SPARK Talks 2019: Week 2

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LENA SCHULER: Welcome to Crossroads.

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LENA SCHULER: We're so glad to have you tuning in for our Spark Talk Series.

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LENA SCHULER: You know sometimes the daily grind can just wear on us,

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LENA SCHULER: right? And so our hope is that in the midst of this series, in

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LENA SCHULER: the midst of this hour that you're spending with us something

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LENA SCHULER: is sparked in you where you have some new ideas and new fire

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LENA SCHULER: moving forward.

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LENA SCHULER: And so to kick us off we're actually going to spend some time

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LENA SCHULER: worshipping together. Worship

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LENA SCHULER: is just an opportunity for us to put prayers to song.

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LENA SCHULER: And so if you don't believe these words yet, that's totally

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LENA SCHULER: okay, but I just am asking right now that God would actually

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LENA SCHULER: spark something in you in the midst of these songs.

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LENA SCHULER: Hey, I love worshipping alongside of you from anywhere you might

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LENA SCHULER: be right now. If

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LENA SCHULER: you enjoyed those songs, you enjoyed spending time with God in

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LENA SCHULER: that way, you can do that more often.

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LENA SCHULER: You can catch all of those songs on Spotify or on YouTube

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LENA SCHULER: through the Crossroads Music channels. And

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LENA SCHULER: it's a great way to deepen your relationship with God during

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LENA SCHULER: the week by having conversations with him through songs.

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Well, hey, I'm Lena Schuler and I'm the Crossroads Anywhere.

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Community Pastor.

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So glad to have you joining us for church today from anywhere

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you might be.

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We are going to get to hear a few Spark talks today.

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Talks that should ignite something in us to have a lasting

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impact, some new ideas that go beyond our normal daily grind.

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It's gonna be good.

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But before we do that, I want to let you know of some things

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that are happening around the church, some ways for you to get

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involved, some ways for you to get connected.

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One of the things that we're doing as a whole church is

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something called Summer Social.

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It's purely a social this summer.

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Regardless of where you live, we want to give you opportunity

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to meet with other people who are part of your church who live

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near you, around you, maybe even might be your neighbor and you

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don't even know it yet.

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So if you head to the Crossroads website you can check out

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Summer Social and the locations that that's happening.

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We have this happening across all parts of the Cincinnati and

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Lexington areas and part of lots of Anywhere communities around

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the country. Ans so you can get

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all of that information on the Crossroads website.

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You can also chat with us on the website.

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We'd love to help you get hooked up to the community that is

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closest to you, wherever you might be right now.

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You know I don't know about you, but when I am in a line

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anywhere I tend to pull out my phone, right?

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Like we just immediately want to pull out our phones and not

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really pay attention to what's happening around us, kill some

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time. I am an avid Instagram user.

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I love scrolling through social media and I waste so much time

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And yet there is a better way for me to spend my line time than

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Instagram, and that's actually in the Crossroads app.

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If you go and download the Crossroads Anywhere App right now,

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in there there's constantly new content that's being added and

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curated and things for you to do that might have a little bit

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more substance than your Instagram feed.

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And I often find something in there that I immediately want to

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share with a friend.

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I want to send them an article or share a podcast. And

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so I can't help but think of friends and family who would love

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the things that I'm reading and watching.

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And it's really simple and easy to do that from the Crossroads

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App. So, download that today and start using that in your

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downtime when you're trying to kill some time, when you'd

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usually go for Facebook or Instagram, maybe switch it up and go

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for the Crossroads App this week.

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Well, you know, in the Bible God says that when we're faithful

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with the little He gives us more. When

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we're faithful with the resources that He's given us, He gives

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us more resources to be faithful with.

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And one of the ways that my husband Nick and I consistently try

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to be faithful with the resources that God's given us, the

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money that he's entrusted us with, is we want to be generous

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with that money.

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We say to God, "We trust You to take care of us financially and

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we want to be faithful with the money that You've given us,

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because we want more from You.

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We want You to trust us with more."

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And so maybe today you want to take a step in telling God you

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trust him by giving a little bit of money away, by being

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faithful with the money that He's given you.

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If you want to do that, you can head to Crossroads.net/give

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and just sign up for a one time gift or maybe even a recurring

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gift. And today we get to hear from a few different speakers

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that I think are gonna spark something special in you.

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Let's check it out.

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KIM BOTTO: I grew up loving the Beatles.

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KIM BOTTO: In that song All You Need Is Love, I believed that to be

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KIM BOTTO: true, that love is all you need.

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KIM BOTTO: And then as I started to grow and mature I realized, is that

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KIM BOTTO: really true, All You Need Is Love?

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KIM BOTTO: Is that all?

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KIM BOTTO: And then I would try to love somebody and I really didn't know

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KIM BOTTO: how or I would try to love a kid and the kid didn't know how to

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KIM BOTTO: receive my love.

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Here at Crossroads we have five to six thousand kids and

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students a week.

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So as you can imagine I've seen all kinds of things.

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And as much as I deeply love these kids, some of them have

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challenging behaviors.

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And some of it is due to the fact that they've experienced

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trauma.

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So you may wonder, how does trauma affect a kid?

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So imagine this: you're driving your car and out of nowhere a

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vehicle runs a stop sign and almost hits you, or maybe they

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actually do hit you.

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When that happens, the stress hormone cortisol is released.

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It makes our heart race, our palms sweat, and we become hyper

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focused on one thing and that's protecting ourself, surviving.

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When kids live in fear or experience trauma, they have these

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same symptoms.

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And trauma can affect people differently.

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Trauma can be a one time event, or it can happen over and

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over, day after day.

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Trauma is really anything that's messed up or scary that our

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brains simply can't process.

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So, when a kid is abused or neglected, that's trauma.

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When kids have to go live with their grandparents because their

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parents have overdosed or gone to jail or simply can't care for

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them anymore, that's trauma.

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When children are separated from their birth parents, whether

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it happens in the hospital when they are born or many years

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later, that's trauma.

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But I used to look at these kids when they're challenging

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behaviors and I think, "What's wrong with you?

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You are in a safe environment now. You

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have parents that love you."

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Or I'd look at their parents and I'd go, "You just need to be

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tougher on your kid.

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You need to discipline them.

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You need to train them up.".

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And then I got to know these kids and I realized how wrong and

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judgmental I was.

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One little guy I met, he had a little plastic grocery bag

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filled with all of his treasures, which was adorable.

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But when he brought it to church it was super annoying, because

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he wouldn't share any of his things with anybody.

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He didn't even want the other kids to look in his bag.

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So of course, the kids were really curious. And

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when they started to get close to the bag he'd get angry and

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sometimes he'd lash out at them physically.

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So one day I said to him, "Hey there, Little Buddy, how about

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you leave the bag at home next week?".

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He then told me that because he had been in multiple foster

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homes and sometimes had to leave quickly that he'd had

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treasures that were left behind that he never ever saw again.

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And this was a smart kid. And

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he said, "That's not going to happen to me again."

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So he got his little grocery bag and he put all of the

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important things in his life in this bag.

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That little boy, he wrecked me.

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Because it was through him that God called me to advocate and

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fight for these kids because this little boy, he wasn't a bad

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kid.

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He was hurt and he was afraid and his brain was just trying to

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process what was going on around him.

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He was scared.

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The most important thing to him was protecting himself and his

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possessions. And this little boy, he's the least of these that

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Jesus talks about.

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And what we have learned through science, when somebody lives in

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a state of chronic fear, like this little boy, it actually

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changes the architecture of our brain, that then changes our

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ability to cope and to think logically.

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Experts have also learned that the best therapeutic experiences,

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they don't always happen in therapy.

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Actually they often happen in healthy, safe relationships.

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Dr. Bruce Perry is a psychiatrist who's worked with thousands

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of kids who've experienced trauma.

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says:

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So kids are often harmed through relationship and then it's

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through relationship that they can begin to heal.

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But I know being in a relationship with a kid who has

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experienced trauma is emotionally and physically exhausting.

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It's much easier to say, "Hey, you know what?

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There's programs and government agencies for that.

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I'm just going to let them handle it.".

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But that's why God created the family and community.

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It's for us to handle it, because kids must be in a nurturing

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relationship to thrive and to heal.

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And that's why I am so thankful to be in a community and on a

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team that's passionate about reaching these kids and their

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family.

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A team that doesn't quit when it gets hard.

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Here at Crossroads we have kids and students that come who are

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kicked out at other places. And

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they're welcomed here with open arms. Because

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the teams here they want to create a safe environment for them

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to hear about a father who will never leave.

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To hear about a dad who knows them and has a great plan for

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their life.

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And I just want to say if you're here and you're in that

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fight, well done.

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God is pleased with the work that you're doing.

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and I know it is a difficult journey.

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I also know that when we do this, we get to see the miracle when

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a kid begins to feel safe and starts to be able to receive

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love.

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I also know that God is not finished working through us to reach

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more of these kids.

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We aren't all called to care for these kids in the same

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way. For my family, we were called to take kids into our home

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and into our family 24/7.

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You might be feeling the nudge to do that.

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And maybe that's not you.

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And that's totally okay.

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When we look at currently there are over 400,000 kids in foster

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care across the nation, and many more who have experienced

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trauma. And it can seem overwhelming.

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And you might be sitting there going, "I can't fix that."

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You're right, you can't fix it.

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But what we can do is we can take a step towards one.

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I was recently talking to a young woman and a couple weeks ago

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she wasn't a mom.

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But she got a phone call and she was told that there was a

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relative of hers that was no longer able to take care of their

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kids. And this brave woman said, "I'll do it.

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I'll take her kids in." And

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so people kept asking her, "What can I do to help?"

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And she'd go, "I don't know."

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Because she was a brand new mom, she had no idea what she

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needed. And what we could do in this situation is we can take a

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step towards her and mow her lawn.

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We can take a step towards her family and say, "I'm going to

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bring dinner to you this week so you and your husband can take

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a walk or a nap."

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We can also for other families that are struggling, we can take

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a step towards them and offer to take their kids bike riding

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and burn off some energy and give mom and dad a break.

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Or we can be a safe, nonjudgmental place for them to process

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their difficult emotions and experiences.

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We can also commit to praying for them regularly.

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And if we do that, let them know.

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Send them notes, send them texts.

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And every time you do this, we're making a difference.

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We are taking a step towards the least of these.

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A quote that really drives me is from Josh Shipp who spent

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years in foster care as a kid.

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And he says:.

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I have seen that firsthand.

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I have a 17 year old I was hanging out with recently and she

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said to me, "I just need somebody to remind me who I am because

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sometimes I forget."

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So I get to tell her, "You can do hard things. You

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are empathetic. You

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are beautiful.".

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I can also remind her to clean up her social media.

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And I get to be a part of her life and her story.

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I want more people to experience that.

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Remember the kid with the bag that I talked about?

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Well, every day his adoptive parents told him and showed him

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that they weren't going anywhere.

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And his leaders at church, they found a safe and secure place

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to store his treasures.

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And one day he left his bag at home.

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And then later the contents of his bag ended up being scattered

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throughout his house, because he was beginning to feel safe and

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he knew that he was home.

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And his story isn't over, but because of the challenges he's

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--because of his experiences, he may always have challenges,

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but he now has relationships and people around him that he can

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count on.

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So you know what?

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Maybe the Beatles weren't that far off.

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Love is needed, but it's the kind of love that might introduce

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mess into our life.

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We might get hurt.

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We might grow in ways that we never imagined possible in when

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we take a step towards that one, we can be the difference that

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enables that kid to be a success story.

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Thank you.

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(music)

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ANDREA: Music has always been my main thing.

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ANDREA: But it's hard to find the quiet space to do that with three

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ANDREA: boys at home.

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So I started painting last year with my kids and I just fell in

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love with it.

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I realized in painting that I had forgotten how to just play and

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discover freely.

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Like I had grown up and traded freedom for rules.

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But there are no rules in art and I love that.

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Painting with watercolors also requires a lot of observation, so

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it ends up being really meditative for me.

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Like I walk away from it with a quieter mind and with that

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childlike delight of play.

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To be inspired I look to nature.

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I love creating pieces that might spark beauty and joy in

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someone else's space.

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God is the ultimate artist.

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His work is unnecessarily beautiful, extravagant, and sometimes

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downright bizarre.

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And as many things as I might question or doubt about God, His

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creativity is not one of them.

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I'm Andrea and through painting God has sparked in me the joy of

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discovery.

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OTIS WILLIAMS: The answer is you've got to be committed.

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OTIS WILLIAMS: The question is what does it take to change my life.

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Hello, Crossroads, My name is Otis Williams and I want to tell

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you a story about the one word that changed my life forever.

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There was a time when I was totally terrified of heights. And

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one of my life's philosophies is whatever you don't face will

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stay in your face.

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So I decided to face and conquer this dream killer once and for

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And to defeat this enemy I decided to do what any normal person

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who had a high fear of heights would do: I joined the military

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and I volunteer to become an Airborne Paratrooper.

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So I got a jump school and jump school is three weeks long.

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You've got ground week, tower week, and jump week. During

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ground week you do stuff on the ground. Tower

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week you do stuff in the tower. And

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if you pass and you meet the requirements for ground week and

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tower week, you move on to jump week.

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Now something strange and phenomenal happens at jump week, the

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black hats, those are the instructors at jump school, they get

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very nice.

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And so I'm wondering, "Why aren't they being so nice to us now?"

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because doing ground week and tower week they are the complete

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embodiment of evil.

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They are mean, they are toxic, they're trying to do everything

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they can legally do to get you to give up and quit.

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And then it dawned on me: We're getting ready to jump out of a

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perfectly good aircraft for our very first time, so they want

00:31:29

the trauma, Kim, to be very low.

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So it's Monday morning of jump week.

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We find ourself in the hangar.

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We're putting our parachutes on, getting geared up. Black

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hats are going around, they're checking, they're making sure

00:31:43

everything's okay. And

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then a black hat yells, he says, "Gentlemen, make sure all the

00:31:48

furniture is in one room."

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And I'm thinking to myself, "Why is this guy talking about

00:31:54

furniture at a time like this?

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I don't understand.".

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But anyway we get suited up, the thumbs up come, we take off and

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we're down the pathway getting ready to go on our our nice

00:32:05

journey.

00:32:06

So our very first jump is gonna be out of a C130.

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We load the monster of this aircraft from the back, the back

00:32:12

comes down.

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We get on, we load it.

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We sit on the sides of it and we wait till everybody gets

00:32:17

there. And then this thing wheels up.

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We taxi down the runway and then before you know it, boom,

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we're in the air, off into the great blue yonder.

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So it's about 15-20 minutes where we reach what we call jump

00:32:31

altitude. And now jump altitude for combat jump is 1250 feet.

00:32:36

So it's not a lot of time if something goes wrong for you to

00:32:39

take corrective measures.

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So at this time the doors on the C130 open, the wind rushes in,

00:32:45

slaps you across the face, wakes you up, as if you were

00:32:48

sleeping. And then you've got black hats one on each side, they

00:32:52

stick their head out of the door and they're looking for the

00:32:54

drop zone. So

00:32:55

they're looking, they come back in, and they

00:32:57

say, "Ten Minutes!" So you rock as you repeat it, you go, "Ten

00:33:03

minutes, 10 minutes." That's

00:33:05

to let everybody know this thing is about to go down, it's for

00:33:07

So then they disappear out the door again, they look for the

00:33:10

drop zone. They

00:33:11

come back, they say, "Five minutes!" What

00:33:14

do you do?

00:33:16

Let's go.

00:33:17

Five minutes, five minutes.

00:33:18

There you go.

00:33:19

So then they disappear one last time, looking for the drop zone.

00:33:23

They come back in., "Drop

00:33:25

zone coming up. First

00:33:27

through the pass stand up.

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Hook up, shuffle to the door." So

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you've got ten on this side of the plane, ten on this side of

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the plane.

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They stand up, hook up static lines.

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Everything's ready.

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Then you hear this, "First man, stand in the door."

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Nobody moves.

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So the black hat says, "First man, stand in the door."

00:33:51

Nobody moves. So

00:33:53

then he looks directly at me.

00:33:54

He says, "Son, you're the first man.

00:33:57

Get in the door." And

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I'm in the door.

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So he's on the side of me and then he gives me this speech.

00:34:03

He says, "You're going to be the first one out of this aircraft.

00:34:07

You are going to set the example for the rest of his

00:34:09

paratroopers. I need you to watch that light. When

00:34:11

that light turns green, you will exit this aircraft.

00:34:14

In other words, when this plane lands you will not be on it.

00:34:18

Have I made myself perfectly clear."

00:34:19

"Yes, Sergeant." [laughter]

00:34:23

Bam, it turns green, out the door with a nice foot in the rear

00:34:30

to help me out. [laughter].

00:34:31

So I'm falling between 20 and 25 feet per second.

00:34:37

So, it's a nice clip.

00:34:39

And I look up and everything is fine until I look up because I

00:34:43

look up and I notice that I have what the military calls is a

00:34:50

malfunction. In other words my shoot wasn't open.

00:34:54

And so at that altitude I could see the ambulance leaving and

00:35:00

coming to where I'm supposed to land.

00:35:02

And I'm like, "That's not a good thing right there." Right?

00:35:06

So I start depending on my Airborne training and I start

00:35:09

bicycling. At that point you can see the black hats on the

00:35:13

ground, they're grabbing megaphones, anything they can and

00:35:16

they're saying, "Faster!".

00:35:19

And I'm thinking, "Dude, I'm giving her all I got, Captain.

00:35:23

I mean I'm bicycling as fast as I can." And so

00:35:25

I'm bicycling, I'm bicycling. And

00:35:26

all of a sudden I start turning, this is a good thing, right?

00:35:29

So I'm turning and I'm turning and bam all of a sudden my chute

00:35:34

opens and I'm like, "This is awesome.".

00:35:36

Then I clearly understood what the sergeant was talking about

00:35:41

when he said make sure all your furniture is in one room,

00:35:44

because mine was not.

00:35:47

Anyway, I hit the ground really hard.

00:35:49

Bam.

00:35:50

The medics are there, they're checking me out making sure

00:35:52

everything's okay.

00:35:53

They were absolutely amazed I didn't break anything.

00:35:57

One of the black hats is there and he says, "Son, how you

00:35:59

doing?" I'm like, "I'm all right.

00:36:01

I'm doing pretty good.".

00:36:02

He says, "Do you feel pretty good? You

00:36:03

"Yes, Sargent, I feel great. "He

00:36:04

says, "All right, gather your shoot and let's go back to the

00:36:07

hangar and get ready for another jump today."

00:36:09

I'm like, "Excuse me, today?"

00:36:12

He was like, "Yes, today."

00:36:13

I'm like why -- why today?

00:36:15

And he says, "Because we're expecting bad weather tomorrow and

00:36:19

we got to get as many jumps in as we can so we can get you guys

00:36:23

to graduate by Friday."

00:36:25

And I'm like, "Oh, my God.".

00:36:26

I gather all my stuff.

00:36:27

We're back in the hangar redoing the whole thing.

00:36:29

Now my second jump was absolutely flawless.

00:36:32

It was wonderful.

00:36:34

Total different from the other one.

00:36:35

After I exited the aircraft I'm descending at a nice rate, I

00:36:40

can sip lattes, all that kind of great stuff, right?

00:36:42

I am able to see for miles.

00:36:46

It's a state of bliss.

00:36:48

And in this state of bliss I clearly heard God say to me, "Look

00:36:52

up.".

00:36:53

So I look up and then He says, "Can you get back in that

00:36:58

aircraft?" And the answer was no.

00:37:01

And He said, "Now you know what it takes to change your life:

00:37:06

commitment." You see ladies and gentlemen here's what I

00:37:09

believe: that the blessings that God has for you and me live on

00:37:14

the other side of doubt and fear. And

00:37:18

to get on the other side of doubt and fear, it takes

00:37:21

commitment. It takes giving everything you've got, holding

00:37:25

nothing back.

00:37:27

It's taking all your chips, pushing them to the center of the

00:37:29

table and saying, "I'm all in." It

00:37:32

is when your ship reaches the shore, you give the order to burn

00:37:36

the boats and you say either I die or I win.

00:37:39

It is counting the cost and jumping out of the aircraft any

00:37:43

way. It's to get to the other side.

00:37:47

Now I know that level of commitment may be a little scary for

00:37:51

some of you.

00:37:52

But let me leave you with this, a little word of encouragement

00:37:55

from God's Word. In

00:37:56

Philippians, in that book God's word reminds us that we can do

00:38:01

all things through Christ with strengthens us.

00:38:05

So here's the command I'm leaving you with: Commit, make the

00:38:10

jump, and go get what God has for you and I'll see you on the

00:38:15

other side of doubt and fear. Airborne

00:38:17

all the way. Hoot! (music)

00:38:34

JEREMY AFFELDT: When I put on this uniform, I drive to the ballpark every day.

00:38:37

JEREMY AFFELDT: This just feels like I've been doing it for a long time.

00:38:40

ANNOUNCER: Since joining the team in 2009, Jeremy Annfeldt has been an

00:38:45

ANNOUNCER: integral part of the Giants bullpen.

00:38:48

COMMENTATOR: That's a good hook right there.

00:38:51

JEREMY AFFELDT: You know I don't start, I dow't throw seven innings, I don't hit

00:38:53

JEREMY AFFELDT: homers, I don't steal bases.

00:38:54

JEREMY AFFELDT: I've got to come in for those one or two innings or one or two

00:38:57

JEREMY AFFELDT: batters and make the best pitches possible.

00:39:01

COMMENTATOR: Got him.

00:39:03

ANNOUNCER: Was the third lowest ERA in post season history, Jeremy's

00:39:07

ANNOUNCER: dominance during the playoffs cannot be overlooked.

00:39:10

COMMENTATOR: First the pitch.

00:39:11

COMMENTATOR: He struck him out swinging.

00:39:23

JEREMY AFFELDT: This is my third experience in Cincinnati.

00:39:26

This one's looks like there's a lot more smiles than my other

00:39:29

two. My first one was when I played here and we lost what was

00:39:33

a hundred games. There wasn't a lot of smiles around

00:39:35

Cincinnati.

00:39:37

My second one was in 2012.

00:39:39

You guys were all smiles until we hurt your feelings in the

00:39:42

NLDS and took three games straight from you.

00:39:45

We went on to win a World Championship.

00:39:46

We got a really nice ring out of it.

00:39:48

So I, on the behalf the San Francisco Giants, thank you and the

00:39:52

fans and all the athletes that tanked the series to let us go

00:39:55

on. Appreciate that.

00:39:57

So it allows me to come up here and talk and feel good about

00:40:01

myself with my chest up a little bit more than it was.

00:40:05

So.

00:40:06

No, about twenty two years of age I made it to the Major

00:40:10

Leagues. It was a great experience for me.

00:40:13

I accomplished a dream because at 12 years of age I was sitting

00:40:15

in the Oakland Coliseum, it was one of my first baseball games

00:40:18

that I ever got to see watching the Oakland A's.

00:40:22

And my favorite pitcher that I used to watch on TV was Dave

00:40:25

Stewart. So he was pitching that day and so my dad got got us

00:40:28

some really good seats like right in the lower part of the

00:40:31

stadium. And you're right with all the players I mean they look

00:40:35

mad. I mean all my favorite guys were there Mark McGuire, Jose

00:40:38

Canseco, Dave Stewart.

00:40:40

You're just looking all these guys and you're looking around,

00:40:42

Carney Lanceford, you look at all

00:40:43

these guys, you're like, "Man, they are massive." They're

00:40:47

massive for a reason that we now know why they were a little

00:40:50

bigger than they probably should have been.

00:40:53

they weren't drinking protein shakes, I can promise you

00:40:55

that. [laughter]

00:40:57

But they were still big and gigantic and it was just like an

00:41:01

awesome thing to see. And

00:41:03

I remember looking at my dad and I said, "Dad, I'm going to

00:41:06

play here one day." And

00:41:07

he looked at me he goes, "What?"

00:41:09

I said, "I'm going to play here.

00:41:10

I going to be amazing baseball player."

00:41:12

He said, "You're going to be a major league baseball player?`

00:41:14

I said, "Yes, sir."

00:41:15

I said, "I'm a play on that field.'

00:41:18

And he patted me on the head like all good dads

00:41:20

do and said, "Go for it, kiddo."

00:41:22

And he didn't put me in any baseball camps.

00:41:25

He just let me go play baseball. And

00:41:27

then when I was twenty two years of age I walked in the

00:41:29

Coliseum through Centerfield where the bus dropped us off and I

00:41:33

got my little Nokia phone out.

00:41:35

And you guys remember that Nokia phone, man it had like the

00:41:37

snake game, like 1, 3, 7, 9, all the -- some you generation,

00:41:41

you're an iPhone generation.

00:41:42

Well my generation our game was the worm game and you had to

00:41:45

chase this little dot around the circle and he had to do it so

00:41:48

many times and try not to hit your tail end. You

00:41:51

know? And all we have is 1, 3, 7, 9.

00:41:53

We didn't draw on a screen, so it was kind of -- it was a fun

00:41:56

game and you got mad. And

00:41:58

you could actually throw that phone down and the screen didn't

00:42:00

break. That was sweet, right? [laughter].

00:42:02

So I got out my Nokia phone.

00:42:04

I said, "Hey, dad."

00:42:06

I called my dad and he answered. And

00:42:07

he still has a telephone, he still today has a landline.

00:42:10

It's impressive.

00:42:11

And I said, I said, "Dad," I said, "Do you know where I"m at?"

00:42:14

He said ,Yeah, you're in Oakland."

00:42:15

I said, "Yeah, you remember what happened here in Oakland?"

00:42:18

He said, "What are you talking about?"

00:42:19

I said, "Dad, I see the very seats we're sitting in when I was

00:42:22

twelve years old and I said I was going to pitch here. And

00:42:24

tonight, Dad, I pitch in Oakland.".

00:42:26

And he hung up the phone.

00:42:29

And I looked at my phone and I was like, "Man."

00:42:31

So I hit talk again and my mom answered the

00:42:35

phone. And I said, "Mama," I said , "What happened?

00:42:37

I was talking to Dad."

00:42:38

She's like, "He's crying." [laughter].

00:42:40

He's a military guy, man, he dropped bombs for a living.

00:42:43

They don't cry.

00:42:44

he didn't want me to hear him.

00:42:45

So she said, "He's crying.

00:42:47

He just just so pumped that you accomplished your your

00:42:48

dream. And he just couldn't, he didn't want you to hear him

00:42:52

And I was like, "All right. Well, tell

00:42:54

him I'm here and I'm excited."

00:42:55

And that's when I kind of realized what I had done, I had

00:42:58

accomplished a dream. And

00:42:59

four years I hated the game of baseball.

00:43:02

I hated it.

00:43:03

Absolutely hated Major League Baseball, didn't want any part to

00:43:06

It was miserable.

00:43:08

And the problem was is it's a very lonely feeling when you hate

00:43:13

doing what you do for a living, especially Major League

00:43:16

Baseball.

00:43:17

Because if I'm a go to you and I say, "Hey, man, what do you

00:43:21

do?" And you tell me what you do, whatever you know, zookeeper

00:43:24

or Zoo York or whatever, you know, you've got the shirt on.

00:43:26

So, you know, so -- it is a zoo by the way, you're right.

00:43:30

So you know, and I say, "Well, I play Major League Baseball and

00:43:33

I hate it."

00:43:34

I'm sure you would be like, "Dude, I totally understand the

00:43:36

feeling. I would hate it too if I played Major League

00:43:38

Baseball, man. It would stink so bad, man.

00:43:41

And I just don't even know why you'd even want to do that for a

00:43:44

You know like I didn't have anybody I could tell that I hated

00:43:48

the game of baseball. And

00:43:50

it was super scary for me too because I was like, man, I don't

00:43:53

have anybody I can talk to, no one's going to relate to me. And

00:43:56

I'm kind of I feel like alone on an island here and I don't

00:44:01

know who I can -- I don't even know what I'm doing on this

00:44:05

planet right now.

00:44:06

Why am I in baseball? What

00:44:07

am I called to do?

00:44:08

God, why do you have me do this? It's

00:44:09

Groundhog's Day.

00:44:10

I go to the field, I get booed, I get cheered.

00:44:12

I go to the field, get booed and booed some more and then I get

00:44:15

cheered a little bit.

00:44:16

I played with Kansas City in early 2000s, we got booed a lot.

00:44:19

So they can't -- Cincinnati now, think that like every year.

00:44:22

Okay right? So, it was just miserable right.

00:44:26

It was just a tough deal.

00:44:27

And I remember sitting on my counter crying, I wanted to go

00:44:30

home. But my wife wouldn't let me quit because she's like, "You

00:44:33

know you can't quit.

00:44:35

And you know as an athlete you're not going to do well if you

00:44:37

quit. You gotta run this gauntlet.

00:44:39

Play it out.

00:44:40

I'm here for you.".

00:44:41

And she was here for me.

00:44:42

And I was -- but I was just so frustrated with doing terrible.

00:44:45

I got put on the DL one time for a broken fingernail.

00:44:47

That's how it was going, okay?

00:44:49

So it's a really bad deal.

00:44:50

So it was it was just a miserable time.

00:44:53

And I was begging God in 2006. I"m like, "Please

00:44:57

trade me, either trade me or release me, because if you release

00:44:59

me I'ma take the uniform off.

00:45:02

I'm going to go home and say I gave him my best try.

00:45:04

I didn't quit.".

00:45:06

I said, "But if I can't -- if you're not going to release me,

00:45:08

God, then you got to trade me cause I've got to get to Kansas

00:45:11

City because it's making me miserable to be here.

00:45:14

I hate going to work every day."

00:45:16

And five minutes before the trade deadline on July 31st, 2006, I

00:45:20

got a call from my GM. He

00:45:22

said, "I've just traded to Colorado Rockies." And

00:45:24

I was like, "Oh, awes-- Oh, that's -- okay. Oh,

00:45:29

man, God, sorry didn't work out. You

00:45:32

know Dayton, man, I just tried. You

00:45:34

know, I know you had to do, you've got to do what's best for

00:45:36

the team and I hope you got somebody for me," blah, blah, blah.

00:45:39

You know? And

00:45:40

then I told my wife.

00:45:41

I said, "I just got traded." And

00:45:42

she starts screaming. And

00:45:44

I was like, "Hey, honey, the GM still on the phone." [laughter]

00:45:47

"Back it -- back it down a little bit, you know?"

00:45:50

And she's like, "I don't care.

00:45:51

I'm packing your bags. This

00:45:53

is awesome.".

00:45:54

So I'll be all right.

00:45:55

So she's packing my bags and I go to the field and she meets me

00:45:57

at the airport.

00:45:58

We're flying into Colorado.

00:45:59

And I'm flying in, my wife still has to get our dog and stuff

00:46:01

packed up so she stay back. And

00:46:03

as we're landing I realized that there's no gravity in

00:46:07

Colorado, right?

00:46:09

If you understand how -- what happens in baseball, like when it

00:46:11

gets hit in the air it's supposed to come down.

00:46:13

If it doesn't it's a homer.

00:46:15

Well, it doesn't ever come down in Colorado.

00:46:17

See you try, in fact the first guy I faced was named a Prince

00:46:20

Fielder. And I threw this curveball and the first pitch ever

00:46:25

threw in Colorado, I threw a curveball, he hit it for a homer.

00:46:27

And all I heard was welcome to Colorado from the -- "Welcome to

00:46:30

Colorado, " from the crowd.

00:46:31

I mean this is getting worse for me, right?"

00:46:33

It just was not good.

00:46:35

And I remember I was staying in my hotel and I got up that

00:46:38

morning and the Mermaid was calling to me, right?

00:46:41

I was like, woo, I gotta go to Starbucks, you know?

00:46:44

So I was going towards the green mermaid and I was just walking

00:46:49

down the street just remember how miserable I am.

00:46:51

I'm like I literally first pitch I throw I give up a homer.

00:46:57

I'm just -- I don't want -- I just a failure, failure, failure,

00:47:00

failures, non-stop failure.

00:47:01

I don't -- I don't want to -- I don't want to do this.

00:47:04

And I was just begging for a way.

00:47:06

I could not -- It's like God was keeping me in prison and

00:47:09

laughing at me by getting me traded to Colorado at the same

00:47:11

time, because I obviously wasn't very specific on my prayer.

00:47:15

And so be specific when you ask him stuff. Okay?

00:47:20

So, I remember sitting there and I see this girl sitting

00:47:24

where I'm at this street corner.

00:47:26

I see this girl sitting across the street.

00:47:28

She's kind of sit in front of this RiteAid and the Starbucks

00:47:31

right next to it, right?

00:47:32

And she's got this Cup of Noodles in her hand, dry

00:47:35

Cup of Noodles with no water. She's

00:47:37

just eat this Cup of Noodles.

00:47:38

So I walk across the street and I kind of stop and I look down

00:47:41

she's got a split lip, black eye, torn jeans.

00:47:45

She did not have a good night the night before, trembling. And

00:47:48

there's a lot of street kids in Denver, right?

00:47:50

There's a lot for what, they congregate there.

00:47:52

And I just kind of reached down and touched her on her

00:47:56

shoulder. And she jumped away from me and I said, "Hey, I don't

00:47:58

want anything from you.

00:47:59

I just want to know if you want something to eat."

00:48:02

And she said, "Yes, please.".

00:48:03

So I went into Starbucks and I got that green sludgy

00:48:06

drink, Naked says on it. It's

00:48:08

like it looks really bad, taste pretty good, right? It just

00:48:10

looks like algae, right?

00:48:12

So I'm like, "I think I need that for sure.

00:48:15

And then I need whatever has the most sugar.".

00:48:17

And so she handed me a blueberry muffin.

00:48:20

Another fun fact: Blueberry muffins have most sugar at

00:48:22

Starbucks according to the employees.

00:48:24

So they handed me a blueberry muffin.

00:48:27

So I walk out, hand it to the girl, and she looks up and rips

00:48:31

the bag from me. And

00:48:33

she looked and she's looked at me and said thank you.

00:48:37

And I stared down at her and it was probably about five or six

00:48:40

seconds, it felt like 30 minutes.

00:48:42

And it's like our -- we met, we locked eyes and It's like we

00:48:47

connected in an amazing way.

00:48:49

I just stared at that girl and she wasn't saying thank you for

00:48:52

the food.

00:48:54

She was saying, "Thank you for letting me know I exist.".

00:48:57

Because when we see homeless people at times we get the fake

00:48:59

phone call or temporarily deaf or we randomly blind and we

00:49:04

can't see them or we'll go in the other side of the

00:49:06

street. Because it's an awkward deal right.

00:49:08

Like like it can be awkward.

00:49:09

We've all been in the cities where homeless people are around,

00:49:12

and it kind of feels weird, it feels awkward and it doesn't

00:49:15

feel safe.

00:49:16

And when she said that, see our nice clothes.

00:49:21

I was living in a five star hotel.

00:49:23

I went to an unbelievable office called a baseball stadium.

00:49:26

I had a wife at a home.

00:49:28

I didn't have problems with bills and knew -- I ate at nice

00:49:31

restaurants. And I looked at that girl and she didn't have nice

00:49:35

clothes. She didn't have a job.

00:49:38

She didn't have anywhere to live, yet our realities were the

00:49:42

same because we were both lost.

00:49:44

We're both lonely.

00:49:45

We're both scared and we neither of us had anyone to talk to

00:49:49

about our current state.

00:49:51

And I remember when she said thank you, it was thank you for

00:49:54

letting me know I existed and that was something I needed so

00:49:57

bad at that moment was to be able to be something for somebody

00:50:03

because I didn't feel like I was being anything for anybody.

00:50:07

And I needed God to encourage me.

00:50:10

And He traded me and He put me in front of that girl that day

00:50:12

for a reason, because it changed my life.

00:50:14

If you flip over my baseball card, my baseball card all the

00:50:17

numbers all of the sudden get really good.

00:50:18

And I'm not saying He all of the sudden just sort of blessed me.

00:50:21

I think he was always there. M

00:50:22

my talent was always there.

00:50:24

My ability to succeed was always there., I just didn't

00:50:26

have a reason to do it.

00:50:29

I didn't have that desire to why I was a baseball player. What

00:50:33

was I a baseball player for? What

00:50:35

was I gifted to be a Major League Baseball for?

00:50:37

Because if it was to be just a Major League Baseball player, if

00:50:40

my gifting were just to be a professional athlete.

00:50:43

It didn't make a whole lot of sense because I'm not bringing a

00:50:45

lot of impact to anybody.

00:50:48

Except for I'm entertaining America for $12 dollar beer, you

00:50:52

know, which is cheap nowadays in the baseball stadiums and a

00:50:55

$30 ticket and $25 parking ticket to park.

00:51:00

And they boo me. And

00:51:01

that's what I'm here for.

00:51:02

THat's not I want to do. So I went to the

00:51:04

field that day and I felt so amazing sitting in the bullpen.

00:51:09

I said this -- why do I feel good for the first time in like

00:51:13

four years I don't feel depressed to play the game of

00:51:15

baseball. And I went to my hotel room that night and I did what

00:51:19

I never -- I told my self I would never do.

00:51:22

I became the guy that just stuck his fingers in the Bible and is

00:51:24

like open it up and thought God would talk to you.

00:51:27

Some of you had done it like. [laughter]

00:51:30

You know and then you're like looking down, you know? And

00:51:34

I've tried it multiple times.

00:51:35

It's never really worked, but -- because then you open it up and

00:51:39

all sin is like death becomes you. And

00:51:41

that's great. That's

00:51:42

what I needed.".

00:51:43

You know, you got all these awkward verses being thrown at you,

00:51:46

so you're like, I don't really know what that means."

00:51:50

So, I did it again because I was that desperate and I -- And it

00:51:54

worked for the first time ever.

00:51:55

It was like God knew, He was like, you know what?

00:51:57

I'm not going to laugh at this time.

00:51:58

I'm actually going to help him out," right?

00:52:01

And it was Matthew 25, no joke where it separates the sheep from

00:52:07

the goat when he comes back. And

00:52:09

the guy says, "Well, how do I know if I'm a sheep and a goat?"

00:52:12

And he says, "Well, when you do the least of -- what you've done

00:52:15

-- whatever you do to the least of these you do to me."

00:52:16

He's like, "Well, how do I know if I'm -- what I'm going to

00:52:18

do?" he's like, "Well have you ever -- If you don't, you know.

00:52:23

if you don't visit me in prison or you don't feed me when I'm

00:52:25

hungry or if you don't give me something, water when I'm

00:52:28

thirsty. You didn't help me out. So

00:52:31

And he's like, "How do I know if I did that?"

00:52:33

He goes, "Whatever you did it to someone who is in prison, to

00:52:36

someone who is hungry.

00:52:37

to someone who is naked, to someone who is in need.

00:52:41

And if you do it for any of them, you'll do it for me."

00:52:44

And I remember what I did for that girl.

00:52:48

And I remember my heart was so pure and when I did it for that

00:52:51

girl and I felt so good.

00:52:54

It was like I fed Jesus that day and He fed me back.

00:52:58

And he changed my life.

00:53:01

And I finally understood Luke where it says, you love the Lord

00:53:08

your God with all your heart soul and mind and you love your

00:53:10

neighbor as yourself.

00:53:12

They are the same.

00:53:15

And when I'm hungry I want some to eat.

00:53:17

When I'm thirsty I want something to drink.

00:53:19

And when I want to go live somewhere I go to my house.

00:53:23

Right? And when I'm naked I'm difficultly going to want to put

00:53:27

on clothes, unless it's Cincinnati, then it's you're

00:53:29

tempted. You know?

00:53:30

to walk around naked, it's way easier, it's a lot cooler, you

00:53:33

So you know, so you get all these, you know, you and I remember

00:53:37

feeling that and just God just saying, "Jeremy, this is what I

00:53:40

want you to do. I

00:53:42

want you to use baseball as a platform.

00:53:45

Your success will only be the success that I wanted to be.

00:53:49

If you can encourage others and show others and give others the

00:53:52

opportunity to have success."

00:53:54

And I said, "How do I do that?"

00:53:56

Do to the least of these what they need done and give them a

00:54:01

chance to be able to look at their dad or mom one day and

00:54:04

say, "One day I'm going to be..."

00:54:06

Because everybody deserves the opportunity to say, "One day I'm

00:54:09

gonna be."

00:54:10

And everybody who has ever said, "One day I'm gonna be," that

00:54:13

has had some hard times come where they weren't able to achieve

00:54:15

it, deserve a chance to still achieve it.

00:54:17

And I started an organization called Generation Alive right

00:54:21

after that.

00:54:22

And it dealt with young people in poverty. And

00:54:25

we now go into schools and we need to have these action teams

00:54:28

in these public schools, public high schools.

00:54:29

The only reason I'm able to get into half of them is because of

00:54:32

what I did for a living.

00:54:34

And I go in and we start these action teams. And

00:54:37

we basically tell kids to understand what poverty looks like in

00:54:39

your community.

00:54:41

What does poverty look like?

00:54:42

What are the pains that poverty causes, and how can we

00:54:44

alleviate those pains through acts of compassion?

00:54:48

And it's not feeling bad for the person, it's actually putting

00:54:50

it to action. So you don't look at someone that's struggling

00:54:53

and be a, "man, that sucks," and keep walking. Or too

00:54:56

bad for them, walking. Or

00:54:57

use the religious jargon, right? "I'll

00:54:59

pray for you," because I'm going tell you right now, most

00:55:01

people won't do it.

00:55:02

"Yeah. I'll pray for you."

00:55:03

"Uh-huh, yeah. Okay, I'll come back next week and I'll ask what

00:55:05

your prayer was," because we don't really know what to say,

00:55:09

right?

00:55:10

Compassion is actually doing it. When Jesus

00:55:13

hung on the cross, He carried an act of compassion.

00:55:16

When He fed 5,000 people are acts of compassion.

00:55:20

So I started an organization that did that. And

00:55:22

we've in the last five years we've fed over two and a half

00:55:24

million people and kids have had to -- [applause}

00:55:28

Yeah. And kids have had -- and all youth have had to raise the

00:55:30

money.

00:55:31

All kids have had to raise the money. It's 25

00:55:33

cents a meal.

00:55:34

We also help rescue women out of human trafficking and create

00:55:37

backpacks and have their personal things that they need when

00:55:40

they get rescued.

00:55:42

And they share the love of Jesus with other people and they

00:55:45

feed people they don't even know because it's a simple act of

00:55:48

compassion.

00:55:49

Because in every community there's hunger, in every community

00:55:51

who's trafficking.

00:55:52

And now kids are finding other -- now or action teams are

00:55:54

actually finding other areas that there is poverty and what is

00:55:58

the pain that poverty causes.

00:55:59

And they're creating their own ideas.

00:56:01

It's very very amazing.

00:56:02

And I had a kid come up to me and say, "Why does this feel so

00:56:05

good?" And I said, "Are you asking me the question, because if

00:56:08

you ask me the question I'm in a public school.".

00:56:10

So I said, "If you ask me the question I give it to

00:56:12

you. So are you asking me why you feel so good?"

00:56:15

They said, "Yeah, why does it feel so good to do this?"

00:56:17

I said, "Because that's the love of Jesus."

00:56:19

The kid looked at me.

00:56:20

Right? [applause]

00:56:22

And I said, "It's unconditional love, and we're all built for

00:56:25

it and we're all born with it.

00:56:27

We just have to find it.".

00:56:29

So my loneliness came from the fact that I didn't know who I was

00:56:32

and I didn't know why I was doing what I was doing.

00:56:34

And I got very lonely in an area that most people would think

00:56:37

you are not lonely.

00:56:39

And it took a young girl on the street to be able to change my

00:56:41

thought process and God put her there.

00:56:43

And for the rest of my career I was not lonely, I was very

00:56:46

fulfilled, three rings to prove it, just saying, but...

00:56:50

I'm messing with you. I'm messing

00:56:53

with you.

00:56:54

I've got an extra two minutes so I thought I'd make a joke.

00:56:57

So I just -- but I just wanted to tell you.

00:56:59

I said, I've been very fulfilled and what I did and I know

00:57:02

why I played and I had my why.

00:57:05

And I know who I am and I know what I played for, and I'd still

00:57:08

do it to this day.

00:57:10

And I love sharing the love of Jesus through acts of compassion.

00:57:14

And that's how I found who I was. And

00:57:17

I got to tell my dad at twelve years old, "One day I'm gonna

00:57:19

be..." And I got to accomplish that.

00:57:21

And when I retired -- when I retired my dad was on the field on

00:57:25

my retirement speech.

00:57:26

And I hugged my dad and I said, "Dad, you gave me the chance to

00:57:29

say one day I'm going to be and I'm hugging you because I got

00:57:32

to tell you that I'm happy that I became it.

00:57:34

And I'm a better man for it and I've got more to do.

00:57:37

It was because of the platform that you gave me by encouraging

00:57:39

me. And I found my place in Jesus and my identity in Christ.

00:57:43

And now I can give to others and love other people.

00:57:45

God bless you.

00:57:46

Thank you for letting me share with you. [applause]

00:57:50

LENA SCHULER: Man, How fun was that?

00:57:52

LENA SCHULER: I hope that something new was just sparked in you.

00:57:56

LENA SCHULER: You know we have a team of people that would love to pray for

00:57:59

LENA SCHULER: you and who would love to help connect you.

00:58:02

LENA SCHULER: So, if you head to the Crossroads website you can chat with us

00:58:05

LENA SCHULER: on the website.

00:58:06

And we'd love to get you connected into a Summer Social near

00:58:10

you. So just head to Crossroads.net and you can find

00:58:13

all of that there.

00:58:14

We'll see you next week for week three of Spark Talks.

00:58:17

CAPTIONS: MAVERICK CAPTIONING SERVICE, CINCINNATI OH

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