From Wyoming to West Texas: G5’s Story | RatedPG Podcast

In Episode 2 of RatedPG, G5 and Philip kick things off with a little entertainment talk before diving into G5’s life story.

Philip shares about recent concerts including Def Leppard in Las Vegas and Needtobreathe in Lubbock, while G5 reviews the historical drama Hamnet, a film centered around William Shakespeare’s life and tragedy.

The conversation then shifts to books, British mysteries, and classic literature—from Agatha Christie to East of Eden and The Count of Monte Cristo.

In the second half of the episode, Philip interviews G5 about his life:

Growing up as the oldest of five siblings

Moving across the country from Wyoming to South Dakota, New York, and West Texas

Being homeschooled and public schooled

Walking through a difficult season when his younger brother battled leukemia

Meeting his wife Paige in Lubbock

And how he unexpectedly became a preacher.

It’s an honest and personal conversation about family, faith, challenges, and the experiences that shape who we become.

Hosted by G5 (George) and Philip

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Cheers. Hey, I love that intro. That's good. That is Philip. And uh you can't see him, but our producer is Bryce. He's invisible.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

And technical support from Alex. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

And technical support from Alex.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Did I step on your toes? I wasn't sure if you were if we need to alternate. That's good. That's good. Okay. All right, great. So this is our second podcast. Yep, number two. Yeah, and you know, we got rave reviews from the first one. Crazy. Crazy. Yeah, we really did. We a lot of views. Um uh a lot of uh some comments. I appreciate everybody that commented, yeah, that had something to say, that told me they liked it, that said they enjoyed it. Um the people that didn't watch it, I don't appreciate you, but uh I can still be I can still be friends with you.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Yeah, this is a good time. We're just yeah, having fun. So I hope uh if you're listening, just join in on the fun and it should be uh it should be pretty good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Yeah. So our goal is to discuss uh entertainment things and then uh interview people, uh people of note, uh or not of note, um, but just to get to know people and uh things along those lines. So that's that's what we're doing here. So we love uh if you want to join in, and maybe you might be on the show one day too. I don't know. Maybe maybe. So, George, you um you saw some movies or a movie, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Yes, I did. I saw um last night I watched Hamnet. Okay. Um which tell me about Hamnet is Yeah, it's basically the opposite of you. Um I don't think you at least show it all.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

I don't even know, I don't even know where to go with that.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

So uh it's like it's like drama from the very like a lot, it's like depressing from the very beginning, you know. Oh but uh it's it was very good. I I liked it a lot. It's a tragedy. It talks about uh it's about William Shakespeare's like romance, and then the well, you can read it and it's not a spoiler, you can literally read in the description and the death of his son. And so it goes through those themes and takes you through the emotional highs and lows, and uh it really pulls you in. And it was very raw. I appreciated a lot of a lot of what was depicted, um the details they paid attention to the details. Um, I appreciated that. It took place in like the late 1500s, so late 16th century, and uh, you know, showed I don't know what it was, was it the plague or the I'm not sure. Paige, do you remember what that was? The blue bonic plague. Yeah, so which maybe in some speculation, but it was interesting, and and it made me um not take for granted some of the uh some of the you know benefits that we have, the medical uh benefits that we have today and uh you know the medicine that we that we have, and uh because it was very raw and you know they went through some serious hardship back then, and so I I appreciated that.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Did anybody um big names that stirred in it? I've heard of it. I heard of it, but I have not uh I have nothing.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

The acting was was wonderful. And I don't the names I didn't recognize. I mean, I've seen their faces before, the British actors. Um, the most popular or the most famous actor was actually the actress that played, I think, Shakespeare's mom. I've seen her in a lot of movies. Okay. As kind of like she was always she's always kind of like a side character. Uh, you know, that all the acting was great, and uh it really drew you in, and um, you know, loss and tragedy and uh the emotional toll that takes on somebody, and especially back then, it's yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy. It's good.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Yeah, uh, sometimes movies can you know uh evoke emotions. I just don't like it when it evokes depressing, sad emotions, but you know, that doesn't mean it's a bad movie. So yeah. Um good. Well, I'm glad that you saw that uplifting Jim.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

It sounded Hey, to be or not to be. That is the question. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

To watch or not to so on a scale of like so like A B C D, what would you give it? A being like you know, the highest.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Uh B.

unknown 4:50

B?

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Okay, all right, yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Yeah, I think it's an Oscar NAM. It was uh cinematography was good, acting was good, storyline was good, and it wasn't perfect, but um it was a it was good. Okay, good to know. All right, yeah. Now I heard you went to some concerts, is that right?

SPEAKER_00 5:06

I did, yeah. So concerts, yeah. So concerts is where we blow our money sometimes. And we actually went to Las Vegas for a few days, and we uh saw Def Leopard there, and they are doing like a residency there. Yeah, and it was really I mean, I have to say it was really more Jennifer, my wife's pick, uh, but it was awesome. I mean, the from start to finish, it was like really fast. Yeah, it was fast-paced. Um, they had great so the thing I'm big into in concerts, well not all concerts, but I like it when they have special effects and it's like core, like um like good sets, sound. There's a place at Caesar's Palace that's really big and it and it just really you know lends itself to some lot of like big concert stuff, and it was really good. Like, you know, you know, you know, lasers and changing of sets and stuff, and they just kept it really fast-paced. It was really good, and they did all the a lot of the hits.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

Um yeah, what are some of their songs?

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Uh I hope I uh Rocket, Rocket, yeah, you know, do you know that one? And Armageddon, and then the you the you probably know Pour some sugar on me. Yes, okay, I know that one in the name of love. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Yeah, yeah. He's that's not the band that had like the drummer with the one arm for a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

Yeah, one arm. He still still has one arm.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Oh, he's still he's still there. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Yeah, he was it was yeah, it was that was him, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Um I know my facts.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

You do, and so he knew, I mean, so like I mean, like I said, it was more Jennifer's thing, I guess, that she knew. Uh I knew a lot of their songs, um, but or some of their songs, but it it was really good. I mean, I can appreciate like the it was just enjoyable, it was super entertaining, and the crowd was real into it, and that was a lot of fun. And for old people, they're age, right? Yeah, I was gonna say they're like in the 70s. So for their for old people, they were like rocking out. I mean really I mean cool. Yeah, and not to find anybody in your 70s, but most people aren't doing rock concerts. So well, I love that. If they're having fun, uh you're gonna have fun. I agree with that too. I mean, yeah. And then we saw back in Lubbock, uh, where we live, we saw uh Need to Breathe. And that was uh totally different, but really good. You know, they were very um, it was an acoustic tour too, and so it was very uh, you know, I guess pared down, but it was still really great. Um, and no like real special effects, just kind of some lighting, but that was good. They're just excellent musicians, kind of bluegrassy, um, little religious overtones, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Um yeah, they have some spiritual aspect to their subject, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Yeah, yeah, they have some spiritual like aspects, yeah. Um and uh just great harmonies, great musicians. Uh the lead singer has just a great voice, but they all do. Um just a really just a lot of really great, just um I don't know if I'd say like percussion, but just like them jamming, you know, and you just sitting back and enjoying it. It was a lot of fun. Yeah, yeah. I really did enjoy it. And I've actually liked them. Well, we had seen One Republic, uh, the group about three or four years ago, and they opened for them, and we really liked them. And so when they came to Lubbock, we wanted to go and see them, and it was just it was excellent. Yeah, that's it was really good.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

I think they just seen them twice. Really?

SPEAKER_00 8:27

Yeah, wow. Wow, they were they it was really good. So uh it was a great show. I enjoyed it. Yeah, it was really good. And I I like have a lot of appreciation for really like just great musicians, you know. They uh maybe aren't like super flashy, but just great musicians. And yeah, it was yeah, it was really good. So yeah. Anything else exciting happening the last since we last taped?

SPEAKER_01 8:52

I don't know. Uh trying to trying to think of some of the movies shows I've been watching. Um, nothing crazy. That was pretty much it. Everything else, some of the shows that I mentioned at the last episode episode, I've only been continue, you know, continuing to watch, and uh they're just not finished yet. So okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Well, back to the British. I think we had a little bit of a British mystery theme last time because I mentioned uh Midsummer Murders. I called it Midsummer Mysteries, it's really Midsummer Murders. I was I was nervous on my first podcast, so I said wrong stuff. Yeah. Uh so anyway, it's Midsummer Murders. But so um we also, so I don't know if you're familiar with, you know, Agatha Christie was a you know, she's a novelist or was. She wrote a book called The Seven Dials Mystery. Well, they made a movie out of it on I guess Netflix, and we watched it, and it was Jennifer had read the book. I had read the book way in the past, I didn't remember it. It was a little disappointing. She said they changed, yeah, they changed the ending. Oops, maybe that's a spoiler. I don't know. But anyway, they changed the ending from the book, and uh it was uh it was it was okay, but you know, books are almost always better. I just always think that they're almost always better.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

So yeah, no, they definitely are. I'm also just not a big Who Dunnett fan, but Paige loves Agatha Christie.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

I love I like her too a lot. I used to read, I probably I feel like I've read 80% of her books. I need to get back to them. Uh, but the problem is I can't remember which ones I've read and haven't read, and I don't know if I want to reread them because life is short. I don't know if I'm gonna reread them, but maybe if I don't remember it, then it's like a new book.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Yeah, I'm always conflicted on whether or not to reread a book or to read the just once and then move on. I mean, I think if a book is really good, I mean it it's it's like a good cup of coffee. You want that a few more times. But yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Um I I used to be so uh like strict or you know, strict that I had a list of all my all the books I wanted to read, and as I read them, I marked them off. So I wouldn't, you know, reread them. And like, you know, Agatha Christie wrote like 80 books, and so you know it's I would mark off the ones I had or hadn't read, but now I I'm sure that list is gone because that was when I was in college and that was a long time ago. So it's probably disintegrated. But anyway, still I need to I would like to get back to more Agatha Christie books. Um but I always have a book going. Are you a book? Do you read a book all the time?

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Do you like but you probably like nonfiction, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:28

I like fiction too. I like a lot of nonfiction and nonfiction. Yeah, okay. Right now I'm I'm reading East of Eden and um and then I read last at the beginning of this year I finished uh A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. And um I think that's East of Eden is pretty fiction. Who wrote East of Eden? That's pretty famous, isn't it? John Steinbeck, yeah. Oh yes, it's a classic.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Is it? Do you enjoy it?

SPEAKER_01 11:58

It's really good, yeah. It pulls you in at the very beginning with some bizarre characters and okay just bizarre situations. But okay, again, when you think about I like to go back, you know, it's historical and think, wow, think about the time that they were living in, and uh that really really pulls you in. Uh draws you into some of those characters. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Okay, well, that's great. I once again, the the I have not read a classic in since English in college until it was forced on me.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Well, hey, you should read that. You should read some of the classics. Although they're not always easy, they are sometimes hard. Um, this is like you know, not too much of a classic. It's not like the Count of Monte Cristo or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Oh well, speaking of the Count of Monte Cristo, my wife Jennifer's watching that right now on I think PBS. They made a movie out of it. Oh, the PBS, it's on PBS, not the movie with uh no, it's like a it's like a recent one, like just now, and it's like a kind of like a mini-series, but she's watching it. I think it has Jeremy Irons in it, and uh um anyway, she's she she was so excited for that, and so she's watching that. Maybe we need her on to review that next time. Give her a review of the the Count of Monte Cristo.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

That's one of my favorite movies, but I'm talking about the early 2000s version. Okay, yeah, she's seen that one too. Yeah, that's one of my faves.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

I thought it was about a guy that made a sandwich, so I didn't know he was a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

He took a normal ham sandwich and he deep dried it.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

And yeah, she told me that wasn't the plot, so I was okay, I was dumbfounded.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Uh no, it's about vengeance.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Yeah, okay, but with grape jelly on it, right? Didn't it have grape jelly? Yeah, okay. Yeah, it's a so I um uh I do I read too right now I'm reading a book. There's an R author named Harlan Coben, and he writes a lot of kind of thriller mysteries, and I've started reading some of his books, and he has this one character named uh that it solves mysteries like you don't care about, but it's called Myron Bolitar. It's a lot of fun. It's it's okay, good. Yeah, it's very enjoyable. The character's funny, he gets into some like ridiculous situations. So uh anyway, it's good. No, that's good. I like that. So let's so now you know we also want to interview, get to know people. You I was interviewed last time, you so now it's time for me to interview George or G5, which is his real name, right? So here I am. All right, you ready? Sure. Okay. Uh so George, George and I do know each other, we're friends, uh, but there's things I don't always know about George. I will say though, we did one podcast that turned out technically poor where I did interview George. So this is uh a re-interview, but um, I will act surprised at all the details that I that I find out because maybe you might come up with something new may have happened.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

So I'm gonna change the details, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Change your life. Uh so you are the oldest of five kids. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 15:04

There's five of us, yep. So I'm the oldest. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Um and I was an only child. So what was that like having four other brothers and sisters, you know, in your family in your life?

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Yeah, there's four brothers, including me, and one sister in the middle. So she's smashing between two brothers. And um, the age gap is significant. I mean, between me and the youngest, there's a 17-year age gap.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

So my youngest brother is, I think, just starting high school. And okay. Um, so it's and you're what, like 30?

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And so while you were probably in high school, he was like in like oh, yeah. When I was in high school, he was a baby. Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Yeah. And that was kind of that was kind of a thing. Um what was that like? Uh it was kind of being like uh another, I mean, you're not a parent, but you're helping a lot with like, you know, the changing the diapers and just feeding the baby. And then did you ever um I got tired and burnt out after the third kid. But uh, and so I told Paige when I first married her, like, let's just wait to have children till much later. And but then that didn't happen. So so I'm still I'm still waiting to be done with changing diapers. It's still changing. Yeah. Still still happening. But I loved it, you know. I love all my siblings, and um, even though they're younger, I can't wait for them to, you know, as they get older and they become adults, to we can hang out and hang out as adults. I think that's I think that's fun. And uh I just try to be uh a good example. And I know in high school I wasn't always the best example when they were really young. So if I can do a better job now, that's the idea.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, I had I've heard, I don't know from experience, but I've heard sometimes when there's younger kids, the older ones don't like being the babysitter, uh, or maybe, you know, that was, you know, uh I don't know if I'd say Rosenna, but you know, that wasn't their choice or whatever. And so I was just kind of curious, you know. But I guess it also teaches you life skills, you know, adult skills. And if that's the situation where it has to be, then that's how it has to be.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

Yeah, I I think when I had my own kids, I think it helped me uh be a uh maybe a better dad.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

So you probably were a lot more selfless instead of selfish than maybe some first dads.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

I would imagine it did mature, it did mature me a bit more, uh at least quicker. Yeah, that's that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

And y'all moved around some, is that correct? Quite a bit, yeah. Where all did you live?

SPEAKER_01 17:46

So I both my parents were in the military, uh, and then they got out, and my uh father went in law enforcement, and then into um just the federal law enforcement, and then to move up, you got to move around. So we I was born in Wyoming, and then we moved to South Dakota where my mom's family is, and uh stayed there for I think about 10 years. That was great, it was it was super great, and uh it's it's uh very similar to here, except it's colder, and um uh but you know, cowboys and cattle and all of that, very similar to West Texas in that sense. Yeah, yeah. And then we made a huge change and we moved to New York. And that's where my dad grew up and where his family's all from, which was also great. It was just a completely different experience.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

You did not live in New York City, right?

SPEAKER_01 18:40

No, yeah, no, to clarify, not NYC, but the upstate area, Albany, Troy, Skinacity, Scotia, that area. Okay, and um stayed there for about I think it was about five years or so. Uh also great, also very informative. Um and uh it's beautiful up there. Um I do miss it during the fall. Yeah, uh but it's a very unique experience, completely different culture. Then we moved to West Texas. Uh at first it was Amarillo, and then we've just I've just then slowly worked my way down the panhandle from West Texas uh to Amarillo to Happy Texas. You can see my happy Texas mug, it's kind of messed up, and then now Olympic, Texas, and we've been here a long time.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

I think it's so what was it like moving from like state to state? I mean, so from South Dakota, right, to New York. What was that like? I mean, that's a big shift.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Yeah, so as a kid, it's just it's there's pros and there's cons. Like some of the pros is you get to see new landscapes, which is cool. You get to realize there's a world that's that's way bigger than you expect. That's you know, outside your small little town. There's people uh that are different, cultures that are different, um, they have different tendencies. You know, in New York, people are loud and they're boisterous, um, you know, which isn't a bad thing, but you end up realizing that that's it's a good thing too in some ways. Just just different. It's just different, it's just different, you know, it's a bit faster. But then, you know, as a kid, it's really hard because at first, you know, I had some really close friends, and and then as you move more, you lose more friends. Uh so it's hard to build close friendships and relationships that way. And I got used to kind of just um quickly making friends and leaving friends. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Did you find that you ever got to the point where you were just didn't even want to make friends, or you just wanted to sub, you know, kind of yeah, I was never the one who initiates that friendship, which lended which lent which lended itself to you know attracting not great friends.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

And I think when you're not settled in a place sometimes, um and you're just moving very quickly, you make quick fast friends, and those friends don't often end up being great friends, which you know can be a bad influence at times. But my parents were great influences, and so uh I appreciate them for that. And yeah, yeah, they were great. Um, went to church and um yeah, it was it was good. And then when I moved to West Texas, I mean you're moving into the Bible belt, which is again then a completely different um experience. Um it's a bit more conservative in a lot of ways. It's you know, again, slower pace. Out in West Texas, I mean it's just you know farms and cattle and uh the people though are so kind. And again, it everything comes with its pros and its cons. You just gotta weigh it out and uh be grateful for the for the pros and live with the cons.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

And you were a mix of homeschooled and public school, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:05

Yeah. So I was public schooled through, you know, half of grade school. Uh when we moved to New York, um, I was public schooled there for a little bit, and then my mom decided that, you know, the school system there is probably just not the best environment. And so she pulled me out. We started homeschooling, and I finished grade school uh the rest of the way through in homeschool.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Yeah. Do you have any takeaways from either of those situations or yeah, uh, it does give me a unique advantage, and a lot of people right now, you know, especially after COVID, there's this public school or homeschool, public school or homeschool, and people, you know, gather, they just they have these opinions, and since it's their opinions, they um it it it's you know, they take it sense, they're sensitive about it, they take it personally, and you know, you're wrong, I'm right, and it can there can be some conflict. I don't want any of that. And I think experiencing both has helped me realize that there's pros and there's cons to both. Again, you got to know your family, you gotta know your situation, you got to know your child, um, and the environment, and then make the best decision. I think my parents did that, and uh, I appreciate them for that.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

That's great. Well, uh, you know, when you're you know, when you're talking about raising your children, you know, people can get very sensitive about that. Me, me included, you know, you don't want someone um, you know, uh telling you what you're doing is wrong. So I think it's really important that you know the decisions you, you know, if you make a decision, you know, we're all trying to everybody should be trying to just raise their child in the best way that they can, yes, and the capabilities that they can. So and there are pros and cons about both, you know, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

And you know, I think growing up in a bunch of different places, being public schooled, being homeschooled, um, going to a bunch of different churches throughout uh my childhood helped me see a bunch of different perspectives, a bunch of different you know, ways that things can be done that aren't all bad and aren't all good. And it instilled in me this desire for just a balance. There, there has to be some sort of balance, right? There has to be some something in between. And and just this idea of like what I want most is this consistency in life. I I desire consistency, consistency in the way I think, consistency in my decisions, consistency in how I act, and um, and that's that's probably what what has affected me the most.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

That's great. Yeah, that's great. Um, it's great that you did have a lot of those different, you know, situations because then you can draw what you feel best, what was best. Maybe take the positives from it, negatives from it too, as well.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Um, yeah. Okay, um, so during your childhood, uh, one of your siblings, your brother had at that time terminal cancer, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:03

Yeah, he had he had leukemia.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

Um it was we should say he's still alive today.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

He's still alive, yeah. Yeah, I always forget that little detail. He's alive, very he's very well. He's he's he's spoiled, but he's he's also just a great kid, too. Great.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

Um, so I'm and which sibling which sibling was it in the or in the order? The pectors.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

So if I'm the oldest and this is the youngest, it was this brother right here. Okay. Uh second the youngest. Um, and he yeah, he had cancer at three, and the treatment lasted for three years. Wow. And um, yeah, it was it was a time uh that was very difficult for our family. And uh we we weren't expecting it. Um, you know, as as a kid, it just stinks to have to go through all that. Yeah, and you know, he's experienced it more than anyone else. But when when a family member has cancer, I mean the whole family is affected by it. Yeah, and you know, that it also matured me and wanting to, you know, have it force me to have more responsibility and help take care of the kids at that time because he was three and you know youngest brother was just uh a baby, and so you know that was that was a that was a big deal. And there's a lot of other families too that have cancer or kids that have cancer. Um the children's network is a it's a big community of you know kids that go through this, and so there were other families that we were connected to during this time, and it was interesting seeing how each family handled this uh, you know, this time, this this trauma, if you will. Yeah, and uh each family handled it differently. But I will say that you know, the faith that my parents had and instilled in me, and um, you know, at first I was kind of you know not sure about this whole God thing, and I was questioning a lot, and seeing other Christians help us through this time really did open my eyes to the importance of uh of faith. I think that's what's great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Was that while y'all were in New York or before?

SPEAKER_01 27:08

No, this happened in Amarillo.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

Oh, Amarillo after that. Okay, all right, yeah. Okay, and how old were you at the time?

SPEAKER_01 27:15

Uh yeah, I was 16, 17, 18.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

Yeah, I'm not good at yeah, I'm I'm not at agency myself either.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

I was yeah, late teen.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Everything is about and approximate when it comes to years and ages.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Somewhere in there. Yeah, I remember being uh yeah, a late a late teen. Yeah, and uh yeah. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Uh I'm sure that affected you and you had to probably step in and do even more because your parents were so busy with you know just taking care of him.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Often the parents treatment my parents were at the hospital with him, you know, because you'd spend nights at the hospital and they would, you know, take shifts and I'd be there to help with the kids. And eventually my my grandmother moved down to help as well, and that was a big help. Um, so you you know, all the family just banded together, and we were we were able to tackle that with uh of course with God's help. Um because you know, some of the some of the kids didn't make it through, and I'm very grateful that that Caleb did.

SPEAKER_00 28:11

Yeah, yeah, that's wonderful. Um, okay, so so the timeline, so you move from New York to West Texas. Uh you move to if someone's not from Texas and they're watching Amarillo, which is further north in the panhandle, and then between Amarillo and Lubbock, which is where we live now, is a little tiny dot of a town called Happy. Uh like literally a dot, right? Wouldn't you say that? Yeah. So what on earth brought your family to Happy? I mean, there's nothing wrong with Happy, but if you, you know, cough or blink, you would miss it driving through. That's just you would. That's a fact. Yeah, but there's some I know the weird thing is I know a ton of people from Happy, which you know, doesn't it for such a tiny town. But anyway, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 28:54

What brought you a tiny town? It has a huge influence. There's only a few hundred people in that town. Is it that also there's also a great church in that town? That's great.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

When my grandmother moved down from uh South Dakota, she just moved it, she just was like snowbirding, so she spent six months and six months to help us while my brother had cancer. So they bought a house and they were able to afford a house and get a house just 30 minutes south of Amarillo, and that was in Happy Texas. She started going to the church there, and when they heard about our family situation, you know, that's what I was talking about. They would, you know, send us food and they didn't even know us that well, they would fill up a freezer for us, and you know, they would make the trek to Amarillo and really show us um, you know, Christ's love, and uh that made it that made an impact on us. And so when he uh was cancer free three years later, we were just we decided, well, my parents decided let's just move to Happy, and that's what we did. We were able to find a house there, and uh, we moved to Happy. And I only spent one year in Happy before I moved to I met my wife and moved to Lubbock.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

Yeah, and that's really so when you started coming to Lubbock, is when your life changed, because that's when you met me. That's when I met you. Yeah, that's when really it started to pick up, right? Finally, yeah. Uh that's not true. Uh so you did you came to visit for like some I guess things that we would have at our congregation, youth type things. Yeah. And you were youth, and I was old, like I still am, or older. Uh really I didn't, we didn't always jacked. That's right. Thank you. I I I mean we didn't really talk a whole lot then, but I do remember you. And then so you did meet your wife, right? Your wife.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Yeah, I went down for a few events, and then I met Paige at one of the events you forgot at at uh Milwaukee Ave Church Christ, where uh I preach. Um, so I was a member there first, and that's where I met Paige, and it was it was great. Um we got engaged and then married as they normally do.

SPEAKER_00 31:05

Yeah. Well, you didn't get married and then get engaged.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

No. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

Yeah. Well, uh, you know, so I do remember uh like a um, you know, remember you that you didn't uh you didn't look like somebody that looked like from Happy because Happy is like uh, you know, if for people not here, it's like a West Texas uh I I don't want to say ag because that's probably but it's like you know, farming everybody. Most of the people I know from there, you know, would have on jeans and boots and kind of a western shirt or have that kind of flair, but George was not that, and that's you know, I'm really not that. Don't tell them what I was wearing the first time you saw me. You looked good. I thought you looked very I thought this guy had some fashion ideas, he has some fashion sense. I always appreciate people that want to wear something, you know, either different or wear what they like or how they look. But I remember you had a vest on.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

Yeah. Yeah, I had I may have had a fedora.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Did I make up the hat? I thought it was cool.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

I just remember you very homeschooled of me.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

I just remember you look not you look good. I didn't think anything, I just thought you don't look like somebody from a tiny West Texas town. Turns out you weren't really from there, like you weren't birthed there. I will say moving from across the unate the nation, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

It did give me sometimes an identity crisis in fashion and like I don't know. And so I've always been kind of aware of what I I want to wear, and I I've always been, you know, just kind of I appreciate um something that looks looks nice. And I'm not saying the West Texas garb doesn't look nice, it does look nice, but I'm not a cowboy, and trying to fit into that just wasn't my thing. So coming from New York, I always had a hard time fitting in with the cowboy boots or the the boat boots and the the you know hat and the the mullet, it just wasn't it just wasn't my thing. So I always kind of stood out as that city slicker, but um I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

So one more one more fashion note, and we'll get on to the rest of your life. But at the need to breathe uh concert, a lot of guys, and I don't know what they're called. I guess I should look. A lot of guys had on these kind of straight-brimmed hats. Have you seen those? And the lead singer does, you know, it just goes, what is that? You know what that's called? Like, is it like a like a cowboy hat that's straight-brimmed?

SPEAKER_01 33:31

Straight, just around, yeah. Just around. Isn't that like a cap where only the the brim is out like this? No.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

No, it's just it's all the way around.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

Um it's like a cowboy fedora type mix, right? Yeah, kind of with the top and then the very rounded Yeah, it was really cool.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

Like a lot of the, you know, several of the guys had them on, even some of the women, and the lead singer always wears one. So I guess that's kind of trademark.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

Probably leather in there too.

SPEAKER_00 33:59

Very hipster, yeah, I think so. And uh it was a very it was a cool look. I was like, maybe I need that, you know. Yeah, you know, and I'm sure the nice ones are really probably very expensive, so very like handmade and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

I think as you get older though, you realize what works for you, what doesn't work for you, and yeah, you just you lean into that, and that's when things start to go smooth.

SPEAKER_00 34:22

I think I think I'm too big to be a hipster because most of them are very slim. You know, it's all very slim. And I think I've too I I it just didn't even they only eat whole foods, and yeah, that's not yeah, yeah. So anyway, so you came to Lubbock, you met Paige. Uh how long did y'all date?

SPEAKER_01 34:41

Uh how long did we date? We met in August of 16 and married in August of 16. We met in August of 16 and married in August of 17.

SPEAKER_00 34:52

So Oh, just a year.

SPEAKER_01 34:54

A lot happened in one year.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Well, so I have to tell you, after my last, after the last podcast, Jennifer, my wife, finally listened to it. It took her a full two weeks to listen to it. So that's because I tell you how she was clamoring for it. But anyway, she listened to it, and then she said everything was good, but we really were engaged six months, not three months. And I just said, Well, I'm sorry, it's all you're like, it was so fun, it felt like three months. Yeah, it's just all approximate. Yeah, but anyway, yeah, it's so fast. So y'all met, and uh then what so a big change. You were you were in a different profession. I think you were in a sales profession, and then you decided you wanted to become a preacher.

SPEAKER_01 35:33

Yeah, Nate had dropped that information on me when I was just a member at Milwaukee and I was just helping teaching one of the Bible classes, and he asked me uh a few times, and I said, nah. And then him and John asked me during a Christmas, one of the Christmas parties to be in your old house. And uh during a time where I was kind of looking for another job, and God just said, You can go that way, or you can go this way, and it's actually the better option. And I feel I felt like it was God saying, Well, I guess you just have yeah, I have no choice. Why not pick the better option?

SPEAKER_00 36:09

And you just decided to become edgy and went to work for God. Had you felt like a stirring to want to do that, like a leaning towards it? No.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

No. Um I didn't I didn't feel like growing up thinking, this is what I want to do. Um, I know Rick, uh, he's the preacher and happy. He had always said I'd make a good preacher, and I was like, yeah, whatever. Um, and I was happy to help with some classes and things like that. And um I think I was just at a situation where all the doors seemed closed except that one, and God was saying, Okay, yeah, you can you can try to do something else, but this is really the best option. And and so in that in that sense, I felt like I I was uh I was called to do that. And so I've been I've been happy to do that. I I I love it, I do love it. Yeah, you know, it was a it was a great decision.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

Yeah, it's uh like as we said, uh my dad was a preacher, so I know it's very difficult, uh, but also rewarding. Yes. Um, so uh, you know, do you I mean you've been doing it what four years now, three years, five years? No, six years. See, I told you, I don't know years, it's all approximate.

SPEAKER_01 37:21

But I I've told some people that who are even at Milwaukee, and they're like, really?

SPEAKER_00 37:25

It's been that long?

SPEAKER_01 37:26

It just still seems like yeah, it has.

SPEAKER_00 37:29

Well, that's that's great.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

I started in 2020, yes, right before COVID. Okay, and uh yeah, um, it's been great. Yeah, it has its it has, you know, some some challenges, it has some difficulties, you know, and and those can be very difficult, but yeah, uh it is very rewarding, and the people you serve matter. Um, and the people at Milwaukee make it easy for me.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

That's great. Well, I would say that you are, you know, if you're picking personality types, you may not be the personality you would pick to be a preacher. Like if I was if you're just picking people out of like a group, because you know, just you know, I would say you're more a little more quiet, maybe more a little more easygoing, uh, or not as just maybe not as outgoing as some that you'd imagine. So what so do have you had to like push out of your shell a little bit or push you know push your pro push your I mean as a kid I struggle with stage fright all the time.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

I think I think it was you know, what is it, pre-K or kindergarten where they do the diplomas, and I couldn't get up there and and go get it. My mom had to go grab it for me because it just was too like wow, I had too much stage fright. So um, you know, that was challenging to work through that. And then I'm just more introverted naturally. Um it just takes it takes a lot of energy out of me. And so yeah, I gotta I have to kind of build up the the stamina, if you will, to especially on Sunday morning. So it's like okay, I gotta go, yeah, I gotta talk to people, I gotta go meet people, and uh you know, it's that first interaction, it's breaking through that ice, it's the small talk that really can make it challenging. And then when I preach, I I naturally am just not a person that has many words to say. I don't I will I will explain something, and I I can explain something in the scriptures, and yeah, we can go deep, but honestly, it can be done with few with few words. Um, and that's just that's just the way I am naturally.

SPEAKER_00 39:25

Yeah. Well, uh, I know you had to like we've talked about just like you said, having to push out of your comfort zone to maybe talk to new people or you know, greet people and probably associate with different groups of people, but you know, you've done a great job. So do you feel like um what do you think, you know, what do you feel like your strong suit is in in preaching? Because there's obviously different aspects of it.

SPEAKER_01 39:50

There's different aspects of it. And my my I don't know if it's my strongest, but it is my favorite, and that is just the one-on-ones with people. When someone comes to me with some struggles and um confines in me, and that we're able to over time work through that. Um that that's that's great. That's my favorite. Uh, my favorite is is the one-on-one connections with the Christians there and uh and just helping them grow in the in their faith. That's that's my favorite. Um, you know, I like you know, teaching Bible classes also it can be also fun. Um but and I I love studying too. I love going and learning about you know the Bible and reading the Bible and the theology, and I love that type of stuff. Um, I love to go deep into theology and philosophy and and just study this type of stuff because I'm kind of a nerd that way. Um, so I like that. I tell people if I could just write the sermons and someone else could deliver them, that would be ideal.

SPEAKER_00 40:48

But maybe one day with A AI, they can just have a hologram of you, and you can just sit back and kind of watch it happen.

SPEAKER_01 40:56

It'd be perfect right off the bat. Yeah. Um I could just feed it my info, and then the kid could deliver.

SPEAKER_00 41:03

One day, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 41:04

Yeah, one day.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

Um, I think you've done great with you know, interpersonal relationships. You do a great job with that and getting to know people that sometimes people don't even get to know, you know. So I think you've done a good great job with that. So um, you know, so miscon true or not. Okay, well, for no, do you tell me what here what is your favorite thing about yourself and your least favorite thing about yourself?

SPEAKER_01 41:32

I don't know, man. Uh yeah, you know. Yeah, yeah. Oh, my favorite thing about myself is uh think have some yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:40

What's your favorite thing?

SPEAKER_01 41:42

My favorite thing. I you know, like how I don't know. Uh Paige, what do I like about myself? Uh yeah, I'm married to an amazing woman, and I have a wonderful family. No, really now. I do love being a uh husband and uh and a father. Those those are great. I do like, you know, how curious I can be in um uh just your favorite.

unknown 42:12

Your own.

SPEAKER_01 42:13

How about what is Paige says I'm a good listener? That's what she likes about me.

SPEAKER_00 42:16

Yeah, I'll agree with that too. What do you think? What's your least favorite? Sometimes it's easier to pick out least favorite things. What's your least favorite thing?

SPEAKER_01 42:23

It is. Uh it is. I could be kind of self-loathing at times. Oh yeah. Um I don't like my nose. I think I mentioned that in the last podcast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:34

Oh, maybe one day a nose job might be in the nose job be great.

unknown 42:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

Yeah. Maybe in the hologram it could kind of shrink. Be how you want it to be. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

Well, um, the thing I've always thought about you, and it's not a good or necessarily bad, is you're just extremely laid back. You know, you're very uh, you know, I guess you'd say you're very chill. Sometimes I'm not sure what your opinion on things are, or you may not even have one, uh, which is weird to me because I have an opinion on everything. And so whether whether it makes sense or not, you know. So maybe so that's true. It is uh it is it is a great thing because sometimes I think I'm like maybe bullying you into doing something, but you maybe really just didn't seem to care, you know.

SPEAKER_01 43:18

Like if that does happen, yeah, a lot. Yeah, and I mean that's probably something that people said the most.

SPEAKER_00 43:24

Yeah, but it's not necessarily a you know a bad thing at all, but it's not always a good thing either. So I guess it's just a thing.

SPEAKER_01 43:32

Yeah. I think I think like yours, you know, you the last episode, you know, yours was uh I mean your greatest strength is your greatest weakness, too.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

You know, yeah, yeah. So is I guess I was trying to say, is that really how you are, or is that just a persona you like to that you put on? But deep down you're thinking, I really these are my definite ideas.

SPEAKER_01 43:51

It must be how I am because I really just don't think about it. Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_00 43:56

Okay. All right, very good. Well, so um, do you have anything else you want to add about your life that I haven't that I haven't touched on? You haven't you haven't covered. Yeah. Um we should add that you're a father of three father of three daughters, three three great daughters. Um yeah, and husband. Yeah, and y'all have been married, what, nine or ten years now?

SPEAKER_01 44:18

Yep, that's right. That's excellent. Great. And it it's you know it's great. And uh life is uh good, and God has blessed me. And uh I'm happy that's great keep doing that.

SPEAKER_00 44:29

That's great. So um next podcast, we are going to we'll have somebody different new to interview. I have a few ideas, but if anybody has any ideas or show ideas, um, you know, send us a message, something you'd like to see, something you like us to talk about. We we're gonna throw in about 15-20 minutes of you know, or 10 to 15 minutes of us chatting. And so if there's something they specifically someone wants or has a question for us, you know, we can we can do that. So um we appreciate yeah, we appreciate everybody's uh interest. We're just doing this for uh fun and our self-glory and uh world fame.

SPEAKER_01 45:10

That's right, that's right. Yeah, so uh just join us on uh on that fun, and this is uh this is just a podcast. You have a good time.

SPEAKER_00 45:17

That's exactly right. You want to close us out with anything, George?

SPEAKER_01 45:21

Uh no, but with that, I hope you have a good day.