, interestingly enough, when I launched my first book, Made Like Martha came out in 2018. And then I had this idea for a book about Deborah from Judges. Well, wouldn't you know, here we are seven years later and that book is finally coming out. So, in the meantime, as I was encountering a lot of closed doors about this particular book, I was like, "Well, I'm a creative and I'm a writer. And if I can't write nonfiction, I guess I'll try fiction."   And so, I wrote a Hallmark-like story called A Very Bavarian Christmas. We self-published it. It came out in 2020. And funny that God knew that people actually needed something lighthearted with a happy ending because I wrote it in 2019. And then when it came out, people were hunkered down and just needed that kind of feel good type of clean rom-com. And so, I call this the little book that could, Laura, because literally I got an email from Carlos from California and that it went to my spam folder. And it surely sounded like spam, but what Carlos said is, "Our team has read your book and we would like to purchase the movie rights." And so, sometime in the future, it will likely be on UP TV. There's going to be a movie based on my novel.   And then the sequel, A Very Bavarian Summer, has recently come out. July 5th was its release date. And it's just been such a fun journey. So, a publisher ended up picking up the series. And I was just as surprised as anyone. I was hoping it would be a movie. I kind of wrote it like that. And again, there was many voices saying, "Yeah, you know, you're not a fiction writer. So, let's kind of see how it goes." But I just knew that God had given me this story and that anything is possible. And it wasn't a guarantee. It would all turn out how I thought it would. But it's been a very fun and exciting journey for sure.   Laura Dugger: (42:41 - 42:52) That's incredible. So excited for you. I have to keep us posted for when we can see that. But where else can we go after this conversation to continue learning more from you?   Katie Reid: (42:53 - 43:51) Well, the best place is at my website, katiemreid.com. And Reid is R-E-I-D. And if you subscribe, listeners, to my website, I send out a good newsletter, I call it, once a month with all the things. I'm also on Instagram @katiem_reid. And then my books are available, Made Like Martha, God, What Do I Do?, A Very Bavarian Christmas, and A Very Bavarian Summer. And so, we're also pitching another Bible study. So, hopefully in a year or so there will be some more. But I love to resource people. My desire, whether I am writing nonfiction or fiction, is to see captives set free. Because Jesus has set me free. And I long for others to live that abundant life with Jesus. And so, that thread is throughout each resource we offer. And I would love to connect with listeners over my website or online.   Laura Dugger: (43:52 - 44:17) I'll make sure to link to all of that in the show notes. I love that, setting the captives free, joining that good work that Jesus is doing. And Katie, you already know that we're called The Savvy Sauce. Because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge or insight or discernment. So, as my final question for you today, what is your savvy sauce?   Katie Reid: (44:18 - 45:12) Well, I am bad at small talk. I like to go deep fast. And so, I feel like my savvy sauce is asking meaningful questions. Whether that be of my spouse or my kids. And really getting to know their heart and what makes them tick. We call them quality questions.   And I think people are willing to open up when they feel safe, when they feel seen, and when they feel known. And so, I love to just kind of dive in deep. In fact, my husband and I will joke if we're out on a double date or something. I'll just say, "Listen, I'm bad at small talk. So, can we talk about fill in the blank?" And so, I think that's one of my savvy sauces. It might annoy some people, I guess. But I think it's really fun to watch someone talk about something they're passionate about. And just get to know them better.   Laura Dugger: (45:13 - 45:52) Amen to that. I love that so much. I do not think it's obnoxious or annoying or anything. I actually very much appreciate when we first met through Justin and Jenny Moss. And Justin's been a repeat guest, so I'll link to his episodes as well. But we met at their daughter's wedding. And I was instantly drawn to you. And it was near the end of the night, so we didn't get to spend as much time together as I hoped. But you have that magnetic personality. And I love even the gifts of your decisiveness. And the way that you're able to articulate all of your wisdom and share it with us. It was such a blessing. So, thank you for being my guest today.   Katie Reid: (45:53 - 46:04) Laura, thank you so much. And I love what you're doing with The Savvy Sauce podcast. And you are just shining and in your element. And it's so evident. And I just appreciate you.     Laura Dugger: (46:04 – 49:49) Thank you, Katie. One more thing before you go, have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you, but it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior, but God loved us so much. He made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life. We could never live and died in our place for our sin.   This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished. If we choose to receive what he has done for us, Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   So, you pray with me now. Heavenly father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you.   Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life? We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus name we pray.   Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me. So, me for him, you get the opportunity to live your life for him.   And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you're ready to get started.   First, tell someone, say it out loud, get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes and Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it.   You can start by reading the book of John. Also get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.   We want to celebrate with you too. So, feel free to leave a comment for us here. If you did make a decision to follow Christ, we also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “in the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Stu had a rough weekend with UVA blowing the ACC Championship. Kenny is in the same boat with the Commanders. Pro golf is exposing themselves as a bunch of whiners. Stu checked out a new simulator spot in Roanoke to fill his golf fix in the winter. #golf #podcast #pgatour #CFP #simgolf #Hero #hideki #ACCchampionship

What happens when a law school mock trial reveals you're living the wrong story? For actress Marie Wetherell, that single moment of clarity changed everything. Instead of arguing cases, she realized she wanted to become the powerful female characters she admired on screen—and she's already proving she belongs there. She became a lawyer but went for the silver screen.Marie's breakout role came in Taylor Sheridan's hit series 1923—the prequel to Yellowstone—where she portrayed the unforgettable Tarred and Feathered Woman. Now her career is accelerating with Croatoan, a psychological thriller inspired by the real-life mystery of the lost Roanoke colony. In the film, Marie plays Mary, the ex-wife of Dean Richardson, portrayed and directed by Britt Bankhead. Marie also landed the lead in a post-apocalyptic thriller called Run that is coming out in 2026.Her passion for performance didn't appear overnight. As a young woman inspired by Nicole Kidman's performance in The Interpreter and Jessica Chastain's fierce role in Zero Dark Thirty, Marie followed parallel paths—Model U.N., law school, and even lobbying at the Idaho Statehouse. With a prominent political family behind her, a legal career seemed like destiny… but the screen is where she finally discovered her voice.In this inspiring Women Road Warriors interview with Shelley Johnson and Kathy Tuccaro, Marie shares why acting is both a deeply personal journey and a team sport, how every audition becomes an opportunity for growth, and what it truly takes to reinvent your life's direction. Her story is a reminder that clarity can strike in an instant—and when it does, it's never too late to pivot toward your passion.https://mariewetherell.com/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmn1D6um60Ywomenroadwarriors.comwww.womenspowernetwork.net#WomenRoadWarriors #ShelleyJohnson #KathyTuccaro #MarieWetherell #Hollywood #Actress #WomenInFilm #ActingJourney #1923Series #TaylorSheridan #FemaleEmpowerment #WomenInMedia #ActorsLife #FilmIndustry #FromLawToHollywood #CroatoanFilm #StrongFemaleLeads

“Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people], making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 AMP   *Transcription Below*   Questions and Topics We Discuss: How did God meet you in your experience of army life to reveal your choice of hope vs. fear? What have you learned about community, both before and after your experience of launching your husband into space? For all of us, how can we rediscover our fun side when we've been trapped in survival mode for too long?   Stacey Morgan is always ready with a funny or thoughtful story from her own life; whether it be holding down the home front during military deployments, working for the Smithsonian, skydiving, or blasting  her husband into outer space. Stacey is on staff with MOPS International, a nonprofit focused on the unique needs of mothers around the world. She and her husband, Army colonel and NASA astronaut Drew Morgan, have four children.   Connect with Stacey on Instagram or through her website.   Other Savvy Sauce Episodes Related to Friendship: Friendship with Drew Hunter Reflecting Jesus in Our Relationships with Rach Kincaid Nurturing Friendships with Jackie Coleman Art of Friendship with Kim Wier   Thank You to Our Sponsors: Chick-fil-A East Peoria and The Savvy Sauce Charities (and donate online here)   Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook, Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”   Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”   Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”   John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:09 - 2:54) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here. I want to say a huge thank you to today's sponsors for this episode, Chick-fil-A East Peoria and Savvy Sauce Charities.   Are you interested in a free college education for you or someone you know? Stay tuned for details coming later in this episode from today's sponsor, Chick-fil-A East Peoria. You can also visit their website today at https://www.chick-fil-a.com/locations/il/east-peoria.   I'm so excited to share a special Patreon re-release episode. And if you've been with The Savvy Sauce for a while, you know that we used to make some money by having people sign up for Patreon and as a reward, they would get access to special episodes. Now we have done away with that as we've transitioned to becoming a nonprofit, and we want to make all of these episodes available to you, so we re-release a few every year.   What I'd love to ask is, as we're approaching the end of year because we've taken out that revenue stream, would you consider financially supporting Savvy Sauce Charities?   There are two simple ways. First, if you want to mail us a check, that saves us all of the processing fees, and you can make that out to Savvy Sauce Charities and mail it to P.O. Box 101, Roanoke, Illinois 61561. Also, if you want to go online, visit thesavvysauce.com and you can type in different words to the search button. You could type in “donate” or “support” and it should take you to the place where there's a button to click and put in your credit card information and give that way. We would be so grateful for any amount, and we love our partnership with you.   Here's our chat.   Stacey Morgan is my guest today, and you may have heard her name in the news over the past few years. She has documented her story in her debut book, The Astronaut's Wife: How Launching My Husband into Outer Space Changed the Way I Live on Earth. And now she's going to share more about that season and all the lessons God taught her about making the most of her one incredible life, and she's going to inspire each of us to do the same.   Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Stacey.   Stacey Morgan: (2:55 - 2:58) I am so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.   Laura Dugger: (2:58 - 3:07) Well, it is truly my pleasure. And will you just start by giving us a little bit more context for our time together and just share a few things about yourself?   Stacey Morgan: (3:08 - 4:49) Sure. Well, hi, my name is Stacey. I currently live in Texas.   I have four kids. I'm married to a guy named Drew who has kind of an unusual job. I grew up in a small town just outside of Boston and was kind of a scholar-athlete growing up interested in a lot of different things but always involved in church and youth group. And that really served me well when I went off to college.   The first college I went to, West Point. And actually, I'll tell you in a minute, but that is where I eventually met my now husband, Drew.   We got married after I graduated from undergrad. He's a little bit older than me and he is an Army officer. And so, we have moved all over the country. We've lived on both coasts and had a number of kinds of unusual situations just, you know, kind of typical for a military family living all over the place.   I've had a lot of crazy jobs. I think mainly I have an unusual story because I'm really quick to say yes to things, which sometimes, you know, it's a double-edged sword. Sometimes you say yes and you realize, “I should have thought through that a little bit more.” But really it's been quite an adventure because we have had the opportunity to live in a lot of different places, experience a lot of different things.   And we ended up here in 2013. We can kind of get into that if you want, but we ended up down here in Texas with my husband, who is still an Army officer, but he became a NASA astronaut. And so, that totally changed the direction of our lives and kind of changing all the plans we had for what we were supposed to be doing in the military and ending up down here at Johnson Space Center. Then, him eventually launching into outer space.   Laura Dugger: (4:49 - 5:01) Wow, there are so many points to unpack, but let's back it up to what you had mentioned about West Point. So, will you just elaborate and tell us more about how you and Drew met and fell in love?   Stacey Morgan: (5:01 - 7:21) Sure. So, we were both cadets at West Point when we met. He was a little bit older than me, but we met through Officers' Christian Fellowship, which is a Christian club that is very popular on military bases, both at the academies but in big Army and other services as well when you get out.   It's a, you know, it's like small groups, typical for what most people would find comfortable in kind of church community. And so, we met there and we just kind of clicked, you know.   I would say it's funny looking back, we were not the type of people I think we would have thought we would marry. He was far more serious than I am. I'm a little bit more, I'm the one to more kind of like walk the fine line, but we work together really well.   We've always been a great team. That's always been a real theme in our marriage, you know, that we are a team. And, you know, when he proposed after I graduated from undergrad, he kind of said, “I promise you a life of adventure,” which at the time sounded wonderful and adorable.   Of course, it has come back to haunt me several times when he has been, you know, come up with some crazy plan and when I hesitate he's like, “I promised you adventure.” And I'm like, “Now that's unfair. I did not know when you said adventure back in 2000 that you meant all these crazy things like going to space or all these different deployments and all this kind of stuff like that.”   So, we now have four kids. We've been married this summer will be 22 years. And, you know, it hasn't been without its challenges like any marriage and certainly any marriage under stress because of stressful situations, whether that's military deployments, whether that's space travel or just kind of life and parenting. And as you kind of grow up together and get to know each other and the world changes around you, we've certainly had ups and downs, but we are a team.   And I think God has really honored that and it's been really helpful for us when we've had those sticky seasons where you just feel like, “Man, we are just not connecting or kind of jiving the way we would want,” to actually say to each other that we are on the same team and that has been really helpful.   Laura Dugger: (7:22 - 7:40) The part of your story that involves space travel is one that most of us will never be able to relate to experientially, but it's still extraordinary. So, can you walk us through the detailed events leading up to 9:28 p.m. on July 20th, 2019?   Stacey Morgan: (7:42 - 15:28) Sure. So, I should back it up one big step behind that just to give everybody a little context. So, in 2012, we were kind of living our lives. We had always been deep into the Army Special Operations community. We love that. In order to live and kind of thrive in that environment you have to be all in, and we were all in.   And one day my husband came home and he was uncharacteristically giddy and he said, “You're not gonna believe this huge news. NASA is opening up the application window for a new class of astronauts.”   And I thought, “Why are you telling me this? This has no bearing whatsoever on our lives. We are on this path and that is a completely different path.”   And he said, “Well, I want to apply.”   And I thought to myself, “Well, I wanted to be a ballerina at one point in life, but that ship sailed. Like who doesn't say they always wanted to be an astronaut? Like this seems like a childhood fantasy.”   But he said, “No, I just want to apply. Like don't worry, all of our plans are gonna stay the same. They've never selected an Army physician before. I just, you know, I want to...” You know, the joke was that you'll always be a NASA applicant, right? And that'll be great. We'll laugh about it at family Christmases and stuff.   Except he kept making it through every gate. And so, in 2013 we got the call that completely took our life off of one set of train tracks and put it on another. At that time, we were currently stationed just outside of Washington DC at Fort Belvoir. We were supposed to be literally the next week moving to Germany. And that's how close these changes kind of came up on themselves. And so, we had to unravel everything for Germany and move to Houston, Texas, because that's where Johnson Space Center is.   And so, he began his training in 2013. I started my journey in learning a whole new culture, a whole new way of doing life. I'd never lived in a place that was at least not near a military base or within a military community. Didn't quite recognize at the time how much that shared sense of community had made things easier in terms of connecting with people before that and when I didn't have it.   So, it was probably our rockiest transition for me personally that I'd ever had in terms of friendships and getting connected. That's a big part of my story because I think friendship struggles are so common for adult women. It's just something that nobody really teaches us how to do and so a lot of women are very lonely.   But fast forward, he trained for several years until it was eventually his turn to fly. And in 2019, the only way to get to the International Space Station was to fly on a Russian Soyuz rocket. So, some people are very confused because they think, “Well, every space movie I've ever watched is taking place in Florida, right? Whether that's Apollo 13 or Armageddon or whatever. Why didn't he launch from Florida?”   Well, between 2011 and 2020, the Space Shuttle program had ended. SpaceX Crew Dragon had not yet started launching from Florida again. So, for about a 10-year period, the only way to get to and from the International Space Station was to ride a Russian rocket.   So, that's what NASA did. They went into partnership with the Russians, which of course makes things very interesting given today's kind of current political climate and all the world events. But that meant when it was Drew's turn to launch, we as a family had to travel to Kazakhstan, which is a country that I could not spell before 2019.   And so, if you don't know where that is, don't feel bad. I didn't either. I had to look it up. It's a former Soviet Republic really kind of in between Russia and Afghanistan. So, it is in the middle of nowhere. And when the Soviets were building their space program in the 1950s and 60s, they built their secret space city there in Kazakhstan. That's where they started their space program and they have kind of kept it unchanged and they continue to launch their rockets from there today.   It was a whole kind of world travel and cultural experience to take my four kids to Kazakhstan, which is a completely different cultural experience for really what came down to a very stressful, very emotional moment really waiting for that launch. So, unlike Florida, which you know when you watch on television, it's colorful, there's a lot of people, a lot of spectators, big people remember from the shuttle days big countdown clock, a loudspeaker kind of telling everybody what's going on... that's not how it is in Kazakhstan.   So, about 30 minutes before the launch, the kids and I were brought to this viewing area. And by viewing area I would say big field. It's not... there was kind of some grandstands area far at the other end of the field, but that's where all the space tourists stand and the press and all that kind of stuff and we didn't want to be near them. So, our escort brought us down to the end, the other end of the field, and it's just dark and it's quiet and there's no announcements. There's no countdown clock. It's just looking at your watch or your phone there just kind of in the dark and you just know that that Russian ground crew is going to launch that rocket at exactly 9:28 p.m. Not a minute earlier, not a minute later.   And so, standing there in the dark holding my kids' hands, and we can see the rocket in the distance only about a mile away, which by rocket launch standards is very close. Knowing that in a minute or 30 seconds or 10 seconds as it gets closer, it's either going to be one of the best days of your life, super exciting, super proud moment, or it's going to be the worst day of your life, and you could become a widow.   And as much as it's easy to kind of get complacent because incidents are so rare, but we all can remember any number of space disasters that have happened. Columbia, Challenger, those are very real. And with my time down here at Johnson Space Center, you come to learn those names and you meet those families and you meet those widows and widowers and you realize that space travel is dangerous. You know, at the end of the day my husband was in a little tiny capsule on top of a rocket full of highly explosive fuel. So, it's very scary.   And in that moment standing there thinking, “In 10 seconds my life is going to change no matter what happens.” Even if this goes perfectly, what happens next? I don't really know. It's kind of like having a baby. You can read all about it and assume things will be the way they're going to be, but until you're in it and then it happens, you don't really know how it's gonna go.   And so, it was a really overwhelmingly emotional moment because you think this could go sideways. And also, by the way, the world is watching live with me. So, if something goes wrong, I'm not able to process this privately. I will be experiencing it in real time with the rest of the world.   But even if it goes perfectly, what happens next? Like what does it look like to live on earth with a spouse in space and single parent for nine plus months while their other parent is in space? And you really don't know and it's scary to think like, “Gosh, what if something happens?” You know, he can't like come home early. Can't just like a business trip jump on a plane or a train and get home early. There's no coming back early. So, whatever happens, I'm on my own for better or worse. I'm on my own and I hope I have the endurance and the support system and everything I'm gonna need in order to be successful in this nine months.   Laura Dugger: (15:28 - 15:47) And my heart is pounding a little bit faster just as I hear you describe this. And I'd love to get back to your story, but first just to pause and wonder with that mixture of this adventure right in front of you and then your experience of army life, how did God meet you in all of that to reveal your choice of you're able to choose hope or fear?   Stacey Morgan: (15:47 - 22:32) Right. So, you know, when you take the time to step back and think, sometimes you don't see these patterns in your life until you kind of start putting them down on paper. And it was interesting for me to see how God had prepared me for that moment with other moments, especially related to military deployments in the past. Because certainly experiencing a rocket launch and all that fear and kind of this moment of where is my hope found in this moment, that was a varsity level moment.   But I'm so thankful that about ten years earlier God really started to prepare me for that moment with some other big moments. Like when my husband deployed for the first time.   I'll never forget, it was the height of the War on Terror. So, we were living in a military community which was amazing and a lot of my friends' husbands were also serving in the same military units or similar military units and they were deploying. The tempo was high so that meant, you know, six months deployed or longer, coming home for short amounts of time and then deploying again. Lots of action specifically in Afghanistan and Iraq at the time.   And so, lots of fatalities, lots of injuries, lots of grief, and for spouses a lot of fear because we knew what they were doing was very dangerous. And so, for me and my friends we kind of had this unspoken rule which I think a lot of people can understand which was, “Let's just not talk about this scariest thing because somehow talking about it makes it seem more possible.”   And as crazy as that is to say, people get that. You know, there's a lot of things we don't talk about because it's just too scary to think about. And so, for us the scariest thing in our life at that time was the fear that our husbands would not come home, that they would be killed in action. And that felt very real because we were going to memorial services, we were visiting people in the hospital, we were turning on the news and seeing what was going on in the world. And there was often communication blackouts because we knew that they were doing things that were very dangerous, very secretive.   And so, at the time I happily did what everybody else was doing which was, “Let's just not talk about it. Let's just kind of live life managing.” We felt like we were managing this fear, I think that's what I would have said at the time.   But then one day my friend Lisa, who's an amazing friend and she's always like two steps ahead of me on the wisdom scale, we were having coffee on her front porch and she turned to me and she said, “I've been thinking a lot about what life would be like if our husbands were killed.”   And this was like a bomb drop. I mean because we just were not supposed to be talking about this. Like here the rest of us had been avoiding all morbid thoughts about what could possibly happen with our husband and instead she had like turned and looked it straight in the eye.   And I was shocked. And so, I kind of sat up straighter and I said, “What do you mean?”   And she said, “Well, I've been thinking about it and it's not that, you know, life would certainly be hard and doesn't mean we wouldn't need counseling or our kids wouldn't need support, but life would still go on even if that happened. Life would still go on. Life would still be full of good things and God would provide and bring people around us to support us and I've just been thinking about that.”   And I was stunned. I was absolutely stunned because while the rest of us were too afraid to face that fear, in looking at it she kind of exposed it for what it was, which was certainly real and an absolute possibility that that could happen. But when she started walking down the path of like, “Okay, if this happened then what would happen?” You have to decide, “Do I believe God would really be with me or not? Do I believe His promises are true that He will be with me on good days and bad days and that He will draw people to me who will love me and support me? And have I plugged myself into friends and a faith community that would be there for me if that happened?”   And it was a game changer. That was probably one of, at the time, the biggest life-changing conversations I'd ever had as an adult because it really did shift how I viewed feeling afraid about things like that. And so, I had several opportunities... Drew deployed several times and then certainly doesn't take combat deployments to feel afraid like that. I know I have felt it before when my daughter was in the NICU, you know, and I had to leave her in the NICU and go home at night. I know I have felt it during this pandemic several times. I know I'm gonna feel it when I drop my oldest off at college this summer. You know, this moment where it just life feels very scary mainly because of the unknowns that come next and the fact that you have no control over those.   And so, that rocket launch moment was, you know, I felt like God was really prompting me in that moment to say, “Hey, if this rocket explodes like what will you do with that? Do you still trust me that I'm here with you and that I will still bring people to you and love you? Like is your support, is your foundation and your hope truly found in me or is it found in this rocket launch going successfully? Because it might not, and then what does that mean for you?”   And so, it really was this choice of am I gonna choose to live a life of fear, which is our default because if you do not choose something else we will always live a life dictated by fear of something. It's exhausting to live like that because once you conquer one fear another one's gonna pop up. Then they come in bunches and they just start layering on top of each other. Honestly it can lead to despair because there's plenty of things in the world to be afraid of and new ones just pop up every day.   So instead, I felt like God was offering me a new way of living and it really felt tangible in that moment of that rocket launch which is, “Hey, I hope that you will choose to find your hope in me. Just me. The one unchanging thing in this world that will be unchanging regardless of what happens with this rocket launch in 10 seconds. But if it goes well or if it goes poorly I am unchanging. You can rely on me. I will be with you in the best and the worst of times. And even if the rocket launch goes successfully and whatever happens in the next nine months, I'm with you there as well. So, you don't need to be afraid because I'm here with you. You can have hope that I will enable you to do what must be done no matter what happens tomorrow.”   Laura Dugger: (22:32 - 22:49) I'm so grateful that you chose hope and you chose faith. And then after all of that excitement and that adrenaline experienced on launch day, what did your life look like in the months to follow?   Stacey Morgan: (22:49 - 26:47) Yeah, it wasn't easy. You know I joke that those nine months really were like it was like a master class in all these little lessons I've learned throughout the years, but I'd never had to put them into practice at this level and all at the same time.   So, things like being honest about that I needed help. That, you know, there are times in the past where I have certainly wanted people to know or think that I had it all together and that I could do it all by myself especially, you know, I think every mom feels that way.   Certainly, military spouses, we take a lot of pride and feel like I'm doing this on my own.   And I realize now that I had certain seasons I have made life a lot harder for myself because I somehow thought that there was like an extra trophy if I finish the race by myself. I said that it was like, spoiler, there's no trophy. And also, I was just making it harder for myself.   And so, this season I could not fake it. Like past seasons I could fake it. This one I could not fake it. I had two teenagers, two tweens, a lot of hormones and then prepubescent and puberty things flying around. Just a lot of scheduling, a lot of driving, like just life. And then just the stress of living with someone who, you know, a spouse who was living in space and the stress of what does that do to your marriage, to parenting and, you know, parent-child relationships. Just every single piece of running a house, of parenting all the things, was solely on my shoulders and that's a big weight. And it was tough. It was tough.   So, I could not fake it. I had to ask for help. I had to be willing to ask for it and receive it, which are two different skill sets I found. It's sometimes you get good at one and not the other. I had to get really willing to be vulnerable as my friends and say things like, “I'm really lonely.” Can you know, it's like being honest. Like everything's not just, “Oh, this is so exciting. Oh, isn't it so great? Aren't we just so proud of them?” Yes, but at the same time sometimes I'm lonely. Sometimes I'm struggling.   Sometimes in my stress I would overly focus on trying to control my home life or what was happening within my own house and become not as pleasant of a person to live with because I was just trying to kind of regain some control in what felt like a little bit of a chaotic world and then you become not your best self and you know that. And so, I had to learn how to kind of get out of that survival mode and still have fun even when life is hard. And really just kind of accept that life isn't one thing or the other. You can be in a hard season and it still have good things in it. Life can be full of opportunities and challenges and one does not negate the other. And when you try to live your life by one narrative or the other, not only are you faking it but you make life harder than it needs to be and you kind of block other people out of it.   So, there was a lot of learning going on in there but we really all came down to that first decision of how am I gonna live my life in this season? Am I gonna live it fearfully, reactionary, hair trigger, you know, just stress all the time because I'm afraid of what comes next. I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to handle it? Or am I gonna live a life of hope, which is of course like not wishes and dreams but it is anticipation that God will be with me no matter what comes down the pipeline. And sometimes that's divine comfort that is hard to explain but you just feel it. Sometimes it's people he draws to your life who literally will sit on the couch with you and just like hold your hand or give you a hug that moment you need it. Sometimes it's someone offering to carpool or take your kid out driving because they're trying to get their driver's license, you know?   But that's really the biggest thing for me. I talked about it in chapter one of the book because that's the foundation that really all those other lessons were built on.   Laura Dugger: (26:47 - 27:26) And I think also with your book, it was helpful to hear little insights into what it looked like for your marriage. And it was even interesting when you said it's really important for astronauts to have forms of entertainment and that you were so committed to being involved in Drew's life and that you two still found ways to stay connected. I just think that has to be encouraging to any married couples listening right now because you clearly had a big barrier to overcome. But what were some of those ways that the two of you tried as best as you could in that season to stay intimately connected to one another's lives?   Stacey Morgan: (27:26 - 31:19) Yeah, it's not easy. And I think there's kind of this fallacy that is kind of dangerous for especially young married I think to believe which is like in every season of your life you're gonna feel amazingly connected to your spouse and you're gonna constantly be growing in your relationship. And sometimes that's not true. Like sometimes one person has a job that takes them away from home or someone is sick or there are other issues going on in your life where the connection is just not as strong not because you don't want it to be but because the circumstances you find yourself in don't allow for that.   And certainly, while my husband was in space that was a lot of challenges to feeling connected. I mean there's good communication but there's a difference between like quality and quantity, right? So, he could call me on the phone every day but because of the time differences and his schedule the only time he could call me was between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. my time, which as any person knows and with any kids, is like the worst time of the day. Like everything's happening, the wheels are coming off, homework, pickups, dinner prep, like all that kind of stuff was crazy.   So, needless to say, I was not able to sit down and have like a heartfelt drawn-out conversation. And then kids hate talking on the phone so he wasn't really talking to them during the day. I'm like, you know, my eight-year-old isn't gonna send him an email. So, you know, there wasn't like a lot of quality or quantity conversation with the kids which of course puts a little stress on your marriage too because you worry about that.   And then we have one video chat a month and you want it to be fun. You want it to kind of be good for the kids as well as him but it's a very, you know, it's one hour to share between five people and so that's not a lot of time. And so, the reality is that for that season there was a lot of, I would say, relationship treading water. And you're, you know, the goal is just not to let things go downhill, which you can easily do in life when you and your spouse are experiencing the same event but from different points of view. And that's what we were doing. You know, we were sharing the mission but from two vastly different points of view.   And so, you do your best. But the difference is I think you have to in order to kind of come out on the other end better, you have to have a kind of a mutual commitment that, “Hey, we're going to... we are eventually going to come back together on this. We can't change the circumstances. I can't make the time difference different. I can't give you more time on the phone. I can't... there's things I just cannot change. But we are committed as a team to doing the best we can right now and when this circumstance changes, in this case when he came home, we're gonna kind of back up again and do some story sharing and reconnect about some things that we just didn't have the opportunity to in the past.”   And so, it's a little bit kind of like two steps forward one step back but eventually you still come out ahead if you are committed to trying to come back together and share those experiences in one way or another. Where you run into kind of danger is if people start experiencing two different things and then they never come back together so the gap just kind of keeps widening and widening. And then you hear when people say like, “Yeah, I woke up and I felt like I was living a different life than the person who was sleeping next to me.”   And so, reminding us to ourselves that we are a team even though we were experiencing the same thing. I didn't know a lot about a lot of the things he was doing. He didn't know a lot of stories about how things were for me. And so, it's okay to tell them later if you don't have the ability to tell them in the moment as long as you both have the goodwill and you prioritize coming back together eventually.   Laura Dugger: (31:19 - 34:26) And now a brief message from our sponsor.   Did you know you can go to college tuition free just by being a team member at Chick-fil-A East Peoria? Yes, you heard that right. Free college education. All Chick-fil-A East Peoria team members in good standing are immediately eligible for a free college education through Point University.   Point University is a fully accredited private Christian college located in West Point, Georgia. This online self-paced program includes 13 associate's degrees, 17 bachelor's degrees, and two master's programs, including an MBA. College courses are fully transferable both in and out of this program. This could even be a great option to complete your general education courses and then transfer to the college of your choice and save money in the process. So, if you're looking for an affordable college option while simultaneously gaining valuable work experience and earning an income, Chick-fil-A East Peoria is the place for you. You don't have to go into debt to get a great education. To apply today, please go to https://www.chick-fil-a.com/locations/il/east-peoria  and click on the careers tab. You can also call the restaurant at 309-694-1044 to find out more. And if you aren't located near Chick-fil-A East Peoria, make sure you check with your local Chick-fil-A restaurant to see if they also participate in the Elevate program with Point University. Thanks for your sponsorship.   Did you know that this podcast is 100% listener supported? We love producing free content that's available to everyone around the world with our monthly newsletters when you sign up for our email list and with our weekly episodes. We pray that this has been a benefit to you. That if any episode has ever impacted you, what we ask is that you will partner with us now and generously and prayerfully give financially before the end of the year. There's multiple ways to do this. Online at thesavvysauce.com, you can donate through Stripe,  PayPal, or Venmo with just a simple click. Or you can send snail mail to us at Savvy Sauce Charities, P.O. Box 101 Roanoke, Illinois, 61561. We hope you choose to support us today and during this season especially.   It sounds like you really leaned into your friendships. So, what would you say you've learned about community both before and after your experience of launching Drew into space?   Stacey Morgan: (34:26 - 38:07) Well, I tell you what, I realized that as an adult often a lot of us don't really know how to do friendship well. And our culture is so, it so values independence that we often convince ourselves that if we tell our friends or our community that we need help or just kind of show our true heart for how important it is to us, that somehow that's gonna be kind of like devalued or we're gonna feel weak. And I realized like, “Man, I wasted a lot of years trying to be tougher than I really am.” And I wish I could go back and change that because in this season, mainly because I had no choice. And so, God really used this opportunity to show me like, “Hey, I'm gonna kind of like force you to open up your heart, be vulnerable with this small group of really trusted friends and like just trust me to see what happens next.”   And I did and it was a game-changer. I mean, I have a lot of deep feelings but I put a little bit of a tough exterior and I forced myself to be super honest and super vulnerable with my friends and say things like, “I'm lonely or I don't even know what I need but I'm just feeling exhausted or angry or this is really frustrating to me or I need help with this and I don't even know where to begin.” And just let those friends step into my life in a really intimate way.   And you know, I think we've all had a friend at some point who has asked for help and we have been so happy to help them and we've never thought less of them for it. But somehow when it comes to our own time we're like, “Oh, I don't want to trouble anybody. Oh, they're gonna think I can't handle it.” Or like, “Well, this is like I made this bed so I better lie in it. You chose to have all these kids, you chose this career, you chose this whatever, like this is your problem.” But we would never say that about another friend. And so, I don't know why we are harder on ourselves than we are on our friends because it's not right. Most of our friends are happy to help us. They love us helping us, being with us, comforting us, supporting us. That's how they show how important you are to them and we need to let them do that.   I've also gotten better about verbalizing the feelings that I had always felt inside but I felt awkward verbalizing. Like, “Thank you for being my friend.” Or like, “Thank you for just spending this time with me,” or, “You are an important person in my life.” Words that we say to our kids, that we often say to our spouses, but sometimes for me at least felt weird saying to friends and I'm really trying to get better about that. That was a great nine months of practice. It doesn't come easy or natural I think to anybody but it's a game changer. Like why not tell your friends how much they mean to you?   So, community is essential. Like don't try to lone wolf this life. I've certainly had some more extreme experiences than probably the average person, but the principles are the same. Get plugged into community and have multiple circles of community. Certainly, your faith community but also you know if you work, if you go to the gym, if you go to school, like your kids' friends, like there's so many circles of community and don't be afraid to just jump right in and get connected. And you've got to do it before you are in crisis. You've got to kind of invest in these friendships so that you know them and can trust these friends so that when those seasons come that are hard you have this small group of people who you can rely on. It will be a complete game changer in your life when you have a small, could be one person, can be two people, trusted people who can journey with you.   Laura Dugger: (38:07 - 38:34) I could not agree more. I really think that friendship is one of the most precious gifts were given in this life. And going back to your marriage we had discussed that time of separation but then there was a whole other season of transition as well. So, what was it like to come back together after being apart for nearly 10 months?   Stacey Morgan: (38:34 - 42:55) Yeah, so it's funny there's always these Hollywood romanticized versions of what reunions must look like whether that's a military deployment reunion or you know when an astronaut comes home. And I think people assume it's some kind of like hot sexy romantic can't keep hands off of you but the reality is far different, right? Because it's... I mean maybe it is, maybe that's how it is for some people. I will just say for us, you know, when you've been living an independent life for however long, whether that was you know a six-month or an eight-month deployment or a nine-month deployment to outer space, you know I was living my own life fully independent for that long where I made all the choices. I didn't have anybody looking over my shoulder or you know there's a little bit of independent freedom there when you're the only one kind of making the big decisions.   And so, when that person comes back into your life, which you want them to come back, you're happy they're home, but there is this awkward transition period. It's definitely an opportunity for some tension because now there's another opinion back in the mix, right?   Like I had to kind of adjust my way of doing life for another person who had a valid opinion, another decision maker. The kids had to adjust to having another parent back in the house. You're kind of getting to know each other so there is a little bit of a sniffing out period where you're like, “Hey, nice to meet you.” Because we all change. You know you could be gone from someone for a month, you know, you're not the same person you were today as you were last year or six months ago or maybe even a month ago. So, anytime someone comes back in your life they're different, you're a little different. You're like my friendships had shifted over those ten months, like my work had shifted, everything in my life had moved on and he had not been there in the house with me to experience that so there was... it was a whole new set of experiences and a new person to get to know again.   Now he came home and what made it a little bit more dramatic was that Drew came home in the startup of the pandemic. He came home in April of 2020 which at the time I think we weren't sure, “Are we going up? Are we coming down?” We know now looking back we realize things were just ramping up; the world was, we were all still very confused about what's the best thing to do can we all the things you know. So, NASA pretty much brought him home and then he came home to our house after just a few days in kind of the quarantine facility there on Johnson Space Center. But then he came back to our house and then it's like he never left because all of the normal stuff that would happen when you come home from space like travel and meetings and all these kind of things were all canceled or postponed.   And so, instead of kind of like getting to know each other slowly it was like zero to sixty. I mean he was home and he didn't go anywhere, none of us could go anywhere. So, we joke that the irony that he was in space with five professional crew mates in a small space and then he came home to live in our small space with five amateur crew mates who are certainly not nearly as gracious or accommodating or helpful as the professional astronaut and cosmonaut crew mates he had. The irony is not lost on us. So, he came home I don't think we've ever spent that amount of time together you know 24/7 in the same house with all four of our kids, no school, nowhere to go because everything's closed. And so yeah we're getting to know each other in this kind of Petri dish of new experiences as the world is also kind of like upside down and everything's unusual.   So, in the end it was okay. I joke like we did a lot of “I was like let me go do this puzzle I just need some alone time” or “I'm going for a walk around the neighborhood please don't text me. I'll be back when I'll be back I just need a few minutes to myself.” I think everybody has had that moment in the during the last two years where you're just like, “I just need a few minutes alone please,” you know in my if you've been trapped in your house with somebody who you're not normally with 24/7.   Laura Dugger: (42:56 - 43:17) Well sure and with your experience, mental health is very important for the family of the astronaut and the astronaut themselves. Wasn't it your psychologist who is saying typically when you come back and enter this time of reentry and reuniting you do little bit by little bit because that tends to be wiser?   Stacey Morgan: (43:17 - 45:22) Yes, that's right. They call it titrating a return. That's a principle they have in the military as well which is they would normally come back from a deployment for at least the first couple weeks back from a long trip away they would go to work every day for several hours because it's you know psychologically difficult for two people who have been living very independent lives to come back together just with like zero transition. The military has learned this over the last 20 years you know that you could go from a combat zone to mowing your lawn in 24 hours. That's stressful especially if you add in you know marriage baggage, kids you know nagging kids or issues like that, financial struggles, that's a kind of what can be a breeding ground for some really difficult situation. So, it's best to let people get to know each other again a little bit at a time.   Like you said the normal return from space was kind of the same thing. It would be come home and then you'd have some physical therapy, you'd have these different meetings and it would be a little bit like going to work for several weeks while they're getting their body and everything back to normal. Then, you kind of could have this kind of extended time at home but it gave both people the ability to kind of like reintroduce themselves to each other in bits and pieces and just kind of ease into it. But we did not have that luxury so we kind of had to create it ourselves. And I am glad again that we had those past experiences to know where the potential minefields were. If you were not prepared you could be very disappointed if you went into it thinking, “Oh, they're gonna come home, it's gonna be like romantic. We're gonna be like together and loving it all the time and just connecting so deeply. It's gonna be amazing.” And then the first time that your spouse is like, “Why are you emptying the dishwasher like that?” It's important to know like, “Yeah, if there is going to be tension it is going to be awkward. That's okay that is part of the normal cycle and it's gonna be okay.” But I'm glad that we had that knowledge beforehand because it could be tough.   Laura Dugger: (45:22 - 46:07) Well and Stacey another reason that I really appreciate you being willing to let us enter your story with you. When we have different careers or we have someone in the military and a civilian who's not involved, there's so much room for assumptions and maybe not always assuming the best. There's opportunity for miscommunication so I'm just wondering about the person who's hearing this and what if they're thinking, “Well that sounds irresponsible or even selfish of Drew to choose this path if he's a husband and father.” So, how would you offer that kind of person another perspective that they might be missing?   Stacey Morgan: (46:07 - 48:20) I mean I would say is when it comes to astronauts for sure, you know, these are not like hot-rodding thrill-seeking people. In fact, I would say I think a lot of people make the assumption that people who do some of these higher like physically higher risky jobs must be like thrill-seeking you know just thrown caution to the wind about everything in their life. Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. I think you would find that we certainly and I would you know I think a lot of people in the same career field are similar and that we are good risk calculators. And that like policemen, like firemen, like military personnel you know it's an act of service to be in this job. These are not just like you know space tourists or billionaires getting on a rocket for fun. These are professionals who have chosen a career field of service and whether that is as a policeman, a fireman, a service to the nation, service to humanity, service to their community and they all play a part in that.   I think most people recognize that that it is you know there's something to be said for the person who chooses a career that has a level of risk because they feel called to it and because thank God for people who will take on risk and are willing to potentially sacrifice themselves for someone else. I mean I think it's kind of a higher calling which is why in general in our culture we honor them and rightfully so. It is risky, it's very risky. They certainly don't do it for the money. I don't think anybody in any kind of government service would say that they're doing it for the money, that's for sure. You know they're doing it because they feel called to something bigger than themselves and to serve their fellow man in some way. That's certainly I know how we feel as a family that his choosing to transition as an Army physician into being still in the Army but serving in this capacity was just the next level up. The way he could serve our community, our country, our nation and all of humanity and he really is its service first. It's the opposite of selfish; it is selfless service really.   Laura Dugger: (48:20 - 48:55) Mm-hmm thank you for that. I just say amen to everything you just said. Really it's service from your entire family that requires a sacrifice from each of you like you said for the greater good. And I think something else that you pointed out so well in your book was that having this value more so of security or not living into this calling that you said this calling was put upon your lives that could actually be idolatry if you're starting to place a higher value on security or anything else other than God and so I think you model that well.   Stacey Morgan: (48:55 - 51:13) Thank you. Yeah I think a lot of people you know sometimes these idols creep up on us we don't realize that we have put something on a pedestal until it gets threatened to be taken away from us and all of a sudden our reaction is over the top because we're you know you realize, “Gosh, I'm finding my security in this thing I'm finding my identity in this thing whether this thing is a job, another person, a political party, a scientific breakthrough whatever it is.” Right? Like and I think a lot of people, I certainly felt it you know in that launch moment like, “Am I finding my identity in being married to this person or him having this job or this launch being successful? Because if I am in about 10 seconds my world may crumble because if that could all be taken away from me.” And in that yeah I think we all kind of have probably had a moment especially in the last two years where for a lot of people something that they have built their life on has been either taken away from them or has it has been threatened to be taken away because of the pandemic a job a person in their life you know a relationship your kids going off to school every day I mean whatever it is that you've built in your life and you have put on this pedestal and you kind of made without even realizing it have started to place more hope in those things remaining unchanged than you have in God. And all of a sudden when those things are threatened you have this over-the-top emotionally fearful response that's kind of an indicator I think to all of us like when we have that is like, “Whoo my fear and my response should tell me that I seem to be very very afraid that this is going to be taken away from me because I am putting too much hope in it. Instead, I should be taking that and putting it back where it belongs. I should reprioritize where I am finding my hope and the only unchanging thing that we can build our foundation on is God. Everything else, every person, everything, every job, every whatever it is can and could possibly be taken away from you and on your deathbed will be.” So, you know you can't help but have a little bit of self-reflection there.   Laura Dugger: (51:13 - 51:23) Well and then for all of us how do you recommend that we all can rediscover our fun side when we've been trapped in survival mode for too long?   Stacey Morgan: (51:23 - 56:05) This is a great question because I think all of us have felt this definitely in the pandemic. You know this part in your life where everything in the world feels very chaotic and so you try to regain some control in your own life by maybe regimenting your kids a little more, cleaning your house a little more, you know, controlling things at work or whatever your environment is. And without really realizing it you become this just like survival mode like your day just becomes about making things easier for yourself, streamlining things, making things just go go go. And you wake up one day and you were like, “I'm exhausted. Like why am I so tired? Why am I why do I have like no joy? Why do I just feel unhappy?” And you realize that you have not done anything other than just be like surviving and cleaning and doing work or whatever it is like you have just been doing the basics with no fun whatsoever.   So I have been there I hit that a bunch of times in the pandemic, but I certainly hit it when Drew was in space because it's really hard being a single parent and managing all of the emotional burdens and the logistics of it. And I realized that I was cleaning a lot I was kind of getting a little bit more trigger angry with kids or people who you know were making me upset because when you're in survival mode it's all about just like “Get out of my way let me do what I want to do,” it's about getting things done quickly and other people become an annoyance instead of a joy in your life.   So it's all about going back to something that that fills you up and it can be something really frivolous it can be something like it's very it's 100% unique to you and so I can't tell you what that thing is but I would say the first step in kind of getting yourself out of survival mode and kind of getting back to your your whole self is asking yourself the question like, “What do I enjoy?” Not for its educational value, not for its good cardio exercise or and not what your kids enjoy, not what is Instagram worthy, or anything like in your soul what fills you up? Is it reading? Is it watching movies? Is it riding bikes? Is it roller skating? Is it you know eating Mexican food? Like what is it that you enjoy doing that when you do it you just feel like more of yourself?   And then just go do it tomorrow. Like it's gonna take prioritizing time probably some money but that is as much of a part of who you are how God created you. He didn't make you this like worker bot or like just a mom or just a wife or just a daughter or a sister like He made you a whole person and a huge part of who you are are these things that you enjoy. And you cannot continue to pour into other people or work or your community if you are never getting filled up yourself. You will just dry out, you will be burnt out, you'll be unhappy and you'll actually be worse in all these other areas where you were trying to work hard because you're just gonna be like a shell of yourself.   So, for me it was prioritizing time with friends. It was... I got this crazy flyer on my front door for roller skating lessons and I had this fantasy of being a really good roller skater that stemmed from like when I was eight and so I signed my girls and I up for roller skating lessons which was hilarious and very humbling but it was just silly. It took time, we had to prioritize the time on every Saturday it took money, but it was just fun. It had no educational value my kids will look back on it and be like, “What was that all about? I don't even know.” But it was great because even in the midst of a stressful season like that was a very stressful season, undeniable, but as part of that narrative it will not only be like, “Yeah it was really tough when my dad was away and you know my mom had to like single-parent us but that was also the season where my mom took us to roller skating lessons. Isn't that weird? That was so weird.” And we'll laugh about it.   And so, it's just about finding something that you want to do and then just unapologetically spend the money, spend the time, and invite a friend to do it with you again. Doing something with a friend is always more fun than doing something alone. Don't feel like you have to justify it or explain it to everyone you don't need to take pictures to post online you don't need to tell it just just go do it and have a good time. It's amazing how when you do that suddenly like those dust bunnies or that email that had a weird tone that you got don't annoy you as much as they used to because your kind of like finding your whole self again.   Laura Dugger: (56:05 - 56:27) That's helpful to remember to live life to the fullest and be ready for the next adventure that life's gonna throw at us. Yeah. And just as a bonus can we just ask what are some of the most common questions that you and Drew answer about space?   Stacey Morgan: (56:27 - 57:25) That's a good question. A lot of like personal hygiene questions about teeth brushing toilets how do you know take showers or whatever and of course the answer is they don't take showers. But and then of course a lot of people want to know, “Hey I've always been interested in becoming an astronaut how does somebody do that?”   And there are so many resources online people you know I say, “Look go online read all about it. There's amazing videos NASA puts out an incredible amount of resources that you can read up on but at the end of the day do what you are most passionate about because the likelihood that you, or your nephew, or your cousin, or your co-worker, your son, or, whoever it is that you know is convinced they want to be an astronaut the likelihood of them being an astronaut is very low. So you should do what just fills you up do a career and a life that you are passionate about and if God calls you to that path those doors will open but if He doesn't you'll still be living a life fully within God's purpose for you.”   Laura Dugger: (57:25 - 57:39) And Stacey you're such an incredible communicator both in this interview time together but also really enjoyed your book. And so, if people want to follow you to hear what you're up to next, where would you direct them online?   Stacey Morgan: (57:39 - 58:41) Sure well they can go to my website StaceyMorgan2000. That's like Stacey Morgan two zero zero zero dot com. That has my blog that has links to a different podcast like this that I've been on and they can check that out. They can find me on Instagram same handle StaceyMorgan2000.   And you know if people want to reach out, I love when people have been sending me messages lately after they've read the book it's been so awesome. You know I tell people like I certainly didn't write this book for the money I'm actually donating all my book proceeds to charities that support military families. So, I've been joking like, “Hey read the book if you don't like it the worst that happened is you donated to a military charity. If you do like it buy ten copies and give one to all your friends. But if you do like it I love it when people send me messages and just tell me kind of like what resonated and how it spoke to them.” That's just been one of the I would say the coolest aspect of completing this project was kind of putting it out there and then getting to see how God uses it in people's lives.   Laura Dugger: (58:41 - 59:02) There were so many things that resonated but off the top of my head if anybody has a copy of the book they'll have to turn to the part about baloney on sale friends. And Stacey you may know that we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge and so as my final question for you today what is your savvy sauce?   Stacey Morgan: (59:02 - 1:01:08) Well I'll piggyback off your baloney is on sale friends' reference and that would be: pick up the phone and text your friend. We didn't need a study to show us this because I think most of us have just known this in our soul but there is an endemic of loneliness in the world right now as you know we've got all these ways to connect and yet people feel more disconnected. They feel more lonely especially women and what I learned through my own kind of relationship struggles over the years is that everyone's waiting for someone else to go first. That you in that moment you feel like you're the only person who's feeling lonely and alone and that everybody else is in these friend circles and you're just somehow on the outside. But the reality is that pretty much everybody feels the same way you do and everybody's sitting at home wishing someone would just text them and invite them to coffee.   So that's my practical tip is don't wait, go first be the bold friend or even acquaintance like it doesn't have to be someone that you are super besties with. But those baloney is on sale friends like I said you have to read the book and understand that that is like a special category of friendship that's the kind of friendship that our soul longs for but those things don't appear or like pop out of the ground. That kind of friend doesn't just show up it's developed over time it's invested in and cared for and loved and it starts with literally a text to go get coffee. That's how every great friendship story begins. So, if that's you, if you feel like yeah I don't have this close friend who I can do something with I'm lonely. Okay take that first step be the one who picks up the phone send that text message to the woman from church, or the woman from the gym, or that friend you haven't talked to in a while and just invite them over for coffee. Nothing fancy nothing crazy no agenda just come over for a couple hours for coffee. Every single person I know who does this no one ever regrets inviting a friend over for coffee. That's the first step that we can all take into just feeling more connected and having those kind of friends that we want.   Laura Dugger: (1:01:08 - 1:01:31) Love it. Well Stacy your book definitely changed my perspective on risk and I was so hooked on all the stories that you shared so I believe that your book is truly a gift to anyone who chooses to read it and your faith is very inspiring so thank you for sharing your journey with us and thank you for being my guest.   Stacey Morgan: (1:01:31 – 1:01:33) Well, thank you it's been great.   Laura Dugger: (1:01:33 – 1:05:16) One more thing before you go, have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you, but it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it

Tomorrow I will be in Roanoke, Virginiaparticipating and speaking at a celebration of life service for a dear, dearsaint of God, Nancy Young. I'll tell you more about Nancy's and her life thatwas, “A Life Well Lived”, later in this blog. Matterof fact her life “measured up to the stature of the fullness of Christ”, thatPaul desired for every believer here in Ephesians 4. Today we begin looking atthis next section of the chapter where we learn about the “growth of unity” inthe local church. From verse 11 we are told this growth takes after, “HeHimself gives some apostles, and some prophets, some evangelists, and somepastors and teachers.” He does this for the purpose which we find in verses12-16. Thisis a very special passage of scripture that gives us exactly what the pastorsand leaders of the church should be doing. That is equipping the saints for thework of the ministry and for the spiritual growth and maturity of theindividual members.  Overmy 50 plus years as a pastor, if I ever knew someone that was a part of comingto the fullness of unity in Christ, coming to a place of full maturity in thebody of Christ and building up the body of Christ, and doing their part to makesure the church of Christ, the body of Christ, was the kind of church it shouldbe, it was Nancy Young. I've had the privilege of being her pastor for the pastthirty-some years now. As I think about the ministry we had together in thelocal church there at Rainbow Forest Baptist Church, of which she was a faithfulmember for the last 40 years, I watched as the Lord used Nancy in a wonderfulway to touch the lives of so many people. Manyof you probably didn't know that Nancy grew up in Africa with her parents, whowent there in 1945 when she was 3 years old. They were first missionaries inthe Congo, and then in Burundi, where during their ministry, there was aterrible genocide taking place. In her personal eight-page typed testimony thatshe recently wrote for her RFBC Sunday School class, she said from birth shewas taught the Word of God by her parents and had memorized Psalm 23 by thetime she was one year old. How amazing is that!!!!  Nancygrew up in Africa up to the time, when as a teenager she went to WheatonCollege back in the states. It was at Wheaton College that she developed apassion to teach children God's word. Not long after college, that she gotinvolved in WRE, (Weekly Religious Education). Now for over 55 plus years,every week you could find her teaching children the Bible in the public schoolsystem, usually meeting in a small trailer across the street from the school,like she did at Colonial Elementary School near where I lived. Ijust am so thankful for her faithful dedication to this ministry because manyof my grandchildren sat under her Bible teaching. Nancy actually taught mydaughters-in-law, Crystal Floyd Grooms when she was a girl. Remember Crystal,(and she won't mind that I say this), today is in her 40s. Yet when she was alittle girl at Colonial Elementary, she sat under Nancy's teaching. Nancyis a wonderful example of someone who loved the Lord, loved her husband, lovedher family, loved ministry, loved teaching God's Word, and had a grasp of the Wordof God in its entirety. She truly was an example of a mature believer who livedin the fullness of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a blessing it has been to be herpastor. We're celebrating her homegoing tomorrow (Tuesday) with her family.We're excited about how God's going to speak to the lives of many even in theservice.  Itrust you have been encouraged by her testimony that I have shared in today'schat. I trust that you are being equipped for the work of the ministry likeNancy Young was. May the Lord also use you to affect and influence the lives ofhundreds of others as He blesses and leads you.  Godbless!

Looking for terrifying Christmas horror stories to binge this December? This Weekly Spooky holiday special unleashes nine brutal Christmas horror tales packed with killer Santas, vengeful Krampus spirits, murderous androids, and snow-choked nightmares — the perfect Christmas horror podcast compilation for wrapping gifts, long drives, or late-night chills. Settle in for over-the-top holiday carnage as we revisit listener-favorite stories from across the Weekly Spooky vault, curated into one seamless Christmas horror anthology. From backwoods bloodbaths and cursed gifts to AI Santas gone rogue and Christmas Eve in a haunted psych ward, this bingeable episode delivers everything you love about the season… and everything you're secretly afraid of. Inside this episode:• All I Want For Christmas — by Morgan MooreA devoted father wants to give his daughter the perfect Christmas… even if it means doing something unimaginably horrific. As his plan spirals out of control, this tale asks just how far love — and denial — will go when the holiday lights are glaring and the secrets are buried deep. • Blood on the Snow — by Shane MigliavaccaOn Christmas Eve, bodies are piling up and a brutal killer stalks a snow-swept road. When a stranger stumbles into a roadhouse full of uneasy locals, blizzard-bound murder mystery turns into a fight for survival against something far more vicious than the storm outside. • Santa Claus is Killin' the Town — by Morgan MooreA cozy trip home for the holidays becomes a small-town Christmas slasher when an old local legend crashes the party. At the quaint Chamberlain Inn, tinsel, nostalgia, and hot cocoa give way to blood, panic, and the horrifying truth behind the town's festive folklore. • Krampus Is Comin' — by Rob FieldsA young woman becomes host to the spirit of Krampus on Christmas Eve, and suddenly the naughty finally get what's coming to them. This one is a bloody revenge fantasy where ho-ho-ho turns into no-no-NO as Krampus uses her body to settle every score. • Operation Deadly Night — by Keith TomlinA futuristic Santa Claus mod for home androids is supposed to spread cheer… until a glitch turns them into jolly killing machines. Families across America find themselves barricaded in their own homes, battling friendly-faced robots who only want one thing this Christmas: your last breath. • Dead Silent Night — by David O'HanlonLust, dark elves, and twisted tradition collide in a wickedly funny Christmas nightmare. What starts as a kinky holiday encounter turns into a deadly game where the “helpers” of the season have teeth, claws, and a very different wish list than you were expecting. • 12 Days — by Mike AshkeweFar from Earth on a ship called the Roanoke, a pilot trapped in deep space faces AI sabotage, time slipping, and existential dread over twelve long days of Christmas. This eerie sci-fi tale turns festive countdowns into a cosmic death sentence where no signal home can save you.  • A Christmas to Remember — by Joe SolmoDonnie finally comes home hoping for a fresh start, but the sins of his past are waiting under the tree. As old grudges ignite and fate takes a grisly turn, this story pushes holiday redemption into a dark corner where forgiveness and revenge are soaked in blood. • Xmas at the Psych Ward — by Bruce HaneyIt's Christmas Eve in a 1960s psychiatric hospital, complete with strange patients, questionable treatments, and staff who are hiding more than they heal. When the snow falls and the power flickers, holiday cheer curdles into institutional horror — and someone (or something) inside isn't staying in their room tonight. Whether you're decorating the tree, wrapping presents, or doom-scrolling through December, this Christmas horror stories marathon is built for bingeing: one epic episode, nine chilling tales, and enough killer Santas, Krampus justice, and winter nightmares to carry you straight through the season.Hit play, my spookies, and make Weekly Spooky your go-to Christmas horror podcast for long winter nights.

Novembers theme is reflecting on the idea of home and how we connect to our communities.My guests include Doc McClintock, a trans woman folk singer songwriter from Roanoke, Virginia who's music focuses on addiction loss and working class struggle, she's joined by Alaina Crackoviack on fiddle. Her songwriting is deeply influenced by her experience living on the fringes of rural Appalachia with a focus on addiction, loss, queerness and working class struggle. She ignites a fusion of rowdy traditional Appalachian string music and introspective folk.  Learn more: https://soundcloud.com/user-781318670Chanell Burnette is a poet, author and she has the unique perspective of recently being released from a Virginia Appalachian Prison after 19 years incarcerated. She is a mother to 2, and a grandmother to 3. She is an author and her mission is to bring awareness to the suffering endured behind bars in hopes that people will remember our shared humanity. Learn more: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/04/28/i-raised-my-kids-from-prison-im-coming-home-to-a-grandsonAnd Solar Hex is an experimental cellist, harmonium player and old time songstress. Learn more: https://solarhex.bandcamp.com/Appalachian Vibes Radio Show from WNCW is listener nominated, you can nominate an artist by emailing Amanda at appalachianvibes@gmail.com. Appalachian Vibes Radio Show is created and produced by Amanda Bocchi, a neo soul singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist and journalist hailing from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.

Chanell Burnette is a newly returning citizen to Roanoke after serving 19 years in an Appalachian Virginia prison. She is a mother to two, and a grandmother to three. She is an author and her mission is to bring awareness to the suffering endured behind bars in hopes that people will remember our shared humanity.  This episode of Appalachian Vibes was recorded in front of a live audience at 3rd Street Coffee House in Roanoke, November 1 2025. You can learn more about Chanell at https://prisonjournalismproject.org/author/chanell-burnette/ or https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/04/28/i-raised-my-kids-from-prison-im-coming-home-to-a-grandsonAppalachian Vibes Radio Show from WNCW is listener nominated, you can nominate an artist by emailing Amanda at appalachianvibes@gmail.com. Appalachian Vibes Radio Show is created and produced by Amanda Bocchi, a neo soul singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist and journalist hailing from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.

Doc McClintock is a folk singer-songwriter born and raised in Roanoke, Virginia. Her songwriting is deeply influenced by her experience living on the fringes of rural Appalachia with a focus on addiction, loss, queerness and working class struggle. She ignites a fusion of rowdy traditional Appalachian string music and introspective folk.  Novembers theme is reflecting on the idea of home and how we connect to our communities.This episode of Appalachian vibes was recorded in front of a live audience November 3rd 2025 at 3rd street coffeehouse in Roanoke, Virginia,  Song title "A Place to Rest" Learn more about Doc at https://www.instagram.com/doc_mcclintock/?hl=enAppalachian Vibes Radio Show from WNCW is listener nominated, you can nominate an artist by emailing Amanda at appalachianvibes@gmail.com. Appalachian Vibes Radio Show is created and produced by Amanda Bocchi, a neo soul singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist and journalist hailing from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.

To follow up my perspective seeking conversation with Gray Parsons of the Secotan Alliance, I sat down next with Chief Marilyn Berry Morrison of the Roanoke-Hatteras Tribe. I asked Chief Morrison the same question: why do you think the misconception exists that Indigenous Americans no longer exist in the eastern part of the United States? She had similar thoughts to share. Chief Morrison spoke a lot about fear and shame stemming from the trauma of the past. She also clued me in to a personal journey she's been on for quite some time, a journey to get state and national recognition for her ancestry and her tribe, the Roanoke-Hatteras, and the unnecessary difficulty involved in the process. Again, this is a must listen! Support the show! Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)Buy some merchBuy Me a CoffeeVenmo @Shea-LaFountaineSources: Native Heritage Project “The Pierce Family of Tyrrell County”“Deliver Us from Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South” by Lacy K. FordShoot me a message! Shop for History Fix merch here to support the show! Support the show

What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke?In the 1580s Sir Walter Raleigh set about establishing a permanent English colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. But within a few years the settlement and its colonists had mysteriously vanished. Ever since, historians and archaeologists have tried to piece together what really happened to the colonists.Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by archaeologist Professor Mark Horton to explore one of history's great unsolved puzzles.MORE:Walter Raleigh's Quest for El DoradoListen on AppleListen on SpotifyThe Dark Side of Sir Francis DrakeListen on AppleListen on SpotifyPresented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.Not Just the Tudors is a History Hit podcastSign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. You can take part in our listener survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Healing Through Laughter: Dave Ebert on Comedy, Faith, and Overcoming Trauma In this episode, Diana rebroadcasts the interview of the late Dave Ebert, who passed away unexpectedly July 2, 2024. He discusses his journey from struggling with depression and contemplating suicide to becoming a renowned improv coach, pastor, and comedian. Dave, who founded Gifts for Glory Ministries, shares his early love for entertaining, the personal struggles he faced, and how faith and comedy became his tools for healing and helping others. He also explores his work with the Salt and Light Coalition, helping survivors of sex trafficking through improv, which aids in their communication skills and self-esteem. The episode delves into the importance of connection, trust, and the transformative power of laughter in overcoming trauma and finding hope. We hope you enjoy hearing Dave's legacy and timeless advice.  You will hear the second interview of Dave and his wife's missionary work next episode. 00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message 00:47 Meet Your Host, Diana 01:34 Introducing Dave Ebert 02:51 Dave's Childhood and Early Love for Comedy 03:45 Struggles with Family and Faith 07:30 Turning Point: Finding Faith and Purpose 10:57 Battling Depression and Suicidal Thoughts 21:04 The Power of Presence and Support 24:25 A New Beginning in Chicago 26:32 Starting a Faith-Based Improv Team 27:32 Creating Clean Comedy for All Ages 29:10 Using Comedy as a Ministry Tool 31:50 Connecting with Salt and Light Coalition 33:12 Teaching Improv to Trafficking Survivors 36:20 Stories of Transformation Through Improv 44:18 Current Projects and Online Improv Shows 47:16 Offering Support and Contact Information 50:47 Final Thoughts and Podcast Information   Website: https://dswministries.org Subscribe to the podcast: https://dswministries.org/subscribe-to-podcast/ Social media links: Join our Private Wounds of the Faithful FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1603903730020136 Twitter: https://twitter.com/DswMinistries YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxgIpWVQCmjqog0PMK4khDw/playlists Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dswministries/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DSW-Ministries-230135337033879 Keep in touch with me! Email subscribe to get my handpicked list of the best resources for abuse survivors! https://thoughtful-composer-4268.ck.page #abuse #trauma Affiliate links: Our Sponsor: 753 Academy: https://www.753academy.com/ Can't travel to The Holy Land right now? The next best thing is Walking The Bible Lands! Get a free video sample of the Bible lands here! https://www.walkingthebiblelands.com/a/18410/hN8u6LQP An easy way to help my ministry: https://dswministries.org/product/buy-me-a-cup-of-tea/ A donation link: https://dswministries.org/donate/   Dave Ebert  [00:00:00] Special thanks to 7 5 3 Academy for sponsoring this episode. No matter where you are in your fitness and health journey, they've got you covered. They specialize in helping you exceed your health and fitness goals, whether that is losing body fat, gaining muscle, or nutritional coaching to match your fitness levels. They do it all with a written guarantee for results so you don't waste time and money on a program that doesn't exceed your goals. There are martial arts programs. Specialize in anti-bullying programs for kids to combat proven Filipino martial arts. They take a holistic, fun, and innovative approach that simply works. Sign up for your free class now. It's 7 5 3 academy.com. Find the link in the show notes. Welcome to the Wounds of the Faithful Podcast, brought to you by DSW Ministries. Your host is singer songwriter, speaker and domestic violence advocate, [00:01:00] Diana . She is passionate about helping survivors in the church heal from domestic violence and abuse and trauma. This podcast is not a substitute for professional counseling or qualified medical help. Now here is Diana. Hello everyone. Thanks for joining us today. You know, I've been telling you there are many paths and tools for healing and comedy is one of them. I think you'll enjoy our podcast today, friends. Our guest, Dave Ebert is the founder of Gifts for Glory Ministries. Dave is an improv coach, speaker, pastor, actor, and improv performer with his wife Bobby, residing in Chicago, Illinois. Gifts for Glory is ready to provide high quality, clean family friendly entertainment and professional [00:02:00] improv coaching to survivors of sex trafficking. Hey, welcome to the show Dave. Hey, thanks so much for having me. I'm, uh, really looking forward to having our conversation. Your bio is so impressive. I had trouble. Uh, shortening it for the intro. I'm sorry, I, I try to provide enough information, but, uh, I, I could have probably shortened it, but maybe it's because I'm a pastor. I just like to embellish and go on for a long, long period of time. So we're gonna fill in the blanks here and throughout our time together, and I can't wait to hear some good jokes. We will. We'll see what comes up. I'm an improviser, so nothing's ever planned. So if there's a moment of funny, yeah, I just give God the credit and if there's not, it's just, I don't know. We'll see. So tell us about your childhood. Were you always funny or into comedy? I really [00:03:00] was, uh, one of the earliest pictures of me other than, you know, baby pictures, uh, was a old Polaroid of, uh, me flexing, like I was in a bodybuilding contest because we we're at the city pool. There was an actual, like a swimsuit or bodybuilding competition going on on the other side. And my parents and their friends were just there at the pool and I was like, no, they're not gonna get the attention. I'm gonna get the attention. So there's this picture of me flexing my little chubby 2-year-old arms and it was like, I, I love to entertain and I love the attention and trying to, uh, get people an opportunity to laugh. So yeah, pretty much my entire life, um. Uh, I, I just liked it. I enjoyed, and I lived off of people's laughter. Now, did you experience any trauma in your life? There were, um, there wasn't any like one singular event, like a, a massive. You know, tragedy. But my dad was in Vietnam. He was in the [00:04:00] Vietnam War, and he got in contact with that chemical agent Orange that, uh, I've heard about. And, uh, that just ravaged his body. You know, when he hit 30, he was, you know, a healthy, strong 30-year-old guy working in the trades, and he was disabled by the time he was. 37, 38, um, from heart attacks, from just loss of, uh, dexterity in his hands and uh, and losing his ability to even walk. And it was all, uh, just complications and, and complications from the agent Orange. And so we were living in Chicago at that. You know, when I was first born and then when he'd had his third heart attack, we had to move out of the city and get away from the fast pace of Chicago and went down to Virginia where it's a lot slower lifestyle, a little bit easier for him to handle that kind of stress. But over the next 20 or so years as his health failed, there were a lot of conflicts in the home [00:05:00] between he and mom, between he and myself, and, um, so it was. It wasn't a tragic event, it was just this long period of watching my dad lose his ability to do the things that men do, like work with their hands, play with their son, hang out with their son, things like that. And, uh, you're not able to handle that because we really didn't have a strong faith. Base. So there was nothing kind of anchoring us in that storm. Mm-hmm. And so it was over, you know, two decades that, you know, there's just a lot of little traumas. Little fights, uh, big fights and, and things like that. We said we were Christian and we went to church. Um. Uh, fairly regularly, uh, mostly for holidays and potlucks. Uh, but um, we, uh, we said we were Christian, but it kind of [00:06:00] only existed from 11 to 12 on, on Sundays. Uh, we lived decently. We weren't out killing people. We weren't doing drugs and like that, but, um, but we weren't really like practicing. We didn't say, you know, grace at meals. We didn't pray together. We, I don't think I ever saw an either of my parents actually open a Bible. So we were kind of Christians in name only. Um, we had the, the membership card went to the meetings, but we didn't actually do a lot of practicing outside of church. So kinda like Chris and dumb. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kind of, kind of creases with a little bit more regular attendance because the church I grew up in, uh, or at least as a kid, they had a lot of potlucks. It, it was almost like the one way to guarantee people would come. It was like, yeah, we're gonna have a potluck to celebrate this this weekend. And I love the potlucks because there's always at least five to sometimes six, uh, different varieties of mac and cheese, and that's my favorite. Favorite. Yes. [00:07:00] Yes. Mac and cheese. Yes. Mashed potatoes. Mm-hmm. Mashed potatoes, uh, all sorts of desserts. And, uh, for your, your listeners, they won't know this, but if they see, you know, my headshot or whatnot, I, I'm not a small individual and I will put the blame firmly on that church. Where all the potlucks, oh, they fed me, but not spiritually. Oh. That's funny. So when did you meet the Lord for real? Well, my story's kind of unique or maybe it's not. Um, but for me it depends on what your personal theology is to interpret it. I. Going into my sixth grade year, uh, that, that summer before my sixth grade year, I went to a summer camp and I, uh, went, you know, we had devotions each night at a campfire. And I remember on Thursday night, the day before, the night before we're leaving. [00:08:00] Something at the devotion spoke to me and I said, on my way by myself, said That little sinners prayer of Jesus coming to my heart. I want to make you Lord. Um, and you know, I remember the prayer, I remember walking up that gravel driveway up towards the cabin. And, but like I said, it kind of hinted at there wasn't a lot of discipleship for young believers at my church. So. It was like, oh, I accepted Christ. What does that mean? What do I do with it? And so from that year. For many years after, I never really got truly discipled to understand what it meant to be a Christ follower. And through my depression and the, you know, just some of the choices I made, I kind of walked away from that. So if you believe that you can walk away from salvation, then you could say that I walked away from it. Uh, some believe once saved, always saved. So you can either choose that summer or you can look to, uh, January, 2013 when. Uh, [00:09:00] still wrestling, depression, still looking for purpose in life. I was walking to work, uh, on a Saturday morning and. There were these two kids from a local Bible college out there looking for people to witness to, uh, they had the, uh, tract, which, uh, for anybody that doesn't know tract is a small graphic novel that, uh, kind of tells the gospel story. And, um, so they were out there and there's really no reason for them to be there 'cause it wasn't a very populated area. Um, so there really wouldn't be a lot of people out there on a Saturday morning. So it was obviously a divine appointment. They gave me the track and they offered to pray for me, but I didn't, you know, I kind of blew them off. Said, yeah, I'm a Christian, I'm saved. Yeah, I'm good, but I gotta get to work. But because they were there, they passed out the track and because of a lot of stuff that was leading up to that moment, it was like, okay, God, I'm ready to submit. I'm, I'm ready. So that night I, uh, opened up my, uh, Rick Warren, purpose Driven Life. I started reading [00:10:00] my, uh, dollar General, uh, king James version Bible got all the way through Deuteronomy before. I was like, I need something simpler. Uh, yeah. But, uh, yeah. Um, those two kids, I don't know if I'll ever see them again, at least not in this life, but they were kind of the straw that broke the camel's back to where I made the decision because I was still wrestling with depression and I was literally at this place where I was on top of, I, I described it as I was on a peak of a mountaintop where. I was still considering, you know, taking my life so I could either go left and just take my life and, and end it once and for all, or I could go right and give my life and fully submit to God. And that was kind of the moment that kind of clenched it for me to take that step towards God and really for the first time, pursue a relationship with him. So that was in, uh, January of, uh, 2013. So let's unpack the. Part where you talked about you wanted to end [00:11:00] your life. What happened there? It was a, a culmination of a lot of things. I, I had a lot of dreams and ideals of what life should look like, and this started in, uh, junior high and high school. Um, and then, uh, you know, combine that with, uh, this struggle with my relationship with my dad. Um, you know, not ever quite being good enough because he always had, sometimes these. Surreal expectations and, and when I didn't meet them, I felt like a failure and, you know, just all these different things. Um, it just added up to one night. I remember, um, I was pursuing this, this young lady to date her in high school and you know, for the first time I was like, this might be the one that I actually get her to date me. And then, um. Afternoon, after I talked to her in the morning, I saw her walking, holding hands with somebody else, and that was. [00:12:00] Kind of the straw that broke the camel's back the other way, uh, to where I entered into that depression. And, uh, it just kept getting deeper. The more my dad and I fought, the more my mom and dad fought. You know, it just got deeper and through, um, my junior year, senior year high school, all through college, after college for many years, uh, through my first marriage, you know, just. That voice was always in the back of my head, you're not worthy. Um, no one's gonna truly love you. Um, might as well end the pain now. And so I just, I really wrestled with the idea of suicide. There were times that I was ready to do it, but I cursed myself for being too weak or too afraid to commit. But looking back, it was that, as the Bible calls it, the still small voice. That was, you know, just kind of coaxing me to don't give in just yet. Don't give in just yet. So looking back, obviously God was [00:13:00] there with me the entire time. It's just I didn't realize who that voice was or why I was not able to fully take that next step. It was because God was there trying to yank and pull me back from the edge. Wow. I'm sure a lot of our listeners can relate to, um, the things that you're saying right now about wanting to end it all. Now, did you cover up your depression, your feelings? Did anybody else know about that? I covered it. Um, as I mentioned, I love to entertain people, make people laugh. So it started off very, when I was very young. It was just this pure thing of enjoying the laughter and enjoying giving that gift to people. But when I entered the Depression, it became a defense mechanism where I would keep people from seeing what I was feeling and also try to prevent them from feeling the darkness I felt. If I could do that, if I could make somebody laugh, if I could [00:14:00] entertain somebody, if I could make somebody feel better, then I was able to justify living for the next week or the next day or what have you. And so comedy or making people laugh was where I found my worth and my value. And if I went too far and I offended somebody, if I hurt somebody's feelings, uh, or if I said something that just kind of embarrassed me. It went into the spiral where it was like, see, even the one thing you count on for value you fail at. And so it would spiral me and it was like, man, I just, I need to drive my truck off this cliff, or I need to, um, do this or that other thing to myself just, and I always wanted to leave it as an ac, you know, make it look like it was an accident. Um, whenever I really contemplated, uh, suicide because I didn't want the embarrassment. I didn't want people to judge me and say things about me, and I also didn't want the judgment to follow my [00:15:00] parents or anybody else because I didn't want them to be punished for what I was going through. So I always tried to make it or plan out to look like an accident. Um, one night I in particular, I remember driving home late at night through the mountain roads. It was maybe three or four in the morning, and I just was at this breaking point and I prayed. I said, God, if you don't want me to do this, gimme a sign. Do something. And if you think about Pure Flix movies or a Hallmark movie, you know, you think in that moment, all of a sudden the sky opens and the lights shines, and the angels come down. And, but in that moment, it felt like it got darker. It almost, it felt like, like God actually got quieter. Than, than I felt he had been. And so I got mad and I got angry at God. And I, I think I probably said a few curse words at him and, and said, you know, whatever. And I got mad and I drove [00:16:00] home. But here's the, the thing about it, I drove home. I didn't drive to the left off that cliff and. I, I say that that was a moment where God knew what I needed. It's not conventional, it's not what you would expect, but it's what I needed. 'cause he knew I'd go mad or I would get mad, and he knew that he would have to take some barbs from me in that anger. But it was God laying himself down for me in that moment so that I would go home instead of, you know, take my life. And that's just another thing that I look back on and say, wow, God was there this whole time. Wow. I've never contemplated suicide myself. I've had some really dark times with my, abuse history. Mm-hmm. Now I've had depression before. Mm-hmm. But it wasn't so much that I needed to take medication. Um, it was just this cloud of darkness and like [00:17:00] sitting in a pit. Yeah. That you can't get out of and it's no amount of positive thinking is going to do it. Right. It just took a long time to crawl out of that. These brilliant people, you know, we're talking about comedy and the most brilliant comedian was Robin Williams. Sure. And he was so funny. And, yeah. When he took his own life after battling depression, um, I really mourned his death. 'cause Yeah. Yeah. It, and that's one of the things where it shows that fame, fortune, having everything at, at your fingertips, it's not a substitute for. Anything because you look at Rob Williams, you think about even, you know, they don't classify necessarily as a suicide. You look, but you look at somebody like Chris Farley, uh, John Belushi, um, the lifestyle that those two guys [00:18:00] chose and the way that they treated their bodies was kind of a long term suicide because they did not take care of their bodies. And I'm not talking about being heavy. I'm talking about the drugs, the drinking, the things like the partying. For hours upon hours on end, it was they were trying to fill something in their soul that they couldn't fill. Um, so for, and I don't say these things as judgment. Mm-hmm. I say these things as warnings. Um, heads up. If you see somebody that is trying to fill their life with partying, find the time when they're sober and talk to them. See if there's something going on. Uh, and like you look at somebody like Robin Williams. It's a very hard thing to know how to handle that because you don't know what his family life was like. Did he have somebody in his, in his corner that knew what he is wrestling with and they were just happened to be gone in an, in the instant that he was the weakest? Um, [00:19:00] for me, I think one of the, the biggest things is if you see somebody or know somebody that could potentially be similar to where Robin Williams was at. Pray and ask for God to show you how to reach them, um, and be willing to pursue it. Um, it's, no, no two depressions are the same because no two people are the same. There's no blanket there, a, b, c methodology that's going to, like, if I do these three or four things, I'm gonna pull my friend out of what they're at. Because there's different triggers, there's different experiences, there's different chemical imbalances in the mind. So don't ever feel like a failure if you try to help somebody and you can't see results. Because some people, it takes time, some people it takes the miracle of God flipping a switch and healing whatever chemical imbalance is in the mind. Um, so my advice is always just keep [00:20:00] pursuing, um, because. Eventually there's gonna be a breakthrough it because somebody that's in that mode is going to see that they're not gonna give up and that's going to fly directly in the face of so many of the inner voices or, or the self-talk of, I'm not worth it, nobody's gonna really care. Or I, I'm a burden. But when you're continually pursuing, you are speaking against all that and you're giving evidence against that case. And we all know, especially, uh, as Christians, that those voices are of the enemy. So they're all mm-hmm. Of the king of lies. Yes. And when you can step in and bring the truth and bring the light, the enemy has no footing left. So that's always my advice, is just to keep pursuing him. It's worth it. It's worth being able to pursue somebody and give them [00:21:00] a chance to hope and a chance to fight against the lies of the enemy. Um, I never know what to say to somebody that's struggling with depression. I'm always afraid that I'm gonna say the wrong thing. Right. Um, so those, those suggestions are really, valuable because. I don't wanna push them too far, but I want them to know that I care. So, yeah. And, and here's the thing, and this is something that I, whenever I talk to people, I, I try to take this burden off your shoulders. It's not your job to save them. It's not your job to rescue them. It's your job to be there and let God do the saving. It is not, it's not your job. So whatever words you say, whatever things you say, it's not gonna matter because it's not gonna be really remembered. The mistakes or, or the, the bad choice words or whatever you say that doesn't [00:22:00] work, quote unquote work, it's not gonna matter. What's gonna matter is that person that you're pursuing, that you're fighting for is gonna remember that you were there. They're gonna remember your presence, not so much your words. Now, there'll be some times where God will give you wisdom and they'll remember those words of wisdom, but for the most part, part, they're gonna remember that you were there. Just like when you go to a funeral and you talk to the people that are grieving, uh, whether it's the widow or the widower, or maybe it's, uh, the child that lost their parent, whatever the case may be. They don't remember the words that you said as you go in the line. They remember your face, they remember the, the calming touch on the shoulder, on the hands. They remember that you were there and it was, it is very much the same for somebody that's in the dark pit of, of depression. If you're there constantly showing them love, willing to let them have [00:23:00] what I call verbal diarrhea and just get whatever they're wrestling without. They're gonna remember that you were there and they're gonna remember that, and it's going be that evidence to say, Satan, shut up. Amen. You're not telling the truth. This person is here. They see me as valuable enough to fight through this. So you're lies of I'm not worthy. Nobody loves me, nobody will miss me. Those are lies straight from the pit of hell, and that's where you belong. That's right. Wow. No, that's, that's really helpful comparing it to, um, a funeral. 'cause, uh, I just lost my brother December 5th and, yeah, and some people, they don't know the right things to say and, but you're right. I remember that. They cared about me. But yes. The fact that they took time to say, I'm praying for you, or let us know if there's anything we can do to help you meant a lot. So I appreciate that [00:24:00] advice for sure. Let's switch over something a little funnier. Sure. Okay. Than a funeral. Um, so speaking of Robin Williams, he was a guest on. Whose line is it anyway, and it was my favorite episode ever. And you started a Christian version of that show. Tell me more about that. Absolutely. So when I, uh, rededicated my life to the Lord in January of 2013, I knew that performing and being on stage was my calling. God was going to. Keep me in front of people, keep me entertaining people, but he's changing and he changed the reason why, instead of trying to hide how I felt and hide myself, I was now gonna use comedy as a way to reveal who he is. And I had no real opportunities, uh, in Beckley, West Virginia. Nothing against West Virginia. Uh, [00:25:00] I have a lot of friends back there. I had a lot of great experiences, but it wasn't where God wanted me. And so I was like, so God, where do I go? Do I go to Roanoke, Virginia, which is about three hours west in, uh, west in, in west in Virginia. Excuse me. And, uh, that's where my mom lived. Do I just move in with her and start over? And it was kind of like. You could, but that's not really where you belong. So I kept, like reading Rick Warren's book, I kept reading the Bible and finally in a, in a conversation, my sister, who doesn't really have a relationship with the Lord, but he used her. She said, well, if you want to, you can move up here to Chicago in, in, uh, start over here. And I said, are you sure? 'cause she was going to college at the time and I would be moving in on staying on her couch in her studio apartment. And I was like, are you sure? She's like, yeah, if, if you need. A new, you know, new start. And so six weeks later I left, uh, [00:26:00] West Virginia, everything I could pack in my truck I brought up. And I started completely over in, um, in March of 2013. And it was shortly thereafter, I started pursuing acting opportunities and opportunities to be in front of people. A couple of mo short films I got into, I realized after accepting the part, I shouldn't have done this role. Uh, this will be something that if I ever become famous, will be one of those things that they play to, to tease you when you get like a lifetime achievement award. Oh, yeah. Um, and then through Craigslist I connected with a, a, a guy, um, named Ryan McChesney. And he and I, uh, discussed, you know, doing, uh, movies together or something like that, uh, faith-based, and we said, well, we both like improv. He had gone through the second 30. Second City, Chicago Conservatory. I had, um, done a few classes at Second City, but uh, most of my acting and performing training [00:27:00] came from eight years of, uh, pro wrestling in, uh, West Virginia and Virginia. Um, so we thought, well, what if we started a faith-based improv team? There's nothing like that in Chicago. And we thought that there was almost nothing like that in the rest of the world. So, uh, we decided to start trying to cast and we, uh, brought two more people on. And my church at that time was, uh, very, uh, gracious in allow, allowing us free reign to use a building for rehearsals or anything else we wanted to do. And so we just started, uh. Creating an improv team and for anybody that's not really familiar with improv, uh, uh, Diana, as you mentioned, uh, whose line is it anyway, is kind of the same kind of improv that we do where it's, uh, game base where they'll give us a game with a scenario and certain rules within that game to follow, and the rest we make up. We make up the characters. The dialogue is completely made up. And the idea is not to try to be funny, but just to [00:28:00] try to respond in the moment because that's where the funny's gonna come from, is that just that creative mind that we have. It's going to find things that are funny in our natural reactions. And so what we do is we just create scenarios. It's basically like. A more organized way to play, pretend. Uh, we create characters, voices, points of view. And so we, and we don't do it based on the Bible because we don't want to ever. Get careless and misrepresent the Bible or say something. Oh, okay. That's fair. Uh, we don't wanna ever come across as a Christian improv team that is, uh, disrespecting the Bible. So we just do clean comedy that's accessible for all ages, whether you're five or 105. Um, we want you to be able to come and enjoy and laugh. And, um, we kind of filter it through [00:29:00] Philippians four, eight, whatever's pure and lovely and praiseworthy. If it kind of fits along that, then, uh, then we're good. Um, and we just, um. We go out and use it as a ministry tool. Uh, either we open for a speaker and use laughter as a way to tear down some walls and, and make people comfortable enough that they can hear it. Mm-hmm. Or we just do pure comedy with the love and the joy of Christ and allow our presence and the fact that Christ is coming in with us to somehow reach them on a spiritual level to where they'll either ask us, why are you guys clean? Why don't you curse? Or Why don't you do innuendo or blue? Right. Or they track us down on social media and they're like, oh, they're Christian, and they're funny and they're creative. Maybe God is more than I thought he was. I'm not naturally funny. Um, my husband is, and that's the, the thing [00:30:00] is. You don't have to be funny to be good at improv, you just have to be willing to listen and respond naturally. 'cause most of what's funny in our improv at least, is that people recognize either weird quirks, uh, about themselves or about people that they know or they recognize weird characters that they're like, that's Samantha from work. Oh my gosh. Um, and, and it's that recognition of, of the human experience because. We are so much alike. There we're, we are all more alike than we are different. Mm-hmm. And when we share those experiences, we realize that we're not alone. That we're not this weird thing in the middle of the world that has no connection. When we get a room with people laughing together, even if none of them know each other. They connect, uh, on this really interesting level. When they laugh together, they don't feel alone in that room. And that's why comedy is so important and effective in [00:31:00] speaking and in ministry. If you can get, get them to laugh, there's a wall that comes down to where now they're able to receive, uh, some information or receive the word or receive the message. And, uh, you know, that's what we love to do is to either. Set the ground for, uh, the speaker to bring the word, or to just simply be a light in that room to where there's a question, why, why are they different? And, um, that's what we do now. Uh, we've been, uh, this team has been running since, uh, July of 2013. Um, we've had a lot of changes, a lot of turnover, but the, the mission has always been the same is to just use comedy to bring people closer to God. So you can, definitely use comedy to heal people in their pain. And you got connected with, salt and Light Coalition. So tell us more about that. Sure. Uh, Salton Lake Coalition [00:32:00] is an organization that works with, uh, women who have survived sex trafficking. Um, many of the women that they serve, uh, were sold into trafficking by their parents at a young age. So many of them either have a very short, if. Or maybe a non-existent childhood to, uh, draw from. So they're very stunted in ma many areas as far as emotions, uh, uh, especially the ability now to trust people. And so, and most of them obviously have been hurt. Used and abused by men. Mm-hmm. So the fact that me as a guy was asked to come in and serve the weight of that is not lost on me. But I also see absolutely see benefit because here is a man in a healthy relationship with his wife, who is in a healthy relationship with the Lord, who can come in and bring that. As a model for these women to show that it is possible that [00:33:00] not every single man is a creep that's going to hurt you. Right? So, and I, I value that ability to, and that opportunity to bring that example, uh, to them. And I teach improv as a way to improve their communication because, uh, many of them, like I said, had, are stunted either, um. Educationally, either they were, they had to drop outta school because they were doing what their handlers or pimp or whatever you wanna call 'em, were making them do. And so I go and help them improve communication. Uh. Find and develop their self-esteem. Because when you're learning improv and you're creating stuff together, you're starting to realize, wait, I have a voice. I have something to say, and the things that I say can be valuable, and that only helps to improve the self-esteem. So they start realizing that all the stuff that I've been through in the past is my past and all the work that I'm doing [00:34:00] now to get back on my feet and rebuild my life. I'm worth it because I have something to say. I have something to contribute. So we do that through improv and, and at the end of the day, they get an hour where they can laugh like kids either for the first time or laugh like kids again because. And, and it, I don't say these things to brag on me. Mm-hmm. God put me in this position. There was, there's been several times where the women have, or a couple of the women have come in and you could see that they are literally carrying their world on their back. The burdens are there, the brow was furrowed. The, you could see in their eyes that they're waiting for somebody to say that one word so that they can explode on them. Mm-hmm. And part of what they have to do is they have to participate even if they're not feeling it. So they, they still get in the circle, they still participate in the games, and you can see literally. The, [00:35:00] that facade, crack and fall, you literally see them crack up and within five minutes of participating, the burden is gone. The, the fierceness in their eyes, the the anger or the frustration, or the hurt. It fades away. And they get to forget that and realize that there's hope, that there's something bigger than what they're wrestling with in that moment. And that has been such a huge blessing for me to be a part of that for the last couple of years. And, um, and like I said, it's, it's such a blessing to, to be a man in that position, to kind of be an ambassador, literally an ambassador for Christ, to show that it's okay to. To trust again. And I, and I love doing that. That is incredible. You know, I've had some training in sex trafficking, with Mending the Soul We have a program called Princess Lost. [00:36:00] Princess Found. Oh, okay. And I didn't know anything about sex trafficking before that, or at least I thought I did know. Mm-hmm. I, I thought of what the rest of the world thinks about, you know, prostitutes or sex workers, but it really, that training had opened my eyes. Do you have a story of one of those tough nuts that crack open with your comedy improv class? Yeah. Um. Specific, I can't mention names, obviously. No. Yeah. But, uh, the one lady I think of in particular, she's a single mom. She was, uh, sold by her mom into trafficking, for sex because her mom needed a. She needed a, a fix. And so she gets involved and then she gets traded, bought, and sold. Um, and the thing wa the thing that a lot of people don't realize is [00:37:00] people who are in that life, who are stuck, who are, who are trapped, they're not always stuck in some shady building off in the corner of, of the city, right? They're, they're still out walking around, they're going to the store, but. They're in such a way that they don't think they can escape and they don't know who they can trust. Mm-hmm. They don't know if the person that they're gonna talk to to say, Hey, I need help, is connected to this person that they're, that they're, uh, enslaved by. So they feel like they can't trust anybody. Even though that they're out walking around, they're, they're stuck. And they're also, many times they're forced to take drugs. Yes. So people will dismiss them when they see 'em. Like, oh, she's just a junkie. There are a lot of junkies, but there's also a lot of women and, and some men that are on drugs, either because they're trying to cope with what they're being forced to do, or it's part of what they're required to do in [00:38:00] order to survive. Um, and, and the, the, the pimps know that when they're on drugs and they're high people will dismiss them and won't really give them two looks. So all that to say is this, this young lady, she's, I think she's in her mid twenties now. Mm-hmm. Uh, single mom struggling to get her kids back because in, in the eyes of the court system, she's just a junkie. She, it, it doesn't matter why she was on drugs, it doesn't matter what caused her to be arrested for these different things. All that matters to them is that she, you know, you were high, you were on drugs, you have this in your system, you're not fit to be a mom. So she's trying to rebuild her life, trying to get her kids back and one day, I don't know, I don't know the details 'cause I don't really talk to get to know them much, just because they're trying. You don't wanna protect them. 'cause the fewer people that know the stories, know where they are, where they're [00:39:00] from, the better for them so that they can avoid getting. Found by the people that are looking for them. Mm-hmm. Because when a woman, escapes sex trafficking, that's property in the minds of the people that quote unquote own them. Yes. And they don't like to lose property because they're losing profit. So. You know, I know very little about them. I know their, I know their first name. I know a little bit about their story. Some of their stories come out as, you know, part of the improv, but she's trying to get her life back together. She comes in and she's the one that I always envision when I talk about the cracking up. She came in and I swear, I I, there was a moment where I was worried, it was like, is she gonna fly off on me if I say the wrong thing? 'cause she just looked angry at the world. Mm-hmm. And, uh, fortunately, and obviously they're not gonna leave me in the room alone, so there's a couple of the Salton light [00:40:00] volunteers there just to supervise and to coach and say, Hey, you need to go ahead and get in a circle and, and participate. You know, this is part of the program. And so. She came in, arms are crossed and she's just looking down at the ground. And so I just changed my plan and I opened up with, uh, a warmup that I knew everyone enjoyed. Um, and it's a silly game. It's called Bippity bippity bop. And, and so this game, uh, somebody's in the middle of the circle, they go around the circle and it's, it's a quick response game. I'll look at you and, and if I say Bippity bty bop, you just have to say the word bop before I get to bop. And then there's other layers to that game. So I start the game and say, all right, so we're gonna warm up with bip bippity bop. So I go around the circle and there are a couple times where like, as I'm going around the circle, I look at her like, I'm gonna give her the, you know, [00:41:00] the, the, uh, interaction. But then I go past and then I come back, and then I get her the first time it's like pip bop. She, you know, obviously wasn't ready 'cause she's not. Fully into it. So she goes, all right, un crosses her arms, walks in the circle, starts doing it, and as soon as she starts participating you, that's when it starts cracking up. And she starts laughing and, and having fun. And she became, she was two people. The first five minutes, she was one person. And then once she started to laugh, she was a completely different person. And it's like. God, this is why, this is why I'm here. And again, it's not, Hey, Dave Ebert's wonderful. You know, toot the horns. It's like, God put me in this position to use my testimony, my story to, and my experiences to try to help in the healing process of, of some women that desperately need healing and desperately need to know the love of [00:42:00] Jesus. I love that story. You know, the biggest thing I learned in, in my training that I went through was a lot of these women are in this predicament. At no fault of their own, they were mm-hmm. They were groomed or they were kidnapped, or they were, you know, trafficked by somebody that they trusted. Mm-hmm. Or they should have been able to trust and that these, these ladies and some gentlemen, by the way, are people. Valuable people, loved by God. They're not trash and not somebody that we throw away or toss aside, they are, they are children of God and they need Jesus too. Yeah. And, and these are all people that, and I, I don't like think, or in my heart, I don't believe that Jesus means this. In his language, but he's talking to us in our language when he talks about the least of these. Mm-hmm. Because he loves us and [00:43:00] God loves us equally. And there is no true least in God's kingdom. But I think it's, it's Jesus dumbing down the language so that we would understand. And that's why he is like what you do to the least of these you do to me. So yeah, there are people who. Are out there who are high on their own accord, doing their own thing, that are just throwing their lives away because they think it's fun. But you don't know until you know. So don't, I would just ask, never dismiss somebody because they look like a junkie. Mm-hmm. Or they look like they've made some bad choices. 'cause maybe they have, or maybe they're stuck in a situation. And I would always encourage, if nothing else, pray for them. Mm-hmm. And maybe in that prayer time, God's like, Hey, that that's somebody that needs you. But if you're willing to just dismiss everybody 'cause they look like they're scarred from injections or they, their face is broken out from different [00:44:00] things, if you just dismiss 'em automatically, then you're blocking God from reaching you to tell you, hey, they need your help, and God's just gonna have to find somebody else. And you're gonna miss the blessed opportunity to reach somebody that needs the love of Christ. Amen. What are you up to now? You have any new projects in the works coming down the pike? When you said, what are you up to now? I was gonna say six foot two. Um, yeah. Right now, uh, because of, uh, the global thing that's going on and I'm in Illinois, so. Theaters aren't open. We're not doing much as far as the comedy. Um, you know, so everybody's kind of focusing on their family. One of the things I have been doing is connecting with other Christian improvisers and, uh, we're, uh, doing. Semi, uh, maybe once a month. Uh, comedy shows where we just get together and we've never practiced before. We've never rehearsed, but we're gonna [00:45:00] put out, uh, some shows where people can just watch online, watch us improvise and participate. Uh, those, uh, will broadcast live on my Facebook page, and I'll advertise those that you know about a week in advance once we get people able to commit to a date. Um. And the, our first one that we did, we had somebody from West Virginia, somebody from Arkansas, two people from Texas, and Oh, had one person, uh, from Ohio, I believe. So we had like a conglomerate of people from all over the, the nation coming in. Uh, we've never practiced before, but we did improv and. Improv and Christianity are so much alike because to do good improv and to be a good Christian, quote unquote good Christian, you need humility. You need to be willing to support the other person, and you need to be willing to love the other person so that they're successful. Um, so when you come into an improv stage as a Christian [00:46:00] improviser. I mean, you've got all the tools just built in. And so we go, we perform online, we're willing to support each other and it makes it really fun. Now, the way we do it, we don't have crowd, you know, reaction, but because we're together, we kind of know what's funny and we're like, okay, this is, you know, we can laugh at each other. And, uh, just really a lot of fun. It's nothing like the real improv of being on stage and no. Intimate experience, but it's a good substitute. It, it's a good gap filler until we can get past all of what's going on. Yeah. Saw your, your post on, Christian Creatives are on the same group. Yeah. And I'm gonna see if I can try and watch that. That'll be fun. This has been great. I, I so appreciate you coming on the show today and putting up with the, uh, the Zoom demons earlier, and I know you don't do this for, [00:47:00] reward or pat's on the back, but. From me to you, thank you so much for what you do for the Lord and what you do for these ladies, because you are changing people's lives and making a difference. So thank you very much. Thank you. So tell the folks how they can connect with you if they wanna know more information about your ministry. Sure. Well, I actually have three primary things that I'm involved with. GIF for Glory is the kind of the umbrella over everything. Uh, you can find us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook at gifts, the number four, glory. And uh, that's where my podcast is. That's, uh, kind of the over um. Corp corporate umbrella over, um, my personal, uh, speaking in improv coaching where you can find me at, real Dave Ebert. Um, there's actually another comedian who's also from the Midwest, uh, not a Christian, [00:48:00] uh, who's, his name is, uh, Dave or David Ebert. So, uh, so I beat him to the punch and I took the real Dave Ebert. Oh, glad you mentioned that. Um, which is hilarious. 'cause on Twitter I'll often get tagged in things that. I have nothing to do with Christianity or ministry, and it's like kind of embarrassing. Totally. And so I'll respond and I'll be like, Hey, I think you meant this guy. Um, but uh, thanks so much for the shout out. You don't want the credit for some dirty joke. Right, right. Yeah. I mean, I, I. Unfortunately, before Christ really took over my life there, I did say quite a few dirty jokes, especially in wrestling locking rooms. Um, but uh, that's washed by the blood and forgiven and mm-hmm. Um, but yeah. Uh, so at real, Dave Ebert is how you can find me. And there is one thing I do like to, uh, share on any every interview. Is, um, if there's somebody out there that hears this podcast and you're [00:49:00] somebody that's wrestling with depression or considering suicide, uh, my email box is open to you, uh, 24 hours a day. Uh, it goes directly to my phone, and this is an email address. I'll always keep active. So if in 2035 somebody picks up this podcast, that email will be available barring rapture. Um. Yeah, and I say that tongue in cheek, but, uh, if you're somebody that's wrestling, I really want to hear from you and wanna walk you through it. Uh, my email address is Dave at gifts, the number four glory.com. dave@giftsforglory.com. And, uh, I'm not gonna preach at you. I'm not gonna just copy and paste a bunch of scripture. I just want to hear what your story is and I wanna walk with you through it. I know that. In my depression. For me, I feel like had somebody had that option where I could talk to somebody that didn't know me, that didn't have preconceived ideas, that I'm, I would've been willing to just open up. And I'm [00:50:00] hoping that, uh, even one person, if you need that and you just, and I refer to it earlier, that verbal diarrhea, just like, let let it pour out. Uh, my dad was a military man. I was in wrestling for eight years. There's not a curse word I haven't heard. So if you need to curse in your email, don't feel like, oh, he's a pastor. I gotta edit. No, don't worry about that. Just tell me what you're want. A safe person, uh, yeah, and I wanna be there and I want to help in any way I can. If it's just listening and reading your email and just sending a few words back, that's what I wanna do. So that's open for you for, and if you're somebody that knows somebody that's not able to ask for help, uh, you know, contact me and I'll be happy to, uh, to do what I can. That is so awesome. Thank you so much for, for being a resource for, for the listeners, and I hope those that are listening will take advantage of that opportunity. And I love your podcast. [00:51:00] I listen to your podcast every week and you have some great guests on there. And we seem to agree on a lot of, um, things that I won't mention. I don't talk about politics on the show, but yeah. We seem to be on the same page on a lot of things. So thanks again for, for coming on the show tonight. Thank you so much. You as well. And, uh, I hope that, uh, uh, DSW Ministries takes off in the new year and that, uh, you meet every goal that, you've, that you've set forth. God bless you, Dave. Now I'll put all of his information in the show notes for everybody. You are never a victim when you choose to take action. Remember that friends, so we will see you all next week. God bless. Thank you for listening to the Wounds of the Faithful Podcast. If this episode has been helpful to you, please [00:52:00] hit the subscribe button and tell a friend. You could connect with us at DSW Ministries dot org where you'll find our blog, along with our Facebook, Twitter, and our YouTube channel links. Hope to see you next week.

Rev. Ann-Henley Nicholson serves as Vice President of Enrollment Management and Vocational Outreach at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. Ann-Henley grew up worshipping in the pews at Sec­ond Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia. She didn't imagine then that she'd later ex­perience a call to ministry, yet God is always faithful and often full of surprises. After graduating from the University of Virginia, she pursued her passion for theatre in New York before heading to Princeton Seminary to follow her call to ministry. Upon graduating, she served First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta before returning to Princeton Seminary to become their Director of Alumni Relations. In her role at Columbia, she enjoys identifying the next generation of pastoral leaders and worshipping with communities like ours.

Damien Sordelett, Roanoke.com on VT hiring James Franklin by Ed Lane

Need a deep breath before the holidays hit full speed? We're popping in with a candid check-in on where we've been, why the pace felt overwhelming, and the simple choices that help you stay human when the calendar won't slow down. From daylight saving crankiness to “Maycember” madness, we unpack how to practice presence in a season built on hurry.We start with a heart reset: the honest prayer search me, O God and how admitting your mess can invite real peace. Then we get practical. We talk about scheduling slow nights on purpose—quiet puzzles, a book with soft music, coffee by the tree—so memory has time to form. We share what retail taught us about compassion and boundaries, how to love the person in front of you without losing yourself, and why breath prayers and tiny breaks can change an entire shift. We also move toward the ache many carry this time of year: grief, seasonal depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Sometimes the holiest gift is sitting under a blanket beside someone who can't talk yet. If your soul needs a refill, join us for our She Is Chosen women's conference at Parkway Church in Roanoke, VA Saturday, December 6th, 9 a.m.–noon. Bring a friend with the code FRIEND for buy one, get one free, and let community reset your pace for the month ahead. If this spoke to you, follow the show, share it with someone who needs a lift, and leave a review so more people can find their breath too.

Let's meet up at the Zaxby's in Roanoke after this! Check out our merch! ▶ https://pleasestopshopping.com/ Support the podcast on Patreon ▶ https://www.patreon.com/SirMeowMusic Join the PST Discord server! ▶ https://discord.gg/YNqTT65 Links:  @SirMeowShow  ▶ https://bsky.app/profile/sirmeow.gay  @BrendanielGaming  ▶ https://bsky.app/profile/brendaniel.bsky.social  @Badddladdd  ▶ https://bsky.app/profile/badlad.bsky.social Shina ▶ https://bsky.app/profile/happi-arts.bsky.social Corbin ▶ https://twitter.com/lobbymemez Podcast ▶ https://bsky.app/profile/pstpodcast.com Podcast also available on Spotify and iTunes! iTunes ▶ https://goo.gl/X1C3nG Spotify ▶ https://goo.gl/fdVg9V Art ▶ https://bsky.app/profile/b00rad.bsky.social Video Template ▶ https://bsky.app/profile/thehangingrabbit.bsky.social Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:22 Do you know Call of Cthulhu RPG?!? 4:20 Asking Jeeves For Nipple 5:02 Roanoke Zaxby's 10:09 Marble Hornets Ending Explained 11:30 SPOILERS START - Inscryption 14:34 SPOILERS END - Inscryption 15:06 The Most Persecuted Minority (Gamers) 19:18 Engaged In Shenanigans 26:12 Krackertoan Slenderman 28:03 Taco Bell Drive-Thru Blues 34:56 Collect my pages, Page Piggy. 37:17 They're talking about Jellyroll again.... 42:32 Patreon Q&A 1:06:45 Outro + Credits Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Beth Macy, the award-winning author of three New York Times bestselling books that examine rural communities left behind by corporate greed and political indifference.Beth's first book, “Factory Man”, explored the aftermath of globalization on rural communities and won a J. Anthony Lucas Prize. “Dopesick,” her investigation of the opioid crisis, won an LA Times Book Prize and was described as “a masterwork of narrative nonfiction” by the New York Times. (It was also made into a Peabody- and Emmy-award winning Hulu series starring Michael Keaton.)Her newest book, “Paper Girl,” has just been released and is a combination of memoir and reported analysis of the rural-urban divide told through the lenses of backward mobility, political polarization, and the decimation of local news. Beth lives in Roanoke, Virginia.We covered:- How politics divided her family, and the skills she used to write a book about it- How a Pell grant helped Beth out of poverty, into college, and ultimately into a career in journalism- Publishing her first book at age fifty- Why writing books is easier than writing for a newspaper- Her telltale signs for when she's stumbled on a good story- Getting through the big-city gatekeepers to tell stories of small towns- Why the collapse of local news and public education are playing such a huge role in making us so polarized- How policy changes shape our everyday reality- Using personal deadlines as an “anxiety-management tool”- How clustering tasks–such as reporting, interviewing, writing, and editing helps give structure to a long-term deadlineConnect with Beth on Bluesky and/or Instagram @bethmacy.For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.Thank you for listening!And thanks to this week's sponsor, Aqua Tru. Visit aquatru.com and use code KATE to save 20% off a great countertop reverse osmosis water filter that I have been using and loving for years now. Comes with a 1-year warranty and a 30-day money back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They vanished. An entire English colony, gone without a trace — no bodies, no battle, no sign of struggle. Just one word carved into a post: CROATOAN. For more than four hundred years, the mystery of Roanoke has haunted history books and ghost stories alike. But what if we've been looking at it the wrong way? In this episode of Strange Places, we try to dig into the evidence that might finally explain what really happened. Lets see if we can finally put this mystery to bed and find out what happened to the colonists. Was it paranormal? Or something normal . . . hiding in plain sight?-----------------Head to the Strange Places home website, asylum817.com to keep up with all things Strange Places, as well as the host. Billie Dean Shoemate III is an author with over 40 novels published, a master-trained painter, and multi-instrumentalist musician with multiple albums released. To check out Billie's books, albums, paintings and other artistic ventures, head to asylum817.com. Official Strange Places merch is now available as well!-----------------This podcast can also be heard on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Pandora, and wherever you get your Podcast listening experience.-----------------If you like what you hear and wish to donate to this podcast to help keep it going, visit:https://www.fiverr.com/s/WEY9lex-----------------Visit us on Patreon for ad free early access and exclusive content!!!patreon.com/asylum817Shout-out to our top tier patrons, Summer Rain Zen, DILLIGAF and Old School!-----------------This episode is brought to you by J. L. Sterling's World of Stories! LINK BELOW:https://open.spotify.com/show/3lGZT38I0SMKBg9BkmFkj1

Mac Shelton is the co-founder of Sweetbay Capital, a real estate private equity firm focused on value-add multifamily investments in Virginia and the Carolinas. With a background in private equity and mezzanine lending, Mac blends institutional financial experience with a data-driven approach to real estate. Since 2021, he and his team have built a portfolio of over 340 units, concentrating on under-the-radar markets like Roanoke, VA, where rent growth consistently outpaces new supply.     Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.     Key Takeaways Rent growth—not population growth—is the key driver of returns Markets with less outside capital often outperform due to better entry pricing and lower volatility Renovation premiums are often overestimated—test before scaling your plan Conservative exit underwriting should account for the next buyer's view, not just your own Transparency with investors builds trust and fuels long-term partnerships     Topics Why Sweetbay Focuses on Smaller Markets Smaller markets like Roanoke and Columbia are producing higher rent growth with lower acquisition costs Mac compares tertiary markets to places like Raleigh in the early 2000s—under the radar but primed for stable returns Oversupply in "hot" metros like Raleigh and Charlotte is driving rents down, while less popular markets remain steady Data Over Hype: What Drives Rent Growth Rent growth is more important than population growth and is driven by renter population relative to new supply Mac shares an analysis comparing Roanoke to Raleigh, Charlotte, and Greenville—showing similar or better rent performance with lower price per door Why Lease Trade-Outs and Renewals Matter Lease trade-outs measure organic rent growth, but renewals give even clearer insight into demand Renewals at 3–4% growth without renovations are often a better gauge than turnover metrics Exit Assumptions: Thinking Like the Next Buyer Every acquisition includes a re-underwrite from the future buyer's perspective Mac shares how he checks cap rate assumptions against current comps and validates price-per-door benchmarks Transitioning from Private Equity to Real Estate Mac started his career in private equity and gradually began acquiring rentals with his bonus income His first syndication scaled a student rental model he'd already executed personally Investor Communication and Building Trust Sweetbay Capital emphasizes detailed offering memorandums with full fee transparency and CapEx justifications Quarterly reports compare actuals vs original projections—no adjusted budgets or post-hoc explanations Advice for New Syndicators Don't start syndicating without doing your own deals first—prove the model with your money Sweetbay's first deal had no promote, just a 3% acquisition fee, to reduce friction and earn investor trust The best way to grow capital is to return it and reinvest with a strong track record    

If you're listening to Unspookable, chances are you like a good mystery. A mystery like, say, over 100 people vanishing without a trace? We're going to cover a mystery that's centuries old and ask whether a mystery so long past is even solveable as we discuss the Lost Colony of Roanoke on today's episode of Unspookable. Host: Elise Parisian Written by: Miden Wood Produced, Edited by: Nate DuFort Music Direction and Composition: Jesse Case Logo by: Natalie Khuen Episode Art: Alhafiz You can find Unspookable on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@unspookablepodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/ImUnspookable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/unspookablepodcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Unspookable is a production of Soundsington Media, committed to making quality programming for young audiences and the young at heart. To find out more go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.soundsingtonmedia.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Looking for merch from Unspookable and your favorite Soundsington Media shows? Head on over to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dashery store ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, hats and more. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://soundsington-media.dashery.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Advertise on Unspookable: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠advertising@airwavemedia.com

In 1587, more than a hundred English settlers vanished without a trace from an isolated island off the coast of North Carolina. When their governor, John White, returned three years, the only clue was a single word carved into a post: CROATOAN.In this episode, we unravel the enduring mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. We explore who these settlers were, what they endured, and what may have become of them. Be sure to Subscribe, Rate, & Review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Audible!Support the show by becoming a sponsor on our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.Patreon.com/NYMysteryMachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NYMM Merch! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.NYMysteryMachine.com⁠⁠⁠Have a strange and/or paranormal story?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Share it here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Don't forget to follow us on all the socials:Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@NYMysteryMachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | TikTok:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@NYMysteryMachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@nymysterymachine.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | X:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@NYMysteries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Facebook:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@NYMysteryMachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠--THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:AUDIBLE: Get a FREE 30 Day Trial by heading to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.AudibleTrial.com/NYMysteryMachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HUNT A KILLER: Receive 20% off your first Hunt a Killer subscription box at www.HuntAKiller.com with the code NYMYSTERYMACHINE at checkout!RIVERSIDE.FM: Looking to record podcast, but need software? Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://riverside.fm/?via=nymysterymachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This week on the Lectures in History podcast: The mystery of the Roanoke Colony's disappearance. In 1587, English settlers established a colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina — only to vanish without a trace soon after. Gettysburg College Professor Timothy Shannon explores what we know about the lost colony, the people who lived there, and the theories behind one of early America's greatest mysteries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices