Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 631 ｜ Allie's Dad On the Economy, Fatherhood & Raising Christian Kids ｜ Guest： Ron Simmons

00:00:00.000 Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Thursday. This episode is brought to you by Good Ranchers.

00:00:05.840 That's American meat delivered right to your front door. Go to goodranchers.com slash Allie. 1.00

00:00:10.100 That's goodranchers.com slash Allie. Okay, welcome to our special Father's Day edition episode. I'm

00:00:26.000 going to be talking to none other than my dad. We are going to be talking about fatherhood,

00:00:32.800 what it was like raising me, because you guys told me on Instagram that you are curious about

00:00:37.720 that. It is a sweet and even at times emotional conversation for both of us. We're going to be

00:00:44.220 talking about what it's like to raise a strong-willed child and how relationships with your children can

00:00:50.120 change over time, how the Lord can restore and repair relationships that may seem broken by his

00:00:57.780 grace and through prayer and through a lot of work. But at the beginning of the conversation,

00:01:02.680 I'm going to get him to break down some political and economic issues. It's basically going to be

00:01:08.480 like you're listening into the conversations that we have on a weekly basis, because I am always

00:01:13.140 picking up my phone and saying, okay, dad, Biden did this. What does this mean? Or why is this happening?

00:01:19.000 Can you explain this to me? He's always so quick to be able to break it down in a way that we

00:01:24.000 understand. And I thought that you guys would be able to benefit from that too. So we'll talk about

00:01:28.660 inflation. We'll talk about gas prices. We'll also just hear his take on the state of the country and

00:01:34.400 where he thinks this is all going and why he has hope for America. He is always much more optimistic

00:01:39.940 than I am, which is another reason why I'm calling him as often as I am. So I don't spiral into this

00:01:46.880 hole of cynicism and thinking that everything is just always going to go to hell in a handbasket.

00:01:52.400 So he's very positive in that way. He's also very practical and helpful. He's going to give

00:01:56.340 even some financial tips for you and your family as we're facing a lot of struggle when it comes to

00:02:02.420 inflation and high prices and all of that. So we'll get into that conversation. Before we do,

00:02:06.740 let me just show you, since I have it in front of me, some new merch items. I told you guys that we

00:02:11.380 would be getting new merch items and here they are. So we've got, you guys already know, I've got

00:02:16.440 t-shirts that say politics matter because policy matters because people matter. I've got razor

00:02:20.460 respectful ruckus. I've also got millennials against low-rise jeans and I've got some other

00:02:25.700 relatable t-shirts. And then we also have these awesome stickers. I've got the millennials against

00:02:29.980 low-rise jeans if you are watching on YouTube. And then I've also got the be a salmon. That's

00:02:34.080 something that we say. Swimming upstream, everyone is going one direction. We at Relatable

00:02:39.200 believe going in the opposite direction of where mainstream culture is trying to take us. So I've

00:02:44.520 got the cute be a salmon stickers. These are also like really good quality stickers. They're unique.

00:02:49.840 Like the edge around them isn't completely straight. I know that might seem like it doesn't matter,

00:02:53.300 but it does. They're super cute. Our design team here does a great job. But today I've got new stuff.

00:02:58.700 I've got hats. So I've got the politics matter because policy matters because people matter.

00:03:04.240 Hat, it's pink and white. There might be some different colors. If you're watching on YouTube,

00:03:08.720 I'm trying this on for you. And then we've also got the Razor Respectful Ruckus. Cute. Oh,

00:03:16.340 I like the navy. Navy and white. Very cute. And then we've also got, this is another one of my

00:03:22.440 favorite. This is green. It's got just like the relatable R on it. Super cute. Love it. And then

00:03:29.080 I've got the share the arrows. That's another thing that we say when someone stands up, uses courage

00:03:35.820 to stand up for something that is unpopular rather than cowering in the corner and saying,

00:03:40.220 oh, I'm glad that I'm not the one getting canceled or bullied. You share the arrows and

00:03:44.440 you stand up with them. Now I've got hat hair. And then we've also got, this is my favorite color,

00:03:50.200 this light blue hat that says relatable. So we've got a lot of cute options for you.

00:03:54.820 We've got the link to our merchandise in the description of this episode, whether you are

00:03:59.520 listening or whether you are watching on YouTube. So you can check it all out. This is like a really

00:04:04.780 good present as well. If you know, your wife, your girlfriend, your sister, your friend, or yourself,

00:04:11.420 you're wanting some of this merch, then this is just a really great way to treat them or to treat

00:04:17.380 yourself. So make sure that you check all of that out. Dad, thank you so much for joining us. Round

00:04:34.380 two for our Father's Day themed episode. I told people to submit some questions that weren't

00:04:40.900 just fatherhood centered, because I said that you are really good at breaking things down in a way

00:04:45.200 that we can understand. So first, can you explain, we already had Marco Rubio do this on Tuesday,

00:04:50.240 but I want to hear you do it. Can you explain to us what inflation is? What causes inflation?

00:04:56.360 Why are things so expensive right now?

00:04:57.940 Well, first of all, thanks for having me back. You know, I wasn't so sure after our last episode,

00:05:04.440 whether or not I warranted a return trip, but I felt good about that. And also, not to contradict

00:05:10.140 anything Senator Rubio said, which I'm sure he understands it very well. He's a very smart,

00:05:15.100 smart man. But the way the reason things are so expensive right now, most of it,

00:05:20.720 most of it is speculation. Let me tell you what I mean by that. Oil and gasoline consumption in 2019

00:05:29.000 versus 2022, which, you know, pre-pandemic, post-pandemic, is virtually the same in the United

00:05:37.020 States. So we're using the same amount of gasoline as we used in 2019. And we're producing in the United

00:05:45.940 States about the same amount of oil and gas that we produced in 2019. So why in the world then are

00:05:54.880 oil prices for a barrel of oil four times higher and gasoline is at least twice as high?

00:06:02.300 Well, most of that-

00:06:02.940 We're producing? Sorry, I'm not supposed to interrupt, but we're producing about the same

00:06:07.480 amount as we were, you said?

00:06:09.280 Yes. Yes. The United States is. That's exactly right.

00:06:12.260 I thought that we were producing less. No, it's not that those are, that's not what the numbers

00:06:17.180 indicate from the API, which is the American Petroleum Institute. Now, they did, President

00:06:22.460 Biden did limit what we could lease from some of the federal lands and he limited the pipeline. All of

00:06:28.940 that stuff did not have an immediate effect on our oil production. It will long term, but we're

00:06:34.860 producing roughly the same amount. And the reason that the prices of a barrel of oil have quadrupled

00:06:41.680 and gasoline has doubled is primarily because oil is bought and sold on the futures market. And what

00:06:49.660 futures simply means is that what do I think is going to happen in the world? And if X happens,

00:06:56.600 then what should the price of oil be? And if I think the world is going to hell in a handbasket

00:07:03.380 market and there's going to be scarcity, then I am going to be willing to pay more for oil and gas in

00:07:11.020 the future. But I've got to make that decision today. And so people's speculation on the war in

00:07:17.680 Ukraine, people's speculation on what might happen post-pandemic with people's driving habits,

00:07:24.940 all of those types of things have an effect on that. Unfortunately, what doesn't have as much of an

00:07:31.600 effect as we want it to is what I just said is that, okay, if it's a true supply and demand market

00:07:38.060 and the supply and demand is about the same as it was two years ago, then why isn't the price the same?

00:07:44.440 For oil and gas, because it's a commodity, it's the same way with food, by the way. We predict people

00:07:49.880 that buy these large quantities of food, so they have to buy them on contracts that don't come to

00:07:57.120 fruition until later. So a farmer needs to know that he can sell his crops in the future. And so

00:08:04.380 somebody's willing to give him a contract today at a price in the future. That way, the farmer locks in

00:08:10.060 the price. Sometimes it could be lower, sometimes higher. And the commodities person buying that

00:08:15.080 believes that they'll be able to sell that at a higher price. And generally what happens is that

00:08:22.580 these things run reasonably short cycles, all right? Obviously, the Great Depression was the

00:08:27.980 longest cycle for something like this, but they run reasonably short cycles and it returns to what

00:08:34.360 we would call normal, where it is a true supply and demand marketplace. And I believe that'll happen

00:08:40.360 with oil and gas. It's not even healthy for the oil and gas industry for prices to be at $120 a barrel.

00:08:46.200 That's not good because they know that makes everything else that they do and their employees

00:08:51.600 do and the people they serve do go up. It's usually better, in my opinion, from people I've talked to,

00:08:57.980 that oil and gas, a barrel of oil costs somewhere around $80, $85 would be a good price. And then the

00:09:04.320 price of gasoline would be somewhere around probably $3. So that's kind of what's happening right now.

00:09:09.660 I think you just have to wade your way through it. Don't panic. And it will settle out. There's no

00:09:17.280 question about it. You have to have fossil fuels. You're not going to be able to live right now off

00:09:24.640 of solar or wind or anything else. In fact, the thing that we should be doing is increasing the

00:09:30.240 production of natural gas and exporting that as much as we can, because that's one of the cleanest fuels

00:09:34.980 out there. Yeah. So I know you said that Biden's green energy policies aren't necessarily having an

00:09:43.880 effect on the price of gas right now, but couldn't you say, or they're not having an effect on the

00:09:50.620 supply, the production of gas right now, because we're producing the same as we were previously.

00:09:56.800 But couldn't you say that some of those policies that he has putting in place, like, you know,

00:10:01.080 refusing to renew some of those federal leases, that that could cause some of what you're talking

00:10:06.600 about of these of looking to the future and saying, oh, you know, we're worried that there

00:10:11.920 is going to be a scarcity. And so we're going to raise the prices now. Like, does that make sense?

00:10:16.560 Does that play into it? Absolutely. Because see, the price now is based on what somebody speculating

00:10:24.480 is going to happen in the future. All right. Just like, for example, if you ever go to a gas station

00:10:29.880 and from one day to the next, the gas price has gone up. You ever done that? Yeah.

00:10:34.700 Well, they didn't get a new load of gasoline that night, probably. But yet the gasoline in the ground

00:10:40.840 that they paid X for, now they want to charge X plus. Well, they're charging X plus because they

00:10:47.380 have already been told through the futures market, which controls oil and gas prices, that the price is

00:10:53.340 going up. And so they're going to go ahead and get ahead of that. And they go up because of political

00:10:58.440 decisions like what you talked about, what President Biden has done and is doing and what people fear

00:11:03.100 they will do even more. I do think some of it will certainly slow down in November if Republicans

00:11:09.040 take the House and or the Senate. And I think you'll see a lot less of that going on. I don't think he

00:11:16.920 will operate as much by the pen as he, as his, as the President Obama did. I think what he'll want

00:11:24.520 to begin thinking about is what's his legacy going to be. And listen, and I don't know President Biden

00:11:31.420 personally, but I have watched his career over my lifetime. President Biden wants to get deals

00:11:37.700 done. He is not a idealist, in my opinion. Now, he's got idealists running his office and maybe

00:11:43.900 they're running his whole life. That's something that we don't know for sure. But I do think if the

00:11:49.120 Republicans win in November, then I think you'll see a much different President Biden.

00:11:55.420 Yeah, let's hope so. I mean, why do you think, though? OK, so he says that he is not renewing

00:12:00.100 some of these leases. He's not for the expansion of the Keystone Pipeline. He's not for, you know,

00:12:05.040 the energy independence that we enjoyed under President Trump. And yet he is going to Iran and

00:12:09.980 Saudi Arabia and begging them for oil there. So I'm a little confused about that. One, if we have the

00:12:17.500 same production as we previously did, why would we need to go to Saudi Arabia and beg? And then also,

00:12:22.480 if it's really about trying to get away from oil, fossil fuels, why would we be asking other countries

00:12:29.180 to produce more? What do you think about that? Well, he's not necessarily. Well, first of all, because

00:12:34.240 I'm not sure that President Biden is making all those decisions. He cut a deal, in my opinion,

00:12:41.500 he cut a deal right before South Carolina to say, OK, you give me the if you give me this South

00:12:47.800 Carolina primary and you get behind me, I will allow all of these what you and I would call and

00:12:53.860 what most normal people would call far left ideas to come into play. And that's what that's what he's

00:12:59.460 doing with the green energy and all that type of stuff. He's not necessarily going to Saudi Arabia

00:13:03.980 and Iran to have them sell oil to us. He's having he wants them to produce more oil and gas

00:13:09.820 because oil and gas is a world market. And if there is a place that is suffering because they can't get

00:13:17.940 Russian production, that will affect the price of oil and gas back here in Texas because the cost of the

00:13:25.280 way that the futures contracts are purchased. So he's more interested in stabilizing the oil and gas market.

00:13:32.880 And again, I haven't talked to him, but this is what he should be doing in Europe than he is here.

00:13:37.480 He knows that we have enough to produce and consume what we need. We became the largest

00:13:43.820 producer a few years ago, and we have the ability to continue to do that with the technology that we

00:13:51.360 have of being able to extract this from the ground in a very environmentally safe way.

00:13:57.140 Yeah, I do worry about the idealist that you talked about in his administration. I'm sure he

00:14:01.260 doesn't fully agree with them. But like you said, I think that he cut a deal. He's probably

00:14:04.400 controlled by them who have said openly that they don't want us using oil and gas. They want us on

00:14:09.740 electric cars. There was this Democrat congresswoman the other day who just recently said,

00:14:15.920 you know what? I don't have to worry about gas prices because I charged my car and I drove all the

00:14:20.260 way from Michigan to D.C. No problem. OK, well, electric cars are fifty thousand dollars. If someone

00:14:25.600 can't afford five dollars per gallon of gas, are they going to be able to afford an electric car

00:14:30.200 that's fifty thousand dollars? Pete Buttigieg is saying the same thing. It does seem like this

00:14:34.640 administration, Democrats increasingly, are totally out of touch. Like with what the normal average

00:14:40.340 American can do, a lot of Americans are just worried. How am I going to get formula? How am I

00:14:45.180 going to pay for gas? How am I going to drive to work? How am I going to drive to get formula? Because

00:14:49.080 some people have to drive across the state to do that. How am I going to afford the formula? Because it's

00:14:53.100 more expensive. So as we're waiting for, like, the political solutions for this, if there are,

00:14:57.800 like, what do you recommend for the family who is working hard but struggling to make ends meet

00:15:02.340 because of all of this? Well, there's no question that and what the Democrats also are unwilling to

00:15:09.340 admit is an increase in oil and gasoline prices is a regressive tax, meaning that it hurts the people

00:15:18.160 that have the lowest income the most. Maybe not as much in a New York City or Chicago where they can

00:15:24.580 take mass transit and the transit fees are subsidized, but for the average American and flyover states and

00:15:32.360 increasingly in other states that are closer to the coast, like an Ohio or Pennsylvania or Florida

00:15:38.880 or a New Mexico or a Nevada, then this becomes a larger part of their budget. And what I recommend

00:15:49.000 for families to do, I've gone through this and, you know, our mind and your mom's history and what

00:15:55.280 have you, is first of all, you have to have a budget. And in your budget, you have to make sure

00:16:02.680 that the essentials are covered first. That's the roof over your head. That's the power to keep your

00:16:09.180 family warm or cool. That's the food that they eat. And that's the transportation to get you back

00:16:15.260 and forth to work so that you can provide a living. Everything else, everything else, as much as you

00:16:20.180 don't like it, maybe outside of what you give through your faith organization, everything else is

00:16:26.900 optional. And a lot of it you might think is an optional, but it is optional. And those options

00:16:33.920 have to be taken off the table when you're in a situation as a family that needs to cut back.

00:16:40.780 And I know that's difficult. And maybe sometimes you get a second job and, you know, you do some

00:16:46.880 extra. There's certainly plenty of jobs out there. We have more jobs available today than we've ever had

00:16:50.560 in the history of America. And so that's what I would do. And that's what I recommend. And that's what

00:16:56.320 Lisa and I've done in the past. Tell me why. And I know we've talked about this. It's a little bit

00:17:01.600 of a mystery, but tell us the analysis about why there are so many jobs out there available. And I

00:17:07.860 mean, we've got a lot of people here. And every time we go to a restaurant or any kind of service

00:17:14.140 place, service industry place, it seems like things are understaffed. They can't offer the same things

00:17:19.580 they have before. Or they say, you know, bear with us. We're in the midst of hiring. We can't give you

00:17:24.220 things as quickly as we would like. What the heck is causing that?

00:17:28.100 Well, I think it's three things. I think, first of all, I talked to an economist that used to work

00:17:36.180 for the Federal Reserve for 20-something years. Now he's in private, works for a private company. And

00:17:40.400 he said that in the period from when, let's say, COVID started in early 20 until the time we got

00:17:47.580 to where we could, you know, at least function at the, you know, towards the end of 21 or the middle

00:17:53.740 of 21. Normally, you would have about 1.4 million baby boomers leave the workforce during that period

00:18:02.080 of time through retirement or whatever. That would be normal. That's what they expected.

00:18:07.000 Three million baby boomers left the workforce during that period of time and just decided not

00:18:13.200 to come back. Now, with the downturn and the stock market and what have you, maybe that'll change and

00:18:19.840 they'll come back to the workforce. Invariably, that always does happen. But that's one thing.

00:18:25.280 The second thing is that I believe there is a segment of the population, Allie, that said,

00:18:31.680 we will do more with less. Once I realized what it was maybe like to stay at home with my kids,

00:18:38.780 or maybe I went and started my own small business or something like that, I'm just not coming back.

00:18:45.100 I'm not either not entering the workforce or I'm not entering the labor force in a way that is

00:18:49.580 measured. Okay. A lot of these self-employment things are not measured as well as, you know,

00:18:54.960 if you and I get a W-2 and what have you. And the third thing is, I think there were many,

00:18:59.240 many blue states, Democrat states that allowed the extra unemployment and all of those benefits

00:19:07.300 to continue well beyond when they needed to. And in fact, some of them still continue to this day.

00:19:13.160 And I think that's keeping people out of the workforce. And again, I do believe that that's

00:19:19.560 one of the big, big reasons that we need to solve this immigration issue, meaning that we need to have

00:19:28.300 an immigration policy that first of all, protects Americans, but also allows people from other 0.90

00:19:35.860 countries to come in and work here, not necessarily get a, become a citizen unless they follow the

00:19:43.380 correct path, but to legally be able to come and work here. Because if we don't, if we don't do this,

00:19:50.680 then those people are going to go to another country and work and build the goods that you and I are going

00:19:57.380 to have to buy. And we're going to be right back in the same shape we were before during COVID when

00:20:03.080 China and other countries controlled almost all the supply chains for U.S. products. We need those

00:20:09.580 people to be able to work here. We need our own people to be able to work here. And that's why we

00:20:15.080 need better vocational type training so that we can build and manufacture products here as opposed to

00:20:23.420 overseas.

00:20:35.180 It's a little bit of a conundrum for me because of course I want to say, look, we should have the

00:20:39.540 number of people here already who should be able to fill these jobs. I would rather Americans be 1.00

00:20:44.800 taking the jobs that immigrants coming in and be doing the jobs. Not that I'm against that, but if we 1.00

00:20:49.840 have a list of priorities, I want Americans doing those jobs first. And yet it does seem like

00:20:55.940 Americans aren't taking those jobs in some cases. 0.92

00:20:59.840 And also they're simply not enough.

00:21:01.600 We don't have enough Americans, you don't think?

00:21:04.180 Well, you know, my mom had 12 brothers and sisters. Your grandmother had 13 kids in her family,

00:21:10.760 okay? And her and my dad had four, okay? We have three.

00:21:15.320 And it's just the generations, except there's always anomalies to that, but the generations,

00:21:20.500 we aren't reproducing ourselves like we did in the past. And that's just the way that some segments

00:21:25.800 of the population are, certainly the Hispanic population. And part of that goes with their

00:21:30.780 faith belief in Catholicism, what Catholicism teaches and what have you. But part of it is that

00:21:37.520 we are simply not replacing ourselves.

00:21:40.140 Yeah, that is a problem. And I think that comes down to a lot of different things. It comes down to

00:21:44.460 just like what we think about life, what we think about family, what we think about

00:21:48.460 priorities as far as pursuing a career or starting a family. I think women are doing that later and 1.00

00:21:55.800 later. Some people are opting not to get married and have kids because they think it's just a burden

00:22:00.420 and responsibility that they don't want to carry. It does seem like the idea of starting a family has

00:22:07.940 kind of been demonized. And yet you and mom did that. You started very young and you had a lot

00:22:15.440 stacked against you and probably a lot more stacked against you than a lot of young people do today

00:22:21.360 who are trying to decide whether or not to start a family. So take us back. I know you've already

00:22:26.780 kind of talked about it in the previous episode, but take us back to 1980 and tell us what it was like

00:22:35.160 then. What was the state of the country like then? What were your thoughts about the political state

00:22:39.640 then? Were you even thinking about it? And then what was it like starting a family and what odds

00:22:43.820 were against you? Well, it's interesting that you asked that. And I haven't looked at it in a long

00:22:48.460 time, but a lot of your people will not relate to this. But back when I was younger and in high

00:22:55.020 school, we had what we called an annual, which was kind of a picture book of the school year and what

00:23:02.760 happened. And each class had pictures taken and the sports teams and the music teams and the drama

00:23:08.560 teams and all that. And then you would go around and you'd have your, especially if you're a senior,

00:23:13.240 get ready to graduate, have your friends write in your book, you know, about, Hey, you know,

00:23:18.920 it's great knowing you best of luck, whatever. But I remember I wrote a deal in my own book and I don't

00:23:24.740 even know why I did this because I was 17, but I wrote a scenario worried about the economy at the

00:23:33.800 time. Gas prices had gone up, not anything like they are now, but relatively speaking, quite a bit.

00:23:40.620 The Dow had, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stock market had taken a hit.

00:23:44.600 This was Jimmy Carter?

00:23:46.220 Yeah, this was 78. So it was right in the middle of Jimmy Carter. So I must have had some awareness of

00:23:51.600 that, even though my mom and dad certainly weren't political or anything like that. And so, but I will

00:23:57.580 tell you that it all worked out perfectly for me because 1980 was the first year I could vote in a

00:24:04.560 presidential election. And that's when President Reagan or then candidate Reagan gave his, you know,

00:24:12.180 speeches that were so well received by someone like me. Cause I wasn't only looking for, as you know,

00:24:18.800 my family stories and my, you know, my mom and dad divorced and that was a very tough family time

00:24:24.620 for us then because they had just divorced when I was like 16 or 17. And not only was I looking as

00:24:33.660 all young men are, whether they admit it or not, are looking for mentors and guidance and, you know,

00:24:39.940 where do I go from here? And I never met Ronald Reagan in my life, but I will tell you the things

00:24:46.500 that he stood for and the speeches that he gave really spoke and inspired me at a time in my life,

00:24:52.840 which was absolutely critical as the next 10 years would prove. Yeah. Yeah. And so it was a good,

00:25:01.540 it was a, it was a period, you know, I was born in Louisiana, raised in Arkansas. People always ask me,

00:25:07.160 why did you get married so young? And I said, well, in Arkansas, if you don't marry your fourth cousins 0.95

00:25:14.140 really quick, then you get down to the first cousins and there's issues with kids after that.

00:25:19.740 So just FYI, my parents are not actually fourth cousins, everyone. Just to correct the record,

00:25:27.040 they're not related at all. That can't be said for a lot of people. I've been married 42 years now and

00:25:32.780 it's been, it's been, uh, nothing without difficulty, but been, uh, a blessing. And one of the reasons it was

00:25:39.420 is because, um, obviously our faith, but also because we were willing to put action in those

00:25:47.240 steps, not just wait for something to be delivered. And I think that's where most young people make a

00:25:52.420 mistake because they're looking for the perfect situation or they're looking for something to

00:25:56.560 just be handed down to them. And, you know, one of my, you know, I've got a, I've got a book that I'm

00:26:01.980 working on, hopefully going to come out sometime. And it's going to be titled, I believe,

00:26:07.120 life lessons from the little red wagon. And it's really just about the basics of life.

00:26:12.520 And sometimes you're going to be a puller. Sometimes you're going to be a pusher. And

00:26:17.100 sometimes you're just going to be the cargo and somebody helping you along. And so I think

00:26:22.760 that's really important for dads and moms and everybody to learn. But when you're getting started,

00:26:28.980 I don't care what age it is. You got to be willing to take the next uncomfortable step.

00:26:34.220 And if you're waiting for everything to be comfortable, then you're probably not going

00:26:39.120 to accomplish very much. And not just talking about money, I'm talking about when you look

00:26:43.280 back on your life.

00:26:45.200 But speaking of money, you and mom did face a lot of financial hardship or just challenges

00:26:51.720 in the beginning because you were young, you didn't have any money, and it may not have been

00:26:55.620 the same economic scenario that people are dealing with today. And yet it basically comes down to the

00:27:01.220 same thing. As you said, starting a budget and being disciplined in what you spend. But if you

00:27:06.640 could look back at that time before you were really making any money, what are maybe some

00:27:12.280 mistakes that you guys made, not just as far as how you spent money, but how both of you dealt with

00:27:18.060 money, talked about money? And what are some things that you're thankful that you did before you

00:27:23.320 started your own company and all of that?

00:27:24.960 Yeah. Well, first of all, one of the things I'm the most thankful for, and I really don't know why

00:27:32.660 it ended up like this, but we never lived beyond our means. In other words, we never found ourself

00:27:41.240 in a situation to where, oh my gosh, I cannot, you know, I'm going to get foreclosed on, or I'm going

00:27:49.120 to get a note called, or they're going to come pick up my car or anything like that. And again,

00:27:52.780 you're right. I mean, when we, when we started, uh, when I, when mom and I got married, I think I

00:27:58.000 made $700 a month. And even if you inflated that up to today, you'll still find when you do that,

00:28:04.240 it was pretty disappointing. Um, so, so one of the things that we did, and I would say it's the very

00:28:09.780 most important thing is what we're talking about, live within your means, uh, make a list of things

00:28:17.000 that before you go to the store so that you don't, you know, buy things that you shouldn't have. Uh,

00:28:24.880 you have to make sure you have to understand that just because somebody else has it, doesn't mean

00:28:31.840 that you get it. And that's very difficult. Mom and I've made mistakes in that area before we had

00:28:37.320 friends that were about our age or, well, I would say they were a little older than us. Uh, but they,

00:28:44.000 they, you know, they made more money than us. And so they could have some things that

00:28:48.740 we didn't have. And sometimes mom and I would go buy some things that we couldn't afford and we

00:28:52.980 shouldn't have done it. Uh, and we always, you know, paid for them and took care of it, but it

00:28:57.600 probably set us back on our ability to accumulate assets when in our early years. And this is, this is

00:29:05.940 a point that people need to understand at every stage of your adult life, you need to be accumulating

00:29:12.440 assets either through your 401k plan or your private savings, preferably both. Okay. Or you

00:29:20.920 need to, you know, have, uh, real estate, those types of things. And I'm not just talking about

00:29:25.340 your home. I'm talking about other things. What mom and I did probably for the first, I don't know,

00:29:31.940 maybe seven, eight years of our marriage probably is every time something would happen good financially

00:29:37.580 for us. We would just increase our lifestyle up, up to that point. And you should not, that was a

00:29:44.140 mistake because it put us behind the eight ball in accumulating assets. Now things worked out really

00:29:50.640 well. And certainly the Lord blessed us as our, as we started a company and it grew and all that type

00:29:55.720 of stuff. But as I'll, and, and, and you, you know, Ali, we, we, everyone doesn't matter if you're Ali

00:30:01.740 or whomever it is who listened to this, you all have family members that did just what Lisa and I do

00:30:06.460 did. And you've got family members that are still doing that today. They may be in their sixties. I

00:30:11.300 certainly do. And, uh, it's very disappointing. So I'm just encouraging you certainly do what

00:30:16.740 that, that I have family members that, that to this day, you know, are living on the edge financially

00:30:24.320 because they never spent any time accumulating and you have to accumulate and you have to do that at

00:30:31.900 every stage of your career. Do not increase your lifestyle such that it consumes everything that

00:30:38.860 you have. And if that's happening right now, um, I would encourage you as fast as you can to cut back

00:30:44.260 on that and begin accumulating assets. Because when you go through a period that we're going through now,

00:30:50.000 you'll be a lot less stressed about it. You'll understand it's a cycle that happens.

00:30:54.160 They always happen. And that on the other side, it will be better. In fact, there may be some great

00:30:59.160 opportunities for you to be able to make an investment, uh, at the right time when, uh, when,

00:31:07.060 when things are, don't appear to be going well, they're out in the world financially.

00:31:11.320 I always appreciated growing up that you and mom, even though I'm, you know, very thankful for

00:31:16.400 the life that we had, I never had to need for anything or really want for anything, which was

00:31:21.800 different than how you guys grew up. But one thing I did appreciate in the midst of that is that you

00:31:26.740 guys didn't put a lot of value on fleeting material things like brand names. Mom is especially good at

00:31:34.260 this. She didn't, you know, she didn't pressure me to wear, you know, certain brands or really care

00:31:40.060 about that at all. If I did care about it, it was because someone at school was wearing it. And of

00:31:44.840 course, uh, you know, yeah, that, that kind of just happens. That comparison trap happens, but mom 1.00

00:31:50.980 really never emphasized that. I think that makes a really big difference. That makes a big difference

00:31:56.540 for your children. If when they are looking to you to kind of set an example, they're not seeing

00:32:02.880 people that are constantly trying to keep up with the Joneses because that's a mentality that I think,

00:32:07.840 um, can very much be inherited. So mom, I mean, she's a very prudent person. I know you credit mom

00:32:13.440 with a lot of the good things that we have in our lives, a lot of good things that we have,

00:32:17.340 um, as a family. When y'all first started dating 18 years old and then you got married at 19 and 20,

00:32:25.300 I know you couldn't have foreseen what a great life partner she would be, but what was it? What

00:32:30.380 were some characteristics in her that made you realize, yep, like this is the person that I want

00:32:37.380 to be by me forever? Well, I think Allie, um, instinctively, and I don't know how, okay. So

00:32:45.300 it had to be instinct. I didn't, I don't think I had any training in this. I knew that I needed

00:32:51.120 a partner that was going to compliment me, not compound me. And if I had, and she needed the same

00:33:02.160 thing is where I was weak, she was strong and vice versa. And I sensed that I really did sense that

00:33:09.900 in Lisa, uh, just early on, it was just one of those things where when it, you know, when it,

00:33:16.700 when it's right, it's right. We never had to really, we never had to really push it. I don't think.

00:33:21.180 And what I also learned about mom is that mom is not, you know, I'm, I'm a little bit someone

00:33:29.920 that if you, uh, dare me or push me or something like that, I'm going to, that's, that's going to

00:33:38.580 get under my skin and mom. And that's not right necessarily, by the way, but, uh, but mom never, 0.98

00:33:47.720 never, ever, she just not like that. You know, that she is, she, she is one that, uh, wants 1.00

00:33:54.580 resolution through discussion, compromise, those types of things. The other thing about mom,

00:34:01.020 you know, mom's not a financial person. That's not her, that's not her deal. But, and listen to

00:34:05.100 this closely, she is a terrific money manager. And here's what I mean by that. Mom somehow has an

00:34:13.320 instinct for knowing what she should prioritize her funds on. I have, she, Lisa hasn't had, uh,

00:34:26.180 any budget for me and probably, I don't know, 25 years. Right. But I never have to worry about her

00:34:34.820 overspending. She just is not that way. And I know so many, uh, people have one spouse or the other

00:34:41.600 that it's a constant conflict. Now, mom and I would, would have conflicts over finances when we

00:34:48.200 early on, we didn't have the money. I'd want to go play a softball with an out of town team. And

00:34:53.240 at the time that might cost me 30 bucks a weekend to do. And we probably didn't have an extra 30 bucks

00:34:58.300 or, or mom wanted to maybe do something else. And, you know, each of us saw those things that we

00:35:03.560 wanted to do as equally important. Now I will confess to you that usually what mom wanted to do was to, 0.96

00:35:09.880 you know, add something that would benefit our family, not just her. And I was a lot less like

00:35:16.580 that. And, uh, I regret that and embarrassed by that, but it, but it's the truth. And if I had

00:35:21.900 advice to give it would to dads, it would be, you know, when, when you, when you put the ring on the

00:35:28.040 finger of your spouse, then you then become third in that relationship. First should be God. Second should 0.56

00:35:37.640 be your wife. And then you come after that. And that's something that, um, for a lot of people

00:35:45.160 and certainly was for me, um, hard to do, but I will tell you once we figured that out, both of us,

00:35:51.560 actually, although mom didn't have the challenges I did, uh, it, it just made things just take a big,

00:35:58.260 deep breath, um, and relax.

00:36:12.040 Well, certainly one of the greatest gifts that I was given and still, I mean, it pays off to this

00:36:17.360 day is having parents who are together and not just together as roommates, but parents who have

00:36:23.600 loved each other and who still love one another. I think that we don't think about as adults,

00:36:29.260 how much that benefits you, but you as someone who had parents that got a divorce, I'm sure in

00:36:34.120 some ways, maybe that still affects you to this day. And on the other hand, having parents who are

00:36:38.960 together, who compliment one another in more than one way, um, it really does make a really big

00:36:45.360 difference. So that should, that alone should be encouragement to people out there is that marriage

00:36:50.240 isn't always easy. The things you go through aren't always easy. Sometimes it is more work than

00:36:56.440 ease, but the foundation that you are giving your children through a unified marriage, it just can't

00:37:02.440 be underscored enough. No, that's no, there's, I don't think there's any question that, and we know

00:37:10.360 this through all of society. One of the biggest challenges that we have in America is the fatherless

00:37:17.540 homes. And part of what causes that is the way our government assistance program works and that

00:37:23.840 they, they actually incentivize, maybe not on purpose, but incentivize, uh, moms to be single 1.00

00:37:29.300 moms. Cause if the dad comes in the home, they're going to lose a lot of their benefits. And so these 1.00

00:37:32.720 boys grow up and girls, but think about boys for a minute. Uh, they grow up without it, without that

00:37:38.840 type of figure that's in there every day. And it's not that they, not even that the dad is doing

00:37:42.900 anything spectacular every day. He's just in there every day. And I think one of the things that

00:37:49.120 certainly you knew about me, I traveled a lot less when you were little than I did with the other boys

00:37:53.500 is that, is that I was going to be there that, you know, it, it, if it was important and, uh,

00:38:00.740 most of the times, even if it wasn't, I was going to be there and your mom was too. And I can't tell

00:38:06.840 you how important that is. I know in my own life, when I was in high school, uh, you know, my, my

00:38:13.980 family is really a family of musicians, primarily my younger brother and I are more sports minded

00:38:20.440 people. And I'd say that we were average to maybe slightly above average athletes. And, but sports was

00:38:27.780 really important to me in high school. And that's where I put a bunch of my energy. Well, that's also

00:38:32.920 the time that my mom and dad were having lots of challenges. They were obviously on their way to

00:38:38.380 divorcing. And I can't tell you how many things that my dad didn't come to, you know, uh, just

00:38:47.160 because of what they were going through. And it still makes me sad to this day because not only does

00:38:53.660 it make me sad for me, cause that still is there after all this time. And it makes me sad for him too,

00:38:59.900 because I see the joy that a dad has when he's able to participate in his children's lives. I mean,

00:39:08.580 Justin and I, your oldest brother just played in a member guest kind of father, son type golf

00:39:14.740 tournament. And, you know, I don't care if we win, lose, draw, whatever this spending three,

00:39:21.900 three days with him, just doing stuff that you enjoy and making those memories is more important

00:39:30.980 than anything else. And that's why it's so important for moms and dads to stay together.

00:39:36.200 Cause when you're, even when you're divorced and you have a good relationship, and I know a lot of

00:39:39.680 people listen to this, have that, that statistics tell us that, that, that 50%, you know, people are

00:39:44.320 divorced. It doesn't work the same. I guarantee you, if you ask your kids, unless the father or the

00:39:50.160 mother was abusive, they want the mom and dad to be together in the home. And dads, we have a

00:39:55.360 commitment to do that. That ring, the reason that ring circled is for a reason. It's not just to fit

00:40:01.080 on the finger. It means that there's no beginning and there's no end to your relationship with your

00:40:08.160 wife. You know, some people are listening, they've got their, a parent of a teenager and they're

00:40:14.220 thinking, well, me and my teenager, we're not close right now. And they're afraid that, you know,

00:40:18.840 they're not going to have a close relationship, or maybe they feel like they haven't been a great

00:40:22.460 parent. They haven't done enough to disciple their kid or, you know, make sure that their kid got a

00:40:28.760 Christian education, whatever it is, parents of older kids can maybe have regrets. Um, and of

00:40:33.680 course, people listening to this podcast want to hear what it was like raising me. And of course we

00:40:37.700 could spend a long time talking about that, but if you could take us from, of course, love the story

00:40:44.040 of what you guys didn't know that I was going to be a girl, I've got two older brothers.

00:40:48.380 Take us to the beginning point when you, when I was born and you found out that I was a girl,

00:40:53.900 what that was like, and then how our relationship has kind of transformed over the years. Of course,

00:40:58.860 just an overview of all of that, but take us to the first point to now.

00:41:03.380 Well, you know, the interesting thing was, is that, uh, and this was 1992 when you were born.

00:41:10.000 Yes. Okay. But, uh, I'm not supposed to say that. No, no, that's fine. I just wanted to see if you

00:41:15.880 could remember what year I was born. No, no, no. I was thinking about when we saw the sonogram

00:41:19.260 because back then sonograms were pretty early stage. And so we did have a sonogram done.

00:41:23.840 In 91. Yeah. In 91. And we were with some good friends of ours, Neil and Deanna, you know them.

00:41:28.900 And we were looking on the deal, trying to determine, right. And, and mom and I would kind of look

00:41:35.300 halfway because it's a lot of ways we didn't want to know, right. We still want to be surprised and all

00:41:39.500 that. But then she was probably what, maybe five months pregnant at the time somewhere to get the 1.00

00:41:44.580 sonogram. Uh, but from that point on the doctor absolutely knew, absolutely. And at least had

00:41:52.740 been going to the same doctor for a while. So knew him. And when you were born, uh, the day that you

00:42:00.560 were born, first of all, we thought, you know, you were the third, but you were seven years after our

00:42:06.160 last one. And we thought we remembered how that went. Uh, but we went to the hospital pretty late

00:42:12.540 at night. It was 10, 10 30. We had to have some friends come over and help stay with the, with the

00:42:17.460 kids. And, and, uh, you were born early the next morning. I mean, you're almost born on, you know,

00:42:24.240 the day before early the next morning. I'll never forget though, when, when, um, we were, when the

00:42:30.280 doctor was there and he said, it's a girl, um, how mom and dad, how we were just so excited.

00:42:40.600 And the, and the funny thing was, is that the, the nurses and the doctor were so excited because

00:42:48.040 they'd known it, you know, for four months. And so it, it was a journey that, uh, we were started

00:42:55.280 down the road again, came home, um, uh, and, um, you know, started our life. Uh, there's some funny

00:43:03.020 things that happened along the way. Uh, you know, when you, when you're, uh, uh, when the, when you get,

00:43:08.160 when you've been away from having kids waking up during the middle of the night and all that type

00:43:12.180 of stuff, you're like, Oh my gosh, what did we sign up for again? Um, and you know, we, the boys

00:43:19.380 were active. Justin was in sports, Daniel, you know, by that time we knew that, uh, he had autism.

00:43:25.220 So we were working with him on all of that stuff. And, and, and that was difficult, but mom just

00:43:30.800 packed you up and took you wherever we went. Uh, except for almost we didn't. Yeah. Almost. So we're

00:43:38.080 headed on a family vacation with my mom, who Allie, uh, called grandma Dot and grandma and,

00:43:46.340 um, two boys. We had a big old suburban and, you know, we get everything packed up. It's

00:43:52.380 going to be a cross country trip. And so we get in the car, get ready to go. Lisa and I

00:43:57.660 look at each other saying, did you get Allie? Did you get Allie? So we go back in there and

00:44:02.660 Allie's in her room, in her crib, you know, not crying or anything, just what are we, what's

00:44:07.440 going on? So anyway, it all, uh, it all worked out, but I can't believe we drove that far

00:44:12.440 with a young baby. I think it was when we went to DC maybe. I can't imagine that from

00:44:16.200 Texas to DC with a, with an infant. You know, another, what I would consider a funny story

00:44:32.600 along the way is, and I can remember Allie, Beth, you probably don't remember this, but I

00:44:36.500 remember exactly what car we had at the time and exactly where we were. And you, and you

00:44:42.520 were five years old, five years old. Now think about five years old. And we were arguing about

00:44:51.340 something, which might not be that of a surprise.

00:44:55.340 Was arguing normal for us at that point when I was five?

00:44:58.840 Well, I think by the time you were five, it was me trying to set your boundaries, probably

00:45:09.000 inappropriately, you know, on how you could conduct yourself with mom and I, right? Now

00:45:16.780 mom wasn't near as worried about it.

00:45:17.980 In the sense that I thought that I was in charge and you were telling me that I'm not.

00:45:21.460 And if things didn't go your way, that just, that just, we must not be that bright. If you

00:45:26.600 didn't see it your way, you know, you didn't say that, but anyway, we argued over something.

00:45:31.340 Yeah.

00:45:31.580 We argued over something. And, and I, I think as I look back on it now, I absolutely believe

00:45:38.660 I was making a mountain out of a molehill, which I had done more than one time. And there

00:45:44.280 wasn't really an answer to what I was upset about. And this is how, this is one, the day

00:45:50.160 I knew how smart you were is that you said, well, dad, what do you want me to do? And it

00:45:58.180 was like five years old. I'm like, first of all, I don't want you to ask that question.

00:46:01.380 That's what I'm thinking in my mind. And, uh, I mean, I dropped it right then, but I knew

00:46:06.000 then I said, this is one very intelligent, very insightful purpose. You had figured out in

00:46:12.700 your five-year-old mind that we had gotten to a point that wasn't logical. And you may

00:46:18.680 not have processed it like that, but that's what had happened. And you just said, what

00:46:23.420 do you want me to do? You know, in a very strong tone. So it's kind of funny along the

00:46:27.780 way, but anyway, uh, so it was, you know, I think me, Justin and Daniel were not strong

00:46:35.900 willed kids. Okay. They were much more get along, go along, um, type people. They're a lot

00:46:41.880 like mom. It was pretty clear early on that you had a very strong willed mind and that

00:46:47.760 you felt that you, just like I did when I was your age, you felt like you understood

00:46:54.480 the world better than most people around you. And probably was true. Although I think you

00:47:01.180 and I would both admit that we couldn't process things maturely at the time. Okay. We didn't,

00:47:07.320 we didn't understand how we don't understand how a mature thought process. We could, we could

00:47:10.420 be very intelligent and figure stuff out through deductive reasoning or logic or whatever,

00:47:15.860 but we weren't putting the rest of it through our brain that makes wisdom and good decisions.

00:47:22.020 And so, you know, through the years, obviously you and I had a lot of conflict about that.

00:47:27.740 And when I, you know, compared to what other families go through in conflict, I probably am

00:47:32.860 maybe overstating it, but, but I, I do think it was, it had the potential to ruin our relationship

00:47:40.100 long-term and it, it, without your mom, it might very well could have. Yeah. And it was just,

00:47:50.240 yeah, just so people know, it was just, we argued a lot when I was in high school, me thinking that I

00:47:56.340 knew more than I did. Maybe you sometimes making a mountain out of a molehill, but both of us probably

00:48:01.420 testing boundaries, trying to understand what those boundaries should look like me wanting to

00:48:05.620 be unconditionally trusted. You realize, and I couldn't be unconditionally trusted, but maybe

00:48:10.140 you should have trusted me more. So there's a lot of back and forth. And yes, mom was a mediator,

00:48:15.220 which probably was an unfair place to, to put her in. And yet, because she is a peacemaker, 0.85

00:48:20.480 she did that. And through, I think probably a lot of her prayer, you and I, our relationship

00:48:26.820 improved so greatly when I was a senior in high school, but also when I went off to college,

00:48:32.120 I think it was prayer, the grace of God. I think both of us probably changed. I definitely grew up and

00:48:37.600 matured a lot from that independence, but both of us, I think kind of softened during that time

00:48:44.880 in our relationship really grew in college when I was in college and is still very strong. So I just

00:48:51.200 want to encourage parents. Like if you've got a kid, strong-willed kid, whatever, the relationship

00:48:56.080 seems divided or strained. And you're like, wow, this rebellious 16 year old, there's no way

00:49:00.780 that I'm ever going to be friends with them. You never, you do not know what the Lord can do and

00:49:06.240 what time and space and growth can do to relationship, right? Yeah, no, I agree. And I think one of the

00:49:11.820 things that, that, um, I think I did some of the time, but I didn't do as much as I should have

00:49:16.580 is when you're, when you're having a disagreement with your 16 year old or 15 year old or set,

00:49:23.760 whatever it is, uh, and you want to make a point because listen, parents, you're in the dominant

00:49:30.600 position. Okay. We get all that. Um, and you can, you can make a point in a way that will obviously

00:49:38.320 get your point across. But what I want you to do is think about whether or not that point,

00:49:46.580 is going to be something that the way you did it, not what you said, but the way it was done

00:49:52.340 10 years from then. So when she's, or he's 26 or 27, is he, is that the way in which you made that

00:50:02.160 point still going to be eating on him or her? And that can have hugely negative long-term

00:50:11.120 relationship issues that are very, very hard to overcome. In fact, mainly impossible. You know,

00:50:19.340 I think, Ali, you're right. When you went off to college that my, I was in a different position in

00:50:25.140 my life at the time. Um, I had just gotten to the point where, um, I, uh, could have a little bit

00:50:33.100 more flexibility and the pressure of building the business and whatever I had other, I had partners

00:50:38.740 that were helping me with that. Uh, mom and I obviously were in a really good spot. We, we felt

00:50:44.180 pretty good about Daniel and where he was kind of going as well. Uh, Justin had, uh, uh, you know,

00:50:50.300 had gone off and, uh, had gotten married at the time. And so things were moving forward for us pretty

00:50:56.880 nicely. And then, and that's, but that was just part of it. The counseling we had gone through in high

00:51:03.240 school had helped a lot for me, helped me a lot. And then when you got to college and you decided

00:51:11.380 on your own, okay, as an independent woman, and listen, as people know that read your book,

00:51:17.580 you made some mistakes. Okay. We all make mistakes, but the core of your faith and your belief,

00:51:25.520 not only in what mom and dad did, but who we served, you know, and how you had that to fall

00:51:35.500 back on. You had the core faith to fall back on, even when we strayed from that. And then you got

00:51:42.420 involved in some really good things at college too, that who knows if we didn't know that you were

00:51:47.980 going to do that, or you didn't know it either when you went there, you know, uh, whether it's helping

00:51:52.080 out with the special needs, or you had a, you know, a group of girls that you did some Bible study

00:51:56.560 stuff with, um, and found a church that you liked and all that our relationship. Yeah. It's been one

00:52:04.020 of the big, big joys of my life. It really, and I still marvel at you today because you definitely

00:52:12.020 quickly got the wisdom part down and you kept the other strong willed part, but also, uh, have a heart

00:52:20.480 that, that, uh, reminds me of your mom. Wow. Thank you. And yes, that is, I mean, I'll take that as a

00:52:29.380 compliment because we both know how soft hearted mom is and I'm a lot, I'm a lot like you. Everyone

00:52:35.440 knows I'm a lot like my dad and I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for the different components of

00:52:39.540 my mom and dad that I got. And there's just no better foundation than parents who love you. And just

00:52:45.980 to encourage parents out there that does not mean there's no such thing as a perfect parent. There's

00:52:51.380 no such thing as a perfect mom or dad. That is not what your child needs to succeed. Yes. Lay the

00:52:57.240 firm foundation that you can parents that love each other, but understand that even if up to this point,

00:53:02.200 you feel like you haven't been as present as you want to be as a parent, or you haven't sought out

00:53:06.900 a relationship as much with your kid. Like it's never too late. Your kid is 16, 17. They're still

00:53:12.160 under your roof. You don't know the redemption and the reconciliation, the restoration that can come

00:53:17.700 from dedicating right now to spending that time with your child and giving that relationship to

00:53:23.260 the Lord. So I'm just, I'm very thankful for that. Can you close us out? A lot of people are very

00:53:30.420 discouraged about the state of the world right now when we really think America is just like going down

00:53:36.720 the tubes, but you are very optimistic. You're, I always call you when I feel like, oh, things are

00:53:41.600 just falling apart. Things are never going to get better. Give us some, give us some optimism. Give

00:53:47.520 us some hope for the state of the country. What we as families, as parents, moms, and dads can be doing

00:53:52.920 and look forward to as everything seems to be chaos and falling apart around us. Well, the first thing I

00:54:01.360 would encourage everybody to do is when they get home or wherever they listen to this, go and read

00:54:08.360 Daniel 2, 21 and 22, and write that down and put it on your refrigerator. Because at the end of the day,

00:54:15.960 that's what gives us hope. However, it doesn't happen without the work that comes along that we're

00:54:24.080 supposed to do. And I believe at the core, at the core of most people, you know, Ali, you know,

00:54:33.460 in our business, I had, we had clients in all 50 states. I mean, I grew up in a very protected,

00:54:39.920 you know, below the Mason Dixon line, basically between Louisiana and Arkansas, and as a young

00:54:44.980 adult to Texas. And so I had a very closed view of whatever that world produces. But what I learned

00:54:52.200 in my 20s, when I began traveling all over the country in our business is there were good people

00:54:58.620 everywhere. And I still believe in the goodness of people. I certainly believe in the goodness of

00:55:04.020 America. We do go through these cycles where things go up and things go down some last longer than we

00:55:09.440 want them to be. Or if we happen to be the one that's impacted by it, it certainly feels a lot worse.

00:55:14.320 And I understand that. And the last big downturn in 2008, which actually worked out to be a really

00:55:21.480 good thing long term, I had to terminate and lay some people off from our company. And that was

00:55:26.400 hard to do. These people had families that, you know, they, you know, they needed the job. But it was

00:55:34.600 just the decision that had to be made at the time. And ultimately, you know, I'm firmly convinced it was

00:55:41.680 the right decision, not only for us, but for them as well. I've kept up with most of them over the years.

00:55:46.000 And they've, they've done really, really well. And we helped them where we could as far as getting

00:55:50.740 other employment and stuff like that. But I think what you have to understand is that this is not

00:55:56.040 normal. First of all, there's nothing new under the sun. And second of all, there's nothing new

00:55:59.880 that's going on right now that we haven't already been through in America. The if you go back and read

00:56:05.580 the newspapers and everything that were going on back in the early formation of the country and beyond,

00:56:11.520 there's always something that is pushing against the norm. Now, what's happened for a lot of years,

00:56:19.300 and this is something that we have to stop, because I believe the Lord will allow it to continue to

00:56:23.980 happen if his people aren't willing to stand up and stop it, is we have to be more vocal about stopping

00:56:29.700 things that aren't right. Doesn't mean we have to do it in a way that's hateful or mean or violent or

00:56:35.840 anything. But we cannot allow what happened in our school system over the last 50 years to happen

00:56:41.820 again. You know, the reason that the things went on in the school system like they did, yeah,

00:56:47.940 people that don't think like us and don't believe like us, you know, did the actions to maybe put

00:56:55.720 those books in the library or teaching some of the things they thought. But the reason it happened is

00:57:01.380 because we allowed it to happen. Because we as conservatives and quote unquote good Americans

00:57:06.860 dropped our kids off at the local public school and never, never spent any time there other than on

00:57:13.100 the sports field or maybe watching a play. Well, I believe that that one thing that COVID's done is

00:57:19.360 put a stop to that. And I am so excited about moms and dads all over America getting involved in where

00:57:26.620 their kids spend the majority of their time during their learning years. And there's where we have to

00:57:33.820 go. That's what can stop it. That's why I have hope is because I see a turning point in middle of

00:57:41.500 America that says enough is enough. Now, will we still have social issues and problems? Yes, we will.

00:57:47.560 And but I'll tell you what, as strong as the people that want to march for pro-abortion,

00:57:52.820 we need to be marching for life. We cannot let them have the stage that they are gaining. We have

00:58:02.640 to push back as hard and harder than we ever have before. Because in this issue, these issues that

00:58:10.900 we're talking about today, we are absolutely right. Yep. Yeah, I think that there are a lot more people

00:58:17.400 that are riled up than ever have been. There are people raising a respectful ruckus, as we like to

00:58:22.740 say. And I agree. People think, well, that's not doing anything. Talking about the issues isn't doing

00:58:27.080 anything. It does. It does. For just one example, and I know we have to go, but like the Biden

00:58:32.880 administration creating this disinformation board, which basically was just going to try to censor,

00:58:38.600 you know, dissent opinions that they don't like. I mean, that was very dystopian and very scary.

00:58:44.800 Well, guess what stopped that from happening, at least for now? People talking about it. We

00:58:49.140 exposed it. People blew a lid off of it. They didn't like that. Sunlight is a great disinfectant.

00:58:54.620 So actually, the parents going to school boards and saying, this is what is in the book. This is

00:58:59.100 what's in the curriculum. That makes a difference. Talking about it actually does make a difference.

00:59:03.700 So can I say one last thing? Yeah.

00:59:06.140 Can I say one last thing? You know, we talked about this is coming out sometime around Father's

00:59:10.800 day, I would guess. Yeah. Thursday. And we talked about what responsibilities dads have,

00:59:16.240 and it's a huge one. But I also want your audience to know that sometimes we think because the dad

00:59:25.160 goes off to work, does his job, you know, maybe he's good at his job, probably is good at his job,

00:59:32.320 that he gets all that encouragement and fulfillment out there, and he doesn't need it when he gets home.

00:59:37.960 And there couldn't be anything further from the truth. You know, I've been able to do a lot of

00:59:43.920 things that made me feel good. But I'll tell you, there's nothing, nothing that makes you feel

00:59:52.000 better as a dad than your kids believing in you and affirming that and your spouse believing in you

01:00:00.500 and affirming that. And the lack of that happening to dads and husbands is just really, really pathetic. 0.98

01:00:12.220 You know, every commercial, every TV show makes fun of the dad. You never see much encouragement going 0.83

01:00:19.080 towards the dad. And yeah, the dad's got huge responsibilities and he needs to live up to those.

01:00:23.740 But you know what? His emotions are the same as everybody's. He wants to be loved and he wants

01:00:31.100 that love to be shown by the people that he cares about the most. Because I knew that if I had Lisa

01:00:38.480 on my side, that no matter what, no matter what happened, it didn't matter. We were moving down

01:00:43.880 the road. And she was always very, very good about that. So I just encourage you moms and kids to be

01:00:52.900 encouraging to your dad and your husband. That's very, very important.

01:00:57.620 You're on the same team. I know sometimes when, especially when the babies are little,

01:01:02.860 things are chaos and the baby's waking up multiple times a night, you're tired. It's easy to think that

01:01:08.520 you're on competing teams. It's easy to say, well, I did this or I did this, or I'm doing more than

01:01:14.160 you. But I try to remember myself because I remember someone told me this and I try to tell

01:01:19.100 other people, you're on the same team. You've got the same goal. The ball should be going the same

01:01:23.900 direction, which means that you are encouraging one another, not competing with one another.

01:01:29.520 So thank you for that. Thank you so much. Thanks for taking the time to come on. And when your book

01:01:35.600 comes out, which it will soon, then we'll have you back on in the studio and we'll talk about that

01:01:39.960 more. All right. Thanks. See you later. Thanks. Bye.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - June 16, 2022

Ep 631 ｜ Allie's Dad On the Economy, Fatherhood & Raising Christian Kids ｜ Guest： Ron Simmons

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