It's the last episode of the year, and we're kicking off the new year with a bang. This week, we're talking about Kwanzaa, and why it's not a holiday you should celebrate if you're a black person.
00:03:13.000You know it's wrong to base a holiday on race and tell people to love a place you've never been, you'll never go, you know it's not your home!
00:04:33.000But it is delicious and actually you can go and get your own at I believe santacrowdercoco.com and I assure you that I stand to not make a penny from it.
00:05:11.000This is just about highlighting some people and families and stories and hopefully helping some people out there who need a little assistance making their Christmas miracle happen.
00:05:22.000So we're going to be highlighting some of those families who we went out to help this year, some charities, and we're going to have some special guests calling in to wish all of you Mug Clubbers a Merry Christmas, and of course none of this is possible without your assistance in signing up at MugClubForever.com, but You already knew that.
00:06:00.000So, most importantly, we'll be trying to bless some families and organizations in need.
00:06:06.000And we have a couple of Well, two very specific families later on in this program who I think will, if nothing else, give you a little appreciation for what you have this year and take some time to help spread some Christmas cheer to those around you.
00:06:21.000I know that all of us have our troubles, we have our thing to deal with, but...
00:06:25.000There's someone else who could maybe use a hand, and sometimes thinking about them and focusing on their needs and what you can do to meet them, well, makes that season just a little bit more meaningful.
00:06:34.000Before we get to that, though, here are some other families we visited to deliver toys.
00:06:39.000Now, as you well know, Santa's sleigh is in the shop.
00:06:41.000It's really just a one-time-a-year thing, so they had to send in their videos.
00:06:47.000We did deliver toys for their family and some assistance, but they did it by...
00:12:58.000A lot of people complain that Christmas has a lot of pagan There's symbolism in it, like the Christmas tree and things, and maybe it's a pagan holiday.
00:13:07.000But to me, that's a feature, not a bug.
00:13:10.000Christianity should Christianize everything it touches.
00:13:13.000And if you have a wonderful holiday and some wonderful traditions, and they begin to represent Christ, that's a good thing.
00:13:19.000I mean, I know I'm talking to Crowder's audience, so you're a bunch of troglodytes who are punching yourself repeatedly in the face just because you want to find out what it feels like.
00:13:28.000But obviously, I think it's an important idea, if you can possibly understand it.
00:14:23.000And I take a moment on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, to go back and reflect on the birth Our favorite Christmas tradition, um, would be, would be Mama.
00:15:23.000Yeah, she'll cook that turkey that night.
00:15:24.000And over Christmas Eve night, that turkey, when you sleeping in the bed, thinking about what Santa Claus gonna bring us, all you can smell is that damn turkey now.
00:15:37.000Christmas means, well obviously if you're celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, if you want to be religious about it, if you don't want to, it's just family getting together.
00:15:45.000Being with the love, the ones you love.
00:16:23.000It probably means what it's always meant to me, except now I have a better understanding
00:16:28.000When I was a kid, obviously Christmas meant great gifts and new clothes and a bunch of food.
00:16:34.000What it means to me now, it's a reminder of God, of Jesus.
00:16:43.000Christmas is a great time to commune, celebrate, fellowship, engage with your family, and to remind yourself that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and his greatest gift to us was family.
00:17:00.000Hey, let me say to all of you people who got stuck with those horrible Crowder mugs, Merry Christmas.
00:17:05.000You know, I actually love Steven and, you know, when he slides down your chimney, don't open fire on him.
00:17:31.000Merry Christmas, Mug Club, and make sure to give a daily wire subscription to all those who love you so that I can, you know, have some more shekels.
00:18:05.000It's time for my favorite part in Crowder Gives Back.
00:18:09.000Oh, oh, oh, I like that, uh, that stinger.
00:18:21.000That's a lot better than Gerald Knows stuff.
00:18:24.000And if you all go out to MugClubForever.com, of course you know you can expect more great content in the future, but you already knew that.
00:19:18.000Okay, now hold on, don't tell me... We know the mom and dad, that's Mika and Kara, but what really matters is we have... Let's see, I know...
00:19:30.000You, if I point, you may not know who I'm- Here, let me take off my gloves. It gets a little clammy in
00:21:21.000Now, do you know that your parents actually specifically called Santa this year and said, oh, my family would love to get on a call with Santa.
00:24:05.000So, aside from I know you like basketball, and I know that, you know, science, there's a lot we can do with that.
00:24:10.000Very important that we have scientists here in this country, and engineers, there's no country without them, but you're still, right, like to have some fun?
00:24:18.000Is the Nerf guns, things like that still the types of things you like to play with?
00:25:29.000The more that you put in effort and help your mom and dad and take care of all your brothers and sisters, that makes their life a lot easier.
00:25:37.000And I tell you, I've been following what has been going on with Gracie and it- Yes, sir.
00:25:41.000break Santa's heart but it fills Santa's heart with joy to know that she's back
00:25:45.000home for the holidays so do you promise you'll you'll keep helping your mom and
00:25:49.000dad and take care of everyone not just Gracie because that helps her too
00:25:54.000absolutely okay well Josh thank you is there anything else you'd like to ask
00:25:58.000Santa before I move on are you sure you don't have to be so formal right we can
00:26:04.000be on you couldn't be on a first-name basis with Santa just not mom and dad
00:26:10.000Well, Josh, if you can think of anything, I'll go back, okay?
00:26:14.000Now I think, I believe, it's hard for me to see again, a small screen, but Caitlin, right?
00:26:19.000Oh, Caitlin, I can see you right there.
00:26:22.000Now, Caitlin, do you have, is that your natural hair color, or do you put streaks in your hair?
00:26:41.000We do some of that at the North Pole sometimes.
00:26:43.000The elves can only work so many hours a day, so if you find a good person, it's worth its weight in gold.
00:26:48.000And do you still really like doing that, though?
00:26:50.000I know you like doing hair, makeup, and I can see you like wearing stylish clothes.
00:26:55.000Is that still really something you're into?
00:26:59.000Okay, well, look, that's something that I have to tell you.
00:27:04.000All little girls, almost all the requests are for things like hair straighteners, or hair dye, or makeup, and the only thing that I ask is whatever it is that Santa gets for you this year, assuming you've been good, is that you make sure Mommy and Daddy are supervising, because sometimes there can be harsh chemical burns.
00:27:24.000Do you promise that to Santa, Caitlin?
00:28:28.000Maybe two, three hundred years ago, but now sometimes I look at them and I don't recognize the face anymore, so I mostly just try and focus on the laughter I bring to others.
00:30:11.000I don't know if you can see this here, but Santa wears these old ankle boots and they're kind of... Ooh, but the only problem is sometimes Santa, if he gets on a flight for too long, gets thrombosis.
00:31:24.000Okay, and Sam, do you still really like... because keep in mind sometimes Santa has to keep track of billions of children across the world, but I have a pretty good memory.
00:31:33.000That's one of... call it a gift that I have.
00:31:37.000You still love building things, but also taking them down.
00:31:41.000Is that something you're still really into?
00:32:03.000I do have, I don't have it written down, I have it right up in the old egg noggin.
00:32:09.000Now, like your brother, do you, would you like maybe, because your brother, right, he had someone to play with, some Nerf guns too, so maybe you could play together?
00:32:59.000So, when you get older, that's a discussion with your parents, though.
00:33:02.000You have to take... If you ever ride a motorcycle, okay, do you promise you'll wear your helmet, and only if your parents say that you can?
00:36:23.000I did, until she went to the hospital and I had to retire.
00:36:28.000Right, and can you, from what I understand, uh, Gracie, you know, Santa knows this with a lot of children, uh, had a congenital, uh, issue, um, and, uh, this also, of course, you foster many children, and this may have been, you know, something that happened that could have been lineal, uh, passed down to her, correct?
00:36:49.000Right, and she went to Dallas, Texas for heart surgery.
00:36:52.000It didn't quite go as planned, but she's been actually improving, and she's... Just this weekend, she came home with you?
00:37:41.000So we're real careful with that, obviously.
00:37:45.000But she's going to continue getting better and eventually will have a heart transplant.
00:37:49.000Oh, absolutely, and I know how difficult that can be, but boy, am I glad to know that she's in your care, because we both know, and for people who are out there, that, you know, there are a lot of children who need foster care and need homes for them, and so many people don't open them up, and for you to open your home and your hearts and help her, that means the world to me.
00:38:10.000That's every bit as much as what Santa can do, so thank you so much, I appreciate that.
00:38:18.000And I know so you know I think you've already spoken with Santa's elves and Santa's been following what's been going on with Gracie and I know that you know this is why I wanted to make sure the children are out that Santa's going to take care of the Christmas lists this year.
00:40:03.000Oh, it's, I tell you what, the blessing is all mine.
00:40:05.000All year, you know, the world can be difficult and an ugly place, and everyone, everyone goes through difficulties, everyone has their own hurdles, but your story really spoke to us here at the North Pole, and I promise we're going to send that over to you, and if there's anything else that that we can do to help with, please let us know.
00:40:26.000If you have a message to people watching, Kara, thank you, that's your... I hope those are tears of joy and not the fact that Santa can't just cash out six figures, I can't take a second mortgage.
00:41:15.000You've been a blessing to us, and I think you'll be a blessing to more people out there than you know, hearing your story and seeing what a wonderful family you have.
00:41:23.000I know how hard it can be going through these times, but the hope that you have and the love you have for your family is, well, that's really what Christmas is about, right?
00:42:03.000God will work miracle after miracle Well, I'll tell you this, they're not showing anyone else here because there's not a dry eye in the house.
00:42:13.000We do have to get going for another family, Mika and Kara, and the only thing is that the check does come with a drug testing policy, so be sure to be careful with that.
00:43:18.000Prestonwood Pregnancy Center and Casa Collin County.
00:43:21.000And because I'm busy, I actually sent some elves out to deliver some Christmas cheer in the form of tens of thousands of dollars of cold, hard cash.
00:43:32.000That's not... I don't mean Santa cash.
00:43:36.000And it's not like Kohl's, where I mark something up by 25% to mark it down by 10% and tell you that you've saved 70%.
00:43:42.000This is real cash delivered hand-by-elves to the charities.
00:43:48.000That phrase doesn't make... Just enjoy it.
00:43:51.000Alright, we are out here at the Prestonwood Pregnancy Center with a staff nurse named Whitney, correct?
00:44:03.000We are a pregnancy center and we help women in crisis.
00:44:08.000We have free pregnancy tests, free sonograms, we do STD testing, we have counselors on site, we have a resource center across the street as well, so it just can help anybody who is in a crisis pregnancy to know what all their options are and to help them make a life-affirming decision.
00:44:27.000So I don't know if you're aware, but Santa has also got wind of your organization and the good that you do for the community.
00:44:33.000So he sent us out and actually sent a couple of his elves out, and we're gonna present you with something that hopefully you can use during the Christmas season.
00:45:17.000Alright, we are here with Teresa, Brooke, and Trish, who is the CEO of CASA of Collin County.
00:45:23.000And if you could, could you just tell our viewers a little bit about what your organization stands for and what you do as a part of the community?
00:45:31.000So we are CASA of Collin County and we are the Court Appointed Special Advocates.
00:45:36.000Basically what that is, is we train volunteers like yourself in the community to represent the children who have been abused or neglected and removed from their homes and placed into the child welfare system.
00:45:46.000Well, that sounds like a really worthwhile cause, and we're not the only ones that think so.
00:45:51.000Santa actually thought the same thing.
00:45:53.000Unfortunately, he's really busy, as you can imagine, back at the North Pole, but he sent us out because he's heard so many nice things about your organization that he wanted to help in any way he could.
00:46:03.000So actually, if you don't mind, our elves brought a little something from Santa, if we could present that to you now.
00:46:38.000If there's anybody that wants to become part of this organization or wants to get in touch with your organization, where can they find you or should they reach out?
00:46:47.000So you can go to www.casaofcollincounty.org.
00:46:52.000You can find out what it means to be an advocate, how you can become an advocate, or how else you can help out.
00:47:00.000Oh, I'm glad that was a pre-tape, because it is hard to keep it together, of course.
00:47:08.000Everyone is touched here this time of year, but of course, if you saw how I really felt and I lost it, I'd be unprofessional and Mrs. Claus would tell me I need to grow a spine.
00:47:18.000So finally, we actually have a very special family, and that's the Sharps,
00:47:23.000Mama and Papa Tasha and Nick, and their children, Samuel, Jojo, and Billy,
00:47:29.000and a very important story about one of their children, Benny.
00:47:34.000♪♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I hear a lot of little voices!
00:48:34.000And you must be Samuel, if I rem... Is that right, Samuel?
00:48:40.000Now, do you prefer... You still go by Sammy?
00:48:45.000Yes okay well I know you know on my list I have your name but then I have a nickname that's we still call them nicknames which is we don't go Nicholas names with Sammy then we have Jonathan if I'm okay we have Jonathan and it's hard for me to see in a little screen all this there's little Billy There's little Billy!
00:52:00.000That's great to get into something like that, because you can protect yourself, and more importantly, you can protect your little brother and your little sister.
00:54:00.000You know, those were very popular a while back, then they went away, and now they're back!
00:54:06.000I really wish I would have invested, but Santa put a lot of his into Beanie Babies, so... I'm really hoping for a comeback with Pogs, so... Pikachu... Pikachu and GraviTrax it is then, but you've been a good boy, you think that you really... You've really earned your keep for that, these Pokemon cards and the GraviTrax.
00:54:32.000Okay, I can't tell who's saying- I think that's- that's Jonathan saying yes.
00:56:40.000We used to have toys for boys, toys for girls, and... Well, it's still toys for boys, toys for girls.
00:56:44.000I don't know how they do it over in Europe, but we still do boy-girl here at the North Pole, and I think that Hot Wheels are a wonderful toy.
00:56:52.000Let me ask now, we have Billy over there, so Sammy, Santa's really relying on you since you're the one who's able to talk more.
00:57:00.000What do you think Billy would like for Christmas?
00:57:49.000Nicholas and Tasha, would you say that these, these children are, uh, they're good enough that maybe these lists should be, uh, something that Santa could provide for them on Christmas Day?
00:59:22.000And I know that, I know you reached out here, the North Pole this year, where Santa gives back, and you had a story that really Really touched Santa deeply, and I didn't want to, of course, with the little ones, bring anything up that you weren't comfortable with, but I know you wanted to share your story that you went through here these last couple of years.
00:59:46.000With our son, Benny, we had Benny about two years after we had Sammy, so they were pretty close in age.
00:59:57.000And when I was about 20-some weeks pregnant with him, we were supposed to be finding out if he was a boy or a girl, and we found out that he had very significant heart defects.
01:00:13.000And at first we didn't really know the extent of those.
01:00:16.000We had to be sent to a better hospital, more equipped for imaging and things like that.
01:00:23.000So once we kind of got an idea of just how extensive his heart defects were, you know, they weren't sure that he would even make it to birth.
01:00:36.000And, you know, I do have a lot of respect for WVU Hospital in Morgantown.
01:00:46.000The one, the one qualm I have, and it's not on anyone in particular, but, you know, we made it pretty clear Outright that even if Benny wasn't going to have long with us, we, we had no interest in abortion, just to put it plain.
01:01:06.000Um, and despite that, we, we still about every other visit, I would have to field offers for referrals of that kind and even got a phone call.
01:01:20.000At least one time from a clinic farther out in West Virginia, saying that they had received our information and wanted to set up an appointment, and I had to tell them that we're really not interested.
01:02:17.000I mean, he had about a week of adjusting.
01:02:21.000They weren't sure whether his pulmonary artery would shrink or get too big, or which way it might go, because babies' hearts are already wild and crazy and do all kinds of things when they're born.
01:02:35.000If I remember, Benny had his first open heart surgery.
01:04:32.000Um, so he, he rapidly deteriorated to the point that they had to fly him to a hospital in Pittsburgh where they were better equipped to put him on ECMO.
01:04:43.000Um, which basically does all of his body functions for him, beating heart, breathing, oxygenating blood, things like that.
01:04:52.000Um, and they, I honestly not sure how many separate surgeries they went in.
01:05:00.000To try to repair what they could and get him off of ECMO.
01:05:05.000Every day that a person is, it's a blessing and a curse because ECMO allows the body to rest and recover, but every day that someone's on ECMO, the likelihood of them coming off decreases.
01:05:18.000Right, it's a difficult decision to make sometimes when you're in that situation.
01:06:04.000It was just, you know, you rolled the dice with the world the way it was.
01:06:10.000So Benny, you went through this with Benny and I know that it ended up getting obviously more serious.
01:06:18.000Oh yeah, so this surgery in particular, he actually did, he had a miracle.
01:06:24.000I mean his surgeon at one point said that he needed a miracle and he got it.
01:06:29.000He actually survived that surgery and eventually came off ECMO and he had suffered two strokes while on ECMO and Some other kind of collateral issues from it, but he he spent a total of seven months in the hospital with him, obviously.
01:06:50.000But he did recover from that, and I think it took about a year in total for him to fully recover from all of that.
01:06:59.000But once he was able to come home, I mean, he was just all eyes for Sammy.
01:07:04.000And as soon as he could keep up with his brother, he was just attached to him.
01:07:26.000Once he realized he could do something, trying to tell him not to was not an option, honestly.
01:07:34.000So yeah, he kept up with his big brother with no problem.
01:07:39.000And, you know, we had a good couple years of him just being a kid.
01:07:44.000And, you know, we had lots of doctor's appointments and checkups to just see how he was doing and whatnot.
01:07:52.000They would broach the topic that he was going to need another surgery at some point sooner rather than later, and we tried to push that as far as we could.
01:08:02.000One, because we wanted him to recover as much as possible from the last one, but also because we didn't know that surgery was the right choice because of how the last one had gone.
01:08:18.000So we just got as much time as we could with him, and it was a beautiful, joyful few years.
01:08:26.000He was the most happy little kid you'd ever meet, regardless of what he was going through that day.
01:08:32.000And he touched a lot of people's lives just because of how happy he was just to be alive and be playing with his brother.
01:08:40.000The strength in that kid is more than any person, any adult I've ever met.
01:08:49.000And as summer came around in, was it 2019 or 2020?
01:09:01.000In 2021, summer came around and, you know, he started wanting to come inside a lot sooner.
01:09:07.000And I mean, he, he could spend all day outside, even if it was zero degrees out, you know, he, He loved being outside, but at that point he started wanting to come in even after five or ten minutes.
01:09:19.000He would spend all day on the couch kind of just snuggling up and it just wasn't like him at all.
01:09:24.000And we noticed as time went on that he got bluer and bluer because his heart wasn't pumping as much oxygen to the rest of his body.
01:09:33.000So we knew that we had to make a choice to either spend the time we had with him And not pursue surgery or to give him this chance for better quality and longer life with the surgery.
01:09:50.000We did everything we could to try to make sure that we were making the right choice and the right choice for him, not selfishly choosing for, you know, our own desires.
01:10:02.000Obviously, we want him with us as long as possible.
01:10:07.000We got second opinions from other hospitals to see what they thought, and they agreed that this surgery was doable, probably his best option, and it just wasn't.
01:10:20.000They went to do the surgery, and they didn't actually get to do the surgery they wanted to do.
01:10:26.000They wanted to actually create two ventricles from his single ventricle, but they couldn't do it because his aorta just didn't allow it.
01:10:36.000Um, so they ended up redoing the same surgery that he had previously that didn't go well.
01:10:42.000Um, and again, right away, his body just rejected it.
01:10:48.000Um, and they, they did try to again, repair it like they did last time.
01:10:54.000But at that point, his body had been through so much that there was really no catching up with the damage that had been done.
01:11:04.000So after a few weeks, Just everything started shutting down one by one.
01:11:09.000He ended up on dialysis and then they couldn't keep him on dialysis because it would leak just because his body was so tired it couldn't even handle dialysis.
01:11:20.000So he got sicker and sicker and it got to the point where we had to decide if, you know, he would want to live a life of never getting out of bed if If his body even healed enough to get to that point.
01:11:38.000Um, or if he was telling us that, you know, he had fought enough and he was tired and ready to let go.
01:11:46.000It's a choice that no parent obviously ever, ever wants to make.
01:11:52.000And in making that choice, we, we talked so long about, you know, making sure that we were, Well, that's sort of providential, isn't it?
01:12:01.000And even though Benny was three, he couldn't really talk.
01:12:04.000So he talked to us in his own way, but he wasn't a verbal communicator.
01:12:08.000The only word he ever said was, bye, and happy.
01:12:14.000Well, that's sort of providential, isn't it?
01:12:21.000Let me, I know how difficult this is, and I think there are people out there who will hear this and can only imagine what that kind of a choice is like for a parent.
01:12:32.000I truly can't imagine anything more difficult, but you know what, Nicholas and Tasha?
01:12:38.000You did have, you did have another, at least, what people presented to you as a choice, and I think it's the important one.
01:12:47.000That was that you chose to give little Benny life.
01:12:52.000That you chose, and let me ask you this.
01:12:55.000Despite everything that happened, and I can't imagine anything more difficult, Santa would go to the gates of hell itself for his children, as I know you would.
01:13:04.000I would imagine that you don't regret making that decision with Benny for a moment.
01:13:14.000And I think that's a very powerful example for people out there who will often say that, well, this is how it's supposed to be, or, you know, they decide that some people don't deserve to have a chance, and you gave him a chance.
01:13:31.000That was the least we could do for him.
01:13:34.000And that's one of the many reasons we do like sharing his story, is to give anyone out there in a position where they have They're presented with this choice and have a sick child that it's a choice that exists, but the real choice is choosing to give your child the chance that they want.
01:14:00.000And if they don't make it, they didn't make it on their own.
01:14:05.000And if they do make it, then you have a beautiful time with them, you know?
01:14:11.000We were very blessed to have him in our lives.
01:14:15.000You know, I speak with parents all over the world, and obviously this is an unfortunate situation that happens, or something similar to this, and never once, never once have I spoken to anyone who says they regret having that child in their life, that they regret that life, as difficult as it may be, and I think that sometimes around Christmas, as difficult as things may be, it's time to Be thankful for the things we do have.
01:14:42.000And right now, look, you have a wonderful family.
01:14:44.000Even if she's a- Even if she's a little troublemaker right there, I'm sure- I'm sure that you're glad to have that troublemaker in your life for every single- Every single electrical appliance she unplugs, or- Or chemicals she ingests that she's not supposed to.
01:15:00.000The young Santa had to have his stomach pumped one time for what was back then was children's Tylenol.
01:15:06.000I know how hard it is, but I also know that obviously this is expensive and obviously you incurred a lot of medical bills that were very difficult for the family, right?
01:15:17.000Well, we were very blessed by living in the small town we live in.
01:15:22.000People really rallied to support us and help however they could.
01:15:27.000Between spaghetti benefits to just donating out of their pocket, we had a significant amount of support.
01:15:40.000Well that's fantastic that your whole town rallied behind you.
01:15:43.000That's a real blessing and you know that's one thing that a lot of people when they talk about small town America or Appalachia they often forget about the people and what they do for each other.
01:15:54.000I tell you the place Santa Claus loves going least is New York City.
01:16:00.000My sleigh could be stranded right in the middle of Sixth Avenue and no one would bat an eye or help a wink, but I know that you're being very, obviously, grateful and positive, and I can't tell you how much that means to everyone I know watching and listening right now, but I also know how difficult that can be for a family, and not just, obviously, emotionally, but the financial toll it can take.
01:16:20.000And now, what you do know is, we've spoken before this, you've spoken with Santa's elves, that Santa will be taking care of all the Christmas gifts this year.
01:16:30.000And I'm very happy to... But there's something that you don't know.
01:16:34.000Your story touched us so much over here, at the North Pole, that we actually would like to... I'd like to bring in my elf here, Elf Riley, to help you.
01:16:44.000Right now, she can show it to the camera, but Santa's going to have to show you this.
01:16:48.000Your family, this year, with a check for $50,000, to help you reset And to help your family as you get through this Christmas season, and you went through a time that I can only imagine most people couldn't even in their worst possible scenario.
01:17:10.000And I wish I could do more, but I can't.
01:17:13.000I think you've done so much more for us in sharing your story.
01:17:34.000No, I, um, it's just an important point to bring up whenever we talk about Vinny that, you know, I met a lot of amazing families who Who are also staying at the Ronald McDonald house, which is an amazing charity that I think if anyone does have the means to give back is a great way to give back.
01:17:55.000Um, but I, I made lifelong friends there and you know, when Benny passed, I, one of the girls that I'm closest to, she said, you know, I can't help, but be mad at God for letting these little kids be sick and suffer so much.
01:18:10.000And I told her, You know, I can't be mad at God at all, because God is the one that chose us to be Benny's parents and put him in our lives to begin with.
01:18:23.000And regardless of the things that Benny went through, which was all part of God's plan, you know, he was part of our lives, and I could never be mad about that.
01:18:35.000And part of his plan was to touch an astounding amount of people's lives.
01:18:43.000I could never be mad at God for giving us such a beautiful thing in our lives.
01:18:48.000Well, I tell you what, I think you've touched a great many lives here today, and I know that you've touched everyone here.
01:18:57.000There's not a dry eye in the house, and I hope that what little we can do here is a help to you, and I tell you what, I do not say this Lightly, those children are incredibly blessed to have parents like you, Nicholas and Tasha, and I don't think that Benny could have asked for better when it comes to parents.
01:19:13.000I thank you, and I thank you so much for sharing your story, and I hope that people really ponder hard and not only listen, but take a moment and be grateful for the things they have and the people in their lives.
01:19:25.000Nicholas and Tasha, thank you so much.
01:20:22.000This is the last time I'll see you this year with thoughts on Christmas, and I don't know that I can say it any better than the families that have come before me, but...
01:20:32.000I do think that everyone's having a little bit of trouble these last couple years.
01:20:35.000I understand that some people have had some rough goes, some tough breaks, and sometimes it feels like that Christmas miracle is just a little bit further away than you were hoping for.
01:20:46.000And I want you to know that there are a lot of people out there, and maybe you don't even know.
01:20:50.000Some you do, but some waiting in the wings who are there to help make your miracle happen.
01:20:58.000Many of us here have experienced it this year to the point that we don't have enough room for it with MugClubForever.com.
01:21:04.000And all of you, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts and support from fantastic, fantastic partnerships out there that have helped us.
01:21:41.000So I would hope for all of you out there right now, I understand and it's very easy to complain, it's very easy to see how difficult, cold, cutthroat, maybe selfish the world has become.
01:21:54.000You're not wrong in seeing that in the world.
01:21:57.000Santa sees it too, but doesn't Christmas make that coldness just a little bit more warm?
01:22:05.000Doesn't Christmas maybe help us all to treat each other a little less cutthroat and with a little more empathy?
01:22:12.000And doesn't it maybe turn a frown and a tear into a smile and a hug?
01:22:20.000And if it doesn't, well, put down the politics for a little bit, put down your news apps, and go make it happen yourself.
01:22:28.000There's probably someone in your life who needs it, and I don't know exactly when I'll be seeing you again, because I don't know if you know about this, but at the North Pole, there's a lot of... well, there's some red tape this time of year.
01:22:41.000But Santa can keep track of you and don't let us lose touch with you by just entering your email at MugClubForever.com.
01:22:49.000That's what makes all of this work possible and the help that we can provide, as small as it may be, a drop in the bucket of the world this Christmas season.
01:23:01.000And we appreciate your continued support and we promise that we won't let you down if you enter in your email at MugClubForever.com You won't receive any spam.
01:23:12.000You won't receive mailing lists being sold to other people.
01:23:16.000You might receive a confirmation to make sure you want to be in that list so that you aren't sold a bunch of NFTs and oversized foam hands.
01:23:27.000That's not what Christmas is all about.
01:23:28.000I mean, I think I have some on my list, but this thing is just useless at this point.
01:23:35.000It's just a screed from someone's Insane lamentations.