Podcasts about Underneath

What happens when the very idea of "success" you've chased your whole life suddenly disappears? Maybe you're standing at a career crossroads and wondering, "Who am I if I'm not climbing the next mountain?" The pressure to "level up" can be exhausting. If you're feeling that nudge to redefine success and finally build a life that feels like yours, this episode is for you. Meet Kevin Lingg, founder of Loaded Dough Cookie Co. After more than 20 years in leadership roles, Kevin's life and career took an unexpected turn. He lost his job. And like many of us, he thought the next step was to find another one, a bigger role, a new challenge, another title.  Underneath that drive was a lot of ego. At the time, Kevin had a cookie business, a small, joyful side venture he couldn't imagine turning into his next chapter. It felt too small. But eventually, he let go of what success was supposed to look like and started asking a different question — What if smaller could actually mean freer? Kevin shares what he's learned about redefining identity, letting go of ego to embrace a more fulfilling path, and applying decades of leadership lessons when you are your own team of one.  We're not romanticizing loss or glossing over real fears about money, ego, and uncertainty. We're exploring what it means to redefine success on your own terms, without burning the boats or taking risks that don't fit your wiring.   Chapter Highlights (00:00) What happens when everything you've built your identity around suddenly disappears? (03:50) How we get caught in the trap of leveling up and achieving "more" (05:51) How smart money moves create future options (10:22) Turning "just a fun project" into a sustainable business without all the pressure (20:10) The mindset shift Kevin made about his own value (21:36) Kevin's step-by-step, low-risk approach to creating a business that fit his life (26:16) What to do when you're feeling the nudge to leave your corporate role   Connect with Kevin Lingg https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinlingg/ https://loadeddough.com/   About Andrea Butcher Andrea Butcher is a visionary business leader, executive coach, and keynote speaker—she empowers leaders to gain clarity through the chaos by being MORE of who they already are. Her experiences—serving as CEO, leading at an executive level, and working in and leading global teams—make her uniquely qualified to support leadership and business success. She hosts the popular leadership podcast, Being [at Work] with a global audience of over 600,000 listeners and is the author of The Power in the Pivot (Red Thread Publishing 2022) and HR Kit for Dummies (Wiley 2023).   Connect with Andrea https://www.abundantempowerment.com/ Connect with Andrea Butcher on LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leaderdevelopmentcoach/   Abundant Empowerment Upcoming Events https://www.abundantempowerment.com/events        

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. We're talking with Andrew Hopper, Lead Pastor of Mercy Hill Church in North Carolina. Planted in 2012 with just 30 people, Mercy Hill has grown into a multi-campus, fast-growing church known for its gospel clarity and sending culture. In this conversation, Andrew shares why adoption and foster care have become central expressions of Mercy Hill's mission—and how those practices flow directly out of the gospel. He also unpacks the heart behind his book, Chosen: Building Your Family the Way God Builds His. Is your church unsure how to engage big social needs without drifting from the gospel? Are you looking for a way to mobilize people beyond church walls while keeping discipleship front and center? Andrew offers a clear framework for doing both. Doing good as a sign of the kingdom. // Andrew addresses a common tension churches feel between community engagement and disciple-making. Mercy Hill refuses to treat these as competing priorities. Acts of service—whether foster care, adoption, or family restoration—are not the kingdom itself but signposts pointing to it. Meeting tangible needs creates openings for gospel conversations. These ministries don't replace evangelism; they amplify it by demonstrating the heart of God in visible ways. A church’s collective heartbeat. // Mercy Hill's deep involvement in adoption, foster care, and family restoration didn't start as a top-down strategy but emerged organically from the gifts and passions within the church. Many leaders and members have adopted children themselves, shaping the church's collective heartbeat. Rather than attempting to address every social issue, Mercy Hill chose to focus deeply on a few—believing churches are most effective when they lean into the specific good works God has prepared for them. This focus has mobilized hundreds of families and created a powerful witness in their community. Rope-holding and shared responsibility. // Not everyone is called to adopt or foster, but everyone can hold the rope. Drawing from the William Carey analogy, Mercy Hill equips members to support families on the front lines through prayer, childcare, meals, financial help, and presence. Over time, they've learned that rope-holding works best when built on existing relationships rather than formal assignments. The goal is to ensure no family fights alone in what Andrew describes as intense spiritual warfare. Big vision with baby steps. // Mercy Hill isn't afraid to cast a bold vision—whether for global missions, adoption, or church planting—but they pair that vision with accessible next steps. Prayer nights, giving opportunities, short-term service, and relational support allow people to grow into greater obedience over time. High challenge without guilt creates healthy discipleship. Why Andrew wrote Chosen. // Andrew wrote Chosen: Building Your Family the Way God Builds His not to promote a program, but to give churches a theological foundation for engaging adoption and foster care. The book weaves together Andrew's family story, Mercy Hill's journey, and a deeply gospel-centered motivation rooted in Scripture. Designed to be used individually or in groups, Chosen includes discussion questions and practical guidance for churches or small groups wanting to explore this calling in community. Andrew's prayer is that the book would catalyze thousands of Christian families to participate meaningfully in caring for vulnerable children and families. Gospel-driven motivation. // Underneath everything is Andrew's conviction that gospel motivation outlasts guilt. Behavior rooted in grace goes further than behavior driven by pressure. Adopted people adopt people. Chosen people choose people. That theological clarity fuels Mercy Hill's sending culture, their community impact, and their ongoing growth. To explore Andrew's resources on adoption, foster care, and grab his book, Chosen, visit andrewphopper.com/chosen or follow him on Instagram @andrewphopper. You can learn more about Mercy Hill Church at mercyhillchurch.com. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Portable Church Your church is doing really well right now, and your leadership team is looking for solutions to keep momentum going! It could be time to start a new location. Maybe you have hesitated in the past few years, but you know it's time to step out in faith again and launch that next location. Portable Church has assembled a bundle of resources to help you leverage your growing momentum into a new location by sending a part of your congregation back to their neighborhood on Mission. This bundle of resources will give you a step-by-step plan to launch that new or next location, and a 5 minute readiness tool that will help you know your church is ready to do it! Click here to watch the free webinar “Launch a New Location in 150 Days or Less” and grab the bundle of resources for your church! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. We have got a multi-time guest on, and you know what that means. That means that I really respect, deeply admire, and want you to listen up, and today is no exception. Excited to have Andrew Hopper with us. He is the lead pastor of a church that they should be following, that you should be following. He’s a lead pastor of Mercy Hill Church with five locations, if I’m counting correctly, in North Carolina, and is repeatedly one of the fastest growing churches in the country. I love this church on many levels. They’re centered on the gospel and have a radical commitment to sending people to the nations. They have a desire to make disciples and multiply churches. Andrew, welcome to the show. So glad you’re here.Andrew Hopper — Man, I’m so pumped to be here. Love the podcast. Really appreciate it, man.Rich Birch — Yeah, I’m honored that you would come back. For folks that that don’t know Mercy Hill, give me a bit of a kind of an update. Tell us a little bit about the church.Andrew Hopper — Yeah.Rich Birch — Maybe update us from last time you were on.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, man. So just real quick, planted in 2012. We had 30 people, all you know kind of young professional age, and man, just really believe that God could do something incredible ah through, you know just through our our open hands, and he did.Andrew Hopper — And so it’s been 13 years. It’s crazy. We’ve been sort of pushing the same boulder up the same mountain for 13 years, just flywheel kind of concept and keep pushing. And ah the Lord has done an incredible thing, like you said, five campuses. And man, just moved into a new home and hub. That was from last time we had a chance. That’s been really great. Andrew Hopper — We were in a rented location for a long time as our main like broadcast campus. We’re a video-based multi-site. And so um it’s ah it was a three or four-year journey to raise the money and build this new facility. But we’re in, and the Lord has really blessed that with tons of new people, highest baptisms, sent ones, first time guest numbers, all everything that we’ve done. This has been a, you know, we’ve gone been on a ride – praise God for that. It’s it’s, um, it’s for his sake and his renown, but this year has been unlike the others. So it’s been…Rich Birch — Yeah, you were saying beforehand, it’s like 30 or something like 30 some percent year over year growth. That’s insane to keep up with.Andrew Hopper — It is man. And the, and the giving does not, uh, you know, the giving doesn’t happen.Rich Birch — Reflect that yet.Andrew Hopper — So it’s, it’s like, we’re trying to do ministry on a budget of a church that’s 3000, but a church that’s running 4,500. And it’s like, how do you do that effectively without killing everybody?Rich Birch — Nice.Andrew Hopper — All your staff, I mean, so, but we’re, we’re learning, man, we’re figuring it out. It’s fun. We got, we just planted our sixth church. So that’s apart from the campuses. This is first time, Rich, we’ve planted a church in our own city.Rich Birch — Oh, nice. That’s cool.Andrew Hopper — It’s been really, a really cool dynamic and it’s been fun. He’s doing great. Man, it was a college student that we met when he was 19 years old at North Carolina AT&T 10 years later. He’s an elder here. He’s done a lot of different things. And man, he goes and plants a new church in Greensboro about five minutes from one of our campuses and they’re doing great.Rich Birch — Wow. Yeah, that’s so good. Well, the thing, there’s lots I love about Mercy Hill, but one of the things that I’ve loved about your church from the you know the chance we’ve had to journey a little bit over the years about it is you just have real clarity around the mission, this idea of making disciples, multiplying churches. It’s like that has been rock solid from the beginning. When you think about we want churches to have discipleship at its core, this idea of a church that actually grows people up in their relationship with Christ. What matters most at the foundation? How are you keeping that so foundational to you know what’s happening at Mercy Hill?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I think um I think that we always sort of bought into kind of what we see in Acts 2 as a little bit of a flywheel. We call it gather, group, give, go. A lot of churches have something like that.Andrew Hopper — The the difference, I think, at Mercy Hill a little bit than what I see ah in in in a lot of churches that we help mentor and coach is that 2020 hit and everybody was like, man, what is a church? What is discipleship? What are we going to do now? And and people were kind of… And I do think it was and it wasn’t, you know, it wasn’t just me. I mean, our, you know, our executive pastor Bobby, he was really integral in this. We sort of really doubled down on no, I kind of think the church is going to come back. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And I kind of think what we were doing is sort of what our church is set up to do. It kind of a brand thing. We are sort of a big box sending brand. And that, you know, for us, when we look at Acts 2, we’re like, dude, the gathering, there’s no more there’s no more important hour for discipleship and evangelism. And I know there’s a lot of things written against that. And people are kind of almost like downplaying it. Andrew Hopper — We’re just like, man, we just don’t believe it. We believe people need to be in a group. You know, we they need generosity is lead step in discipleship, give. And we got to teach people that there’s a mission bigger than themselves. And if we do that, it’s going to funnel more people into the gathering. Andrew Hopper — So I think fundamentally what I would say, we need to get, you know, we could talk about our value, you know we can talk about values to gospel and [inaudible] identity, but I think landing on you know, it’s very hard now to, to not get a word salad book form or thing. When you ask somebody, how are you making disciples? It can just be like…Rich Birch — Right. Very vacuous. Who knows what that means? Yeah.Andrew Hopper — For us, it’s just been a very clear, simple process.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — Like, man, we believe if someone is in the gathering, if they’re in relationship, if they’re being pushed on generosity, and if they’re living for a mission bigger than themselves, that’s a current of maturity that will move them. They just get in the stream, they’ll move.Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It’s so good.Andrew Hopper — that’s kind of So you know for us, I think that’s as, you know we’ve we’ve tried to simplify things there.Rich Birch — Yeah. And, and your last episode, I’ve pointed a ton of people to it, uh, to really, and we really unpack a lot of what you talked about there in more detail.Andrew Hopper — Right. Yeah.Rich Birch — You’re going to want to go back and, uh, and listen to that. You’ve reached as a church, you’ve reached a lot of people who don’t grow up in church that it’s like, there’s a lot of people who are there. You know, we used to say we ain’t your mama’s church, but mama didn’t go to church, you know? So, you know, and it’s been a long time that people were there. What challenges have you seen, you know, helping move people from curiosity into real ongoing discipleship? So like, I think there are, we’re seeing a swell of attendance across the country. People are like, oh, I’m kind of interested in this, but we got to move them from just, oh, this is something interesting to like, oh, I’m actually want to grow my relationship with Jesus.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I mean, and it’s it’s funny too, Rich, you probably have a better bird’s eye view of this than I do. But I feel like churches that have been faithfully growing for like the last 10 years, they’re not really doing a lot different now. Or even though there’s this big swell happening, what I do think is that some churches have sort of decided like, oh, clarity does matter.Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah, that’s true.Andrew Hopper — And don’t try to be friends with the culture. We’re going to speak in and be prophetic. And, you know, even even to the you know Proverbs 25:26 says, you know, there’s there there’s no there’s no benefit in a muddied spring. You know, it’s like you got to be sort of you got to figure out if we’re going to be clear.Andrew Hopper — So, I you know, for me, I think like and you’re right, we do reach most of the people that we reach that are in the camp that you’re talking about our college age. We reach a lot of people, though, ah that are, you know, they’re they’re coming back to the faith because they’re a southerner.Rich Birch — Sure.Andrew Hopper — You know, they they kind of they kind of were, you know, they they did have some church in their background. They’re coming back. Their kids are not only born, but they’re realizing they’re sinners and they don’t have answers. They’re trying to figure that out.Rich Birch — Right. Right.Andrew Hopper — They’re coming back to church.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, I think the biggest thing that moves people from like interest into a decision point is just being very clear on this is what the gospel is. This is the life it compels you to. Are you going to be in or out?Andrew Hopper — One of the things we say at Mercy Hill a lot is like, man, if you’re if you’re just intrigued, you know, if you’re interested, you’re not going to stay at Mercy Hill because we’re never going to let you, you’re going to get pushed every week. And it’s like, man, people are not really in or like that. I’m not going to do that. You know, they’re just like, no I’m not going to sit here and get like pushed every single week on something I don’t really… And the flip side is when people say, all right, you know what? Stake in the ground. I’m in.Rich Birch — Yeah, we’re doing this, yep.Andrew Hopper — I wanna look like this, I want to build my life on this. It’s like, well, now, you know, it’s it’s man, I’m hopefully, you know, putting tools in the belt every single week to live that life.Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah, it’s good. I do think there was a time where people wandered into our churches where I don’t think that happens as much anymore. I think people, when they arrive, they come with questions, with live active questions that they’re trying to wrestle with, kind of regardless of where they’re they’re at in their journey.Andrew Hopper — Yeah.Rich Birch — And they’re what you to your point around, you know, there’s no benefit in a muddy stream. People aren’t looking for anything that sounds like, well, what do you think? Because the reason why they’re there is because they’re asking questions. And so, you know, they’re they’re looking for clarity, like I think you’re saying. Rich Birch — Well one of the things I love about your church is there’s a high commitment to, you’re you’re you’re tearing down what I think is a false dichotomy. Sometimes I think when churches come to this idea of outreach or making a difference in their community, there’s this there can be this gap or false dichotomy between doing good in our communities and making disciples. Like we gave that up at some point. We were like, you can’t, you know, we can’t do both of those things for some reason. Why, why did we do that? Why did we, as churches say, we can’t both make a difference in our communities and also make disciples?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I think it’s, I actually have a lot of sympathy for the fundamentalist leaning. I know it sounds a little bit weird. Rich Birch — No, that’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Churches that led from the, you know, from the good do good in your city kind of thing. I don’t think they’re right, but I do have sympathy for that because I understand how quickly that sort of, you know, is so hijacked by liberal, by theological liberalism to where it’s finally man we’re digging wells and wherever but we’re not talking about who the true source of living water is. Like we don’t want to be offensive we just want to do good without speaking the whole you know you know live your life as a Christian only use words if necessary, whatever, you know. And and I so I understand why people kind of fled and have fled that.Andrew Hopper — Like, you know, I’ve even had our church before when I when I talk about adoption or we we have a ministry, and a ministry called No More Spectators. We’re like moving people towards community ministry. And we had people kind of going on like, oh, my gosh, this seems like a sign of like churches start going this way and then they lose the gospel.Andrew Hopper — And I’m like, well, the reason you’re kind of feeling like that is because a lot of churches have done that. You know, you’re not [inaudible] like that just out of nowhere. Now, of course, I think it’s a little bit immature and we’ve got to push through. The way we talk about it, Rich, is, man, we want to do good in our community as signs of the kingdom coming.Andrew Hopper — They are not building the kingdom. You know, if we go repaint a house or house a homeless person, one day that person would parted with that house, whether they, you know, get messed up and leave or whether they do great and then would die one day, you know.Andrew Hopper — Or, if we have, ah you know, if we go and, and you know, we’re going to, for example, we have ah ah a family in our church that they need a ramp built because, man, the the brother is struggling with MS and he’s, they’re they’re fighting it like Christians do. We’re going to go do that. You know, we’re going to go build that ramp. That ramp’s going to rot and die one, you know, rot and rot away one day. And, you know, whether it’s 100 years from now or whatever.Andrew Hopper — Like it’s not literally the kingdom. But when the outside world sees us engage and, you know, our church will talk about this primarily when we think about community ministry, we think about it in terms of adoption, foster care and families count, which I can talk to you about. I think it’s bringing a sign of the kingdom that is to the community around us to say, hey, this is not the gospel. But it sure points to the gospel. Rich Birch — Right, right.Andrew Hopper — You know, it’s a pretty good signpost of like, yeah, there’s a kingdom coming where kids aren’t separated from their parents, you know. And and so that’s kind of the way that we think about, it’s not, you know, it’s not the kingdom. It’s a sign of the kingdom that is coming.Rich Birch — Yeah, let’s let’s dive in. So adoptions, foster care, families count. These are not small issues. Like you started with like putting a ramp on, painting somebody – those are like, okay, I can organize my head around that. And then we jump to what I think are obviously significant. How, it can be easy, I think, for church leaders it can be easy where, you know, we got a lot of fish to fry in our own backyard. When you see big problems like that, help us unpack that. Why do you as a lead pastor, why are you passionate about these issues? Why are these the things that you’ve chosen?Andrew Hopper — I think it’s, man, I think it’s great. I mean if you can’t if you don’t mind I’ll go back and give you a little bit of context. I’m a context [inaudible]… Rich Birch — Yeah, absolutely. Let’s do it. Yeah. Andrew Hopper — …number one so I always want to frame it in where we’ve been. But the short answer to the question is I think that every church because it is made up of individual believers that have individual gift matrix, you know they’re they’re gifted the church is gifted in a unique way because the people which are the church are gifted in a unique way, right? Andrew Hopper — And so to me, you know, slapping, you know, a top down every single church has to to manifest signs of the kingdom in X way, which, for for example, I’m not to pick on it, but like, you know, the whole diversity church kind of movement. I love you know, if that’s your brand, that’s awesome. That’s great. Go, go bring signs of the kingdom in that area. But you know what people do is they take their thing and then slap it on every single church. You know, this is the sign of the kingdom that you have to manifest.Andrew Hopper — I don’t think that. It takes every kind of church to reach a city because there’s all you know, there’s every kind of people in the city. Right? For us, though, and I think for a lot of churches that that maybe are are made up a little bit like we are, I think there is a lot of meat on the bone for adoption, foster care, families count ministry. And I think churches could be greatly helped by latching on to maybe, you know, something in particular, maybe this, maybe this specifically. How we got there, Rich, was we had we had, you know, huge movement in our church in 2019. I was very convicted.Andrew Hopper — Some of the exponential stuff was coming out, you know, mobilizing people outside the walls of the church. And I really was, man, I was just really affected by that. And I don’t want the dichotomy, you know, I don’t want, well, you your people serve in the church and not outside the church. It’s like, no, most people serve outside the church. If you watch them, they are serving inside the church as well. It’s it’s like a it’s like, man, you know, just just because serving inside the church is not the finish line, don’t demonize it because it is a starting place.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — So it’s like, I don’t like that kind of whole thing. But but it did affect me to say, OK, what are we doing to push to the outside? So we we we did a thing. You would have loved this, man. But it except for the fact that it didn’t really work that good. OK, it was awesome.Andrew Hopper — It was, we still have the domain name – nomorespectators.com – I had the tagline: Jesus didn’t die to create spectators. He died to create servants, not spectators, workers, not watchers. We, man, you could go to nomorespectators.com and, you know, it was like, it was like a funnel for all of these community ministry opportunities in our city. So it was, you know, people from the housing, you know, authority type stuff would post things. And it was, it was all this kind of, it had a bunch of stuff in it. Andrew Hopper — In the end of the day, great idea. It was a little too complex. Our people latched on to the foster care, pregnancy network, you know, ended up being families count, Guardian ad Litem and adoption. So our guy that was over all that at the time our sending director, which is hard for me to have a good idea that ends up dying hard, okay that’s just tough for me.Rich Birch — You had a great sticky statement and everything. Come on.Andrew Hopper — I’m the king of sunken cost bias. Okay. Like, I’m like, dude. And so finally around 2020, he came to me and he said, bro, I know this is hard for you. Cause it was like a two year initiative. He’s like, this is hard. He said, No More Spectators needs to just turn into Chosen. And it needs to be like, you had this idea for 30 different things. It just, this needs to be our niche, man. You know, we we don’t do a lot of these other things, but we do this really well.Andrew Hopper — And it was hard for me. Ultimately, it was great wisdom by them, not me. And we started going down that road. And partly, I think it’s because, Rich, is heart is near to my heart. I have an adopted daughter. A lot of our staff have adopted kids. We just have a guy right now. Our associate director of first impressions at the Rich campus is in Texas right now, you know, bringing their daughter home.Andrew Hopper — I mean, so it’s just, and so it’s sort of started to morph into, and the the the big thing I’ll say, and I, you know, I’ve been talking a lot here, but the big thing I’ll say is, if you think about the way I just ah described all that, it doesn’t start with the need in the community. It starts with the gift matrix of the church. The poor we will always have with us. Like there there is no there’s no scenario until Jesus comes back that there’s no kids that need to be adopted, you know.Rich Birch — Right, right.Andrew Hopper — And it’s just the reality of it. And so there’s always going to be need in the community. It’s more about, okay, what are the Ephesians 2:10 works that your church, because the church is made up of people who are individually called, what are the you know what are those works that God has set out for your church? Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, so for us, we just felt like, dude, this is a a heartbeat thing. Our people got more, they get more fired up. The greatest thing I’ve ever been able to mobilize our people for prayer for is go to the abortion clinic and pray. I mean, a thousand people on their face in the pavement. It’s like, it just strikes a chord with our church and who we are. So we wanna run after that.Rich Birch — Yeah. Well, I love that. And we’re going to dig out a bunch of this, but let’s think about it first from a perspective of somebody who’s maybe attended your church. They just started. They’re they’re relatively new, you know. The idea of something as weighty as adoption or foster care, that’s a big ask. And you know when you yeah how do I experience that as someone who’s just new? What are some ways that I could get plugged in? What does that look like? That, that, cause I, I’m hard, it’s hard to imagine that I go from zero to, to, you know, adoption, you know, how do I end up or flying to Texas to, you know, pick up a kid. That’s a lot. Help me understand. How are you, cause I know you guys are so good at moving people along from kind of where they are to where you’re hoping to – what’s that look like? What’s the kind of, how do you bring people along in this?Andrew Hopper — Man, totally. I think you’re right. I think it’s a combination of big vision on one end and then baby steps on the other. But the big vision matters.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — Like we don’t want to be scared of the big vision. So, you know, for example, our weekender process, which I know you talked about some, you know, that weekender process, you know, people literally for years, we would give them a passport application in the weekender process. Because we’re like you’re at this church you’re probably going to be overseas at some point on a mission trip. And so to me it’s like people are like dude that probably scares the crap out of people. And it’s like well, I mean we want to make sure they know what they’re getting into, you know. We’re not telling them they got to do that tomorrow… Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — …but that is the, and then and then there’s all these baby steps, right? Like hey come to you know, every February we do Sent weekend. Come to the prayer night. Like that’s a baby step. That’s not you getting on a plane to go to Nepal. But you know hey we’re doing this missions offering at the end of the year, like maybe get you know. So there’s all these I would say that our the way we think about Chosen ministry, which again: adoption, foster care, families count, and rope holding, which is a big part of this discussion… Rich Birch — Okay. Andrew Hopper —…is that way. It’s big vision on the front end so we’re never going to tell somebody, hey you know, I know you could never do this. Like I’ll never…I think people can do it and they should. Or or you know more Christians than are should. At the same time we’re also not guilting anybody. Like so I’m I you know the the first thing I’ll tell people is like, hey, you know we start talking about adoption. I always say always say, hey, we have not lined up a bunch of little kids in the lobby for you to take one home today, okay. And then I’ll tell them, that’s next week.Rich Birch — That’s great.Andrew Hopper — Okay, so yeah but and we we try hard to like put some levity in it. Man, we’re not everybody’s not going to do that. In fact, a minority, of a small minority is going to do it. But everyone can be involved and there are baby steps.Andrew Hopper — So we try to highlight giving, man. Like if you someone adopts from Mercy Hill, we pay 25% of their adoption. Okay.Rich Birch — Wow. Yep.Andrew Hopper — If they’re a member and they’re in a community group, they get 25%. All right, well, you know, we’re going to connect that. Like, man, you you are never going to adopt. You feel like that’s, but it’s like, well, I give $100 a month to the church. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — Well, hey, what? You know, you’re you are you are supporting.Rich Birch — We’re making a difference.Andrew Hopper — We do parents night out, you know, for all of our foster and adoptive parents. We do it quarterly. It’s like, hey, those are opportunities to come and serve, man. You can serve the meal you can do. We do rope holding, which I know we’ll probably talk about. But but the the idea of rope holding is just like, man, I’m not going to do this, but I can be in the corner for somebody. They’re in my community group. I want to be their first call if they need a babysitter or they need, you know, a gift card, or whatever they need.Andrew Hopper — So I think, man, we try to do big vision. You know, we’re going we’re going to set a huge vision, you know, for 2030 for 2030. Actually, we just hit our vision for 2025, which is 200 adoptive or foster families. There’s a lot of ways people can be involved with it.Rich Birch — So good. There’s, I think thing I would encourage friends who are listening in, you really should be following Mercy Hill, Andrew, because I do think you’re a very unique communicator where you, and you just described it. And I think to you, it’s just like, that’s just what you do. But this idea of like, you’re calling people to a high bar, but you’re not leveraging shame, guilt. you know, it’s, and I think so many times our language can kind of lean in that direction. Or we can, if we really are trying to push people towards something, or we can just undersell the vision. You know We can be like, oh, it’s not that it’s not that big of a deal. You know It’s not for everybody. So I would encourage people to listen in.Rich Birch — Talk to me about rope holding. How is that, what’s that look like? Unpack what that looks like a little bit.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, so rope so the the the rope-holding analogy, which a lot of your listeners probably gonna already know this, but you know William Carey, Andrew Fuller, William Carey, father of modern missions, he’s he he he makes the statement, “I’ll dangle at the end of the rope in the pit, if you’ll hold the rope,” talking to Fuller. And Fuller held the rope for him. Like, you know, Carey the mission field, Fuller’s raising money, preaching sermons, organizing mission boards. So that’s kind of the picture. Right.Andrew Hopper — So we say, all right, not everybody is going to go down into the pit of foster care adoption, even even families count. I mean, these are these are massive spiritual warfare battlegrounds you know um which is one of the reasons why our church wants to be involved so much. I mean you if you want to talk about getting to the you can do all the rhetoric in the world, brother, you want to get to the very bottom of societal issues, you you be involved in somebody’s story that’s trying that’s trying to get their kids back from the foster care system. You’re trying to help them with that. I mean, every you could fatherlessness, poverty, drug abuse. I mean, everything you can think, you know.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — So this this is just spiritual war. So what we tell people is like, hey, man. If we got people that are mobilizing for for adoption and foster care, we better have people in their corne,r because the enemy is going to bring his war machine.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And we see it all the time. I mean, you’re going to see, you know, a family steps in to adopt and you’re going to start seeing them, you know, there can be sickness. They can have marital problems. They can have financial things that come up. They can begin to believe lies, frustrations. I mean, There’s just so they can become, you know, their their heart can start getting hard toward the system. I mean, there’s so many things that come at them. And so what we say is we need people in their corner, right. Andrew Hopper — Now, it’s funny because like the way our church has operated was at first we said, all right, we’re going to we’re going to do, you know, the the community group is going hold the rope for the people. And and that that was fine. The problem is when we really kicked off this ministry, so many people got involved that it became overwhelming to the group. So we said we got to start this… Rich Birch — Right. Andrew Hopper — …rope holding ministry. The rope holder ministry is good. It’s like, what does a rope holder do? They kind of do whatever the person needs them to do. Rich Birch — Right. Andrew Hopper — So there are examples of the rope holding ministry going really well, where it’s like, hey, man, they’re they’re helping with ah child care with the other kids when they’re going to foster care appointments in court. And or, hey, we’re we’re helping you do some things around the house whenever you’re overseas doing your adoption, which is going to put you three weeks in country. You know, there are some good examples like that. Andrew Hopper — But the other thing that we’ve learned is, you know, foster care and adoption families that are that are walking through this, they’re going through a very trying time. And to just pair them with somebody they don’t know and say, hey, look, here’s your supporter, it can be a little bit like, oh, that’s awesome, and then they never reach out to them.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — They never reach out – the rope holder’s ready.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — But it’s just like, dude, I don’t I don’t know you. And this is a hard time.Rich Birch — Who are you? Yeah, yeah.Andrew Hopper — And so what we’re trying to figure out now as we reboot that rope holder idea is, you know, how how do you kind of integrate relationships they’ve already had? Almost like, hey, do you have this massive pool of people called rope holders? Or when an adoptive family comes up, you say to them, hey, who can we shoulder tap, rope holder for you.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — And then we’ll train them.Rich Birch — Oh, that’s cool. Yeah.Andrew Hopper — But not have this pool, but say for you, we’ll put them in. So that’s kind of what we’re, so as part of our reboot for 2030, you know, that’s sort of what’s in our mind right now.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s cool.Andrew Hopper — We have a whole playbook for the way we’ve done it, which anybody, you know, if anybody wants any of those things, they can go to AndrewPHopper.com/chosen. And I can send you any of that stuff we have, but on the rope holder side, you know, just full transparency, we’re still, you know, kind of, of you know, and I’m sure it’ll always be that way that we make an improvement.Rich Birch — Yeah, always trying to make it better. Yeah. And I want to, yeah, at some point in this journey, you decided, hey, we’ve got to put this vision and framework into writing, like we and you actually ended up writing a book, and friends who are listening in, I want to encourage you to pick up a copy of this book. Listen, we’re almost half an hour in. I know you’re interested in this. This is the kind of thing you, Andrew’s a trusted leader. He’s, I’ve had a chance to take a peek at the book. This will be super helpful for you. But, but that’s a lot of effort to put this together into a book. What pushed you from just leading this ministry to ultimately saying, hey, I want to capture this into a resource that could help other people?Andrew Hopper — Well, you know, Rich, I never really saw myself as like a writer, just like a practitioner, man. Let’s just keep keep working on the thing and going.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And truthfully, I got approached. Hey, would you have any interest in writing? You know, New Growth Press is the one that’s editing this book and putting it out. And it was funny, though, because the second I was asked, I was like, man, I know what we should do [inaudible] that should be what we should do. It’s it’s our it’s it’s my story’s family story with our special needs child that we’ve adopted. It’s our church’s journey. But more important than either of those two things, it’s a grounding in the gospel-centered motivation. Because I think that is what is so important. We don’t do guilt motivation. And you know, cute kids and sad, cute kids and and sad stories are good reasons, but they you need a great reason, because it’s hard. Rich Birch — That’s good. Yep.Andrew Hopper — You know, and the great reason is of course, adopted people adopt people. And so we delve way into the helplessness of our spiritual condition, how God adopted us and then how, you know, that provides a deep motivation for us to go and do the same for others.Rich Birch — Can you unpack that a little bit more? Because I think this is, ah to me, a core part of the book that I think is really helpful. Even if you’re maybe listening in, you’re thinking, okay, I’m not sure adoption or foster care is necessarily the thing, but you unpack this idea of gospel rather than guilt. And can you talk us through, you know, how, yeah, just talk us through that part, that concept a bit more. Just double click on that a little bit.Andrew Hopper — Yeah. So, you know, when we think about behaviors that flow from the Christian life, there’s really only two ways to think about it, right? Like one of them is we try to do things in order that God would approve of us, you know, that he would, you know, he would, ah he would, he would let us in his family, you know, those those types of things. And we, you know, this is for a lot of Baptistic world, which I am, this was kind of like, wow, this is really revolutionary, but that was 20 years ago – Keller and all that. You know, we just started understanding what more of a gospel center motivation. Andrew Hopper — Of course, the other way to think about Christian behaviors is you are part of the family because of what Christ has done for you. And the family has a culture. The family works a certain way. There’s fruit that will pop out in your life, not so that you can gain entrance into the vine. That’s not how it works. Like, ah you know, you don’t you don’t produce fruit to get in the vine. You produce fruit because you’re in the vine. Andrew Hopper — And so, you know, when we think about like like Titus 2, for example, we think about how the grace of God appears to all men, teaching us not just salvation, but teaching us to obey his commands. So there’s something about salvation that and is inherent to the gospel-centered motivation of of of going out, living the Christian life. You know, it’s it’s kind of the John Bunyan idea when they said, man, if you, you know, if you keep preaching this gospel message, people are going to do whatever they want to do. And he said, no, if I keep preaching this gospel message, people are going to do whatever God wants them to do. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — You know, and so I think what we’ve done in this book is just say, hey, that that is true universally in our Christian life. Like if I’m not tithing and I’m stingy, I can do motivation in two ways. Number one, how dare you, you piece of trash that you never, you know why would you never give? Look what God, you know, blah blah blah, blah, blah, guilt, guilt, shame, shame. Right. Andrew Hopper — Of course, the other way to say is like, man, what kind of riches has God given you in the gospel? And what kind of inheritance do you now have as a son of the king? It’s like, all right, that’s powerful, you know, and it will it will take us places that guilt never can. Guilt will work for a while. You can put fire under somebody and it’ll move them. But if you put it in them, they’ll run through a wall, you know. Rich Birch — So true.Andrew Hopper — And so it’s like it’s like, hey, OK, so you could do it with all these different things. We’ve tried to take this book and do that with adoption to say, all right.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — We know James 1:27, we need to care for the fatherless and the orphan. We understand. I mean, dude, there ain’t, when you talk about metaphors, there’s two big ones, marriage and adoption, you know? And so if you want to do adoption well, we can do it from two motivations. One motivation is look how many kids need. That’s all and that’s all true. That moves my heart. You know, look, can you believe this story of this kid? And that’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Of course, you could do guilt, too. Like, how dare you, you know, have this nice, happy family and not go adopt a little poor orphan kid. You know, you could do guilt. All those things will be fine. They’ll put fire under you a little bit. But if you want to put the fire in someone that is going to carry them through the long haul of all this stuff, I think it’s better to start with: All right. There’s kids that need to be chosen. Were you chosen?Andrew Hopper — You know, so like one of the you know, one I’ll give you an example. We know of a family here in the tribe. They’ve got an awesome son that is 20-something years old, kids got Down syndrome, and they adopted him from Ecuador. And his story was one day a carpenter was working on this building and he heard cries coming out of a dump, like a trash heap. This child had just been born and been left you know with his deformities had just been left for the dumpster. Andrew Hopper — And they brought him to the orphanage. And next thing you know, you know about three or four years later, he got adopted by this family that we know. And that family’s father, he said, Eddie’s story is my story. I was pulled from a trash heap by a carpenter. And if you it’s like that is powerful. Rich Birch — Right. Yes.Andrew Hopper — You know, when you start thinking about, man, in my sin, I was one who had no part and parcel in the kingdom of God. I was headlong in rebellion. I had rejected. I was not a son. And God lavished his love upon me, that I would be called his child. And if if that has happened to me spiritually, how could I not want to do that? Or at least help those. you know I’m not saying that’s a call for everybody, but be involved in others that are doing that as well.Andrew Hopper — And so that’s what we say. Adopted people, adopt people, chosen people, choose people. And hey, I didn’t answer your last question. Rich Birch — That’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Okay. Your last question was, why did we write the book? Very simply, I think more people just need to think about what I just said. You know, and I think churches do. And I think that if, you know, a lot of churches have adoption-minded people and a little bit of of fuel in that fire might create some really cool ministry in that church. And this book lays really well for being like, man, make it a small group resource for eight weeks. You know, it’s got questions at the end of each chapter.Andrew Hopper — Like my my prayer is that this book would catalyze tens of thousands of Christian adoptions. Rich Birch — Wow. Andrew Hopper — And that’s why we wrote the book.Rich Birch — Yeah. It’s and I thought the same thing as I was looking through it, that this would be a great resource for a small group, a great resource as a staff training thing. Because again, I think there’s two things happening on two levels. From my perspective, there’s what you’re actually talking about – adoption, but then there’s how you talk about it. And I think even both of those, I think could be interesting as a as a staff team to kind of unpack and think about. How do we ensure that what we’re doing is so gospel-infused. That’s part of why i love you as a communicator. I think you do such a good job on that. It’s just fantastic. So I would strongly encourage people to pick it up.Rich Birch — Help me understand the connection. So Mercy Hill is known for, or at least from my perspective, known as a sending church. You know, the thing, one of the and I’ve told again, I told you this before, you’re the first church leader I’ve ever bumped into that has connected new here guests to number of missionaries sent. This like idea of like this funnel of how do we move people all the way along to that? I think that’s incredible. How does that kind of sending culture and adoption, how does that fit together? How does that help kind of fuel the flywheel of what’s happening at Mercy Hill?Andrew Hopper — Well, you you helped me think about this when you came and did our one day for our for our Breaking Barriers group, you know, for the pastoral trainings that we do. Because in your church growth book, you talk about how, ah you know, community ministry is used as an evangelism tool. I’m not, I’m probably butchering the way you talk about it.Rich Birch — Yep. Yep. Oh, that’s good. Yep. That’s great.Andrew Hopper — That was like a big light bulb for me because because we we definitely do that, but we have not leveraged the communications of that.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And so, um you know, for us now, what we’re trying to really think about is how does our adoption of foster care ministry and rope holding and families count ministry, how does that create open? We call them open doors, right? Rich Birch — Yep.Andrew Hopper — Like, how does it create open doors, questions in the community, where people come in? And we’ve seen it. You know, so like when we’re talking about the sending culture, that pipeline starts when new people get interested in faith, they get interested in church.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, like, for example, we we had a guy, we just did a historic video. Man, he’s saved, baptized, serving now, ah or, you know, family, young family, prototypical Mercy Hill guy, like, man, just you know blue collar heart, white collar job, just that. I mean, just everything we talk about. Right. He’s our he’s kind of our guy. And the way he got connected was his boss had signed up to be a rope holder. And it just blew his mind. Like, why would a guy take limited time and go help these families? I mean, he of course, he thought it was a good thing. But it really intrigued them. Andrew Hopper — And so we’ve tried to we’re trying to leverage more of the communication side. It’s tricky. You don’t want to be like, hey, look at us you know in the community. At the same time, I’m like, man, this year, you know when we’re going to do a pretty significant upgrade to some of the there our foster care system has, there’s a house that has a backyard and the backyard is where families come to play with kids, play with their kids they’re trying to get back from the foster care.Rich Birch — Right. Yep.Andrew Hopper — And we’ve said like, you know what, man, if these parents are putting in, that needs to be like the best, the best backyard, and you know?Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, absolutely. 100%.Andrew Hopper — And so, you know, we’re, we’re going to do a significant investment in some, you know, whatever…Rich Birch — Play structures and yeah. Andrew Hopper — …like a, you know, whatever, like a pergola type thing. They’re going put a shed out there. All going to connect it, pavers, all that stuff is what we want to do. And, you know, we’re, we’re looking at that and I’m going like, yeah, I mean, I get it. Like you don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, but at the same time, that’s not for us. That’s for people that are interested to say like, why would a church do that? You know, like why do they care so much?Andrew Hopper — And it’s because, Hey, sign of the kingdom. We want to build families through adoption. We want to restore families through foster care and families count. This is part of that. So we’ve tried to we’ve tried to use it as a way. And I would really encourage church leaders to think about that. Like, hey, is your community ministry actually an evangelism strategy?Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, that’s good. Love that. And yeah, I would encourage you continue to encourage you to think through those things because I do think that there’s, we’ve seen that there’s huge opportunity for folks who don’t normally attend church. They’re interested the way I’ve said in other contexts is they see it as a good thing. We see it as a God thing. We’re not going to fight them over the semantics of it at the front end. Because like you say it’s it’s the kingdom puncturing through that grabs their attention and you’re like oh what what you know what’s going on there? It’s a first step – how do we encourage those people? Rich Birch — Like on that backyard project, I no doubt if you’re rallying a bunch of guys to go work there, I know that there are guys in your church who have friends who they could invite who don’t attend church who maybe would never walk in your church who’d say, hey, will you come and work for a Saturday for a couple hours and swing a hammer and help us do this thing? Let me explain what this is about.They absolutely would show up, right? 100% they’d show up and and they’ll get intrigued by that. And they’ll be like, oh, what’s going on there? That’s that’s fantastic. Rich Birch — Well, friends, unabashedly, I want you to pick up copies of, not just a copy, copies of this book. So where do we want to send people to pick up copies, that sort of thing?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, man, they can just go to andrewphopper.com/chosen. Rich Birch — Perfect. Yep.Andrew Hopper — The book’s out so they can pick up a copy. I mean, it’s also just like on Amazon or whatever, but that link will take you straight to New Growth Press.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — So, yeah, man, would love it. Would love to hear from anybody who’s using it well in a church context um to catalyze Christian adoption.Rich Birch — Love it. Anything else you want to share just as we close and how can people track, go to the website, other places we want to send them as we close up today.Andrew Hopper — Also on Instagram, we have a lot of stuff on Instagram, andrewphopper on Instagram. Yeah, the last thing I would say as a closing thought, Rich, is you know, the Christian adoption boom has sort of happened 20 years ago. People started talking about this a lot more. And now you can feel in some of the podcast world and all that, there’s a bit of a backlash, not not to don’t do it, but also like, hey, no one told us how hard this was going to be. Andrew Hopper — You’re dealing with traumatic situations, kids that have been brought, you know, I mean, it’s, it’s crazy. One thing I try to do in this book is I try to say, Hey, that’s not a good reason to take our ball and go home, you know.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — Instead we just need to try to shoot as straight as we can. And I do that in this book, man. It is hard. It’s you’re on the front lines of spiritual war. I mean, it’s almost like, dude, the, the, the greatest transfer of faith from one generation to another happens in the home. We love it when adults get saved. I get that. But let’s be honest. Statistically, where does it normally happen? Right. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kids. Andrew Hopper — And so if you got a home that’s broken apart, that Christians are trying to put back together, what did we think Satan was going to do? You know, and so instead of taking our ball and going home, let’s just call it what it is, and then ask the Lord to steel our spine… Rich Birch — That’s good. Andrew Hopper — …and to move forward with the mission. So, yeah, man, I’d love for people to pick it up. And I appreciate the time to talk about it today.Rich Birch — Andrew, thanks so much. Appreciate you. Just want to honor you for the work you do. You’re a great leader. And I love how God’s using you and your church to make a difference. Thanks for being on the show today.Andrew Hopper — Thanks, brother.

Welcome to the Christmas series! Underneath the starlit sky, surrounded by hay and animal filth, the Savior of the World and Hope of Heaven is born. The climax of creation and crescendo of the cosmos takes place in the most humble of contexts.  Sign up for special devotionals at StoriesoftheMessiah.com. As we dive deeply into iconic Bible heroes' enthralling narratives, we find more than just stories of faith and miracles. We discover a recurrent theme, a spiritual undertone that connects each tale to the grandeur of the Gospel. They're not just standalone legends; they're threads in a divine tapestry, weaving a story that foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, the promised Messiah who brings light to the darkest corners of history. For more Bible stories download the Pray.com app.  To learn more about Rabbi Schneider visit https://discoveringthejewishjesus.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 100 people gathered in Glascow to watch some guy take a 'full force' kick to the balls, Florida Man provides Headline of the Week contender #3: Florida Man dressed in red lace bra accused of hiding gun under prosthetic silicone breasts: "It was ugly", World's Oldest Twinkie has turned 50

Message Title | Speaker  If you've made a decision click the link below to get a copy of Pastor Steve's book “The Christian Walk” I've Made a Decision Wave Church […] The post What's Underneath? | Josh Kicker appeared first on Wave Church.

TALK TO ME, TEXT ITThe holidays are finally over and the world feels like it's snapping back into place—shows return, routines resume, and the coffee hits just right. From that grounded moment, we wade into three stories that capture how people search for magic, beauty, and value in a noisy year. First up: the rise of fantasy‑core baby names—think romance epics, viral book series, and anime fueling a wave of Alistairs and Cordelias. We talk about why parents are chasing myth and nostalgia, how social media accelerates naming cycles, and whether a dramatic name helps a child carry story or just chases a trend.Then we pivot to the jaw‑clencher: fillers made from donated cadaver fat used for Brazilian butt lifts and breast enhancements. We sift through the medical pitch—sterile processing, minimally invasive injections, access for thinner patients—alongside the gut‑level ethics and consent questions. What does “beauty at any cost” mean when the supply chain starts in a morgue? We make the case for caution, long‑term safety data, and choosing dignity over fast results that mirror the lifespan of a viral reel.Finally, we break down McDonald's 2026 shift toward more consistent pricing and expanded rewards. Standardized price guidance could tame the location‑to‑location sticker shock, while loyalty programs sweeten value and tie customers to the app. It's a classic trade: smoother tech and predictable costs versus less human contact at the counter. For anyone feeling squeezed by inflation, these changes hint at how big brands will court trust this year—through clarity, not just coupons.Underneath it all runs a simple theme: the pull between escapism and stability. Names borrow wonder; beauty trends push limits; fast food promises order. We end by checking back in on home base—taking down decorations, settling into a rhythm, and choosing the slow, sturdy options when the world is loud. If this mix of cultural trends, ethics, and everyday choices speaks to you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to tell us which story surprised you most.Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREE Thanks for listening! Liberty Line each week on Sunday, look for topics on my X file @americanistblog and submit your 1-3 audio opinions to anamericanistblog@gmail.com and you'll be featured on the podcast. Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREESupport the showTip Jar for coffee $ - Thanks Music by Alehandro Vodnik from Pixabay Blog - AnAmericanist.comX - @americanistblog

DNCO just turned 20, and founder Joy Nazzari is not done yet. In this episode of The Creative Boom Podcast, Joy joins Katy to talk honestly about building a place brand studio from two slightly rebellious thirty-somethings with no clients, to a 33-strong team working on cities and even a whole US state. Joy shares why she and co-founder Ben walked out of permanent jobs with nothing lined up, how "never doing shit work" became a founding principle, and why saying no early on shaped the kind of clients they attract today. She also opens up about buying Ben out, staying friends, and why founders should be allowed to leave without drama. The conversation delves into the realities of running a studio after the pandemic. Joy talks about the economics no one wants to touch publicly. Productivity, hybrid working, the way slowed pace quietly kills profit, and why getting people in a room together still matters more than anyone wants to admit. She also reflects on what it means to be a tall American non-designer leading a London agency, the label "female-founded", and how it lands in different rooms, including very male, sports-led organisations. There is an honest chat about ageing as a woman in a visual industry, being "an older woman" in the room, and the subtle ways respect and perception can shift. We get into family, identity and what really keeps her going. Joy talks candidly about growing up in California with a father whose career was destroyed by alcoholism, how that experience turned financial security into a core driver, and why she has built a career around helping people feel like they belong in places. Katy and Joy also compare notes on menopause, confidence, video, and the strange process of becoming more visible just as your face starts to change. They talk about raising children, how different generations see work and politics, why debate and nuance matter, and how to keep reading beyond your own bubble. Towards the end, Joy shares the advice she would give her 30-year-old self. Chill out and don't overreact. Delegate sooner. Let designers hear clients unfiltered. Guard relationships and stay in touch with people who back your work. Underneath it all, she admits that for all the big ideas about cities, identity and belonging, the real engine has always been simple: keep the people you love safe and secure, and keep your brain switched on for as long as you can. A big, honest chat about work, power, ageing, politics, money, motherhood and why many of us build studios in the first place.

Ever had a week where your nose, wallet, and patience all tapped out at once? That's where we start—sinus pressure, neon boogers, and a confession that sometimes the only thing standing between you and a breakdown is a dumb joke that lands just right. From there, we spiral into money stress, tax avoidance fantasies, and the rude awakening of tracking protein like it's a second job. Four hard-boiled eggs, a shake, a slab of beef, and still barely hitting the number—because apparently survival now requires a spreadsheet.The turning point arrives at a small Mexican grocery where pointing, smiling, and “dos libras” bridge the language gap better than any app. The meat tastes fresher, the price makes sense, and the human connection beats the big-box runaround where shampoo hides behind locked glass. It's a love letter to local shops, to humility, and to the quiet joy of getting good food from people who care, even when you bungle a noun or two.We pull the thread through back pain, couches that don't fit, and the small rituals that keep a body functional: walking, stretching, smarter chairs, and the willingness to mock your own Coldplay-level melodrama. Then travel enters the chat—TSA pat-downs, airline banter that should've stayed on the tarmac, and the case for clarity over corny jokes when everyone's exhausted. Underneath the laughs is a simple thesis: honest effort and small community wins keep you sane when life runs on fumes. If this sounds like your week—sick, broke, reaching for a better meal and a better mood—you're in good company.If you had a laugh or felt seen, tap follow, share the show with a friend, and leave a quick review. It helps more than you think, keeps the lights on, and maybe funds an oil diffuser that actually smells like a forest.Support the showhttps://www.patreon.com/c/DiscombobulatedwithBobbyJaycox

Holiday Special in secret locked areas under the Temple Mount with Knesset Member Ohad Tal, Mosab Hassan Yousef (Author and Activist) and Yishai. Mosab says "The evidence is overwhelming and ... this is the only way to experience truth." Exclusive new video filmed on location by Joshua Fleisher and Shlomo Weprin.PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://yishaifleisher.com/podcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/YishaiFleisherTVSUPPORT & CONNECT:Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/yishaiFight4Israel: https://fight4israel.givecloud.coTwitter: https://twitter.com/YishaiFleisherLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yishaifleisherFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/YishaiFleisher   Support the show

Watch every episode ad-free & uncensored on Patreon: https://patreon.com/dannyjones Geoffrey Drumm from @thelandofchem  does a full breakdown and analysis of the new SAR scans of the Egyptian pyramids. Radar engineer Filippo Biondi's data shows eight clearly man-made, tube-like structures that go more than a kilometer deep under the Khafre Pyramid, ending at an 80-meter chamber. Biondi used his proprietary "Biondi Protocol" to translate the synthetic aperture radar Doppler tomography. Geoffrey Drumm points out major problems with the raw data and how it is being translated. SPONSORS https://rhonutrition.com/discount/danny - Use code DANNY for 20% OFF everything! https://whiterabbitenergy.com/?ref=DJP - Use code DJP for 20% off EPISODE LINKS  @thelandofchem https://www.instagram.com/thelandofchem FOLLOW DANNY JONES https://www.instagram.com/dannyjones https://twitter.com/jonesdanny OUTLINE 00:00 - Summary of Land of Chem theory 03:19 - Function of the Bent Pyramid 06:07 - Function of the Great Pyramid 20:42 - Natural gas reserves below the Giza Plateau 33:55 - The big "void" above the Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid 58:03 - Sonochemistry in the Great Pyramid 1:15:09 - Proof of chemical reactions inside the pyramids 1:23:35 - Heat exchanger in the Great Pyramid 1:27:56 - Function of the Central Pyramid 1:32:42 - The Great Pyramid's circuit breaker system 1:37:17 - Problem with the new SAR scans 1:55:20 - False discoveries using Biondi Protocol & SAR scans 2:18:03 - Egyptians are not happy about the SAR scans 2:21:24 - Debunking the new SAR scans of the Central Pyramid 2:28:39 - Flawed SAR scans of modern structures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Quaranteam - Dave In Dallas: Part 11 Cleanup: The Air Force arrives with a mop. Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Dave's second quandary was his position, nearly on the middle of the pad, left him seriously exposed. Applying the aggressiveness taught by Carter, he knew Liv had him protected to the right, so he closed with the occupied building, moving to the far corner. A quick look showed him there were again two doors, like the other building. And two men emerging from the far door. Turning their backs to him as they followed a third man who was just rounding the opposite corner. That put him out of Dave's sight, but into Liv's. As the men receded, Dave fired into their backs. Neither was at a sprint, so they fell forward without the dramatic tumbling of the earlier target. A simultaneous rifle crack announced the death of the lead in that trio. He paused. Dave couldn't hear any sounds coming from the building. He remained wary, uneasy. How many more will it take? He waited. An eternity later, the door on one of the smaller buildings slowly opened. Two hands held high and outward came into view, followed by the woman they were attached to. She moved slowly. She was too far away for Dave to read her facial expression but she was giving all the big outward signs of surrender. Two more women exited another of the smaller buildings. One was an average build, the other rotund. The latter's feet seemed reluctant to move. Great. Don't know if there's anyone left in the big building, and now I have unknowns coming in from the houses. Other women began issuing from what must be the dwellings. Eight in all. As they neared, most had curious, guarded expressions on their faces. The big one had a look like she rarely smiled, ever. "Alright, that's close enough! Just stop where you are. Pick a leader and send her forward." There was a brief discussion which resulted in a medium height brunette walking towards him. The third woman out glared daggers into the back of the brunette's skull. The angry one argued hard with all of them, but none seemed interested in anything she had to say. Dave waited until the brunette reached easy speaking distance. "Stop right there. What's your name?" "Sandy." "How many of you are there?" "I don't rightly know." She looked thoughtful. "All the men were in the community building. Us women and our kids were in our homes. Jeb, the man that bound me to him, came in awhile ago with a new woman. She was out, like from the shot he gave me before." That confirms they're using the QT serum . "If he bound you to him with that shot, why are you awake?" "Oh, that was a few weeks back for me. I knew him a little bit before lockdowns started. Then he just shows up and says he has this safe place to stay and we can both be safe from the virus runnin' round, but I have to take this shot and sleep with him. He's been an okay guy, and I ain't had no boyfriend in several months anyway. 'Sides, he didn't tell me that I couldn't be with anybody else after that. Which sucks, but mostly he's been okay. Only been an asshole a few times, but that's pretty fair for most guys I've met. No offense." Dave smirked. "Sandy, how many men are there in your community?" She stopped, looking off to the side, thinking. "Well, there was the ten that left saying' they's gonna raid a rich man's house for somethin', never told us what. Now we know why. They were out collectin' poon like we's just a bunch a deer and no tag limit." Sandy paused. "Is that why you're here? You come to scoop us up and make us your whores?" "No, ma'am." We killed more than ten, so that can't be all . "If you ladies were bound to these men, we'll need to take you to the people that hand out the vaccine to see what they can do for you. But ma'am, please, how many men total are there?" The far door of the community building opened slowly, and a woman stepped out. It was the one Dave had seen inject one of the women right before she got raped. "Get over with the others. Is anyone else inside?" The woman shook her head no and moved swiftly to join the pack. "Oh, right. Well, after the ten left, all six of the others took off saying' they could do just as good somewhere else. But only three of them came back, including Jeb. As soon as they's back they took the nurse, that's the woman that just came out, well they took her and the two women bound to two of the guys that didn't come back and a bit later those women are out cold again. I thought the whole shot thing was permanent, but maybe not if the guy's dead? I hope so, 'cuz we're about to be in a bad way aren't we?" Thirteen. Thirteen men here. Dave counted off in his head. He thought they'd taken out thirteen, but he wasn't going to make assumptions. Especially when one part of his brain was parodying an old farcical movie about how many bullets had been fired from a gun. An 80's flick set in the 50's. "Alright Sandy, is there anyone else left in the houses?" "Just the kids, and some unconscious women. The men said they'd gotten them; reassigned?" She looked frustrated. "Guess I still wasn't good enough to keep that asshole by m'self." Dave deliberately gave Sandy an appraising look. "I think that has more to do with his greed than your looks or personality." "Well ain't you sweet?" Sandy licked her lips and looked Dave up and down. "Easy, I meant every word I said, but I already have several partners. Those six that left attacked my house." Sandy's face dropped. "I don't know if I should hate your guts for killing Jeb, or thank you, for the same thing." After a pause she spoke again. "You should be careful of Debbie. Her husband brought her here for some kinda rebel nation shit. She's already pissed he came back with some hot blonde from a rich man's house. But not so mad at him she's just gonna let you killin' him slide." "Is she the rather large woman that looks like she sucked on an entire lemon tree?" "That's the one." "How 'bout we settle on neutrality for now? Look, let's get all of you back in your homes and warm. I'll need to call the authorities to make sure you all get taken care of before that serum starts doing ugly things." Sandy walked back to the assembled throng. Another debate broke out. Debbie leading a third of the group in angry objections. Then she turned to face Dave. "Where's our men? What gives you the right to come bargin' in here?" She headed for the far end of the building. Several others followed, more than just the ones that had agreed with her. Dave knew things would turn ugly as soon as these women saw the dead bodies. His fastest route into the open yard space was behind him. He sprinted the way he'd come, entering the yard through the gap just as the women began kneeling near selected bodies. By the women's placement, some of the men must have sprinted from the building's edge. Instead of a clump near the corner, there was a line of a few reaching towards the tree line. Dave felt a cold turn inside. Rationally, he could see the line ended well before the trees, suggesting Liv had taken all of them down before they got close. But could one have gotten through? That thought was interrupted by Debbie leaving the line of dead, beginning to search the yard and moving as quickly as her thick legs would carry her. Dave moved to get clear of the gap and the bodies just beyond it. Several of the other women left the line of dead as well. They slowly swarmed about the open space while Debbie made a beeline for the gap. Then she noticed a body in the grass. Fury returned to her face after a brief look of relief. Then she paused. Her chest was already heaving from exertion. When she faced Dave, the anguish was obvious. "You fucking coward! You shot 'em in the back! You shot my husband!" She began a slow charge at him. Dave sorted through his options. The only sure way he had of stopping this woman was his weapon, but he had no desire to shoot an unarmed woman grieving her husband. He could outrun her easily, but he needed to stay in the area. For a moment, Dave's brain played an image of him making short sprints and the woman chasing after him like some schoolyard game. Not helping dammit . Dave took a few steps backwards, bringing him near the back wall of the community building. He noticed the dryer vent again, which meant the pile of pipes wasn't far. He'd have to be careful if he backpedaled any more. Falling on his ass would not engender obedience or respect. Debbie's tirade ended in a screech as she reached into her pocket. Her hand came back out with a small revolver. Shit. Shit. Shit. Dave brought his weapon up faster than her and pulled his trigger. Click . No round fired. The weapon jammed. Shit . Dave dove sideways and backwards just as Debbie fired. He felt a smack on his shoulder as he fell. His hand landed on the pipe pile. He grabbed and rolled away from the wall as another shot spanged off the brick. As he rolled, he swung one arm, releasing one of the two rods he'd snagged. He threw one leg out and came up from his roll, facing Debbie as she recovered from the rod that hit her. Her motion and his brought them in close proximity. On instinct, Dave snapped out with the remaining rod, striking Debbie's wrist. She shrieked in pain as she dropped the pistol. Dave followed up with two strikes to her knee before stepping back into a ready stance. Debbie cried out, but still managed one step forward before the side of her head exploded. Dave turned from Debbie's corpse to scan the area. All of the other women were on the ground. Clearly, they'd done the math in their head and figured out he had a partner in the trees. "Don't make us shoot anyone else. We only came here because we were attacked. The people that attacked us and another house are now all dead. We've done what we came for. We are not leaving you hanging. We know you've been given Quaranteam doses so your lives are bound to these men. There is a way to free you from that bond." Dave decided a bit of vague spitballing could be useful here and played it fast and loose based on what he'd learned in the past 24 hours. "Well, not exactly free you, but transfer that bond to someone else. This time, you will have a choice in that bonding. But, I will not countenance any threat to myself or my partner. And as you can see, she is very protective of me as well. You can also see she is a damn good shot. I want all of you to gather over here, in the lee of this building, while I get someone here to help." The women got up, moving slowly so as not to provoke Dave or his hidden partner. Once they were all clumped together, he pulled out his cell phone. Time to call Detective Verratti. Chapter 13; Cleanup. October 29, 2020 8:20am "Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean you and Olivia are at the compound? Didn't you say you and your special forces friend; Carter? That the two of you were heading to the compound?" On another call, Dave would have switched ears by now. The burning in his left shoulder threatened to make that shift a very painful decision. "No, detective, I simply said we." "Dammit, professor, why the hell wouldn't you take the trained spec-ops guy on something; oh, fuck." "Exactly. Carter and his wife have been dead for two months now. Carter was the security expert in our prepper community. He ran us through many drills on how to protect ourselves and those around us. Olivia is an excellent long-range shot. She proved it again today. Took out half the compound with her sniping. Shot one that was coming at me with a.38, when my gun jammed." "Okay, okay. Damn. Look, I contacted the Air Force when you sent me the text saying you were there. As soon as the liaison red off the coordinates, whoever was on the other end of the phone got pissed. If I overheard correctly, they gathered a small force and headed that way by chopper. I think they lifted off about twenty minutes ago. Expect them in less than an hour. If they arrive in the same mood their boss was in, keep your head down. I know I'm already in deep shit. After getting shouted at over the phone, the Air Force liaison went into my boss' office and shouted for ten minutes straight. Professor; I'm sorry I got you into this." Dave signed off that call, then texted Liv. -Sling your rifle, come into the glade with pistol drawn. He stuffed his phone back in his pocket and waited. Half his energy was devoted to ignoring the pain in his arm. The adrenaline and other wonderful bio-chemicals the body produces during high stress situations all drained out in the past ten minutes so nothing got in the way of his arm screaming at his head for doing damn fool things. On the plus side, the bleeding had stopped. Mostly. As long as he didn't move it. The blood that had come out was enough to stain most of his sleeve, but not significantly impair his thinking from blood loss. Liv emerged from the tree line with all the charisma of a warrior queen. As Dave requested, her rifle was slung cross body, and her 10mm pistol was in her hands, held low, as her eyes scanned her surroundings. She took a bit of extra 'dwell time' when her eyes passed over the assembled women. Liv strode purposefully across the ground, halting at a position within easy talking range, yet too far to make them both a single target. Dave looked her over, examining her face and posture. Concern for the psychological impact of this on Olivia was uppermost in his mind. Great time to be worried about that, huh? After all the fighting is done. Genius . He snapped himself back to reality. There would be time later for self-recrimination. Liv's visual scanning kept lingering on Dave's left shoulder. "We need to treat that. It'll be tricky to do while maintaining security." "There's an Air Force team on their way. Detective Verratti said they may be unhappy, but I'm sure they'll have a medic. Or at least a first aid bag." "How long?" "Less than an hour. Sounds like forty minutes, most likely." "That arm shouldn't wait that long. You need stitches." "Got any in your back pocket, Liv?" Dave hadn't meant to get testy, but the pain was eroding his 'nice function' and the conversation felt like it was spiraling already. The flat look from Olivia carried a tinge of hurt, and forgiveness, and her own self-restraint. "Sorry, Olivia." She nodded in response, her eyes once again on their charges. One of them stood and moved slowly towards Dave. Livy squared her shoulders to the woman, but made no other change in her focus. When the woman was halfway to him, Dave recognized her as the lady that came out of the building as he spoke with Sandy. The one Sandy identified as a nurse. "Sir, would you let me look at your wound? I'm a nurse." Liv looked at him cautiously, then gave him one slow blink. Dave restrained himself from chuckling. From her, the slow blink meant anything from 'sure' to 'don't make me say I told you so'. Dave nodded at the woman. She approached slowly, then cautiously brought one hand up to examine his wound. She pulled back on the shirt to ascertain the extent of the injury. "I can treat it temporarily for now. You need stitches; which we don't have. And a painkiller. All they have here for that is alcohol, marijuana and meth. None of which I would recommend." Dave chuckled. With her finger so close, his shaking caused her to jab the side of the open gash. Dave flinched and gritted his teeth. "Oh, I'm so sorry." The nurse jumped back, pulling her hand back to her chest. Her other hand clasped the offending one closely, like she was putting it in time out. "It's okay, ma'am. I'm the one that moved suddenly." "Parker. My name is Parker." "Dave." "Well, Dave, you've got a decent flesh wound that will make a good reminder scar once it heals. You need to get stitches as soon as possible. Like today. Wait too long and it won't do any good. In the meantime, I can bandage it up. I'll need to go inside to get some clean cloth, though." Her eyes held the obvious question of whether he would let her. "How did you wind up here?" "I was on a transport from the vaccine center on my way to my Oracle designated partner when the bus got hijacked. Fifteen of us were diverted from someone we'd chosen to these guys that made their choices just by looking at us. They went in order, so whoever had priority got first pick, and so on." That matched what Verratti told Dave. More importantly, she didn't hesitate and there was no sign of falsehood in her eyes or face. Carter taught him to be careful who you trust, but you have to trust someone. There was a haunted look in her eyes, but no deception. "Liv, can you escort this nurse inside so she can get something to bandage me with?" The young brunette that had known him longer than anyone left alive gave him a funny look. "Or maybe you escort her, so you can sit down and put your arm on a table while she does her work. Should be easier for both of you that way." The nurse's face immediately took on a restrained, but amused look. "Don't say it, let's go," said Dave with a sigh. He followed her back around to the front of the building. She entered through the first door. It opened into the kitchen area. In short order, she scooped up the first aid kit and led Dave into the dining space. The room still smelled of the recent nonconsensual ruttings. Parker visibly flinched when the smell hit her. She came to a dead stop when she saw the body lying against the wall. The look on her face suggested her desire to not be here, and not be reminded of the events of this morning and her part in them, was warring with her professional instincts. Dave watched as she composed herself and ushered him to take a seat with just a hand gesture. Dave sat so Parker's back would be towards the body. As she tended his wound, he searched for visual clues. The man was older, at least fifty, likely over sixty, judging by the condition of his skin. Prominent wrinkles and liver spots, and a leathery look of someone that spent much of his life with a heavy tan. A distinctly aquiline nose and patrician features shouted 'man of money' even more so than his silk pajamas. Necessarily, Parker - more specifically her face - lay in Dave's line of sight as he looked about. Underneath the mien of professional concentration lay clear signs that removing the visual cue of the dead body was barely tamping down her anxiety. When she reached into the kit to find the scissors; so she could trim the excess off the bandage; her fingers first brought out the razor. The way she stared at it was unsettling. She paused to wipe away newly forming tears before finishing with Dave's gauze. As she neatly placed each piece of unused equipment in the kit, he gently took her chin in his right hand, turning her head to look directly at him. "Parker, you've had to make some tough choices here. You did the best you could with what you had. You're an ER nurse, right?" He recalled that tidbit from the detective's discussion. Parker nodded in affirmation. "Okay, so your training and experience is to do everything you can to get your patient that next heartbeat, to take the next breath, and another, and another. Just keep them going, and let someone else do the fancy work once you're sure the patient is alive right?" Her face contorted further as she nodded. "But I didn't. I didn't keep her alive. They took her outside ;” Parker's voice trailed off as she wept, her chest heaving. "An older blonde woman, probably in her mid-forties right?" She nodded, still weeping, not looking at him. "Her name is Natasha, and she's alive." Parker's head snapped up. Her eyes were wide in astonishment and hope. "But; how?" "I killed those men with a silenced pistol. She's hiding in my truck. Actually, I need to check on her. My partner had some spare clothes in there. Hopefully she found them." "Can I see her? Please? I just ;” The wild, desperate look in her eyes was impossible to deny. Dave gave his arm a few careful motions, testing out the pain level for various directions and ranges. It gave him an excuse to delay answering and drew her attention back to occupational concerns. "Yeah, we can do that. First, I need to touch base with my partner though." Gesturing he said, "Let's go." Parker quickly rose, snatching up the first aid kit. She deposited it back in its secure place in the kitchen before exiting, with Dave right behind her. She glanced over her shoulder several times to check that Dave was still with her as she walked around the building and straight towards Olivia. Over the last few steps, she veered off, giving Dave and Liv enough space to talk privately while she remained close by. Dave filled Livy in on what was happening. "Maybe you should escort her though, in case Natasha has not found your clothes. Besides, it would give you a chance to move about instead of standing here, getting cold." "Are you sure she saw me well enough to be comfortable when I approach? You, she got a good look at. And vice versa." Liv added a wink. Dave looked at her, his face flat and unimpressed. "Oh come on, David, you have nine women at home, came out here to dispense some justice on the assholes that attacked us, and picked up a groupie." "For crying out loud, Liv. She's not; Okay, fine, I'll escort the nurse. That woman's been through enough trauma without being exposed to your humor." Liv gave him an enigmatic smile as he walked away with Parker. Dave pointed to the gap in the trees he'd used for entry and exit previously. Once inside, the nurse stopped him. "David, I; I'm not sure if anything can be done for her." "What do you mean? "I mean, I; um, I'm not sure how much I can say. She needs something that I'm not sure is possible anymore." "You mean you couldn't extract any more semen from the dead guy's balls?" "How the hell did you know that?! That's confidential information! No one's supposed to know!" "Parker, these guys attacked my house. We killed three of them. The bodies were on my back deck and driveway with their balls cut off. Later, we get here and I see you jab the old guy in the balls with a syringe and the shot changes color. You're reassigning these women from the dead guy to the attackers using the dead man's cum, right?" She hung her head. "It was the only way to keep them alive." "And as long as they're alive, there's hope. There's a chance to fight another day, right?" She raised her head again, eyes watery, looking as if she really wanted to believe in the thin reed he offered her. "But, what about her? She's bound to that guy, and I couldn't get any more cum out. Depending on when she last slept with him, she's got a week or two before this stuff eats her up from the inside. It'll be like what they wanted to do to her, but in slow motion." Her voice cracked as she spoke. "Parker, I want you to consider something, and this is not a knock on you, but the conditions. You are an ER nurse, working under field conditions. If we take his body back to a hospital, or the vaccine center, do you think maybe a lab tech with precision equipment and ideal conditions could manage to eke out enough semen to let her switch partners?" She smiled again, taking a shaky breath. The suggestion relaxed her enough to acquiesce when he motioned her down the trail. "I don't know. I don't know, but it's worth a try. We have to move fast though. There's a time limit on how long we have to get it done." "Then we'll make sure when the Air Force gets here with their chopper, Natasha and the dead body are on the first bird out." Parker said no more as they walked. Dave only spoke to guide her on the path. When they got into visual range of the truck, Parker's steps took on an extra urgency, like she wanted to run, but held herself back. Dave signaled for her to fall in trail behind him and wait when they neared the truck. "Natasha? Natasha, it's David. I'm here with the nurse. The compound is secure now. The Air Force is on its way. We came to check on you. Did you find the clothes in the truck?" A blonde head slowly peeked over the dashboard, only one eye visible. That one eye held enough wariness for a dozen faces. The head scanned about carefully, never spending much time away from Dave and Parker. "All of the attackers are dead, Natasha. They can't hurt you." Her head cleared the dashboard and moved towards the passenger door, the same side Dave and Parker stood several feet away from. The door opened at a glacial pace. Then two legs clad in grey sweatpants stepped down. Natasha stepped clear of the door, wearing a thin white shirt, grey sweatpants that threatened to fall off, and a look of nervous hope and apprehension. Dave tried to ignore what the cold was doing to her nipples. Rigidly holding his eye contact on her face, he said, "Parker here is an ER nurse. How about letting her examine you? And then join the rest of the women. The ladies abducted with you are all; asleep, but there are women that were captured previously, like Parker here." Natasha glanced quickly at Parker. "They captured you too?" "Nearly two months ago. Our transport was hijacked after we'd already had our injections. We were on our way to our Oracle match partners when the attack happened." Natasha's wariness fell in the face of shared trauma; and the knowledge of traumas she'd been spared. She closed the distance and hugged Parker. The nurse initially stood shocked, unresponsive, her arms limp at her sides. Slowly, her hands rose, clasping onto Natasha's shoulder blades before she began shaking with sobs of relief. Reluctantly, Dave stepped in. When he spoke, he used the softest tone he was capable of. "Ladies, we need to get back. I'd rather not walk back into the clearing after the Air Force folks arrive, armed. That tends to make them nervous." He pitched his words softly, but firmly. Parker nodded in acknowledgement. The two shared a look that communicated; something. Then Dave noticed the older blonde still had nothing on her feet. "No socks in the bag?" he asked. Natasha shook her head no. Dave sighed, walked in front of her, turned his back to her and crouched. "Come on." He lowered his weapon to dangle from its sling. "What?" "Get on my back, I'll carry you." "Uh, are you sure about this? With your arm like it is?" Parker queried. "My back can carry the burden without straining my arm muscles." After a brief pause, he heard her moving hesitantly before her weight rested on his back. Her arms came around his neck. Then he hooked his hands under her knees and stood carefully. With Parker following behind, Dave navigated the path quickly. He maintained a slightly stooped posture that Carter had taught as the best way to carry a ruck. It worked quite well for carrying a person, too. The trio made good time through the woods and emerged from the tree line very deliberately, so as not to startle Liv, who was still on guard. The smile on the brunette's face when Dave emerged with Natasha on his back was unmistakable. Dave studiously ignored it. Once they were over soft grass, he lowered Natasha to the ground. He was uncomfortable sending these two to huddle with the rest of the women, but he wasn't sure what else to do. Until the moment he was ready to open his mouth. "Liv, take Parker and inspect the houses. Check on the women that got imprinted. Keep an eye out for kids or other adults. If it's just kids, reassure them the best you can. Keep them where they are if possible." Parker spoke up. "What if we bring; Natasha?; with us. I think my spare shoes would fit her. I can get her a jacket too." Dave looked at Liv, questioningly. She gave a short nod in response. Dave shrugged his agreement. After a long backwards look at Dave, Natasha followed the other two, leaving Dave on guard over the women huddled against the building. Most of them wore some manner of jacket and long pants. A few were in pajama pants and thick housecoats. All remained quiet, barely even talking amongst themselves. One brunette, a bit older, kept glancing at Dave. After several minutes, she rose and slowly approached him. As she got closer, Dave had a strange sense of recognition. Like he should know who she was, but couldn't place her. "Hi, um, I just wanted to say thank you. I've been stuck here for over a month. Several of us have, including the nurse that was with you earlier." Her dark eyes gleamed as she continued. "Listen, I know we'll need new partners soon. I think you should know that a few of the girls are already discussing the possibility of getting paired with you." Dave stiffened. His spine, not his cock. "Well, that's very flattering, but I didn't come here for that. Hell, I already have nine partners. My house is getting kinda full. I know the CDC guy that showed up a month and a half ago said I could wind up with twelve or more, but, uh, I could be just fine with stopping where I am. So, thank you, but no thank you. I mean, unless you specially match to me and don't have anyone else nearly as good a match." Her eyes widened. "Oh, no. No, I wasn't speaking personally. I mean, I appreciate what you've done, but not that far. The others just asked me to come over, sort of as a spokesperson. You know, use my fame in the hope that would help get your approval." It was the mild gravelly tone in her voice that finally did it. "Oh. Oh, shit. Aurora Hensley?" Dave shook his head. "Sorry, I knew I recognized you, but my brain just didn't place you until after you spoke for a bit. How the hell did a star like you wind up here?" Miss Henley tried to grin to cover up her grimace, but it didn't work. "Please, call me Rory. Lockdown stopped production on my show. You may have noticed we don't have a new season out." Dave nodded. "Yes, a few of my partners grumbled about it." "Ah, but not you, huh?" she said with a real grin this time. "Oh, I've watched some re-runs with them a few times. It's just that cop shows are only a fifty-fifty interest for me. Mostly, the ones I like get into the crime lab stuff, and yours didn't have that. No offense." Dave shrugged with the last statement. She examined him coyly. "Ah, so the fact that the two leads were women has nothing to do with it?" The words were accusatory, but something about her tone suggested she was playing with him. "Naw, not particularly. The story is well executed I think. It's just a type that only sometimes grabs my interest. I did appreciate that the show featured two female leads, without pounding the fact in the viewer's face. It stood on the writing and acting, and didn't beat some political drum." "Well, thank you. I think." She smirked at him. "Sorry for dodging, it's just; it hurts you know?" A shadow passed over her features, causing Dave to place a hand on her shoulder. He also forced himself to scan the group again, making sure no one was using his distraction to do something. He kicked himself for his obliviousness and made sure he kept his focus where it needed to be, without sacrificing the conversation. "Look, I know this is all still fresh, so if you don't want to talk about what these guys did to you here, you don't have to. I'm sure they'll have profess--" "Oh no, not that. I mean, I might, but honestly, you wiping them out is already a big help. That's why I came up to thank you." Then Rory grinned slyly again. "It's also why some of them want to thank you." "Well, with the vaccine, that's a rather permanent thing. They need to take some time to think it over first, and use the matching system, um, Oracle." "True, very true. You know, it's tempting to come at you like a rescued princess, just like the others. But in truth, I have a friend I was on my way to meet when our transport was hijacked. He's been a good friend for years, but we never dated or anything. He showed up as a reasonable match, so I was supposed to be with him. I'm going to call him as soon as I can to see if he's still interested." "More than likely, he'll be thrilled to hear you're alright." "Yes, probably. He's a good man. The girls like him." As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Rory grimaced like she'd been stabbed and the wielder was twisting the knife in her guts. Dave got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I, uh, I have to go." She turned away briefly, then turned back. "No, wait." She took a few deep breaths before continuing. "The reason I came over in the first place." She paused for a hiccupping sob. "Um, look, I can never express how much I appreciate what you've done for me here. If you need anything. Anything at all. I know people. People in entertainment, and in politics. Just call me. I'd be glad to help." With tears in her eyes, she turned back towards the wall and walked swiftly, managing not to run. Rory's rushed return and obvious emotional turmoil was greeted by consternation among the small crowd of women. Two took the time to stare at him, worry clear on their faces. Quiet conversations started up and rapidly turned internal. The women clustered around Rory, wrapping her in hugs. When they finally parted, they began speaking again, in low tones, and long periods in which all were silent. It was quite some time before Liv, Parker, and Natasha came around the right side of the building. All appeared in good spirits. Natasha now sported a denim jacket over her white T-shirt and a pair of tennis shoes on her feet. As they approached, Dave noted that Natasha was no longer grabbing at the waist band of the sweatpants to keep them up, so some solution had been found. The jacket was of sufficient length to conceal whatever that had been. Likewise, it was likely she had socks to go with the shoes, but there was no visible gap between pants and shoes to confirm that deduction. The relaxed look on her face would have to do. Parker spoke first when they came within a reasonable speaking distance. "Sixteen women are in imprinting sleep in the houses. I checked their vitals, and nothing appears amiss. Except that they're all blondes." "I told the others while we were out, Drew, the man we were paired to, only had blondes in his; team." Natasha spoke slowly, not quite reluctantly. "It was a fetish of his. Though there was variety, of a sort. Cheerleader, businesswoman, that sort of thing. I was the 'older woman' blonde. One is a teenager, just barely survived to get injected. I; I knew him before this, or at least, I thought I knew him. We went to many of the same charity dinners and such. He was so cordial in public." Parker hugged Natasha around the shoulders, a supportive measure to remind her that problem was in her past. Then Olivia spoke. "A few houses had kids. They are awake and hungry. A little worried, but not frantic. I was thinking we could get a meal going in the main cafeteria instead of separate little meals in each house." "Sure," Dave replied. "That's a good plan. First, we'll need to get the body out of there." "Body?" Liv asked. "Drew, the man all those women are partnered to. These guys were re-imprinting the women to themselves in the cafeteria space." Dave kept his voice carefully neutral. "How the hell does that work?" "We're not supposed to know, but what I saw here and at our house, I made some good guesses that Parker confirmed. You and I are probably going to spend a lot of time explaining ourselves, so the less I share the better." Liv's nodding reply carried an undertone of expectation that, once all this blew over, Dave had better spill what he knows. A small traitorous part of Dave's heart took that as a possible indication that Liv wanted to know a way out of the bonding effects of the serum. Dave's brain was pretty convinced that was B S, though he would certainly ask if she wanted out later. The idea of keeping any woman bound to him against her will made him physically nauseous. Doing that to his Livy Bean was unacceptable in the extreme. "Tell you what," Dave continued, "You stay here for a few minutes. I'll haul the body out of the cafeteria and around to this side of the building. Then, Liv, supervise getting breakfast going in the cafeteria; and I mean supervise, you maintain control and security, someone else cooks. Parker, you can escort the kids from the houses to the cafeteria." Still facing the nurse, he asked, "Who would you recommend do the cooking?" "Sandy and Rory are pretty good. Together they should be able to handle breakfast for all the kids." "OK, sounds good. Wait 'til I get the body moved around to this area before you get moving." All three women nodded. Dave immediately stalked off, eager to get things in motion before the military arrived and brought everything to a halt while they took their time coming to the same conclusions Dave had already arrived at. The kids needed to be fed. He went around the right side of the building for once, since it provided the shortest route to his destination. As soon as he stepped inside, he was greeted by the older man's corpse lying flat on the floor, up against the wall, his silk pajama pants still pulled down to his knees. That was the first thing to fix. Doing his best to avoid touching the corpse (or another man's naked body), Dave took hold of the waistband near each knee and pulled them up and over the man's hips. That done, he stopped to consider the best way to get the body moved. Rigor. Rigor mortis had set in. None of the man' joints would move. And he'd been left on the floor, jammed into the corner between wall and floor for hours. There were two options Dave could see: grab and lift by the man's shoulders and drag him with his heels on the ground. A little awkward, but doable. The downside there was the chance his pajama pants cuffs could snag on something and come all the way off. Hell, even part way was undesirable. The second option was to get this guy onto Dave's shoulder like a two by four. A one hundred and fifty pound two by four. Sure, no problem. Mentally retracting all the curses he'd flung at Carter during upper body workouts, Dave went to work. First, he knelt beside the corpse. Then he lifted the torso so it lay on his shoulder. The next part was tricky. Silk didn't give a lot of traction to grab with. Neither did flesh. It took three tries that quickly returned to the floor-kneeling position when the body began to slip before Dave managed to successfully gain his feet on the fourth attempt, the body securely balanced on his left shoulder. And every single time he used his left arm for anything, a serenade of pain accompanied the act. He'd had experience getting through doorways with lumber or pipes on his shoulder, so while it was cumbersome, Dave managed the maneuver just fine. Though he had to use his left arm to operate the door. He couldn't avoid whimpering as he forced the injured limb to comply. Once outside, it was quite easy to make the brief trek around the building and dump the body in the grass a reasonable distance from the line of dead pointing towards the trees. He also picked up the staccato sounds of a chopper, low, and building quickly. Parker was halfway to the houses and Liv had disappeared into the cafeteria building with Rory and Sandy when their heads turned, picking up the sound. Figuring it was the safest course of action, Dave walked to the middle of the open space he'd fought in, away from others, his hands away from his body and his weapons slung on his back or holstered. He knew Olivia had the presence of mind to do the same. One Blackhawk landed to Dave's left, on the other side of the unused building. A second landed beyond the community building, presumably beyond the first house and to the left of the others. The third Blackhawk landed to Dave's right, well clear of the community building. The rotor blast was strong, but not overwhelming. The moisture in the air guaranteed no dust blown around, and the cold snap was too recent to kill off any grass, so at least there was no debris kicked up by the artificial cyclone. Troops began to disgorge from the chopper the moment the wheels touched grass, running straight out, hunched over, weapons in hand. Dave slowly turned to face them, his hands clearly away from his body. "You David Belsus?" The voice was pissed, loud, and behind him. Oops. Of course the team leader was on the first chopper that landed. Hadn't Carter harped something about leading from the front? "That's me." A short, strongly muscled man stepped around into Dave's field of view. "You blew my fucking op, dammit. Hunting these boys down was my job." "Considering the number of women enslaved to these fucking animals you clearly aren't doing your fucking job!" "Don't piss me off asshole. I'm willing to consider you're one of the good guys, for now. Fuck with me and I'll throw you in a hole so deep, you'll water the rice paddies in China when you pee." Dave wisely shut the fuck up. Carter had told him there were two very important times to know in the military; when to shut up, and when to shut the fuck up . This seemed like the latter. "You got the wanna bees at your house. A few real troops here. You got lucky, Boy Scout. Stand down and let us do our jobs." Before the short, powerfully built man turned away, Dave noted the nametape on the man's uniform; Barnett. The two chevrons upside down on the top of his rank insignia meant he was a Technical Sergeant; an E-6, a middle level NCO. "Sergeant Barnett?" Dave called to get his attention. The little bantam turned, one eyebrow cocked. "The kids in this place haven't been fed breakfast yet. My partner is inside the community building with a few women who've been stuck here for over a month. They're getting something cooked up while the nurse moves the kids. You think you can let that plan roll forward? Otherwise, you'll have some cranky kids to deal with soon. "Is she armed?" "My partner?" Dave got a nod in response. "Yes, she has a slung rifle and a holstered pistol. If you go in cautious, and announce yourself, there shouldn't be a problem. Or you can send me in ahead of you." "Sure, fine. Just know if you try anything stupid, my two partners behind you will drop you in a heartbeat." "I think we understand each other." Dave stepped off deliberately, at a steady pace, getting around the corner of the building with Sgt Barnett two arm's lengths to his right. He could hear the soft footsteps in the grass of two more people behind him. Barnett wasn't bluffing. Dave reached the door of the cafeteria space. He knocked twice, then slowly opened it. "Hey, Liv? It's me, I'm coming in. There's some Air Force folks with me. Keep your weapons holstered and your hands visible. These folks seem a mite twitchy." Olivia stood in the Archway between the dining side and the kitchen side. The sounds of pans and utensils and sizzling meat were quickly joined by the aroma of bacon. Dave's stomach grumbled. Two voices behind him tittered. Seems his guards and executioners heard him. They guffawed when Barnett's stomach responded. "Should we let you two get a plate boss?" The laughing voice behind Dave almost had a Tinkerbell fairy quality to it. Great. My erstwhile executioner leaves pixie dust in her wake. Liv kept quiet. Verbally that is. Her eyes were laughing though. Laughing loud enough to make up for the silence of her lips. "No, they're cooking for a bunch of hungry kids. Leave 'em alone." Barnett paused, looking between Liv and Dave, and sizing them up. "You two, one at a time, very carefully, place your weapons on that back counter. You're closer, young lady, so you go first." Liv sighed, staying stony faced. Dave widened his eyes and nodded his head, with a slight tilt towards the counter. With an exasperated exhale, she unslung her rifle, touching only the sling, and only with her thumb, laying it on the counter. In doing so, she now had her back to the archway leading to the kitchen. She deliberately used her left hand to remove her pistol. Liv then placed it beside the rifle. Her combat knife came next. Placing it with her firearms, she stepped away from the counter and faced the others. "Boot knife." Barnett said flatly. "Excuse me?" Liv asked blankly. "Remove the knife from your boot and place it on the table." Liv pursed her lips, rolled her eyes, and then complied. Tinkerbell tittered. "Step over there." Dave waved his arm towards the opposite corner from where Liv had been, along the wall separating the kitchen space and the dining space. Olivia moved as indicated, her eyes locked on the two behind Dave. "Okay, now you." Dave walked to the counter. He unslung his SMG, again, using only his thumb, and placed it beside Liv's rifle. With open, deliberate motions, his pistol quickly followed. "Don't make me say it again." "I don't have any knives. Never been any good with 'em." Liv snorted. "You shittin me? You came in here with no knife? Better a weapon you're only mediocre with than no weapon at all." Dave just shrugged. "You're doing a great job of convincing me you merely got lucky; twice; rather than win by skill and teamwork." Dave elected not to rise to barb. "Stand over there with your girlfriend." Dave turned and walked along the wall. He took the opportunity to look at the two guards. One was a wasp waisted, svelte brunette with her hair back in a bun. The other; fucking well looked like Tinkerbelle. Pale skin, silky blonde hair in a braid that wrapped around her head like a home-grown crown. Give her a pair of wings and no one would even blink if she claimed to be the fictional character. Well, Tinkerbelle never carried an M4 with a daylight scope. Sure as shit would have given that saucy wink though. Once Dave was beside Livy, Barnett spoke to the two of them. "You will both get a full debriefing at headquarters. For now, let's start with the disposition of the corpse of one Andrew Bilk. He was a very rich man, and someone wants an accounting of his death. Starting with where his body is." "Out in the grass. The goons in this camp had his body on the floor, up against the wall there" Dave pointed, "since we had kids coming in soon, I thought it best to get him out of here, so I carried him out into the grass near the other bodies. He's the one in the silk pajamas." "Silk pajamas? That should be easy to distinguish." "Oh, uh Sergeant Barnett? There is a time critical element here. The blonde lady we rescued first, Natasha, she was bound to the rich guy; Bilk you said? Anyway, she needs to be re-partnered. I don't know the exact timeline, but he died around or just after midnight. Problem is, the nurse around here couldn't get any more semen out of the rich guy's nuts, so her only shot is if a lab geek can eke out enough for her. She and the body need to get back to Dallas fast." "Right. Okay, Silvia?" The brunette focused on Barnett. "Yes, sergeant?" "Find this Natasha woman, get her and the silk clad corpse on a chopper and send them back now." "Yes, sergeant." She slipped out the door like vanishing smoke. "Also," Dave interjected, "in the houses are several women that the nurse, Parker, was forced to re-pair from the rich guy to one of these clowns. That was this morning, so they're all in imprinting sleep at the moment. The ones that imprinted later might be able to recognize which redneck imprinted which blonde." Barnett raised an eyebrow. "Apparently, the rich guy had a fixation with blondes." Tinkerbelle ran a hand down her side, giving her body a little wriggle as she did so. "Alright, I'll let lab techs and medicos sort that mess out. We've got a convoy of trucks enroute to haul these folks back to Dallas." As Barnett spoke, the sound of rotors could be heard. As the sound built, the door opened and five kids went straight to the nearest table. Parker followed in after them. "Oh, hey Dave. Listen, some Air Force woman pulled Natasha away. I think they just left on a chopper." Dave nodded. "Are you the nurse that used the Dead Man's Switch on these women?" Barnett asked. Parker stiffened. "Yes, I am. It was either that or let them die." "Relax, I'm not your judge or your jury. I'm just trying to establish a few facts and identities. Do you think you can remember which woman paired with which man?" "Not all of them, but some. The first was the one with the enormous" she suddenly remembered there were kids in the room, "uh, assets. The boss man took her for himself." "Okay, that's fine. Uh, Jessie, think you can find a notepad for ;” "Parker." "Parker here to write down what she remembers on the pairings this morning. The ones from before should be able to tell us themselves." The short blonde exited with haste. Parker checked in with the kids before approaching the sergeant. "Can I check in with the kitchen, to see when their breakfast is ready?" "No need," said Rory, passing through the arch with a plate in each hand, "breakfast is served." Sandy was right behind her, carrying three plates, one in her left hand, and two more up her left arm. The kids cheered. Sandy also had silverware in her right hand. She set that down first. Unburdened, Rory came across the room to Dave. "Listen, Parker mentioned being paired increases a man's metabolism. We made some extra. Would you like something?" "What if the kids want seconds?" "We made enough in case the older two ask for seconds, and still serve a couple of adults." "Like me and the sergeant here?" Rory grinned, "Correct. Why don't you two sit, and I'll bring out two more plates." "I appreciate that, Rory, but Liv hasn't eaten either. Neither has Parker, or you, or ;” "I know, I know, I've got five more servings in here. Sandy and I can make more shortly." "You don't ha--" "Hush. I want to." She leaned in close. "It helps keep my mind off other things." Immediately, Rory exited to the kitchen. Sandy followed after. As they passed through the arch, Jessie, the little blonde Air Force attack pixie came back bearing a portfolio containing a yellow legal pad and a pen. She handed that off to Parker and found herself an out of the way spot along the wall. Dave watched as Parker took a seat several spaces down from the children. After staring blankly at the page for almost a minute, she began writing at a steady pace. Absorbed in watching her, Dave was surprised when Sandy brought him a plate and silverware. Bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast. A perfectly worthy American breakfast. As he ate, Dave noted his companion / captor's face. The man's fair skin was as unpale as possible without adding descriptors like 'sun-kissed'. His jet-black hair strongly suggested an eastern or southern European heritage. That presumption was supported by the darkening along his jawline. Clearly a man that had to shave twice a day to remain within military regs. Unless of course, he went undercover, in which case he could grow a partial disguise in short order. Liv caught his eye as she returned from the kitchen. She took a seat next to Dave, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before digging into the scrambled eggs on the plate of food she'd carried in. She giggled at his pro forma protest when she stole a piece of bacon off his plate. Liv, on one side of Dave, missed the small grin on Barnett's face over the exchange. Her partner saw it though. Another enlisted woman came through the door carrying a sizable hardcase, the kind that usually has thick foam padding inside. She proceeded directly to the counter and swiftly stowed the weapons in the case. Then she carried the case back outside. "We're going to cycle the civilians through here for some breakfast before we entrain for Dallas," Barnett said. "When you're through here, meet me out on the lawn space where we started. Both of you." "You got it." Barnett took his plate and silverware through the kitchen archway. Shortly after, Dave heard the outer door to the kitchen open and close. Dave took a few more minutes to finish his meal. Liv spoke as he arranged his silverware on his plate. "Before you go, you should talk with Aurora. I think you two have something to share." Dave looked at her flatly. "She'd bonded, Liv." The young woman's smile broadened. "Not quite what I meant." Then she grew serious. "Just talk to her. Really, I think it could be good for both of you." She smirked when Dave walked away, fixing her with a wary eye. He found the sink, with a dishwasher beside it. Quickly, he rinsed his plate, placing it in the dishwasher. Rory and Sandy both objected, but he waved them off. Dave went ahead and rinsed the plate and silverware in the sink as well, along with a few cooking utensils. After drying his hands, he approached Rory. "Olivia said we should talk. She didn't say what about. Is this just her idea, or something you want to discuss?" Rory looked downward and swallowed. She looked back up. The haunted look in her eyes tugged at Dave's heart. Sandy noted their faces and suggested they step outside for a private conversation. Rory took his hand and led Dave out of the kitchen's heat and into the cool damp outside. Following her example, he leaned one shoulder against the wall, facing her. He waited for her to speak. "When we were surveying the houses; checking on the women and kids; Liv was asking me how I got here, what I dealt with getting here and being here. Honestly, she was just trying to make conversation. She didn't know what that would lead to." Dave waited again as Rory screwed up her resolve. Hopefully, his eyes were communicating support and patience. He could try speaking words of comfort or support, but the moment seemed too fragile to withstand him saying anything. "One of her questions was why didn't I try to escape after we were captured, before we were imprinted. Or why didn't we try signaling for help once we were stuck here. I can't speak for the others, but; I was not in a good place mentally when I was captured." She paused again, but not as long this time. Her shoulders came inward though, like she was trying to shrink; or hide. "Casey, the man I was supposed to partner with after getting my vaccine shot, is a good friend. He; spent time, when he could, talking to me by Zoom after; after ;” Rory shook with silent sobs. In Dave's heart, he knew what was coming next. The cold hand that gripped him, sapped the joy out of moments with his new family. His brain kept trying to reject the knowledge. Finally, she looked him directly in the eyes. Her composure shattered. "I had two daughters. They were both teenagers." As her tears poured out, Dave stepped in closer, wrapping his arms around her, his own visage twisted with the shared pain. He said nothing, merely held her for several minutes. When her shaking subsided, he waited a bit more. Finally, he took a deep breath and brought his mouth near her ear. With a shaky voice, he said, "My son's name was Eddie. He was twenty-three years old." Her arms around him tightened. Neither spoke. Several minutes later, Rory pulled her head back, an empathetic look on her face. She kissed Dave on the cheek and went back inside. Dave took a few minutes to collect himself. Feeling reasonably steady, he walked around the building. Liv and Barnett were there, waiting. "Okay, so here's what's happening. Most of these people are going back by truck. The convoy is nearly here. You two have a date with Air Force Intel, DPD, and possibly the FBI. You're going back in a chopper, now." Barnett paused, giving Dave a moment to process what he'd said. "Is that white pickup about three hundred meters back along the entry road yours?" "Yes." "Keys." "Excuse me?" "Gimme your keys. I'll have one of my people drive it with the convoy. We'll have it waiting for you when the intel boys and detectives decide to loosen the thumbscrews." Dave pulled his keys out and tossed them to the sergeant. "What about our weapons?" "They'll be in your vehicle." Dave nodded in acknowledgment. Jessie, the little pixie blonde, motioned for Dave and Liv to follow her. She led them to the nearby chopper and walked them through the seat harness mechanism. Two other Air Force personnel took seats on either side of the pair. Jessie returned to Barnett as the rotors began to move. Two minutes later, Dave watched the ground recede. Air Force personnel were scattered all over the compound. As of yet none of the kids had been in the big grassy area where the bodies lay. Just as the nose dipped and turned, Dave caught sight of military trucks edging down the dirt road into the camp. To be continued in part 12, Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts, for Literotica.

Ben talks about how Sydney Sweeney has breasts that flop up and down and are heavy and round and white and they bounce quite extraordinarily due to their weight and shape and jiggling upward in her bra but sometimes there is no bra and her nipples are there. Also Jace the cinephiles reviews Marty Supreme at the Americana, Ben talks Michael Tracy, Prince Andrew, and Devan lays into a fat guy who eats biscuits and sweet tea... Happy new year! https://www.lemonparty.life/ https://hellofresh.com/lemon10fm bonus episodes ⁠https://www.patreon.com/lemonparty⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're doing all the “right” things, but why does it still feel like you're performing your life instead of living it?Why does everything start to feel heavy the moment you think about how it'll look to other people?There's a quiet pressure to show up prepared, polished, and put-together...even when no one asked for that version of you. Maybe it shows up in your work, your routines, or the way you manage everyone else's expectations. Underneath it, there's this fear that if you stop trying so hard, you'll be exposed as “not enough.”In this episode you'll understand:Why over-preparing might actually be blocking your best work (and keeping you from feeling like yourself)The question that led to my biggest breakthrough: "What am I actually afraid will happen if I don't do this?"How "performance mode" shows up differently for everyone — and why it all comes back to the same thing: safetySmall, tangible ways to stop filtering yourself (starting with what you wear and how you speak)After listening, you'll be able to slow down and ask, “What do I actually want right now?” - and trust that answer. Not perfectly. Just honestly.Resources Mentioned:Free Calm Mind Blueprint: http://www.samanthapenkoff.com/calm-mind-podNewsletter: www.samanthapenkoff.com/promptsWork with me:90 min Breakthrough Intensives: You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes. Plus integration call 2 weeks later. Book your BreakthroughExhale: Private Coaching - For women ready to do this work until it sticks and you can't revert back. 4 open spots: Work with meConnect with Sam: Instagram | Facebook

✨ Free Resource Mentioned: STARTING MESSY WORKBOOKAs the year wraps up, Misty gets honest about the work she's been doing behind the scenes for years—and what she's finally owning out loud in 2026.In this episode, Misty shares why so many hairstylists and salon owners think they have a money problem… when in reality, money is often just the symptom. Underneath it?Self-doubt. Overthinking. Fear of being seen. Fear of choosing the “wrong” path. And the exhaustion that comes from being the strong one everyone relies on.After years of coaching stylists through financial growth, confidence blocks, perfectionism, and identity shifts, Misty opens up about why she's stepping fully into life coaching—without hiding behind the money conversation anymore.

Send us a textA small industry feels big when the right people link arms. We close the year with honest wins, a few hard lessons, and a clear plan to help shed, metal building, and post-frame pros grow in 2026—without losing the heart that got us here. Together with our friends at Shed Geek, we map out an eight-episode pole barn series leading into NFBA, a slate of dealer spotlights, and a consumer-first video push that meets buyers where they scroll with fast, clear answers.We talk strategy that actually moves the needle: financing options that reduce friction at the lot, digital tools that generate qualified leads, and content that explains site prep, delivery, and build quality in plain language. If you're a dealer or installer, this is your heads-up to get involved. If you're a manufacturer or vendor, this is a chance to support education that lifts the entire category. And if you're a buyer doing research, expect short, practical videos that help you compare a prefab shed, a custom metal building, or a post-frame build with confidence.Underneath the tactics is what keeps us steady: friendship, faith, public service, and a shared belief that business works best when it serves people. You'll hear stories about showing up for community, saying thanks to mentors, and making space for missions work—proof that strong companies come from grounded lives. We're grateful for every download, handshake, and candid critique this year, and we want more of it.Want to be featured, ask a tough question, or shape the upcoming series? Reach out and tell us what would help you sell more, build better, or buy smarter. If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a review so more builders and buyers can find us.For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.Would you like to receive our weekly newsletter?  Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.This episodes Sponsors:Studio Sponsor: J Money LLC

Underneath the starlit sky, surrounded by hay and animal filth, the Savior of the World and Hope of Heaven is born. The climax of creation and crescendo of the cosmos takes place in the most humble of contexts.Today's Bible verse is Isaiah 7:14, from the King James Version.Download the Pray.com app for more Christian content including, Daily Prayers, Inspirational Testimonies, and Bedtime Bible Stories.Pray.com is the digital destination for faith. With over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible, the Pray.com app has everything you need to keep your focus on the Lord. Make Prayer a priority and download the #1 App for Prayer and Sleep today in the Apple app store or Google Play store.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just when Carmina and Patch thought they've discovered everything they could about Filipino Christmas traditions, they come across Niños Inocentes. And as is true for every other present-day tradition, they found its indigenous roots and the Filipino penchant for simultaneous resistance and humor. Happy Holidays to FilTrip listeners!  Learn more: Beware Ninos Inocentes Day, What is the Feast of the Holy Innocents?, Spooky Christmas Culture, Yawa Yawa Mask of Terror, Pisting Yawa: The Devil who was once a Bisayan Deity, Underneath the Yawa-Yawa Mask, Feast of the Holy Innocents, Día de los Inocentes - Mexico's Answer to April Fools, Why ‘devils' take centerstage in Aklan villages during Christmas, and Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas.  Visit https://filtrip.buzzsprout.com. Drop a note at thefiltrip@gmail.com. Thanks to FilTrip's sponsor SOLEPACK. Visit thesolepack.com for more details.See https://www.buzzsprout.com/privacy for Privacy Policy.

Happy Holidays! On RNIB Connect Radio we spoke with young Emmy Anstee to find out how she and her family make the festive period inclusive. Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underline with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font.

A plant on the brink. Labor unrest, safety issues, shaky quality, and a community that had lost faith. Steve Matteson stepped into that storm with almost no runway and chose an unconventional starting point: listen deeply, walk the floor, and build a system people actually believe in. What followed is a rare, practical blueprint for turning a failing operation into a proud, profitable, and resilient culture.We dive into the first 48 hours—hour-long one-on-ones, a real gemba tour, and the surprising power of choosing leaders for connection rather than technical stardom. Steve Matteson explains how he ended “mandatory meetings,” made safety and quality everyone's job, and installed a weekly cross-functional cadence with clear inputs and outputs. You'll hear how accountability with dignity defused tension, why inviting injured teammates into root-cause problem solving changed behavior, and how a simple, employee-led newsletter amplified trust and momentum across a 1,000-person workforce.• starting a turnaround with gemba and one-on-ones• selecting leaders for connection over individual brilliance• weekly cadence, “no surprises,” and cross-functional glue• accountability with dignity and ending mandatory meetings• teaching safety and quality as everyone's job with PDSA• physical renewal, 5S, TPM, and visible standards• handling naysayers through open forums and union trust• bold process change with single-pass mixing and stabilization• documenting habits so culture endures beyond the leader• faith shaping mindset, humility, and serviceThis is a masterclass in sustainable change. We trace physical renewal and 5S as symbolic turning points, TPM to reduce downtime, and a bold shift to single-pass rubber mixing backed by meticulous stabilization and transparent communication. Steve Matteson shares how he documented a repeatable operating model in 31 concise chapters, built quarterly off-sites for senior leaders, and prepared the culture to thrive long after he moved on. Underneath it all is a candid look at mindset and faith—guarding the mind in crisis, choosing the next right step, and leading with humility and purpose.If you're trying to revive a team, unify a divided workforce, or make improvements stick, this story gives you the practical moves and the human touchpoints to get there. Subscribe, share this with a leader who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway so we can keep equipping uncommon leaders.Thanks for listening in to the Uncommon Leader Podcast. Please take just a minute to share this podcast with that someone you know that you thought of when you heard this episode. One of the most valuable things you can do is to rate the podcast and leave a review. You can do that on Apple podcasts, or rate the podcast on Spotify or any other platform you listen. Did you know that many of the things that I discuss on the Uncommon Leader Podcast are subjects that I coach other leaders and organizations ? If you would be interested in having me discuss 1:1 or group coaching with you, or know someone who is looking to move from Underperforming to Uncommon in their business or life, I would love to chat with you. Click this link to set up a FREE CALL to discuss how coaching might benefit you and your team) Until next time, Go and Grow Champions!!Connect with me

JJ talks about their year in chess that was and wasn't, which turns into a conversation with Julia about grief, loss, and self-knowledge. JJ references their essay on substack, which begins here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-180266870Buy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

Episode 440 of Friends Talking Nerdy keeps the holiday theme rolling, but this time Professor Aubrey and Tim the Nerd unwrap one of the most emotionally complicated traditions of the season: gift giving. On the surface, it's boxes and bows. Underneath, it's psychology, social pressure, joy, guilt, and the low-grade panic of asking yourself, “Is this… enough?”Professor Aubrey and Tim the Nerd dig into the mental health side of giving gifts, starting with the dopamine hit that comes from nailing it. Few things feel better than watching someone light up because you got them. That moment of connection, thoughtfulness, and shared joy is powerful and genuinely good for the brain. Then comes the other side of the wrapping paper: the stress spiral. The pressure to find the “perfect gift,” the fear of disappointing someone, the comparison game, and the financial strain that sneaks in wearing a Santa hat.The conversation also takes a thoughtful turn toward people who don't celebrate holidays at all, particularly those whose religious beliefs mean they opt out of traditional holiday activities. Professor Aubrey and Tim The Nerd explore how things like Secret Santa at work or school—often framed as “just for fun”—can unintentionally alienate people who don't participate. They talk about inclusion, assumptions, and how well-meaning traditions can sometimes leave folks feeling awkward, excluded, or pressured to explain themselves.As always, the episode balances empathy with humor, reminding listeners that gift giving isn't really about stuff—it's about relationships, expectations, and navigating social norms without losing your mind. Whether you love shopping, hate shopping, or quietly wish everyone would just agree to exchange snacks and call it a day, this episode has something for you.The Songs of the Week bring big energy and big nostalgia: “Christmas in Hollis” by Run-D.M.C., because holiday hip-hop is undefeated, and “The Rockafeller Skank” by Fatboy Slim, a reminder that sometimes the best gift is a beat that makes you forget your to-do list.As always, we wish to thank Christopher Lazarek for his wonderful theme song. Head to his ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for information on how to purchase his EP, Here's To You, which is available on all digital platforms.Head to Friends Talking Nerdy's⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for more information on where to find us online.

Send us a textKen from the Sounds of Christmas talks to singer/songwriter Dionya Marie about her single "Missing You Underneath The Mistletoe", working with Snoop Dogg & Amy Grant, a new Christmas album and so much more!Check out "Missing You Underneath The Mistletoe"Dionya's websiteConnect with DionyaShow links:Listen to the Sounds of Christmas stationFind the Sounds of Christmas podcastCheck out the new Sounds of Christmas ShopConnect with the Sounds of Christmas on social mediaCheck out all the artists that are making the 2025 season of the Sounds of Christmas station possibleSupport the show

Join Jonathan Abro on his bus trip around the Balkans. The first stop is the capital of Albania, Tirana. Liaten to Jonathan's Travelogues every Wednesday on The Lunch Break from 12 noon to 1 pm. Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underline with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font. 

President Trump continues to leave his mark on the White House, including a controversial new installment along his Walk of Fame. Underneath portraits of former presidents, Trump has installed permanent plaques describing each President’s legacy, according to HIM, and written by HIM. Amy and T.J. read the plaques aloud and weigh in on why we, as a nation, aren’t reacting to their absurdity, and are instead, taking them seriously. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump continues to leave his mark on the White House, including a controversial new installment along his Walk of Fame. Underneath portraits of former presidents, Trump has installed permanent plaques describing each President’s legacy, according to HIM, and written by HIM. Amy and T.J. read the plaques aloud and weigh in on why we, as a nation, aren’t reacting to their absurdity, and are instead, taking them seriously. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump continues to leave his mark on the White House, including a controversial new installment along his Walk of Fame. Underneath portraits of former presidents, Trump has installed permanent plaques describing each President’s legacy, according to HIM, and written by HIM. Amy and T.J. read the plaques aloud and weigh in on why we, as a nation, aren’t reacting to their absurdity, and are instead, taking them seriously. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump continues to leave his mark on the White House, including a controversial new installment along his Walk of Fame. Underneath portraits of former presidents, Trump has installed permanent plaques describing each President’s legacy, according to HIM, and written by HIM. Amy and T.J. read the plaques aloud and weigh in on why we, as a nation, aren’t reacting to their absurdity, and are instead, taking them seriously. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EP:171 This solo episode has been a long time coming. I'm finally sitting down to walk you through what the last few months have really looked like behind the scenes — the baseball fields, the retreats, the business highs, the gut punches, and turning 40 in the most unexpectedly beautiful way. I take you with me through: Motherhood in the thick of it – Eli's select baseball, Charlie's umpiring journey, and what it's been like to finally feel joy and “magic” again after years of grief. Big work seasons and leadership retreats – the conversations that lit my brain on fire, falling in love (again) with the business side of what I do, and why connecting with other women fills my cup. Mother Collective & Smarty Pants events – the deep, honest talks with women who are quietly suffering in their relationships, being called “crazy,” gaslit, and doubting their own reality. I share how that mirrors my past, and why self-worth and nervous system regulation are non‑negotiables. Trust, family, and my 40th birthday – the painful “no” from my family, the overwhelming surprise Carter planned with my best friends at Miraval, and what it brought up about being loved, chosen, and celebrated. Underneath all of it is this: learning to trust yourself, protect your peace, regulate your nervous system, and refuse to be spoken to or treated in ways that don't feel safe or respectful. If this episode hits home, please: Share it with a friend who needs to hear they are not crazy and not alone.. Hit follow and leave a review so more parents can find this work. Screenshot and tag the show so I can see what resonated most and keep creating what you need. #motherhood #momlife #parenting #selfworth #nervoussystemregulation #mentalhealth #healing #griefjourney #toxicrelationships #gaslighting #marriage #relationshipadvice #baseballmom #anxiety #burnoutrecovery #boundaries #hashimotos #personaldevelopment #podcast

This week on Real Food Stories, Heather breaks down the wild world of midlife nutrition in 2025 — from microdosing GLP-1s, oral semaglutide, and high-protein everything to cottage-cheese coffee, weighted vests, and the fiber frenzy. If nutrition felt chaotic this year, you're not imagining it.We revisit my most downloaded episodes on HRT confusion and upgrading your midlife kitchen, and she shares her own experience navigating hormone therapy around surgery — a perfect example of why women remain overwhelmed by inconsistent guidance.Underneath all the noise, one message stood out: women need clarity, strength, real food, and community.I close the episode with an invitation to join The Well Nourished Woman, her supportive space for women 40+ who want evidence-based guidance without the overwhelm.I would love to hear from you! What did you think of the episode? Share it with me :) Support the showLet's Be FriendsHang out with Heather on IG @greenpalettekitchen or on FB HERE.Let's Talk!Whether you are looking for 1-1 nutrition coaching or kitchen coaching let's have a chat. Click HERE to reach out to Heather.Did You Love This Episode? "I love Heather and the Real Food Stories Podcast!" If this is you, please do not hesitate to leave a five-star review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Henshaws are running a 12 Days Of Giving Appeal to support for the Artmakers at the Henshaws Arts & Crafts Centre in Knaresborough. The sessions support visually impaired and disabled adults to express themselves creatively. Amelia learned more from Senior Philanthropy Manager Flora Simpson... Learn more on their website - Craft Activities for Visually Impaired and Disabled Adults - Henshaws Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underline with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font. 

The line between “normal sore” and “season-ender” can be thinner than a springboard. We've been seeing a spike in shin pain as athletes ramp into meet season, so we dug into what actually separates routine aches from stress reactions and fractures—and how to act before things break. You'll hear the red flags we never ignore, why focal anterior tibia pain is different from posteromedial soreness, and the simple rule of threes that helps coaches and athletes make better calls on the floor.We share the four-stage path we use in the clinic—relative rest, strength, plyos, and sport return—and why early action shrinks each phase. One surprising insight: bone is most responsive to the first 20 to 60 impacts, especially in the morning, which means a short dose of depth drops and pogo hops can outpace long, junk-mile sessions. Add in heavy calf work, single-leg plyos, and targeted landing mechanics, and you get a plan that builds resilience without burning the fuse. We also talk realistic event modifications, smart rep caps for vault and floor, and checkpoints for progressing from rod to floor and from soft board to springboard.Underneath the protocols are the big levers: workload honesty, technical efficiency, and adequate fuel. Many athletes aren't weak; they're over-spiked, under-fueled, and landing hard. Tidy up shapes, let the equipment return energy, and loop in sports nutrition when progress stalls. If your goal is college gymnastics or simply a healthy, complete season, the bravest move is often stepping back for two weeks to save the next twelve. Listen to learn the exact tests, numbers, and conversations that help athletes stay on track and out of boots. If this episode helps, subscribe, share it with a coach or teammate, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. We appreciate you listening! To learn more about SHIFT, head here - https://shiftmovementscience.com/To learn about SHIFT's courses, check our website here - https://courses.shiftmovementscience.com/Also, please consider rating, reviewing, and sharing the podcast with your friends! Thanks :)Thanks for listening to The SHIFT Show! Check out SHIFT's most popular courses here! https://courses.shiftmovementscience.com/Want to join our online educational community of over 1000 gymnastics professionals and get 40+ hours of gymnastics lectures? Join The Hero Lab below!https://shiftmovementscience.com/theherolab/ Check out all our past podcast episodes here!https://shiftmovementscience.com/podcast/

1. In his sermon today, Tim repeatedly returned to the phrase “calamity has two faces.” He went on to describe one face that's characterized by neighboring, open hearts, bravery in saving others, and a deep sense of belonging to one another. The other face is characterized by closed hearts, fear rising, darkness, and cruelty.Have you been in calamitous situations in which others have taken on faces of either open heartedness or close hearted fear? How did those “faces” show up? How did they impact others in the situation and/or the situation itself?Which face comes more naturally to you in the face of adversity, calamity, or distress? Are there factors in the circumstances that change what your answer might be? What kind of situations have shown you your own tendencies in this type of context?2. Discussing Isaiah 34 and 35, Tim talked about the prophetic voice when it comes to scary and uncertain times. He talked about the first move for the prophetic voice being the act of truth telling, but also talked about a second move. He said “sometimes going against the grain means speaking a word of hope in the midst of calamity.”Which prophetic move, if either, feels more natural to you? Do you see yourself as a prophetic voice or do you see yourself as having the ability to become one? How comfortable are you speaking truth in moments on which it may be unpalatable or unwelcome? How comfortable are you speaking words of hope when hope may be unfashionable or difficult to embrace? If you can think of an experience during which someone else's prophetic word of hope impacted you, share about it with the group.3. Tim put up a slide that said “our task in this last phase of Advent is to reach out to God, each other, to reach deep inside ourselves and find a place of hope.”What does that look like? How do we do it? How could we cultivate that with and for each other?How much resistance do you feel to that idea or that intention? Why?Underneath that intention lies the statement Tim returned to again and again: “Calamity has two faces…and we do have a choice.” Do you really believe that statement? Both parts of it? Share about why you feel the way you do about this statement and what it means for you.Tim talked about finding that place of hope, and then sharing it with someone else. Do you feel capable of doing that? If it feels difficult, do you feel willing to try? Who in your orbit and life could you share hope with this season? Who needs it? What might that look like in a practical or concrete way? What could you make a plan to actually do to carry the prophetic hope of Advent into the world around you?

A beach, a phone on 0.5 zoom, and a comedian trying to outrun a stubborn year—this one starts fast and refuses to walk it back. We kick things off with a flurry of winter tour dates and then throw ourselves into the Gulf-side chaos: strangers staring, cargo ships hulking on the horizon, and the mind game of recording while the world pretends not to notice. It's messy, it's loud, and it's honest about what touring feels like when the budget is thin and the calendar is full.We dig into concert joy and the sacred act of screaming a deep cut louder than the crowd, the survival math of road food versus body pain, and why 2025 feels like a restaurant that won't bring the check. Resolutions get stripped down to something real: stay alive, keep moving, and stop pretending reinvention happens overnight. Along the way, we torch Elf on the Shelf as a goofy surveillance state, poke at autoplay platforms that push you into shows you didn't pick, and question pop-culture darlings without pretending we're above the fray. The sciatica saga becomes a running gag and a real lesson: sustainability beats bravado when your job is laughing for strangers.Underneath the jokes, there's a clear heartbeat: comedy is lonely, then suddenly communal; it hurts, then it heals; it's the quick, silly ritual that lets the heavy stuff breathe. If you need a release valve for a year that overstayed, pull up a chair on the seawall and ride the noise with us.Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a laugh, and leave a review to help others find the show. What are you ditching before 2026 hits?Support the showhttps://www.patreon.com/c/DiscombobulatedwithBobbyJaycox

Blizzard Revelations. Two best friends, stranded in a car, find fun ways to keep warm. Based on a post by LindseyLuv. Listen to the Podcast at My First Time. "Hey, Lindsey; you all set?" A tall, shaggy-haired fella came up from the basement guest bedroom, then strode the hallway, and called up the staircase to her 2nd story bedroom, from near the front door. Lindsey felt her stomach flutter once again. Jackson was actually back from college. In his hand, he carried a suitcase of his own, and a laptop bag slung over his shoulder. He smiled at her as she came down the big oak stairs, and she nodded. "Yep, Jack; just gotta grab my rucksack and lock up, and we're good to go!" She couldn't remember when the two of them had first met. Their parents had been close friends for years, before they'd even been born. So far as she cared, she'd known Jackson forever. They'd grown up together, referred to each other as cousins. The pair had been almost inseparable, all the way up to Jackson leaving for college. Worst yet, his parents had to move; when the corporation shut down the local factory, and his dad had to move in order to fill another management position, or face unemployment at age 51. Lindsey’s anxieties were mounting, until yesterday, when his flight arrived. She'd been absolutely heartbroken last August. to see him go. But he kept his promise, that he'd visit as soon as he came back for the holidays. Which sadly coincided with her own family’s reunion. Her parents insisted that she come with them, but she negotiated a compromise. Jackson would use her car to drive her, on his way to his own relative’s gathering. It just so happened the day he flew back was the day before her Great Aunt's get-together, so while her parents left yesterday morning, she hung around to pick him up at the airport. The plan was for him to stay over that night, then drive the two of them, to drop her at the reunion, seeing as it wasn't too far from his cousins' place. That way, he could drive to his kin, and see them too. Then two days later he’d pick Lindsey up from the reunion, and drive her back a few days later, if she didn't want to stay the whole week, like her folks. She'd nearly tackled him near the baggage claim, when she saw him run down the airport concourse. The pair had spent the evening laughing, eating, and reminiscing. Jackson had plenty of stories to tell her about his first semester at college, and Lindsey eagerly hung on his every word. When he’d finally gone down to the basement guest bedroom, it was well past midnight. She’d already fallen asleep while the two were watching an old favorite DVD title. He’s woke her up and directed her to go up and get some sleep. By the time they were up and about, the next day; they realized there was no way they were going to make it on time. It was getting on for noon when the snow started to fall; lightly covering the driveway as Lindsey dragged her suitcase out to Jackson's car. She knew they were only going away for a week, but she wanted to be prepared, especially with the weather as it was, so she'd filled her bags with as many jumpers, woolly hats, and thick comfy socks as she could. A decision she was starting to regret as she struggled to heave the bulging suitcase into the trunk of her little car. Finally cramming it into the space, she stepped back, taking a moment to breathe. All around her, the snow fell lazily through the air, getting heavier by the minute, and she wondered if it would ease off much, before the two of them left for her great aunt's. 'Oh well, at least it'll be a white Christmas...' she thought to herself, before turning back towards the open door of her house. She loved almost everything about Christmas, but the annual family reunion certainly wasn't on the list. She could count on one hand, how many of her relatives she actually liked, and even then she had plenty of fingers spare. In fact, the only person she really cared about visiting, had just been her house guest. But that visit was nearly over. Only the car ride remained. “Start the car, Jack." "Cool-cool, but hurry up, I don't like the look of this snow. We might end up stranded in a blizzard, if we're not careful; and you'll miss your fam." Jackson shot her a wink. "And I know how much you'd hate that." Giggling at his sarcasm, Linsey ran back into her house. She'd left her rucksack just inside the door, and she quickly grabbed it before locking up and running back down to the car. The snowfall had gotten pretty heavy by now, and she saw Jackson chuck his stuff onto the back seat before getting into the driver's side door, and revving the engine. Burying her face in her scarf to keep warm, Lindsey threw her rucksack in the back as well, before climbing into the passenger side seat next to him. Clicking her seatbelt into place, she turned and gave him a nod, and off the two went. Relaxing back into her seat, Lindsey watched the snowflakes fall as Jackson gently took the car out of the driveway and onto the almost pure white road. Rubbing her hands together in the frigid air, she reached out and cracked up the thermostat a little, before settling back again. It wasn't a particularly long drive, only a few hours, but she could already tell it was going to be a chilly one. The snow wasn't too much of a problem while they drove through the city, salt trucks leaving the roads mostly clear. As they got out into the countryside, Jackson started to take it slower, carefully navigating the narrow lanes as the snow continued to fall. Once or twice they saw the skid marks of cars that hadn't been quite as cautious, and at one point a tow truck passed them, pulling the unfortunate survivor of a nasty off-road skid. The first hour passed quickly. The thermostat did its job, and the car quickly armed up enough for Lindsey to drop her scarf and gloves. The two friends chattered away happily as the miles passed, and the music from the radio helped fill any lulls. However, as the sun began to set, the snowfall only got heavier and heavier. Lindsey could feel herself getting increasingly nervous, finding it harder and harder to see the passing countryside, and could only imagine how hard it must be for Jackson at the wheel. "Damn it;" the young man muttered under his breath, craning forward to peer out between the falling snowflakes. Lindsey could feel the stress radiating off of him, and did her best to stay calm. The last thing she wanted to do is panic him any more than he already was. Pretty soon though, they both realized they were going to have to stop. The snow was falling so heavily now that neither of them could see the road, let alone anything else. Lindsey felt her stomach drop as Jackson shook his head, pulling the car up onto the verge at the side of the road. "Sorry Linds, I can't keep going in this. If we're lucky it'll blow over soon, and we can get going again, but for the meantime, it's just not safe;" Lindsey looked up at him and saw the look of concern on his face. "You might wanna call your folks." Lindsey gave him a worries nod. She could feel her stomach tying itself up in knots as she pulled out her cell phone. They were a long way from anywhere, out there, and if they got stuck overnight it was going to get very, very cold. Dialing her parents, she anxiously waited for them to pick up. "Hey, Dad, it's me. Um, yeah, me and Jackson are on our way, but the snow is; it's coming down pretty hard, so we're just going to pull over for a bit. No need to worry about us, it's all good. We're just going to be a bit later than we thought, that's all. I'll call you when we start moving again. Yep, yep, we'll be safe, don't worry. I love you too. See you soon" The young woman hung up, hoping she didn't sound too scared on the phone. "Ok, what do we do now?" Jackson frowned as he looked down at the fuel indicator. It was getting a little low. "Well, I think we should turn the car off for now, so we don't waste gas until we can start moving again. I don't wanna think about what'd happen if we; you know. Other than that, we just gotta wait it out I guess." Shutting off the engine, Jackson settled back into his seat as snow began to pile onto the windshield. Immediately, the car began to get colder, and Lindsey shivered as she bundled herself up in her coat. Outside, she could hear the wind howling, and she looked over to her friend, hoping for comfort, but only saw herself faced with a worried expression. "It'll be fine, don't worry. We just; gotta wait. For a bit" His voice sounded shaky as he tried to reassure her. Surprisingly, it worked pretty well. For the next few hours, the two sat and talked to try and keep their minds off the weather. Occasionally, Jackson would flick on the wipers to clear the snow on the windscreen so they could check the state of the weather, but it never improved. If anything, it was still getting worse. An hour passed, then two, and it started to dawn on the pair that things probably weren't going to improve that evening. "Maybe; maybe we should settle in for the night;" Lindsey's voice trembled as she spoke, partly from the cold and partly out of fear. "I'm gonna call my dad again;" Jackson nodded, his hands inside his sleeves as she fished her phone out again. "Uh, hey Dad? It's me again. The, um, the snow's not easing off, so we're going too; yeah, yeah I know; We're going to stay here for the night, ok? And we'll drive the rest of the way tomorrow? Ok? Don't worry, we've got loads of clothes and blankets and things, we'll be fine. Yeah, yeah we'll be careful. I know. I love you too. Bye." Lindsey hung up and turned to her friend. "He's not happy, but he knows there's nothing we can do." She let out a long sigh, looking at the floor. "Sorry." "Hey, it's ok, don't; don't worry, you don't need to apologize." Looking back up through the tears, she saw Jackson smiling at her, and felt his hand on her shoulder. Despite the freezing weather, Lindsey felt a little shimmer of warmth move through her at his touch. "You can't help the weather, can you? And it's cool, at least I'm not stuck out here alone." Lindsey chuckled as she fought back her tears. She wiped her eyes and looked back over her shoulder at the back seat. "What are we going to do about sleeping?" Despite their heavy clothes, she could feel herself starting to shiver. Jackson looked thoughtful for a second, before replying. "I guess we'll have to share the back seat; It'll be cramped, but we don't have much choice. The seats up here don't really recline at all." Lindsey nodded her head. It wouldn't be the first time the two of them had slept so close together, but she had to admit, this was a bit different. After all, they'd been kids last time. Ah well, better to be warm than worry about nothing, she thought to herself. "Do we have blankets or anything?" Again, Jackson looked thoughtful. "We could get our clothes out of the trunk? We can pile them on top of us to keep warm." He gave her a nervous smile. "Not quite blankets, but I'm sure they'll do the job." Lindsey felt a little knot in her stomach but ignored it. She had to admit, it was a good idea, but something about Jackson seeing all her clothes spread out made her feel nervous. It took her a moment to realize why, but by the time she had he'd already disappeared out of the car, hurrying towards the trunk to retrieve their suitcases. Ignoring it, she climbed into the back seat, settling across them as she heard Jackson rifling through their belongings in the freezing wind. As soon as she found herself in the back of the car, the young woman realized a slight problem with the plan. The seats weren't very wide, and unless they wanted to sleep upright or in the foot well, the two friends would have to sleep pretty much on top of each other. She swallowed hard. This situation just kept getting weirder and weirder. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, the door to her left flew open, and a deluge of clothing poured across her. Caught off guard, the young woman yelped in surprise, eliciting a quick apology from her friend, stood in the doorway holding an empty suitcase. "Sorry, sorry, should've warned you!" Lindsey's yelp of surprise quickly turned to giggles of laughter. "Don't worry, just hurry up and get back inside before you freeze to death!" With a smile, Jackson nodded, throwing the suitcase back into the trunk before reaching down and grabbing a second. Hers. Lindsey felt the butterflies in her stomach again as he quickly unzipped it and emptied the contents over her again. She watched as her neatly folded laundry cascaded out of the bag, t-shirts and spare jeans tumbling into the foot well, along with, much to her dismay, all her underwear. Jackson didn't seem to notice, shaking the snow from his boots and quickly jumping in next to her. As he closed the door, shivering, she quickly grabbed a large fleece and threw it towards him. "Here, warm up a bit". Her friend smiled in appreciation, pulling the woolen jumper over himself. Lindsey looked around at the clothing carnage. She bit her lip. There was no way he wasn't going to see it all; pairs of silk panties and lace bras dotted the backseat, making her lingerie impossible to miss. Turning to her friend, she could feel her cheeks burning pink. "Uh, Jackson, do me a favor, could you just; ignore; the underwear?" Turning to look back at her, the young man looked confused, before his eyes scanned the seats and his own cheeks started to turn red. "Oh, uh; sorry, I; I didn't;" Lindsey couldn't help but chuckle. The flustered look on his face was adorable, and in that moment she couldn't think of anything but a lost puppy. She squeezed his arm under the layer of loose clothes. "Don't worry, you couldn't help it. It's my fault for packing everything into one suitcase!" The pair laughed nervously, before settling into silence. A few moments passed before Jackson piped up again. "So, uh, how're we; Ya know. Doing this?" The pair looked at the space between them. They both knew they couldn't fit next to each other, but neither person wanted to be the first to say it. Finally, Lindsey bit the bullet. "Do you wanna be on top or underneath?" She saw Jackson swallow heavily. "Uh, I'll go underneath, I guess? Don't want to crush you, after all." The young man chuckled, trying to defuse the awkwardness of the situation in the way he always did. Lindsey chuckled too. She had to admit, she hoped that would be the arrangement. After all, she was a lot smaller than he was. Shuffling towards the door to let him get comfortable, she replied: "After you then!" Taking off his boots, Jackson slid down onto the seats, piling the loose clothes up and over himself. Lindsey watched intently, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. Why was she so nervous? It wasn't like they were doing anything weird. Well, weirder than being stuck in the snow. It was Jackson, she'd known him forever! Shaking her head, she gave him a smile, before settling down too. Instinctively, his hands came up to meet her, guiding her down on top of him. Immediately, she felt the warmth of his body through their clothes, and she found herself nestling into her friend as they awkwardly tried to avoid eye contact. The young woman could hear her heartbeat in her ears, the red flush of embarrassment getting stronger by the second. Reaching around them, the two started pulling the clothes across themselves, tucking them into the gaps on either side to insulate them from the cold. Carefully, Lindsey did her best to push aside anything she'd rather he didn't see into the foot well, some of the more risqué items catching Jackson's eye before he pointedly looked away, cheeks red. Pretty soon, the two were almost completely covered, only their faces poking out of the mountain of fabric. Doing their best to ignore the awkwardness of the situation, the two settled down. Lying on her front, Lindsey could feel her chest pressed close to Jackson, her tits squished close to his beating heart, and no matter where she looked, their faces were so close she always felt like she was staring directly at him. Eventually, she piped up. "Should I, uh, should I roll over, onto my back? Or, is this ok? What's; what works for you?" She tried not to think too hard about his answer. "I'm happy like this, if you are. Or not. Whatever" Her cheeks felt like they could burst into flames at any moment. "I, uh,; I think this is fine" From underneath her, Jackson's voice rose, shaky with nerves, and she wondered if he was feeling just as out of sorts as she was. With a nod, she turned away, resting her head on his chest. Despite settling in to sleep, the young woman's mind was racing. What were they doing? This was crazy, what if someone saw them together? Bundled up like this, at the side of the road, under the clothes? What would they think? She swallowed. She knew exactly what they'd think. And with a start she realized that excited her. A long, awkward silence hung in the air. Lindsey did her best to ignore her racing thoughts and settle down to sleep. Despite the mountain of clothes, she found herself still shivering, and nuzzled deeper into Jackson for warmth. After a while, she glanced up to see snow covering the windows, cutting the pair of them off from the rest of the world. It was just her now. Her and Jackson. She felt a tingle ran down her spine. Well at least we don't have to worry about anyone looking in and getting the wrong idea, she thought to herself. Settling in, her mind started to wander. Trying not to think about Jackson, she found herself pondering the situation they found themselves in. What would happen if the sow hadn't cleared by the next morning? Would they need to call for help? What if it got even colder? A sudden memory passed through her head, of an old TV documentary about arctic explorers. She remembered that often, when trapped in cold climates, people would strip off and share body heat to keep themselves warm. Immediately, she felt her blush returning. Behind her, she felt Jackson's hands move lower down her back, to just above her ass, and she froze. A voice in the darkness, breathless, whispered. Uh, is this ok? My, uh, my arms were getting a little cramped;" Lindsey felt her breath catch in her throat. "Y-yeah, it's fine, don't worry." Instinctively, she shuffled her weight a bit, making it more comfortable for both of them. The two lay in silence for a bit longer, before Lindsey felt her own arms beginning to cramp, her hands on the seat taking most of her weight to keep it off Jackson. Readjusting, she let her body fall, and found her hands around his shoulders, holding him close. "Is that ok too?" She felt him nod underneath her and felt a sigh of relief escaped her lips. His soft voice filled the quiet again. "Sure. Don't worry about squishing me, you're; you're pretty light, you know;" The two chuckled and fell into silence again. Lindsey felt conflicted. She couldn't help but notice how firm his shoulders were, how warm and strong his arms around her felt. Soon, she found her mind wandering again, and quickly diverted her attention elsewhere. No, this was Jackson she was thinking about! She could never; could she? From under her, she felt Jackson shift, awkwardly, nervously, before speaking again. "Uh, hey Lindsey, are you; are you still cold?" Lindsey felt her heart beating like mad in her chest. "Y-yeah, a little. Actually." She thought about the arctic explorers again and bit her tongue. No, how could she even be thinking about that? But, if it kept them warmer; She didn't know what to do. On the one hand, she desperately wanted the warmth, on the other; "You know, um, one of the, I heard on tv once that, when people get stuck in the arctic they, uh; well;" Lindsey trailed off. Holy shit, what am I saying? Under her, she felt her best friend brace himself, unsure where she was going with this, and she bit her tongue again. Can't go back now... "Body heat gets kinda; you know; trapped by the, uh; by clothes; So they, uh; yeah" She couldn't bring herself to say it, the words kept getting caught in her mouth. A long pause sat frozen in the air. "So; should we?" "Y-yeah. Yeah, I; I heard the same thing. So; yeah. I think we should. You know; get, uh;" Jackson's voice trailed off, before returning with his trademark humor, although she could tell from his voice how painfully nervous he was. Just like her. "Besides, it's already pretty awkward, right? What's the harm? It's not like we've never seen each other naked before;" Even so, that was a long time ago, and they'd both changed a lot since then. Still, Lindsey couldn't deny the truth in Jackson words. With a breathless nod, she sat up, and the two friends began to undress. The young woman tried not to look as Jackson first stripped off his t-shirt, followed by his shorts. He paused, hands on the waistband of his boxers, and turned to her, still averting his gaze. "Uh, should we; I mean, we could keep our underwear on; But... "Yeah;" Lindsey's own breathless voice joined his. "I; I'm sure it; uh, it'll work better if there's nothing blocking the body heat; right?" "Yeah, yeah, I think so too;" As Jackson reached down and pulled off his underwear, Lindsey averted her eyes again. She couldn't deny that part of her wanted to see him, stripped naked before her, but she did her best to ignore it. "Just; promise not to look, ok?" Jackson nodded. Staring pointedly at the roof of the car, Lindsey swallowed nervously before unbuttoning her shirt, letting it fall into the foot well as she fiddled with the zipper of her jeans. Down to her underwear, she could feel the bitter cold attacking her bare skin, and the desire to get back under cover overpowered her nerves. Fiddling behind her back with numbing fingers, she struggled to unhook her bra, and when she finally did she let out a yelp of surprise as the fabric slipped from her hand, sending the item straight down onto Jackson's face. A frozen moment hung in the air, before the pair started laughing. Settling back down, Lindsey, reached down and slipped off her panties, the momentum of the moment carrying her forward before she could second guess herself. Hurriedly dragging the mountain of fabric back over themselves, the pair did their best to ignore the feeling of the other person's naked body, pressed so close to their own. But soon they were snuggled down again, and Lindsey couldn't deny the way her bare tits felt pressed against Jackson's chest, her nipples stiffened by the cold and unmistakable against his skin. If she'd felt strange before, it was nothing to how she felt now. In the dark, she could feel her cheeks burning bright red, and she desperately hoped Jackson couldn't see. Between them, her heartbeat pounded in her chest, mixing with Jackson's as the two childhood friends held onto each other, already feeling warmer. She could barely breathe as she slid her arms back over his shoulders, feeling his hands take hold on her waist once again. Even though they'd held each other this way only moments before, without their clothes it felt so much more intimate, and Lindsey, could feel the butterflies in her stomach reaching a fever pitch. Between my legs, she felt a tingling in her loins, and she bit her lip hard in an attempt to calm herself down. Truth be told, she'd never seen a man naked before; she'd never had a boyfriend stick around long enough to get that far. Underneath her, pressed against her thigh, she could feel something hard, and it took her a moment to realize what it was. Concealing a gasp, the young woman. Is that; it can't be? But then, what else could it be? Lindsey realized it could be only one thing; Jackson's penis! Underneath her, she felt her best friend shuffle uncomfortably, and his half-erect cock pressed against her thigh, only inches from her virgin pussy. Lindsey felt a thrill of excitement ripple through her, but she repressed it. She didn't know what to think. Did he; Like her? How long had he felt that way? Was he; thinking about her now? She knew that last part had to be true. After all, she was thinking about him, and it had to be hard to think of anything else with a naked girl pressed on top of you. She couldn't believe this was happening, could never have believed it would happen. Part of her leapt for joy, but the rest of her was just as confused as ever. Should she say something? Try to take it further? Settling her head down onto his chest, she whispered out to him in the dark. "We should; we should sleep." "Yeah; Sleep;" Underneath her, she felt his cock twitch, still pressed against her soft thigh. Despite her words, she knew she couldn't sleep like this. A minute passed. Then another. Soon, an hour had gone by, and Lindsey was still awake, staring silently at the back of the chairs in front. The two lay together, perfectly still, until a voice broke the silence. "Lindsey; Are you still awake?" The young woman froe. She didn't know whether to speak up, or stay silent. Underneath her, she could still feel his hard cock, throbbing against her leg, and how hot it was making her feel. Between her thighs, she could feel how damp her pussy had gotten, and she squeezed them tightly together in an attempt to relieve the pressure. It didn't work. A long moment passed, and she didn't hear anything else from him. She wondered if she should've spoken up, should've said something, should've confessed how she felt, and she was seconds away from opening her mouth when a sudden movement made her pause. Behind her, she felt the grip on her back tighten, and the hips underneath her shift, just enough for the hard shaft pressed against her leg to slip between her thighs. She felt like her heart was about to burst out of her mouth. The thick rod felt even hotter squeezed between her legs, the head ever so slightly damp against her skin. It felt; nice. Really nice. Then she felt him start to move. Lindsey had to bite her lip to stop herself moaning as between her legs, Jackson began to thrust, sliding his cock against her, as the pressure of her legs kept him upright and rock solid. Her heart stopped in her chest as she felt him moving. Oh my god. Oh my god, he's really doing it! Her brain went into overdrive, trying to make sense of what was happening as she felt his cock thrusting slowly, softly, between her thighs. She knew she had to say something, but she had no idea what, especially not now. The last thing she wanted was for him to stop. So, in a mixture of fear and excitement, she lay still, and silent. Her pussy was absolutely soaked. Her pelvis felt hot, incredibly hot, and she had to bite her lip to stop herself moaning in pleasure, the simple act of his thrusts sending her body into a state of near-ecstasy. God, she wanted him. Wanted to feel him inside her, taking her, taking her virginity and making her a woman. Words couldn't describe how badly she wanted Jackson to toss her onto her back, clamp her mouth shut, and pound himself into her till she came. She lay still for what felt like an eternity, just waiting for him to take it further, to force himself into her, before the pressure became too great, and she began moving her hips back in time with his. Slowly, gently, she raised them up as he pulled back, and let them fall down as he pushed up. Not by much, no more than an inch, but it was enough to make her pussy gush with anticipation. Underneath her, Jackson let out a groan and started to buck his hips faster. He must think I'm asleep, she thought to herself. Should I? Maybe I should tell him; But despite her thoughts, Lindsey did nothing. She felt his hands move down her body, across the small of her back to her ass, giving it a soft squeeze as he continued to fuck her thighs. His thrusts started to get longer, driving further up and down, and soon she felt his shaft pressed against her nether lips. The feeling of him so close to her virgin entrance was just too much, and Lindsey let out an involuntary mewl of arousal. Immediately, Jackson's movements stopped, and the young woman bit her lip. Damn it! Don't stop now! From the darkness, she heard a voice, shaking with nervousness. "Lindsey? A-are you awake?" "Don't stop;" was all she managed to say. The lust in her voice surprised even her, the shaky, drawn-out vowels and underlying moan sending ripples through both of them. Immediately, she felt Jackson's hands tense up, squeezing her ass, before his hips started to move again. The girl shut her eyes tight, still moving her hips, drawing him closer to her virgin entrance. She couldn't deny it anymore; she wanted him inside her, want him to make love to her, right there, on the backseat of his car! She loved him, deeply, desperately, and she'd do anything to take things further. "Please; Jackson;" "Yeah?" The young man's voice was as breathless as hers., the tip of his cock pressed firmly against her slit, his hips grinding up and down, grinding against hers, making her whole body shiver with arousal. "I want you to; to fuck me; please; I can't take it anymore!" Without a word, she felt him grab her hips firmly, and press himself against her entrance. Even if she'd wanted to, it was too late to turn back now. With a firm push on the small of her back, he raised his hips, and Lindsey cried out as she felt his cock sink into her virgin snatch, piercing her hymen and burying itself in her to the hilt. Slowly, she turned her head to look at Jackson, a look of absolute pleasure plastered on her features. She stared down for a long, silent moment, mouth hanging open and eyes wide, adjusting to the feeling of penetration, before reaching out and cupping his face, her best friend-turned-lover, and kissing him deeply. Between them, she could feel her walls relaxing around his girth, expanding to fit his thick member, and growing braver she began to over her hips once more, rolling them softly and mewling into his mouth as the two began to make love. Her movements were jerky and clumsy, but as she stared into Jackson's eyes, she could think of nothing but the love she felt for him. Holding on tight, she started to ride him fast, lifting her hips and letting them drop down again, feeling his firm shaft slide in and out of her sopping snatch. In response, Jackson began to move his hips too, thrusting up to meet her, pushing himself deep into his childhood friend before withdrawing. It took a while for the pair to find their rhythm, but soon they were fucking like crazy. Lindsey moaned loudly until Jackson pulled her head back towards him, pressing his lips to hers and kissing her more passionately than ever. As his cock sank into her over and over again, his tongue slipped into her mouth, tangling with hers as he took her virginity. She didn't know if he was still a virgin, but she honestly didn't care. "I wanted this for so long, Lindsey. Wanted you. I love you" "I, I love you too; I've l loved you; for years!" Lindsey's high-pitched voice mingled with her moans. "I'm sorry I pre; pretended to b-be asleep!" Her pussy was on fire, the sex felt better than anything she'd ever experienced before, and as she confessed her feelings for her best friend her movements only get faster, more desperate, pumping her hips as hard as she could while underneath her Jackson bucked and groaned. "I wanted to s-see how far you'd go; whether you.. wanted me too; I'm s-sorry;" She shut her eyes tight in shame, keeping her hips moving as best as she could. Just then, she felt Jackson grab her tight, and flip her onto her back, rolling on top of her and quickly forcing his cock back into her quivering pussy. Lindsey squealed, the sudden change of position exhilarating her, and she grabbed hold of his back as Jackson growled, pounding into her with a fury she'd never seen from him before. Legs up in the air, dangling uselessly, the young woman cried out in pain and pleasure as her lover buried his face in her neck, kissing and biting her as he fucked her mercilessly. Underneath her, she felt his hand still groping at her ass, and as he drove his cock into the deepest parts of your aching pussy, she could only moan and mewl. With his cock thrusting deeply in and out of her, she was helpless to do anything but shake your hips back up in time, squealing and moaning in erotic ecstasy. In the heat of the moment, she barely registered her legs, wrapping around him, keeping him deep inside her as she clung on to his back for dear life, panting and moaning like a bitch in heat. Inside her, she could feel the first sparks of climax beginning to ignite, and she cried out into Jackson's ear as he dominated her, the man of her dreams, her childhood best friend. "Yes! Fuck me, fuck me, Jackson! I love you, I love you so much! Fuck me!" Above her, she felt his pace start to falter, and she wrapped herself even tighter around him. Completely lost in the pleasure, his face buried in her neck as she hung on tight to his shoulders, she knew he must be getting close too. Each deep thrust sent new waves through her, and with each passing second, she felt her climax rising. "Yes! Yes! Yes, don't stop, don't stop, don't stop, don't stop, I’m gonna!" With a sudden cry, she felt herself crash over the edge, her whole body spasming as a wave of incredible pleasure washed over her, dulling her senses as she began to cum. She let out a shriek of ecstasy as her lower body began to rock and shudder, squeezing her pussy around her lover's cock as she came. The ripples of pleasure exploded throughout her entire body, sending her muscles spasming and her legs shaking around his waist. She felt her back arching painfully as her body, wracked with pleasure, crashed through her climax, her entire being seized by spasms as the walls of her pussy quivered and contracted. Through the chaos of her climax, she was dimly aware of Jackson fighting against his own orgasm, trying to pull himself out before he blew his load inside her, but her legs wrapped so tightly around him kept him buried inside. Digging her nails into his back, she wailed out through her orgasm "Cum in me! Cum in me! Do it, please!" Finally, she felt his hips slam forward one last time, his cock pushed deep, deep inside her, as the warmth of his cum began to spread throughout her abdomen. The feeling of being cream-pied only made her cum harder, and a second wave of spasms crashed across her. By the time the two of them were finished, Jackson was well and truly spent, his balls thoroughly emptied into Lindsey's tight teen twat. As their orgasms subsided, he collapsed on top of her, panting as his semen pooled inside her pussy. "Wow;" Lindsey lay beneath him, unable to speak, just panting happily with a smile on her lips. She pulled him in close so she could kiss him again, before wrapping her arms around him, holding him in a tight embrace. "Yeah; What a way to stay warm;" Jackson chuckled at that. "You; you really wanted me for that long?" Lindsey nodded. "For as long as I can remember;" She felt him sigh, and she giggled as he ruffled her hair. "God, I love you Linds;" "I love you too;" leaning up, she planted a kiss on his cheek. Words could describe how happy she was. No, not happy, overjoyed. "You know; something tells me the snows not gonna let up anytime soon;" She gave him a wink. "And there's a lot of other stuff I've always wanted to try. Jackson laughed again, nuzzling back into her neck as he kissed her, his skin hot against hers. As he moved, his softening cock slipped free of her pussy, followed by a thin trail of semen, which ran out of her and began pooling on the car seat below. Lindsey smiled. "You came inside;" She didn't sound angry, or surprised, just; content "Yeah, I guess I did; Not that I had much choice, the way you were clinging to me." He nibbled her ear softly before whispering into it. "But I really liked it;" Lindsey let out a contented mewl. "Me too, it felt amazing;" I giggle softly, and snuggle closer "But something tells me I should start taking birth control from now on. You wouldn't want to fuck a baby into your best friend, now would you?" She laughed again, feeling his cock stiffen underneath her in response. "So, you ready for round two?" Based on a post by LindseyLuv, for Literotica.

There is always a deeper story behind emotional eating, and in this episode Inna and guest Lisa Schlosberg open up the layers most people never connect to food. They explore the moments when you eat without hunger, the childhood patterns that shaped your sense of safety, and the reasons your body may turn to food even when your mind insists you are “fine.” What begins as a conversation about eating quickly becomes a conversation about emotional wiring, nervous system responses, and the parts of you that learned to cope long before you had words for it.Lisa shares her own experience of losing 150 pounds and discovering that the harder work had nothing to do with calories or willpower. It was learning how to feel feelings she spent years avoiding. It was realizing food had been her protection, her comfort, and her armor. Together, she and Inna talk about why emotional hunger feels real, why you can't solve an emotional problem with a physical solution, and how self compassion and internal safety begin to shift lifelong patterns around eating.They also explore the small, often unnoticed triggers that shape your relationship with food. Clean plate conditioning. Scarcity wiring. Eating in front of screens. The need for stimulation. The pull toward comfort when you are overwhelmed. The instinct to stay “strong” at the cost of your own emotional expression. And for many with Hashimoto's, the way growing up without validation creates a lifelong habit of seeking comfort and reassurance outside of yourself.This episode is a grounded, deeply human look at emotional eating, inner safety, and the process of gently rewriting the relationship you have with food. It brings together mind, body, and emotion in a way that will help you understand yourself on an entirely new level.For full show notes, please see:https://innatopiler.com/podcasts/eating-not-hungry-relationship-food-lisa-schlosberg/Get ThyroLove - the first all in one bottle multi-nutrient comprehensive formula designed specifically for those with Thyroid Autoimmunity at ThyroLove.com - use code “Podcast” to get 10% off and free shipping For more information about everything Hashimoto's please visit InnaTopiler.comIf you are struggling to lose weight with Hashimoto's, Inna has a 10 day plan just for you at InnaTopiler.com/jumpstartIf you need help with fatigue or brain fog with Hashimoto's, please check out Inna's 9 Day Exhaustion Solution at innatopiler.com/energyIf you don't yet know your thyroid type, please be sure you sign up for Inna's next free training at InnaTopiler.com/zoomcall

✨ Support the show with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Premium (Ad-Free)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Descend into calming darkness with this 8-hour soundscape blending deep sleep ambient music, soft, shimmering wind chimes, and the soothing echo of bubbling water inside a vast underground cavern. The cavern's natural reverb creates a spacious, dreamlike atmosphere, while gentle chimes drift through the stillness like distant lights in the dark. Underneath it all, subtle 6 Hz theta wave binaural beats guide your mind into a deeply relaxed state ideal for dreaming, meditation, and emotional release.

If you've ever said, “I hate tech, I just want this to work,” this episode is your blueprint. Kerri M. Roberts sits down with systems and automation expert Brenda Breland of Build Business Academy and BuildDesk, who helps small business owners automate leads, follow-up, and client journeys - without needing a full-time ops or marketing team. Learn how to plug the money leaks in your follow-up, use automation that feels human, and build simple systems that let you serve your clients with excellence.They unpack the difference between AI that tries to replace you and automation that actually amplifies you, so your clients still feel seen, known, and cared for. Together, Kerri and Brenda walk through why every business, even the tiniest shop, needs a CRM from day one, what smart follow-up really looks like, and how to think through whether you're called to serve B2B, B2C, or both.Underneath all of it is a simple, biblical principle: faithful stewardship. When you care for the systems behind your business and the body God has given you, you're freed up to lead, love, and serve at a higher level. This episode will help you see where your systems may be working against you - and what to do about it before the year ends.Key TakeawaysMost small businesses are leaking money in their follow-up.Automation should amplify you, not replace you.Every business needs a CRM from day one.Content that converts starts with connection.Follow-up is the one automation you can't afford to ignore.Resources✨ HR in a Box – Your Fractional HR Partner for Small Business If you're growing a business and want to build people systems that honor your team and protect your company, HR in a Box gives you the tools, templates, and guidance you need—without the cost of a full-time HR department. From compliant hiring to performance conversations, it's designed to help you lead with clarity, integrity, and confidence. www.saltandlightadvisors.com/hrinabox

How ADHD, Grit, And Faith Built A Boutique Pillow Brand From A BasementIf you've ever tried to build something beautiful between school drop-off and dinner, this conversation will feel like a deep breath. Kelly sits down with Bree—mom of four, dental assistant two days a week, and cofounder of a boutique pillow brand with her mom—to unpack how faith, ADHD, and clear boundaries can turn a basement sewing room into a business with real traction. From the early days of art shows in the rain to a decisive pivot toward e‑commerce, she shares the choices that kept her products accessible without sacrificing quality, and the systems that protect family time while still shipping orders.We dig into the craft: sourcing designer textiles, choosing inserts from a small US maker, and pricing for value over volume. We explore design trends, what actually sells versus what looks stunning on a table, and how to pair patterns for homes that aren't matchy but still feel cohesive. The conversation also moves through the personal—blended family dynamics, making space for one-on-one moments with kids, and building confidence after a major health transformation. Her ADHD becomes a strength with the right rails: defined work blocks, realistic timelines, and the courage to say no so the right yes has room.Underneath it all is a steady thread of faith and partnership. A semi-retired dentist gives her flexible hours. Her husband, a measured risk-taker, quietly finds the website developer. Her mom, sewing from Texas, mirrors production and brings joy to the process. Together they're moving toward weekly product drops, better photography, and a website built for discovery. You'll leave with practical insights on boundaries, pricing, SEO needs for small shops, and the reminder that your gifts aren't meant to sit in a drawer. Hit play, subscribe for more grounded entrepreneurship stories, and tell us: what step are you finally ready to take?Connect with Breanna:IG: @breehartpillowsFacebook: Breanna BrillhartWebsite: Breehart Pillows (Coming Soon-February) (Follow on IG and Facebook for updates to website!)Contact the Host, Kelly Kirk: Email: info.ryh7@gmail.com Get Connected/Follow: The Hue Drop Newsletter: Subscribe Here IG: @ryh_pod & @thekelly.tanke.kirk Facebook: Reclaiming Your Hue Facebook Page CAKES Affiliate Link: KELLYKIRK Credits: Editor: Joseph Kirk Music: Kristofer Tanke Thanks for listening & cheers to Reclaiming Your Hue!

"The track was built around a single, imperfect moment in time: a field recording I captured while walking through a tunnel by the main market. You can hear distant voices trading words, footsteps, fragments of conversations and the natural reverb of the tunnel itself. That recording became the spine of the piece – I didn't treat it as background noise, but as the main “instrument”. "I started by isolating the most atmospheric sections of the recording, then layered and looped them so the voices and echoes slowly morph into a constant, breathing texture. Multiple delays with different feedback times smear the sounds into long, ghostly trails, while deep reverbs exaggerate the tunnel's natural space and push everything further into an ambiguous, dreamlike distance. "From there, I added subtle filtering, pitch shifting and modulation effects to carve movement inside the static drone, so the ambience never sits still. Underneath, a restrained dub techno pulse emerges – low-end hits, soft chords and minimal percussive details – all heavily processed with send delays and tape-style saturation. The result is a slow, hypnotic piece where the original tunnel recording is still recognisable, but transformed into a drifting soundscape: half real-world memory, half submerged, echoing dream." Jingzhou City South Gate sounds reimagined by Yiannis Vlastaris.

Welcome to another 12 Holiday Rituals episode! Todd Shipman of Leela Quantum Tech (code: BIOHACKINGBRITTANY) unpacks what quantum energy actually is and how it may protect your body from invisible stressors like EMFs, support nervous system regulation, and even speed up physical healing.  As a dad of six and a long-time skeptic turned believer, Todd brings both data and real-life stories from families using Leela's technology every day. Underneath all the science and stories is one core question: how can modern women live in a tech-saturated world without staying stuck in fight-or-flight? This conversation offers a provocative, grounded way to think about EMFs, intuition, kids' health, and long-term vitality through the lens of quantum energy. Join my 12 Holiday Rituals Giveaway for a chance to win part of $5,500+ USD in wellness prizes. Open until December 24th! WE TALK ABOUT:  05:05 - What quantum healing looks like in real life 08:30 - Helping children connect emotionally to animals, food, and respectful eating 15:15 - A simple explanation of quantum energy and "bubble wrap" around your body 18:35 - Quantum entanglement, twin stories, and "coincidences" that challenge how we see reality 24:55 - How Leela proves efficacy with over 60+ double-blind placebo-controlled studies and HRV data 26:10 - EMFs, Wi-Fi routers, kids' brains, and why babies may be more sensitive than adults 34:20 - Brain waves, flow state, and how quantum products shifted gamma, beta, and alpha in real EEG scans 38:50 - Using Infinity and Travel Blocs to charge food, water, supplements, and protect your home 46:50 - Wound healing, injuries, and how quantum energy can free up mitochondrial "budget" for repair 55:00 - Women's health capsules, micronutrient frequencies, and Todd's before-and-after lab experiment 58:25 - Why animals and even wild deer seek out quantum "safe zones" and what that means for your space RESOURCES: Free gift: Download my hormone-balancing, fertility-boosting chocolate recipe. Explore my luxury retreats and wellness events for women. Shop my faves: Check out my Amazon storefront for wellness essentials. Leela Quantum Tech's website (code: BIOHACKINGBRITTANY) and Instagram Todd Shipman's Instagram Join my 12 Holiday Rituals Giveaway before December 24th LET'S CONNECT: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Shop my favorite health products Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music

Send us a textMemory carries what our kids forget, especially when those memories live in our hands. In this Black girl hairconversation, I sit with my daughter, Majik, for a mother and daughter reflection on Black girl identity and the emotional roots behind our hair journeys. As a mother, I revisit the moment a little boy called her locs ugly, and how that moment shaped her early sense of identity as a Black girl.We start with a fun this-or-that warm-up before moving into the real: boundaries at gymnastics, that Facebook dust-up with parents, and a team meeting that reminded us why “don't touch my hair” is about dignity, hygiene, and protecting Black girl identity. These moments show how a mother and daughter duo learns, unlearns, and stands firm together.Magic shares her daily lock routine, the evolution of her styles, and why a shoelace pineapple is her go-to. She explains the sensory weirdness of scalp-only washes, the time cost that nudged her back toward locking, and the one hair product she won't skip: a good shampoo. I offer the stylist's perspective—density changes, retwist timing, and how to honor every stage of Black girl hair growth while nurturing inner identity.Underneath the styles, this mother and daughter edition dives into culture, confidence, and self-definition. Magic connects her locs to inner strength but refuses to let her hair limit her full identity as a Black girl. We talk about compliments, boundaries, consent, and why asking permission matters. Through it all, one truth holds: Black girl hair is a first language, a boundary, and a bridge to belonging.Press play for stories, strategies, and a soft push to water the roots you can't see yet. If this Black Girl Hair and Identity; Mother and Daughter Edition episode resonates, follow, rate, and share with a mom, auntie, or teen who needs this reminder.What hair story shaped you?Stay Connected to Majik:Majix TikTokMajix InstagramMajix YoutubeSupport the showAre you a part of our Patreon Community and Family?Join us today and let's continue building and fostering healthier connections with our hair—from the inside out. As a member, you'll get access to bonus episodes, behind-the-scenes content, limited e-books, early access, and a supportive space for real conversations that go beyond the mic. Do you have a story to share that's worth our listeners hearing, please fill out the Listener Letters Form and tell us your story! We would love to hear from you! Don't forget to follow Kinetra on Instagram @_hairwhatimsaying_ and check out her website Hair What I'm Saying for more.Please leave a review and rate the show. Let us know how we are doing! Support the Hair What I'm Saying Podcast

Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠Join The Normandy For Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here: ⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠ Dive into Segment of Notorious Mass Effect with Analytic Dreamz as he delivers a concise yet complete breakdown of Kelly Clarkson's modern holiday masterpiece, “Underneath the Tree.” Analytic Dreamz explores the American Idol winner's unstoppable holiday takeover: from Wrapped in Red's platinum-certified success (1M+ lifetime sales) to the song's explosive stats—1.2B global Spotify streams, 360K U.S. downloads, 64 weeks on Billboard Holiday 100, new career-high peaks of #10 on the Hot 100 (Dec 2024) and #7 UK Singles (Jan 2025). Discover why ASCAP named it the #1 most-performed 21st-century Christmas song, its Mariah-level cultural dominance, 150% stream spikes from film placements (The Office Christmas Party, Netflix's Princess Switch), and its reign atop holiday charts in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Norway, and beyond. Analytic Dreamz unpacks every milestone, streaming evolution, radio dominance (61B cumulative audience), and why this 2013 Greg Kurstin co-write has officially become Kelly Clarkson's signature seasonal anthem. The ultimate data-driven deep dive into today's biggest new Christmas classic. Notorious Mass Effect – powered by Analytic Dreamz.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/analytic-dreamz-notorious-mass-effect/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome back to the Ending Well series. This is week five of looking back over the year, letting God redeem the hard parts, and choosing who we want to become as we step into a new season. Today's episode is all about marriage — but even more specifically, the kind of wife you want to be. Not the Instagram version. Not the performance version. The real, healed, whole version. This year, God radically reshaped how I see myself as a wife. I didn't set out to "become a better wife," but as He broke my addiction to productivity and constant performance, it transformed our marriage into an even safer place, a deeper gift, and a stronger home base. Episode Snapshot In this conversation, I share honestly about: The "strong, high-capacity, always-on" identity I lived in for years How that mindset spilled into our marriage and made me controlling, critical, and exhausted The follower's question that changed everything: "What did you do to change that brought this out in him?" Why sometimes you have to go first in doing the inner work The difference between survival-mode marriage and a marriage built on connection How God used pruning, slowing down, and healing my nervous system to completely shift my role as a wife We also name an important reality: There are marriages where abuse, betrayal, or deep harm is present, and "trying harder" as a wife is not the answer. I am not speaking into those situations; I am sharing from a context where I am married to a good man, and our biggest battles were often with our own mindsets, wounds, and habits. Key Shifts God Made In Me This Year Letting him lead Moving out of constant control mode Asking for his thoughts and actually listening Giving him room to step forward in decisions and in parenting Becoming less reactive, less critical Recognizing how perfectionism makes you hard on yourself and everyone around you Learning the difference between reacting and responding Owning moments where I project my own embarrassment or anxiety onto him Allowing myself to be supported Letting him help with dishes, laundry, the mental load, and home life Receiving service as an expression of love instead of proof that I am failing Integrating my calling and my home No longer seeing ministry or work as competition with being a wife and mom Letting God reorder my priorities: Jesus, marriage, children, then everything else Moving from "two separate versions of me" to one whole, integrated person Underneath it all, God shifted me from: "More of me, doing more, performing more" to "Less of me, more of Him — loving from abundance instead of exhaustion." A Scripture to Sit With "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." Psalm 127:1 This is true of literal houses and of marriages. Reflection Questions Take these to prayer, to your journal, or into a gentle conversation with your spouse: What kind of wife do I actually want to be — if no one were watching but God? Where am I over-functioning, trying to hold everything together in my own strength? Do I criticize my husband more than I pray for him? Where might God be inviting me to soften, slow down, or make space for him to lead? Am I willing to let Jesus make me whole, instead of just more productive? Sponsor: PreBorn So many women walk into an abortion clinic afraid and alone, about to make a life-altering decision. PreBorn meets them there by offering free ultrasounds, which doubles the likelihood that they will choose life. This year alone, thousands of babies have been rescued through PreBorn's work. They also provide counseling, classes, and practical support for moms up to two years after the baby is born. You can sponsor an ultrasound for 28 dollars and literally help save a life. Visit: preborn.com/speakeasy Sponsor: CrowdHealth Health insurance can feel like a rigged game. CrowdHealth offers a totally different way: a community of people funding each other's medical bills directly, without networks or middlemen. With CrowdHealth you get: Bill negotiators fighting for lower costs More affordable labs and prescriptions A vetted list of doctors And if something big happens, you pay the first 500 dollars and the community helps cover the rest During open enrollment, you can opt out of the old system and take your power back. Get started for 99 dollars for your first three months at: joincrowdhealth.com with code: speakeasy

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you stripped away every distraction —  your screens, your routines, and even your ability to see? What hidden thoughts would rise to the surface? What suppressed emotions would finally have room to move? And what would catch up to you that you have been running from, for potentially years. In this episode, I sit down with Scott Berman, the founder of Sky Cave Retreats, which is the first darkness retreat center in the United States. Scott has spent more than 70 days in total darkness and has guided over 600 people through this profound inner journey. And after doing a darkness retreat myself, I finally understand why SkyCaves is booked out for 3 years and has a 3000-person waitlist. Darkness itself is a threat to the nervous system. And Scott lets everyone know who signs up that their system will probably not react the way they anticipate. He shares that the only thing one needs to bring is HONESTY, and what happens to those who don't.  I share my experience during 4 nights and 3 days in pitch blackness and the profound breakthroughs that occurred when I stopped running from, escaping, and numbing my deepest, rawest feelings. This episode is for anyone curious about nervous system healing, the addiction to the stories that hijack our minds, or what becomes possible when you meet yourself with honesty, zero distractions, and the primordial pressure of the dark. Scott is a beautiful human who leaves us with this question before we enter the cave and turn off the lights: “What would nurture do in this moment?” The answer is usually what we should follow to create the safety in our system we are all searching for.    This episode is for all those who are afraid of the dark and those who are afraid of the parts of themselves that may be trapped in the darkest recesses of their subconscious. Luckily, Scott has the compassion, calm, and skills to hold our hand through it all.  Key Moments You'll Love ✨:

What if the reason you can't speak your truth isn't suppression at all—but complete disconnection from what your truth even is?In this intimate conversation, Raj sits down with Natalie Adele to explore why so many of us (especially women) have lost access to our authentic voice. It's not that we're choosing to stay silent. It's that we've been severed from the body, the heart, and the stillness where truth actually lives.In this episode, you'll discover:Why suppression isn't the real problem—and what isThe surprising place where feminine truth actually lives (hint: it's not your mind)What we're really afraid of when we fear being seenHow childhood micro-moments slowly dial down our life forceThe difference between being seen and being truly knownWhy "sorry" and "sorrow" share the same root—and what that means for your energyThe practice of "dropping anchor" that rebuilds trust with yourselfHow your relationship with yourself directly impacts how men respond to youYour voice was never lost. It's waiting to be reclaimed.The truth you've been afraid to speak, the emotions you've been afraid to feel, the version of yourself you've been afraid to reveal—they're all still there. Underneath the noise. Underneath the conditioning. Underneath every moment you made yourself smaller to feel safe.This episode is your invitation to come home to yourself.

Want some pure chaos in the best way? You're in the right place. Nicole and I are back with another Coco & Lala Show takeover, and we're inviting you to get a little…unhinged.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12, God's will is not framed around finding the right job, city, or spouse, but around becoming holy - set apart in love. The passage reveals both definitive sanctification (already chosen and made holy in Christ) and progressive sanctification (growing more and more into that holiness), and then presses that identity into two intensely practical arenas: sex and work. In a Greco-Roman culture where adultery, prostitution, and cultic sex were normal, believers are called to a radically different sexual ethic that springs from their God-given value and the costly love of Christ displayed at the cross and pictured in Hosea's relentless love for Gomer. At the same time, in a community tempted to idleness and “busybody” living while waiting for Jesus' return, they are called back to quiet, faithful labor that refuses to burden others and instead reflects the God who never stops working for His glory and their good. Underneath both areas is the same heartbeat: those who are “loved by God and chosen” are to live out that love in their bodies and their jobs so that the watching world sees what kind of Lover and Master they belong to.

Welcome to the Christmas series! Underneath the starlit sky, surrounded by hay and animal filth, the Savior of the World and Hope of Heaven is born. The climax of creation and crescendo of the cosmos takes place in the most humble of contexts.  Sign up for special devotionals at StoriesoftheMessiah.com. As we dive deeply into iconic Bible heroes' enthralling narratives, we find more than just stories of faith and miracles. We discover a recurrent theme, a spiritual undertone that connects each tale to the grandeur of the Gospel. They're not just standalone legends; they're threads in a divine tapestry, weaving a story that foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, the promised Messiah who brings light to the darkest corners of history. For more Bible stories download the Pray.com app.  To learn more about Rabbi Schneider visit https://discoveringthejewishjesus.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Found Podcast, we're trading strategy for stories and KPIs for giggle fits. To celebrate Thanksgiving and our November theme of family for the ambitious woman, I invited two of the biggest influences in my life and leadership to join me on the mic: my sister, Jessica Ryan, and my mom, Kathy McAllister. This episode is…unhinged in the best way. We swap stories about handmade Halloween costumes, soda cans secretly stashed in dresser drawers, hiding Dad's favorite candy, President's Day "mystery trips," and the legendary Mother's Day "Guilty Pleasure" road trip. We talk about the chaos of motherhood, what's different from the generations before us, and how much we all rely on humor to make the hard parts lighter. If you need something cozy and familiar in your ears while you bake pies, drive to Grandma's, or hide in the pantry from your kids for five minutes of peace—this one's for you. Underneath all the laughter, there's a quiet throughline: ambitious women need people who know where they came from, cheer them on, and don't mind making fun of them (lovingly) along the way. Key Quotes "The influences in my life, I feel like you guys have always taught us that things are just better when they're fun." "Not everything has to be so serious. And even when it is serious, it's okay to bring a little levity to the situation." "That's what we need as ambitious women—we need our cheerleaders, our support system, the people who remember where we came from and aren't afraid to make fun of us along the way." Resources & Links Connect with Molly on Instagram: @mollyknuth Listen to more episodes of The Found Podcast: https://mollyknuthmedia.com/podcast/ Share this episode with a friend who needs a laugh this week!

This week… "Where have you been feeling confused? Where have you been telling yourself that you're confused? What's that confusion actually about? Underneath that confusion, are you actually clear? Do you actually have a strong feeling, maybe a bodily or an emotional or intuitive feeling that you don't want to accept? ...It's time to look at that confusion."This week-ahead reading for Nov 24-30, 2025 is an excerpt from this week's⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Somatic Space class⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Renee Sills. For the full-length forecast and embodied practice for this week,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠purchase the recording here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.