[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is the Morning Journey Rewind with Mark and Brittany. Never miss a moment.
[00:00:04] Speaker B: This week on the Morning Journey podcast, we are already talking about Christmas as Operation Christmas Child boxes have arrived. Also, would you eat Taco Bell and run? Mark and Brittany are thinking about it. And Nikki Bettis from Danville checks in from Iowa as she and her family traverse the Mississippi river from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.
[00:00:24] Speaker C: That we are getting closer to the holiday season is the arrival of the Operation Christmas Child boxes here at the Journey Studio.
Those came in late last week, so we have a lot of the boxes already put together. So now you can stop by the Journey studios, pick up a box and then do some shopping. For a child, this is a great way to impact life.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: You've got plenty of time. Collection week doesn't start until November 17, but you might as well come get them and get it done early and then you can just drop them back off and not have to think about it. But it's a great opportunity, especially if you have kids, to get them involved in giving back to other kids that they may never meet. It's so fun. We love doing this every year. And I think Mark and I are gonna have to have a little box off a little bit later this and see who can build a box the fastest.
[00:01:06] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Because that is the hard part. If you want multiple boxes, I recommend getting them flat and then like putting them together yourself.
But I think we're gonna have to have a box on this.
[00:01:16] Speaker C: I see them. Yeah, we've got them. We've got the boxes laid out here.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: We do.
[00:01:19] Speaker C: We're ready to go. So I almost, when I came in this morning, I was so close while you were back there in your office. I almost did it, but I didn't.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: See how it is.
[00:01:27] Speaker C: I held off.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: Maybe we should do a little Facebook live here. Maybe a little after 7:30, we'll go live and we'll time ourselves and see. See who can build the box the fastest.
[00:01:36] Speaker C: Well, we mentioned earlier that today is our official kickoff of Operation Christmas Child here at the Journey. This is always a lot of fun. We have boxes that are already built. And then today, right now, Brittany and I are going to attempt to build boxes ourselves.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: Yes, we are live on Facebook right now. Head over to myjourneyfm.com if you want to see us try to assemble these boxes. It's harder than it looks and the instructions are very confusing. So I'm going to try to do mine without instructions and just go for it and see what happens. But we're Going to see who can build the box the fastest. Brian chimed in on Facebook. He said, good morning, you guys. Good morning, Brian. But yeah, Operation Christmas Child officially kicking off. We are a pickup and drop off location. You got plenty of time to get this done. It's a great cause. All the
[email protected] but join us right now, Facebook Live, My Journey FM, as we battle it out in the box for you.
[00:02:28] Speaker C: Build a box. Yes.
Well, we were going to attempt to build the OCC Christmas boxes. Brittany did hers in 40. 38 seconds.
[00:02:38] Speaker B: 38 seconds.
[00:02:39] Speaker C: 38 seconds.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: Patting myself on the back over here. Mark gave up and made me finish his too. So if you want a box that's put together. We did end up getting two put together this morning.
[00:02:49] Speaker C: Yeah. So those are ready. Those are ready to go. Somebody can pick those up when they stop by the Journey studios.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: If you missed the video, it's on our Facebook, My Journey fm. Ishmael wrote it and he said it's okay, Mark. I wouldn't be able to do it either. So you can pick them up pre assembled or if you need multiples, you can pick them up flat because it is easier to carry the flat ones than the put together ones. But then you have to put it together yourself.
[00:03:09] Speaker C: Yeah. There's a reason why I went to Christmas bags years ago.
[00:03:13] Speaker B: You do Christmas bags?
[00:03:14] Speaker C: I do. I don't. I don't. I'm not wrapping gifts. I don't do any of that. It's just put them in the bag. Yeah.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: I'm not building a box.
[00:03:20] Speaker C: I'm building the paper on top. And you're on. There you go. Merry Christmas.
[00:03:23] Speaker B: You're lucky if you get paper in the bag.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: Your day starts with encouragement. The morning Journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:03:31] Speaker C: Yeah. City of Denver, Colorado hosted an ultramarathon that's not that unusual. What is unusual is that you have to eat Taco Bell while running. So it's the international taco bell 50k ultramarathon. The race includes 10 taco bell stops on the route. And you have to order something and eat the food.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: Yes, you do. That includes like a Chalupa supreme or one Crunchwrap supreme by the fourth stop and one Burrito supreme or one Nachos Bo Grande by the eighth stop. So not only are you running, but you're also having to train your.
So I've been mapping this out because I love Taco Bell.
[00:04:06] Speaker C: I do too.
[00:04:06] Speaker B: I'm not really an avid runner. I think the most I've ever ran is six Miles and I got tricked into doing that. So the length itself, if we just include the three taco bells near us, is still 11 miles.
[00:04:18] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: So to get to the three taco bells, you gotta stop at each one. You start at one, you eat a meal, you run five miles to the next one, you stop, you eat a meal, and you finish at the last one and eat a meal.
I think we could do this.
[00:04:30] Speaker C: You think so?
[00:04:31] Speaker B: I mean, we might be really slow.
[00:04:33] Speaker C: I love Taco Bell.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: I love Taco Bell too.
[00:04:36] Speaker C: I don't know if I want to eat. I just don't eat Taco Bell while trying. Trying to run a marathon or a half marathon. They do allow, by the way, the race in Colorado.
They can use the restrooms, but it has to be at a Taco Bell restroom.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: Well, the problem with ours is our Taco Bells are so far spread out, you wouldn't make it to the next Taco Bell restroom, probably. And like you said, we'd have to train to eat and see how our stomachs do. And then we'd have to train. The running part would be the hardest part.
[00:05:06] Speaker C: Yeah, this I think we should do. This is going to require a lot of thought.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: What if we just do two Taco Bells? I think we could do two. That's got to be doable. I'm going to put this on my list. We're doing this.
[00:05:18] Speaker A: Good company makes for a great day. The morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:05:23] Speaker C: You're on the morning journey with Mark and Brittany. Last week we were telling you about a single mom of 15.
She was taking seven of her kids, ages 6 to 14, on a pretty epic adventure down the Mississippi river. That's a 2000, 350 mile journey all the way from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. Her name is Nikki and Nikki is with us this morning. Nikki, where are you calling us from? This morning?
[00:05:47] Speaker D: We are in Montrose, Iowa.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: Wow. So what's the trip been like so far?
[00:05:52] Speaker D: There's been a lot of unexpected. We did the Appalachian Trail as a family. I have 15 kids and I'm a single mom, so. And in order to reconnect, we did the Appalachian Trail in 23. And we learned a lot from that experience.
So we were ready for another adventure and set out on the river. And the river water is a whole different beast. It's just. It's different. So there's another element to it. And we're mountain people. So to get out on the water was just completely new. So it's had its challenges, but overall it is A very epic experience that is just.
You can't describe it until you're actually out here doing it.
[00:06:30] Speaker C: Is that the most challenging part? You talked about hiking the Appalachian Trail, but is that the most challenging part, being out on the river?
[00:06:38] Speaker D: I would say, honestly, it's the morale it's keeping. It's learning to work together 247 with each other. But I think it's the outside and the nature that actually, it forces you in a very gentle nature to learn to problem solve, conflict resolution, things like that, and anything. With as many kids you know, I think any parent would agree that just kids in general are a challenge. So when you get them out here, the energy that they're expending and what they do is just.
It forces you to work together in ways that a normal household environment would not. And that, to me, is worth it all.
[00:07:18] Speaker B: You mentioned, like, doing the Appalachian Trail last year as well. What made you initially want to start going on these adventures like this with your kids?
[00:07:26] Speaker D: Well, so, as I mentioned, I'm a single mom, and there was. I was married for 20 years. All 15 came from that one marriage. And he was public safety. There was PTSD involved, in which it just took its toll. The kids and I were no match for it. And eventually it ended up in domestic violence. So there was a lot of trauma that went along with that for the kids and myself, and even for him. I think it's important to realize in situations like that that it is a mental illness. So there's not a lot of resentment and hard feelings so much as there is just desperately wanting to help that person and not being able to.
So. And that went for the kids as well. So you're watching someone go downhill. So the kids started a business. The kids and I started a business in order to pay the bills. But in doing that, you're just in survival mode. We went without power, we went without water, we went without vehicles.
And the stress of that just began to unravel everybody. And to watch the kids begin to go downhill after everything had happened was so crushing to me, it's agonizing. And I began to watch the relationships falter. So we had always hiked as a way to recon, but like I said at the time, we had no vehicle. So I came up with the idea of what if we hiked and didn't have to go home?
So we.
We actually just hiked for seven and a half months and didn't go home. But it was the. It is a way to reconnect in ways. I mean, Obviously, you're out there doing hard things and camping and survival mode out there, but it's just not the same. And what it does is silence the world. It quiet, especially with social media, the way it is now. And it. We were just quiet and we still had phones and on the trail, but it's not the inundation of it. When you're out there and we sat around campfires at night, we talked. When you're on the trail for that many hours a day, you have nothing but time with each other.
And it absolutely reconnected everybody in ways that I had dreamt of, but I didn't think was possible.
[00:09:29] Speaker C: Y' all are from. You're from Danville, Virginia. What's it been like for the kids to leave their hometown and go on this adventure? And then what's it like for you just logistically getting everybody to the starting point and then along the journey as well?
[00:09:49] Speaker D: So I get asked that a lot.
In fact, there's even comments that are like, I mean, I would love to just have kids that want to do this. They don't want to all do that. And I was afraid to admit that for a long time. But as we got out here, you begin to see them flourish and come to life in ways that you're just not going to get at home. But there's relationships built, and to see the kindness of people that reach out, that want to see you succeed, is motivating for anybody, no matter what age you are. In fact, one house we stayed at, they took their kids out of school and let them stay home so everybody could play together for a day before we paddled out.
[00:10:24] Speaker B: That's so cool.
[00:10:24] Speaker D: So just lifelong relationships and broadening their world, showing them the world is bigger than the little tiny bubble you live in.
[00:10:31] Speaker B: I absolutely love that. And I feel like they're learning so many life skills, like you said, that you can't get in a classroom and building relationships with people who live very different lifestyles all across the country from what, you know, what they're used. Feel used to. Like in Danville, Virginia, in their small town.
[00:10:46] Speaker D: Yeah, very much so. I love my biggest. Biggest thing is because I did. I was raised very conservatively and sort of in a fundamentalist type of background. So it was a very stereotypical role, which is why I have 15 kids. And you stay home. Girls were typically not educated all that well. And you have kids, so. And I wanted so much more for my kids to. When you can't do all the things you see other people doing on social Media vacationing and, you know, giving their kids this huge life. It's like, what can I do to broaden theirs? And so this was something we found that not only opened their eyes to see diversity and other cultures, other, you know, histories and stuff like that, it brings education to life in a whole new way. It is very much an immersion of learning, which I absolutely love and they thrive on.
[00:11:34] Speaker C: Brittany and I were talking. I think one of the great things about what you're doing and your story is the stories that your kids will have as they get older.
[00:11:44] Speaker D: That is my goal. Yep. I have a 19 year old right now and he still laughs about the at. He was the one that didn't want to go on the at with us. He just drug his feet. And so he was under 18, so it was mandatory he go. So there's a lot of teasing and stuff. But the stories and the memories he tells, it is still, for as much as he did not want to go, that is some of the best little portion of life and memories he has out of everything we've been through. And after seeing him and what he walked away with, you know that it's a good thing when you're out here. It's a very good thing.
[00:12:15] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:16] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much, Nikki. We're so excited to talk to you and excited for your adventure. Now the goal is it's still Thanksgiving to be down by the Gulf of Mexico.
[00:12:26] Speaker D: Yeah. I told the oldest eight we'd be home for the holidays. So that is absolutely. The goal is to be done by them.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: Awesome. Well, you guys have a great trip and we'll check in back with you when you get back home.
[00:12:36] Speaker A: Your day starts with encouragement, the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:12:40] Speaker C: Brittany, you and your family went out to eat over the weekend.
[00:12:43] Speaker B: We did, yes. And so what we normally do is instead of like getting a kid's meal for my child, we just give her like some of our sides. So, like French fries, Mac and cheese, fresh fruit. Like those are our sides. And we just shared with her and she loved it and she had a great time eating dinner. And then the next day we're like, here's your leftovers. Same exact food. Fries, Mac and cheese and fruit.
[00:13:03] Speaker C: Kids love that.
[00:13:04] Speaker B: She wouldn't eat it.
[00:13:05] Speaker C: Mac and cheese.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: She wouldn't eat it. No, because it's leftovers, I guess. I don't know.
[00:13:09] Speaker C: She said.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: She said, not today.
[00:13:11] Speaker C: I don't eat leftovers.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: And it's funny because I know exactly where she gets it from because I was that exact same way when I was a kid.
So now I'm paying the price for that. I have a feeling I just kind.
[00:13:21] Speaker D: Of channel surfing through the radio.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: Families are catching on and I'm like, wow, this is pretty cool to the best way.
[00:13:27] Speaker D: But now this is the only thing I listen to now to wake up. My style of everything has started and changed.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: It's the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:13:34] Speaker C: He went to apple picking, I guess. Is apple picking kind of a fall thing?
[00:13:38] Speaker B: It is. It's a fall thing. And it's become a tradition for us and our friends. We've gone for the last like five years, starting in 2020. There's pictures of us in the orchard with like our mask on from the pandemic. And that was before either of us had kids. And now we both have kids. We have a three year old and two year old between the four of us.
[00:13:53] Speaker C: That changes the whole experience.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: It definitely does. It kind of makes it a little more exciting to see them, especially with like the picking of the apples and the eating them off the ground and the apple cider donuts, like, they lose their mind over that stuff. So it was a lot of.
And normally I pick like the smallest thing of apples because I'm not really a baker.
[00:14:09] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:14:10] Speaker B: And I'm like, what am I going to do with all these apples?
[00:14:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:12] Speaker B: But this year we decided that we're going to make mini apple pies. An apple pie for Thanksgiving. Apple butter. So I spent like two hours cutting and peeling apples on Sunday from all the apples that we got at the orchard. So that was fun. And we also realized that you should never go apple picking in the afternoon. It is so packed. Like, like the morning is time to go.
[00:14:34] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: It was so crowded. They parked us like half a mile away from the orchard and we had to walk just to get there. And then we had to walk to get apples. So it was an effort.
[00:14:42] Speaker C: Haul them all back.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: Yes. And hopefully everything I make turns out good. If not, it's a waste of apples.
[00:14:48] Speaker A: Start on a positive note. You're on the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:14:53] Speaker C: It's that time of year.
Nights are getting cooler. People starting to check their, their gas logs and their gas lines to make sure that everything is working properly.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: Yep. And that's what we did this weekend. It was finally cold enough in the house and my husband Phil was like, oh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna work on the lines. And no matter what, we always end up with air in the lines in between, like the winters. And so we have to like bleed the air out of the lines. So he takes all the logs out and he like lights the pilot light and starts bleeding the line. And I guess he kind of forgot that it was happening and like it was turned up pretty high and all of a sudden we heard a whoosh and then the logs were lit. So it was quite startling to say the least.
[00:15:30] Speaker C: Does he have eyebrows this morning?
[00:15:31] Speaker B: I think luckily the eyebrows are still intact, but it definitely did catch us off guard. But we've been toasty the last couple days, so we're all good now.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: You're on the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:15:42] Speaker C: Well, this is pastor appreciation month and it's a reminder of the work, the sacrifices that pastors make. When you think about really the responsibility that pastors have, especially if it's a really small church, they have to shepherd the congregation. Sometimes they have to be a counselor, they've got to be the leader. Oftentimes they have to be a business executive.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: They wear many, many hats, that is for sure. And so if you think about it, this month, give your pastor maybe a gift card to go out to eat. Just give them a hug, tell them they're doing a good job. Even the little bit of encouragement goes a long way. This past Sunday in our church, we have three lead pastors and we surprised them at the end and we all gave them a standing ovation and clapped and hugged them. And then we played videos from their family members talking about how much they appreciate them and what they've done in their lives and. And all of our pastors were bawling their eyes out. There was not a drop. I even got choked up. I was like, this is so moving. So make sure you tell your pastor how much they mean to you. This month I just kind of channel.
[00:16:39] Speaker D: Surfing through the radio.
[00:16:41] Speaker A: Families are catching on and I'm like.
[00:16:42] Speaker D: Wow, this is pretty cool.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: To the best way.
[00:16:44] Speaker D: So now this is the only thing I listen to now to wake up. My style of everything has started and changed.
[00:16:49] Speaker A: It's the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:16:51] Speaker C: Brittany, your daughter has wrapped up up her first season of soccer.
These are three year olds, so it's not a really long season. But can you tell if this, this will be her sport?
[00:17:02] Speaker B: It's not a very long season. It's also not a very like productive season, I guess.
Yeah, she's three and there's. It goes like three to four and five year olds. And so the four and five year olds got it down. Like they kind of know what's going on. Three Year olds, not so much. She had a great coach. Loved her coach. It was fun, like interaction with the other kids. And she loved the practice part.
[00:17:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: So they'd practice for 30 minutes and then I'd have like a 30 minute game.
In the game, she was so confused as to why they were taking the ball away from her that she would just cry and come over and wanna sit on the field. So the games did not go well. The practices were fun.
I don't know if this is gonna be her sport. Yeah, we're putting her back in swimming starting next Saturday.
[00:17:40] Speaker C: Does she like that?
[00:17:40] Speaker B: Which she absolutely loves. And she's like naturally kind of good at it and so we'll kind of see. She's still doing dance, she's still doing gymnastics. Maybe next fall when she's four, we'll try soccer again.
[00:17:50] Speaker C: She's a busy little kid.
[00:17:52] Speaker B: She is very busy. I feel like at this age they have so much energy and you're just trying to fig what they like. You just stick them in everything and see how it goes.
[00:18:00] Speaker A: From the alarm to the workplace helping you start your day.
[00:18:03] Speaker C: I'm on my way to work.
[00:18:04] Speaker A: It's the Morning Journey with Mark and Britney.
[00:18:07] Speaker C: All six weeks are in the books for the NFL. Really cool story from this past weekend. Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Travis Hunter said his life has been changed. He got baptized Sunday just hours before the game.
[00:18:21] Speaker B: This is so cool. I love when the like sports athletes like you get to find out things about them off the field. And he's already cool on the field because he plays offense and defense, which is pretty impressive and exhausting, I'm sure. But yeah, he got baptized ahead of his game against the Seahawks. He said it's a Sunday. It's God's day. I've been planning to get baptized for a while. I changed my life to become a better person and decided to make that decision and publicly get baptized. So pretty cool to see that happen and to see so many NFL players really kind of living out their faith. Because the locker room, you have a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life and the opportunity to really witness and share the gospel on the field with your teammates, but also off the field.
[00:19:00] Speaker C: Yeah. He has such a great platform to reach people with the gospel of Christ.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: Uplifting and encouraging because you need it now more than ever.
[00:19:08] Speaker C: You betcha.
[00:19:09] Speaker A: The Morning Journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:19:11] Speaker C: The journey is celebrating 10 years of sharing the love and hope of Christ. If you are brand new to the journey, maybe you've been flipping around the dial and. And came across the Journey. Welcome. We are glad to have you. And if you've been with us for 10 years, thank you so much for listening and thank you for supporting the Journey.
[00:19:28] Speaker B: Yeah. We always say your partnership equals changed lives. And it's very, very true. We hear stories of life change that happen all the time. People coming to know Jesus because they hear the right song at the right time or something is said. And so we always say, wherever you're at on your journey, you're welcome here. You don't have to clean yourself up to come here. We're all broken. We all need Jesus, and we're just happy that you're with us this morning.
