From Failure to Freedom | Josiah’s 16th Birthday Special
The video is a family‑vlog that follows Josiah, the second‑born son, on his 16th birthday as he attempts to obtain his driver’s license. The narrator, identified as “Big Daddy,” opens by assuming Josiah’s farm upbringing will give him an edge, but the family quickly discovers that the DMV test presents unique challenges. The vlog interweaves scenes of farm chores, a birthday celebration with gifts and homemade food, and a detailed account of the DMV experience. Josiah’s first test fails, largely due to difficulty with a three‑point turn in a side‑by‑side vehicle, prompting the family to emphasize persistence—a core value they associate with farm life. After a week’s wait and additional practice, Josiah retakes the test, passes, and celebrates his newfound freedom. Throughout, siblings Jonah, Lily, and parents Beck and the narrator provide commentary, humor, and logistical support, while the video also captures the long waiting period at the DMV, including fluctuating queue numbers, staff delays, and the family’s coping strategies. The narrative culminates in a celebratory scene at Whole Foods where the family purchases treats, and the narrator reflects on how the perseverance learned on the farm translates to broader life lessons.
Chapters
My second-born Josiah is turning 16 and we're gonna get his license. I'm thinking we have it in the bag. I mean, he's a farm kid. There's a lot that comes with that that should prepare him for this, but I'm soon to find out I'm wrong. Whoa! Oh, you can't hit the curb. Ah!
9, 11, and then it went up to 12, and now we're at 10.
Oh!
There are currently 2!
Oh! Oh! Oh! It's your birthday! Sweet 16! What are you gonna do today?
I don't know.
Talk about made from scratch beef stew, which is beef fat. This guy turned 16. It's gonna be a very special video because I'm gonna follow you along on chores. I think that's part of the secret as to why you're getting your driver's license at 16 years old and 1 day old. By the end of this video, hopefully you're able to drive alone in the car. Should we send you on a special errand? All by yourself? What? Like what?
You should have him go buy something.
Yeah, we'll send you to go get something. Sound good? And you can get yourself a little something. How about that?
You can go to Lowe's and get a tiny bolt.
I'll give you some money to go to Lowe's to buy some, and I'll give you some money to go get a treat for yourself driving. How about that? What will he get? I don't know. We'll see. Because Josiah is a farm kid, he's dooful and he knows how to drive. He's got this. What's your duty every morning?
Well, me and Jonah switch on and off with this.
Take care of setting this up? Yeah. Do you take turns on everything? Uh, some things. Hit, drive away. What's Josiah to expect when he goes to get his driver's license?
What do I expect?
No, what does Josiah expect?
He's going to have to ride with somebody, but that's it.
He's going to have to drive?
He's going to have to ride with me and go around a few times.
It's a driving test?
Yeah.
How do you think you're going to do in the driver's test? Fine. Are you nervous?
You're going to get in the car with a stranger and you're going to have to drive across the country. Yeah, maybe they'll them and make you parallel park. You should probably practice that because if you fail, then they won't let you.
What do you feel most comfortable in? The truck?
No, no, he wants to survive. No, he seriously does.
If he wants the truck, give him the truck. Where do you feel most comfortable driving? The truck. Okay then. Hey, you're not gonna drive us? No. Josiah, how long have you been driving? Like 6 years. Did you just say 6 years? How similar is this to to a real car? Uh, it's not very similar. It's not? No. You're kidding. You can see everything in this, not in a car. You're kidding, because I felt when I got my drive— I grew up in the country too, and I had a four-wheeler. I felt like I had an advantage, and I've been driving since I was 14 because we lived on a farm. I remember driving the hay truck. Shoot, my dad used to let us drive from here to this other property 3 miles from here at 14.
I should have bought you a milk stool or made one.
It's not too late. Not too late.
Every morning, every morning we pretty much fight over who gets the milk, so it's on a rotation, but it still gets—
You could make him one, couldn't you? Yeah, that's not that hard.
I just have to go to the store and buy metal.
Do you ever wish you had lived in the city? No. You think you'll raise your kids in the country? Probably. You're like Big Daddy, you don't, you don't get afraid, anxious. Josiah does. Yes, he won't drive that fast on his test.
He'll go faster than me.
Are you going with him?
If there's a snack involved.
Don't you heckle him.
If there's a snack involved, I'm going.
That's kind of neat, you can drive you around.
Yes, thank goodness. I don't have to drive him around everywhere.
He's driving. So the excitement of driving has already worn off for you?
Oh yes.
When did it wear off?
I don't— probably a week after.
All right. No, the only thing—
driving isn't fun, but going where I'm driving myself is fun.
Yeah, yeah.
But there were— during the soccer season, I was driving 500 miles a week.
Shoot.
So that was too much, and it was getting Driving got really boring.
Yeah, I can't believe you're 16, Josiah.
It's so old. Are you sure we want to start training— gut training them to go under the fence?
Yeah, under the fence doesn't hurt anybody.
Got that tallow rendered. How's that look? Ready to fry, ready to make a cake. Well-worn-out book. What you doing?
I am cutting up walnuts for spice nut cake.
This is coming along nicely. I'm super glad Josiah was born. Chicken Parmesan for us. He's a good kid, isn't he?
He is.
He's a good one. He's all the kids' favorite. A little quick pickup game this afternoon. Is it 3 against 2?
Yeah.
Hey, birthday boy! They got the cleats on. Got right past me. Oh, good fake!
Well, good game.
We brought— we tied it up 10-10, and then they took it away from us. Was it fair for 4 on 2? Yeah. Y'all are getting good. Turns out I'm half wrong about my farm kid assumptions. We're gonna go to this test, but first we gotta celebrate his birthday. This is from—
Henry.
This is from Henry. This is from Jonah.
Airsoft motor.
Oh, oh, big surprise! Airsoft battery. You have a lot of gifts.
Yeah, he loves it.
What are we getting, Beck?
I'm not telling you.
Whoa. Whoa.
That's nice.
Just in case.
Ooh. Earbuds. Ooh. It's a wallet.
It's a wallet. Yeah.
Aw.
Oh, you got some dough for your wallet.
One more from Granny.
$25.
Ooh.
Happy birthday to you. Ready?
If you get them all, it's a wish. Did you get it in one breath? Yeah. What's your wish?
Uh, you can't tell them.
You better not ask him. We already know what's coming.
It's like in Seinfeld.
Let him have a good birthday.
If you wish your wish out loud, it doesn't come true.
Yeah, that's what Kramer said.
If you make a birthday wish out loud, it doesn't come true. That's just a silly superstition. Is that picture there for you or for Josiah?
For Chad.
Okay, okay.
He's gonna put it in his room.
Yeah, then you can look at it anytime.
Birthday blessing time.
He's a little brother.
He's a what?
He's a little brother.
He's a little brother?
No, he's a big brother.
He's a big brother?
He's fun to be around. Josiah is a good brother because he's good at dishes.
When I went into labor with you, I was very excited to have a little brother for Jonah to have as a friend.
You're everybody's favorite. And now I see you being studious. So I see you in your free time bettering yourself. Studying math, practicing handwriting, reading books. And that's on your own accord. Good job, buddy. Big Daddy! It's your 16th birthday, you know I'm talking about.
The vegetables.
I remember he liked cucumbers.
Yeah, he ate this giant.
I couldn't believe it. Holy mackerel, 2 pounds and 3 ounces. You think you can really eat that today? Yeah.
Josiah's a good little brother. He's always helping me with the chores.
Hopefully it won't take too long. Wow, that was quick. That was literally Maybe 10 minutes and they already need the truck.
There's literally nobody here.
I don't even know if that person's for this place. Here he goes. Reminds me of getting Jonah's license. Did you get it or what?
Yes.
Let's see it.
It's just a paper one.
What? You just got a paper one for right now?
Yeah, they're gonna send him his real one.
Okay. How's it feel, my man? Just got tested and a pen here. Yeah, we just wanted to to be. It's just as special with Josiah, our second. So we're all here. He's— he said to Mom, why are you coming? Well, this is exciting. That's why. You're growing up. It is tempting with the second born, you know, the firstborn breaks it in. It's— it is more exciting. It's the first, but it's his first, and we want to respect that. There he goes. Oh wow, he's already back. That was literally 7 minutes probably. Wonder how he did. He's so chill. I'm sure he did fine. He's so relaxed. That helps, that helps. It was what?
It was a little long.
The vehicle was a little long.
Oh, so what do we need to do? How'd you do then, Josiah? Oh, you failed? I guess the farm failed him in the driving, or that truck is a lot longer than a side-by-side. No. Yeah, that's quite a bit shorter. We should have rented a Mini Cooper. She might have had a Kadentra. What if she had done then? You could have just done a, a zero turn basically. Okay, well, the side-by-side and getting that farm experience, it failed him. But there's another aspect of farming that I don't think will, and that's persistence. You see, persistence is one aspect that a child is going to get on the farm, or a person, that is going to translate into the rest of their lives, because you do get such a tremendous flex in persistence. When you have to do something difficult every single day— rain, snow, sleet, sunshine, feeling good, throwing up, broken bones— you've got to keep going. And you develop this incredible sense of persistence, and you can apply it to the rest of your life. Incredible benefits. We're not gonna give up. You have to wait a week to try again, so we resolved in just waiting. And then one week later, the Suburban's transmission goes out. But we're farmers, we're not giving up. We'll just wait another week. Today is the day. It's been 2 weeks. You up and at 'em early this morning. You gonna get it today? Yeah. You gonna pass that test? Yeah. We gonna practice first? Now that you know where it is. Super early breakfast. Well, it feels early. It's almost 7. It's still so dark. Tell me how you like that bacon and sausage and eggs. How about that one?
No, the problem is, is that it's so early.
Hey bud. Hey. Good morning. Good morning. It's time to try again. We're trekking all the way back. This time we're gonna practice. One last practice. Jonah, Josiah, you at 10 and 3?
10 and 2.
10 and 2? No, no, you got to do that with her. She's a tough one. Is this where you did it? Yes. Whoa. Oh, you can't hit the curb. Oh, you can go over it. Okay, you can hit it but you can't go over it. Oh, so the truck couldn't fit this. You totally just did it. So you had to do it in more than one?
Yeah, he had to do it in 3 points.
You had to do it Austin Powers.
Practice right over that curve.
Yeah, do you want to try it again? Um, do you want to drive the loop or no?
All right, we're gonna go practice some more. He nailed that— what's it called? 3-point turn. And he did it in 5 points. All right, so how nervous is everybody?
I'm nervous.
You nervous, Josiah? A little bit. This is our second time coming. It's a long way here too. It's 45 minutes. I believe he'll do this, and we're gonna go over the tips Mom and I gave him the first time we went to do this.
Put your hands on the wheel, 10 and 2. Wear your seatbelt, which he would. Um, I don't know, stuff like that.
Take When they— they're gonna make you go across the railroad. This is where I took my test. You gotta look both ways.
I didn't take the test.
But it's easy. You got it. Now let's do this. Well, the waiting room is absolutely packed. We had hoped, hey, it's raining. Maybe people are scared to come out. Nope. I guess they're getting it done because it's raining. Whoa! On a waiting list. They're gonna text us. How long do you think that's gonna be?
She said it was about 30 minutes.
Oh, we're just gonna chill in the Suburban. We have been here an hour and 15 minutes and there's still 15 people at— no, 10 ahead of us. How many were ahead of us when we started?
Um, 11, and then it went up to 12, and now we're at 10.
Let's stretch our legs. This waiting is ridiculous. He has got to pass this test. We cannot come here a third time. No, we cannot. What time are we now, Beck? Come on, 8! Come on, 8!
Let's do it! Come on, 8! Nope, still 9.
Ah, 9?
Yep. We're number 9, or there are 9 people ahead of us?
9 people ahead of us. This is a 10-minute race.
This is terrifying. Emery, are you doing okay? Yeah.
He's playing with Legos.
All right. Gideon left, so he's feeling bored. You're doing good, okay, buddy? Terrifying. It's taking us a little longer than we hoped, but hopefully we'll still be back by lunch.
3 hours.
Is that true? Have we really been waiting 3 hours?
Yeah, 'cause we got here a little bit after 8.
5 people ahead of us. Somebody just left. I saw a door open. Maybe that's another person leaving. It's 10— it's 11 o'clock. They go to lunch. For an hour and a half at 11:30. I sure hope that's not the case. I think I saw somebody else leave. We're number 4. There's 4 before us. 4 before us. Okay, went through 8 in 3 hours, so they're going 4 in 2 and a half hours, or 1 and a half hours.
Whoa.
So it could be another hour and a half at this rate. That's if they work through lunch, which is in 20 minutes.
Which they're not going to. Let's see, let's see. Check it. Send it receipts.
Refresh.
Refresh.
Still 4 people in front of us.
No! Is that somebody leaving from the DMV? It's not? Still 4. Well, who is that?
I don't know.
They had paper. I just went and talked to the gentleman. They do stagger people during lunch so that they're not close. Thank God. And they're going slow because there's computer issues and they're down a person.
Okay, so what does that mean? How much longer?
Oh, I don't know. I didn't ask. We can estimate it based on what it's been. It was big— 12:30 is probably when it's going to be. There's someone over there, which is one more hour.
What's your turn? Wait, return to the office lobby and wait for your ticket to be called. Let's go!
Wait, is it almost our turn though?
I don't know, I'm going.
All right, because there's still 4 ahead of us, and at this rate it's—
there are currently 2.
Oh, oh, oh, oh!
Serving H601 at station number 3.
They finally called him. What did I say? 12:36. Oh my gosh, he's got to pass. We have literally been here 5 hours. It will be 5 hours by the time we get out of here. A little more. Can't do this a third time. This may be very good. He's not back. He was back very quick last time. I think that's because they did the 3-point turn, he failed it, there was no use for them to keep going. I feel like they were back by now last time, so that could mean he's doing good. Much later. How do you do?
Can't tell you before I tell him, and I can't tell him until we get—
Uh-oh, uh-oh. He's glowing! Everybody in there glowing for you.
I'm glowing as well.
He did it! He did it! Good job, Josiah! Don't have to go to the DMV for another 2 years. Hey, we're back!
Did you put that down? Yeah.
Did you guys, uh, did you guys tell Josiah Did you ask Josiah if he passed? Yes.
Did you pass?
Yeah. Everybody's got to give him a congratulations. He can go and celebrate his freedom. Not with us. It's the— he can go off alone, but let's send Lily along to document it. Celebratory. You're driving off without an adult. How's that feel?
I don't know.
Is it weird? A little bit. All right, go get some grocery supplies for our trip tomorrow. Going to get a bull. Video coming soon. Me and you and Gideon. Yep. So get us some supplementals and get you something a little special.
Hey, hey, can I get something too that you pay for? Sure, because I'm going somewhere tomorrow.
Josiah gets to pick it out though.
Don't kill me.
Oh, don't worry.
We're here at Whole Foods. Let's get one of each and then I'll just take some Ice cream bars. These are tiny ones, but they come with 8.
What? What? How was it? Good. You drove all by yourself. Lily, you'll tell me how it was. How was it?
It was good.
Did he have any mistakes?
No.
Was it Scary? No. What is it like to have freedom? You just went to the store. Got yourself some snacks. Huh? Josiah did it. He got his license. He's a good man. He just discovered a big, big step for independency and freedom. Freedom! La la le, la la let me be free.
More from Justin
If I had to start my Homestead all over again, it could only pick one animal… 
