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Speaker 1: Life audio.

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Speaker 2: Find inspiration as close as your phone. Download the Jesus

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Speaker 2: Calling app and get started today for free. Look for

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Speaker 2: the Jesus Calling app in both the Apple and Google

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Speaker 2: Play stores.

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Speaker 1: I have to be extremely intentional about keeping up my

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Speaker 1: prayer life because I've found when I begin to lose

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Speaker 1: focus on my relationship with God, I'm an unhappier person.

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Speaker 1: I'm not as kind as I should be. My words

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Speaker 1: start to become unkind, I start to worry more, I

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Speaker 1: start to give in to stress and anxiety. I start

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Speaker 1: making questionable decisions, and so I have to be extremely

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Speaker 1: intentional to remain prayerful each day.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. In the foothills of

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Speaker 2: apple Atcha, Jordan Smith, a young boy from Harlan, Kentucky,

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Speaker 2: found his voice in the hymns of a small country church.

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Speaker 2: Years later, that voice would capture the nation's heart when

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Speaker 2: Jordan Smith won and be sees the voice in twenty fifteen.

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Speaker 2: In our conversation, Jordan reflects on how hymns shaped his

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Speaker 2: journey and how prayer and scripture continue to anchor him

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Speaker 2: through every season of life. Later in the episode, we'll

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Speaker 2: hear from Tyler White, also known as DJ ty Why,

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Speaker 2: who many may recognize from the Netflix series Love.

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Speaker 1: On the Spectrum.

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Speaker 2: Growing up on the Spectrum, Tyler discovered the power of

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Speaker 2: music to overcome social challenges, from singing and talent shows

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Speaker 2: to dancing at school events. Today, he djys across Florida,

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Speaker 2: including autism speaks walks, using his platform to inspire others

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Speaker 2: on the Spectrum. In our conversation, Tyler reflects on perseverance, faith,

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Speaker 2: and how music continues to shape his journey and dreams.

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Speaker 2: Let's begin with Jordan's story.

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Speaker 1: Hi friends, my name is Jordan Smith and I am

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Speaker 1: a Christian singer, songwriter, recording artist. You may know me

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Speaker 1: from season nine of The Voice. I actually won the

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Speaker 1: Voice way back in twenty fifteen, and I'm here today

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Speaker 1: just to talk about a little bit of my journey

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Speaker 1: of faith, to talk about my love of music and

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Speaker 1: of Hiss, and to share with you my story and

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Speaker 1: my relationship with Jesus. I grew up in a little

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Speaker 1: town called Harlan, Kentucky, nestled in the foothills of the

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Speaker 1: Appalachian Mountains, and it's actually one of the poorer areas

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Speaker 1: of the country. But what we lack in money and

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Speaker 1: big buildings, we more than make up for in culture

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Speaker 1: and in people, and so I come from a real

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Speaker 1: sort of salt of the earth family and community who

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Speaker 1: would give you the shirts off their backs. They are

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Speaker 1: just incredible people who are hardworking and they have incredibly

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Speaker 1: strong values when it comes to faith and family. And

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Speaker 1: so that really growing up shaped who I am as

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Speaker 1: a person, and it served as a really strong foundation

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Speaker 1: for my faith as I got older. I always was

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Speaker 1: very involved in my church. I went to a little

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Speaker 1: country church where many of the members were my family members,

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Speaker 1: and my parents were heavily involved in the music and

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Speaker 1: often led song services. My aunt was actually the pastor,

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Speaker 1: so we were just a very tight knit community of believers.

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Speaker 1: And that is where I first discovered my love for

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Speaker 1: music and also for ministry. And so growing up I

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Speaker 1: knew that I loved music and I wanted to be

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Speaker 1: able to make music for my entire life. And it

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Speaker 1: wasn't until I got a little older and I got

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Speaker 1: into high school and I really started to take music

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Speaker 1: seriously that I really began to discover just how important

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Speaker 1: music was to me, just how passionate I was about music,

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Speaker 1: and really the options and the opportunities that were out

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Speaker 1: there for me to be able to pursue music as

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Speaker 1: more than just a hobby, but as a career and

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Speaker 1: even now as a lifestyle. You know, during that time

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Speaker 1: growing up, I can remember so many moments where I

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Speaker 1: would sit in a worship service and I would hear

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Speaker 1: a song that would speak to me and speak to

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Speaker 1: my heart. And it's really funny because most often it

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Speaker 1: would be one of my parents that was singing that song,

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Speaker 1: and so I really had a strong relationship with them,

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Speaker 1: and they really poured into me spiritually through not only

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Speaker 1: our time as a family, but through their ministry in

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Speaker 1: our church. And there was one song that my mom

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Speaker 1: specifically would sing and I would just be moved to

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Speaker 1: tears every time I heard it. Even as a kid

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Speaker 1: in middle school. There was a song called that I

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Speaker 1: Could Still Go Free. This chorus says that I could

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Speaker 1: still go free. What kind of man would reach down

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Speaker 1: his hand and do this for me? Unworthy to live

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Speaker 1: and not fit to kill? That a man on the

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Speaker 1: cross put me in his will and said that I

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Speaker 1: could still go free. And just hearing my mom singing

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Speaker 1: that song even now, I kind of have a little

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Speaker 1: bit of chills on my body. Talking about it, because

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Speaker 1: I could hear her voice singing it so clearly, and

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Speaker 1: she was so passionate about the message of that song.

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Speaker 1: And it really is one of the first pieces of

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Speaker 1: music in a church service that impacted me. And I

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Speaker 1: still some days get that song in the back of

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Speaker 1: my mind and I'm just filled with gratitude to the

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Speaker 1: Lord for his sacrifice for each of us. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: my mom will love to hear that, But that was

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Speaker 1: sort of the beginning for me of understanding just how

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Speaker 1: profoundly music can impact us and how directly it can

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Speaker 1: connect us to God. The term him itself refers to

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Speaker 1: a song that is simply a song of praise or

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Speaker 1: a worship to God. Hymns themselves have been around since

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Speaker 1: ancient history. Christian hymns have been around for many many years.

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Speaker 1: There are example of hymns in the Bible. Many of

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Speaker 1: the psalms that David wrote are considered hymns, and hymns

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Speaker 1: are songs that are meant to be memorized and sung together.

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Speaker 1: There are songs that bring people together, and as I mentioned,

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Speaker 1: there's songs that are centered around the message of the Gospel.

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Speaker 1: And so when you consider a song in him. There

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Speaker 1: are many modern hymns that I would consider just as

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Speaker 1: impactful and powerful as hymns that have been around for

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Speaker 1: hundreds of years, because they highlight the truth of Scripture,

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Speaker 1: but they also bring people together and allow people to

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Speaker 1: experience that truth together. There is something so profound about

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Speaker 1: a hymn that brings people together. It sort of aligns

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Speaker 1: people into one mind and one accord that Scripture talks about.

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Speaker 1: It sort of brings unity among people that are together.

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Speaker 1: And I think that's because, you know, hymns originated as

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Speaker 1: a way for congregations to sing together, but also to

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Speaker 1: learn about theology and learn about the gospel. People weren't

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Speaker 1: always able to read, that were attending church, many of

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Speaker 1: them were not educated enough to fully understand Scripture for themselves,

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Speaker 1: and so hymns became a way for people to memorize

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Speaker 1: the stories of Scripture, to memorize the concepts of the

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Speaker 1: Gospel set to music that may struggle to understand it otherwise.

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Speaker 1: And so when you have a group of people coming

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Speaker 1: together to sing these uplifting messages, to sing these messages

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Speaker 1: of hope, and to sing these messages of the Gospel,

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Speaker 1: I think something just comes alive in you, and there's

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Speaker 1: something profound about it. My belief in the power of

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Speaker 1: hymns is a big reason why I chose to record

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Speaker 1: a hymn's album. My album is called The People's Hymnal

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Speaker 1: and this has been a dream project of mine for

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Speaker 1: many years. I've partnered with Gaither Music and I finally

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Speaker 1: had the opportunity to create an album of songs that

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Speaker 1: have meant so much to me throughout my faith journey

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Speaker 1: in my life. These are hymns that I can remember

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Speaker 1: growing up singing in that little country church in Harlan, Kentucky.

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Speaker 1: These are songs I can remember my parents and my

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Speaker 1: grandparents singing, and some of them are songs that we

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Speaker 1: all as a culture collectively have been inspired by and

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Speaker 1: then touched by. So I wanted to create an album

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Speaker 1: of these kind of songs because I wanted to be

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Speaker 1: able to share them with the next generation. I wanted

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Speaker 1: to participate in the passing on of these traditions of

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Speaker 1: this heritage of hymn music. And it ended up being

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Speaker 1: one of the most fulfilling and rewarding projects that I've

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Speaker 1: done so far. Why am I saying make me.

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Speaker 3: Hold again?

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Speaker 1: Why not? As we worked on this project. As we

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Speaker 1: sang through these songs, they inspired us and they brought

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Speaker 1: new life to us. And I hope that as people

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Speaker 1: listen to it, they experience the same thing. You're going

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Speaker 1: to recognize the words, you're going to recognize the titles.

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Speaker 1: But when you hit play on these songs, they're definitely

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Speaker 1: gonna feel fresh to you. And I hope that in

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Speaker 1: the same way that they sound new, I hope the

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Speaker 1: messages come alive in a new way in your heart.

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Speaker 1: You know, you come from singing in front of America

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Speaker 1: and your songs start charting, and all of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: you wake up one morning and you're number one on iTunes,

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Speaker 1: ahead of Adele's Hello, and the offers are rolling in

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Speaker 1: and people are pulling you in all these different directions.

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Speaker 1: And there's a lot of pressure and a lot of

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Speaker 1: worry that comes with that. And there were a lot

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Speaker 1: of times where anxiety began to creep up in my

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Speaker 1: chest and wanted to make me feel fearful about the future,

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Speaker 1: fearful about making the right decisions or the wrong decisions.

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Speaker 1: I had to be really careful because I found myself

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Speaker 1: in moments where worry was stealing the joy of what

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Speaker 1: God was doing in my life. Worry was taking away

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Speaker 1: the happiness that I should feel in doing what God

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Speaker 1: created me to do. And I wasn't feeling fulfilled in

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Speaker 1: all of those moments because I was concerned about how

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Speaker 1: I was going to in the next project, or how

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Speaker 1: I was going to continue to accomplish and receive. And

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Speaker 1: so I had to really rely on Number one, my

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Speaker 1: support system around me. I have an incredible wife who

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Speaker 1: is a woman of great faith, and she has really

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Speaker 1: kept me grounded throughout the last decade and throughout all

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Speaker 1: of my career. But really the most important thing was prayer.

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Speaker 1: I had to learn how to cultivate a consistent prayer

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Speaker 1: life with God in order to remain at peace in

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Speaker 1: every situation. And I continually had to come back, sometimes

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Speaker 1: even every single day, to give Him the same worries

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Speaker 1: and fears and trade them and exchange them for his

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Speaker 1: love and his peace. I have to be extremely intentional

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Speaker 1: about keeping up my prayer life because I've found when

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Speaker 1: I begin to lose focus on my relationship with God,

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Speaker 1: I'm an unhappier person. I'm not as kind as I

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Speaker 1: should be. My words start to become untimed, I start

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Speaker 1: to worry more, I start to give in to stress

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Speaker 1: and anxiety, I start making questionable decisions, and so I

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Speaker 1: have to be extremely intentional to remain prayerful each day.

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Speaker 1: And I heard someone say recently it was a great

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Speaker 1: reminder for me. When you can't hear God, read him.

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Speaker 1: And so even though there are days where it feels

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Speaker 1: like maybe my prayers only hit the ceiling, or maybe

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Speaker 1: I'm not feeling very spiritual that day, and you know

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Speaker 1: I'm having trouble connecting with God, I open my Word

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Speaker 1: every single day and I read His words to me.

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Speaker 1: And I think that it is a power full thing

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Speaker 1: to be able to go to Scripture and understand that

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Speaker 1: it's living and breathing, and that it's been Holy spirit

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Speaker 1: inspired and that we can always find something we need

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Speaker 1: in there. So I always read my Bible. I always

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Speaker 1: spend time in prayer with the Lord. I have always

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Speaker 1: remained tightly connected to my local church. Right now, my

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Speaker 1: wife and I serve as worship pastors and our church,

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Speaker 1: and it's been the greatest joy to be able to

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Speaker 1: be a part of a congregation of people that know

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Speaker 1: you and love you and support you. I think the

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Speaker 1: beautiful thing about faith and about relationship with God is

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Speaker 1: that it's universal and it does bring unity and it

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Speaker 1: does connect us together, but it's also so extremely personal.

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Speaker 1: We can each read the same scripture and through it

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Speaker 1: God can speak to us all in different ways, or

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Speaker 1: he can bring out and highlight different parts of it

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Speaker 1: that may speak to each of us differently. And so

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Speaker 1: you know, for me, as an artist and a creative,

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Speaker 1: I get the very unique and wonderful opportunity to explore

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Speaker 1: that and to share that. And I think it's important

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Speaker 1: that each of us understand how unique we are to

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Speaker 1: the Father, how unique we are to God, that as

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Speaker 1: each of us his children, and that He's going to

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Speaker 1: speak to us all in different ways and value us

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Speaker 1: all just the same, but once a unique and intimate

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Speaker 1: relationship with each of us. And so you know, maybe

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Speaker 1: if you find yourself struggling like I struggle, sometimes do

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Speaker 1: a little research and pick up a good devotional and

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Speaker 1: then find a spiritual mentor find someone that you can

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Speaker 1: connect with who may know a little bit more about

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Speaker 1: scripture than you, or who maybe you can come alongside

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Speaker 1: with and who also might need prayer or might need

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Speaker 1: advice sometimes and support each other. You know, Christian faith

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Speaker 1: is built on Christ as the foundation, but it's sustained

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Speaker 1: by Christian community, and we need each other to get

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Speaker 1: through this thing. This is Jesus listens for November fourth,

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Speaker 1: my strong deliver As I face the circumstances of this day,

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Speaker 1: I need to lean on you. Everyone leans on something

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Speaker 1: physical strengths, intelligence, beauty, wealth, achievements, family, friends. All of

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Speaker 1: these are gifts from you, and I want to enjoy

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Speaker 1: your blessings. Gratefully learned that depending on any of these

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Speaker 1: things is risky. Every single one of them could let

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Speaker 1: me down. When I'm facing challenging circumstances and I'm feeling weak,

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Speaker 1: I tend to obsess about how I'm going to make

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Speaker 1: it through the day. This wastes a lot of time

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Speaker 1: and energy. Even worse, it distracts me from my relationship

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Speaker 1: with you. Whenever this happens, Please open my eyes so

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Speaker 1: I can find you in the midst of my circumstances.

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Speaker 1: Enable me to see you standing nearby with your strong

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Speaker 1: arms extended to me, offering me your help. Instead of

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Speaker 1: pretending that I have it all together or that I'm

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Speaker 1: stronger than I really am, I can lean hard on

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Speaker 1: you as I do. You bear my burdens and show

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Speaker 1: me how to deal with my difficulties. I rejoice in

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Speaker 1: you my strength, and I sing praises to you, my

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Speaker 1: loving God, in your splendid name, Jesus Amen.

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Speaker 2: To learn more about Jordan Smith, visit Thereal Jordansmith dot

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Speaker 2: com and be sure to check out his new album,

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Speaker 2: The People's Hymnal. Wherever you get music, stay tuned to

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Speaker 2: Tyler White's story after a brief message, These uncertain times

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Speaker 2: bring anxiety and fear, but Jesus Listens Prayers for Every

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Speaker 2: Season gives you daily prayers of comfort with seasonally inspired illustrations.

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Speaker 2: This beautiful book includes prayers that speak to your situation,

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Speaker 2: whether it's a time of stress or strength. Look for

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Speaker 2: Jesus Listens Prayers for Every Season wherever you buy books.

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Speaker 2: Our next guest is Tyler White, also known as DJ

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Speaker 2: ty Why. Growing up on the Spectrum, Tyler discovered the

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Speaker 2: power of music to break through social struggles, from singing

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Speaker 2: in talent shows to dancing at school events. Today, he

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Speaker 2: DJ's across Florida, including autism speaks, walks, using his platform

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Speaker 2: to inspire others on the spectrum.

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Speaker 4: Hey Hey, Hey, everybody, this is Tyler White. From Love

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Speaker 4: on the Spectrum aka DJ Ty White. I'm a dj

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Speaker 4: MC singer, songwriter and announcer. And also I'm the one

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Speaker 4: that's in love with Madison Marillah.

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Speaker 1: Yeah Baby.

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Speaker 4: When I was very little, I was very shy standoffish,

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Speaker 4: but about to my preteen years I really learned how

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Speaker 4: to just push myself to overcome that. By eleven years old,

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Speaker 4: I was playing drums in the high school man playing percussion.

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Speaker 4: Then about twelve to thirteen, I started singing in public

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Speaker 4: and started going to school dances, which helped me socialize

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Speaker 4: and stuff. And singing helped me overcome that hurdle of

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Speaker 4: being shy. And now I just love being out in

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Speaker 4: the public, the public eyem doing all these things. And

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Speaker 4: then of course autism speaks. Seeing many people when I

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Speaker 4: do these autism speaks walks and stuff, they tell me

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Speaker 4: about their story and their kids on the spectrum that's

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Speaker 4: very special to me. And I'm originally from Plant City, Florida.

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Speaker 4: My family and I moved to Shirley, Arkansas, and I

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Speaker 4: was a kid. That's where I grew up, and then

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Speaker 4: about six years ago we moved back to Plant City.

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Speaker 4: When I was ten years old, I had dreams of

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Speaker 4: being a radio DJ and an MC, and so far

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Speaker 4: that's came to fruition. I'm the MC for Special Smiles

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Speaker 4: Day concerts at the Florida Strawberry Festival, I MC at cmafest.

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Speaker 4: I also have MC'd at the Tampa Bay Rodeo, and

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Speaker 4: I amc a concert in Houston for ninety three Q

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Speaker 4: and they're going to have me at the Rodeo in

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Speaker 4: Houston in March. And also I had dreams when I

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Speaker 4: first sang the National Plantham at high school basketball games,

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Speaker 4: to sing it at NASCAR races or big sporting events,

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Speaker 4: and I've done that for the Tampa Bay Rays and

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Speaker 4: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When I was fifteen, I never

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Speaker 4: would have imagined I'd also be going to Nashville to

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Speaker 4: doing some singing and songwriting and singing at the Opry.

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Speaker 4: But that's came true too, And for all that, I

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Speaker 4: just give God glory for it. Autism Speaks has really

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Speaker 4: opened a lot of doors for me. I mean I

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Speaker 4: started out just doing Orlando in Tampa. Then I started

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Speaker 4: doing all across the state of Florida. Last year, they

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Speaker 4: had me DJ at the Gala in Atlanta. The Georgia Gala,

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Speaker 4: and then that also opened the door for me to

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Speaker 4: be the MC at the Strawberry Festival and now here

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Speaker 4: being on the level on the spectrum, and being MC

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Speaker 4: at cmafest as well. It's a big, big event that

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Speaker 4: celebrates country music and the fans. I remember I did

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Speaker 4: an interview with the radio station in Seattle. I got

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Speaker 4: an email from Dealing Well and someone I'm a big

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Speaker 4: fan of because he does a lot of great country

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Speaker 4: music content about the history of the songs and stuff,

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Speaker 4: and he had invited me to be on his podcast. Well,

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Speaker 4: little did I know, they saw the video of me

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Speaker 4: singing to Madison Deeper than the Holler by Randy Travis,

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Speaker 4: and they set it up for me to do the

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Speaker 4: podcast at the Opry. Randy Travis was gonna walk out

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Speaker 4: and surprise me on the podcast, but Dan, the manager

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Speaker 4: of the Opry, said, how about we get him to

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Speaker 4: sing deeper than the Holler? So I get over there.

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Speaker 4: This is after CMA Fest. I got to meet Dylan

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Speaker 4: at CMA Fest and he was telling me this way

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Speaker 4: until you see what's in sore. So I go backstage,

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Speaker 4: we do the podcast. Then Dan, the manager of the

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Speaker 4: Grand Ol' Opry. He walks out and says, would you

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Speaker 4: like to sing deeper than the hollow at the Operty?

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Speaker 4: And now I'm like yes, So I did it, And

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Speaker 4: I gotta tell you dream come true. That was so amazing.

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Speaker 4: I was about to walk off the stage and I

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Speaker 4: did not even hear Mike Terry, the announcer, say, and

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Speaker 4: now ladies and gentlemen, or Randy Travis. So the corner

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Speaker 4: of my I see him walking out. I almost passed

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Speaker 4: it out. That was so awesome. I was so starstruck.

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Speaker 4: Randy Travis has been in my top five favorite country singers,

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Speaker 4: and man, that was a thrill, a thrill I'll never forget.

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Speaker 4: It took me seven tries to pass my learner's permit test.

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Speaker 4: It wasn't because I didn't study, but they do trick

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Speaker 4: questions on that test, and I was having a hard

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Speaker 4: time understanding it. I would often joke, it's so hard

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Speaker 4: the world's smartest psychiatrist couldn't pass. But I really pushed

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Speaker 4: myself to pass the test because I've always wanted to

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Speaker 4: drive ever since I was a little kick ause I've

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Speaker 4: always had interest with NASCAR and cars, especially anything that's

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Speaker 4: a Chevy. So I kept pushing myself. The fourth try

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Speaker 4: was very upset. I was angry because I came close

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Speaker 4: and still couldn't pass, but I was determined to pass it.

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Speaker 4: I believe the Lord was gonna help me. And then

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Speaker 4: on the seventh try, I got my learners permit, passed

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Speaker 4: the driving part on the first shot, and now I drive.

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Speaker 4: I can only drive through Plant City right now, but

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Speaker 4: my dad and I he's helping me help drive to

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Speaker 4: other places as well, and that's something I'm still working at.

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Speaker 4: I believe I'm gonna be able to get through it.

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Speaker 4: With hard work, perseverance, determination, pausitive attitude, and faith in God,

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Speaker 4: you can overcome any obstacle and to do anything you

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Speaker 4: say in your mind too. I say that because really

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Speaker 4: that's how I've learned how to overcome things. I think

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Speaker 4: everybody needs Jesus. I mean, with my life growing up

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Speaker 4: on the spectrum, I always say my autism is what's

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Speaker 4: helped me draw closer to Jesus. And I think it's

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Speaker 4: very important. You know, no matter what you go through

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Speaker 4: to always put Jesus first and He'll help you. And

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Speaker 4: every time I get to be on stage, whether that's

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Speaker 4: djaying in seeing or sin I always ask God to

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Speaker 4: use me in the way he'd have for me to be,

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Speaker 4: and always make sure that I'm using this to glorify

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Speaker 4: Him as well as inspire others on the spectrum as well.

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Speaker 4: This is from Jesus Listens, December the twentieth, Gracious God,

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Speaker 4: The Bible promises that those who wait for you will

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Speaker 4: gain new strength. I love to spend time waiting in

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Speaker 4: your press. Even though multitasking and staying busy I have

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Speaker 4: become the norm. Waiting with you is an active faith,

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Speaker 4: trusting that prayer really does make a difference. So I

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Speaker 4: come to you with my awareness burdens, being kindily real

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Speaker 4: with you. While I arrest in your presence and tell

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Speaker 4: you about my concerns, you lift heavy burdens for my

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Speaker 4: aching shoulders. I'm grateful that you are able to do

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Speaker 4: immeasurably more than all I ask for. Imagine as I

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Speaker 4: arise from these quiet moments with you, I'd delight in

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Speaker 4: hearing you whisper I am with you, and I rejoice

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Speaker 4: in the new strength gain through spending time with you

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Speaker 4: in your energizing name Jesus Amen.

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Speaker 2: To learn more about Tyler White, you can find him

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Speaker 2: on Instagram. At Instagram dot com. Slash Tyler White underscore

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Speaker 2: love on the Spectrum. If you'd like to hear more

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Speaker 2: stories about the music that anchors us, check out our

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Speaker 2: interview with Johnny and Donnie van Zandt. Next time on

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Speaker 2: the Jesus Calling podcast, we'll hear from retired Washington DC

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Speaker 2: Police sergeant and pastor Dale Sutherland, who opens up about

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Speaker 2: the dangers he faced each and every day and how

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Speaker 2: has faith inspired a ministry to bring hope to families

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Speaker 2: in crisis.

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Speaker 3: Good shot at Ben rob Ben threatened a lot of

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Speaker 3: times with plans, some pretty bad people planning to kill me.

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Speaker 3: But now if I got stray some here.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to the Jesus Calling Stories of Faith

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Speaker 2: podcast on the Life Audio Network. Every week we'll bring

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Speaker 2: you stories from people who share their journeys of faith

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Speaker 2: and how prayer and a relationship with God transformed their lives.

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Speaker 2: Be sure to follow us on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or

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Speaker 2: wherever you listen to podcasts, and leave us a review

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Speaker 2: so others can be inspired weekly by these stories of faith. Finally,

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Speaker 2: you can find encouragement resources and more on the Jesus

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Speaker 2: Calling website at Jesuscalling dot com