Welcome to our new website!
Nov. 4, 2026

Who Do You Need To Forgive Today

Who Do You Need To Forgive Today
Who Do You Need To Forgive Today
Share The Struggle
Who Do You Need To Forgive Today

Election night has a way of hijacking your brain. While the results flicker on the screen and the political noise finally starts to die down, we’re cooking dinner, breathing for a second, and asking a bigger question than red or blue: what are we building our lives on when the hype fades? We talk about voting as a family, bringing our daughter with us, and why gratitude for that right still matters even when the whole process feels exhausting.

Then the conversation turns into a Turning Point Make Heaven Crowded Tour recap from Manchester, New Hampshire, and it gets personal fast. We share a powerful moment from Pastor Lucas Miles about evangelism, obedience, and a simple challenge: if God puts a name on your heart, you make the call. The story he tells about following through and what he discovered on the other end is the kind of thing you don’t forget, especially if you’ve ever hesitated to reach out, invite someone to church, or just ask “How are you really doing?”

We also share how that assignment played out in our own lives, including a phone call driven by grief that unexpectedly became a step toward forgiveness. We close with a reminder for anyone heading into winter heaviness, seasonal depression, or spiritual drift: there is light, and you can choose to run toward the Father instead of away. If this meant something to you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

If you found value in today's show please return the favor and leave a positive review and share it with someone important to you! https://www.sharethestrugglepodcast.com/reviews/new/
Find all you need to know about the show https://www.sharethestrugglepodcast.com/
Official Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077724159859

Join the 2% of Americans that Buy American and support American Together we can bring back American Manufacturing https://www.loudproudamerican.shop/
Loud Proud American Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Loudproudamerican
Loud Proud American Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loud_proud_american/
Loud Proud American TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@loud_proud_american
Loud Proud American YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmYQtOt6KVURuySWYQ2GWtw

Thank you for Supporting My American Dream!

00:01 - Election Night And Family Dinner

02:22 - 330 Weeks And Why We Gather

04:24 - Voting As A Family

12:18 - Turning Point Tour Recap Begins

13:53 - Pastor Lucas Miles On Obedience

21:15 - Taking The Name Challenge Ourselves

27:44 - Grief Betrayal And Forgiveness

40:58 - Pastor Ken Bosse On God’s Love

44:03 - Seasonal Depression And Choosing Light

46:48 - Where To Find More

SPEAKER_00

When

Election Night And Family Dinner

SPEAKER_00

you find yourself listening to this episode of Share the Struggle Podcast, the midterm elections will be over. Because I am recording this podcast during the election. I've got the big board of results up in front of me. I'm trying not to pay too much attention to it. I'm preparing an election night dinner for my family. And we're going to not only celebrate the ending of all the political ads, we're not only going to celebrate the ending of the ridiculous mail, all the countless, endless piles of junk mail. We're not only going to celebrate the stoppage of all the crazy political ads, the never-ending text messages, the phone calls, robbing you of your attention, of your downtime, your relaxation time. We're going to celebrate all of that. And we're going to do it in the best way that we can by celebrating Jesus. As this week I finish our recap on Turning Points Make Heaven Crowded Tour that my wife and I attended just a couple of weeks ago. That and more, this episode, Share the Struggle Podcast. Let me tell you something. Everybody's struggle. The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it. The choice is completely yours. Which one do you choose?

330 Weeks And Why We Gather

SPEAKER_00

Good loud. Almighty am I so excited to be back with you. Oh, it is true. It is damn true. Why? Because I love you, Boo. You know I do. Because it's episode 330 between me and you. That's right. For 330 consecutive weeks, we have gathered here as friends and family and friends that want to be family. Okay? That's what we've done. We haven't missed a week. 330 consecutive episodes, 330 consecutive weeks. Pretty soon you'll have a new episode to listen to for every single day of the year. Get yourself out of here. Man, I appreciate you. It's all my loyal ones, my day ones. Get your ones up. I acknowledge you. And I appreciate you. And if this is day one for you, then welcome to this here podcast. Share the struggle podcast. Brought to you proudly, brought to you by the fine folks over to Loud Proud American. Where we bring to you only, exclusively, made in America products, the gifts that everybody want to get this Christmas season. Find all those things at loudproudamerican.shop and find all things podcast related at share the strugglepodcast.com. Mm-mm. Man. For the past couple weeks we've been talking about it. We've uh had a few different ways of going about it. But tonight we put an end to the countless text messages, the endless phone calls, the copious amounts of junk mail filling up your mailboxes. That's right. The the political harassment ends tonight. It's over. So by the time this podcast drops, y'all will have put that craziness behind you. And we'll get a little reprieve for, you know, a year. And then we'll get right back into it, right? But

Voting As A Family

SPEAKER_00

it is the midterm election, and um I did something tonight that I'm I'm so proud of that it's become a tradition for this uh new family of ours, and that is gathering together as a family and all going to the polls together. So uh that's my mom, that's my wife, that's my precious, beautiful baby girl, and myself, and we go in as a family and we vote. And I think it's incredible to take my little girl, to hold her up high and proud, bring her into the booth with me, and uh make make our selections and exercise our freedoms, exercise one of the great things about this great country, and that is the ability to vote. Now, I do wish we spent a little more time protecting our ability to vote, because it's crazy to me the lack of identification that goes into people being allowed to vote. But that's a whole other topic for a whole other time. Today I want to celebrate one of the great abilities and gifts that we have been given in this country, and that is the ability to exercise our power to vote. And doing that, filling in those little circles with my daughter is absolutely incredible. And uh we go in and do that yet again as a family, and this time my wife and I both wearing matching turning point hats with this big beautiful print across the front that says America the Beautiful. You have the 250 logo on the side, the turning point logo on the other side. I, in honor of Charlie Kirk, more my fearless live like Charlie Faith over fear t-shirt, proudly made by Loud Proud American. My wife had an incredible USA sweatshirt on with a red denim studded jacket and her America the beautiful turning point hat. Little Paisley wearing her Loud Proud American raise and right t-shirt and denim jacket, and we went in as a family. And while I was voting, I had a lady come over and tap me on the shoulder and tell me she loved my shirt. I had a a gentleman stop me in the parking lot and tell me that he loved my shirt, and I turned around and said, you know, thank you. And uh also the shirt's made right here in Arundel, right where you're voting. I'm a small business owner, I deal with only made in America products, and uh, you know, this is what we do and this is what we offer, and and we had a nice little conversation. And that was encouraging because I don't generally go to my town um and and and get that kind of reception. Because when you're standing in line and when you go up to get your ballot, the people that are checking you in, they instantly see, you know, what you're wearing and they make the assumption, and then they're not quite as excited as they are for the others to hand you the ballot. You know what I mean? That's a common trend when you live in a liberal town and a liberal state. And I'm here hoping and praying for a red wave, hoping and praying so much that we are celebrating tonight with a lobster dinner. We are having red lobsters in honor of a red wave. Okay? That's what we're hoping for. That's what we're pulling for, that's what we're praying for. The realist in me understands that's probably not gonna happen. It doesn't genuinely happen uh to the midterms, whenever you're, you know, whatever that president is, right? If it's a Democratic president in the midterms, usually the Republicans are gonna start to take a little grasp on things because not everybody's always completely satisfied and pleased with the sit-in president, right? Uh so this time around, where it's a Republican president, we're expecting to uh have some losses, but I'm really hoping that first and foremost, we can prevent some of the crazies, we can prevent some of the communists, some of the socialists from being elected. And uh you can only hope and pray that we can hold on to the House and Senate and allow a president the opportunity to do the things that need to be done. I'm worried for this country if the Republicans lose both the House and Senate, and then our president becomes handcuffed because just cue the um the impeachment trials, figure out um all the ways we can stop the war and we can end these certain things, and and um I'm really sick and tired of this uh this economy conversation with uh high gas prices because I've gotten so many text messages about it, like you know, uh how much longer can you afford these high gas prices? And I always respond with America is safer today if Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon, and I still am paying cheaper prices at the pump than I paid for Joe Biden. So we forget, we forget just how expensive gas was under under under Biden. We forget those prices, and and and it's it's crazy to think because here in Maine, there's a lot of gas stations that are about um between 409 and 414 in my area. And uh, if you're like a Sam's or a BJ's or a Costco member, you're buying gas right now for like $380, which is far cheaper than the days of those Biden gas prices when I recall paying you know five dollars a freaking gallon. So I'm over that. And I'm not gonna go on this crazy political rant here, but I am being optimistic as uh we have uh we're making some red lobsters for the red wave. Okay, it's gonna be glorious, it's gonna be beautiful, and we're gonna hand out five thousand dollar checks to everyone. We love it, we're excited. It's going to be beautiful, tremendous. As I turn around and uh take a look and see if my my boiling water is starting to uh to boil over here. Um, you know, as I get ready to drop some lobsters in there. I'm looking at um the statistics on the TV. It's not looking great right now, so we're gonna try to maybe maybe I should turn myself and focus more on the lobsters and less on the TV. But I'm encouraged, I'm excited, and number one, I'm appreciative of the opportunity and the right to vote. And it's a prideful thing for me to do it as a family, to wait till everybody has the time to go do it together and uh to bring my little girl to do it. I remember when um I was in middle school, I remember um they used to do all the voting at that time, actually at the uh middle school gym, and I remember, you know, being in class and watching my dad walk in to vote, you know. So bringing my little girl in to vote is a definitely a definitely a special thing and um something that we really shouldn't take for granted. So thankful for that. I really hope that uh each and every one of you got out there and you voted today, and um regardless of um how we voted, let's all be thankful that the uh the ads, the distractions, the harassment, it should all end. And uh hopefully we can get this country doing what it needs to do. Because really, when we make these choices, we're making choices for the future, we're making choices for you know the little ones that are around us. And I think about my little girl and the consequences that could that could come from every election. Because you're only one election away from complete tyranny. So remember that, protect that, get out there and vote and celebrate that. I hope you all did your did your American duty and got out there and casted your vote. I

Turning Point Tour Recap Begins

SPEAKER_00

think it's rather fitting um to have this episode of the podcast today and turn back the clocks and finish the uh tremendous evening that my wife and I had when we went out to Manchester, New Hampshire, and attended our first turning point event. And uh last week we talked about some of the guest speakers, we talked about uh Caroline Levitt, and um we talked um a lot about Pastor Lucas Miles as well. Actually, last week we spent most of our time talking about Caroline Levitt and a lot of time about um um Pastor Russell Johnson, and uh included some excerpts from Pastor Johnson. And this week I want to get into uh something pretty incredible, and I want to share with you what Pastor Lucas Miles had to say, not his whole speech because uh he was kind of the host of the night. He started us off and he closed us off, and uh he was um just a real um just awesome host, and um he had some powerful things to say, but I just want to share one story of his, and um I don't know if this is really okay to just go ahead and uh chuck somebody else's audio in here uh for yet another week. But I would think if it came down to push comes to shove here, uh we are sharing the good lord's love. So I think they would appreciate just the the um echoing of the statement, right? The furthering of the belief. So um without further ado, I'm gonna go ahead and cue up Pastor Lucas Miles real quick.

SPEAKER_03

Isn't

Pastor Lucas Miles On Obedience

SPEAKER_03

God good? You guys enjoy yourselves tonight? Okay, I told you earlier, I promised I was gonna come out here and share a final story with you. So I want to do that. Uh, before I do, though, I want to uh ask you to join with me in thinking our sponsors here tonight. We got CHM, we got Breborn, we got Jacob Wells here for Gives and Go, for eight scholarship. We're just grateful for these guys. They've been helping us across the country for what they're gonna do with these events, and we got a lot more to come in this uh yet this year and even next year. Uh but before you leave, I want to share something with you. I I I ended my talk earlier on a little bit of a downer. I shared the story of an experience that I had when I didn't make the phone call. And the outcome of that and the weight of that. But I want to share a story with you when I did make the phone call. I was 15 years old and I was a ro in a room about this size. And I was at a youth conference. It was in Anderson, Indiana. And there was a pastor on stage. His name was Pastor Mike, and he was my favorite. Uh he was a pastor out in Illinois, and he was kind of part of our denominational movement. And I'd seen him speak a couple times, and he was just, I mean, I just always loved listening to him talk. So engaging and just incredible stories. Pastor Mike gets up on the stage and he shares this powerful message about uh evangelism and the Great Commission. And then he ends it by saying this it's a room full of high school students. He says, I'm gonna ask every single one of you guys that I'm gonna pray for you and I'm gonna ask that you join me in prayer and that God's gonna put a name on your heart and that when you get home, he said, I want you to call that person, reach out to them because they need Jesus. They might need prayer, they might invite it to church, they might need, you know, the gospel shared with them, but there's a God's gonna God's gonna set you up with a moment. And I remember being, I was kind of back in the room back there, and Pastor Mike praise this prayer, and I'm sitting there and I'm just in it. And this girl's name pops in my head. And I said, Lord, anybody but her. See, the girl's name that popped in my head. Um, I had a class with her that year. I didn't know her very well, uh, but I knew that she was a self-proclaimed atheist. And I was like, God, this is I I needed like an easier assignment here on my first time. And but I knew that I knew that like there was just something I couldn't get away from. I really felt like the Lord just spoke her name to me. It wasn't audible, but just in my heart, just it just rose up. So I get home, and it's before for the for the Gen Z folks in the room, this is before before cell phones. You had to work to get a phone number. I had to go get my yearbook and open that up, and people would leave their numbers in there, and I had to call a friend of hers to call and get her number and everything else. And I was 15 years old, I was like scared to call girls, you know, and and I'm I'm just going, yes, Lord, here I am, you know, begrudgingly making this phone call. I get home on a Saturday, I call her Saturday night. And I wanted to do it while it was still fresh. I I just felt that there was a really importance of obedience to that, and I call and it's just her home phone. And her mom answers, and so I asked her, you know, is she there? And her mom went and got her and put her on the phone. And again, this isn't this isn't somebody I was super close to. And she gets on the phone, and I had kind of my little speech worked up. I said, Hey, you remember me? We had German class together, and and um, you know, this is gonna seem weird, I know, but I was at this church thing, and there was a bunch of Christians, and there was this pastor on stage, and he said he was gonna pray, and then somebody's name was gonna pop in my head, and your name popped in my head, and I just want to know is there anything I can pray for you about? Silence. And then I hear just a just a like the sound of this like soft whimpering. And she pauses and she says, What day was that? And I said, It was Wednesday. And she just starts sobbing on the phone. And I thought, is this what calling girls is always like? And later on I realized it is. And so just kidding, just kidding. My wife's out there watching right now, I think, on the live stream. So we've been married 25 years this year. Um they I I kind of, you know, she asked me, she goes, what day? I said Wednesday. She's crying more. I finally kind of cut in and I said, Hey, what's going on? And she goes, What time was that? And I said, I don't know, it was probably and it was probably about the same time it is right now, 8 45. And just grief and sobs and tears like I had never heard before in my life. And I just let her go for a minute. I was confused, I didn't know. But I finally just said, Hey, what catch me up? What's happening here? And she said, We got a call 8 45 on Wednesday night that my brother jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge and killed himself. And she said, How did you know?

SPEAKER_02

And I said, I didn't. But God did. God did.

SPEAKER_03

I would love to tell you that I took her through the Romans Road and shared this perfect plan of salvation right there. I I don't know what I said next, honestly. I was 15, I was figuring it out, but I walked away from that call and I knew that I heard the Lord. Now, what I can tell you is that four years later I baptized her in a lake near my house. I tell you that story because I want to leave you with something. I want to leave you with really that same assignment that Pastor Mike gave to me so many years ago. And that is that for the Christians in this room that you have just a divine mission. I mean, you heard the stat from Caroline earlier of three percent of New Hampshire goes to church. I mean, like this should be guys, you can just you can talk to anybody. You got an assignment anywhere. I mean, this is easy. So I want to ask this. I want to ask if you wanna if you want to take that assignment on. Now don't just give me lip service, don't just do this just because, but if you want to take that assignment on, that you're literally like if the Lord gives you a name, you're gonna call him and ask them to pray for them, you're gonna you're gonna invite them to church, you're gonna you're gonna reach out, maybe you're gonna stop by and drop something off their house just to let them know you're thinking about them and start a conversation. If that's you, I'm just gonna ask you to do kind of this crazy thing. I'm gonna ask for you to stand right where you are, and I want to pray for you tonight.

SPEAKER_00

All right, y'all. I'm

Taking The Name Challenge Ourselves

SPEAKER_00

gonna stop here for a uh quick second and we're gonna uh interject. I know we shared quite a bit of uh of his story, but how powerful was that? How powerful was that to be in a room and to be asked, you know, hey, are you willing to to make the call? Are you willing to stop in? Are you willing to reach out if God puts a name on your heart? Like, are you willing to do that? And um then to hear the story, right? For him to be given a name, one that he does not want to call, and then to literally, you know, make the call. And as you heard, it's not like social media in in this day and age where you can just you know find anyone and be in contact with anyone everybody has their soul cell phone at their their fingertips we had to work to get the phone number he had to reach out old school make the connection clearly a very uncomfortable position to be in and then to hear that at that very moment quite possibly is when this this person's brother took took his life pretty incredible pretty incredible and and we're gonna do this a little bit different here and um I just want to share a couple things with you and then we're gonna get back into this but um my wife and I we took the test we as he much you know just explained are you willing to stand and to then be prayed over and to be given this this challenge and so we did this and um me and the wife didn't really um talk about it in that moment we waited until we were driving home and we um stopped and grabbed some dinner and we were driving home and and um and Allie had asked me she said did you get a name did God give you a name and I said uh actually no not no I didn't I didn't get a name and um I said did you get one and she said I absolutely did I I got one instantly and um she shared with me who it was and um it was very um heartwarming and surprising at the same time now in the situation that we just listened to um it was it was more of a challenge by far more of a challenge right as we um listen to this the situation for for Pastor uh Lucas Pastor Lucas Miles it was somebody that he went to school with that he knew was an atheist so um you can imagine the pressure that's there and and for my wife the name that was placed on her heart is for another Christian and um for somebody that is a devout Christian and um much further in her faith and convictions uh than than we are so I'm sure it's going to be a great interaction for my wife but there's something that told her she needed to reach out so we don't know is this person um lonely is this person I know they have some some medical uh things going on maybe they need somebody to talk to maybe uh my wife could lend some kind of hand there and she's absolutely been reaching out but it hasn't she just the phone connection hasn't been made and she's she's called multiple times so at this point we're probably just gonna have to go stop by and uh so we had a great conversation about that and then you know my wife said you know you might not have gotten a name right in the moment but you know I think one's gonna come to you at some point one's gonna one's gonna come to you and um what was interesting for me was just a couple days later I don't I'm not even really aware of the time frame it was different for me it wasn't a name that just you know came to me and then that that I just couldn't stop thinking about it wasn't it wasn't that what it was was a text message I got a text message from a um business mentor of mine somebody that um I used to work for and then I ended up working with and we became partners in the motorcycle industry and um and he's also helped me become a member of the church he was there when I was baptized he uh took took photos of me and my wife uh being baptized and and he messaged me and he said hey Keith I want to let you know that um that Kelvin Reynolds passed away now Calvin Reynolds is um one of the most successful men that I've ever met one of the most successful men in the entire state of Maine and um I'm not gonna get I don't want to get too far off from the story here but uh Kelvin started a series of uh motorcycle dealerships and um if you go all the way back to the early days of this podcast and you listen to my stories I worked for Kelvin at Reynolds Motorsports for a few years I left there I ended up getting brought to uh Big Moose Harley Davidson which um Kelvin's son Steve ran and owned that dealership and Kelvin obviously was a was a partner there and he's also was a a partner at another dealership and um so he really has given so many people in this state their start and he's been a um pivotal influential person for so many people in this state and um you know he he was a person that that a lot of people were intimidated by a lot of people were afraid of I never was um I I didn't have fear I had respect and um I think we had a great way about um interacting and and uh and understanding and I think a lot of that came from the way that I was the way that I was raised so eventually I become a partner for one of Calvin's dealerships when his son Steve um brings me on as a partner and if you go back you know I don't know how many episodes ago now um you'd hear the story of um my career my life goal and dream me achieving that that life goal and dream and and becoming a partner of a Harley Davidson dealership and then thinking about my 10-year plan and what my 30 year plan was looking like when my whole life was paved

Grief Betrayal And Forgiveness

SPEAKER_00

for me. Everything was planned for me. I could see what was destined for me and my family and in 2030 years I was gonna be the majority owner of a Harley Davidson dealership and and that was the future for my family and I could see it and I could feel it and um everything about it was just um so incredible. Like I I I literally poured every ounce of energy and and and passion and compassion and energy and effort into into this dream into this goal and I and I and I attained it. Only to about a year in be sat down at a at a in a room and in this room was was Calvin the man that just passed Scott the man that just texted me about Calvin's passing and Steve Calvin's son and uh my closest you know business companion friend mentor partner telling me that we've decided to sell the dealership and if you say anything we will sue you and you will get nothing and you can't leave you have to work through it and and see this deal all the way through so you can imagine the um the hurt and the resentment that I had and it's incredible for me to say had right there in this moment. Because if you asked me a few weeks ago I would have said the amount of hate and resentment that I have would have been more of a um a present feeling have the hate the discontent the the anger that I have is what I would have said but I just said had and that's incredible for me to slow down and realize that I just said had so me and Steve as you can imagine when all this went down um there was some there was a lot of hurt feelings and uh and you lose some love and you lose a lot of trust and um then there's a lot of soul searching and I've done a lot of a lot of struggling and I've done a lot of growing over the years since then and um me and Steve really haven't had very many conversations since since this happened. So much so that even when my my check from the dealership came through I actually it wasn't even handed to me it was mailed to me and I had to make phone calls about it being shorter than I was told and to be basically told well just be thankful and grateful for what you got so uh there was a there was there was a lot of um uncomfortable unhealthy feelings there but when my father passed away Steve called me when I got a text from from Scott from Scott Lyons telling me that Kelvin had passed my wife was in the living room with my daughter and I said uh Kelvin just passed and we had a project going on we were you know putting together uh furniture and this and that and I just climbed uh over all the boxes and the papers and the plastics and the foam when I went outside and before I could even think about it I called Steve. In suddenly my heart knew you have to call him you have to call him and he would want to hear from you. And I called him and when um he answered the phone and and I don't know if I should be sharing um all this but um I'm sharing it for a reason and that reason is to hopefully encourage more of you to act on these feelings and to hopefully encourage more of you to to find a way to be closer to God. So I called Steve and he answered the phone and um he sounded a little confused at first a little surprised by why I was calling and he was warm and and and and his greeting was nice and but he you could tell he was kind of surprised and I said Steve I I just heard the news and I really needed to reach out to you and see how you're doing and to give my condolences and uh he paused and he got emotional and uh he said Give I really appreciate um you reaching out and we had a great conversation and I said um your dad meant a lot to uh a lot of people and he meant a lot to me and and uh I said regardless of the way things uh went Steve I I gotta say that you and your father have done incredible things for me and my family for a lot of years and I realized in the moment and I said to Steve I spent over a fourth of my life with you I spent over a quarter of my life with you side by side through the ups and downs through so much and I said you and your family have done so much for me and my family that I want you to know that I'm here for you and that I'm praying for you and um I started getting emotional and I said no matter how prepared you are for this one of the hardest things you can ever do in your life is to lay your father to rest so I just wanted you to know that I'm that I'm here and I'm always going to be here and we had a great conversation and he and he told me you know in the end my father looked at me and said don't you for one minute don't for one minute be distraught and mourn and upset and and and feel sorry for me because I lived an incredible life I did everything I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it. And I'm not going to share all the details of this conversation but I probably have already shared too much but I'm sharing it for a reason number one to show Steve's compassion and his heart because he did the same thing for me. He very well could have expected when he called me for me to say what the hell are you calling me for and I didn't because I knew and we had a great conversation and he is somebody that's been a father figure to me for a long time and I instantly knew I had to call him and if there was a service for his dad I absolutely would have been there but it was crazy for me when I when I put a little time and distance on it and I thought about it and I said that was it that was my name that's who I needed to call and by having that conversation the biggest thing I struggle with in being being a Christian is forgiveness. I have a real hard time with forgiveness and I realized I forgave him a long time ago and it's crazy how some things work out and me and my wife had some some great conversation after this and and where we talked about it and said had Steve not done what he did where would we be today and he had actually the great wisdom to see the direction of the motor company and the direction of the industry and um we absolutely got out while we one of the best possible times to get out and he saw that and he understood that and and um he made that move and that decision and recently as I'm kind of connecting some pieces here in our our family night at church our marriage uh night at church I shared something with a new couple because we were talking about some of the pitfalls of relationships and one of those things is is your career it's wealth it's power it's prestige and um we talked about it and and and I mentioned I've been fortunate in my life to live on two sides of the coin and I often find that when you have one you don't have the other I often find when you have the greatest success in your career is when you often have the most difficulty at home because you sacrifice one for the other. And I said I have the great perspective in my life to be able to look at it and see where I can say I achieved on the greatest level of achievement for the goals that I set for myself I attained some of the most tremendous things that I envisioned or dreamed for myself and I know what my home life felt like and I know what that kept me from. And now as I am the most financially unsecure of my life flying moored by the seat of my pants way less guarantees than than I can ever remember for me I've never been happier and more complete and more whole than I am at home right now. Without Steve making those decisions I'm not a father today I don't own this apparel business I don't have this podcast and I don't have so many of the friends that I have right now. In this life you never know what that difference is going to be you never know what that tipping point is going to be it's different for you and me. And my story and that name and that call didn't necessarily fall in line with the prescribed way of the story. I didn't have the same experience as my wife and I do want her to come on here and share her story and I asked I actually told you guys last week that I was going to ask to have her join the show but we've just been extremely busy. She's still working downstairs I'm cooking on the porch so we just don't have the time to to both be together on this one right now. So hopefully in the future we can share that when we follow up more so on her call um so the experience is different for both of us but that's often the way it's going to be and it can be different for you as well so much like Pastor Lucas as we ask you do you have it in you are you willing to stand up are you willing to to make the call if a name is given are you willing to take the effort if a name is given if you're standing up here tonight let's just raise our hands to heaven and let's just go to the Lord right now. Father thank you God so many years ago you did this thing in my life that started me on a track for ministry Lord that that you just spoke a name as a simple thing you just you just put a name on my heart and it started a a lifetime of ministry it changed the course of people's future it changed my future Lord if we're here in this day Lord that needs you that that's that's hungry for an awakening for revival but I pray that you would do what you did for me and that is just laying on people's hearts this doesn't have to be super spiritual it's just it's just your leading Lord your Holy Spirit just minister to us and give us give us a a nudge an unction give us a direction may you empower us to take the gospel of the Great Commission not only to all nations but right here to New Hampshire and Lord we pray that because of this event tonight because of this moment because of the word that was shared because of the prayers that were prayed that people's eternity would change forever amen we love you New Hampshire thank you so much man I hope a name comes to you and I hope this challenge comes to you all right I want to wrap this up with one more quick little story one more um last last little part of a of a sermon from the Turning Point Make Heaven crowded tour and this one is from Pastor Ken Bosse who actually is a local pastor from Raymond New Hampshire he is Caroline Levitt's pastor and I just want this this um this thing right here just brought me to tears when I heard it so this is for y'all now everything that happened here tonight is for you these speakers came from around the country all of the setup was because God loves you if you are here tonight and you don't know Jesus I want you to know how unique you are.

Pastor Ken Bosse On God’s Love

SPEAKER_01

God knew you and formed you in your mother's womb. And they were walking by a place for a slide dog's door and unfortunately the slide dogs weren't taking care of well and they were under nourishment and as he was walking he realized his little girl wasn't with him and when he turned much to his horror he saw his little daughter flocking right towards the dog because they were too and fluffy and his heart stopped and he knew that if he ran after her and said Sarah no what a little kid did if they run farther. And she would have run right into those open jaws of those dogs. And instead what he did is he got on his knees and he said Sarah Daddy loves you come to Daddy and she turned and ran into the arms of her father and I want you to know tonight the reason all of this is happening is because God loved you so much. He sent his time Jesus Christ to die on a Roman cross for yours identity. He died for my symptoms a penalty that I could never pay for a debt that I could never get along for I was lost in my tenants and he died for me. You don't understand you are gonna run into the job and Christ of hell for eternity because you are going to die and you get that barrel pride your way out of it. And God loves you so much. And Father God stretches out his arm and he says sweetheart come back to dad and that's what Jesus did that's how much God loves us.

SPEAKER_00

That's how much he loves you wow maybe it's because um I'm a new father I'm a young father maybe it's because I have a two year old but the story of that little girl running towards the sled dogs and the dad hitting his knees and and just saying Daddy loves you and Her running into his arms. That

Seasonal Depression And Choosing Light

SPEAKER_00

image, that feeling that it creates, makes me realize as bad as I am at this, it makes me realize as much as my curiosity and my my deep dark desires want me to go in a different direction, I need to run towards God. I need to run towards the Father. I need to be a better man and father. And tonight's episode I know is really heavy in gospel. I know tonight's episode might not be for everyone, but if it touches anyone, that's why we did it. I don't claim to know the Bible front to back. I don't claim to be able to recite passages just off the top of my head. That's that's not it, that's not me. Maybe someday it will be, but it's not. But what I am today is somebody that wants to learn a little bit more every day. Um somebody that wants to be closer to Him a little bit more every day. And if I can encourage each and every one of you to take that leap, to have that curiosity, I can promise each and every one of you it's a better life for each and every one of us. I know tonight's episode was a little bit different, but as we get our hearts and our emotions all tied up into politics, we think about paying gas bills, we think about eating our homes and feeding our families and trying to survive. As we get ready for winter and and a lot of states like mine just buckle down and shut down and we start to preserve and conserve the deepest, darkest time of the year, when the sun goes away and we don't get the vitamin D that we need every day, and pretty soon we hunker down and we hibernate and we bunker down. This becomes some of the darkest days, this becomes some of the most depressing times for so many people. There is a thing called seasonal depression. There is difficult times and darkness that awaits for all of us. That's why I wanted to shed a light and a positive one that exists for each and every one of us. And I might lose some listeners because this might not be what you signed up for. But that's okay. Because if I made a difference and I changed one person today, then that's the only reason why I came here. Thank you for supporting my American dream.

SPEAKER_02

Now go wash your hands and don't be savage.

SPEAKER_00

That's it, and that's all, Biggie Smalls.

Where To Find More

SPEAKER_00

If you're a Loud Proud American and you find yourself just wanting more, find me on YouTube and Facebook at Loud Proud American on the Facebook, as my mama calls it. If you're a fan of the Grand Crackin, you want to find me on Instagram for all the kids by tickety-talkin on the TikTok, you can find me on both of those at loud underscore proud underscore American. Big old thank you to the boys from the Gun Truckers for the background beats and the thing songs to their podcast. If you are enjoying what you're hearing, track down the gun truckers on Facebook Just Sir Gun Truckers.