SPEAKER_01: So for anybody who is brand new to our
conversations, our uh our podcast, this one's gonna be a
little bit different than the ones uh in the past.
Um very excited because not only is Laura with me, but I have my
parents with me as well.
And so we're gonna be having a conversation between the four of
us, which is kind of a stretch, right?
We before we've done where we'll have one person call in or
actually a video chat, right?
And uh and we have our conversations that way.
But now there's four people, right?
So we're moving on up.
No?
And it's what huh?
SPEAKER_03: I just dated myself, I suppose.
SPEAKER_01: Right.
So it's funny, it's funny you say that.
Um so what's really cool about this too is that it's almost
like uh it is almost like a crossover episode.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Because you and I, we we do this thing and and we
have a lot of fun.
And then also, um, when we have time, uh, which seems to almost
be never lately, um, my dad and I will we'll do a podcast
together too that's uh you know focused on scripture and walking
through uh different passages and talking about it and and
kind of um expounding.
Is that the right word?
I believe you know, with all the education, what's that
expressing?
Expressing, you know, it you would think with all of the
education um that I am in debt for, I would know words better
than I do.
But, you know, I digress.
So anyway, yeah, so we're all kind of come together and we're
gonna talk about something that um has kind of weighed heavy on
on our hearts, um and looking at the the state of society, which
putting it that way sounds pretty pretty huge, and it's
like, well, how do you talk about something like that?
I was looking just the other day, or actually even today too,
and uh I try to stay away from the news.
Like just get the little bits and pieces that I have to have
to know what's going on in the world around me, uh, because it
can be quite depressing.
Uh-huh I was looking uh at um just in the last you know three
months, there's been a handful of these mass shootings.
Um you know, we we hear stories of there was the uh was it the
the politician whose house got torched up north?
Was it in Minnesota?
SPEAKER_03: I don't know because I watched the news less than
years.
SPEAKER_01: And just like these horrible violent acts.
There was uh, you know, Charlie Kirk and him being shot because
somebody came to the conclusion that what this person is saying
is so dangerous, my that these words are so dangerous to me
that I need to act out in violence.
And then, of course, if you're listening to this, you may be
wondering, well, what does that have to do with special
education?
Uh we see the same things in the schools around us.
Um, I read a story, I don't remember when it was, it wasn't
too long ago that we were talking, Laura, about a teacher
that had been arrested because let's see if I get this right.
The student they were trying to get the student to eat, the
student vomited, and they force fed the student his own vomit.
Right?
So there's these there's these stories of of uh these kids who
don't necessarily have the ability to share what goes on in
their classrooms.
And so there's things that are taking place that we don't even
know about.
Um and while we would love to look at laws and we would love
to look at authority, and we would love to look at all these
different ways to minimize the suffering, the pain, the
wrongdoing, um, I believe that we have to start with ourselves
and ask the question: what happens when we become
compassionate people?
What happens when we begin to look at others in a way that
isn't necessarily uh you know, looking at myself to see what do
I think of me, but question myself as to how why do I view
the people around me as I do?
What would cause that teacher to think it was a good idea to do
that to that student?
What is it that would cause somebody to think it's a good
idea for me to burn down somebody's house or to go to a
homecoming and start shooting, or to walk into a church and
start shooting?
Like this is the next logical step in my life based on what I
hear, what I see, and uh what I feel.
SPEAKER_03: I know I've heard both you and your dad, and we've
had conversations, people don't just wake up one day and that
and that's the choice they make.
It there's things leading up to that act.
It's not just one day they wake up and say, Hey, I think I'm
gonna do this.
And so it makes you wonder that where at what point in their
life could a compassionate individual have changed that
trajectory.
What happened to them?
SPEAKER_01: And so what we're gonna do is we are gonna have a
conversation between the four of us, and we're gonna talk about
we're gonna talk about how how we how we deal with that.
This is gonna be a different episode.
And so uh I think I think people need to hold on, um prepare to
be uncomfortable.
Uh but we ask that you just at the very least listen to what is
said and consider the things that are shared.
So, first things first, what is compassion?
Y'all want to go ahead and answer that?
What is compassion?
We can make it up if we want.
SPEAKER_03: The definition of compassion is not only
recognizing another um individual's suffering, but also
having a desire to do something about it, to alleviate it.
SPEAKER_01: So, um, like I said, I've got I've got my parents
here with me, and I'm very excited about this.
SPEAKER_02: We're excited to be here.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, I'm sorry.
I I get my mind going, I forget whether but I think it's it's
it's a desire to live alleviate it, but it's also uh taking the
action to the best of your ability to begin that um that
healing or that help or whatever that person may need.
So I think it goes a little bit more than a desire or a feeling,
and you're we're gonna talk about like sympathy and empathy
and all of that.
But it's it's it's working back to show compassion, you may not
feel like it.
You know, you do it because you're driven to do it.
There's something inside of you that compels you to say, I can't
let this pain and this person's life persist.
And um so I I think it's it's an action and it's uh uh it's
saying, okay, you know, what is my plan?
Because I love these people so much.
And I even know Jesus in Matthew chapter nine, he looks over
Jerusalem.
He says they're like they're like sheep without a shepherd.
And the scripture says he had compassion.
He he cried, he wept.
You know, what makes you cry?
What makes what makes you say I can't sleep at night because
I've got to do something because I care so much.
SPEAKER_01: And and that is an important um differentiation
there between sympathy and empathy, right?
Sympathy we know uh means we we look at others that are
suffering and we feel bad for them.
And that's a good thing.
There's there's absolutely nothing wrong with sympathy.
We can read in scripture where where sympathy is is something
that is um is a godly characteristic.
Empathy is a really hard one, though.
Because empathy says I need to put myself in the shoes of
others.
Well, like we've already talked about though, that's really hard
to do because mom, you you even just said it's we all experience
different things.
We all we interact with different people.
SPEAKER_02: I think it's I think it's impossible to know exactly
what people are going through.
Even, you know, like it's I believe that when we go through
a hurt that um as a follower of Jesus Christ, he wants me.
If I if I go through that same hurt, I should share it with
those that are going through that that same thing.
But we're still two different people with different makeups
and different strengths and different weeks and uh
weaknesses.
And um, there's no way we can really know what people are
going through.
SPEAKER_00: Even if it's similar, right?
Even if you know if if somebody loses a child, well, they they
lose a child, but the circumstances are different.
So how they process that, how they feel about that, uh is
different.
So empathy, it's almost impossible.
SPEAKER_02: That's what I was thinking.
It's really impossible.
SPEAKER_00: You can say, you can say, well, that you know, we
both went through some of the same things.
So there's there's that empathetic kind of feeling, but
to really know what somebody else goes through is you know,
only only God knows that, you know.
SPEAKER_01: Right.
So we can say in in just speaking on sympathy, empathy,
and compassion from from the sympathy standpoint, that is
something that we can do.
We can we can and it's almost a natural when we can look at
other people and and and hurt for where they are.
And I we've um all of us actually have uh at different
times had the opportunity to to go to Ethiopia and to and to
spend time with the people there and and fantastic people, uh
compassionate people, loving people, uh, but to see some of
the the hardship that they go through, and it it moves you to
the point of sometimes even tears.
We can't empathize with that, right?
Especially in our country.
So, you know, it things we don't deal with in our country, we
don't deal with starving people in our country.
As a matter of fact, I I think it's fair to say it's kind of
the up the opposite, right?
We don't take care of ourselves very well because we stuff
ourselves.
We have an obesity problem, not right um and there's so there's
no way for us to empathize with that.
We can look at it, we can feel bad, we can't empathize with it,
but what does compassion look like?
Right?
Compassion is that that that stirring in me that I have to,
as you were saying, I have to respond to.
And so for just for the sake of conversation, let's label these
three in that way.
Our sympathy is we can look at others and we can genuinely feel
sorry, not being ridiculous and oh but can genuinely feel sorry.
Empathy is like I said, almost impossible to do.
But compassion compassion drives us to move.
So what do we tether the decision to be compassionate to?
Because there's some issues with this, right?
If it's based on how I feel, compassion is subjective.
Compassion happens when I feel like it.
It's the actually the exact opposite of what you said.
So there has to be something objective.
There has to be something that is more of an authority over me
that requires me to submit to it for me to be compassionate.
Now, can I can I have moments of compassion?
Can I can I at times be moved based on that feeling to do
something?
Yes.
But what does that look like when it is something that we
want to be core in our lives?
SPEAKER_00: How do we do that?
I think it comes from a calling, which is a little bit different
than uh, you know, every day I walk down the road, or I don't
walk down the road, I may drive down the road.
Walking, think about walking down the road, but I should.
But uh drive, or I see people and I and I say to myself, you
know, um, they that's sad.
This person's hurting here, this person's hurting there, but
there's really nothing I can do about that.
So what happens is, you know, I I kind of that's a sympathy kind
of thing, maybe even a little bit of an empathy.
And uh, you know, I I've maybe been where they've been.
However, compassion is birthed, I think, out of something that's
uh that that's who you are, what you're called.
And and I can only attest to that personally in my life, I've
been called to the gospel uh message to preach the gospel,
and uh because I understand the incredible uh results and
effects of the gospel.
So so for me it's a calling, something that I have to do, I
have to say, I have to, and uh and I think I think I don't
think I think everybody's got some kind of a uh a calling to
their life.
They may not be a preacher of the gospel, but they God may put
them in a situation where not only do they empathize a little,
sympathize, but now they have this compassion where they can
make a difference.
That maybe I I can use my sister for an example, my sister Lori,
uh, when my dad was dying, she uh attended to him, she took
care of him, and she did everything she could to help
him.
And out of that birthed within her a compassion to care for
people.
And at 50 years old, she became a nurse and uh and cared for
people.
And and so something of that nature, maybe with your
situation, of course, with with Xander, who um, you know, I
remember when his diagnosis first came in, how difficult
that was for you, Jared.
And uh, but rather than uh being upset and wondering, what do I
do, you you God developed in you and in Laura, because I've seen
her deal with these kids, develop within you, and Xander
especially, uh, a calling.
This is maybe something more than I do in my home.
This is something I do with my, and in my home is my life, but I
do with my life.
And I think compassion uh on a long-scale uh long haul level is
something that we say, you know, this is just something I have to
do.
It's something within my heart.
And it doesn't matter who uh insults me, it doesn't matter
who makes fun of me, it doesn't matter who ridicules me.
I've got to do this.
Now it may not always go to that extreme, but but I think I think
within everybody, you know, whatever your situation,
whatever the situation maybe your child's in or or a friend
of yours is in, God will, I think, place within you a kind
of calling to help you exhibit compassion.
SPEAKER_02: And often it's sacrificial.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, quite often.
Compassion is not because it makes it may make you feel good,
but it's not about a feeling.
It's about, you know, you love your kids and you have
compassion for your kids.
And when they're sick at two in the morning, you don't may not
feel like tending to them.
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely not.
SPEAKER_00: But the but the love for them and that you care about
them, uh, you know, uh brings up the compassion in your heart and
your soul.
I'm gonna do whatever it takes to take care of them.
SPEAKER_01: So it reminds me of a a a story years ago.
I was working at a at a hotel and there's a a doctor staying
there, and he was obviously very successful at what he did.
And there was nobody else in the lobby, and we're just kind of
hanging out, and and uh, and he asked me about what it was I was
gonna do with my life, if I planned on staying in the
hospitality industry, and uh and I told him, I said, no, I said
it's it's fun sometimes, but I don't know.
There it's just not anything that's gonna get me up in the
morning and excited about doing.
Uh, I don't I don't see for me that being super fulfilling.
Now, for other people it may be, but I was like, I I've got to
know that what I'm doing is making a bigger difference.
And in this particular setting, I don't feel that.
And I had a doctor look at me and say, Yeah, I don't
understand that.
Like, how are you a doctor and not it's like, no, I you know, I
I went to school and I make my money and that's what I did.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
You know, and and watch nails rust kind of thing, you know,
not really make an impact with my life.
But but uh I think everybody, Jared.
I I mean, I know preachers and teachers, and but I think
parent, you know, God gives you, I think there's this kind of uh,
you know, built-in calling to take care of and be
compassionate for your kids.
Now we when we read his stories or hear of horrible incidents
where where parents you know kill their kids or uh that story
some years ago where the the mom put the kids in the car and oh
yeah and put them into uh somewhere in South Carolina into
a lake and killed them.
That's unusual.
In fact, that is so bizarre.
We we look at that and go, ah, that's crazy.
But but to have that kind of compassion for your kids
wherever they are, uh it goes beyond feelings, it goes beyond
sympathy.
There's sympathy and empathy, but it goes to, I've got to, you
know, I've got to do this because I love this person or
these people so much.
SPEAKER_01: So we've kind of touched on it, Laura, but like
why why would you say, you know, if if I were that doctor and I
was gonna ask you, why does compassion really matter?
How would you respond to that?
SPEAKER_03: I think that um I mean it matters in almost
everything we do, like in in in people that we interact with and
it in our um relationships, it is uh it matters in ourself.
Uh it's if we are just doing whatever we want to do and
everything's about me, then be a a shallow person and not have a
whole lot of of personal growth.
So um so it as far as being, I guess, a well-rounded
individual.
SPEAKER_01: Um I think I'm a pretty well-rounded individual.
SPEAKER_03: Um but in yeah, and your relationships with others,
and then it also impacts um the community that you live in.
So not just your immediate relationships, but also the
different areas in your life and different places that you um
interact, and it can it impacts all of all of that.
SPEAKER_01: Compassion.
I like to say it that way.
Compassion.
SPEAKER_03: I like opera announcer, right?
SPEAKER_01: So well it and it's one of those conversations that
is kind of really strange.
So uh uh there's this like constant battle inside of my
head to where I um I have this issue, and and I'm sure
everybody sitting around the table is gonna sh nod their head
when I say this because they've all seen it.
I really struggle with doing things just because somebody
told me to.
Like I I was that kid who, you know, it could be something as
silly as you know, we get up in the morning and and mom says,
Hey, remember today's your dad's birthday.
Don't forget to tell him happy birthday.
And I'm like, Well, I could have came up with that on my own.
So I'm not gonna tell them right now.
I'll wait and tell them when it's my idea.
And then I would forget.
Right?
That that's that's me.
That's how I'm that not saying it's right, and I work on it,
but that's how I'm wired.
SPEAKER_03: Um Which is why I like have to say, you know, you
might want to consider.
SPEAKER_01: You might want to consider.
Here's an idea.
If you would like to write this down, look at it later when
you're on your own, and and and feel free to make whatever
decision it is that you want to make, and it can be your idea.
Uh the problem with that though is that does come from a uh it
comes from a perspective of I'm in control.
And and and there's this almost like a power struggle that
happens in our lives where um you know we have to establish
ourselves, we have to jockey for position, we have to um be in
control of what is going on.
And and it almost seems as we have this conversation, it's
very difficult to be the the the master of your universe and be
compassionate at the same time.
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: Like it's one of those things that we cannot do.
And so one of the things, you know, when we talk, of course,
we look through the lens of of teachers working in special
education and and you know, we learn how to say the right
things.
Right?
We can say, we can when we're working with kids, we can say,
Yes, I've I've I've had the training, I will not have a
power struggle with this student because it's not most important
that that I'm right or that I'm in control.
I understand that what's most important is that this student
can become the best student they can be.
So I understand that there's not gonna be any power struggle.
I understand that I'm gonna speak to them in a calm way.
And I understand that when we walk down the hall, I'm gonna
praise them and I'm gonna let them know that I'm so glad that
they're walking down the hall in in in the right manner.
And then life happens, and then that kid wants to be a stinker,
and it's funny, like all of that just runs right out your ear.
I said ear.
It's okay, I didn't ear.
E-A-R.
Oh, you gave me a look.
Sorry.
Like I was talking about my butt.
Sorry.
See, I I've got problems.
But anyway, back to what I was saying.
SPEAKER_00: And we have compassion for you.
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh yeah, I'm sure they do.
They're about to move on that compassion.
So if you hear me screaming or something, um but it again, it's
real easy to say the right things, it's real easy to even
know the right things, but it's different to do them.
And so I I keep kind of going back to this question of how do
we do that?
How do how do I tie myself to a decision that doesn't feel what
what do I do when this kid is spitting at me?
I had this happen today.
Kid wanted to go to the playground, it just wasn't time
to go to the playground.
He got mad, spit at me and kick me in the shin.
Yeah.
And I didn't even lose my mind.
Because in that in that moment in time, I was being successful
and being compassionate and knowing that me just being right
and in control is not what's most important here.
How do I do that in life?
How do I do that when somebody can push my buttons, when
somebody knows the exact thing to say to me to get me spun up,
how do I stay compassionate with that person?
SPEAKER_02: You protect your heart.
You protect your heart because if you if your heart isn't
right, you're not gonna have compassion.
And if you don't have compassion, when a child throws
up, it's not gonna be, oh, this poor kid, it's oh, you've made
my life complicated.
For me, and I'm gonna make you eat it, you know.
And to me, it it's a heart thing.
SPEAKER_03: I don't know how many piles of vomit you cleaned
up when Xander was was um first eating foods, and was it easy?
No, it wasn't easy because that little stinker would finish that
whole bowl and look at us, turn his head, and right on the floor
it went.
Now, now did we start over?
Yes, but with a new bowl.
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03: That's and that's the was it hard?
Yes, it was hard.
There were tears and both.
SPEAKER_02: And if your heart's not right and it's all about
you, that that's not a that's not a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: Right.
Compassion cannot be about a selfish right what makes me feel
good, or a lot of people get it go into different professions or
vocations because of what they can do, not what they can give.
And I guess I know this is true.
I've I'm not taught, I've been with Xander a lot, but I haven't
taught special needs kids.
You have to say it's not about what I want or what I like or
what I think, but it's about helping them to get what they
need.
And when that kind of um heart happens, when the hurling
happens and when the difficulty happens, you you see past that.
You see past yourself and you say, you know, I'm not gonna be
about myself, even though I feel like being about myself.
You know, like I feel like saying, I don't want to deal
with this.
Uh, but I say I deal with it anyway because that's what
compassion is, caring for those who can't maybe can't care for
themselves.
SPEAKER_02: So wouldn't I get over?
I'm sorry.
No, go ahead.
I still can't get over the doctor saying he can't
understand the whole compassion thing.
You would think, because most of the time you hear people going
into the medical field because they have compassion.
So that that's real weird to me.
SPEAKER_00: Well, sometimes they go into their fields because of
prestige or power or possession or money.
So one that's why we went into special education.
Yeah, I know.
All three of those.
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you know, because you got a lot of power
there, don't you?
SPEAKER_01: That's and I think that like uh I can I can you
know remember times thinking, why is my shoe getting wet
looking down and there's a kid peeing on it?
I'm like, this this is what I got, this is what I got all of
that student loan debt for.
But no, uh no, no, and I I I do love the kids.
I'm being silly.
I don't know if the kids ever pee on my shoe or not.
It's very evident.
Yeah, that's that's obvious.
But something that that if I'm I say I say things like this all
the time, something we talk about a lot.
But we really do.
Something that that that we've talked about a lot is how we
only perceive the world through our eyes, right?
From a from a psychological, from a physical, we are in the
middle of our life and we are watching everybody else operate
around us.
And so it is incredibly easy for us to believe that we are the
center of our universe, right?
I mean, it makes sense.
Not that it's right, but it makes sense.
And so as we look around at the people around us, and we kind of
alluded to it a little bit earlier, is that the way that
I'm seeing the world around me has been shaped and molded
through all of my experiences over the course of life, right?
And my interactions with um my parents, my interactions with my
siblings, my interactions with friends, with teachers, right?
It all of my interactions in life shape and mold the way I
look at the world.
And if I leave it to that, that will be how I live my life.
It's almost a reactionary lifestyle.
I'm allowing everybody to to shape and form the way I look at
the world around me.
And it's very, very difficult for anybody to say, oh wow, this
is the wrong way to see the world.
I need I need that to change.
So what if we're gonna have to wrap this thing up in a minute?
What if somebody is listening, like I would say two of our
listeners, but mom's here, so there's one other one out there.
If that one listener says, you know what, there's I believe
there's some truth to what this weird Curtis family is talking
about.
I recognize in my life that I am void of compassion.
I may do some compassionate things on occasion, but my
overall perspective when it comes to my job, my family, my
whatever.
My overall perspective is lacking compassion.
What is it that I can do?
How do I change who I am?
How do I change the way I see the world?
How do I change the way I view my family, my kids, my you know,
I years ago I was a youth pastor, and I used to tell the
kids that if you want to get an idea of the person that you're
dating, if you want to get an idea how they would treat you in
in a in a marriage relationship, watch your girlfriend and how
she interacts with her dad.
Watch your boyfriend and see how he interacts with his mom.
Because what's happening is they're being taught how to view
the world, and they're being taught how to view your
relationship in that house, whether they're doing it on
purpose or not, right?
We're all being shaped, we're all being molded by our
experiences.
What if I'm somebody right now that says, I obviously am
lacking compassion in my life?
I'm lacking it in my relationships, I'm lacking it in
my job, like I'm just viewing my job as a job, even talking about
the the hotel.
When I was working there, I could still be compassionate to
those there.
I could still in that setting put them as a high priority in
my life to move and to care for and to help take care of them
the best that I possibly can.
How does somebody change who they are to be more
compassionate?
SPEAKER_00: You want me to preach?
SPEAKER_03: You don't change who you are.
SPEAKER_00: I'm open to an idea.
I don't think you can change who I don't think only God can
change who a person is.
And uh and what you know, what the whole, and I'm a I'm a
Christian, so I'm coming from that perspective.
But the whole Christian life is about I think it begins, I think
its foundation is humility, where I say humility is not
thinking less of yourself, it's thinking more of others.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself in a biblical sense,
it's thinking more of Christ.
And uh one of the one of the big scriptures that a lot of people
don't like to use is a scripture that says, uh, deny yourself.
And I'm you have you have uh you know personal growth
relationships and community impact.
Well, it all starts with denying yourself, not doing what feels
good to me, not doing what I want to do, but with doing
what's best for the people that I'm uh I'm around and that I
have uh any kind of uh connection with.
But in a real spiritual sense, it's saying, God, I want to put
you first in my life.
Because when we learn to put God first in our lives, something
really amazing happens.
We learn to put other people first in our lives.
And uh and and it's an amazing thing.
Jesus says you can't be my disciples unless you deny
yourself, take up your cross and follow me.
And I just did the message last week and we talked about uh uh
Jesus and his children, and that when the children came to Jesus,
the disciples said, No, you guys get away.
He's he's too busy for you.
And Jesus said, No, let the children come into me, for such
is the kingdom of God.
And so uh so that kind of compassion uh just runs out of
you when you the closer you get to God, the more passionate get
towards others.
SPEAKER_02: We've seen so many people who were miserable
because they didn't like who they they are, because they
didn't have compassion or sympathy, and and we've seen
them uh surrender their lives to Christ and become brand new
people, you know, and that that's that's biblical, you
know.
You become a new person and um it's an amazing thing to watch.
SPEAKER_00: That's the evidence.
That's the evidence.
SPEAKER_03: Left left to ourselves, we're just gonna end
up on on autopilot and just going through the motions and
going through, okay, this is what I have to do today.
Today I have to do this and I have to do this and I have to do
that.
And when something gets in the way of us on this autopilot,
that's when the things the hor those horrible things happen
with like the story we're talking about with the child
that vomited.
Nope, okay, now you're in my way.
Now like you said, Robin, they made it about them and then
you've impacted my life, and so now I have to do something.
But right when we have Jesus' to guide us, that's when we can see
this child that is learning to eat and vomits, whether they're
being a stinker and being defiant, or whether there is
really something like, oh yeah, they don't like mashed potatoes.
And you can take a step back and say, okay, why did this happen?
SPEAKER_02: Not just there's a scripture that says that we need
to protect our hearts because what's in there, it's gonna come
out.
And and I know from experience it's gonna come out at the worst
time, you know.
And um, so it's really important to protect our hearts because
what's in there is gonna come out.
SPEAKER_00: For sure, because compassion isn't automatic.
SPEAKER_02: Right.
SPEAKER_00: Compassion is developed, I think, as God
places that inside of you, that he develops it through you.
That's why a truly converted person who comes to Christ is
one who will be a compassionate person.
Uh you know, but people who play church or play religion, that
you know, their their self-centerness is going to come
out.
But uh if we can learn to allow Christ to just live and grow and
and thrive in us, the compassion will flow out of us.
Not that we don't have to learn it and and grow in it and allow
it to be developed.
SPEAKER_01: It's a process.
Just like just like us becoming adults or becoming who we are in
life.
It's that again, that process.
There's things that are taking place, there's influences that
are going on.
And and and when your influence is the creator of the universe
who specifically decided to make you um well it changes
everything.
It changes everything.
Um I I can say this, and and we're gonna wrap up our
conversation.
This is one that we might have to get back together again on
this one.
We got a lot to cover.
SPEAKER_03: I think we just barely scratched the surface.
Thank you for inviting us.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for letting us be a part of this.
I love you.
We're so proud of it.
SPEAKER_02: So proud of you.
SPEAKER_00: And let me just say this one thing.
And I've seen the compassion in both of your lives.
Definitely amazing ways, uh, and ways that you people don't know
about, but I get to see it.
Uh, you know, I've seen you both just God just just take a hold
of your heart in your lives and the in the and a major impact
that you're making on families and children.
Thank you so much.
God bless you.
unknown: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: And so now, whoever's listening to this,
it's just me and you.
We're not going to talk to them anymore.
Um, but I can tell you, just between me and you, right?
It's just me and you talking now.
Nobody else is here.
Laura and and mom and dad aren't listening anymore, and neither
is anybody else.
Um, I've I've I've grown up in this area where we live.
I've been here for um about 38 years, and the life that I have
chosen to live over the course of that 38 years has been pretty
ridiculous.
There have been um a lot of poor decisions.
There have been a lot of responding to feelings versus
doing what we know to be right, what I know to be right.
Um, and I gotta tell you, it is the compassion of the people
that have been around me during the course of my life that has
helped me to live a life that I believe is more productive and
more fulfilling um than ever before.
It has nothing to do with talent, it has nothing to do
with knowledge, it has nothing to do with uh anything that we
can drum up on our own, but the compassion of people around me
changed my life and allowed me to move in a direction where I
had the opportunity to impact other people's lives as well.
And again, it's just me and you.
Consider that.
Think about that.
Think about the person you you have a desire to be.
And hey, if you want to, you can reach out to us, you can shoot
us an email, you can get us on uh Facebook, and we would love
to talk to you more about how to become that person that your
creator desires you to be.
We'll talk to you next time.