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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 to and we hope

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

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Speaker 2: Welcome back, friends to another edition of the Story Behind podcast.

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Speaker 2: I'm your host, Sean McAvoy. I'm the executive director of

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Speaker 2: Content here at the Salem Web Network, and I have

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Speaker 2: a team of wonderful people who part of which go

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Speaker 2: out and scour the web each week to find these

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Speaker 2: stories that are well. They're behind maybe some of the

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Speaker 2: other things that we are inundated with on a day

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Speaker 2: to day basis, and sometimes even more frequently than that,

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Speaker 2: but there are still positive stories and good relationships and

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Speaker 2: wonderful miracles going on just past what we see and

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Speaker 2: hear on the day to day. So let's get go

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Speaker 2: on with some of those today. You can find our

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Speaker 2: stories as usual at GodTube dot com, where our tagline

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Speaker 2: is that you can watch without worry. And if you

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Speaker 2: go to the blog section, which you'll see either at

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Speaker 2: GodTube dot com slash blog or you can just go

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Speaker 2: there straight in our nav, you'll find our section of

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Speaker 2: God Updates Content, which is our repository for all these

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Speaker 2: positive stories. And there's also a video component that you'll

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Speaker 2: find there as well for each one of these. So

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Speaker 2: if you want to dig a little deeper, go even

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Speaker 2: further the story behind, well we welcome you to do that. Today.

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Speaker 2: I'm going to tell you a couple stories in just

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Speaker 2: a second. One that's kind of close to home and

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Speaker 2: one that, well, it carries people far away from home.

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Speaker 2: That little teaser in mind, just stick around and we'll

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Speaker 2: be right back with those stories, all right. Our first

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Speaker 2: story this week is written by Mikhaela Gordonai, and this

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Speaker 2: is the story of how a community welcomes back their

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Speaker 2: beloved mailman after he beat cancer, calling him the Mailman

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Speaker 2: of the Century. And when I tease that this was

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Speaker 2: close to home, that's because this story, to my own surprise,

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Speaker 2: takes place in the same county in which I live.

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Speaker 2: And this is the story of Willie Stone being called

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Speaker 2: the mailman of the Century after spending forty years on

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Speaker 2: the same routes in Henraiko County, Virginia, Woo. When Willy

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Speaker 2: left his job for six months to beat cancer, the

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Speaker 2: whole community got together to show him how much they

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Speaker 2: love and care. He came back from her mission to

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Speaker 2: mailbox after mailbox and poster after poster reading welcome back Willie.

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Speaker 2: The long time mailman loves his job because he loves

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Speaker 2: making connections, and everyone loves him for it. It makes

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Speaker 2: you feel like you're not a stranger. One resident said.

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Speaker 2: His customers consider him part of the family. He's the

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Speaker 2: mail man of the century. One man chuckles. I think

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Speaker 2: that's what the community should be like. We should love

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Speaker 2: each other, take care of each other, and protect each other.

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Speaker 2: Stone said. One day, Willy was working when he felt

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Speaker 2: weak and vomited. When he went to the hospital, he

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Speaker 2: got the news that he had a kind of blood cancer,

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Speaker 2: non Hodgkins lymphoma. Willie got so many words of encouragement

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Speaker 2: through his tough treatments, so he kept pushing. After more

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Speaker 2: than six months away from his Rootstone finally reached her

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Speaker 2: mission and rang the ceremonial bell. It was a significant

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Speaker 2: moment for him that he'd been looking forward to. So

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Speaker 2: when he returned to his root, the whole community showed

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Speaker 2: their support. Some people even put out huge letters on

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Speaker 2: their law saying thank you, Willie, and some stood outside

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Speaker 2: they touched me in a way that you can't even

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Speaker 2: put into words, the man said, who teared up when

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Speaker 2: he saw all of the support. Will he can know

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Speaker 2: with confidence that no matter what happens to him or

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Speaker 2: what he goes through, his community will have his back.

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Speaker 2: As it says in Psalm seventy three twenty six, my

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Speaker 2: flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the

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Speaker 2: strength of my heart and my portion forever. We'll be

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Speaker 2: back in just a moment with another positive story for

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Speaker 2: this episode, and welcome back. As we continue today, I'd

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Speaker 2: like to ask you a question, especially those of you

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Speaker 2: who have been married for any length of time. Can

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Speaker 2: you even imagine being married for forty years? And with

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Speaker 2: that in mind, what do you think you might do

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Speaker 2: if you ever are fortunate enough to reach that milestone?

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Speaker 2: You know, are the usual suspects, vacations, time with family,

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Speaker 2: maybe some special foods and restaurants. Well, this couple who

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Speaker 2: lived in Utah decided that they wanted to spend their

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Speaker 2: fortieth anniversary doing something that I couldn't have even conceived

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Speaker 2: of when I was twenty years old and in the

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Speaker 2: best shape of my life. This couple, according to this

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Speaker 2: story by Heather Riggleman well for their fortieth anniversary. This

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Speaker 2: Utah couple decided to bike four thousand miles across the

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Speaker 2: country For their fortieth anniversary, This Utah couple biked four

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Speaker 2: thousand miles across the country Bliss and Robert Sawyer. First

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Speaker 2: of all, I love the name Bliss, especially as we

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Speaker 2: get on with this story and you see what this

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Speaker 2: couple has to teach us. But Bliss and Robert Sawyer

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Speaker 2: of Saratoga Springs, Utah, recently set out on what may

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Speaker 2: be their most ambitious journey yet, biking across America from

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Speaker 2: Washington State to New Jersey in just over three months.

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Speaker 2: At least, they think they can make it that far

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Speaker 2: in that amount of time. It's not something you hear

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Speaker 2: about when asking couples what they plan to do for

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Speaker 2: their anniversary trips. At any stage, most would think forty

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Speaker 2: years of marriage would equal a cruise or an island paradise,

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Speaker 2: But not this couple. Their idea of celebrating involves the

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Speaker 2: open ride and pumped up tires. They say their love

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Speaker 2: for cycling began decades ago, and since then they've peddled

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Speaker 2: countless miles across the United States and even around the world,

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Speaker 2: exploring destinations such as the United Kingdom, Norway, and Switzerland.

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Speaker 2: Yet this challenge felt different for Bliss. The excitement wasn't

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Speaker 2: simply reaching a finish line. It's experiencing America at the

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Speaker 2: pace of a bicycle. Seeing our own country from a bicycle.

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Speaker 2: Bliss said, to me, that's kind of magic because you

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Speaker 2: see things differently. And their adventure is far from luxurious.

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Speaker 2: The Sawyers plan to spend many nights camping, occasionally stopping

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Speaker 2: at roadside hotels for a little R and R. Day

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Speaker 2: after day. They will face changing landscapes, unpredictable weather, and

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Speaker 2: long stretches of open road, but they wouldn't want it

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Speaker 2: any other way. What makes their story especially sweet is

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Speaker 2: the reason behind the ride. While crossing the country together,

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Speaker 2: Bliss and Robert are also raising money for two organizations

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Speaker 2: close to their hearts, Tabitha's Way Food Pantry and Habitat

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Speaker 2: for Humanity. Over the years, their perspective on cycling has changed.

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Speaker 2: When they were younger riders, they focused on speed and distance.

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Speaker 2: Now they're focused on something much more meaningful. This is

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Speaker 2: just us to enjoy being together, enjoy the scenery, listen

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Speaker 2: to music, Robert said, and there's something very beautiful about that.

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Speaker 2: In a world that often urges us to rush through life,

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Speaker 2: Bliss again, the appropriately named Bliss and Robert, are choosing

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Speaker 2: a different path. Mile by mile, They are making memories,

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Speaker 2: helping others, and reminding us that some of life's greatest

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Speaker 2: adventures are not about how quickly you arrive, but who

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Speaker 2: is beside you along the way. Their journey across America

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Speaker 2: is a symbol of their enduring love, shared purpose, and

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Speaker 2: the joy of seeing the world one petal stroke at

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Speaker 2: a time. As it says in Ecclesiastes four nine, two

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Speaker 2: are better than one because they have a good return

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Speaker 2: for their labor. Thanks for joining us on this episode

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Speaker 2: of The Story Behind. Come back in a couple of

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Speaker 2: days and we'll have two more stories to encourage you

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Speaker 2: and enrich your heart. Until then, all the best. This

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Speaker 2: is Sean signing off.

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

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Speaker 1: We're really glad you joined us for this week's story.

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

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Speaker 1: in this episode, check out the links in 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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Speaker 1: also love it if you'd rate us and leave us

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Speaker 1: a review. It really does help more people find us.

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Speaker 1: Story Behind is a Salem Web Network production.

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Speaker 3: Hey friends, it's Kelly from Live Audio. We just launched

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Speaker 3: something new. It's called The Good Word, our free weekly

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Speaker 3: newsletter built for people who want to go a little

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Speaker 3: deeper in their faith. Thank devotionals, guided prayers, curted podcast recommendations,

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Speaker 3: and a little community all in one place. No ads,

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Speaker 3: just good content. This one means a lot to us.

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Speaker 3: We built The Good Word based on the audience survey

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Speaker 3: so many of you filled out a few months back.

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Speaker 3: You told us what you wanted and we listened. So

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Speaker 3: thank you truly for helping us shape this. Head to

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Speaker 3: the link in the show notes and join our community today.

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Speaker 3: We'd love to have you