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Divine Connections: Joseph & Tamara Battaglia’s Faith-Driven Love Story

What happens when a chance encounter becomes a story only God could write? In this episode of Seek Go Create, Tim Winders sits down with Tamara and Joseph Battaglia to unpack the serendipitous moments, leaps of faith, and unexpected Uber cancellations that orchestrated their divine connection. Together, they reveal how their relationship—and Tamara’s new book, Written in Heaven—grew out of open hearts, creativity, and trust in God’s plan. If you’ve ever wondered how purpose, faith, and creativity can completely change the course of your life, this is the episode you won’t want to miss!

"You never get tired of seeing God work in the right way in someone's life. If you keep the awe in that, then that spreads out into the relationship." - Joseph and Tamara Battaglia

Access all show and episode resources HERE

About Our Guest:

Joseph Battaglia is an accomplished author, broadcaster, and media executive. He is the president of Renaissance Communications and executive producer of "Keep the Faith," one of the nation’s largest faith-based radio programs. With decades of experience, Joseph has served on the board of the Gospel Music Association for 20 years and has played a significant role in the Christian music and film industry. His books, including "The Politically Incorrect Jesus" and "Make America Good Again," have inspired believers to engage faith with conviction and compassion.

Tamara Hester Battaglia is an author, flight attendant, and co-creator of "Written in Heaven," a 40-day devotional featuring the stories of renowned women in Christian ministry, such as Roma Downey, Priscilla Shirer, and Karen Kingsbury. Tamara brings personal insight and encouragement through her writing and faith journey, having navigated seasons of challenge and transformation with resilience and grace. Together, Joseph and Tamara share a powerful message on faith, purpose, and the divine ways God writes individual stories.

Reasons to Listen:

  1. Discover How Divine Timing Works: Hear the remarkable story of how Joseph and Tamara Battaglia’s chance encounter at a private Nashville event led to a life-changing connection—full of unexpected twists, Holy Spirit moments, and faith-filled decisions.
  2. Insider Glimpse Into Faith-Based Creativity: Learn why Franklin, Tennessee has become a hub for Christian artists, filmmakers, and authors—and get insights into the collaborative process behind Tamara’s 40-day devotional, "Written in Heaven," featuring multiple powerhouse voices.
  3. Real Talk About Mature Relationships & Purpose: Explore honest conversations about blending families, finding love later in life, overcoming loss, and stepping into new callings together—including behind-the-scenes stories on writing, publishing, and growing in faith and courage.

Episode Resources & Action Steps:

Resources Mentioned:

  1. Written in Heaven – A 40-day devotional book co-created by Tamara Hester Battaglia featuring stories from voices like Roma Downey, Priscilla Shirer, and Karen Kingsbury. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christianbook.com, and other major retailers.
  2. Keep the Faith Radio Program – One of the nation’s largest faith-based radio programs, executive produced by Joseph Battaglia.
  3. NRB (National Religious Broadcasters) Convention – A major annual event for faith-based media professionals, mentioned as a place for industry connection and ministry growth.

Action Steps for Listeners:

  1. Reflect on and Share Your Story: Take time to consider moments in your life that feel “written in heaven,” and consider journaling or sharing your experiences with friends or family. Recognize where faith and divine intervention may have shown up in your journey.
  2. Connect and Build Community: If you’re interested in faith-based media or creative work, look up events like the NRB Convention for opportunities to connect with others in the industry or ministry.
  3. Commit to Personal Growth and Prayer: As discussed in the episode, Tamara found comfort and clarity through prayer and reflecting on Psalm 139:13. Use daily devotionals or prayer as a tool for personal and spiritual growth, especially during seasons of transition or decision-making.

Key Lessons:

  1. Divine Interventions Can Change Your Life: Joseph and Tamara’s story is filled with “God-winks” and unexpected Holy Spirit moments that turned ordinary encounters—a misdirected ticket purchase, a canceled Uber, a surprise flight assignment—into life-altering events. Staying open to divine guidance can lead you somewhere you never planned to go.
  2. Healing Before Partnership is Essential: Both Joseph and Tamara emphasized the importance of healing from past relationships before entering a new one. Taking time for personal growth and restoration allowed them to build their marriage on a healthy, faith-filled foundation.
  3. Building Relationships Takes Courage and Initiative: Their journey shows that sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone (or even over someone’s shoulder to cancel an Uber!) to pursue a connection. Taking bold or creative action, especially when you feel divinely nudged, can open doors to meaningful relationships.
  4. Shared Faith Creates Deeper Purpose: Their marriage and collaboration are built on shared faith, mutual respect, and a focus on how God is writing their story. Viewing life through the lens of purpose and calling brings depth and joy to both personal and professional partnerships.
  5. Supporting Each Other’s Growth is Powerful: Joseph and Tamara’s teamwork on the book "Written in Heaven" highlights the power of encouragement and partnership. When you champion one another’s gifts and dreams, you multiply your impact and experience God’s best in your collaborative efforts.

Episode Highlights:

00:00 A Divine Encounter: Canceling the Uber

00:32 Meet Tamara and Joe Battaglia

01:58 The Move to Franklin, Tennessee

04:57 A Chance Meeting at the Ryman Auditorium

11:42 The Uber Incident: A Holy Spirit Moment

13:43 God's Plan Unfolds: From Newark to Nashville

22:42 A Providential Journey: From LA to the Ark

28:01 Navigating Early Relationship Stages

29:18 COVID-19 and Relationship Growth

33:20 Meeting Family and Friends

36:31 Proposal and Engagement

38:41 Challenges and Reflections on Marriage

42:31 Writing and Collaborating on 'Written in Heaven'

54:42 Future Projects and Final Thoughts

Resources for Leaders from Tim Winders & SGC:

🎙 Unlock Leadership Excellence with Tim

  • Transform your leadership and align your career with your deepest values. Schedule your Free Discovery Call now to explore how you can reach new heights in personal and professional growth. Limited slots available each month – Book your session today!

📚 Redefine Your Success with "Coach: A Story of Success Redefined"

  • Challenge your perceptions and embark on a journey toward true fulfillment. Dive into transformative insights with "Coach: A Story of Success Redefined." This book will help you rethink what success means and how to achieve it on your terms. Don't miss out on this essential read—order your copy today!

Thank you for listening to Seek Go Create!

Our podcast is dedicated to empowering Christian leaders, entrepreneurs, and individuals looking to redefine success in their personal and professional lives. Through in-depth interviews, personal anecdotes, and expert advice, we offer valuable insights and actionable strategies for achieving your goals and living a life of purpose and fulfillment.

If you enjoyed this episode and found it helpful, we encourage you to subscribe to or follow Seek Go Create on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. By subscribing, you'll never miss an episode and can stay up-to-date on the latest insights and strategies for success.

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Mentioned in this episode:

A Final Challenge: Redefine Success with Coach

Before you sign off, here’s a powerful invitation from Tim: If you’ve been inspired by the stories on Seek Go Create, take the next step with his novel, Coach: A Story of Success Redefined. It’s a transformative journey that invites leaders to rethink success and align their lives with faith, purpose, and peace. Get your copy today at TimWinders.com.

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Your Next Great Read Starts Here

Looking for a book that goes beyond the ordinary? Tim Winders introduces Coach: A Story of Success Redefined—a gripping novel about success, purpose, and the deeper questions we all wrestle with. Follow the story of Cooper Travis and discover a read that just might change how you view your own journey. Grab your copy today at TimWinders.com.

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Transcript
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at that point, I encounter a Holy Spirit moment So I reach over her shoulder

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and cancel the Uber on her iPhone.

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And you say, well, I was kind of speechless.

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What Happens when God turns an ordinary encounter into a story written in heaven?

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Today's guest, Tamara and Joe Battaglia know that story firsthand.

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Their divine connection began at an event neither planned to attend, a

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moment that changed both their lives.

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\Tamara Hester Battaglia is the author and co-creator of Written in

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Heaven, a 40 day devotional featuring voices like Roma, Downey, Priscilla,

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s Shier, and Karen Kingsbury.

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Her husband Joe is a respected author, broadcaster, and media

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executive president of Renaissance Communications and executive producer

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of Keep the Faith, one of the nation's largest faith-based radio programs.

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His books, including The Politically Incorrect Jesus and Make America

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Good Again, challenge Believers to live in conviction and compassion.

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Together, they share a powerful message about faith.

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Purpose and the way God writes our stories.

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One divine moment at a time.

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Joseph.

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Tamara,

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welcome to Seek Go Create.

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Well, Tim, so good to be with you.

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Good to be with you.

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great for y'all to be here too.

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So here's a question I always have when I have him and her together.

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It's not a trick question, but who's the one that talks first

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usually?

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I do

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Okay, Tamara, I'm gonna ask the first question of you

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see, that was a trick question.

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that was a sort of a trick question.

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Well, and I was, we were sort of joking when we first got started here.

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Y'all are like my second interview this week from Franklin, Tennessee.

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So I don't know when they're gonna air, but, people are gonna say,

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Hey, what are we on like a Franklin, Tennessee streak or something?

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is going on in Franklin?

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Because it seems like everybody's going there.

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I think, I think God's building an army here.

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really?

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it just seems like, more and more people are moving into Franklin, Tennessee,

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and I'm sure there's been a lot of advertising on tourist and, it's rated

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one of the top places to live in the us.

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and I guess that's it pretty much.

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Well, I think more specifically.

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A lot of creatives are moving here.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah.

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The Christian film industry.

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Which I've been involved in for the last 20 years.

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a lot of people involved in that industry have moved here,

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like the Irwins of course.

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there are so many other artists from California moving here.

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a lot of people from Hollywood.

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so there seems to be a real attraction here and it's becoming a hub for a lot

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of creative people, in the faith space.

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And so obviously they're coming here, because of the environment

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and the opportunity to be with people of like mind and heart.

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but it really is kind of fun and cool to have all this.

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I just see it all the time.

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It's been a little while since I've been in and around that area, but kinda

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what Tamra said, like there seems to be kind of an army being built and

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I do believe God moves in that way.

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I think that, you know, there's people connected, there's momentum that occurs.

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I'm an engineer by training, so I speak in terms of things like momentum.

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I think there's momentum and, you know, things start

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attracting and things like that.

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What brought y'all to the area?

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'cause I think y'all said y'all been there less than three

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years or something like that.

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So y'all are fairly newer.

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So each one of you, Joe Joseph, you could start each one of you.

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What?

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Why did y'all come there?

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Well, I've been coming down the Nashville area for my whole career.

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I was at the nation stages of the contemporary Christian music industry back

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in the mid seventies, in broadcasting.

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I was on the board of the Gospel Music Association for 20 years.

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and so I've been very familiar with Nashville and the areas around

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here, and I always loved Franklin.

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so it didn't take me much to be convinced to move outta New Jersey

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where I've been my entire life.

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New York metro area, that was my mission field with radio, Christian, radio,

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Christian music, a number of things.

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but then something happened, her, well pick it up from there.

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Well, we met in Nashville.

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We got engaged in Nashville, and we got married here.

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and he also has family here.

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so we just felt like it was a great place to come.

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And, I lived 61 years in Houston with my family, and so it was kind

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of a meet in the middle, Jersey.

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And Houston, we met in the middle.

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Yeah, I did, kidnap her back to New Jersey for several years.

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I wanted to show her the other side of the world, you know?

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what New York was about.

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but then one day she said, how about we consider, moving to Franklin, why don't we

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just rent for a while, see what happens.

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Well, as soon as we got down here, she lived on Zillow and, start

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taking me around to all the new communities that were springing up.

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And, when she set foot in this place in our current home,

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site, she said, this is it.

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You know how women have that nesting gene?

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Mm-hmm.

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Well, that gene was fully expressed.

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and so after two months down here renting, we decided to.

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Make the move and stay and, went back up and sold, my town home,

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in New Jersey and liked the clamp.

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Its, loaded up the van and came to Tennessee.

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up and came to Tennessee like so many other people are doing now.

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it has to be getting a little bit crowded, is

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it?

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I mean,

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Hmm.

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well, maybe a little.

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Well, compared to Houston in New York.

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No, not even close.

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I mean, but I,

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Atlanta

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I'll say moving here, he did give me a list of things like, I wanna be close

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to the city, you know, I wanna be close to Franklin, downtown Franklin.

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And he did give me a few things to look for when we were finding a home.

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Yeah.

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And this is such a cool town.

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it's great.

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It's like, I describe it to people as.

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Living in a Norman Rockwell painting, very similar to that.

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and, how far is Franklin from Nashville Center?

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Oh, 20, 25 miles maybe.

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Yeah.

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close.

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Every time.

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I buzz through Nashville, as we're cruising around in the

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rv, I usually get in traffic.

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But then I'm sitting here in Atlanta right now and I could tell you, last Sunday,

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rode out to the other side of Atlanta.

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Should have been a 45 minute drive to visit my in her eighties.

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And it took two

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hours 'cause it was Atlanta

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on a Sunday.

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Well, yeah.

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going downtown Nashville is becoming like that.

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Yeah.

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we sort of just kinda get comfortable in our places and all.

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But what's fascinating about you two?

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You know, we get some cool stuff, come across our desk with our project.

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We've got here the podcast and I get to talk to people like you guys,

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but y'all obviously are leading the story of you two connecting.

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That is a big part of your story.

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If we wanna get the true sort of vanilla story.

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I'm gonna ask which one of you would tell that, but then if we want to,

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now we are a, you know, we don't bleep things out or anything, so I'll allow

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for the saucy part of the story, but who tells the true vanilla version

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and who could give a little bit with, you know, just a little bit of a

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spice

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maybe?

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well, you know what?

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We, uh,

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we toss it back and forth.

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Mm-hmm.

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oh, well,

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I normally start,

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will, I know when I have the spark

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in spice, I could already,

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well, you'll,

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bit of it.

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you'll get it.

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You're a smart guy, but there's a little bit of sauce and spice in both of us,

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so it may be hard to tell at times.

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So, basically I was, producing an event for my friend Kathy Lee

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Gifford, who I've known forever.

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Kathy and I are long time friends.

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we put it together down here in Nashville.

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It was an event at the Ryman Auditorium, and the night before

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that event, there was another event that was only for the board of this

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organization that sponsored this event.

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So it was a private affair.

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It was not open to the public.

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And then what happened?

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I got a ticket to the event and they, I got a ticket and they, I, I got a ticket.

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I was getting a ticket for the Ryman event, and then I was online

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looking up, who was singing.

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I knew Nicole C. Mullen was singing, and that was the main reason I came.

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And then also to see Kathy, 'cause I knew she was going to be involved in

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it as well, because she had written a song called The God Who Sees.

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And if you've ever heard it, it is a wonderful, amazing song.

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And especially if you're a woman, you'll really relate to this song.

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It's just so beautiful.

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but I was looking up who else was singing to that event at the

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Ryman, and this ticket came up for the night before at dinner.

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And so I bought a ticket.

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I didn't think anything about it.

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And about five minutes later they called me and they said,

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how did you get this ticket?

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And I said, I don't really know.

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I was online and told 'em the story.

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And they said, okay.

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I thought it was just a courtesy call to thank me for getting the ticket.

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Yeah.

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And, well, it, it was not supposed to be sold.

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like I said, it was a private dinner for the board and guests.

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So, she gets a ticket that she was not supposed to.

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So I show up at the event, I bring Kathy, bring her to the back door,

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the stage door, and the guy sponsoring the event, lets her and her assistant

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in and then closes the door.

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Behind them and leaves me out.

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so, okay, I'll just go in the front door like everybody else.

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So, I go in the door, stand in the line, and her sister is in that line in front

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of me and just starts talking with me.

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and then Tammy shows up.

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we go in, you know, I take my place at a table, at the end we all leave, right?

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I'm walking out the door and she and her sister are standing at

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the curb waiting for an Uber.

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And I say, hi ladies.

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may I drive you back to your hotel?

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My car is right here.

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And you say No.

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No.

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I will say one of the reasons I said no is because I had one minute, one

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minute for the Uber to get there.

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I didn't wanna be charged.

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And I also didn't, I felt bad about canceling on the guy

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with only one minute to go.

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I was looking out for the Uber driver.

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Right.

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I, was not looking out.

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answer, very practical

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I of course, was not looking out for the Uber driver.

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He didn't care.

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So,

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I try again and you say, no, no again.

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So at that point, I encounter a Holy Spirit moment or part

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of my New Jersey upbringing.

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So I reach over her shoulder and cancel the Uber on her iPhone.

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And you say, well, I was kind of speechless.

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Mm-hmm.

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So I say, well, now you have to let me drive you home.

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I knew he was a nice guy and everything.

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I wasn't, I had my sister with me and my sister, she actually had surgery on

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her one arm, so she had it in a sling.

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But growing up, she would take up for me and everything and I thought,

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well, if anything happens, she could probably take him one armed easily.

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Yeah.

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She's really tough.

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So I wasn't really worried.

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So we had a nice discussion on the way back to the hotel.

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obviously she Googled me immediately, when she got back to her home.

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Oh my God.

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she was.

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in the police department there, in the Houston area.

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so she's naturally suspicious of, characters from New Jersey, New York.

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she went and checked me out, saw that I was credentialed

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So when I hear stories like this, there's a couple things that come to my

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mind and I think back to when I met my wife I absolutely believe that the hand

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of God moves in situations like this.

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I believe that he equips many of us men to identify the beautiful

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woman that we're supposed to be with,

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There you.

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and we will do incredible things.

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Sometimes not entirely nice or kind like steal somebody's phone and

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cancel an Uber, to make that happen.

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so I, I'm not in any way Joseph, trying to say that you weren't, thinking incredible,

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great thoughts and all that, but my guess is she was just an incredibly attractive

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woman and you just really wanted to know

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her better.

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Correct.

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Sort of, but Well, the fascinating thing is, you know, after we started

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dating, I realized he was not good at Ubers, like ordering an Uber.

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And I thought, I don't even know how you push the button on my Uber

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or even found where to cancel it.

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so the fact that he canceled

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is somewhat of a miracle.

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that true.

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So that's why I say there was something that said do that.

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I wouldn't normally have done that.

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But, like you just said, at times things come over you that.

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You know, maybe God is directing us in those instances where

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he leads us to do things, say things we might not ordinarily.

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And this is the fun part of our stories.

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Right?

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Yeah.

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And then, the next night we see each other at the event, at the Ryman, and

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I'm, you know, sitting in back of her.

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And then you say, what?

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I had a, I had an extra ticket, so I said, you wanna come sit with with me?

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So she stalked me that night.

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I did not make the move on her, so she wanted me to sit next to her.

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And of course I thought about that for a split millisecond.

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you said yes, yes, yes.

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so, something that's fascinating to me.

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when we, observe, notice claim, whatever, that someone has been

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brought together, like you two have, I'd love to hear from both of you.

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what, was God's purpose?

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What was he wanting to accomplish?

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what has it led to, that you can look back and go, you know what,

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this is what God had in mind.

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And it could be just companionship, but I suspect it's more than that.

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what do y'all think it is looking back now, how long has it been?

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where are you

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at now as far as your time together?

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Well, that was November, 2019.

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Okay,

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Right?

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you're, so six plus years, which is, and the world's been through a lot

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during that time, so you've learned a good bit about not just each other,

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but other stuff, so what's the purpose?

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What

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was God thinking?

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Well, certainly we believe he was thinking that this is written in heaven.

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Yeah,

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we have

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good

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to believe,

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into a book we'll talk about here in just a

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right?

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I was, you know, going after the seg, but, you know, maybe you'll continue

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at some other point, but so much happened, to convince us of God's

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intervention and many other ways after that that we could go into.

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But that's up to you on the timing.

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so why don't you tell 'em about the flight to Jersey?

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why don't you begin there and that'll help build the case for why we're together.

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Okay.

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Uh, well, I'm my flight attend.

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Joe, got my digits that night and he probably looked me

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up and didn't find anything.

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but he would send me texts when he was flying and say,

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I am on such and such flight.

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You know, what's for dinner?

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Or, you know, are you gonna be on the flight?

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And I was never on the flight.

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and so he did this for a couple of weeks.

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and then one day I was having, my quiet time with the Lord and I was actually

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taking a walk and I just blurted out, well, God, if you want me to meet

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Joe again, then send me to Newark.

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And he had said, Joe had said, you know, if you're ever in Newark,

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you know, I'll take you to dinner.

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And I said, well, I'm never in Newark.

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I try to avoid Newark at all costs.

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I was from Houston, so I was based in Houston.

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So I would go to Newark and turn around and go right back to Houston.

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And I had not had a layover there in probably four years.

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but on my walk I just blurted out one of those prayers that you pray

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that afterwards you're like, what?

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What did I say?

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that night I went to bed and I was on what we call reserve.

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So I was on 24 hour call.

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So I never knew where I was going or what flight I was gonna be on

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until usually the last minute.

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I didn't have anything on my schedule.

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When I went to bed, during the night, I got up and checked my schedule and I

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had a layover in Newark the next day.

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The next day.

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and I remember looking at my phone and I put it down.

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I was like, I know God, what I prayed, but I've changed my mind.

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I'm not, it's okay.

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I thank you for answering that.

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I appreciate the effort, you know, anyway, he, so I, I, I thought, well,

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you know, God answered this prayer pretty quickly within the le within six hours.

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And so I thought I, I better honor him and follow through.

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So I emailed Joe, didn't hear from him for a little bit, and then I

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was actually closing the door on the plane and, got to my seat and looked

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down and he had said, sure, I'd like to take you to dinner tonight.

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so I flew into Newark and we were supposed to go out and eat and then it was snowing.

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So we chose not to meet, but just do a phone call.

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And what did we talk about?

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well, it was a very awkward conversation.

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I had been, I was married 24 years and divorced, and then I was single

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for 17 years, and his wife, you and I Tell him about your wife.

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Yeah.

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My wife, passed away seven years ago.

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We had been married 37 years.

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Mm-hmm.

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and you know, I wasn't looking.

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I wasn't looking.

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so,

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and it, it was like being in high school.

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It was like 10 minutes of like a high school conversation with

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a boy and a girl, and I'm like, I don't know what to say to him.

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And I could tell he didn't know what to say to me either.

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so we just talked for a few minutes and.

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he asked me if I'd ever marry again and I said, no.

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I said, Jesus is my husband and no, I will never marry again.

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and I was pretty set in that, which God always has a sense

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of humor in my decisions.

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Joe said at one point he said, well, if you ever wanna talk about men, call me.

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And I thought, well, that's the strangest thing I've ever heard anyone say.

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and we hung up the phone and I thought, well, God, I did what

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you, I thought you asked me to do.

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but I really thought at that point that there wasn't any kind

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of relationship or anything.

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fast forward a few weeks, I was moving in with my daughter.

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She was getting ready to have a baby, and I thought I'd be like a nanny slash

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flight attendant for her and her husband.

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So I thought I'd move in with them.

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I was selling my home and I was going through, memories and boxes

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and I got really emotional and really started thinking about my life.

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And I remember what he said, 'cause it was such a random thought.

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And so I sat down and wrote him an email and just said, well, here's my story.

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And I wrote down my story.

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And I think because he was in Newark, I, it was more comfortable for me to

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share my story with him and not, I didn't think anything would ever happen.

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so he sent me an email.

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He said, well, let's talk tonight.

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So he called me.

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And it was interesting, that conversation was like two old friends talking.

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he was sharing with me his journey.

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I was sharing with him my journey.

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there was tears.

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And at the end he said, well, can I pray for you?

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And I said, sure.

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And he begins to pray for me, this blessing over me.

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and it was like Jesus said, I just felt like Jesus was saying,

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you need to hear these words and you need to receive these words.

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and he just wrote, he just had this beautiful prayer that he prayed over me.

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I went to bed that night and I had, when I got in bed, I started writing down.

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I was trying to remember everything he said 'cause I

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thought, I need to reread this.

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I need to read this blessing again.

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That he, he said, I woke up the next morning and he had sent me an email.

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And in the email he had written down everything he had prayed.

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so I felt like that was a pretty strong God wink as well.

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So we decided maybe we should go and have dinner, which we did, in January.

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a few months, no, a month later then.

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'cause by that time it was December, right?

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So we, I had to be in, LA on business and I just happened to be in LA too,

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not, I never am in la but I had some friends that were there, they were

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RVing and her husband had gotten sick and nobody was there for them.

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And so I was flying out to meet with her and so I was gonna be there.

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So I said maybe we can actually do that dinner.

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So, picked a nice restaurant, 'cause I've been in LA a number of times

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and, it's a few nice places to hang out there if you want a nice dinner.

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And so we had dinner that night and it was just a wonderful time together,

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that night, in the following day.

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then what, did you come, oh, you came to New York?

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No, I went to the Arc. Oh, what?

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Yes, I invited her.

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get the

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Get the source right?

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Yeah.

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I always get it backwards.

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one of the things I do, patterns of Evidence is a filmmaking product

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that my friend Tim Mahoney, does.

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He's a producer and he is created these beautiful, movies, about Israel and the

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life of the early Jews and the Exodus.

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And you may be familiar with some of his movies.

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I helped Tim produce panels afterward 'cause he always aired them Un fathom.

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With their theater, productions.

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and so I was in charge of creating an after movie panel of experts talking

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about what they just saw as added value for the distribution of the movie

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that Fathom does for its, clients.

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And so I produced a couple of those for Tim and I was producing another one on

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his, I think it was the Red Sea Miracle.

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Mm-hmm.

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and he was gonna do it at the Arc, which you're probably familiar

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with, and a lot of your, viewers.

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and I was in charge of, again, putting together the panel of experts.

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And so I asked, my buddy Todd Starns to moderate.

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I invited Kay Arthur, Janet Metford, who is a talk show

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host, and a few other people.

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And I told her, this is what I am doing.

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And she said, I love Kay Arthur.

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I've done all her precepts.

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And I said, well, why don't you fly out and meet us in Cincinnati?

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'cause then it's a short ride over to the ark in Kentucky.

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And she said, okay.

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And she went with me.

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she flew in.

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we met at the hotel, got her a room and along with us, with the team

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there, and then went on the, the bus.

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There was a, a van that enabled us to go there.

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and so, she was there.

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Had a lot of fun.

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met Kay Arthur, who really loved her.

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She was just walking around holding her arm.

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and so I had to leave the next day, for work.

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I left.

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Ken was going, going to take everybody on a personal tour of the

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Arc, Ken Ham, who of course runs it.

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and so she stayed for that.

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I thought that was cool.

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And met Tim Mahoney there, right?

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and his wife Jill.

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and they're wonderful people.

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And why don't you pick it up from there?

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Tim was producing his, movie, the Red Sea Miracles, and they asked me because

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Jill and I just, it was like two people meeting each other and just knowing

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that you were supposed to be sisters.

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In Christ, but I mean, it was just like a draw.

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so we became really fast friends and she asked me if I would help her at

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this, convention called NRB, which is the National Religious Broadcasters.

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And I said, sure.

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You know, I'd love to, you know, I was off that week.

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I was like, sure, I'd love to do that with you.

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I came home and I am sharing with him what I'm doing.

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And what do you say?

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I said, oh, NRB, I've only been there for 50 years and I'm on the board,

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They have a

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a

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plaque.

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name's on the wall,

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Well, I do have a few awards he's been given, and so, unknown to

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her, that was my top convention that I, I've gone to since 1975.

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And so he brought her there.

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To once again hang out with me.

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Um, that's, you know, a providential miracle meeting number five at this point.

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And so

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when you're the age that we are all at, I don't know that

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this term, were you dating,

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were you

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interested?

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Were

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you boyfriend girlfriend,

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What

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Well, we were

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just

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of kind.

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I mean, we were, we were kind.

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I don't think we were boyfriend and girlfriend at that time.

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I think we were still kind of being cautious.

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he hadn't met my friends, he hadn't met my family.

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she hadn't met, my daughter or my staff We just liked each other,

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liked being with each other, and she liked the fun things I did.

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She liked my world, which I think is important.

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Yeah,

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So sounds like

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cautiously optimistic and taking

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steps just to see where it led.

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Yeah.

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Uh, both optimistic, not looking for the, uh, I, the, the

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reason it's fascinating to me,

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my wife and I just celebrated our 37th anniversary and we, we don't really

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have discussions like, you know, well, what would happen if something

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happened to one of you and all that.

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But I, I, I, every once in all have, could be a odd dream or something.

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It's like, man, I, you know, dating now

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Mm-hmm.

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don't, I wouldn't know what to do.

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Just like y'all said the first phone call, it's like, I don't even know

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what to say or any of that kinda stuff.

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So that's the reason.

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It's sort of fascinating.

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so at what point did y'all say, okay, we're a couple,

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let's commit.

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Okay.

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I mean, y'all are moving in

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that direction, it sounds like.

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Well, right after NRB, the country shut down With COVID

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Ooh,

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months.

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Yeah.

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You know what?

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I went to a podcasting conference down in Orlando, March

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6th, eighth,

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Probably the last week you could do anything.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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yeah.

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And so the fun thing is, while at NRB we'd hang out and we'd be having lunch one day,

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and three of my friends would walk by, uh, female friends who would say, something's

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going on here, there's something here

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They

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know.

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They know.

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and so the relationship was being, corroborated by.

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Others who had a sense of what God was telling them when they saw us together.

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They were

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coming in agreement

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And his, the wonderful thing for me is that I, I've been very cautious

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person, very, very cautious.

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And for me to see women that truly respected him and really were just,

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they were like his sisters and they just really, you could just tell that there was

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a great love and affection for, for him.

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And you know, it's kind of rare, I mean, for women to be, to respect

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someone as deeply as I could tell these women respected him.

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So he didn't realize that for me, I was really taking note of that.

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It was a very rare, you could just see the love and the respect and, really

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the caring, they really cared about him.

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So NRB is over.

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We go back to our respective places.

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The country shuts down.

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She's not flying, I'm not producing anything.

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I was doing a lot of promotion on Christian movies back then.

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Well, obviously no movies were happening, so we just talked to

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each other every day and FaceTimed each other for four months, and that

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grew into a really cool friendship.

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And then it was time to decide.

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Fisher Cut bait.

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Really?

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Did you actually say that?

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Did I say

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that?

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mouth?

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Did I say fish or no?

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I

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I don't think so.

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Things are looking great.

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And then, okay, it's time to fish or cut

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bait.

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Come on.

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You know, but one thing about being separated for four months.

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It was great 'cause there was no, it was just like two friends

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visiting with each other.

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And really it grew our relationship, but also we started doing, we took the

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love language test to see what our local language was, and we took other tests to

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see, you know, how compatible we were.

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and so that was a great opportunity to kind of just sit back and go, you

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know, let's, let's just see, you know?

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If we really are compatible and,

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You know,

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and we were,

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one thing during that time that I observed was that it was a time that

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people got more still and quiet.

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Then most of us had ever been, my wife and I looked at each other, you

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know, speaking of God doing things.

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We said were not sure why after we went to Bible school for a

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couple years in Colorado, why he told us to move into an rv.

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then the world shuts down and we're socially distanced already.

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And we look at each other, we go, Hmm, this is kind of

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interesting and fascinating.

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And so you're quiet and still, because I don't, I'm not sure that

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in the day to day y'all would've had the opportunity to develop a

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relationship that rapidly

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Mm-hmm.

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Correct.

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Right?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So when we spoke twice a day, there was nothing for me to do.

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So I'd go for walks in the afternoon, same with her.

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And then at night, there was nothing really to do at home, work-wise.

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So we talked again and, by the summer in June, we felt, both felt that it

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was time to make, a decision here.

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And, the first thing was for her to come see, my, daughter, who by that time was.

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30, but she, she was about 30, 30, 31, had a great job in New York

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City and pretty sharp young lady.

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my daughter did not like me wanting to go out with anybody prior to that.

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and my staff who have been with me for many, many years,

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since the eighties, yeah.

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they all loved her.

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And so, that convinced me that, others feel the same way about her as I felt.

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And then it was time for me to go down to Houston and meet her

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family, and we had a good time.

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So one thing odd about these situations, my wife and I in our

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forties lived in a retirement community.

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We had people around us halfway between Atlanta and Augusta.

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And, one of the things we observed is there were a few couples that were mature.

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You know, at the time I would've said they were old.

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Now I would say they're just, they were just mature I'm their age now.

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and we noticed that a few couples that had been.

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Separated or had deceased spouses or whatever were

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interacting, coming together.

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And a few of them, their grown children were excited.

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Some were worse than not excited.

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So I bring that up to say, harmony.

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Everybody good with it?

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See, I couldn't grasp that because I'm like going, okay, these are adults here.

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This is, you know, or PA or just interacting with someone.

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They're playing golf.

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Where we were, it was a golf community.

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It's like, come on.

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everybody's good

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with it.

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Well, so my daughter and son-in-law, they were fine with it.

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you know, my daughter had just had a baby and so I did get to, babysit the baby.

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I took care of her for the first five months and I've been very fortunate to

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be able with my job, to be able to go see them quite a bit like every other month.

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but the fascinating thing was the night of the rehearsal dinner, so to speak.

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We had dinner with everybody, the whole family.

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And I was like, oh, I don't know that's gonna go.

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but our daughters are both very independent.

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My daughter's A-O-B-G-Y-N.

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His daughter is in advertising and she manages a team of people.

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And, so they're very much alike.

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They're very different, but they're very much alike.

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And so they hit it off so well that I looked at Joe at one point

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and I thought, I don't think we're ever gonna get a word in edgewise.

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I mean, it was fascinating to watch that they just, so that was

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another beautiful thing for us.

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'cause I know, I understand what you're saying is like, I don't know,

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this might go one way or the other.

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So that was a great blessing and a, and a great comfort.

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Yeah.

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And we just got through in May going on a big family.

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we went to Rosemary Beach with the whole family, so it was just great fun.

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Yeah.

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And I think one last thing we can say on this story that puts a bow in it,

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when it was time to propose, Yeah, we met with some friends in Colorado, with

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Ken and his wife Ken was the, president of Promise Keepers back then, good pal.

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And, you know, they were wondering, well, what's next for you guys?

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And his wife happened to say, well, you know, I'm a jewelry

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broker, diamond broker, a diamond broker, even better, even better.

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And a few weeks later, she sent me this beautiful diamond

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and the price that she gave me was incredible.

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so now I have a ring

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and an incredible price to give to her.

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so I called Kathy.

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We were, Tammy and I were meeting in Franklin again for an event I was doing.

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And so I called Kathy, who lives here in Franklin, Kathy Lee.

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I said, Hey.

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I've got the ring I'm gonna propose, how about we come over and you wanna

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have some fun with this, with her?

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And, and Kathy's always about having fun.

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So, we, went over just on the pretext that we were just gonna say, hi,

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so on cue she starts singing the Beyonce tune, put a ring on it.

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So you have Kathy Lee Gifford singing that song to you.

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and I get down my knee and propose, she of course, says yes.

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and then Kathy starts taping this on her iPhone, filming it,

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and asking us questions as if she's interviewing us on a show.

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course,

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So we have about 15, 20 minutes of the proposal, the interview.

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and that has how we got engaged.

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Hmm.

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So.

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Well, I love all of that.

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I want to ask one more question about that, and then I want to talk

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a little bit about industry and written in heaven and a few things

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like that, some books and things.

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one of the things that we don't shy away from here at Seat Go Create is

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the tough things and the challenges.

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What's been the biggest challenge up to this point?

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I mean, this is a, you know, we've.

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Told a great story and it's awesome.

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I'm sure every day is awesome, but this is also, you know, bringing together a couple

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of families and there's work and there's situations and, you know, sometimes when

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we're of a certain age or even younger, we could sort of be set in our ways.

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I'm not asking y'all to air out dirty laundry, but each one of you

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give just maybe a challenge that, you know, can make this to people.

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Well, frankly, this has been rather easy and fun.

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It is, frankly, I think because God puts us together, we both have a

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respect for what marriage is about.

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we understand the covenant that goes with it, that whatever I

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do to you, you do is done to me.

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So the way we treat each other is the way we reflect ourselves.

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And I think people have to understand that the oneness that embodies

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Christian marriage, biblical marriage is that you realize that the trinity

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and marriage is the only place in the universe where plural is singular.

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So when they see one, they see the other and vice versa.

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Right.

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So I think we came at it from, because we're older, we,

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We

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yeah.

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mature.

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both been through, I mean, the, I went through the bad

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circumstance of losing my wife.

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Right.

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and I learned a lot of things during that where you serve somebody and

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you learn about your own selfishness.

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Well, you know, normally you get into a marriage and you

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find out about your selfishness.

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So, I think the idea of, what we learned, we really don't have a whole

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lot of issues and problems because.

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We're just having a great time, and after five and a half years, it still is that

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we're, I think, we're both very grateful, for the Lord bringing us together.

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I mean, we could have never orchestrated this ourself.

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and I laugh because I'm a flight attendant, so I'm pretty easygoing.

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You see a bunch of junk right?

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Yeah.

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I was like, eh,

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whatever.

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Um, Joe was such a unique individual because

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most gentlemen would have a lot harder time, adjusting to life with

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a new person, letting go of the past.

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it was fascinating to me how he was able to just.

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Adapt.

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obviously he had hard moments but, he had this beautiful spirit about him he was

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ready and I can't even say enough about him, about how he just went with it.

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And I mean, I've had a lot of friends that, you know,

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theirs has knock on as well.

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yeah.

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it's been quite the struggle because you've had such a past

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with other people and it's hard to let go of the past sometimes.

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And I think for me, I had been single long enough that God had healed me.

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I think it's very important when you go into a marriage that you need to be

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healed from whatever your past has been.

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It's very important.

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And, so I was very grateful.

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So that you don't, bring that

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into the relationship

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yeah.

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So at, at some point, you, you looks like you made the decision to do some writing

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or collaborating or working with someone.

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te tell me how that started, the impetus of it.

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'cause, 'cause writing, I mean, I've written some things, I've written

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a novel and other things like that.

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Write writing is, uh, I don't wanna say it's hard.

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It,

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it actually is hard.

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It's hard.

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did that, how did that

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come about?

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well, when, Joe and I, were merging all of our belongings and, our

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lives and our many, many books.

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We had a bookshelf that I had put together that was all of our female author friends.

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And some were my friends.

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I mean, some were books that were people that I had that women that had inspired

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me, and many of them were his friends.

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And so it was just a shelf with all these many different women of the Lord that

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have amazing ministries and just have really blessed my life through the years.

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and I was up on a ladder dusting, which, you know, that doesn't happen too often

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on a ladder, but so with my end dust and my microfiber cloth, and I'm dusting and

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I'm thinking, you know, I had never heard of some of these authors that he had, you

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know, friends of his that were female.

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I was like, I've never even heard their stories.

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And then knowing Joe, I've met them and I was just so inspired and just

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they were riveting, their stories, how God had done things in their life.

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And it really moved me, moved my heart.

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and I thought, gosh, wouldn't it be great if we could put 'em all in one book?

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and then that way you could read 40 different women and their stories, how

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God had walked them through a hard time or given them a miracle or an angel that was

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brought into their life, that they knew that this person had had to be an angel.

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there's just so many different stories, of their journey

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with their walk with the Lord.

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At the same time, my daughter was having a baby, another baby.

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And, every morning I would read, Psalms 1 39, 13 through 19, where it says All

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of my days were written in God's book and planned before a single one began.

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And, I would just sit there and wonder how this precious little baby, how God would

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walk through their life and ordain their steps just like he had done in my life.

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there's many times in my life I've had some wonderful times in my life, and

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I've had some really hard times in my life and many times in my life it's

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been a mystery to me why God did what he did, for the good and blessings or

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not, and I think we all have that in our life where we wonder why God did

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this or why did this have to happen.

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it's beyond our understanding.

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But, because it said written and I just thought written in heaven, and then

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also Luke 10 20 says, rejoice because your names are written in heaven.

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and I just thought that was a beautiful verse.

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And so that's how it became, and that I thought his story, our lives, 'cause

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it's his story, our lives are his story.

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So how did the compilation occur?

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Was it, this is a little bit of a technical thing.

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Did you interview, did you write, did you have them c have them?

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I did.

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I'm curious about that.

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Sure.

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I wrote my own story and, and then we wrote down a list of women that, I

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really was wanting to be in the book.

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as we reached out to them, some could do it, some couldn't.

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some were in the middle of writing their own books, so they could

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not contribute to the book.

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Many of them are his friends and many of them really love him, respect him,

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and they were more than willing to write their story, because of their

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relationship with him and how much they,

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respect him.

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was this the F I'm assuming this was kind of the first project for you,

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Oh, absolutely.

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that?

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Yeah.

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I, so he went to the pub.

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We were, we had a meeting with the publisher for his book, and

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he mentioned to the publisher, said, well, my wife's got an idea.

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Why don't you share it with him?

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And I'm like, what?

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a promoter.

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Yeah, just always, always promoting,

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Right.

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and I just said, well, it's called Written and heaven, his story, our

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lives, and this is what it's about.

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And he goes, I love it.

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Let's do it.

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And I was like, okay.

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So it got her the book deal.

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but the fascinating thing,

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he's a journalist.

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there,

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Yeah.

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But Joe's a journalist, so God prepared me with a guy that

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could help me with all of it.

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And, we began, reaching out to these women and, and, receiving their stories.

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And what was fascinating was is the women that we reached out to once

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they contributed their stories, and I got to looking at all the

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stories, everyone was different.

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Everyone was unique.

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and we had every, almost every life situation in this book.

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Every single, I mean, it was just crazy.

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And I don't know if you can see some of the names, are Roma Downey, Karen

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Kingsbury, Priscilla Shire, Sheila Walsh, Lisa Robertson, Jen Lily, Nicole

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Crank, Lauren Green, Michelle Pilar.

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Patty Reed, Kim Rabble.

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There's just, I just such an array of women in this book.

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And then also, I just can't even say enough about their stories.

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I mean, God just wove this book together and all the stories to where

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whatever you're going through in life, someone in this book has already gone

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through it, and you can see how God worked it all out for good for them.

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Did you learn anything about yourself, Tamara, while you're

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compiling and putting this together?

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it's difficult.

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as the author, what'd you learn about yourself?

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Ooh.

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well, I, I'm learning I can do hard things.

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This is my fifth interview, and this is my first time doing any kind of interviews.

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So I am, I'm learning how to present myself, I guess I should say.

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a lot of prayer.

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A lot of prayer.

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'cause I wanted to honor and glorify the Lord.

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And I really, I love the women in this book.

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And, I love their stories.

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And we're all on a unique journey called Life.

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And God wrote my story so different than your story.

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and so it was truly an honor to do this even though it was hard.

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But like I said, God gave me an incredible man that could help me.

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And I will say this, a lot of the women are authors anyway, so we

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really didn't have to edit too much.

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it's really wonderful to see that these women, we didn't really have to do much

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to their story or even help them with it.

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'cause it just all fell, it all fell together quite easily for me.

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this is the hard part, doing the interviews for me.

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Yeah.

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'cause, 'cause, 'cause, 'cause,

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I'm grilling you.

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I'm

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No, you're not grilling me at all.

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No, this is,

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so, Joseph, one of the things that popped to me, this might be my last question,

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we'll see, we're buttoning up against time here, but how cool you've, you've worked

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with a lot of people, you've done a lot of stuff, you've had a long and rich career.

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How, how cool is it?

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'cause I know you were involved with the project.

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Your name isn't on it, but I know you're involved.

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How cool was it working together on a

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project like this?

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I think it's one of the best things I've ever done, really.

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I, I,

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and it would not have been possible without him

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I don't think that's bull.

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I mean, I'd call Bull if I thought it

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Right.

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I

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don't think that's bull.

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Because it's not about me.

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Hmm.

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I think it's fun when we go outside of ourselves, to do

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something, to lift others up.

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And I think that's part of what we miss in our culture, right?

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particularly when it's someone like her who

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never had anybody to affirm her abilities, her gifting, what she could do.

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So now we come together, in this providential way,

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and I see something in her.

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My job is to disciple her, I think that's a good representation of what God asks.

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the man to do, in this relationship.

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and the fun thing was watching her grow

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from, I can't even talk to the publisher about this 'cause what's he gonna think?

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Or what if he doesn't like it, you know, from a hesitant, unknowing of what is her

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capability to someone who just carried on pretty good conversation with you.

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and I've seen her grow just in these three, four interviews that we've done.

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you know, confidence and articulation and.

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You're ready with the answer because the idea is that you can't plan well enough

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because the most important things and the most articulate things usually happen not

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because you've written it out and read it, but by God and through the Holy Spirit

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speaking through you at the appropriate time for what is on your heart to say.

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And this is the enjoyable thing that I, that's why I just kind of, I'm

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sitting back, grinning because I see God working and that's one of the most

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important things that we could have.

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You know, even after all the things I've done, as you alluded to, and all the

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programming I've created and all the interviews and all the whatever programs

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I've produced, you never get tired.

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Of seeing God work in the right way in someone's life.

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It's like, you know, hearing a testimony, you never get tired of that.

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At least I don't, because I think if you keep the awe in that, then that

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spreads out into the relationship.

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And, I think it's a way of honoring, you know, her and the, the more I build her

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up, I build myself up again, going back to that, principle that I mentioned earlier.

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Anything I say to her and do to her is a self-reflection.

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Yeah,

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So.

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What's interesting is that

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I obviously talk a little bit, Joseph, you talk a little bit, see in my mind.

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Being a flight attendant is the hardest thing of all three of the

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people sitting here in this call.

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Y'all fly.

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I am going good, gracious these people.

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that is one of the hardest things ever.

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So is, this is pretty easy, but I do love how preparation, you mentioned

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how just kind of stepping out and doing something and we started this

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conversation with someone doing something, you know, sticking their

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neck out, an Uber ride type thing.

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And I do believe that things are, that extraordinary effort

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is rewarded and especially when there's a faith component behind it.

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And so I think that's cool.

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What is next for Joseph and Tamara?

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Just something cool.

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Each one of you that you have that's just coming up on the horizon.

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We're getting by day by day.

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it.

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I have, plenty of things that I still wanna write.

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Oh, the business Bible?

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Oh, well the Business Bible is our biggest project.

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Yeah.

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I don't know if you've ever even heard about that.

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Hmm.

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it's an incredible, it'll be the next big product you hear about

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when we launch later next month.

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you very rarely get to work on a Bible project of this caliber where

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a friend of mine and I sat down for a year and a half scoured scripture and

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he, former Wall Street guy who found 100 biblical principles in scripture

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that they use on Wall Street in finance and investing and so forth.

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So, it is in the NASB version, with all these principles and everything.

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think topical Bible.

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there'll be an AI component to the app.

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Of correlating biblical principle to news of business news of the

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day that we get through Bloomberg, wall Street Journal and so forth.

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And the AI component of helping you understand how to apply that principle

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to your everyday business, language.

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This is a legacy project.

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I think this is rather cool and that's what I have my eyes, on right now,

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along with a few other, book projects.

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'cause I really want to write, that's how I enjoy the most.

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So for me, that's that.

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and you, my dear, I'm just promoting the book.

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Well, and

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having fun doing

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it.

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Right.

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Yeah, I am.

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I'm getting there.

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This is a little out of my, you know, comfort zone.

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So I'm really happy to

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gonna, I'm

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rely on the Lord.

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tell us where we can find it and where people can get the

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book.

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you can get it on Amazon and it is in Barnes and Noble.

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It is a part of the Choice Books.

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Uh, I'm not really sure where all they are, but my understanding is there's

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the little, um, uh, well, the rack chop round with all the devotionals on it.

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Yeah, the rack chops.

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Yeah.

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You know, in stores.

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I meant they're supposed to be everywhere.

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like

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Yeah.

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CBD carries it too.

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Christian book, and then everybody and Target, Walmart.

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The usual places.

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The thing that I love and we've done some work with authors from Broad streete.

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Man, I love the way they.

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Publish and the books just feel so good So, that is excellent.

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Well, thank you both for joining me and, and definitely when this

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next project comes out, Joseph, I might want to talk about that.

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I mean, we're, we're business and leadership here primarily, so

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this is a great, great topic for our people, for our listeners.

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I appreciate both of you.

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It's been a great conversation.

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I love the story and I love God preparing the two of you to come together and it's

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kind of why I was really intrigued by what God is preparing you for in the

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future because I believe there's big things there, so congratulations for that.

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We are seek go create here.

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It's been a great conversation here.

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We're on YouTube, we're on all the podcast platforms.

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We release every Monday, and so I thank you all for joining me here.

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Until next time, thank you for joining us here at Seek.

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Go Create.

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Seek Go Create - The Leadership Journey for Christian Entrepreneurs and Faith-Driven Leaders
Seek Go Create - The Leadership Journey for Christian Entrepreneurs and Faith-Driven Leaders

About your host

Profile picture for Tim Winders

Tim Winders

Tim Winders is a faith driven executive coach and author with over 40 years of experience in leadership, business, and ministry. Through his personal journey of redefining success, he has gained valuable insights on how to align beliefs with work and lead with purpose. He is committed to helping others do the same, running a coaching business that helps leaders, leadership teams, business owners, and entrepreneurs to align their beliefs with their work and redefine success.

In addition to his coaching business, Tim is also the host of the SeekGoCreate podcast and author of the book Coach: A Story of Success Redefined, which provides guidance for those looking to redefine success and align their beliefs with their work. With his extensive background, unique perspective and strengths in strategic thinking, relationship building, and problem-solving, Tim is well-suited to help clients navigate through difficult times and achieve their goals.