Adam’s Mom and Dad - Learning Through Heartache and Loss

Hey crew, it's Adam. I'm a husband, a father, a pastor, a follower of Jesus who just like you is trying to learn what it looks like to fully live and follow Jesus in the middle of real life. It is one thing to be someone on Sundays, but what about Monday through Saturday? And so here, we're gonna talk about faith and making a difference in the messy, ordinary moments where it's often the hardest to live out. Some weeks, I'll share what God is teaching me. Other weeks, I'll sit down with leaders, pastors, athletes, friends. There's no fluff, just encouragement and truth for your life between Sundays. I'm so glad you're here. Well, hey crew, it is Adam and Emily. Let's go. Thank you so much for joining us for Life Between Sundays this week. We are excited to be here. We are very excited to be here. Okay. Yeah. Kick us off. We're just gonna jump right into it. Jump into what? You tell me. Hilo Buffalo. Hilo Buffalo.

I'm gonna do my high this week. So I'm a diehard Cincinnati Bengals fan. They've seen better days. So now I am a Seattle Seahawks fan. What? Through, this is- What? Through my son, Wilson. So Wilson, I have four kids. My oldest is a Bengals fan as well, but Wilson is probably the sports person in our house. And this last weekend, they won and they are headed to the Super Bowl. And I'm so excited. It was just fun to celebrate with him. It's the first time in his like adult life where he's been aware of the fact that they're good. And he's like into it, into it. He's into it, into it, was yelling and screaming at the top of his lungs and it was fun. Oh, that is super fun. Football season with him is the best. So it's just fun seeing your kid enjoy something and yeah. How did it get to be a Seahawks fan? So Wilson and Russell Wilson, they're former quarterback. Oh, he just picked him off the name? Because of the last name. Oh, he really just did. That was a long, long time ago.

And he watched- And you just stuck with it. I tried so hard to get him to be a Bengals fan and it just did not work. He's like, no, my name. This is my name. I have to go here. I have to go here. So it was a lot of fun. That'll be my eye. Good, good. No low or buffalo. I don't think I have a low. I have a low. Can I share that? Yeah. Okay, so I live in an apartment complex and I ordered my husband's birthday present to our apartment complex. And what was the gift? What did he like? Oh wait, well, his birthday's today. I got him a chess board because he's 94 years old. And not that chess is bad, but he's just been really into playing chess. Sam does not appear to be a chess person. I don't think he really is, but I think he wants to be. You probably got a fancy set though from some expensive place. Well, no.

It was actually from the Home Depot. So I ordered this chess board. I know, it was random, but I had the best deal. You bought it from Home Depot. It was just two by fours and you're gonna whittle it out of a two by fours. Yeah, I was gonna home make it. Okay, but anyway, I bought this chess board. I had it delivered to our apartment. I went to go get it, pick it up, and somebody stole the box. Someone stole the whole box. I know for a fact it was there because the FedEx guy took a picture and sent it to me that he dropped it off. Just when you think the world can't get any more divided. We have chess haters out there. We have chess haters. Yeah, so now my husband doesn't get a birthday present, but happy birthday, Sam. I hope you're having a great day. Awesome, I love Buffalo. There it is. Yeah, mine is down below. That's perfect. Okay, actually, so I do have a Buffalo. I just thought of this. Thanks to the podcast, I have a Buffalo. So I mentioned that I got a turkey call

and someone heard it and they emailed me and said, hey, you have a turkey call, that's great. But even better, you need a crow call for turkeys. Something I didn't know. So you use a crow call because it spooks turkeys and it lets you know where the turkeys are at. So what I did, as soon as I got that email, of course I needed a crow call. I went and bought one. No, it was instantly. And I'm headed to the cabin this week. And so I'm bringing that crow call with me. And you haven't tried it yet? I haven't tried it yet. I can't wait to bring it out and try it though. But that's a Buffalo turkey. Yeah, there it is. So. A Buffalo turkey, or crow, it's an animal. Crow, whatever, whatever. It's an animal of some sort. Really funny, the other day, Becky, she texted me and she's like, I think we should maybe take it easy on the Amazon purchases. And I'm like, Beck, all I'm getting is necessities, like cereal and granola. And then she's like, and a crow call? Yes, that is one of the basic necessities to be able to survive. If the world ever ends, I'm gonna be living off turkeys.

Yeah, you probably will. That is the Buffalo. They are friends, not food. I love it. Oh, today, on today's episode, you have your mom and dad on. How about this? They came to the office. I love it. Mom and dad. Jim and Nancy Weber. They drove down. What did you guys talk about? Gosh, I talked with them about their lives. I talked with them about their faith. I talked with them about hardships, including my brother passing away, which is by far the hardest thing that they've ever gone through. And it's one of those things that I've been putting off and I'll even share why I interviewed them. I don't know, this is maybe heavy, but someone, I read a post actually where someone said, if you don't have your parents' voice recorded, go do that before it's too late. Like if you don't have like a conversation with them recorded, go do that. And so honestly, I read that post and immediately sent them a text message. Have you had them on podcasts before? Maybe years ago, I interviewed them. It would have been a long time ago. That's a good question. I don't know. I don't think I have. I'll never forget my first time I ever did this.

So when I was a student at Augustana in Sioux Falls, I invited them to do, I interviewed them on marriage and dating and it was standing room only that night. Really? It was so cool. And I'm just like, my mom and dad are here and this place is packed. I can, like hundreds, hundreds of people. They're the sweetest people ever though. They are sweet. They are sweet. We had like our all staff meeting beforehand and just hung out with the gang. My dad just like took a power nap in the couch, but no, they, they're just like two amazing people and they live more and more just a very simple life because of my, my dad's limitations. I was just so grateful to have them on the podcast. So just for the record, what was I like as a child? Because I I've heard, uh, was I more like Hudson and quiet and even keel or am I more like Anderson? Who's the terrorist? You were a terrorist. Any specific stories that come to mind? I just recently remembered when I was in middle school, I just told someone this earlier this week, and I used to beg for five minutes to get out of our vehicle and run left, even in high school. I'd get out. And I would beg them to stop the car just so I could run laps and we were only traveling for 30 minutes from Clark to Watertown. And we would have to stop at Henry, which was halfway and stop the car. He'd run around four or five times, get back in and say, Oh, thank you. I feel so much better. So I forgot all about that until recently. And I'm like, maybe I am more like Anderson.

You are. Then I'd care to admit. Yeah, you are. Okay. So this, I know this is a huge question. The cliff notes version of each of your stories, like kind of just if you were trying to sum up who are you, where you're from and the different twists and turns in life, you can kind of start to go first. You start mom. And then the two of you guys, once you guys get to the marriage part can then share together. I'm one of seven and I'm the fifth one of seven. I came from a very close knit home. We still are real close. The siblings all do things together, take trips together, winter in the same place in Arizona in the winter for six months and are with each other daily. My parents were very much in love. There was never a question of that for me. I was very secure and safe in my childhood. Kind of unsure of myself, probably worried about other people thought a lot, worried about something happening to my parents a lot. I was kind of a worry ward as a kid. But I felt confident in other ways. I put myself out there with piano and I started taking lessons when I was three. So dad would have me play when we had company and it was kind of a pat on the back from him. I always felt like he was so proud of me and dated a few people before I met Mr. Wright. But for short periods of time that never really amounted to much. So yeah, loved the arts, singing, playing piano, all those kinds of things. And then dad, you? I'm number five of seven also.

And I grew up in the Reedville, South Dakota area. While growing up, I was a Catholic, I was baptized and confirmed in the church. And was involved in that growth during that time and doing CCD and absorbing that. My family was a good Catholic family. And as we. got older and started dating, I started getting into the Word because we'd pray at every time that we'd get together, Nancy and I, and it just became part of our lives. And then from there, getting married, being on church councils and different religious things. We went to the Lutheran Church after we got married, and then we became Methodists. And Methodist is where we finally really got connected to the church. And at every point, I thought it was, it can't get better than this. And just found out through the experiences, it still can be. We're, every day is a new thing God is showing us. We face trials, we face victories, and He's always had His part in it, which is probably our biggest blessings that we put Him first in a lot of our decisions. That's awesome. So, the two of you met at a roller skating rink. Yeah. And I was a senior and he was a junior. When he talked about us praying, it was kind of weird because in hindsight later, I said, why did we start? Why would we have? And I think the reason was faith was important to both of our families, and we knew there was going to be controversy. Yeah. We knew we wanted to go to the same church, and we knew that regardless of what we chose, it wasn't going to be good. And his dad really struggled when he decided to join the Lutheran Church, and said things to him that wasn't kind. And for about a year or so, it was really hard. But whenever we ended a date, we always prayed together. And the thing we had in common between the Lutheran and Catholic Church was the Lord's Prayer. So, we would pray the Lord's Prayer together, and then we'd pray for safety for each other until we were together again, and then we'd say goodnight. And it just got to be a habit. I mean, we did it every single time we dated, and it was about two and a half years. That's cool. Then when we got ready for marriage, we decided to counsel with both the priest and the pastor, and that was interesting. But the priest at the time was a really kind man. He said, I can't agree with the decision you're making, because at the end, we told him what we decided. And he said, but I can say I'm proud of you for making a decision. Yeah. Because he said so many families don't, and that it's important

that you worship together. And I thought that was wonderful. And he blessed us. He prayed over us. So, it was really cool. So, work-wise. So, graduate high school. How old were you when you got married? And share work-wise from there. We got married at 19. In fact, Jim turned 19 four days before we got married. He tells people he was 13. And then I was a stay-at-home mom. I gave piano lessons. I'd wanted to go to college. My dad encouraged me not to. He said, you're already a teacher. It doesn't make sense. And I always told my students later that in 1977, 75, when I graduated from high school, parents thought you went to college to find a husband if you were a girl. Especially my parents were kind of old school. So, dad really discouraged it. And then I started having more and more of a desire to go back to school. And I always think it was really God's hands on everything, because later, Jim was unable to work for a year. And by that point, I was teaching. And so, I don't know what we would have done had that not been the case. And then later, I got my administration. I was a principal. By that time, he was disabled and not able to work at all. So, it just kind of covered us financially in a way that wouldn't have happened had I stayed at home. And Jim went to an electrical contractor's class for four years once a week. We drove to Watertown from Malbank. And he got his class B, and then his journeyman's, and then his electrical contractor, and he had his own electrical business. Yeah. There's so many things I want to talk about, like kind of hills and valleys. I think about your guys' car accident back in 1993. I think about that was shaping on me, like that impacted me. And I think the other thing that really impacted me growing up was the bankruptcy and seeing the hardware store. I feel like those things were pivotal moments, and then just all the pivotal moments since then. Yeah. Oh, boy. It's crazy just to think about. In 1993, Jim and I were in a pickup, and it had a pull break for a parking break, and his knee caught that. When he slammed on the brakes, he went forward because the car turned ahead of us and we collided and So he gets to the hospital we were both taken by ambulance because I'd hit my head and was pretty banged up and They did an x-ray and I could hear him in the other room saying where's his kneecap? And I'm thinking what I thought day loses leg, you know, and it had slid off the knee which later

Ironically our oldest son had the same thing happen in a fall at home and had surgery and ended up dying of a blood clot But it happened at about that same age. In fact, he was in his late 30s When it happened and it meant that he wasn't able to work for a while because he was an electrician He couldn't climb ladders. He couldn't had every constructive surgery on the leg. So that was a really hard time Becca came home our youngest Adam sister is adopted from Korea She was two and a half and that was a neat moment for her she had dad all the time and I was going to school and taking more classes and He was home with her and she talked she had about tea parties that they had tea parties every day. And yeah So it was kind of cool for her and then After that, we moved in 94, I believe to Clark. We had a person from Melbanco into hardware store Encourage us that that could use dad's Expertise Expertise and that we should consider it. Well, we were not familiar with retail at all and Coming from his electrical business where people were willing to wait Six months to have him come and then opening doors to a hardware store and waiting for people to come in It was just a totally different ballgame on top of that. There was a lumberyard with lots of hardware There was a hardware store. There was third generation There was all these things competing and we had no background there were lots of things that contributed But bottom line was four years later. We were in bankruptcy court we tried for a year with the banks to figure out a plan to repay and it just did not come together and At one point Jim was throwing up in a bank office Visiting with another banker and they said Jim you need to just go home. It's time. Yeah, it's not worth your health and He always said that's when it became easier once he made the decision and for me that's when it became really really hard Yeah, what do you think you learned through those two things? Was there anything that you feel like you learned through that like wisdom you gained or anything that not to ever judge anybody else? Yeah Because in our electrical business we had people that owed us thousands of dollars and we had judgments against them and I would see them Out eating with their family and whether I said it or not My brain was saying, you know, they owe us $8,000 and they're out eating with their family. Yeah, and it oh talk about that slapping me in the face. Yeah, because

We are reaffirmed all of our debt except that one bay cone, but still there was that guilt horrible guilt Where it was constantly on my mind Jim called the courthouse where we lived and said I want to release all of the judgments. I Have this large debt I'm forgiven for through the bankruptcy court and I'm going to release all the people that owe me money And that taught me so much about dad, too. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. That's really really good When you look back just that life in general What would you say are you really proud of and what would be? These are and it doesn't have to be anything big even what are you? What are you most proud of and what has been your greatest success in life? Would you say about that like Things you're most proud of and your greatest success It could be something very simple like a recognition or something profoundly deep whatever you want to say I I guess the the biggest thing that comes out to me is our family I mean we couldn't have been blessed with better kids and And Adopting Becca and Just the lives that they've created for each one of their selves and kept God into the picture With with everything that they do And even now to see their kids Having that openness and Really enjoying going to church Talking about Jesus seeing it in their lives and Praying at night in all these things, you know, they're making a connection That's part of the biggest biggest Satisfaction for accomplishments And then you don't know if you've really had anything to do with it when you talk of it as an accomplishment It's almost like walk a little a little bit, and God a lot.

Yes. I should say, people will comment to me about you and your speaking in books and that kind of thing. And I'll say, it is not Adam. It's not me. He hated speech class. I had to beat him over the head. He'd be sick before he went. He hated English. I had to say, write the. Just start with the. You'll get it. And then I said, so it's not Adam. It's God, definitely, 100%. Yeah. One other thing that sticks out to me is it's been 15 years since I've wired, but I got so many friends that rely on me yet and are there to help us through the tough times, be with us during the victories that happen along the trail, and if they see us on the street to just want to celebrate with us. So that is an accomplishment just by itself, the amount of friends that we've collected, and just knowing that God has been part of all that. They've seen some of the things that we did in life or in the church, in the public, and know that we're not just faking for publicity or whatever, that we are trying to live our best life. Yeah.

The thing I'm proud of dad about, your dad, is that he leads a Bible study every Wednesday. He has spent over a year getting certified as a online pastor and was able to marry Luke and Tanya, which was just crazy and awesome all at the same time, and he finished a chaplaincy. That is not his nature. He does not like to read, and he does not care to study something other than electrical or hands-on stuff, so it was a big sacrifice and a big challenge, I think, for him, and he feels good about finishing, and he should. I'm proud of our kids and grandkids, too, but also proud of the fact I went to school and got my degrees, and I never thought that would happen. It was a big thing. I think one other thing I've learned, too, from the Lowes, when you talked about the bankruptcy, was being open to praying with other people. I see how God, I think of Rick Warren's book, Purpose-Driven Life, and how God doesn't waste to hurt, and I thought of that so many times. We led that study once with a group of couples from our church, and it was a situation where someone came to us more than once that was in the same position we were financially and wanted us to pray with them. Yeah. You hit both things I was gonna say. I was gonna say the chaplaincy,

and I was gonna say going back to school, like things that came to mind. On the flip side, what's something in life that hasn't gone as hoped? A mistake that you made, a season. We'll get to trials and hardships here in a second, but what is something that hasn't gone as hoped, and what did you learn from that? Again, a mistake or something you regret and what did you learn from that? One of the things that just popped into my head was with the electrical business. I couldn't get bigger or better. I wanted to have a big shop, and just with everything that happened, that was kind of a letdown with physically not being able to do it. Just wishing you could have made Weber Electric bigger. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And with that, I can say that during that time of building back to be able to be physically able to do some things, we started an engraving business, and it was something that I didn't even realize I had talent for it, and we ended up doing the engraving. for the Redland Center and that was a good uplifting thing. Then just along the trail just being able to do awards, mementos, and things like that that you knew that they were using for baptisms or confirmations and yeah all that kind

of things. Yeah. Mamas or something. I'm trying to think of yeah I think I I'm somebody told me once that I wear rose-colored glasses. I think I like to see all of the better parts of life and I I don't know that there's something I truly regret. I would not have gone into teaching or anything sooner. I'd have wanted to be with home with you kids. I don't regret that at all. I don't know there's there's not things that I would regret that I didn't think of. Yeah that's awesome. Good. I like it. That's great. Good Annie? You threw me a curveball. I thought this was the intro for Becca and I. Wow. I literally probably gave you a look like. I know I'm like why are you so confused. Okay before we go any further in today's episode we just want to give a huge shout out to our partners for making the episode possible. Oh I love I love our partners. Our first partner is the Tyler Goff Group. Over the last 18 years I have bought three different houses through the Tyler Goff Group and I would not go any place else. Absolutely love them. I specifically Tyler Goff is my best friend who's not a family member but I actually like to work with Jessica Steele on his team. Oh dang! She's even better. Like his team is so good. I just if you're looking to sell a house or if you're looking for a home do not look anywhere else at just everyone on their team is so rock-solid and I just love even personally supporting Christian business owners and Tyler just to bring on him is one of the most generous like radically generous people that I know. So if you're looking to bless a business in any way shape or form and you're looking to buy a house Tyler Goff Group Tyler Goff Group.com. They also have a great Instagram page I'll add. Their reels that they post on Instagram crack me up so whoever is running their Instagram page. Shout out to them as well. We don't know who that is. Maybe it's on their team. That's a great plug. They are great. They're so funny. I think they're great. So go find them on Instagram. Go buy a house through them. You guys are looking to buy a house. The interest rates hopefully are going in the right direction. Something I didn't know too is they you can you can get a rate before the it's changed. What? Anyways, I don't know. I'm getting head nods here. Tyler Goff Group.com. Our second partner is Vernity Mitsubishi. If you are looking for a vehicle of any kind, you're looking for a Honda CRV, you're looking for an Outlander like I drive, don't look any place else. Literally like stop scrolling anywhere else. Go to Vernity. No matter where you live, they're gonna ship it to you and no matter what kind of vehicle they're gonna have it. So whether it's a boat, car, ATV, like you name it. Vernity.com. Don't go

anyplace else. Again, Jim Lake, one of the owners. Best human I know. So go check that out. Every life has hard seasons. If you just pick what you want to talk about, what's been the hardest season that you've gone through and what did what did God teach you through that? For me, the hardest season was losing Hugh. Yeah. Yeah. Your older brother and our oldest son. It was so unexpected and he had had the kneecap displaced like Jim had had earlier. Yeah. So the phone calls saying, you know, Dad went through the same thing. The x-ray looked identical. It's gonna be okay. Encouraging him. Probably a regret in that was not getting on a plane and flying home because I didn't know my moments with him were gonna be so limited. It's been really hard. The first year was like shock and last year was really hard where I found myself sitting on the couch or in a chair a lot doing absolutely nothing. Yeah. Letting things go that I'd really loved like painting and crafting and things and I could have cared less. I mean, it was just weird how it affected me and then realizing from that the dozens of couples that have come to us and said, Oh, I lost a daughter at 18, especially down in Arizona, where we didn't know the people. I lost a daughter in 18, or I lost a son when he was 24, he was in a car accident, not knowing there are thousands and hundreds of thousands of people that have lost a child. And when you're in the midst of it yourself, you feel like you're the only one. No one can understand that grief. And one woman down there in particular has been so good to constantly text, just say, How are you doing? I know your son's birthday is about this time of the year, you know, are you doing okay? Her son's been gone, I think she said, nine years, 10 years. So she's lived through that season of the really worst part of it, it never gets better. It's always there, but you handle it better. So yeah, that's that in the different times when it was really critical with Jim, when he was on a ventilator and stuff, those times where the really, really hard, hard times. Yeah. Dad, for you, hardest, hardest time, and is there anything that you feel like you've learned through it? Couple different things. Again, with losing Hugh, it was one of those things that this couldn't be happening to us. And it still is a situation where you have the question, you know, did this really all happen? Because it was, was so sudden. And just, it's something that is always in the air. And little things will trigger a memory. And it's finally getting enough down the road, where the happy things, the fun things,

just what... He was a crazy guy. So the humorous things. Yeah, the humorous things, too. Yeah. Went with that. For the next thing that I would say that had a lot of impact was not being able to work, and having the feeling that you are not needed, or you can't work. And what could be good to happen after that? And I look at where now we've got this Bible group that works with chronic pain and illness. And I can see all those things that I was questioning and feeling a big loss from. I can use those experiences, because there's so many people dealing with illness and all those things. And all those same feelings you had. Yes. And now I can relate. And we pray together. We've got a good fellowship going on. And we've turned into a family. And everybody is dealing with something. If they're not now, they will be. That's how I always look at it. If you're not experiencing a really low in your life at this point in your life, you will. There will be things that will be an extreme low that you don't expect. And I always think people who don't have a solid, firm foundation in God, what do they do? If somebody loses a child and they don't have faith, what does it mean? I mean, another thing that came to mind, I spent six, seven weeks in the hospital in Sioux Falls, and that didn't even ring a bell, because I thought I was dying. And I was perfectly fine with it, which was really odd. It was almost like a good thing. I was just in the hospital. And Adam came to visit. And he said, Dad, how's it going? He said, it's actually been a really marvelous experience. And Adam laughed about it. But when I was in two, I knew in my mind I was dying. In fact, I told a close friend that today is the day, and I'm okay with that. And it was Pete Kinney. And he said, you're not in charge. You don't know. And he was right. I didn't know. I got better. But I handed out cards. I prayed with so many nurses at night. They come in and they knew I was a middle school principal, so they I'd say, I have this daughter, and she's really struggling. What advice would you give me? And one woman in mind comes to mind for me. And I said, do you have a church home? And you need to get them in a youth group. You need to get them involved in faith-filled activities.

And then I'd ask Adam for business cards. So I'm handing out embrace cards to everybody at the hospital. I still go to an appointment. And I say, do you have a church home? Yeah, because we have a lot of doctors in Sioux Falls. Yeah, yeah. Thanks for sharing all those parts of things. At the end of your life, what do you want people to say about you? I wanted to say that I cared about people, that I was honest and genuine in interactions with people, that I was a good mom, a good grandma. Well, I can encourage you with that. I can check that box fully. Those things probably, the things that mean the most to you, you want to be affirmed in that. So yeah, I love when I go somewhere and they call me Mrs. Weber. And I know that I had an impact. And I went in for a procedure just to have a tooth pulled with an oral surgeon recently. And there was a woman standing back that had said hi to me. And she said to the woman out in the hall, she's the one teacher that everybody loved. And that probably meant more to me than all the accolades, flowers, anything. It wasn't true, because I know for a fact there were many kids in my office that didn't love me. But she did, and so I made a difference with her. And that was important to me.

What about you, Dad? What do you want people to say at the end of your life? I guess the biggest thing is that I hope they'll say good things about how much compassion that I've had for others. People have been so compassionate to me for praying for churches, praying for me, and everything. And we're all going to get storms. And whether it's financial or whatever, just to be there for others, to tell them you're going to get through this. You're going to look back at this in a couple of years and say, I don't know why I was so worried about this, or that others have so many things going on that's worse than what I've got. But God uses us. He molds us. But compassion is probably the biggest thing that I would say. And you are compassionate to other people, always have been. I'm a worrywart, and I think I can control every situation in my kids' lives, even when they're married and old. And I can control what's going to happen in a certain situation. And he always says, it's all going to work out. This is just another part of the journey. That's good. That's good. OK, I'm down to the last couple of questions here.

If you go back and tell your younger self one thing, whether it's work-wise, parenting-wise, marriage-wise, if you could tell yourself one thing, what would you go back and tell your younger self? I guess the first thing that comes to mind is, why didn't God just take me from A to B and instead of all this stuff that happened in the middle and all that stuff in the middle is how we live, how we treat others, how we just absorb our faith, that this is only just the start. Eternity is a long time. And to know that that's all going to be positive things, give me your question again. If you could go back and tell your younger self one thing, what would you tell them? That was pretty awesome right there in itself. That was pretty awesome right there in itself. I'm trying to think of where I was going. Mom, you have something? I'd say put faith first. Not worry so much. Have more faith and less worry probably. Because things do work out as they're supposed to. It doesn't mean they're always great, but they do work out as they're supposed to in the end. And you do learn things through all of it. I haven't figured out what I've learned with the loss of Hugh yet, other than there are a lot of other people that are going through the same thing and we ignore it.

I think that for us, it's up till the day of the funeral. And then most people think, oh, that's right, he did pass away. You know, where for us, it's ongoing and daily type thing. But yeah, no, I just say, don't worry so much, Nancy. Don't worry about what people think. Just be you. Don't stress. One more thing that I thought of is for my younger years, I should have been more bold and not being in a situation of being proud, but being more open. I've got a brother-in-law and three close classmates that were really into the Bible and faith through high school. And I envied them, knowing that they were together studying for confirmation or whatever, and they had something special and I wanted it. Yeah, it was so new to you, though. Yes. And then when we started dating, I actually bought him a confirmation Bible exactly like mine, because then he wasn't acquainted with getting into the Bible as much as a raised Catholic. So I would say, turn to page 273. See the big four, see the little two? That's what we did. And he learned so many verses in the two and a half years.

We went through a lot of scripture during that time. Yeah, that's something you probably didn't even know. No, I didn't know that. We have matching American Lutheran confirmation Bibles. We bystandered, yep. And not to say anything bad about my earliest part of having a Bible in the home, but I never opened it up. The Bible that sat on the closet shelf at that time, yes, I knew the prayers and things like that, but never really knowing the story. Yeah. Where my dad would work two out of three Sundays. He was a mail caller for Valley Queen and Mail Bank, and we had to tell him what the sermon was about when he got home at night. And I always laughed that there were seven of us, so I raised my hand fast because I could come up with something as number one, but if I had to be the seventh one, it'd be really hard. And we took sermon notes in church even as elementary kids. And then he taught us popular scriptures to memorize. Dad was really good about that. Yeah, that's awesome. Because I think he felt he missed out. That's awesome. Anything you want to say to your grandkids that you'd say to your, just- Turn to God with decisions. I love the sermon that was at Embrace on Sunday

about pre-decide the lines you're going to draw in terms of decisions you're going to make, and make sure they honor God as you make decisions. And so many of the grandkids I've been able to have those kinds of conversations with, and I'm so happy that I have. And the younger one coming up is only three, and Anderson's still too young for some of those conversations, but there's a lot of them getting in that age group where they're going to be tempted by a lot of things. Put God first, pre-decide, what am I never going to do? What are the decisions I'm going to make for myself? And I'm never going to cross that line. And then if you do know that there's a loving God, he's going to forgive you. That's good, that's good. Dad, anything you'd say to grandkids? Just be happy with yourself. I mean, and if you involve God, in your happiness, it's just going to be all the better. There's going to always be down times, and things of feeling not worth. And that's not the case. There's just so many things to live for. And if it's a young person, you will get older. And you take advantage of the ones that tell you that it's worth it, it's worth it. Keep loving

That's why all the first commandments are our love thy neighbor as thyself Are one of the prime ones? For living life. I mean, there's there's so much wisdom that was involved in creating the rules for Having faith. Yeah, God gave us the book for a reason. That's good. That's good. Well, I Love having you as my mom and dad and Can't imagine two better parents. Thank you, but I mean that I'm just so endlessly grateful for you I love the both you endlessly and I just am so I'm just so grateful. I think about We were talking about blessings Rick Melmer led a time last week and we were talking about just God The blessings of God that we did nothing to earn and I I couldn't mention the both of you fast enough I'm just like those are those things where you don't have any hand of it in life, and it's It's wonderful. So love the both of you so much. Yeah. Yeah, and if it's so I thought I'd ask dad to pray if you would and specifically if you dad you'd pray for anybody who is hurting or suffering or Loss of a loved one If you want to pray I'll turn you loose. That would be wonderful Before we do that. I just wanted to say When I think about your journey and us Seeing that journey God has to just laugh We look at a little boy that That was all over the place, yeah Didn't want anything to do with church

And the amount of people that he's brought to that with his help brought to To to know the Lord. I mean we couldn't be prouder either we've grown because of All the changes that we made because of you. Yeah, you know, we grew along the way, too We started out really strong Really strong, but I always feel like I don't spend as much time in the world as I should But yeah, we're so thankful for those early years and I'm glad we got to share today because I don't know that you knew half Of it. Yeah Yeah, and I think that's what gave us the marriage We have is that we did it when it wasn't something people even talked about Yeah, and I don't know why God put it in our hearts to pray before he left. Yeah, I have no idea Yeah, that's awesome for 15 16 year old kids, it's pretty crazy it's crazy Thanks for sharing that dad dear Heavenly Father just thank you for today Thank you for each person that you allow us to Help along the way to guide them in our families It and Just to be able to rejoice in their times of victories And to be able to love to hug in those times that We lose someone or they feel lost Just just having the compassion for others We Would love the time that you spend with all our family members and and each one knows that who you are and Life is a continuous Process That you are giving us free will But you know this all in advance and you bless each one of us through this

Be with those that are hearing this If you're in a bad spot Talk to someone to Just connect with somebody Especially if it's one of these deep emotional things that you're getting to God is there to help you his main thing is love and That's something that each one of us should do Just thank you Lord for giving us love and No matter what we do. You're there for us and you bless us each day Uh, we do this all in your beautiful name. Amen. Amen. Again, love you both. Love you too, honey. Thank you guys so much for joining in today to listen to this conversation. We hope that you enjoyed. We hope that you have an awesome day. Adam, what else do we hope? Yeah. Thanks mom and dad for letting me interview you. Uh, just a huge highlight for me. I tell you to go find them online, but they don't have anything. So go, uh, just, if you see them, tell them that you love them. Um, thanks to our partners, Tyler golf group, and Vernetti motorcars. Genuinely, I cannot thank the both of you amazing businesses anymore for supporting the podcast. Uh, but that is what we know. Have an awesome rest of your day. Thanks guys.