(serene music)
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- Oh yes! Stay right there.
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(serene music)
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- Hey welcome everybody
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to A Talking
Donkey International
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in our new television
series, Country Wisdom.
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- Let's set the tone
for this new series of ours.
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It's found in Proverbs 4;
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Let your eyes
look directly forward,
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and your gaze be
straight before you,
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ponder the path of your feet,
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and then all your
ways will be sure.
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- Join us now
for Country Wisdom.
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(serene music)
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You were a successful
contractor for a lot of years
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but life didn't start
out very successful, did it?
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- That's right.
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I was raised in
a Christian home,
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but that doesn't mean
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that it was a
perfect Christian home.
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That I have brothers and sisters
and lived with my grandma
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and my mom was a
very devout Christian.
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My father was
raised a Christian,
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but he had some issues
and he was abusive to us kids.
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We were really whipped regularly
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and it wasn't just a spanking.
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It was a whipping
with a skinny belt.
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I still have scars on my legs,
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you know, from
the intense beatings.
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And in a home like that,
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I mean, it's called
the no-talk rule, you know,
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we never did
really talk about it.
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And at school, you
know, my mom wrote a note
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that I had burned myself
on the radiator, you know,
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for the scars.
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And I didn't go
to school for a week.
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I probably should have had
stitches or whatever, but...
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- So your mother was an
enabler for all this too.
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- Well, yeah.
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I mean, that's the way it was
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and the way it is in a
lot of abusive homes and
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- Homes that you
would never imagine
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what's happening
behind closed doors.
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- Yeah, and I was
going to a Christian school
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and we went to church
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and we had a worship at home,
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but my father he was
out doing things that,
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and he eventually hung himself
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in the Sacramento County
jail, you know, when I was 13.
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And the kids at
school knew what happened
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and I didn't wanna go a
Christian school anymore
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because all the
kids and the pressure.
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And so they asked me to leave
because I was a bad influence
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on the other kids.
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I had started smoking
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and hanging out with
the kids on the street
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that I grew up on.
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And most of them
were broken homes
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and from divorced,
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and so it wasn't long
before I started drinking
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and smoking marijuana and taking
different pills, you know,
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like downers and uppers.
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And by the time I was 16,
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I was a full blown
drug addict and alcoholic.
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And I remember standing up
at the neighborhood liquor store
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with my friends, we would
ask people to buy us liquor,
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you know, and potentially
we'd have to wait hours
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but we'd get our liquor.
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- Before you found
someone willing to go in.
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- That's right.
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- But did you pay
them a little bit?
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- Well, sometimes,
sometimes they just did it
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but the liquor store
owner, his name was Leo.
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He knew us kids
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and he told us that we
were his best customers.
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- Oh my!
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- That's quite an
achievement when you're 16
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- But it was, so I started
getting into construction
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and my dad was in construction.
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My mom pleaded with me, you
know, don't get in construction.
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You know, it's a tough
business and you know, it's,
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so I went for a
period of two years
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and lived with my uncle
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and worked on his farm
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and I quit
smoking and doing drugs
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but there was really,
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it was minimum wage, no
future unless you're landowner.
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So after two years, I came back
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and quickly got back
into drugs and alcohol
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and gotten (murmurs)
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- You were back with
your original friends then?
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- That's right.
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- Back in that environment.
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- How old were
you at this time now?
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- Well, about 20,
about 20 years old
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- You've lived a
whole lifetime already
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on the wrong side of that track.
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- That's right.
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Yeah, so but I was
talented in construction.
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And so the employers
overlooked, you know,
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a lot of the drug
addiction and alcohol use
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and because, you know,
productive getting things done.
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I had the privilege of working
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with some of the top
construction firms in
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California. And one of
them was a company that worked
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for the federal
government army bases.
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And one of them was in
Sacramento at an air force base.
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And after work,
we had stopped by
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this little strip
club on the way home.
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And there I seen this
girl, she was just beautiful.
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And I told myself
if I ever got married
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I would want a girl
just like that, you know?
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- That's why I need to
find a girl in a strip club.
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(laughing)
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- So I started
going there regularly
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and started to know this
girl, her name was Claire.
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And one night she
needed a ride home.
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- And you did not
miss that opportunity?
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- So her friend
said, I know who you are.
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I got your license
plate number, you know?
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So, you know, so if
something happened to her
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and she came up missing.
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But on the way home we stopped
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in like at the Denny's and
had her dinner and we hit it off
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and we started dating and we
had a lot of the same hobbies,
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you know, drugs and
alcohol and marijuana.
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And so we got along great.
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And we soon became inseparable.
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- Can I ask you
Luther, before you go on,
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I mean if that's your hobbies
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how much money are you spending
on the hobbies at that time?
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- Oh, just all of it
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- Because you were
undoubtedly earning good money
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doing the construction you were,
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but none of it was going
to planning for a future,
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or retirement or savings
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- Was doing cocaine, but
cocaine was quite expensive.
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And so started
doing methamphetamines.
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And that was a lot
more tense, last longer
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and it's a lot more
cheaper, economical.
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And so methamphetamines is
one of the most addictive drugs
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there is.
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- And most of you still
functioned at a real job?
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- Right, you were still working?
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- More or less, yeah.
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And well, so yeah, I
was doing methamphetamines
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for over five years
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and Claire was also
doing methamphetamines
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but once you
get involved in that
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it's hard to get out,
you know, it's get yeah.
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But there was a
place that I knew of,
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way up in the mountains
called Mono's Hot Springs,
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it's hot springs
way up in the mountains.
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It was by the long drive
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but we went up there
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and it was sort of like our
honeymoon, you know, it was,
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we were not
married, but we sort of
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inseparable, living together.
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And so we was up
there for about four days
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and we consumed all the
drugs and alcohol we had
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and on the way
back we're driving
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and she's telling me
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how she had gotten
to the Bahai faith,
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how she, you know,
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they believe that Jesus
was a good man and a prophet.
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And I said, well, no, you
know, I knew, cause I was raised
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up at church
school and going to church
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that Jesus was the
son of God, you know,
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and told her about the
father, son and the Holy spirit.
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And then she was
telling me what they believed
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about reincarnation, you know?
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And how, you know,
like if you're a good cow,
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you know, you can advance on up.
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And so I told her, you know, no,
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I told her, you
know, that's, you know,
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I told her about
the state of the dead.
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- As a young man,
you would have all
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of these things kind of
shoved in there somewhere.
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- That's correct, yeah.
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And then she just told me
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what they believed
about evolution, you know?
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And I said, well, no,
it's quite clear in the Bible.
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You know, God created the
heaven and earth in six days.
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And so it was, you know,
I was giving her a Bible.
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- Did she have any
Christian background.
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Had she heard
any of this before?
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- No. So, you
know, we both wanted
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to get out of our
lifestyle, drugs and alcohol.
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And I told her there
was a church I used to go to
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when I was a kid,
we could go there.
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And so that very weekend
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we went to church
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and she had to
work that afternoon.
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So she had her
miniskirt on with her makeup.
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I was, I had my
beard and I had long hair
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and we walked in that
back door of the church,
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my mom almost fell off the pew.
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- That's right
your mom went to church?
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- That's right, she still does..
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And so the amazing, everybody
just loved us and accepted us.
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And nobody said we
couldn't be smoking out
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in the parking lot.
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And it was just a whole
series of miracles, you know,
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that nobody, you
know, they just loved us
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and they just let the
Holy spirit do its job.
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And they just did their job
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just by loving and accepting
us just the way we were.
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- So you started
coming on a regular basis?
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- Yeah, there was a evangelistic
series going on there.
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And so we started going.
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- So Claire must
have liked the experience
00:10:05.40\00:10:07.77
of going to church with you.
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She must have liked the
people that she met there.
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- That's right.
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And one thing that
really got her is her lifestyle.
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She had multiple abortions
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and she was just racked
with guilt with these abortions.
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And she medicated to
help, you know, all that pain.
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And when she
heard that God forgives
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all manner of sin
and even that of abortion
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you just, you know, it
was just such a relief to her,
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you know, and just the.
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- She didn't have to
carry that guilt anymore.
00:10:38.97\00:10:40.67
- The beauty of the
Christian message, you know,
00:10:40.67\00:10:43.20
that there's a
loving God that loves us.
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And then he's surrounded
by people that loved us
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and expressed that love.
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It was wonderful
00:10:49.58\00:10:51.35
so we told the pastor
that we wanted to get baptized
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and get married.
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And that was before we
knew that she was pregnant.
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So the pastor ended
up baptizing us anyways.
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And then we had our
son, his name was Forest.
00:11:05.66\00:11:08.63
And then we got married.
00:11:08.63\00:11:10.73
So it sort of
backwards, but it was, you know.
00:11:10.73\00:11:15.80
- Now, that isn't the normal
way it necessarily happens.
00:11:17.21\00:11:18.91
How come it happened that way?
00:11:18.91\00:11:20.81
- Well, Claire had
been married before
00:11:20.81\00:11:24.55
and her previous husband,
00:11:24.55\00:11:28.48
they never gotten a divorce
00:11:28.48\00:11:30.09
and he married two other
ladies without ever divorcing.
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So it was rather complicated
getting the divorce through
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so we could get married.
00:11:36.29\00:11:37.96
And so...
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- It took a little
longer than you might've wanted?
00:11:39.36\00:11:41.36
(laughing)
00:11:41.36\00:11:42.93
- So it was unconventional,
but the pastor just thought
00:11:42.93\00:11:47.20
that he was supposed to go
ahead and baptize us, you know.
00:11:47.20\00:11:50.21
- Tell me at that moment
when you were being baptized
00:11:50.21\00:11:53.14
the two of you,
what kind of feelings
00:11:53.14\00:11:56.21
were going
through you at that time?
00:11:56.21\00:11:58.11
- Well, it was just being
00:11:59.51\00:12:03.75
free from the drugs,
00:12:05.92\00:12:07.92
and, you know, smoking.
00:12:07.92\00:12:09.72
It was just
when we was baptized,
00:12:09.72\00:12:12.33
it was just one week
before we was baptized,
00:12:12.33\00:12:15.16
we quit smoking.
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And so it was just.
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- Do you know, I was just about
to ask you how big a problem
00:12:17.33\00:12:20.24
were things like alcohol
and drugs and the smoking.
00:12:20.24\00:12:22.84
Were they still issues
for you, still a struggle?
00:12:22.84\00:12:26.78
- Well, yeah, first we
got off the methamphetamines
00:12:26.78\00:12:29.41
and that was one of
the most difficult things,
00:12:29.41\00:12:31.21
you know, ever did.
00:12:31.21\00:12:32.55
But we started talking
about Jesus to the people
00:12:32.55\00:12:36.02
the other drug addicts and
dealers and they, you know,
00:12:36.02\00:12:39.82
pretty much, you know,
00:12:39.82\00:12:40.92
and then we
pretty much hit bottom.
00:12:40.92\00:12:43.53
Didn't have any resources.
00:12:43.53\00:12:45.06
And so my mom took us in
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and so we were away from
all the people that we knew.
00:12:46.39\00:12:50.83
And so that helped us
get off the methamphetamines.
00:12:50.83\00:12:54.27
And then we quit smoking
marijuana because it was, you
00:12:54.27\00:12:59.24
know, the pastor was coming
over to do Bible studies with us
00:13:00.68\00:13:02.04
and we'd go, well, we've
got to wait till he leaves
00:13:02.04\00:13:03.68
before we'd get high and all.
00:13:03.68\00:13:05.05
And so that didn't last long,
00:13:05.05\00:13:08.15
but the
cigarettes was tough too,
00:13:08.15\00:13:10.05
but nobody said you're
gonna have to quit smoking
00:13:10.05\00:13:12.72
before you get baptized.
00:13:12.72\00:13:15.42
They just let the Holy
spirit convict us and so.
00:13:15.42\00:13:18.46
- Luther after you're baptized,
00:13:20.70\00:13:22.53
and you've got this new walk.
00:13:22.53\00:13:24.47
You talked about
these old friends
00:13:24.47\00:13:26.20
who were all the drug
dealers and everybody else.
00:13:26.20\00:13:28.90
Did you find that all of a
sudden you happen to have a lot
00:13:28.90\00:13:31.04
of people offering you
free drugs, free things?
00:13:31.04\00:13:33.94
- They tried to get you back in?
00:13:33.94\00:13:35.61
- The reason I ask is because
that's what happened to me
00:13:35.61\00:13:37.78
is all of a sudden
00:13:37.78\00:13:39.11
for the first time everybody
wanted to give me stuff
00:13:39.11\00:13:41.25
never happened
before I had to pay for it.
00:13:41.25\00:13:43.42
- Not in my case, we
were having a new baby.
00:13:44.49\00:13:48.96
And so we were going to church
and got involved in church
00:13:48.96\00:13:52.93
and we pretty much were through
from that whole lifestyle.
00:13:52.93\00:13:56.46
And so we had new focus
00:13:56.46\00:13:59.17
and so Claire,
she was a smart girl
00:13:59.17\00:14:03.71
and she started going to school
00:14:03.71\00:14:06.74
and she became a
licensed vocational nurse.
00:14:06.74\00:14:10.41
And I started working,
you know, with my brothers
00:14:10.41\00:14:15.08
and we started a
construction company
00:14:15.08\00:14:16.65
and it became quite successful.
00:14:16.65\00:14:19.02
And so we were doing jobs all up
00:14:19.02\00:14:22.19
and down the state
and you know, was working.
00:14:22.19\00:14:24.99
So, you know, six days a week,
00:14:24.99\00:14:28.26
started working 12 hours a day
00:14:28.26\00:14:29.80
and Claire was
working night shift, you know,
00:14:29.80\00:14:32.93
because there's a new nurse.
00:14:32.93\00:14:34.50
And so we, you
know, start, you know,
00:14:34.50\00:14:37.07
I would take over at
night, you know, with the kid,
00:14:37.07\00:14:39.67
and then she would
be there during the day.
00:14:39.67\00:14:41.64
And so we sort of became two
ships in the night, you know,
00:14:41.64\00:14:45.98
and we started
growing apart from each other
00:14:45.98\00:14:48.38
and from God,
00:14:48.38\00:14:50.22
and Claire was
watching a TV evangelist,
00:14:50.22\00:14:55.29
and he was talking
about how he prayed
00:14:56.39\00:14:59.36
if it took him getting cancer
00:14:59.36\00:15:00.80
to make it to the
kingdom for God to bring it on.
00:15:00.80\00:15:03.90
And she prayed that
same prayer in her heart and.
00:15:03.90\00:15:07.74
- Meaning she was
willing to sacrifice anything.
00:15:09.07\00:15:11.04
It's just whatever
it takes to get me back
00:15:11.04\00:15:14.38
on the right path.
00:15:14.38\00:15:15.21
- And February of 2007,
00:15:15.21\00:15:19.71
she was diagnosed with
Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS.
00:15:19.71\00:15:23.82
And she said she
didn't get cancer,
00:15:23.82\00:15:27.76
but she got her
own special disease,
00:15:27.76\00:15:29.96
but she had
early onset, you know,
00:15:29.96\00:15:32.46
the disease back in 2005.
00:15:32.46\00:15:35.46
And as a nurse, you couldn't
open up the pill bottles
00:15:35.46\00:15:38.00
and she almost
dropped patients and stuff.
00:15:38.00\00:15:40.94
So at Christmas of
2005, she quit working
00:15:40.94\00:15:43.71
and they tried
everything, you know,
00:15:43.71\00:15:45.64
but nothing, at all
their nerve transposition
00:15:45.64\00:15:49.01
and carpal tunnel.
00:15:49.01\00:15:50.31
And, you know, they
thought that would cure it
00:15:50.31\00:15:52.51
but she just kept getting
weaker and weaker, her arms.
00:15:52.51\00:15:55.68
And she got the diagnosis.
00:15:55.68\00:15:58.75
You know, it was really tough.
00:15:58.75\00:16:00.19
The doctor looked at us
and said, sorry, you know,
00:16:00.19\00:16:04.76
no known cure, you
know, no known cause.
00:16:04.76\00:16:07.36
And so I quit working so
we wouldn't have any resources
00:16:09.03\00:16:14.10
so we can qualify
for all the programs.
00:16:15.17\00:16:16.44
And so I could be
her primary caregiver
00:16:20.58\00:16:22.71
you know, because
her arms quit working.
00:16:22.71\00:16:24.71
I had to do everything for her.
00:16:24.71\00:16:26.05
I had to feed her,
comb her hair, dress her,
00:16:26.05\00:16:29.25
and help her go to the bathroom,
00:16:29.25\00:16:31.75
you know, with everything
you, you just [Indistinct]
00:16:31.75\00:16:33.79
- How did you deal with that?
00:16:33.79\00:16:36.12
- Well...
00:16:36.12\00:16:37.26
- Did you feel resentful?
00:16:38.59\00:16:39.96
Were you angry at God?
00:16:39.96\00:16:41.60
- Well, what we did
was she prayed for that.
00:16:41.60\00:16:46.33
And so we counted it
as a blessing, you know,
00:16:46.33\00:16:49.00
and Bible says in all things,
praise and thank the Lord.
00:16:49.00\00:16:52.41
And so that's
what we started doing.
00:16:52.41\00:16:53.88
We started concentrating
on what she could do
00:16:53.88\00:16:55.98
and what she couldn't.
00:16:55.98\00:16:57.28
And we had tremendous
support from the church family.
00:16:57.28\00:17:02.32
They helped us.
00:17:02.85\00:17:03.92
And so, you know,
00:17:03.92\00:17:06.49
we had a house
that we had bought,
00:17:06.49\00:17:09.32
and, but couldn't
make payments anymore.
00:17:09.32\00:17:13.19
And that was like 2008.
00:17:13.19\00:17:15.53
And that was really hard.
00:17:15.53\00:17:18.87
- So you went from having
a very successful business
00:17:18.87\00:17:21.64
both of you working,
and good at your jobs
00:17:21.64\00:17:24.17
and everything down to
nothing, less than nothing.
00:17:24.17\00:17:27.08
- Yeah, we had to spend all
our savings and our retirement.
00:17:27.08\00:17:32.15
And so that was
all completely spent.
00:17:33.25\00:17:34.95
And so we went to sign up.
00:17:34.95\00:17:37.32
- How old were your
children at this time
00:17:37.32\00:17:40.49
when she was
diagnosed? - Well, Forest
00:17:40.49\00:17:42.49
he was in high school.
00:17:42.49\00:17:44.66
So it was really a God thing
because got me back, you know,
00:17:44.66\00:17:49.70
when he really needed
more intense parenting.
00:17:50.80\00:17:54.30
- You were
working six days a week
00:17:54.30\00:17:55.94
and not there for him.
00:17:55.94\00:17:56.94
- Yeah, I was there, and so.
00:17:56.94\00:17:58.94
- You mentioned parenting,
00:17:58.94\00:18:00.08
I know jumping
around just a little bit,
00:18:00.08\00:18:01.81
but you mentioned parenting
00:18:01.81\00:18:03.21
and I'm thinking back to your
beatings in your family life.
00:18:03.21\00:18:06.88
As you were raising this
family as a real Christian
00:18:06.88\00:18:10.59
what kind of thoughts
are going through your mind
00:18:11.95\00:18:12.95
about this?
00:18:12.95\00:18:13.96
I'm sure you had
thoughts of the old life
00:18:13.96\00:18:15.79
and now you've got a family.
00:18:15.79\00:18:17.29
- Yeah, well, sometimes the
pendulum swings the other way
00:18:18.66\00:18:21.36
you know, where
you're, you know,
00:18:21.36\00:18:23.20
spare the rod
and spoil the child.
00:18:23.20\00:18:26.10
I did, swhack them a
couple of times on the bottom
00:18:26.10\00:18:28.67
but I never was
abusive, you know.
00:18:28.67\00:18:30.87
- But you taught
them about the Lord?
00:18:34.68\00:18:36.24
- That's right, yeah.
00:18:36.24\00:18:37.05
We went to church and yeah.
00:18:37.05\00:18:40.48
(serene music)
00:18:40.48\00:18:43.15
- Scientists tell us that
humans have four basic needs
00:18:45.55\00:18:49.46
for survival; food,
water, air, and shelter,
00:18:49.46\00:18:54.50
but beyond mere survival,
00:18:55.30\00:18:56.67
we also need to know
that someone cares about us.
00:18:56.67\00:18:59.37
And there is someone who cares,
someone who is always there.
00:18:59.37\00:19:04.44
This little track,
Someone Cares About You
00:19:05.47\00:19:08.11
is full of Bible verses
that will help you know,
00:19:08.11\00:19:11.25
just how much God cares for you.
00:19:11.25\00:19:14.32
It's absolutely free.
00:19:14.32\00:19:16.08
Just go to
TalkingDonkeyInternational.org
00:19:16.08\00:19:19.52
and request offer number 123.
00:19:19.52\00:19:22.56
Someone cares about you.
00:19:22.56\00:19:24.63
- [Narrator] Introducing
Talking Donkey International,
00:19:26.63\00:19:29.16
God once used a
donkey to spread his word
00:19:29.16\00:19:32.20
but he'd rather use all of us.
00:19:32.20\00:19:34.64
It's time to
prepare quality programming
00:19:34.64\00:19:37.67
created to attract and
reach viewers of the world,
00:19:37.67\00:19:40.58
not just those
of our denomination.
00:19:40.58\00:19:42.94
Together, we can carry
the final advent message
00:19:42.94\00:19:45.85
to the
individuals of planet earth
00:19:45.85\00:19:48.15
and hasten the
return of our Lord.
00:19:48.15\00:19:50.52
Please pray for and
support the successful mission
00:19:50.52\00:19:53.59
of Talking Donkey International.
00:19:53.59\00:19:55.72
(soft music)
00:19:59.83\00:20:02.30
- You said you prayed to God.
00:20:09.54\00:20:11.71
I mean, things
are falling apart.
00:20:11.71\00:20:12.81
You prayed to
God, did God answer?
00:20:12.81\00:20:15.31
- He did.
00:20:15.31\00:20:16.85
It was just one
miracle after another,
00:20:16.85\00:20:20.55
we called the bank
00:20:20.55\00:20:21.82
and they said the
paperwork wasn't correct.
00:20:21.82\00:20:23.22
And so they put a stop to the
sell on the courthouse steps.
00:20:23.22\00:20:27.09
And then, you know, after
a matter of months, you know,
00:20:27.09\00:20:29.42
they was going to sell it
again on the courthouse steps.
00:20:29.42\00:20:32.43
And then they put the
moratorium on the foreclosures.
00:20:32.43\00:20:35.26
And so it was a period of
about nine months or a year
00:20:35.26\00:20:37.97
where has sort of settled down.
00:20:37.97\00:20:39.47
They got things settled in.
00:20:39.47\00:20:40.70
So they started it again
00:20:40.70\00:20:44.01
and it was just
terrible, you know,
00:20:44.01\00:20:46.11
every time
they'd do it, you know
00:20:46.11\00:20:47.61
they'd come and put the
papers on the door, you know,
00:20:47.61\00:20:50.25
and it was just, you know,
00:20:50.25\00:20:54.32
but we just kept
hanging on to God.
00:20:54.32\00:20:56.62
And they finally did sell the
house on the courthouse steps
00:20:56.62\00:21:01.59
and it was,
00:21:02.89\00:21:05.29
- what did you do?
00:21:05.29\00:21:06.26
- Well, we cried
out to God, again,
00:21:07.36\00:21:10.03
didn't know what to do.
00:21:10.03\00:21:11.83
And it was in
2011 that the sheriff
00:21:11.83\00:21:16.91
it was in June,
the sheriff showed up.
00:21:18.01\00:21:20.61
And so the sheriff
knocked on the door,
00:21:20.61\00:21:23.04
and said we had
six days to get out.
00:21:23.04\00:21:26.58
And I just didn't...
00:21:26.58\00:21:27.65
- I can't even
imagine your stress level
00:21:27.65\00:21:29.08
because just your
wife, those issues,
00:21:29.08\00:21:32.75
or just your
finances and losing the house.
00:21:32.75\00:21:37.13
Either of those
would be enough, I think,
00:21:37.13\00:21:40.03
to put me over the edge
00:21:40.03\00:21:41.66
and you're having
them all at the same time.
00:21:41.66\00:21:44.37
- Yeah, so I told the sheriff
00:21:45.50\00:21:47.90
we was trying to
get a bankruptcy going
00:21:47.90\00:21:51.11
and he grabbed hold of that.
00:21:51.11\00:21:52.51
He didn't want to throw us out.
00:21:52.51\00:21:53.94
You know, he said,
you get that going.
00:21:53.94\00:21:56.31
And that will put a
hold on the eviction.
00:21:56.31\00:21:59.18
So we was able to
get a bankruptcy going.
00:21:59.18\00:22:01.62
And so that put a
hold on the eviction.
00:22:01.62\00:22:04.42
And so bankruptcy
takes about six months.
00:22:04.42\00:22:09.49
And so that was just
right at the end of November,
00:22:10.86\00:22:13.46
the beginning of December
when the bankruptcy was done.
00:22:13.46\00:22:16.23
And so the bank called and said,
00:22:16.23\00:22:20.40
well, seems how it's
the holidays and everything,
00:22:20.40\00:22:23.14
but you can stay
in the house past-
00:22:23.14\00:22:24.94
- Someone got a
heart at the bank.
00:22:24.94\00:22:27.08
- Christmas, you know,
before you have to get out.
00:22:27.08\00:22:30.61
But our church family,
00:22:30.61\00:22:33.62
some of the members
worked at the Sacramento Bee,
00:22:33.62\00:22:37.42
the major
newspaper in Sacramento.
00:22:37.42\00:22:40.16
And so they sent
some reporters out
00:22:40.16\00:22:42.52
and they was doing a
story about, you know,
00:22:42.52\00:22:45.46
the crisis of having, you know,
00:22:45.46\00:22:48.33
health issues without insurance,
00:22:48.33\00:22:50.20
and, you know, a foreclosure.
00:22:50.20\00:22:52.80
And so they called
the bank and they said
00:22:52.80\00:22:56.04
we're doing this story.
00:22:56.04\00:22:57.51
We're the media,
we're doing the story.
00:22:57.51\00:22:58.77
What do you guys
gonna do about it?
00:22:58.77\00:23:00.44
And they said, well, you
know, they would get back to us.
00:23:00.44\00:23:03.51
And so our church was doing
a day of fasting and prayer.
00:23:03.51\00:23:08.18
It was Tuesday after when
00:23:08.18\00:23:12.05
the newspaper called them.
00:23:14.86\00:23:16.76
And so got, usually I
didn't answer the phone
00:23:16.76\00:23:20.73
but the caller ID said,
CEO bank, you know, of America.
00:23:20.73\00:23:25.60
And so I picked up
and they said, well,
00:23:25.60\00:23:29.10
in light of all your
circumstances, you know,
00:23:29.10\00:23:31.61
we'll let you stay in the
house till your wife dies.
00:23:31.61\00:23:36.31
And then we'll let you stay
in for a period of mourning.
00:23:36.31\00:23:40.35
And so it was, so they ended
up doing a newspaper story.
00:23:40.35\00:23:45.42
Claire always
wanted to be an evangelist,
00:23:46.55\00:23:48.92
or, you know, tell
others about Christ.
00:23:48.92\00:23:50.99
She didn't know
how she could do it
00:23:50.99\00:23:52.76
but the newspaper did.
00:23:52.76\00:23:54.00
A front page,
Sunday newspaper on us.
00:23:54.00\00:23:57.23
And you know what,
the full page in the back
00:23:57.23\00:23:59.50
about our whole story,
00:23:59.50\00:24:00.90
about how we got out of drugs
00:24:00.90\00:24:02.57
and how, we, you know,
got our lives together.
00:24:02.57\00:24:06.21
And then through this
disease was losing everything.
00:24:06.21\00:24:08.94
- That reached
quite a wide audience.
00:24:10.01\00:24:11.95
- It did.
00:24:11.95\00:24:12.78
They had calls.
00:24:12.78\00:24:14.18
The church got calls from
26 States and three countries.
00:24:14.18\00:24:17.39
And then one of the
major television stations
00:24:17.39\00:24:21.59
sent a crew out,
00:24:21.59\00:24:23.02
and they interviewed me,
00:24:23.02\00:24:25.39
and I was able to tell them
00:24:25.39\00:24:27.40
even though
we're losing our home
00:24:27.40\00:24:28.60
we're losing everything,
00:24:28.60\00:24:30.03
as a Christian,
our home is in heaven.
00:24:30.03\00:24:33.17
- Amen.
00:24:33.17\00:24:34.50
I know Luther there,
your story is so wonderful
00:24:34.50\00:24:37.41
and you've got
so much more to go.
00:24:37.41\00:24:38.54
We've only got
just a few minutes left.
00:24:38.54\00:24:40.71
I know the last
moments of your life together
00:24:42.31\00:24:45.55
with your
sweetheart was kinda tough.
00:24:45.55\00:24:47.82
And then God brought
you in another new life.
00:24:47.82\00:24:50.89
- Well, yeah, Claire had...
00:24:50.89\00:24:53.92
she started to...
00:24:55.46\00:24:56.99
quality of life
was going downhill.
00:24:58.43\00:25:00.23
And so just a little bit
before she died, you know,
00:25:00.23\00:25:03.53
she looked up in
my eyes and said,
00:25:03.53\00:25:05.07
well, I'll see you
in heaven, you know?
00:25:05.07\00:25:07.17
And so, you know, it
was the hardest thing
00:25:07.17\00:25:11.71
I've ever done.
00:25:11.71\00:25:13.11
holding when, you know,
took the last breaths, you know,
00:25:13.11\00:25:17.08
but it was, so but it
really brought into sharp focus
00:25:17.08\00:25:22.15
what's really important.
00:25:23.22\00:25:24.32
You know, that's our
relationship with God
00:25:24.32\00:25:27.49
and our
relationship with our families
00:25:27.49\00:25:30.19
and everything
else is so transient,
00:25:30.19\00:25:32.26
you know, could be
gone in an instant.
00:25:32.26\00:25:34.76
- What has your life
been like since then?
00:25:34.76\00:25:37.10
- So I decided I
would dedicate my life time
00:25:37.10\00:25:41.60
and talents to service to God.
00:25:41.60\00:25:44.61
And so I've been
able to volunteer
00:25:44.61\00:25:48.44
and help use my talents,
construction talents, you know,
00:25:48.44\00:25:51.88
in Africa, India, South
America, Central America
00:25:51.88\00:25:56.28
and God has led me
to a new relationship
00:25:56.28\00:25:59.79
with a woman that just
recently lost her husband.
00:25:59.79\00:26:03.12
And so together,
00:26:03.12\00:26:04.43
we're serving in our local
community and around the world.
00:26:04.43\00:26:08.10
- So it's been
the second life really
00:26:08.10\00:26:10.83
has been a major
blessing in a different way.
00:26:10.83\00:26:13.77
- Amen.
00:26:13.77\00:26:14.87
Yeah, I tremendously
miss my wife, Claire,
00:26:14.87\00:26:17.71
but, you know,
this is a whole new life
00:26:17.71\00:26:20.81
and it'll be
interesting in heaven,
00:26:20.81\00:26:23.98
you know, that grand reunion .
00:26:23.98\00:26:26.55
- Amen. Amen.
00:26:26.55\00:26:27.65
Luther, you've been
on an amazing journey
00:26:27.65\00:26:30.15
lots of tears and
sorrows, but happiness also.
00:26:30.15\00:26:33.19
What would you share
with our audience today
00:26:33.19\00:26:34.92
of maybe why they
should follow God?
00:26:34.92\00:26:37.76
- Well, it's so easy to
get discouraged and downcast
00:26:37.76\00:26:41.70
when things don't go
your way, but you know,
00:26:41.70\00:26:45.97
Psalms 34 says, you know,
00:26:46.77\00:26:48.94
We called out to God
00:26:48.94\00:26:50.71
and he answered us and
deliver us from all our fears.
00:26:50.71\00:26:53.21
So God can be trusted.
00:26:53.21\00:26:54.74
And he always, you know, He
is a firm rock to hang on to.
00:26:54.74\00:26:59.81
- I'm gonna have to remember
that verse every day, myself.
00:27:01.25\00:27:03.79
- Amen. Luther, thank
you for sharing today.
00:27:03.79\00:27:05.59
Sure. Appreciate it.
00:27:05.59\00:27:06.52
- You're welcome.
00:27:06.52\00:27:07.46
- Scientists tell us that
humans have four basic needs
00:27:10.06\00:27:13.56
for survival; food,
water, air, and shelter.
00:27:13.56\00:27:18.60
But beyond mere survival
00:27:19.27\00:27:20.64
we also need to know
that someone cares about us.
00:27:20.64\00:27:23.97
And there is someone who cares,
someone who is always there.
00:27:23.97\00:27:28.64
This little track,
Someone Cares About You
00:27:28.64\00:27:32.21
is full of Bible
verses that will help you know
00:27:32.21\00:27:35.38
just how much God cares for you.
00:27:35.38\00:27:38.42
It's absolutely free.
00:27:38.42\00:27:40.22
Just go to
TalkingDonkeyInternational.org
00:27:40.22\00:27:43.63
and request offer number 123.
00:27:43.63\00:27:46.66
Someone cares about you.
00:27:46.66\00:27:48.73
(upbeat music)
00:27:51.27\00:27:54.34
- Hey, thanks for
joining us for Country Wisdom.
00:27:54.34\00:27:57.07
- See you next time.
00:27:57.07\00:27:58.81
(serene music)
00:27:58.81\00:28:01.44