Jerry Wayne Longbar opens with Houston weather, catching up after a two-week break, and shares wrenching updates on his rebuilt GMT800 pickup—plus a detour into why old trucks become emotional anchors. Big news follows: he’s signed a full-time brand collaboration with World of Outlaws, attending around 10 events en route to the World Finals at Charlotte. He also announces a grooming sponsorship with “Outlaws and Gents.” The core of the episode is a reflective “love” installment of his Five Labors of Growth series, using personal relationship stories, a Middle East trip, and the “Good Samaritan” theme to argue love is labor: patience, humility, and choosing humanity over pride.
I was handed a broken blueprint for love early on. Spent a lot of years building damaged things with it. This episode is about the people and moments that handed me a better plan and why love isn’t a feeling you fall into, it’s a labor you pick up. Season Four starts here. We return to Duwali Bottoms just in time for season two, Hurricane Ike is still just a disturbance in the Atlantic, but the storm is already building closer to home.
"It's all a welcome here in the Church of Internal Combustion. We just asked that you arrive with an open heart."
Internal combustion means the engine burns fuel inside the engine to make power. Most gas and diesel cars use this kind of engine.
“Internal combustion” refers to engines where fuel is burned inside the engine cylinders to create power. It’s the core technology behind most traditional gasoline and diesel vehicles, and it’s the theme implied by the show’s “Church of Internal Combustion.”
"Got transmission in it, differential in it. We ended up having rebuilt differential, too. It's just like driving."
The differential is what lets the wheels turn at different speeds when you’re cornering. If it’s rebuilt, the truck can drive quietly and smoothly again.
The differential is the gear assembly that allows the left and right wheels to rotate at different speeds while turning. Rebuilding a differential can restore smooth operation and reduce noise or driveline issues.
"Got transmission in it, differential in it. We ended up having rebuilt differential, too. It's just like driving."
The transmission is the set of gears that helps the truck move smoothly and efficiently. If it’s rebuilt or replaced, the truck can feel “right” again.
A transmission is the gearbox that sends engine power to the driveshaft and wheels, selecting different gear ratios for acceleration and cruising. When a transmission is replaced or rebuilt, drivability and shifting behavior can change a lot.
"It's not a four-wheel drive, which is fine, but it has the same seat feel."
Four-wheel drive means power goes to all four wheels, which helps you grip on slippery or rough roads. They’re saying they don’t have that, but it still feels right.
Four-wheel drive (4WD) sends power to both the front and rear axles for better traction in snow, mud, or rough terrain. The speaker notes the truck isn’t 4WD, but still feels good to sit in and drive.
"I get why old men get attached to some pickup. That's all they ever want to drive for the rest of their life... Built all those great memories and that little pickup."
The episode frames vehicle ownership as identity and memory, not just transportation—especially with work trucks and pickups. The speaker describes how the same truck becomes tied to major life events, reinforcing why people keep driving a particular vehicle for years.
"It came with a both stereo setup, and those extra amps are real bad about shortening out."
A short is when electricity flows somewhere it shouldn’t. In a stereo, that can blow the amp or mess up the wiring so the sound doesn’t work right.
“Shorting out” means an electrical short circuit, where current takes an unintended path. In car audio, a short can damage the amplifier or related wiring, leading to no sound or poor sound quality.
"It sounds real tinny and far away like it's not getting amplification. So I think that extra amp is fried in it."
Amplification is what makes the music loud and clear. If the amp isn’t working, the sound can seem thin and quiet, like it’s not being powered.
Amplification is the process of increasing the audio signal’s power so speakers can produce louder, clearer sound. The speaker’s “tinny and far away” description suggests the system isn’t getting proper amplification—consistent with a failed amplifier.
"So I think that extra amp is fried in it. Let's see. The other thing that happened in that pickup was while it was sitting at David's house for a long time"
“Fried” means the amplifier likely got damaged and stopped working. The symptoms they describe—weak, tinny sound—fit with an amp failure.
When someone says an amp is “fried,” they mean it has likely failed due to electrical damage (often from a short, overheating, or voltage issues). In this context, the speaker connects the earlier shorting-out behavior to the current audio symptoms.
"and tried to steal the stereo out of it, and they were the worst thief ever. They cut the dash off. They did all kind of damage. It did not get the stereo."
They’re talking about the car’s radio/audio unit. The thieves tried to rip it out of the dash, which can damage the dashboard even if they don’t succeed.
The “stereo” refers to the vehicle’s audio head unit (radio) and related mounting. In this story, thieves tried to remove it, which often requires specialized tools and careful dash disassembly.
"because there was a 932nd or 8mm. I came up with whatever that weird little sizes you got to have to get that stereo out."
8mm is the size of the bolt they’re talking about. Car parts often use metric bolt sizes like 8mm, so the right tool is important.
“8mm” refers to the metric socket/wrench size commonly used for small fasteners in cars. Many trim pieces and some brackets use small bolts, so having the correct 8mm tool matters for stereo and dash work.
"The air conditioner head control unit was bad, and so I swapped that out to a new one."
This is the part that controls the car’s heating and air conditioning settings. If it fails, the climate system can act weird, so swapping it can fix the problem.
The HVAC “head control unit” is the electronic module that manages climate settings (fan speed, temperature requests, mode selection). If it’s “bad,” the system can behave erratically, and replacing the unit can restore normal operation.
"Luckily they're not too bad on the GMT-800s to change out. I'm just glad it's got a good heater core, right?"
“GMT-800” is GM’s platform family used for trucks/SUVs from roughly the early-to-mid 2000s (commonly associated with Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra). The speaker is saying the HVAC-related job is relatively straightforward on these vehicles compared to others.
"I'm just glad it's got a good heater core, right? Because I don't want to take that whole dash part trying to fix that."
The “heater core” is a small heat exchanger (like a mini radiator) that warms air for the cabin. If the heater core is bad, repairs often require major dash removal, so the speaker is relieved it’s in good shape.
"A lot of y'all that have been around for a while know that I love dirt track racing... And there's not too many things motorsport I don't enjoy."
Dirt track racing happens on dirt ovals instead of pavement. The grip changes lap to lap, so teams and drivers have to adapt their setup and driving as the track changes.
Dirt track racing is motorsport conducted on dirt-surfaced ovals, where traction changes constantly as the track “rubbers in” and gets rutted. Setup choices like tire choice, suspension settings, and driving technique are heavily influenced by the evolving surface.
"I love sprint cars... I've never done any sprint car racing, but I'm just a huge fan."
Sprint cars are race cars made for short tracks. They’re built to handle fast turns and rough surfaces, especially on dirt.
Sprint cars are small, lightweight race cars designed for short oval tracks, commonly on dirt. They typically feature high downforce and aggressive suspension geometry to stay stable through corners and over bumps.
"And as a result, I have signed a deal with the world of outlaws to be a full-time brand collaborator with them, which means I will be pursuing, there's going to be 10 events."
The World of Outlaws is a big dirt-racing series in the U.S. Drivers compete at many events, and the season culminates in a big championship event called the World Finals.
The World of Outlaws is a major U.S. dirt-track racing organization and series. It’s best known for sprint cars and late models, with events leading to a championship “World Finals.”
"[527.8s] I'm also really, really excited about the world finals
[531.1s] because that is at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
[534.3s] And like most things, I have a story about Charlotte Motor Speedway."
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a major NASCAR race track in North Carolina. If an event is there, it’s usually a big deal in the racing world.
Charlotte Motor Speedway is one of NASCAR’s most important tracks and is located in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. It’s frequently used for major NASCAR events, so mentioning it usually means the conversation is tied to high-profile racing.
"In about 2002, 2003, y'all know that I was living
in Moorsville, North Carolina.
[549.8s] And that's like NASCAR City, right?"
People call Mooresville “NASCAR City” because it’s basically surrounded by NASCAR teams and racing businesses. If you live there, you’re close to the sport all the time.
“NASCAR City” is a nickname for the NASCAR-heavy area around Mooresville, North Carolina, where many teams, shops, and motorsports businesses cluster. It’s often used to describe how deeply racing culture is embedded in everyday life there.
"[553.9s] At the time, I was a big old NASCAR fan.
[556.4s] Big old NASCAR fan.
[557.9s] Huge fan of Jimmy Johnson.
[560.5s] I'd never even been to a NASCAR race in my life."
Jimmy Johnson is a famous NASCAR race driver. Being a big fan of him usually means you were into NASCAR when he was at the top of the sport.
Jimmy Johnson is a legendary NASCAR driver known for winning multiple NASCAR Cup Series championships. When someone says they were a huge fan of him, it usually signals they were following the sport during one of its most dominant eras.
"...Now, in my naivety, I had no clue what it cost to get into a NASCAR race... the only tickets they had left was going to be about 200 something dollars..."
Big NASCAR races can cost a lot to attend, especially if tickets are almost sold out. That can make it hard for some people to go in person.
Ticket pricing for major NASCAR events can be surprisingly high, especially when the event is close and only limited inventory remains. This affects how accessible live racing is for casual fans.
"...and my old feet to shit, my little F-150, and got up there and found out the only tickets they had left..."
A Ford F-150 is a popular American pickup truck. People use it for work because it can haul things and handle everyday driving.
The Ford F-150 is a full-size pickup truck that’s extremely common in the U.S. It’s often used for work because it’s comfortable enough for daily driving and has strong towing/cargo capability.
"[779.6s] Which means I'm about to drive a very untested pickup
[785.2s] 698 miles one way."
An “untested pickup” means the truck hasn’t really been proven for this kind of trip yet. Over a long drive, you want to be sure it’s reliable and ready for the job.
An “untested pickup” implies the truck being used for the trip hasn’t been proven for this specific long-distance use or racing-related hauling. For motorsports trips, that can matter because reliability, cooling, tires, and towing/transport readiness are critical over long distances.
"They get a little intake leak down there underneath the intake. You got to change the intake gaskets out."
Intake gaskets are the seals between the intake manifold and the engine. If they wear out, air can leak and the engine may run poorly until you replace them.
Intake gaskets seal the intake manifold to the engine so air and fuel mixture can flow correctly. When they fail, you can get vacuum/air leaks that lead to drivability issues and sometimes overheating or misfires depending on the engine.
"I'm going to do all that this week and try to get an alignment on it before I head out. Just to ease my chance of survival."
An alignment is when a shop adjusts the angles of your wheels so they point the right way. After front-end work, it helps the truck drive straight and prevents fast tire wear.
A wheel alignment adjusts the suspension angles (typically camber, caster, and toe) to bring the tires back to the correct contact patch. After replacing front suspension/steering components, alignment is important to prevent tire wear and restore straight-line tracking.
"I saw one night we were in a helicopter, a flatbed truck with bodies on it."
A flatbed truck is a truck with an open, flat loading area. It’s often used to haul things that don’t fit in a normal enclosed truck.
A flatbed truck is a cargo truck with a flat, open trailer surface. In military or emergency contexts, flatbeds are sometimes used for transporting equipment or, in tragic cases, remains.
"The glossy black paint reflected the Hollywood food store neon sign while pulling into the parking lot."
A parking lot is just an area where cars park. The character drives there to go into the store.
A parking lot is where vehicles are parked, and it’s a common setting for quick errands and drop-offs. In the segment, the car pulls into a lot to reach the convenience store.
"Amber pulled her debit card from the leather handbag on the passenger seat before stepping from the Mercedes."
The passenger seat is the seat next to the driver. Here, it’s where Amber’s bag is sitting before she gets out.
The passenger seat is the front seat next to the driver, and it’s where the character’s handbag is placed in the scene. In car terms, this detail often signals how the car is being used day-to-day (e.g., items stored within reach).
"The V8 beneath the hood of her Mercedes purred quietly as Amber drove to her apartment building in Midtown."
A V8 is an engine with eight cylinders. It often feels powerful and smooth compared with smaller engines.
A V8 is an engine configuration with eight cylinders arranged in a “V” shape. It’s commonly used in performance and luxury cars because it can deliver strong torque and smooth power delivery.
Select text to request an explanation
Are you really digging for peace?
Or is that just a light tail to help us sleep?
Sure that you really want real behind all the stories that go.
Still remembers fire, grass remembers rain.
Every scar tells the story.
Hard dial to pray.
Welcome to the Brickin' Yards.
I'm Jerry Wayne Longbar, y'all.
Presumably still y'all.
It's all a welcome here in the Church of Internal Combustion.
We just asked that you arrive with an open heart.
This is a haven for those of us with dirty hands and complicated hearts.
Hell, I'm glad you're here.
Season four, here we go.
This is crazy, right?
Can I believe I have filmed 90 episodes of this podcast with y'all?
This is a little unbelievable when I think about it that way,
and so much has changed since we started, and so much has stayed the same.
Oh, pull my bridge up a little bit.
Oh, goodness.
Man, it's about 11 o'clock on Sunday morning,
and it is unseasonably cool for April here in Houston.
We had a big old gully washer race through last night.
Man, my table is a mess.
We had a big old gully washer race through last night,
and it just blew some cold wind in, I guess.
So happy to see y'all.
How'd I see you?
I'm so happy to be here with you.
A two-week break was a nice thing,
but this is an important part of my week,
and I missed the fellowship of sitting around,
watching the episode together, chit-chatting in the chat room.
Appreciate y'all that continued to watch Diwali Bottoms on to the end,
and I feel like the first season Diwali Bottoms ended on a hum danger.
That was a pretty good little note.
I've got season two ready to kick off today, too, as well.
I have been riding like a madman for two weeks.
I did tell you what I did.
I spent the rest two weeks.
We got some big announcements doing all manner of things that needed to be done,
but I got my avalanche back together.
Got transmission in it, differential in it.
We ended up having rebuilt differential, too.
It's just like driving.
I sat in it, started driving around, and it's like driving my old Z71.
It's just what I was looking for.
It's just what I was looking for.
It's not a four-wheel drive, which is fine,
but it has the same seat feel.
It has the same seats in it.
I get why old men get attached to some pickup.
That's all they ever want to drive for the rest of their life.
I never understood that when I was younger,
but I'm starting to get it the older I get.
That GMT 800 that I had, I built a business with it.
It did all the important jobs.
I buried my mom.
It was in service of my marriage and my fatherhood.
Built all those great memories and that little pickup.
It doesn't necessarily have to be that pickup,
but there's something about sitting in that ambulance.
It's just very much the same.
In fact, the first time I took my oldest kid down to their music lessons
in Friendswood, the stereo still doesn't work in it.
A lot of those trucks from that era, pickups from that era,
had an extra amp underneath the center console.
It came with a both stereo setup,
and those extra amps are real bad about shortening out.
I think that's what's happened.
It sounds real tinny and far away like it's not getting amplification.
So I think that extra amp is fried in it.
Let's see. The other thing that happened in that pickup
was while it was sitting at David's house for a long time
when he was driving it, somebody broke into it
and tried to steal the stereo out of it,
and they were the worst thief ever.
They cut the dash off.
They did all kind of damage.
It did not get the stereo.
Yeah.
I guess they didn't have a 932nd socket,
because there was a 932nd or 8mm.
I came up with whatever that weird little sizes
you got to have to get that stereo out.
I guess they had a knife and nothing else.
I don't know what the hell they were planning on doing anyways.
So it's been, it had some other little issues.
The air conditioner head control unit was bad,
and so I swapped that out to a new one.
And it's got a blending door actuator
that's acting up on it, so sometimes it'll blow hot and cold.
So I got to get up under the dash and straighten that out.
Luckily they're not too bad on the GMT-800s to change out.
I'm just glad it's got a good heater core, right?
Because I don't want to take that whole dash part
trying to fix that.
I'm trying to get her all ready
because I'm about to hit the road
a little unexpectedly, a little sooner than I meant to.
I'll just tell you guys.
So I've been working with the world of outlaw sprint cars.
A lot of y'all that have been around for a while
know that I love dirt track racing.
Know that I just absolutely adored, I grew up around it,
I love sprint cars.
I've never done any sprint car racing, but I'm just a huge fan.
I love sprint car racing.
It's my favorite racing to watch.
And there's not too many things motorsport I don't enjoy,
but that in particular is probably my very favorite.
The wing sprint cars, the outlaw sprints.
That has always been one of my favorite series to watch.
And to participate and go out and see the races in and I've gone,
I've done a couple of race for all the outlaws over time.
And we talked about doing a full-time collaboration
between me and them coming on,
trying to introduce new fans to what they're doing.
And it's a good fit.
There's a Venn diagram of fans that like what I do
and also love racing.
And it's really exciting.
And we've been sort of chipping and working at this contract
for two years, this idea that we're going to do this.
And it all come to fruition this year.
In fact, the two weeks while I was off,
a good two weeks that was spent negotiating my contract
to finish this up and get started.
And as a result, I have signed a deal with the world of outlaws
to be a full-time brand collaborator with them,
which means I will be pursuing, there's going to be 10 events.
I'm going to be attending.
There may be 11.
There may be another one we're adding.
But there's going to be 10 events between the outlaw sprint cars
and outlaw late models that I'm going to be attending
as I chase this series to the world finals
at Charlotte Motor Speedway in November.
And I couldn't be more tickled.
I'm about to, it feels very hunter-esque Thompson.
I get to go out and kind of chronicle my adventures
with the world of outlaws.
And I couldn't be more excited about it.
I've just tickled death.
You know, this is another one of those things, you know,
like when I was a teenager told me,
oh, I won't go race car Monday.
Oh, you got to be born into that, boy.
You don't just go race cars.
Well, a lot of people have just gone to race cars
that were not born into it.
And the old man didn't know what he was talking about.
But I'm excited to get to be a part of the series
and get to chronicle something I love,
get to pursue something I love.
I'm also really, really excited about the world finals
because that is at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
And like most things, I have a story about Charlotte Motor Speedway.
In about 2002, 2003, y'all know that I was living
in Moorsville, North Carolina.
And that's like NASCAR City, right?
It's a big thing.
At the time, I was a big old NASCAR fan.
Big old NASCAR fan.
Huge fan of Jimmy Johnson.
I'd never even been to a NASCAR race in my life.
I was a big fan of Jimmy Johnson.
And Moorsville was the first place I ever lived.
We're going to a NASCAR race.
Might be like it was within driving distance I could go.
You know, I know they had some in Texas for a while,
but at the time I wasn't living in Texas.
At least at the time when I was a big fan of NASCAR
and following NASCAR.
Boy, I was in at Charlotte Motor Speedway,
just right down the road.
And I was staying in this sad little, you know, executive,
they call it executive suite,
but it's just, it's a crappy motel room that you live in
for long periods of time while you're on a long job.
And I've been living in this drab, soulless little place
for a couple months and found out the Coca Cola 600
was going to be happening at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Well, I was tickled to death.
Turns out I was off that day, which was a rarity.
I said, I'll tell you what I'm going to do.
I'm going to drive over to Charlotte Motor Speedway.
I'm going to watch me a NASCAR race.
Now, in my naivety, I had no clue what it cost
to get into a NASCAR race.
And I drove my ass over to Charlotte Motor Speedway
and my old feet to shit, my little F-150,
and got up there and found out the only tickets they had left
was going to be about 200 something dollars
to get in there and watch that race.
And at that time, $200, might as well have been $1,000 to me.
It wasn't going to happen.
And I drove back to my sad little living motel room
and sat on the little balcony.
And I listened to the Coca Cola 600 on radio.
And damn, if Jimmy Johnson didn't win that sun 50.
That's how I want to go see Jimmy Johnson race.
Damn, if he didn't win that sun 50.
I was mad at Jimmy Johnson for two months.
I might still be mad at Jimmy.
He had to win that sun 50 when I couldn't come.
It wasn't much longer before I was back in Texas
and my opportunity to go to the fantastic racetrack
at Charlotte Motor Speedway had slipped through my fingers.
Here we are 22 years later
and I get to go.
And even better, I get to go for dirt track.
I get to go to the dirt track at Charlotte Motor Speedway
and watch outlaws battle it out for the World Finals.
How cool is that?
Ain't life funny.
Ain't life funny.
Anyways, I couldn't be more excited.
And I'll be taking you guys along with me.
You guys will see some of the adventures, some of the travel.
I'll be chronicling everything I do.
But as a result, the first race is next weekend
in Cleveland, Missouri at the I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway.
Which means I'm about to drive a very untested pickup
698 miles one way.
But I have faith in it.
I have faith in it.
I ain't going to do some things this week, kind of make sure.
It's got a little, all those 5.3s that were kind of notorious for it.
They get a little intake leak down there underneath the intake.
You got to change the intake gaskets out.
So this afternoon, I'm going to tear down the top of the engine
and take the intake off, replace the intake gaskets, all that good stuff.
Change some of the rubber out on the hoses.
You know, just make sure I'm giving myself a supporting chance
about having any issues.
And the front end is pretty rough on the truck.
So I ordered a pair of shocks and some front wheel hubs
and some pyrrod ends.
I'm going to do all that this week
and try to get an alignment on it before I head out.
Just to ease my chance of survival.
Yep, the El Camino Lodge, me and the four-door El Camino
were going to Missouri.
I'm really excited about it because most of my trips go up
and I hit Little Rock and I take a right and I go to Memphis.
That's most of my trip because I'm usually going Louisville, Memphis,
somewhere in Tennessee.
I hadn't spent a lot of time going to Missouri.
I hadn't been St. Louis probably 15 years, you know.
So I'm excited because this part of my journey goes up Little Rock
and it just keeps on going north.
And I know there's some beautiful country up there
and I'm looking forward to getting energized and inspired
by some new scenery, if you will.
If you will.
Some new scenery, if you will, Daddy.
So I couldn't be more excited about that.
Years truly, world outlaws collaborating together for the rest of this year.
Yeah, man.
Ain't life funny.
On that note, I also signed another big deal,
one that we've been working on for a while.
I've been using, I found these, so for years and years and years,
people see my beard and the videos and stuff
and I've had so many beard companies and men's grooming companies
reach out to me, send me their products.
Hey, man, we want you to rep our product.
We'd love for you to push our product that kind of,
trying to get me to hawker goods, which I don't blame them.
I got a great beard.
But I ain't found none of them I liked until about nine or 10 months ago,
a fella sent me some stuff and it was the best thing I'd ever put on my beard.
It was different beard butters and stuff,
but my beard in the last nine months has looked better than it ever has
and it's more manageable and it's not dried out and crispy.
It's soft and my wife likes the way it smells.
And he had other products too.
He had a, you know, hair grooming stuff and stuff.
So he sent me a bunch of that and I used those things too
and I liked those better than what I was using.
And I'll go out on a limb and say it in the last nine months,
my hair and my beard looked better than they ever had before
and I've been very happy with the products.
They're kind of low maintenance, easy to use.
And I found out he was just a small company
and he was based out of San Antonio.
So one of my trips out to San Antonio called the owner up of this company
and got a hold of him and said, hey, man, let's meet up.
Let's break bread. Let's talk.
I want to know kind of who you are and what you're about.
And after meeting the fellows named Shane,
I just really enjoyed it.
He's had a lifetime of business experience.
He owns a bunch of men's barbershops and women's hair salons.
His mom was a cosmetologist.
He spent a lifetime making people look good.
And he came up with all these formulas.
He like went full blown scientists created all these formulas
for his hair cream and his pomade and his different beard products.
And I just couldn't be happier with them.
I've had better growth.
My beard looks better.
I like all the scents.
My skin's less itchy under my beard.
It's just a fantastic group of products.
But he's a small boutique company.
It's a small company.
And we met a few more times and had a few more conversations
and finally inked out a deal between us
where I'm going to basically be the spokesman
for the outlaws and gents men's grooming brands.
And I'm really tickled about that one because it's stuff I like.
You know, I never try to sell you anything I don't like or use.
If something I don't like, I damn sure tell you about it.
But I love these products.
And like I said, I've been using them for the better part of the year.
I'm completely happy with them.
And I'm glad to be on board because he's a good dude.
He's a small business here in Texas.
And he's just a good old Texas boy.
And he loves car.
He's a car guy.
He's got a beautiful 67 Ford Galaxy that is just built to the hill
with a terminator engine, everything.
And that car is just phenomenal.
He's a, he's a fishin' out of all things I enjoy.
And we have a good time to get along well together.
So it's going to be a pretty great business partnership, I believe.
So as of now, the Wrecking Yard podcast is sponsored by both
World of Outlaws racing series and Outlaws and Gents men's grooming products.
I guess I only work with companies that got outlaw in the name, right?
That's my new rule.
It's kind of funny, kind of funny.
All things I'm very excited about.
And I told you guys when we came back, I hope you're all having a great Easter.
I forgot it was Easter.
We got my kids a little old for Easter egg hunting at this point, but I hope you guys are having a fantastic Easter with your families getting together and all that good stuff.
If you don't celebrate Easter, I still hope you're having a fantastic Sunday and getting together with your families.
I told you guys last season, into the season that I was working on this series.
It's a five part series called The Five Labors of Growth.
And The Five Labors of Growth to me are love, mercy, humility.
I forgot one.
I've been working on this thing for months.
Love, mercy, humility, kindness, and kingdom within yourself.
These are the things I want to talk about for the next five episodes.
Today's episode is going to be focused on love.
Love is perhaps one of the greatest labors of growth.
And when I say love, I mean all of the parental self love, romantic love, friendship love.
Love is the foundation that all these other concepts are rooted in.
You got to have a steady foundation for the rest of it to take hold.
I'm always saying this to you because I watched it happen to me.
I watched it change me.
There were people along the way who taught me what love is supposed to be.
Not my parents.
Though my parents loved me, they were both raised in abusive homes by folks that had their own horror stories
that shaped what they thought love was supposed to be.
Version of love they were taught was manipulative and extremely conditional.
Two things that truly get in the way of what love can accomplish.
The problem is, is I carried their broken blueprint well into my 30s
and I built a lot of damaged shit with it.
So I thought the best way to demonstrate this concept is to tell you just a few stories from my life.
Stories you might recognize, stories you might understand a little bit
that helped me gain a better understanding of love.
Stories that will show you just how bad my understanding of it was.
And the first story is about Rachel, which I'm sure is no surprise to anyone who's listened for any period of time.
She's definitely my fairy tale.
But fairy tales are short and you don't see all the work that goes into them behind the scenes.
We've been together very nearly 20 years and she still teaches me about love on a daily basis.
Very early on in our relationship, she taught me an important lesson about the work of it.
We'd only, we'd been together just like a few weeks.
And like it is with a lot of new relationships, it was intense, you know.
Butterflies in the stomach, feelings I wasn't comfortable with, so much sex.
And to a guy who confused sex with love, it was a little overwhelming.
I wasn't used to it being somebody reciprocating back to me.
I couldn't believe this person I was crazy about loved being with me.
I'd had relationships, even long term relationships, but you know most of them were a little toxic.
I don't think I'd ever honestly before Rachel being with someone that liked being with me all the time, just enjoyed being with me.
It was all very new and it was exhilarating.
The creeping problem though underneath that was I'd been alone for a year or so.
I'm very used to just making decisions on the fly about what I was going to do and never taking anyone else's thoughts or feelings into that account.
I'd cut a lot of the, you know when I was getting together, I cut a bunch of the partying out.
My nose was clean, barely.
But I was still a stand up comedian.
I was still working as a bartender, right?
That doesn't lead to a sleepy life.
I remember I was working, there's this little joint overall fountain view called the Kentucky.
There's this Persian dude that owned it.
He was kind of crazy.
He was like a Persian biker guy.
He was like a Persian biker redneck.
Name?
I think his name was Name.
He owned that place.
His mom worked there.
She was an absolute menace.
And I worked sort of like the evening shift.
I went over there at like three or four o'clock p.m.
And I worked happy hour for all the business people that were getting out.
I had a lot of customers came by happy hour that were just just business folks that worked in the local businesses around there.
I had a good little crew coming there.
I usually got off about seven or eight o'clock and then the night bartender took off.
I'd get always I came in and got the bar ready.
Then I'd refresh all the ice and all that good stuff for the night bartender before I bailed, collected my tips and got out there for the evening.
Perfect bar schedule for a stand up comic because it got me done and free if I want to go to the club and do a spot or if I had a show that night or whatever was happening.
And Rach had been working at the laptop all day and this is when Pete was in prime and everything was an emergency at that club all the time.
She was doing so much crap.
Her and her friends, her friend Andrea and a couple other her friends came over to Kentucky to hang out for a little bit while I was still working after they got up.
Do happy hour.
We were hanging out and then towards the end of happy hour, Rach told us, she said, I'm tired.
I'm just going to go home.
And I was a little disappointed because, you know, I was still working.
I want to finish up work and get to have a couple drinks myself and have a little shoot some darts and shoot some pool, play some darts, that kind of thing.
I still still a good time and some 50, you know, I want to have a little fun.
She was going home. She was tired because she was home.
That didn't appeal to me in that moment.
I told her, I said, well, I'm gonna have a drink with my shifts over an hour and then I'll head that way.
If you can imagine, that's not what I did.
Instead, I got off and I had that first drink and it was pretty good and I had that second drink and it was even better.
And by the time I got a third drink, I was feeling pretty good and lo and behold come about midnight.
I realized I still hadn't called Rachel.
And I called her and I was a little in the can and she was irritated with me for sure.
Irritated with me for sure. I could hear it through the phone.
We hadn't really had an argument yet. We hadn't got to that point yet.
Well, I kind of freaked out. I was like, oh, I better get my ass over there.
So I went over there. Sure enough, I get her place. Lights are off. She's in bed.
Won't hardly speak to me. I kept asking her if she's mad at me. She's like, yes, I'm mad at you.
I was drunk. I laid there a week trying to figure out what to do.
Hell, I just assumed it was over. Right. She wasn't going to put up with this.
She had to get up at like 5 a.m. to go take a comment to radio. That was the headline in the club that week.
But in my naivety, I just assumed we were done. That's going to be the end of that.
You screwed that one up, didn't you partner?
But that's how most of my relationships had worked at that point. Things went good until they didn't and then we broke up.
I finally talked to her during the day. I finally got her on the phone and I flat out asked her.
I was like, so we're breaking up. We're done. And the way she responded floored me.
She's like, what? No, we're having an argument. Couples do this. We'll figure it out. I was baffled.
But I can tell you that 17, 18 years to this day, she's never told me she was leaving me.
And we've had lots of arguments since 17 years.
Lots of arguments. And she's just always steadfast when we have a problem. We worked through it.
Because love isn't a fleeting thing to her. All the stuff the poets talk about.
It's a living, breathing thing that requires maintenance. Being in love is great, but lasting lifetime love is work with tremendous reward.
She taught me in those moments that these kind of things take effort.
The storybook stuff is nice, but it doesn't show the work that goes into it.
And I had never been exposed to that.
Most of the people I knew by that point, my mom and dad didn't have a great relationship.
I knew by that point, my granny and papa hadn't had a great relationship.
I knew that my papa and me didn't have a great relationship.
I knew there was abuse and a lot of problems with all those things. That's what I had seen mirrored.
I'd had my own nightmarish hellscape of relationships.
And half of it was my own fault because I didn't know how to be a grown-up.
To be ready for love like that, you have to grow into it.
It's not something you're born knowing how to do.
And unless you have somebody model it for you, you don't have access to that.
But that is the way it should work. Love should be understanding, patient and kind.
Romantic love.
There's a lot of different kind of love.
One of the big things a lot of people always talk about and fuss about is the belief that you should love your enemy.
And I learned this one firsthand on my first trip to the Middle East.
My first trip to the Middle East opened my eyes to a different kind of love.
In the early 2000s, I was not the man I am today.
Back then, I was a chest thumping war drum beating all American.
So I thought my idea of patriotism and love for my country was rah rah rah.
Let's go blow them back to the dark ages.
I was raised in an extremely bigoted environment.
Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I carried that deep in my own chest at that time.
I wasn't concerned about what was happening to little brown people thousands of miles away as long as I got cheap gas.
It didn't affect me. The war wasn't in my backyard.
Around 2007, I went on my first trip to entertain the military in Iraq and Kuwait.
When we made it to Iraq, the devastation was mind blowing.
Towns that were functional cities full of life were apartments with holes in the wall.
People who still had a life was doing their best to retain it.
Try to keep their businesses open, try to earn a living, try to support their families in the middle of this war zone.
We interacted with soldiers and civilians.
In the course of that trip, I saw beautiful acts of humanity in a war torn landscape.
I always tell people that story always makes me laugh.
There were some Iraqi kids that were playing soccer, football, as they probably call it.
They were out there kicking the soccer ball around.
When we talked to them, they were excited to meet us. They knew we were American comedians and they knew the soldiers.
They hung around the base a little bit. It was a youth soccer center where one of these bases was holed up.
It was a particularly dangerous part of the country. There was a lot of fighting still going on.
It was called Tamiya or Apache.
I can't remember if it was called Tamiya or Apache, but this particular base.
We went out. They were training the Iraqi Guard.
They were training them to work with US soldiers. They were training them in EDT, like how to find bombs and IEDs and all that kind of stuff.
They trained them in the bomb suits and trained them with the dogs and the robot and all that good stuff.
These kids was out there playing and I still remember one of those kids walked up and they were broken English, but they were talking to us.
They asked us where we were from and Tom told them he was from New York and they got excited about that.
They all knew what New York was and Chris told them he was from Indianapolis.
They can give two shits because they never heard of Indianapolis.
I told them I was from Texas and one of these kids got particularly excited and had a little stick and he got down in the sand and he drew a Texas.
A pretty damn good Texas shape in the sand.
They were all chittering about Texas and it kind of tickled me, but we were having this moment.
You have to understand every building around us is just torn to hell.
These kids are living in squalor trying to get by, but they were so excited to meet somebody from Texas because they had heard of Texas.
I saw one night we were in a helicopter, a flatbed truck with bodies on it.
I assumed enemy combatants being transported somewhere for burial.
The first few days we were on base we heard a U.S. soldier take his own life in a porta potty that was scheduled to go home.
He was scheduled to go home.
I'm not making commentary on what we were doing there or the purpose of that war or anything like that.
That's none of my business to stop my lane.
Regardless of what a son of a bitch was and murder and all that good stuff, everything he did, the people that lived in this country just were trying to live.
They were just trying to live and the war was in their own backyard.
I came home from that trip 21 days later with a different worldview.
One informed by seeing firsthand what war does to people, not just the enemy, but our own soldiers.
It no longer seemed like something to cheer on.
It taught me a lot of compassion for folks that are different for me.
Even folks that are not on the same side as I am.
I'm not the same person I am now.
I'm not the same person as I was before that trip.
I still make an enemy every now and then. Don't get me wrong.
Lord knows I rub people the wrong way for sure.
But I love them regardless.
They're just people.
It doesn't mean I got to take some own shit that's after me or turn the cheek every time, but it does mean I put a lot of thought in how I deal with folks.
Even folks I don't agree with, folks that I might be mad at.
I still have to love them.
And when you figure that out, it will change the way you look at everything.
When you figure out that we're all just people, even the people you vehemently disagree with, even the people that you may hate what they're about, you may hate their ideals.
But there has to be an undercut. We are human beings.
We all have to live on this spinning rock together.
And when you learn that, it will change.
It will change the way you look at everything. It will change the way you look at your loved ones, the people in your life that have gotten sideways with you.
I don't have, I just carry around a lot of hate in my heart.
You know, as far as their behavior and the things they've done, and I do believe that when people do wrong and evil, they should be punished.
But I don't have hate for them.
I'm always a little more curious as what made them that way. A little more curious as what caused that.
A little more curious as what is breeding such misery that makes people behave that way.
When I was doing my readings and preparing to speak on these things, the Good Samaritan story is one that comes up quite often.
It's one of those stories folks often use to demonstrate neighborly love, and I don't think that's wrong.
Just a little short-sighted folks tend to focus on the Samaritans giving as the act of love, but it's a hinge concept.
It requires a different kind of love to accept help.
If I had a dollar for every old prideful man I've met who'd just soon die as Ask for Help, I'd have at least ten bucks.
I pray I meant more of them than that.
But you have to love yourself enough to ask for help and accept it.
And I think for most folks to learn that lesson, they've got to be in a situation where they need it.
You guys have been around a lot. You know Mr. Bob helped me a ton of times, even when I was far too proud to ask for it or even want to accept it.
I've heard the story of how he helped me out with that pickup. Let me work it off.
One time I was doing a job before I was insulating his attic.
I don't know if he actually needed his attic insulated or he was just trying to help me out and throw me some work.
He would do that kind of thing.
But another job I was doing had gone bad for a variety of reasons.
And the biggest is I underestimated the whole job.
I had screwed up. I was a new businessman.
I had screwed up and improperly estimated the job and all kind of other costs had come up.
The job was just going to hell. Everything was going to hell on this job.
It was costing me money. Money I didn't have.
I hadn't been able to take any money home because I've been trying to keep this other job going.
I had a baby, a junior, and a wife at home.
Our water was cut off for the umpteenth time.
Electricity was next on the chopping block and I was doing everything I could to try to turn things around.
I was freaking out.
Bob could tell I came down to eat my lunch in the driveway and he brought me into his living room where he was sitting there watching Patton again.
He was always watching Patton. He loved that movie.
Jim and Jerry, what's going on?
And boy, I must have been feeling some kind of way that day because I just told him all of it.
How I screwed up this other job. I was failing my wife and kid.
The whole sad sack contractor story.
Jim and Jerry, let me help you out with the loan.
Oh, I was far too prideful for that.
No, Mr. Bob, I'll figure this out.
He wouldn't let up. We went back and forth.
I went back to work.
In the day, he stuck an envelope full of money in my hand that was going to solve some problems.
It was about $1,000.
I said, Mr. Bob, I can't take this. You've already done too much. Help me, Mr. Bob.
I can't do this. I need to figure this problem out for myself.
I need to straight. We went back and forth until finally out of frustration.
I said, Mr. Bob, why are you even doing this?
And he just grinned back at me.
He said, everyone needs a little help sometimes. Everyone.
I'm going to pay back, Mr. Bob.
I know you are. The best thing you can do is a father and a husband right now is accept this help
and use it to take care of your people because that's what a good husband and father does.
It's two sides of that Samaritan coin.
I have been fortunate to have been able to help a couple of people out since the young comics
that needed a bump here and there, you know, a little money or something extra on the check.
Guys that needed a job hasn't always worked out, but I've tried to help people on the side of the road.
All because somebody helped me when I needed it and wouldn't accept that I was too dumb and prideful to accept their help.
And if you're fortunate enough to meet somebody like that in your life, they're going to teach you something.
I've seen, I met so many young men and you know, I got a wife and I got a kid and I do anything for them.
I die for them, but you won't accept help for them.
You won't let down your pride long enough to accept help to give them a better life.
That's an important damn lesson.
It's a part of love.
This is how you build that foundation.
Love comes in many, many forms, right?
There's parental love.
We've talked about it.
There's self love, love for others, love for your enemy.
Sacrificial is probably the deepest tier of love.
When somebody loves somebody enough to sacrifice needs or even their own life.
When a person loves you enough to sacrifice something near and dear to themselves or even their own life for your well-being or your needs, it's damn near unspeakable.
Military history is full of stories of men who sacrifice themselves, save their unit or their fellow brothers and arms.
You can just, you can read through the annals of time and find these stories.
There are thousands and thousands of stories of women who have sacrificed themselves to protect their children.
Parents who sacrifice their needs or dreams for their family's well-being.
I did it myself.
I walked away from comedy for what I wanted, for what I thought was permanently or at least for a while.
So I could earn a living and be home with my children tonight.
I remember one of the last road gigs I did before I walked away from comedy and it was right around the time my mother had passed.
But Noah was a newborn.
Junie was about two years old.
Every night my mom had given them these John Denver song books and every night I would sing one of these John Denver songs with them while they sat in my lap.
We had this little glider chair in the bedroom and they'd sit in my lap and get this book out and had a little tape you played along with it.
Our favorite was Sunshine On My Shoulders.
It was a lovely little book and we would sing Sunshine On Our Shoulders together.
That was the thing I had been doing every night and then I went and did this gig up in East Texas.
It was a comedy gig and I was going to be gone night or two.
And after the gig I called home to say goodnight to the babies and we did our John Denver book over the phone and it just wasn't the same.
Rachel put them to bed.
I got off the phone with her and went to bed in a shitty hotel room feeling very disconnected.
When I got home the next day I brought them some little presents from the road.
I went and got them some stuff at a Walmart in Beaumont, Texas.
We were hanging out and doing just playing and goofing but a little old Junie just looked at me weird all day.
My little two-year-old just looked at me weird all day.
Like where the hell have you been?
How come you aren't here?
Maybe it was just me thinking that but it kind of broke me inside.
I love performing but I love my kids more and I hadn't experienced a lot of things that I put before myself at that point.
I decided to focus my energies on being there and a job that kept me home at night.
I'm glad I made that decision when I did.
A lot of times it's easy to get wrapped up and be like oh all those years I lost performing and doing stuff, opportunities I lost because I wasn't in the scene.
I wasn't out here actively pursuing my career and now I'm having to pursue my career as an older man.
But I don't regret a minute making that decision that time period.
My kids came into teenagers with a father who was there which wasn't something I always had.
My dad traveled a lot. He was gone all the time.
So I don't regret even though I may have to work a little harder in the career I want now, I don't regret it.
These are things that taught me an understanding of love that I wasn't raised with that I wasn't taught.
This is the first episode of the season. We're not going to do no testimonials today.
We'll start that up again next week. I'm glad you guys are back here with me for the ride.
Look forward to getting in the next four parts of this series before we move on with the rest of the season.
But I think we're ready to let's go back to do all the bottom season to
you.
The bungalow they were staying in was a craftsman like most of the other homes on the northeast edge of the heights.
A steady roar from the traffic on I-45 filled the streets of this place at all hours.
Flickers a lot from the street lamp struggling to build itself up to full power glow eerily on the fresh bronze phosphorous strings of the Martin D-18.
There's stiff almost brittle feeling to his callous fingertips. He had changed them this morning.
His movements are deliberately lazy clumsily picking through a melody of no merit until he retches for the burning cigarette perched like a cancerous parrot on the bleach red plastic ashtray.
He can hear the TV inside some news anchor babbling about a tropical storm.
The pungent earthy smoke from Dusty's joint crept through the wooden screen door before dissipating into the breeze of the late night.
Dusty's voice carried behind it.
Shit, Tony! We all gonna die.
Tony choked on his cigarette a bit as he laughed.
He said, Dusty's real laugh was deep and punctuated by coughing from a deep inhale prior.
They telling us it's gonna flood the whole city. We might have to high tell it for new Wally Paradise to ride it out.
His ridiculous pronunciation of Tony's hometown was a running joke with the band.
Dusty and others had grown up in the suburbs of Houston with peppery blue collar accents.
The first time Tony spoke to them they had fallen all over themselves at his twangy slower speech.
Amidst jocular declarations of, oh shit, Farmer Cordell doesn't come to town. Where's your horse, Cordell?
Going to bed. Got work early. Dusty clicked the TV off as he said it before stepping out to the damp warmth of the evening.
Tony leaned a Martin guitar against the small iron table before looking back to Dusty.
He was taller than most at six foot five, leaner than barbed wire.
How he ate like a starving horse and stacked heavy boxes and bottom parts all day without bucking up was an ongoing mystery.
Yeah, me too, man. I'm wiped. You've been through like real storms. What's that like?
Dusty grin. Don't worry, Cordell. It's usually just an excuse for everyone to get drunk. Watch the normies freak out over bottled water and batteries.
You don't have to holla ass to do Wally yet. Dusty gave him a light fist bump before turning to go back in.
The light clack of the screen door coming to rest. Tony's thoughts sharply soured as he quietly muttered. I ain't ever going back there.
No one heard but the Martin guitar. It didn't care, though.
Just a few miles deeper into the city, an AMG glided down Montrose, the German suspension easily dampening the minefield of potholes and hastily repaired street sections.
The glossy black paint reflected the Hollywood food store neon sign while pulling into the parking lot.
An unhoused man in a torn hoodie by the door stiffened his posture as he readied his spiel.
Amber pulled her debit card from the leather handbag on the passenger seat before stepping from the Mercedes.
She was tall like her mother but with dark eyes and dark hair. She assumed that came from her father's people but she didn't care enough to ask.
She walked to the front door of the convenience store with the confidence of someone familiar with the neighborhood.
A look on her face that when she casted it towards the fella by the door, he slumped back to her relaxed position while rethinking his efforts.
The electronic doorbell wavered high and out of place in the dated store.
A turban man behind the counter in bulletproof plastic hopped off his wooden stool, a wide smile filling his face.
You're out late, girl.
Amber's formerly stoic face relaxed into an easy grin, left my pack at the bar.
The man was already ringing up a bluish pack of camel cigarettes, eyes down at the registry.
There's a storm coming. They say it might flood.
She laughed while handing him her card.
Well, good thing I'm on the 18th floor then.
He returned the laughter.
I told my wife if it floods again, we're moving to Dallas.
Amber stuck the pack of smokes in her front pocket.
Sam, you don't want to go to Dallas. It's just a bunch of rich assholes with sticks up their asses.
Sam was handing her the receipt when he chuckled and said, how's that different from H-town?
Amber smirked as she turned to open the door. We took the sticks out, Sam.
His laughter followed her to the AMG, the homeless guy deciding against approach again as he watched Amber get in her car.
4,000 miles away, the waters of the mid-Atlantic are in turmoil as the storm slowly strengthened while moving towards Cuba.
The V8 beneath the hood of her Mercedes purred quietly as Amber drove to her apartment building in Midtown.
A cold concrete and glass monstrosity rising against the skyline of downtown.
She slung her leather bag on the concrete countertop before locking her door after a ride in the elevator.
She kicked her shoes off into the closet before slipping out of her jeans and laying them on her desk chair.
She flopped under her bed and closed her eyes.
She could smell the cigarette smoke in her hair from the club, but she didn't care.
She had washed it in the sheets tomorrow. She's out of give a damn today.
Further inland, where hurricanes were far less concerning than tornadoes,
the dark water lapped softly against the standing timber and the shallows.
Near the bank an alligator lies motionless in the thick hydrilia.
Its reddish orange eyes watching the nutria clumsily poking in the mud on the bank.
Further out in the deep water with the moon glittering the tops of every ripple,
a weathered John boat with two men with many years between them sat in the dark with their rods and reels.
The tip of Carl Jr.'s rod thumped down a few times before he heard the line tighten along the rod.
The Zebco reel clicked against its stop. He grinned in the dark.
Got another one before jerking back on the rod to set the hook.
The line danced in the surface of the water as he began reeling than it is.
Carl Sr. took a sip of his coffee from a battered old steel thermos and laughed.
Son, you must have hit a horseshoe in your tackle box tonight.
Jr. stood for a bit as he pulled the wriggling blue channel cap from the surface of the water.
He pulled his pliers out and disengaged the hook from the fish before tossing it into the big ice chest between them.
He sat back down and mashed a big piece of the foul smelling bait back around the hook before casting it out into the dark water.
Carl Sr. spoke again.
You know them old catfish kitty who smelled that bait with their nose? They used their skin to smell it.
That kid that delivered parts for ABC told me that. So he'd done a whole project about it in school.
Jr. rubbed his eyes and took a sip of his own coffee before replying.
Yeah, that's Virgil's grandson, Jason. He's pretty sharp. Works hard.
He moved his mouth like there might be more to say but didn't find it.
He sat his thermos back down before returning to staring at the tip of his rod.
Senior pressed on.
You know, my grandson called me yesterday.
Said he picked up some work teaching kids how to play that guitar.
Jr. spit out in the water before sucking on his tooth a little.
Well dad, hopefully he can hold on this job a little longer than the last.
The last came out a little sharper than he intended but the old man kept pushing.
Son, you need to talk to that boy. He may seem grown but he's down there in the lion's den and still needs a father.
Jr. didn't answer for a while. He was trying to check his own anger.
Anger at himself, at his boy, and his father for interfering.
Last I talked to him, he wasn't interested in what the hell Mir is. Mama thought about anything.
Hell, I just wanted him to finish school but he's throwing that out the window now so he can make a couple bucks singing and chasing tail.
The old man digested the angry words of his own son who didn't always think he was right about a damn thing either.
His rod tipped hard and he chuckled as he set the hook.
He started reeling the fish into the boat before looking back at Jr.
What you wanted was for him to do what you want.
And that's the last damn thing he wants to do.
Jr. fired back in defense. Well you know it all don't you dad?
Carl Sr. kept reeling and looked back at him with a smile.
I know a little bit son. I know a little bit.
Jr.'s feathers unruffled a bit. The tension eased for the minute.
He looked down at the bottom of the boat before saying,
I just don't know what the hell to do about him. Seems like everything I think is right is wrong.
Carl Sr. removed the hook from his fish before dropping it into the chest.
He baited his hook and cast it back out into the night waters of Lake of the Pines.
He scratched his cheek and looked at his son.
You know they had just started damning up the big Cypress Creek when I first went to work for Danny as a teenager.
He was fascinated with it. They were building a lake.
We used to drive up here in that old forties and watch them move loads at night.
Well I thought he knew just about everything back then.
He told me it was going to be a hell of a fishing lake one day.
Jr. didn't say anything.
Sr. took another sip from his coffee before looking up at the bright moon.
Life's funny like that.
One day you're just trying to build a lake and stop some flooding.
Before you know it, everyone else just thinks that lake was always there.
Tune in next week for more from Diwali Bottoms, Texas.
Season two, Diwali Bottoms, Texas.
On the hook.
Let's close this thing and get out of here.
Get you guys back to your Easter or whatever it is you're doing before I start rambling.
Word of love gets thrown around loosely too often.
I love that pizza.
I love this car.
Love is without a doubt one of the most powerful forces in the universe.
It hits you square enough you can't run from it.
I think love is the labor.
The hardest one.
It asks you to stay when leaving is easier.
It asks you to see the humanity in someone you'd rather hate.
It asks you to swallow your pride and take a little help when it's the last damn thing you want to do.
Sometimes it asks you to walk away from the thing you love most because somebody little is looking at you wondering where you've been.
If you've been on this rock long enough, you've probably had to walk away from someone because you loved them enough to know that you couldn't help them.
Love transcends space, death and time because they aren't strong enough to reckon with its sheer power.
We all start broken in some way.
Most of us got handed a blueprint that wasn't worth a damn.
But the beautiful thing about labor is you can pick it up at any time you can start at any time.
It doesn't matter how late.
Everything worth having, mercy, humility, trust, that quiet kingdom inside yourself, none of it stands without the foundation of love underneath it.
You cannot get there without figuring out love first.
Love is the door.
Everything else is what's on the other side of that door.
God knows I'm rooting for every one of you to understand, to walk through that door.
I root for you every week.
I always will.
Root for you to open that door.
Understand what comes next.
I'm JW and I love you.
Oh, got to turn my own air son off.
I'm out of practice at two weeks.
I'm out of practice.
I do love you guys.
Love you deeply.
I got a lot to do before I head off to Missouri.
I got to finish writing next week's podcast.
Get it in the can for you guys and play.
I don't know how much I'll get to be in the chat next week because I might still be driving home from Missouri.
I think it's 698 miles.
If I get up Sunday, head back.
I think it's about 11 hours.
I'll probably still be on the road when next week is airing.
I'll do my best.
Once you guys go out and have a good week, be safe.
Think about some of these words.
Think about some instances in your own life where people either showed you love or tried to teach you love different forms of it.
Next week we'll tackle mercy.
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