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Speaker 1: Hello, friends, Welcome to Story Behind podcast. This is the

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Speaker 1: show for people who love hearing a good story and

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Speaker 1: who believe the world could use more positivity. We're the

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Speaker 1: team behind God Updates and God Too, and we hope

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Speaker 1: these weekly short stories will brighten your day.

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Speaker 2: After twenty hours at sea, one family's safe return shows

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Speaker 2: God was near all along. Written by MICHAELA. Gordoni, read

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Speaker 2: by Julie Probost. A birthday fishing trip got turned upside

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Speaker 2: down literally in Clearwater, Florida, on November twenty fifth. After

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Speaker 2: twenty hours on the water, the family was found at sea.

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Speaker 2: The group in the boat consisted of four family members,

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Speaker 2: Dennis Wood's seventy, Clarence Wood's ninety, Chris Harding Senior forty two,

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Speaker 2: and Chris Harding Junior eighteen. They fished for a few

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Speaker 2: hours on the twenty five foot boat named Money well

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Speaker 2: wasted before the catamaran flipped. Survivors sat on the overturned

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Speaker 2: vessel for twenty hours before help came. It was probably

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Speaker 2: less than five minutes before it rolled. Dennis said, I

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Speaker 2: didn't have time to contact the coastguard. We were more

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Speaker 2: concerned about getting a life jacket on the nine year

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Speaker 2: old and the eighteen year old. The one I was

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Speaker 2: going to where got hung up and I just had

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Speaker 2: to leave it. That night, they saw a Coastguard helicopter,

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Speaker 2: but they couldn't get its attention. The night was real

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Speaker 2: rough because the waves picked up and we were having

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Speaker 2: to try to get up on top of the rigging

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Speaker 2: of it, Dennis said. Dennis spent most of the night

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Speaker 2: supporting Clarence, who had fallen several times. The crew's family

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Speaker 2: called the police when they hadn't returned up to sundown.

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Speaker 2: They honestly didn't think they were gonna make it, Teresa Rucker,

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Speaker 2: Dennis's sister, said, But the four prayed all throughout the night,

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Speaker 2: Clarence even saying they recalled seeing a cloud shaped like

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Speaker 2: an angel, which they interpreted to me, and they weren't alone.

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Speaker 2: Our pastor taught us that whatever comes your way, God's

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Speaker 2: got you in his hand, Teresa said. And I want

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Speaker 2: everyone to know God's got you in his hands, and

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Speaker 2: whatever happens, he already knows, and he already provided a

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Speaker 2: way out. It's a miracle. I mean, for them to

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Speaker 2: be out there, it's a miracle. The crew was found

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Speaker 2: around seven am the next morning. Dennis said, the experience

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Speaker 2: was rough. The water just sucks all the warmth out

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Speaker 2: of your body, so they were just pretty chilly, says

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Speaker 2: US coast Guard Savannah o'deal. The nine year old man,

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Speaker 2: he was on the outside. We were worried about him,

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Speaker 2: she said. We were very happy that everyone was still

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Speaker 2: doing okay. The catamaran was pretty much fully underwater, so

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Speaker 2: the fact that it was still above water was pretty great.

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Speaker 2: I think their first words were thank you to all

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Speaker 2: of us. The rescuers pulled them to safety and insured

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Speaker 2: their boat reached shore. Three of the four men had

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Speaker 2: to stay in the hospital overnight, and all were treated

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Speaker 2: for dehydration and hypothermia. Clarence was also treated for cuts.

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Speaker 2: Even though they had quite the word deal, they aren't

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Speaker 2: heavy hearted. Christina told me to tell you all he

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Speaker 2: caught a six foot shark before this happened. Teresa joked

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Speaker 2: to reporters, and Dennis laughed. It was a good birthday

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Speaker 2: now that we're back on land, but a blessing that

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Speaker 2: God kept them safe throughout that scary experience. They'll probably

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Speaker 2: be hugging land for a little while. When a graduation

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Speaker 2: Soto went to the wrong house, strangers became family, written

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Speaker 2: by Heather Brickleman, read by Julie Provost. When a graduation

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Speaker 2: photo went to the wrong house, strangers became family. Sometimes

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Speaker 2: God sends people into your life through church, sometimes through

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Speaker 2: shared struggles, and sometimes through a graduation photo delivered to

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Speaker 2: the wrong mailbox. Because the Lord clearly has a sense

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Speaker 2: of you were That's exactly how Geo and Johnny became family.

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Speaker 2: Geo came home from work like any other day. She

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Speaker 2: was off mail in hand, minding his business when he

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Speaker 2: pulled out a crisp, professional graduation photo of someone he'd

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Speaker 2: never seen in his entire life. Most people would toss it,

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Speaker 2: orse quid at it, or wonder which neighbor had a

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Speaker 2: kid who looked that photogenic. No, not Geo, No, No,

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Speaker 2: Geo saw destiny. I don't know who this is, he said,

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Speaker 2: turning on his camera with the confidence of a man

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Speaker 2: about to make content. But you family now, And just

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Speaker 2: like that, the mystery graduate became cousin Johnny. Geo took

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Speaker 2: his photo and he went straight to the mantle, like

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Speaker 2: Johnny had always belonged there. He just declared it with

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Speaker 2: his whole chest. Let it be known everybody, this is

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Speaker 2: cousin now. Meanwhile, miles away, Johnny woke up blissfully unaware

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Speaker 2: that he had been adopted into a new family overnight.

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Speaker 2: He rubbed his eyes, stretched, checked his phone, and boomed

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Speaker 2: ninety nine plus notifications on every app he owned, even

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Speaker 2: on the app seated news. I didn't even have TikTok,

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Speaker 2: Johnny said, I barely knew what was happening. People were like, bro,

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Speaker 2: you got to see this video. He watched it and

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Speaker 2: burst out laughing. Some guy he had never met was

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Speaker 2: proudly showing him off to the Internet like a long

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Speaker 2: lost relative, and honestly, it felt kind of right. The

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Speaker 2: Internet worked fast, attacking Johnny, making introductions, pushing this new family,

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Speaker 2: readingion along. Geo messaged him, Johnny replied, and just like that,

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Speaker 2: their first phone conversation had them saying, yeah, we're really

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Speaker 2: cousins now. Eventually they decided to meet, both a little nervous,

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Speaker 2: both hoping the other one wasn't a serial killer, both

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Speaker 2: driving hours with their respective support teams, aching friends and girlfriends,

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Speaker 2: and when you know it, they pulled into a hotel

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Speaker 2: parking lot at the exact same moment, divine timing a handshake,

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Speaker 2: waiting to happen. They hopped out of their cars, walked

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Speaker 2: towards each other and did the now famous handsh smooth

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Speaker 2: crispit absolutely necessary but also absolutely perfect. There was a

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Speaker 2: spark Geo set. Johnny nodded and had it real crispy

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Speaker 2: Geo grand He said, we locked in, and truly they were.

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Speaker 2: Because isn't that just like God bringing people together in unexpected, ridiculous,

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Speaker 2: joy filled ways, reminding us that family is more than blood.

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Speaker 2: It's a blessing, more than DNA and more than last names.

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Speaker 2: It's laughter, love and showing up the exact moment in

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Speaker 2: the exact place without planning it all. Sometimes the wrong

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Speaker 2: male becomes the right miracle. Sometimes a graduation picture turns

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Speaker 2: into a friendship. Sometimes two men meet and realize God's

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Speaker 2: sister stories together long before you best ps got involved,

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Speaker 2: And sometimes just sometimes your newest cousin is the person

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Speaker 2: who reminds you that the world is still full of goodness,

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Speaker 2: humor and the best surprises Ephesians two nineteen. You are

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Speaker 2: no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's

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Speaker 2: people and also members of his household.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to Story Behind podcast

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Speaker 1: Real glad you joined us for this week's story. To

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Speaker 1: see photos and videos that may have been referenced in

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Speaker 1: this episode, check out the links and the show notes,

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Speaker 1: And if you enjoyed what you heard today, subscribe to

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Speaker 1: our podcast and please tell a friend about us. We'd

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