Episode Transcript
[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 Rewind, Mark and Brittany talk about what 30 year olds want for Christmas. According to seventh graders, they do some Christmas shopping and they tell you about a scavenger hunt you can do with your kids. Brittany gets new shoes. Would you try the new Baja Blast pie from Taco Bell? And Jonathan from Compassion International shares his story.
[00:00:24] Speaker C: If you've got a 30 year old on your Christmas lift, before you buy them anything, you may want to consider the advice of a seventh grader. A group of them were asked recently what they think 30 year olds want for Christmas.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: I'm just upset that they think 30 year olds are old.
But as a 35 year old, some of these things are funny and some of them are actually like spot on.
[00:00:48] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Of things that like are on my list.
[00:00:51] Speaker C: So one of the things seventh graders think that 30 year olds want for Christmas. Measuring cups.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: I don't think I want measuring cups.
[00:00:58] Speaker C: You know that under the tree?
[00:00:59] Speaker B: Not measuring cups. I got measuring cups. What about this? Signs that say bless this home.
Seen a lot of those in my friends houses.
[00:01:07] Speaker C: I like this one. Hard candy.
[00:01:09] Speaker B: Okay, we're not 80.
[00:01:10] Speaker C: Come on.
[00:01:12] Speaker B: This one just makes me sad. But it's so true. Heated blankets. Because our muscles be hurting.
I mean, they do be hurting.
[00:01:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
Do you want a vacuum cleaner? That's what they think that you do want.
[00:01:22] Speaker B: I do actually. I do want a vacuum cleaner.
[00:01:25] Speaker C: All right, so that's one. That's one that can be under the tree for you.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: That one's practical. I like this one. Bath and Body Works stuff. Because we do have like the scents, like the Bath and Body Works scents. So that's a good one.
[00:01:35] Speaker C: How about hip implants?
[00:01:38] Speaker B: I mean, honestly, I don't. I think I might need them at some point. So that's pretty accurate. Panera gift card. Do you love Panera gift cards? That's for sure.
[00:01:48] Speaker C: Expensive meats? Well, maybe, I don't know. Meat's pretty pricey right now.
[00:01:54] Speaker B: I do like meat. I do like nice meat.
[00:01:57] Speaker C: Yeah. How about wrinkle cream?
[00:01:59] Speaker B: I use that every day. Look at this. I mean, some of these are accurate.
[00:02:02] Speaker C: Your list is growing.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: I mean, Candy Crush Premium. I do play Candy Crush. I'm not paying for premium. So if someone wanted to gift me that, that wouldn't be the end of the world. What about this one? Candles that smell like home or back then.
[00:02:15] Speaker C: Back then.
Back then.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: How long ago was back then?
[00:02:19] Speaker C: Back in the good old days.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Goodness Graces. And this one I think all my friends can relate to a coffee mug that says don't talk to me until I've had my coffee. Because all seventh graders think that we are coffee obsessed millennials.
[00:02:30] Speaker C: Yeah, that's true. I think that probably goes past 30 year olds. 40s, 50 year olds would probably have that that thought as well.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: As long as there's a gift card in that coffee mug as well for coffee. I think we're on the same page.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: Your day starts with encouragement. The morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:02:48] Speaker C: I'm very proud because I have actually started my Christmas shopping. This is really early for me, but I'm going to see some of my family over Thanksgiving so I've got to get some some gifts for them. So I've already started buying gifts for my great niece and nephew.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I told you last week I had not yet. But as of now I have also started. We were in Richmond over the weekend and so we went to Short Pump.
[00:03:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: And like walked around. Now I did not buy anything for anyone else at Short Pump. I did buy some things before we went for other people, but Short Pump, I bought some things for myself, yourself and Phil got something. We did get one thing for Stella for Christmas that we like sneakily kind of bought behind her back because she was with us. So I guess technically we bought her something. But yeah, we have officially started Christmas shopping in our house and so don't.
[00:03:34] Speaker C: Feel bad about that because I do that too at Christmas time. Like I will see some. Oh, you know what, I want that.
[00:03:39] Speaker B: Right.
[00:03:39] Speaker C: And I won't put it on a list for somebody else to get me. Like I'm just gonna grab it while we're here. While I'm there.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: So we did some shopping, but yeah, not for anyone else just yet.
[00:03:48] Speaker D: I just kind of channel surfing through the radio.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: Families are catching on and I'm like, wow, this is pretty cool to the best way.
[00:03:54] Speaker D: But now this is the only thing.
[00:03:55] Speaker A: I listen to now to wake up.
[00:03:57] Speaker D: My style of everything has started and changed.
[00:03:59] Speaker A: It's the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:04:02] Speaker C: Well, Thanksgiving is coming up. That means most of us will have some time off. And this is something that you can do with your kids, your family and you can make it as large and involved as you want or you can do it something maybe smaller just right around the house. It's called the gratitude scavenger hunt.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: I love this idea. It's so cute. And it's a really great reminder of this as we approach this Thanksgiving season. And it's time to be thankful.
It's finding things that make you laugh. I mean, finding your favorite game, finding something that's fun to play with. There's a whole list and. And you can do it right at your house. Find your favorite place to read. Like, it's super simple, super easy, but really does remind us to just focus on the little things, to count our blessings each and every day and to find those things that we're grateful for. And with the kids home, you're gonna need something to do with them. And I can't think of a better activity than thinking of the things that we're grateful for. Yeah.
[00:04:51] Speaker C: And also it can get them outside as well. You find something in nature that they love, something that they like to do. So a lot of different options there. A lot of different ideas you can add to this. You can you kind of create your own or build on this list called. Of the gratitude scavenger hunt.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: Yep. So next week, when you're looking for stuff to do, just think about being grateful.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: Good company makes for a great day. The morning journey with mark and Brittany.
[00:05:16] Speaker C: Brittany did a little shopping over the weekend.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:19] Speaker C: Bought some new shoes.
[00:05:21] Speaker B: I did. And so we were. It's funny because we were in line at checkout, and I saw these shoes out of the corner of my eye, and I asked my husband. I was like, oh, do they have those in a size 10? But I did not try them on. So they did have them in my size. I just bought them. I've never. I always try on shoes because I have very wide feet, and these especially were, like, pointy boots.
So I wore them yesterday. And by the time I got done with the show and got home, my feet were killing me.
[00:05:45] Speaker C: So now will they loosen up, or are they just. You going to have to get another size?
[00:05:49] Speaker B: I think so. I think they're going to be fine. I think they'll loosen up over time. But they're also kind of tight in the shins. And so, like, walking up and down the stairs in my basement was very difficult. Almost fell down the stairs. So that wasn't good. So I think I'm just going to have to be super cautious and, like, try and stretch them out as time goes on.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: Start on a positive note. You're on the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:06:12] Speaker C: Thanksgiving right around the corner. And that means a lot of pies will be baked. Our family does the traditional pumpkin pie and then usually a pecan pie as well.
But now you have another option.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: I think I'm gonna do this for our Thanksgiving. I want to bring this so bad.
[00:06:28] Speaker C: You're gonna do it?
[00:06:29] Speaker B: If I can get a hold of it, I think I'm gonna do this. It is a Mountain Dew Baja Blast pie. Now, I love Taco Bell in general, but one thing I love about it is they have Baja Blast, which is like a Mountain Dew flavor that's like, signature for Taco Bell. And so now they have turned that into a pie.
[00:06:47] Speaker C: A full pie.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: A full pie. You have to buy the whole thing. You can't get slices. My friend Rusty posted on Facebook, he lives in the area, and he secured one. And so I don't know how long they'll be out for. I don't know how you get them. I don't know how I get my hands on one. But I am going to go to Taco Bell and see if I can get one of these pies for Thanksgiving.
[00:07:06] Speaker C: So people have, I guess, have tried them already now. I saw somebody said, hey, it tastes great. It basically has kind of like a.
It's basically like a key lime pie. Basically, the look of it, however, the problem, the negative reviews on it are not really the taste. It's the color.
[00:07:25] Speaker B: It is a. I mean, blue, if you know what Baja Blast looked like. They captured the color perfectly. It looks just like Baja Blast if it was turned into a pie. So it is bright teal.
Yeah. But I like key lime pie and I like the flavor of Baja Blast, so I can't see how this would be a bad thing.
[00:07:41] Speaker C: Yeah, Key lime pie is great.
[00:07:43] Speaker B: Won't be, like, fizzy like Baja Blast. It'll just be smooth, I guess. I don't know.
It's weird, but if I can find it, I'll let you know.
[00:07:51] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: From the alarm to the workplace, helping you start your day.
[00:07:55] Speaker C: I'm on my way to work.
[00:07:56] Speaker A: It's the morning journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:08:00] Speaker C: You're on the morning journey with Mark and Brittany and our guest, Jonathan. Jonathan is in the Dominican Republic and his life was greatly impacted by Compassion International. Jonathan, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Tell us a little bit about your background and your life in the Dominican Republic.
[00:08:20] Speaker D: Yes, it's truly a joy to be with you. I serve right now in the Dominican Republic with Compassion Now. And the reason I do what I do. Let me just mention what I do. I serve both the church and the sponsors. When someone sponsor a child, they send letters, receive updates about the children, and serve with the team, translating letters, 40,000 letters a month, and sending updates to sponsor how the Children are doing, but at the same time serving 233 churches and throughout the country, 63,000 children.
Going back to what I was saying, the reason I do this is because I went through the Compassion program.
In other words, I am an alumni former sponsored child was born here in the VR and back in the 90s in the middle of we had dictatorship. That was an era of change, political change, and yet born from poverty, from a witchcraft background family. My story begins poverty find children right at the womb. And in terms of hope, I had no hope.
My dream. If you would have asked me, Jonathan, what was your greatest dream growing up as a child, I would have said I need a house, a better house, food, eating, sometimes spending days without eating.
And for sure I would have said I need Jordans, Air Jordans. That was my biggest dream in the 90s.
The guy selling drugs in my ghetto had nice Jordans.
And that's the reason. Also, if you have asked me, Jonathan, what's your biggest dream? I would have said I want to be a gang member.
I want people to understand poverty goes beyond the lack of material things like shoes, clothes or anything.
But it's also again, the lack of perspective and hope and dreams.
And that's how I was introduced to this local church by a neighbor, another child. He lent me his uniform for me to go to school four hours in the morning. And he wasn't a sponsored child. That's why he had a uniform. And that's how I was introduced to the local church. In my community, most people might think again, compassionate, international, big organization, beautiful name.
And yet the only thing that I knew was this local church. And they were providing exactly what I needed. And they provided me English classes Tuesday and Thursday.
That's the reason, by the way, I speak English now.
Speaking English in the DI opens big doors for children to get a better job as soon as they grow up. And being busy through the week rescued me from the street. Most importantly, of course, the gospel, Jesus. I was told about Jesus and my sponsor, Jamie.
Jamie is my hero.
She was 26 years old when she sponsored me, planning to go back to school, struggling financially. And there I was in a package.
So she picked me, sponsored me. And that was one of my greatest joy in my church. They will go classroom by classroom, delivering both letters and announcing every child that that day we'll get a sponsor. That was my greatest day in my church when I was told that I was sponsored, picked by someone. The wait was over.
And that's how my journey, my life, radically changed.
[00:12:02] Speaker C: It's Mark and Brittany with you on the morning journey along with Jonathan. Jonathan is with Compassion International and he's spending some time with us this morning to share how Compassion greatly made a difference in his life and then to encourage you also to be a part of the Compassion experience that is this Friday through Sunday at Parkway Church on the Mountain in Roanoke.
[00:12:21] Speaker B: Yeah. If you missed the first part of his story that he just shared, he is actually a Compassion alumni and now works for them helping other children get sponsored as well. So Jonathan is with us again right now. Jonathan, tell us what it was like after you got sponsored by Compassion and found Jesus.
[00:12:37] Speaker D: So at the age of 14 I am now follower of so at the age of 14 I am now follower of Jesus. I don't want to be a gang member anymore. I want to be a missionary to Haiti and I was introduced to my father's family.
My father and I met in the spot we used to meet and he told me why you met my family without my permission.
Neither you or my brothers have the permission to get involved in my life. You have to understand your mistake in my life.
And friends, that's the worst poverty that I've ever faced and I know some people listening might feel connected to this reality. Poverty is multi dimensional. The lack of material is the lack of hope, the lack of Jesus, but also again the lack of dignity.
That's the worst day of my life and also the worst poverty that I've ever faced.
And through Jamie's letter, by Thanksgiving a year passed. Hating my father is when I realized that God had a plan. I was hating God. He's a great guy, he loved me, he has a great plan and my father hates me.
Theology didn't make sense and I'm struggling hating my father. And Jamie sent this letter. Today is a great day to reflect on all the things that I'm thankful for and you are one of those that I'm greatly thankful for.
It is because of Jesus breath that we can have hope and assurance of eternal life after death.
Things in this letter, number one, even though God didn't provide a father whatever Thanksgiving was that I had no clue. We don't have thanksgiving in the di.
Americans are thankful about thanksgiving and about things and about God's provision.
And she paid attention to the adjectives. She says, you are one of those that I am greatly thankful for. Whatever Michigan is and snowing and whatever that is which we don't have. This woman is thankful about me and about to be thankful. God didn't provide father but he did provide Community, a local church in Jamie, my sponsor and second. My hope and assurance have never been on my father but in the finished work of Jesus in the cross.
But I want to finish with this. My mother, who used to be homeless, is a teacher. Now she's not in poverty anymore.
And I have a wife, two sons, Jonathan David and Jonathan Edwards. And I now have the joy of serving again. 63,000 children in the Dominican Republic going through the same reality that I grew up.
They now don't see hope, but I have the joy to serve them through these 233 local churches.
Can you imagine? I will be given shoes, clothes and a school supply without the gospel.
I will be well fed, well educated, hating my father.
But the greatest joy amid Thanksgiving coming, by the way, is that I received Jesus. And the big difference in my life was both Jamie and the local church pointing me out to a bigger reality beyond what I was living at the present moment.
That to say friends, very thankful in inviting people to come to the Compassion experience. It is truly a joy to be with you this morning.
[00:15:52] Speaker A: Uplifting and encouraging because you need it now more than ever.
[00:15:56] Speaker D: You betcha.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: The Morning Journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:15:59] Speaker C: As part of the journey's 10 year anniversary celebration, we have been offering tickets to all these concerts that are coming up. One of those is Micah Tyler, Jordan St. Cyr and Emerson Day. They will be at Highland Heights Baptist Church in Rustburg this Sunday.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: Yeah, gonna be a great concert. And Melissa actually called in and won our Micah Tyler trivia on Friday last week. And then we had more opportunities over the weekend. If you were paying attention and you got the answers to that Micah Tyler trivia, you could go online and enter to win. And so Bonnie and Tammy have done that. Congratulations.
They had all the correct answers for Micah Tyler trivia. So thank you Bonnie and Tammy for listening and for playing along. You guys have won tickets as well and so we're excited to see everyone at Highland Heights with Micah Tyler on Sunday.
[00:16:46] Speaker D: I just kind of channel surfing through the radio.
[00:16:48] Speaker A: Families are catching on and I'm like.
[00:16:50] Speaker D: Wow, this is pretty cool.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: To the best way.
[00:16:52] Speaker D: So now this is the only thing.
[00:16:53] Speaker A: I listen to now to wake up.
[00:16:54] Speaker D: My style of everything has started and changed.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: It's the Morning Journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:16:59] Speaker C: Well, next Friday we begin a journey hometown Christmas. We will start playing our Christmas music.
[00:17:06] Speaker B: I cannot believe it is already time for Christmas music. Like wow, where has the time gone? Yeah. Next week's Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving we will start our Christmas music. We'll play Christmas all through until New Year's, we'll do nothing but Christmas music. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Then we'll start to phase it out into the new year. So if you want to learn more about our Christmas strategy and the songs you might hear, you can check out myjourney fm.com but be ready.
[00:17:30] Speaker A: It's coming from the alarm to the workplace, helping you start your day.
[00:17:34] Speaker C: I'm on my way to work.
[00:17:35] Speaker A: It's the Morning Journey with Mark and Brittany.
[00:17:38] Speaker C: When I started working on the morning show, I had to kind of make a change in my sleeping. So now when I get home, I'll try to sleep for like 45 minutes to an hour if I can. That way.
[00:17:48] Speaker B: Take a little nap.
[00:17:49] Speaker C: Yeah. That way then I'm good until like 9:30, 10:30 at night. And then. But when I don't do that, then I'm exhausted, tired by, you know, about seven o'. Clock.
You were telling me, though, Brittany, that we have not always kind of had this normal sleeping arrangement pattern that we go to bed in the evening and then wake up in the morning. That in the Middle Ages they did something very different.
[00:18:11] Speaker B: They did. So it's kind of odd to think about this because now we sleep and everybody's like, oh, you need eight straight hours of sleep. But in the Middle Ages, they would work on the farm, so they would get up when the rooster crows. They would work all day, and then as soon as the sun set, they didn't have electricity, so so they would go to bed. So especially this time of year, they're going to bed at like 5:30, 6:00 clock at night.
[00:18:30] Speaker C: That's really early.
[00:18:31] Speaker B: So then what they would do is they would wake up in the middle of the night. They would sleep from like maybe 6 to 9 or 10, and then they would wake up and they would actually like be awake, eat a meal, talk to their kids, talk to their neighbors, have people over. Almost like a whole social hour in the middle of the night.
[00:18:47] Speaker C: So this is like one o' clock in the morning, two o' clock in the morning?
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Yeah. One or two o' clock in the morning, they go back to sleep. They sleep until the rooster crows and wakes them up with the sunrise at 6am and so they would sleep in two fragmented chunks. So they're still probably getting eight hours. But in the middle of the night when all was quiet, they would get up and have like, social time, family time. I find that really odd.
[00:19:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't know that I. I mean, it's hard to say. I guess if you lived back then, you could do it. But like, I'm trying to think, like, if we try to adapt that to.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: Today, especially us on the morning show, like, how would we do that? Like, we would have to like go home and go to bed as soon as the sun sets at like 6 and then like set an alarm for like 10pm yeah. And then be back in bed by like midnight.
[00:19:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: And then I get up at 4:30 in the morning and I'm like, how's that going to work?
[00:19:32] Speaker C: Get up and have a cookout with your neighbors, you know? Yeah.
[00:19:35] Speaker B: The middle of the night. I don't think my neighbors would appreciate me knocking on the door and being like, hello, it's time to get up, want to talk?
[00:19:42] Speaker A: Thanks for catching up on the morning Journey Rewind podcast with Mark and Brittany.
