My kids are ruined

share of Thanksgiving. If you're watching this real time, if you're listening real time, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. It's just me today. I'm gonna do the podcast alone because of everyone traveling and because of the crazy schedules. I could have pulled a guest in here, and then I would have been getting them away from their family. So I decided to just do it myself. Eventually, I'm

gonna get amber. We're still trying to figure out how to how to watch the baby and the kids, and she's, you know, breastfeeding every sixteen seconds right now, so it's still a little tough, but I'm definitely gonna get her back as a guest. For those of you that are not familiar with this podcast, the way that we set this up is usually it's me and a guest and I'll go through your questions. If you have a question for me, email Graingersmith podcast at gmail dot com. It

could be about any subject. I'll answer it for you and the best way that I know how. It's not always the correct answer, it's not always the wrong answer, but it's just a conversation as if I'm giving you

advice in a normal campfire. Hey, can I ask you something that's really bothering me, or it's really been on my mind, or this is weighing heavy on me, and I walk through it with you as if you're my friend, and I feel like you are, if you're listening to this podcast and you've been on this journey for me for a long time, years many episodes that I feel like we're friends. I look just the other day and this podcast was on the Apple Charts, the Top Charts.

It was number four, ranked number four in the music genre of all podcasts in the world in the music genre, Which blows me. It blows me. Away. I can't believe that this podcast has come so far to be consistently in the top You might think, well, we need to get it to number one. Well, what's important to remember is we're playing the long game here, so as you listen to this podcast episode after episode after I'm we're keeping it in the top charts week in and week out.

We're not. What I mean is we're not pushing it to trying to push it to number one for one particular time frame. We just wanted to stay relevant for a long time frame, Like we just want to stay in the top fifty for a long time. That's the goal, not a quick number one and then it falls back to number sixty eight tomorrow. You know what I mean? Bottom line is thank you. I just it's it's I

just got nothing but gratitude. I love this this platform, and I love being able to be able to speak in to your work or your truck or your traveling or wherever your workouts. Wherever you listen to this podcast, thank you, and whatever platform you listen to, whether it's YouTube or Spotify or Apple Music or whatever podcast app listening, just thank you. I'm gonna dig into these questions once again. If you have a question for me, email Grangersmith Podcast

at gmail dot com. And the first one. And I haven't really vetted any of these except for the first one. I just grabbed the first one because I was like, Okay, cool, this is this is a good way to get into it. It says who the heck is Earl Hi Grangeur. I've been watching your family YouTube videos for over a year now, and I listen to your podcast. Don't be mad at me, but I haven't been watching or listening from the very beginning. So your character Earl Dibbles is so weird to me.

Can you explain where he come, where he came from, and why he's a thing? Thanks? This is Kelly from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I guess if you haven't been listening from the beginning, it's a legit question, Kelly, And I don't blame you at all. I'm not mad at you at all, because you're actually right. It is so so weird. It's so weird. So if you guys know this story, then you could

just fast forward. But for Kelly, two thy eleven, I was coming out when I was working on an album called Dirt Road Driveway Now you gotta imagine in twenty eleven, I had maybe a small, very small following in Texas, but nothing outside of the state. And the following I had would be I could go to several of the major cities in Texas and pull about eighty ninety or one hundred people. That's what I'm talking about, small following, and that was great compared to five years before that,

when I could pull five people maybe sometimes zero. So Tyler and I and my brother we were watching a lot of YouTube in twenty eleven. YouTube was still pretty new and not a lot of people used the platform, but we watched some comedy stuff on there. There was a channel called Balloon Shop, and we watched this and we laughed and laughed at these guys, these like guys in their twenties, and they would just make these skits, just funny skits, and Tyler and I laughed and laughed.

We'd watch it. No one else was really watching it at that time, and we thought, let's make some skits. It'd be fun and maybe if one of them goes viral, which not much was going viral in that time on YouTube, if one of them went viral, then maybe that would help the music and if anything, we're just gonna have fun. So we made we started many videos. One of them and by the way, this was in two thousand and

about eight. Earl Dibbles didn't come to twenty eleven, but this YouTube conversation thing I'm talking about was like two thousand and eight. So we started making what we called video of the weeks. If you want to go down this rabbit hole of me on YouTube, sometimes we did. We actually did it with the band not too long ago.

Because you can go down this crazy rabbit hole of finding me in these skits to two thousand and eight, nine, ten, and they just keep going and going, and then you keep discovering new things, even for me because I forget about them. But there's this there's these videos. We called them video of the weeks. And I had this single

called Colorblind, and there's one called El Mattador. There's one called Where's the Radio Station, There's one called Don't Take Your Pants Off, There's one They just go on and on and on. These are little titles and these little skits that we did, and we were looking for one of them to pop, to go viral. And so the first character I did, I believe is called Don't Touch the Turtles, and that was just a random country character called Don't Touch the Turtles, and that was a little skit.

And then I believe the second character we did was called Freddy's Enchiladas. The third character I believe was called Live with lionel In. The fourth character I believe was called Earl Dibbles Junior. So this is I'm trying to give you the timeline the evolution of these videos. And we were making skits and making not vlogs. They were someone else Filming vlogs wasn't a thing. Then Earl Dibbles was just another one of these characters coming down the line.

It was his country character, and I had spoken in that voice. I'm Earl Dibbles Junior. I'm a country boy. I would use that voice, you know, because it represented half of my family and people we'd met on the road, and it was real easy to get into that voice and start talking real country like Earl Devils Junior. He's a country boy, So I would. It was a voice before it was a video. Then then we decided to

make a video. So we were at my parents' house and I had these old overalls that I used to wear in my senior year in high school on game days. We wore them to school. And then I always wore red wing boots. I had those, and I put on this white tank top and this one of my dad's old farm caps, and then Tyler draws these tattoos on me with sharpie, and it was just we just didn't think that this was going to be something I was doing ten years from then that I still do today.

We didn't think that that was gonna happen. We went out and made this video and I set up a tripod and I basically I sat in the tripod and I said, I sat in front of the tripod and I said this series of things just to whatever came off the top of my head. And then we went back and filmed the things that I said. So, for instance, I said, I wake up, put a good dip in,

crack a cold, get dressed, and start the day. And then I went through that down this line of things where I would say and I was just making it up as I go, whittle a good stick, I do exploring in the woods, fix the tree, shoot the gun, and walk around, sit on logs. I mean, like the most random things, and then we played it back and then I and then I acted out that, and then I when I edited it that day, I put those those that that b roll what we call it, on

top of the a roll literally threw it out. The next day wasn't it was no big deal and it went viral. So that is and then a lot of things happened after that, like ye ye was in that video that that's the very beginning, Kelly answer to answer

your question. It's funny. It's really early in the morning right now as I'm recording this podcast, and so it's still easy even in the morning to talk it like Earl Dubbles Junior because he's counchy and he gets up when the sun comes up, all right time to get to something. I saved that one, but I think I think there's there's more on here that are more serious. Some of y'all are, like I thought Earl Dibbles Junior was serious. Shoot, okay, here how about this one. It's

called advice on cars, Hey Granger. I'm fourteen years old outside of Denver. I started to save up for my first car, and my parents said they will support me in whatever I choose to get I'm looking to get. I'm looking at Crownvix around two thousand era Mustangs. Crownvix and two thousand era Mustangs. When I told my parents this, they told me a car like that will tempt me to street race. You want a car like that because because they are more damaged and easier to have problems

that I can learn to fix. What should I do? Sorry, I'm trying to read this comes from Nathaniel. What your question is? What should I do? Two parts? One, listen to your parents. Listen to your parents. Two. I think you're putting I think it's a good side project for you to be thinking about this, and it's definitely good to be saving money. But I think you're putting too much emphasis on this car at fourteen, when two years

your your whole opinion could change. And so I think you're worried too much, especially if you want to right into this podcast about this. I think you're just you're just anticipating a little too early on a question like this. So I would say the answer is easy. Your parents said you're going to They're gonna support you in whatever

you get. Cool, Just save the money, don't worry about telling them what you want right now, and then when when you have enough money and you're looking on Craigslist or wherever you're looking eBay whatever, use car lot and then you see that that two thousand era Mustang for fifty eight hundred dollars and you've saved sixty one hundred dollars. Then you go to your parents and you go, look here it is. I've got this money, and it's it's

a safe car, and it's it's a V six. I'm not going to street race in it, mom, And that conversation is very different. But the most important thing besides saving your money is is respecting your parents. Your parents are doing this out of love. They love you. Why do they not want you to street race? First of all, they probably maybe they see something in you that could be I have a tendency to be crazy, and so they want to protect you. They don't want you to

get in trouble with the law. So there's a lot of they're not telling you to not do this because they just are bored and have nothing else to tell you. Nathaniel, listen to your parents, save your money, make this decision two years from now. That's my vice. Next up, it says The subject line says struggling. I have not read

this yet. I'm about to read it right now. Hey Granger, I would like to remain anonymous, but I'm twenty seven years I'm a twenty seven year old girl from in I like to start off by saying thank you for everything that you do. There's always a lot of comfort in the words that you that you have from your

friends and your family and the word of God. I feel like this is something I've always struggled with, but it seems like it's getting harder with time, and I'm not really sure how to put this into a question. It seems that every time I turn around, it's the cruel people around me that are the ones who win when it comes to time here on earth. There have been countless times where I thought about just giving up and being as harsh and mean as everyone else to

see if it would change my luck or outcome. But ultimately that's just not who I am as a person. I love to love and I love to be kind to people. I'm just feeling overwhelmingly beat up. It just doesn't seem like this is a specific area of my life. But everywhere you're sorry again, it just doesn't seem like this is in a specific area of my life, but just everywhere I turn. Without really having a question, I'm just writing you to look for more, I guess advice

on why not to be discouraged. Thank you, Anonymous from Indiana, twenty seven. Well, first of all, Anonymous, this is biblical. What you're saying is there. It's in the Bible. It says that you know, the sun shines on the wicked just as it shines on the righteous. So I'm paraphrasing here, but there is there's this idea that God's blessing, he will bestow his blessing upon the earth, upon mankind, upon his image bearers, and that that doesn't that doesn't reflect

because of the person that you are. It doesn't. God doesn't put more blessings on the good people or the nice people. That's obvious, right, Like there's the the person at the biggest house on the street up on the hill, with all the with all the all the fences and gardens and workers and roads and pathways and stories and cars in the garage. That doesn't mean that they're a good person. This is not front page news. We just know this is how the world works. It doesn't matter.

God doesn't doesn't choose blessings based on your actions. And that's actually a very important concept of the Bible because God doesn't show favor on us based on our works anyway. It's always based on our faith, and his blessing ultimately

comes in salvation after this life after life here. So if you look back in the historical characters of the Bible, that, for instance, we'll start with Abraham, Abraham was blessed because of his faith, not because of his works, not because of things that he did, not because of his generosity. The generosity and the things that he did are an outcropping of the faith. They came afterward. They were the

result of his faith. So what I'm telling you, Anonymous, is you can't just throw up your hands and go, well, I'm trying to be a good person here and God's not blessing me. That's not exactly what you're saying. But the Bible says that your works you're trying to be a good person is like dirty rags to him because you can't be good enough for God can't. So your question is basically, how do I not be discouraged? Should I just give up and be bad like everyone else.

No by no means no no. But you you just need to realize the way that this this globe in the universe is turning. And and you will never you will never be discouraged because you decided to be good, a good person with integrity. Because at the end of the day, when you lay your head on your pillow and you chose to chose to be take to take the higher road, to have integrity, you will you will ultimately sleep better. And that's not gonna You're not gonna

guarantee people are nice to. You are nice to in your return. But over time, the more integrity you have, and I'm talking integrity meaning honesty, trustworthiness, kindness, the ability to listen more than you talk. There's these attributes that over time you practice these things, over time, you're going to see the fruits of that from the people around you. And if you don't, it's time to change the people

around you. So and I don't know where you are in this situation, but sometimes you need to change the people around you. And I would say, I would say that's most likely the case. Is what's happening with you is you're surrounding yourself with people that are angry and cruel, because I don't think you're talking about the lady that's serving you McDonald's. I think you're talking about your family or your friends that are immediately around you. And it's important.

It's important that sometimes you need to put up your hands and go. Friend. I love you, but but I need some space away from you because because I can't be around this kind of negativity, because it is, it is, it's becoming a problem to me. So stay around positive people. Remember that your face that God's favor doesn't fall just upon the good people. Remember that you being good doesn't

help you get closer to God. And remember that being around positive people will help you sleep better at night. And you could never be wrong with upholding your own integrity. I'm gonna take a break and be right back. Thank you for listening to the podcast. I have a few sponsors today and they're all by people very well over at EEE Apparel. If you haven't heard about the Newyee Jerky, you have to check this out. I know that this is a crazy time and I believe this is what

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back to the questions here. If you have any email, Grangersmith podcast at gmail dot com, and I'm gonna pull up one it says subject line relationship break up at Vice. Hey, grangeur have been a fan for many, many years. I've even gotten the opportunity to meet you once through a meet and greet. Your drive, ambition, story and who you are as a person extremely expiring, inspiring to me. Thank you brother. I'm twenty three years old, he says, I

have a great job, a college degree. My girlfriend of a year and a half broke up with me over a text message weeks after I bought an engagement ring and will not talk to me or even respond to me in any form. I moved out when she was not home and let me read that again. I moved out when she was not home and haven't even heard from her since it was random, out of the blue, and I thought everything was perfectly fine. What advice do

you give me to help me get through this? Why do you think she would just want to disappear like a ghost from me without any conversation or communication? And what advice do you give for this? I'm trying to first of all, Brandon, he's twenty three, doesn't say where he's from, and I'm trying to understand this one part

where it says I moved out. I bought it. My girlfriend over a year and a half broke up with me over a text message weeks after I bought an engagement ring and will not talk to me or even respond to me in any form. I moved out when she was not home and haven't even heard from her since does she Does he mean she moved out? I'm trying to figure follow that. Okay, well, let me address that first. I can go either way either scenario. Man, guys don't live with her, don't don't live with their

guys and girls don't live with them. Even if that means you're saving a ton of money an apartment, even if that means that you're getting a discount from your landlord, what whatever. Even if that means they're they're from out of ten and you're trying to make it convenient, it's just going to create problems. It's going to create problems. So she ghosted you after a year and a half after you bought an engagement ring. She will not talk to you or respond First of all, that is a

clear message. She doesn't respond to you, is a clear message that you need to move on. That doesn't That doesn't mean there's a window of opportunity for me to keep messaging her. Maybe Facebook, maybe she'll check Facebook this time, or maybe maybe it's an email thing like, or she wants to just Okay, maybe she wants me to show up at her work because women I've seen movies and

girls like girls like men that pursue them. So I'm going to show up at two am when she's getting off off of her waitress job at the end the parking lot at dark. No, don't do that. She is fully aware, fully aware that you are reaching out to her and trying to get a hold of her. Humans these days, it is no longer an excuse. They see their phones, they see the text going off, they see the phone calls, they see the email and the Facebook messages and the Instagram whatever. They see you. So it

only takes one and you've done that. Okay. Good news is you've got an engagement ring that you could now either return or sell. They're going to hold their value. Okay, but don't don't hold on to her anymore. It's time to let her go. Do I know why she ghosted you? No? I don't know why, but there's many reasons why it could be, and you not being good enough for her is not something in your consideration. It doesn't matter, it

doesn't matter. You're young, you're twenty three, perfect perfect. This message is different if you're fifty three, right, just different if you're forty three, but you're twenty three. You have a great job, you have a college degree. You dated this girl for a year and a half so much so you liked her so much that you wanted to get an engagement ring. You did, and you lived with her.

Pumped the brakes, she's gone. That's okay. It seems like the end of the world, But there's going to be another and the next one will be better because you will have learned you're better in a relationship. You have more to give, You have a better quality product to give the next relationship because of what you learn from the previous relationship. Does that make sense? Like you you're a better you're better package now to present because because

you have been refined through the fire in a bad relationship. Now, we don't want to go out and seek bad relationships to help refine us. That's not the purpose. But as anything in life, as we as we're broken down, whether it's in the gym or whether it's whether it's in our career, but when we meet setbacks in adversity and we overcome them and we're broken down, then as humans, we grow back better, sometimes in the form of learning or resilience in the gym, muscles, whatever. But through a

break up you build back better. It's interesting that it's called a break up, right because it breaks you down, not up. It breaks you down, and then from breaking down you build up better and you're better for the next person. Lucky for the next person. If you date someone that's had a couple bad relationships, good for you. You get to receive the benefits, hopefully of the fruits that they've learned from the breakdown. I don't know why they call it break up. It should be breakdown. They

broke you down. So all this I say to you, Brandon, as an encouragement, I say this is encouragement that you, although you might not see it because you're in the fire, you're in the breakdown phase, will build back better and you're gonna be better because of it, and you're gonna have more to offer and you have learned, first of all, don't live with her and don't spend too much on that engagement. Thanks for your question, brother, All right, well let's uh, man, I have no idea what these say.

I'm going totally blind. I'm gonna hit this one. This says question, Hey Granger, me and my wife got married in January, and I feel like we have lost our connection. We used to do a lot with each other, but now we just sit at home and do nothing. I feel like we've lost something. Thank you for your time and keep doing the things you're doing, Alex. Alex, let me reiterate. Let me see what you got here. You're saying you and your wife got married in January. This

message came on Thursday, meaning that's this is current. So you are you haven't even hit the one year mark, so you lost your connection. This is this is not Alex. This is not devastating news. Yeah, I'm sure you've heard a lot of people. Maybe people told you in your engagement or on your wedding day. Even I bet you people told you. Remember, the first year is the hardest.

And the reason they say that is because of you're getting all these first you know, and you're learning the person more than you ever did, and so it becomes harder, so that the first year. I think you need to reevaluate this question after January, after the one year is completely done. From when I'm reading this podcast, it's still November. So you've been in You've been in this about ten plus months, so that that's the good news. That's where

I'll start. But then secondly, if you feel like you've lost a connection with your wife now, I don't know anything else about you or her, or your age, or where you live, or if there's kids involved yet, but your wife is your first priority after God right now and she always will be until you die. That's what marriage is. Don't underestimate what marriage is or what she is to you. Don't underestimate that for the rest of your life. That's a commitment you made. That's the value made,

and that's what marriage means. So if you're listening to this podcast on the other side of this conversation, and you're dating and you don't see the possibility of the person you're dating being in this role with you where they're first after God, then you should probably break up with that person. Should probably break up with the person in the relationship with you. That's not that But this is a different story for you, Alex, because you're in it.

We heard on this podcast Brent last week say love is a verb. Love is a verb. I love that some of you might have heard that before, and you've also heard me say love is a decision. Sometimes in this culture we start to feel like love is something like fairy dust that just falls on us, and we confuse it with infatuation. That's what infatuation is. When you're all your pheromones or whatever, you start bubbling up and you just get this feeling like, oh my gosh, this

is it. This is the one, you know. That's that phase of infatuation that goes away. We all have to be aware that it goes away. But love is stronger and deeper and last a lot longer. And it's a verb meaning you do it. You actively do love. You actively love, You pour out love, and usually what you pour out you get back, not in all cases, but in a lot of cases, and a pretty good chance that you will. You you out poor love, you act it out, and you get in return love. It's also

a decision. Love is a mental decision. We want to feel like it's the heart and the gut and like I feel it, my stomach in it just like turns me and it's love. Oh my goodness, it's love. But you can't confuse that within the infatuation because so many times that will fade away, and your gut will lead you somewhere else. Your gut will take you down down the street and see someone else, and you'll get that gut twist like wow, that girl, look at that guy. Whatever.

But love is different, it's deeper, it's stronger than that, and it comes from a decision in the brain to go, you know what. I love this girl. I remember that infatuation I had when I first saw her, and she has not changed somewhere deep down in her. She is that person I saw and she's beautiful the same way that I was attracted to her. And I will make a decision to love her, and I will make a decision to use love as a verb. Meaning in your question, Alex, you say we used to do a lot of things,

but now we just sit at home. That means you make a decision and go, you know what. I'm not going to sit at home anymore. I'm gonna make a decision to make love a verb and act it out with my young wife that we've only been married for ten months together. Hey babe, I got something for you Wednesday night. I got reservations downtown. We're gonna go down there and then and then when she gets in the car, you got flowers for her. You rekindle that and you say, babe,

get dressed up, I'm taking you downtown. We're going Wednesday reservations are seven point thirty. You act it out. You say, hey, on your way home from work, you're driving home and you're thinking, it's Tuesday night. I'm about to repeat what I do every night. We're gonna go in there and we're gonna sit on our phones at home and do nothing. No, I'm changing that. You go to the pet store on your way home from work and you pick up a puppy and you walk in and go, look, babe, a puppy.

I'm just throwing this out there, but there's a million ideas A puppy and I got, and we're gonna me and you, we're gonna go and we're gonna we're gonna start camping, and we're gonna we're gonna go to the the mountains and wherever you live. I don't know where you live, and we're gonna take this puppy and we're gonna we're gonna teach it to swim in the creek like Earl Dibbles Junior swimming in the creek with the

bird dog. Hey, Alex, there's a lot of options here, but you will do nothing, and this will fizzle away, and this will die if you sit at home and lose this connection. But you have a decision to make in your mind, not your gut, not your heart. The Bible says your heart is deceitful, it is infinitely wicked, and your gut cannot be trusted. Do we not know this? We know this? The gut camp You can't trust your gut. People want to say that all the time. Just trust

your gut. It's whimsical. It comes and goes. You chase it all day long like a dog chasing his tail. Eventually, you have to make decisions and follow your brain. You have to follow your brain and make educated decisions based on information that you've collected. Your brain is an incredible thing. So the gut might get you there, it might might start the spark, it might get you in the infatuation. But love eventually becomes governed by your brain. So today

you start. Today you hear this podcast, Alex, you go, I will no longer sit at home and do nothing with my with my wife and she I'm not going to wait for her to make this kind of decision, because maybe she won't come to this conclusion, but you will. Wives, if you're listening to this and you're in the same situation from the reverse, don't wait on your husband. One of you two needs to act now, and don't look at it as if he ain't gonna act, I ain't

gonna act. Don't look at it because it might not happen. Who's going to start at first? You might lose this marriage. People are so quick to give up on it. I think I've said enough, Alex, But but act on this. Do it now. They say the first year is the hardest. I get it, But that doesn't mean you don't waste this opportunity now to get this fire going again. Don't let it get down to Embers and go out on you. All right, let's go to I'm just going on the

list here, guys, That's what I'm doing. If you got an email, send me one at Grangersmith podcast at gmail dot com with your question. I'm just going to go down these It says, Hey, Granger I'm Daniel from Indiana. I have a few things I need help with. Number One, my grandpa passed away a few years ago, and I'm still struggling with it to the point that it's hurting some of my relationships. And I don't want it to be I don't want I there's a couple of misspellings, Sorry, Daniel.

I don't want it to do. I don't want it to mess up my piece. I'll paraphrase it for you. Number two, my girlfriend will be leaving for college in a few months and I will be staying home, and I don't want her to go. I know it's for the best. I'm afraid of what this impact might have on our relationship. I don't want it to end. I don't know if I could handle the drive to see her with my work schedule in the distance. She's my rock.

I don't know what to do without her. She has helped me through so much of this difficult time in my life. How do you deal with distance between you and your wife and when your family is on the road. What could I do? Says I love your podcast, your YouTube channel, and i've seen you live in concert and Indiana and in Milwaukee. Wow, Dan, thanks for reaching out, brother. I see a lot of over and over you're writing.

I don't want to I don't want to. I don't want to, and I want to just encourage you through this that there there appears to be I'm no psychologist, I'm no therapist, but there appear to be deeper issues in your questions. And I love your brothers is coming out of love? Right? You have a number one and number two. Number one your grandpa passed away and you're still not over it. Number two your girlfriend's leaving for college in a few months and you're staying at home.

Let's go, let's dive into each one. What number one your grandpa? This might be hurting your girlfriend relationship too. You you admitted it that this might be hurting your relationships because you can't let go. Hey, a few years, let me let me be blunt. A few years is too long to be actively hurting after losing your grandpa. Some of you might go, what, No, it has nothing to do with your love. Okay, there's nothing to do with your your love. And you know I lost I've

lost two grandpa's. Loved my grandpa's. I lost them. I miss them. I think about them all the time. I wish that I could have a conversation with one of my two grandpas about something, usually World War two. I I wish I could have conversations about that, but that doesn't that doesn't mean then I'm struggling with it. And so if you're struggling with it, you need to put this to bed. You have to put this to rest, because because the one thing we know for sure in

life his grandpas are going to die. Right, do I need to say that again? The one thing we know for sure in life is that grandpas are going to die. Sounds like a bad country song, but most of us, ninety nine percent of us on this earth will lose our grandpa's because that's the cycle of life. So so we need to look back at Grandpa at the life that he lived, and we need those memories of what he taught us and how he lived and who he was as a great person. We need those memories to

make a smile. Now after two years, I'm not talking about the first few months, but after two years, we need those memories to make us smile and not make us struggle and grieve and cry and hurt. So it's time to go to his graveside and have a conversation with that cold stone. You're not gonna have a conversation with him. I don't believe that that's possible, but you need to have a covert conversation with that cold stone and go, you know what this represents. Once again, I'm

not I am so against talking to dead. I'm so against that, and I could feel the emails clicking against me right now. But the Bible said that the dead have no business on earth anymore. So you're not talking to him. But I want you to go talk to that ground and that stone and just say what this represents. In this ground and this stone, in this cemetery where I once stood for this funeral. I am gonna from here on look at this memory and look at the

legacy of my grandpa. It's a good thing, something that makes me smile, something that made me the man I am. And I'm gonna be strong for him. And I'm gonna take what he taught me and I'm gonna teach it to the world and my future kids and my nieces and nephews and friends around me. I'm gonna bring in those old sayings that Grandpa said. I'm gonna show him how to work on the truck like Grandpa did. I'm gonna show him how to swing a hammer like my grandpa.

But I'm not gonna let it drag me down because that's not what he would want in his legacy. Number two, your girlfriend. You are too attached to her. You are too Let me say it again. You are too attached to her, Daniel, You cannot say she this is your quote, she is my rock. I don't know what I will do without her. Boom problem, red flag. You are too attached to her. Hey, guys, I can't even say that about Amber. She is my rock. I don't know what I will do without her. What happens if I lose her?

And I've said that, I'm screwed. My kids are ruined. Daddy is looney. He has lost his mind. Why because he lost his rock and he didn't know what he was going to do without her, and then he lost her, and guess what, he doesn't know what to do. That's a bad thing. You see what I'm saying. It's a bad thing. The only person you could say this about is God, and this would echo something you'd read in the Psalms by David God. You're my rock, You're my

refuge for salvation paraphrase. I don't know what I would do without you, because guess what, You'll never lose him. He is always here for you. He is your rock, and you have to rearrange your thoughts that way. It has to be that way, because if she replaces God, if she becomes your idol in this and that's what it is. It's idolatry to think of your girlfriend as your rock and you don't know what you do without her. These words might be coming across harsh, but they are

so true. And there's evidence in all the emails I've read over the last couple of years that show you that the result of what you're doing is eventually she's gonna leave you or die, or you're gonna fall out of love, and you're going to change your mind or your gut, and then you're gonna go. She was my rock and I didn't know what to do without her, and now I'm lost. Now I'm lost. So you have to fix that. And guess what a good way to fix this is, Daniel. She's leaving for college in a

few months. It sounds like a good time for a little space, a little break, little distance might do you good. It should, and so I would use this time to go Hey, Babe, you're going away. I'm starting a new hobby or taking on an extra job, or I'm gonna I'm gonna really pour some of my pour some of this time and effort into my buddies, my guy friends here, and we're gonna we're gonna do a lot more fishing

now and it and see where this goes. Maybe maybe she says, you know, Babe, I was gone for two months in college and I just can't stand to be away from you. And that says something about the relationship. But the bottom line, you have to work yourself. You have to work this out with She's my rock. I don't know what I'd do without her. She has helped me through so many difficult things in my life. You're setting yourself up for really bad news and really crushing heartbreak.

People that listen right now or they know I mean, I've just read a question earlier. Is that the result of this kind of idolatry for your girlfriend or your boyfriend or your kids. Your kids could be this kind of idol. You can't look at your kids and go they are my rock. I don't know what I would do without them. Be careful with that that's coming from a guy that's lost his child. Be careful with that. You're setting yourself up for a devastation beyond understanding. Don't

hear me wrong, y'all. This is not about loving your family less. It's not about loving your family or your friends, or your girlfriend or your boyfriend less. It's about loving God that much more. I appreciate y'all for listening. That's all we have today. We will see you next Monday. Thank you for listening. Thank you for following this journey. If you have a question for me, email Grangersmith Podcast at gmail dot com. I will love to answer it.

We'll see y'all next week. Gee, thanks for joining me on the Grangersmith Podcast. I appreciate all of you. Guys. You could help me out by rating this podcast on iTunes. If you're on YouTube, subscribe to this channel. Hit that little like button and the notification spell so that you never miss anytime I upload a video. If you have a question for me that you would like me to answer, email granger Smith Cast at gmail dot com. Ye m HM.