Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Welcome, everyone, to another episode of the Jonathan Project podcast, where iron is sharpening iron. Our purpose is to help men navigate the complexities of the world around them and to become the men that God wants them to be. And we take the biblical example of Jonathan and King David and their friendship and loyalty to each other as the inspiration for the show. If you want Jason and me to come out and speak to your men's group, your church, a business and organization, please hit us up at the Jonathan Project podcast gmail.com. again, the Jonathan Project podcast, gmail.com. jason, thanks for being here. Another week, another episode. Getting ready for Thanksgiving week?
[00:00:52] Speaker B: No, I know.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: Ready for you. Got a lot been going on, man. Like, it's been a little rough as you get into the holiday season for you there at the Howard house, so.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: It's okay, man. You know, I got another look at plumbing. I got to dig some more vines. Good time.
[00:01:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:09] Speaker B: Of course, we're setting up decorations. You know, the house. We're ahead of the power curve. I got the little American flag, the.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: Freedom tree back there I like.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I've got a couple of them. I'll turn the little camera there so you can see. So we got those put up.
[00:01:26] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Just. Just doing a little work around here, you know, it's. So, as you know, come. Come Friday, I'm at work, and I get a phone call from my wife. And very, very politely, very sweet, and it's, hey, we heard a loud pop, and the water's running. Where do you turn the water off? And I'm like, I love that you're calm, but this is the time to move.
And so talk her through going out there, her and my son, out to the water meter. And I can hear very calmly, hey, you need to go find some pliers. And the whole time I'm thinking, it's steadily filling up.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: Yeah. And water hasn't stopped.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: This whole water hasn't stopped. It's not a small leak. So that's where we are. I spent yesterday doing some more work.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Yeah, I. Man, my heart just. It aches for you. And I know that, you know, you. You put on the smile in the face, but, man, it's been a. It's been a go. So for, you know, if you want to do something for us, which we always ask, I would just ask everyone. I know Jason will never do it, but I'm asking for everyone listening. Amen. Pray for Jason, their family.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: Like, I appreciate it. I do. Hey, I was blessed. It was Beautiful day yesterday. It didn't rain, it wasn't cold. So, yeah, you know, the Lord looked out for me.
[00:02:49] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. You know, and that's the thing, man, when you step into the arena, you know, and we most definitely have put ourselves out there, you know, the adversary will get busy and he is, if anything, trying to deter us from one, talking to all of you good folks out there, but two to also just to make things tough on our brother Jason here. So, you know, lift him up in prayer as you go through your prayers this week. But on a good note, we are getting ready for Turkey day, which is one of my favorite holidays, a holiday about food. I don't know how anyone cannot be excited about that.
[00:03:23] Speaker B: How can, how America.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. But we are supposed to give thanks. But it's also about food.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah. We, we've been planning it. You know, we've got, we've got groceries already pre staged for the cooking and family and so. Yeah. Yep.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: Love it. So the fat kid in me that loves cake is excited.
[00:03:46] Speaker B: I know, I know. So, so. All right. So are you a pumpkin pie fan or sweet potato pie fan?
[00:03:52] Speaker A: Well, you know, I'm a, I'm a Texas born raised kid, so I, I did not. I'll just be completely honest. And maybe it was a little bubble with my grandparents, but it was sweet potato pie and pecan.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:06] Speaker A: With a sprinkling of a peach cobbler, maybe a good old apple.
I did not. This whole pumpkin craze, pumpkin spice seasoned and all this kind of stuff, it didn't hit me until I left Texas and joined the military. And I was like, you know, you go with buddies and you, you know, like, hey, man, like, you want some pumpkin pie?
[00:04:25] Speaker B: I'm like, no, no, I want some sweet potato pie.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: I know. So again, I'm not gonna get into that. That's a debate actually out there, you know, that like there's really. Oh, you're kind of fired up about all that. I'm like, well. And I, I don't know, I really don't eat it that much anyway now. It's been a while, but yeah, I like sweet potato pie. I like yams in general, but yeah, yeah.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: Who doesn't? Well, look at it like this. If you only gorge one day, one day a month or one day of whatever. Right. This is not scientifically free. But I look at it like if people that only go to the gym once. Right. Once a month, not really doing yourself any good. And I'm probably, I'll. I'll make it through this.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: It'll be, yeah, it's one day. And I love. Please remember when I really deny myself, I think about you and you're like, hey, man, if one cookie having some ice cream with my kids is going to throw me off my whole plan, then you don't really have a plan. So, oh yeah, Turkey day. I am most definitely. I'm not even thinking about it. The scale doesn't exist. Calories don't exist. Nothing exists besides stuff in my face.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: No, that's it. That's it. Yeah. Hey, look, in reality, if a donut destroys your performance edge, you really didn't have one.
[00:05:40] Speaker A: You didn't have one. Let's just be honest.
[00:05:42] Speaker B: It's like people back in the day used to be, oh, I scored 180 on the PT test. I passed. And I'm like, no, man, you are literally one bad taco away from failing.
[00:05:52] Speaker A: You know, it's on a side note, and we've seen this throughout our career, I'm sure in various shades, you probably less so being on the unconventional side of the other military than me on the conventional side of. But to fail a PT test, you have to be spectacularly focused. Like, like you have to really be locked in to pull that maneuver off. Because I'm like, we've all been there. We were young dudes in the military at some point and I would say I had been enjoying the night before a PT test. And I'm like, I still would hit market, you know, and not even really trying now. I. It just blew my mind when dudes would feel. I'm like, you, you really, you. You were trying to do that. You were really trying.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have no idea. Yeah, we can't.
We can figure that out. But yeah. And speaking of failing PT test, we're going to talk about kindness. The thing that failing a PT test is not God.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: Yes, we probably should jump into that because we could talk all day. So kindness. We had talked about this and I'll kick it off for those that follow my Christian warrior fiction, the blog, the author blog about the books and really it's a writing ministry. So I do a lot of devotionals every day on Facebook and I posted this last week for all those that are following it. And I talk about the story of every time I go to work. Usually, you know, about 7:30, 8:00. Somewhere in between there without fail or taking the kids to school, there is a older woman in my neighborhood who is walking her dog and I call her the wave lady. I, you know, I. That's that's the nickname. That's. I. Oh, here's the wave lady. And I look for. Because she waves at everyone that goes by, whether they're walking, whether they're, you know, in a car or whatever. She waves, takes a moment to wave. And I watched, you know, cars ahead of me, people on the sidewalk, they'll ignore it. And, you know, it hit me, I was like, you know, she's taking a moment to think about someone else. And there's this concept out there in the world where it says, oh, it costs nothing to be kind. And it sounds good, and put on bumper stickers and T shirts. I'm like, nah, just the way I kind of think. And I'm wired. I'm like, no, it does cost them.
[00:08:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: And then the bigger thing is to ask yourself, is you're worth it? And I think so. And we're going to kind of dive into that. But, yeah, that's the kind of tee up for my initial thought.
[00:08:21] Speaker B: Well, I did some reading, and of course, I gave a lot of thought to kindness. And believe it or not, it says you can Google it. It's a behavior marked by acts of generosity. So behavior is an action. So nice redundancy there, Google. But it's. It's acts of generosity, consideration, and basically renderings of concern without any expectation of any reciprocal. Right.
So. And that. That is. That's. That's kind of how we define in Parameter Commons. Did you know there is a. There was a study, Colby, where out of 37 countries, they had 16,000 participants, and the number one trait for a spouse was kindness? That's what people said. Yeah, that's what I want. Which, if you've ever had a spousal disagreement, you're like, man, I need some kindness.
But so they also looked at it about what does it mean for an organization. Right. And I'm not even gonna say business, because organization is kind of broader for any kind of a group. Your family could be a group as well.
But they talked about there's this effort in Canada, and I forget the name of Canada first or something, but they talked about how to be kind at work. And they basically said, well, you gotta be kind to yourself, and you gotta be kind to your coworkers and then random acts of kindness. I think we, as a society, we're pretty high on kind, you know, being kind to ourselves.
Oh, yeah, Maybe. Maybe buckets two and three we should focus on. But they did give a couple of things, and I think even for the family, it's good. It's like wanting, you know, smile more, gossip less. Which there's plenty of that in the Bible, talking about it.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:11] Speaker B: And they talked about, you know, you can. When you're. You could walk someone to their car and that was in there, but you gotta be careful that you don't appear to be stalking. So, you know, I was like, why? Busted for the stalking. But they did go ahead.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: No, no, I was just laughing with you. I'm like, yeah, that's a good way to get shot, you know, or something like that.
[00:10:34] Speaker B: So the other oddity they talked about was it decreased stress, workplace stress, organizational stress, which the Bible says a lot about that, about, you know, about a contentious home and the value of it.
You know, it's better to eat a dinner of herbs than to have a fattened steak where there is a house of strife. Solomon said that and he had a thousand wives. I'm pretty sure he was pretty familiar with that.
But it says it, it can increase what's called oxytocin. And my medical background, I'm like, oxytocin, that's the, that's the hormone that increases contractions and lactation. And I'm like, wait a second. That's kind of crazy. Yeah, I see your. Your look there. But it's also.
That says for like culture, what was the exact phrase, Fosters community bonding and as a result that improves cardio health. So they has a couple of good studies, but it also anecdoted it cost nothing. So it's a good investment. Kindness.
[00:11:38] Speaker A: No, it is. You know, it's a biblical mandate to it too. Let's just be honest. The Bible clearly encourages us to be kind to others. You know, there's no greater kindness than Jesus sacrificing himself on the cross, right? Like, that's really a kind thing. If we wanted to, you know, be so general with it, you know, and also as believers, you know, what impact can you possibly have? You know, like I said, like, I'll use the wave lady, as I have, you know, given her that nickname. But that smile and that wave, you know, it's a little thing that could, you know, you never know you're having a bad day. You leave the house in a, in a, you know, a little riff or something, or you're trying to rush and you see someone take time and think about someone else thinking about you, even though they don't know you and they're impacting your day. You know, I'm like, wow, man. Like, that is. That is a heart that is filled with Kindness. Right. And I'd be willing to say that, you know, I probably in that woman's life, you know, you see that manifested in other ways, and that's really what we want because we're radiating. And through her act, right here we are. It generated me to think about the Lord and to again then present that to others. Right. So kindness is one of these things that is a key that can open doors to a person that otherwise would be locked.
[00:12:58] Speaker B: If you think about it, I agree with you did. So, you know, we talk about kindness and why this is also a topic. Another thing I ran across and actually was a lot of articles on this, and I kind of got lost in the research rabbit hole. But it talked about, are we. Are we less kind today than we were in the past?
And, you know, I think actually statistics show people would resoundly say, yes, that we are. That we're less kind as a society than we were years ago. However, as they pulled the thread on that, there's been really no measurement of that. So it's like, is this all in our head? So just bear with me and I'll connect the dots. So they go, is this all within our head? Well, then what some researchers did was they said, well, we can't measure that our people being kind, because we don't have historical data, but we do have data that says our perception of how we behave so unequivocally. People said, and it was across, like, by the way, in 60 different countries, 75% of the people say we need to return to kindness. So they did this study, and it was. They had data from 1960s to the 2000s, and they basically can assess their own behaviors. And they go, are you kind?
And, you know, most people believe they are kind, which goes back to Solomon saying, every man's right in his own heart. But here's where the kicker comes in. I actually had to take notes and write it all down.
We believe we're kind. We don't believe other people are kind. And you. You and I have had these discussions, but that's a socioeconomical equation, which is a big fancy word for saying, I'm investing and you're not investing in our relationship. And it creates a gap and it creates a debt. So, you know, so that makes us in turn go, I'm not going to pay more in until someone's nice to me back. So I think the greater part of that study was we see a dissonance between what we perceive. Like, hey, I'm being a good person. You're just not being nice to me. So now I'm not going to be nice to you. It was kind of spiraling down, if that makes sense.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: No, it does make sense. And I think that you bring up a good point. That kindness, again, one of those fruits of the spirit, right. It reflects us onto the world and kindness helps us bring honor and reflect God's heart for other people. Right. We talked about this a couple times in the season. I think if we put one kind of overarching theme on the season is you can have a tremendous impact on the eternal destiny of someone just by how you approach them, how you're living your life and the witness that your life carries, being kind. Right. It doesn't mean that you're being a pushover. And I think some people associate that with maybe even a lot of guys is that kindness equals weakness. No, that's not the case. And again, I don't think Jesus, by any definition, that you would want to try to ever describe him as weakness, but yet he went to the cross for us while we were still sinners. Just what Romans tells us, right? You know, so every time that we look at a chance where it's an opportunity, where I have to put myself in a position where I have to put the needs of someone else ahead of me, you are reflecting the kingdom. You are being that kingdom, man, that we've talked about time and time again here on the show. And I think that is why I took a little bit of umbrance with a little bit of, you know, I rubbed me the wrong way when I hear people say, well, kindness doesn't cost anything. Yes, it does. Right. The better question is, is it worth. And it absolutely is. And the Bible says it over and over again, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32. That kindness reflects the love and forgiveness of Christ. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also the interests of others. Philippians 2 and 4 again, kind of shifts our out, our focus outward, not inward, where we always want to be. Right. Kind of to, you know, Jason's point. And then, you know, it doesn't have to be something grand. It doesn't have to be you giving a sack of groceries to someone every single day. It could be, again, a simple wave. Saying hello to someone can lead to a conversation that could change someone's eternal destiny. And that's a spirit or fruit, I should say, a manifest of the Holy Spirit that we want to Most definitely make sure that we're reflecting in our lives, you know.
[00:17:43] Speaker B: So you said something about kindness and weakness, and there are. That was actually one of the things they talked about. Why aren't people more. More kind? And people are like, oh, do I think it just. People think that's me being weak. And then, you know, there was other people. There was another one where it was given this example of a man, a woman, carrying a mattress up some stairs. They. The runner could see they were clearly struggling, but the runner didn't want to say anything because, well, I didn't. How was it? It was put. The runner didn't want them to think they were weak, if that makes sense. They didn't want them to think, you know, oh, well, you're weak, you need help, and do it right. Like, we've. We've created these problems in society. Just do good when you can do good, you know, be kind.
You know, there was a. There was a new. A lady who once made this statement that when people held the door for her, it made her uncomfortable. Like, hey, makes me think people don't believe I can open my own door. And I'm like, I don't know how to solve that problem. Congratulations, you've. You've got me. But I'm just going to hold the door and for you, like I would everyone else. Right?
[00:19:01] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think he gets to, you know, what we talked about, and I think it was in maybe the first episode, the second, I can't remember right now. But this. This judgment thing, right, like, where I think too often, Jason, it's easy to give kindness to those that are in our little tribe, in our little circles.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: Right? Yeah.
[00:19:24] Speaker A: But we struggle, you know, even as believers, we struggle for those that we've kind of already prejudged. Right. Like, they're not. That guy that just cut me off is not deserving of kindness. Not knowing what the situation is. Right. That person is going through that, causing that, or these people are from here or there, whatever the case may be, and we don't want to bestow kindness upon them, but we want kindness. I want it.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, man.
[00:19:51] Speaker A: I don't want to be able to give it because I'm struggling with that issue. Right. And it's just funny to me on how we have this, for lack of better word, selective kindness, Helen. Dial it up and turn it off when it suits our needs, but that's not what we're called to do.
[00:20:09] Speaker B: So you're right. Helen Keller said, grace is the one thing that we need it, we want it in abundance, but when it's time to give it out, we're the stingiest with it.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: And you know, this is right there with that. I agree.
[00:20:22] Speaker B: It is right, because it is an action and everything. I'm looking here in Luke, it's got, you know, the do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And it's in Luke 6. 31. I love it.
Yeah, let's see. And as you would that men should do to you, do you also in them likewise. And it goes on about that, right? Guess where else that's recorded? And it didn't dawn on me till today, it's in Matthew.
How about that one? The tax collector who absolutely, prior to turning to Christ said, hey, I need some cash. I know that you're crying and you can't, you know, whatever. You can't pay the bills, you can't do whatever. Can you imagine how when he said, do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. And you think about that like Matthew had to have a serious reflection to go, oh, man, I should have put myself in those other people's shoes all those times.
Not only, you know, did the physician here in Luke record it, but it is, you know, about being kind to others, paying it forward. That's Jesus, the Bible. Colby. So I did a search. What does the Bible say about kindness? We literally could have built an entire season reading verse after verse after verse associated with kindness.
[00:21:51] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a big deal. And I think we underestimated as believers and for sure of understanding the Christian perspective on that virtue. But yeah, you're right.
[00:22:01] Speaker B: Well, so kindness is the fruit of the spirit, right? And just like you and I have talked, I've got some peach trees out here. They produce a lot of peaches for about a month, right? Yeah, but we know they're peaches. And just like the tree out back, when we bought two pear trees that turned out to be two apple trees, they were mislabeled, right? I'm like, that's a weird looking pear. Is it growing?
[00:22:30] Speaker A: It's not funny, but it is.
[00:22:32] Speaker B: Oh, it's absolutely funny, you know, because they take longer to produce. I was so looking forward to those. But that, that's the fruit, right? And I know what it is by what it produces. Everything produces after its own kind. By the way, I love that statement in Genesis. Everything produces after its own kind. How it talks about the genetic linkage, right? Like cows have cows, they don't have pigs, and so forth and so forth.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: So that's that's good, Jason. You know, I think that, you know, for Christians, we really have to examine our perception on it.
[00:23:11] Speaker B: Right.
[00:23:12] Speaker A: And that's why I use that example of why I push back on this notion that, oh, kindness is free. Right. Because it puts kindness out of the context of the world that we live in. And what I mean by that is, let's think about how mean the world is. Don't believe me? Turn on your news. Pick whatever your favorite news is, social media, and just listen for a minute. Just read for a second what people put out. Go to social media comments like Jason loves to bring out.
We have done nothing to physically harm people that have responded. Right. So the people that responded negatively to this show, we physically did not put our hands on them, do anything to hurt them.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: But their response, out of the, out of the abundance of their heart came this mean spirit. That. That's the world. That's the standard. That's. That's the foundation kindness is. Yeah, exactly. And everything in the kingdom is just that. I think sometimes as believers, we struggle to identify who are we representing as ambassadors. Right. Our world is the opposite kindness, to put a. A good kind of way to think of it. I think your kindness is not a random free kind of thing, but it's that costly, counterintuitive response to something mean that happens to you. Right. That is biblical kindness. It is the opposite. Jesus talked about, if someone slaps you, turn the cheek. You know, those kinds of things are just counterintuitive. So it carries a tremendous cause, your ego, your status. Maybe there's a financial cost that will have to happen for you to be kind, but it is absolutely a mandate that we operate from a heart of kindness.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: You know, you see a lot of things and, you know, you reflect back on your life and a couple of things. One thing he's talking about kindness, and it made me stop. It's always stuck with me. You remember the old boxing smokers they would have in Iraq or different places? So, yeah, you remember those.
[00:25:14] Speaker A: And sometimes flashbacks, some dudes would get.
[00:25:18] Speaker B: In there and they were like Golden Glove champs. Well, there was a kid and he got in the ring, and it was clearly he was outmatched by the other guy. Right. The other guy was a really good, talented boxer, and this other kid was not. And instead of just humbling him, like, he. He gave. It was a bunch of kindness. He was like, he didn't take any cheap shots. He didn't clean his clock. He, you know, it was like, okay, I see your level And I'm. I'm gonna just be right there. At no point did I ever think that guy was weak. As a matter of fact, I thought he's probably one of the better humans out there. Exactly right. He wasn't mastered by his own reputation or what he perceived his reputation was.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: Owned that domain. He was me.
You know, he had a lot of talent, but it was extremely well controlled into the boxing match. Man, that was. It was great, you know?
[00:26:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:17] Speaker B: So.
[00:26:18] Speaker A: But it's that light, Jason.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: Right.
[00:26:19] Speaker A: It's that thing that we've talked about again.
[00:26:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:22] Speaker A: So many times throughout the season, is when you do something for the kingdom, it runs counter. It's the. It's the salmon is swimming upstream. The world is going one way. It is that light that can't be hidden on the hill. Those. There's a reason why when I drive by the lady, it stands out, because that's uncommon. There's a reason why when you see everyone going off on the poor person, that. And I'll pick something that everyone likes to jump on the airline. Right. Like the gate agent. And because the plane is messed up. Right. It's easy to pile on. It's hard to say, okay, if it was me, you want all the grace in the world for something you can't control, but when you can't get to Tahiti night or wherever you're trying to get to.
[00:27:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: It's the worst thing in the world. Right.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: Right. Yeah.
[00:27:13] Speaker A: So kindness, man. Right. Like, we have to make sure that as ambassadors, as Christians, we need to hold ourselves and those around us in our circles to that standard. Right. Yeah. Because it has such a big impact on people's lives, whether we realize it or not.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: So, you know, we go back to. And I. I meant to include this when we talked about the fruit of the Spirit, you know, the fruit of that tree out there. The tree doesn't eat the fruit. The fruit is for someone else. And kindness absolutely. Is it. But I love this in Titus. And I actually, when I was looking up earlier, it's Titus 3, 3 through 5 for anybody who wants to look this up. I. I took in my notes. I was scribbling down real quick, and I wrote like six money signs out beside it, which is my little. Draw attention to it is all I could think of. I was like, oh, my gosh, this is money. And then I started drawing it anyway. Nobody can see it, but it says, for we ourselves were also. Were. See if any of this rings true to anyone out there. Foolish, disobedient Deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But after that, the kindness and love of God, our savior toward man appeared.
Hey, if that's how. In truth, that's how we were, right? If we're just open, honest, candid, right? You take a moment and self reflect. I absolutely. Very foolish and so forth. But God looked at us with kindness and grace. If I'm an ambassador for Christ, then that ought to be what my. You know, that should be my. That should be who I am. That should be my mission statement.
[00:29:01] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:29:01] Speaker B: Right. Just like when you go somewhere in America, you have the American flag and you go, hey, I belong to America. These are the values I represent as an ambassador for Christ. Kind of should be there.
[00:29:13] Speaker A: It really should. That is well said. There's no better way to win the day and to open that door to like, the best conversation, the best decision a person can have than being. Yeah, it's such a thing in our society. Like, I just can't tell you how powerful it is, you know. And I know me. You've talked like, you know, giving a sandwich to a guy out or gal or someone homeless, right? And people are standing back and they're like, hey, why'd you do that? And it gives you a platform to say, hey. Well, you know, this is what I believe. You know, kindness is a part of. It is a core. It is not a extra. It's not like, yeah, it's not a secondary thing. It's a primary rock in your rock. Yeah, right. It's a big one. So it's intentional. I love it.
[00:30:02] Speaker B: Well, you know, and it doesn't. I think about how to Acts of kindness and so I remember being on a deployment one time years ago, and it was. It was pretty long. We had kind of had an area, a time at which it was a lot of work. And long story short, man, I was tired.
And maybe I had also worked for some folks that were maybe not the. They were not pristine examples of leadership. Just to candidly put it right. It's years and years ago. And just I remember, man, they. It was rough. And I've come around the corner one day with walking between a couple of tents and this sergeant major from another company caught me. It was a completely different unit. He caught me and he goes, hey, you okay? And I was like, yes. Arm, Major, I'm all right. He goes, nope. Don't buy it. He says, I've watched you. You're always bopping around, got a good attitude. Last Couple of days looked pretty rough, and he sat me down, just talked to me for a few minutes. Right. Still think of all the memories and all the different things, but that stands out. Just that simple act of kindness, that putting your hand on somebody's shoulder and checking on them. If you. For everybody out there, think of it like this. If you see somebody who is going through or having a great day, just, hey, man, get ready. Bad days are coming. They're around the corner. But in the same token, somebody's having a bad day, good days are coming as well. There's always somebody going through it and calling, checking on them. That's. That's important.
[00:31:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:44] Speaker B: Those acts of kindness, of genuine care and concern, expecting nothing in return. Hey, I'm just here for you and that's it. I think about the people who were there for me in the hard times in my life. I forever be indebted to those people, and it's not a begrudging payback, you know what I mean? Like, I look for opportunities to help. Yeah.
[00:32:06] Speaker A: So, no, that is a good way to sum up what is a really, you know, powerful episode. And me and Jason now, we can kind of see this one coming, but we're. We're really kind of led by what the Lord puts on our heart from week to week. And we thought it is well timed in some ways as we get ready for all. Joking aside, you know, Thanksgiving is, again, it's one of those reflective moments on the calendar to kind of really be thankful for what you got. But it's also a good time to bless some other people. Yeah. And think about how you can be kind and spread that kindness. So great episode. So that is another episode of the Jonathan Project podcast. If you want me and Jason to come out, speak to you, your business group, you have an event going on, please reach out to us at the Jonathan Project podcast, gmail.com. again, the Jonathan Project podcast, gmail.com. this episode and every episode will be out on Tuesday morning. You can find it at Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple, you name it. You're probably going to find us there. So please look us up. Subscribe so you don't miss anything.
And Jason, thanks. Praying for you, my friend. I appreciate it that the maintenance load kind of lightens up a little bit.
[00:33:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I appreciate it. It will. It's okay.
[00:33:25] Speaker A: It'll be all right. All right, my friend, I'll talk to you again soon.
[00:33:29] Speaker B: All right, see you, brother.
