Episode 456 - Micah McElveen - Voices In My Head (The Rick Lee James Podcast)

Welcome to Voices in My Head, the official podcast of me, Rick Lee James. I'm a recording artist, a singer, a songwriter, an author, a worship leader, and an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. The Voices in My Head podcast is where I discuss music, movies, books, pop culture, theology, and more with friends, colleagues, and sometimes just by myself. Now make sure to let me know what you think of today's episode by leaving me a review on iTunes or by tweeting at me @RickLeeJames on Twitter. And please join my mailing list at RickLeeJames.com where you can receive an email every time a new episode is released. By the way, in case you're interested in a daily dose of kindness and encouragement beyond this podcast, I also run the Twitter account @MrRogersSay where I post daily quotes from Fred Rogers, one of the voices in my head. Well, I guess that's it for the intro, so sit back, relax, and listen to the latest episode of Voices in My Head.

Welcome back to Voices in My Head. As always, I'm your host Rick Lee James, and I'm so grateful that you can be here with us for another great conversation today. My guest this week is Micah McElveen. He has a great new book called Dying for Purpose: Light for the Lost, Directions for the Found. Let me tell you a bit about Micah as we begin. In 1995, Micah McElveen learned life was a vapor when he broke his neck in a near-fatal surfing accident at the age of 15. Unable to play football, his road to recovery was filled with numerous challenges and a painful recovery while learning to walk again. Awakened by that experience and more, he had the vision to help alleviate poverty and multiply disciplines, which led to the development of Vapor Ministries, which we will hear more about today. His new book, Dying for Purpose, demonstrates to readers how surrendering to God's plan can lead them to a place of crystal clarity as it relates to family, friendships, finances, and their spiritual walk in giving back. So we are so excited to be able to have a conversation with Micah today. Micah McElveen, welcome to Voices in My Head.

Hey, great to be here with you today.

Well, I'm so glad to have a chance to visit with you this morning. I'm amazed not only by your story, but By the way that you're allowing, I guess, the God story in the midst of it too, the way that you tell the story with God's hand being so present, I think in a way that many people would probably have a hard time seeing it in some ways. And yet you seem to be finding such a faithful way to tell this story and to use your pain and the struggles you've been through as a way of healing and help to others. So I'm grateful for the chance to be able to speak with you today and to to let you share with my listeners today some of your story. If they've never had the chance, or maybe if they've heard you before, this will be a chance for them to just hear it again and be encouraged and inspired. I wonder if we could start today by— could you just tell us a little bit about your life before the surfing accident happened and lead us up to that point? Um, just, just let us know a little bit about who you were pre— I guess it was pre-1995, in that era.

Yeah, I think the really kind of the pertinent information really revolves around my posture of wanting to do life my way, right? That instead of it being a stewardship, you know, it was— I wanted to captain the ship. It was my life, my money, my time, my choices, me, me, me, right? Culture says, do you. And I was all about that. And so my personal aspirations really revolved around, you know, my own glory and, and fame. And sports were my ticket to get there. And of course, wanted to live the high life, the, the money and, uh, all the stuff that would come with succeeding in sports. And so the posture I had was, hey, I believe God's real, and I believe, you know, Jesus is supposed to be our Savior, um, but I wanted to be Lord. And my gig, my game is football, basketball, baseball. I'm gonna be a light-skinned Deion Sanders, primetime, big time, you know, all about me and ESPN. So that's really where I had the space I had entered, an obsession and an idolatry of sorts that really rallied around taking something that I, uh, did, uh, ball sports, uh, and it becoming who I was in a consuming way.

And you were about— you were 15, I believe, at this time?

Yeah.

So yeah, yeah, okay. So yeah, and at the same time, you know, that's not, I guess, completely out of the realm of what a lot of 15-year-olds are thinking about probably at that age. You know, they're, they're thinking about sports and girls and money and video games and, you know, just whatever. It's, it's kind of a 15-year-old thing, um, when it happens.

But then, yeah, and I would say the— in, in my particular situation, you know, my father coached high school football for 18 years, was an athletic director, head football coach. My sisters played 5 sports in 8th grade. All my brothers and sisters played college ball, and I was just uniquely athletic. So, so by the time— I mean, the, the things I was exposed to, the things that I got to do at a young age, and how athletic I was now actually quarterback, free safety, pitcher, shortstop. It was on that fast track and had the kind of the DNA and the family surroundings, all that stuff. And so for me, it was more consuming than your average situation. And my father could see it. And after a football practice, he was head coach and athletic director. He just came up to me and he said, "Son," he said, "You have the talent to play at the next level. I've coached against some of the greats." But he said, "Life ain't about a game." God's made you on purpose for his purpose, and success is selling out to his plan for your life. And to be honest with you, my father's words offended me, and they crystallized an internal tension. And I took that wrestling match to bed one night about 2 AM, and I stood up in my room and I said, God, this is my life, leave me alone. And so there was a unique obsession and corresponding skill even though I was young, uh, and I think God obviously knew that, uh, that my heart and my will needed to— needed some special attention to get me on the course he had.

Well, that's— that sounds like the wisdom of an amazing father too. And, and, you know, there are a lot of, I guess I would say, sports parents today that just want to do nothing but push their kids. Um, and I think it's kind of an amazing thing that him being one who really did have the skill to push you in that way, that he also wanted you to kind of keep your feet grounded too. That's kind of an amazing— kind of sounds like an amazing dad, to be honest.

Agreed.

Yeah. So, well, bring us up then to this tragic accident that happened, and you were surfing. Where were you when this happened? And maybe just kind of describe the whole circumstance, because a true life-changing experience happened. And sometimes we talk about life-changing experiences and we think Oh wow, that'll be great. But, but a lot of times, honestly, you know, when we think about— we use phrases so often like, let's go out and change the world. But then, you know, 2020 happened and the world changed and it wasn't so great, you know. And in your instance, a life-changing experience happened and it really did. It was a shattering experience in many ways. So tell us about it.

Yes. Well, so I think picking up where, where I left off there, you have a good understanding of the posture I was in, kind of my deal. God needed to break through. And then to your point, the specific circumstances surrounding it, we were actually in Englewood Beach in the Gulf side of Florida. I had grown up, picked up surfing out on the West Coast. We lived in San Diego, so big waves out there. We had moved with my dad's job out to Florida, and the only time you can ride waves out in that big pond we call the Gulf of Mexico is when, you know, hurricanes come in and they kick up surf. And so we went down to ride waves and there was massive beach break and the waves were just curling up and crashing out at breaking point, reforming, and then they land right on the sand. And so in order to get out to the breaking point, you had to get through these huge waves. And so my brother and I were racing down to the water so you could get out there first. And I was running as fast as I could and I dove headlong into a huge breaker. And as soon as I hit the water, like, something happened. It was like a shock just raced through my body. Wow.

Now I'm curious about how did you even get out of the water? I mean, once the accident happened, and I assume you were paralyzed pretty immediately from, from, from what I gather from the story. I mean, were there lifeguards present? Were family members around?

Or Well, initially I had no idea what was going on. I just knew that a shock raced through my body and instinctively I knew to lay still. But as I, um, as I kind of rolled through the water, um, I ended up just kind of finding myself groggy, face down, something's off, I don't know what. And when the next wave rolled me over, I could see the surface, I could see the air, and my body didn't work. So I'm underwater, there's nothing I can do. Uh, in a last-ditch effort put my lips together, but instead of air, I sucked in water and I passed out. So my brother saw me dive in. He didn't think anything was wrong, went to get the football, was waiting for me to come out. After a few moments pass, he comes down, looks out where I dove in, and nothing. So he thinks I'm playing a joke, and he goes to look in the bushes and can't find anything. And everything— every moment that passes, he is He's now just getting more and more concerned. And to make a long story short, my parents found their way down and they estimate that about— my parents found their way down, they joined my brother in the search, and they estimate about 5 to 7 minutes passed from the time they could see me about 150 yards down the beach. There was a stranger in the water lifting a hand on a body, and they knew it was me. And so, So yeah, pretty, pretty traumatic for my family as well.

Yeah. I, as a father myself, I just, I can't even put myself in that place, you know, as a parent to, to, to see that, that was just what your family must have been going through. That just, I can't even put my brain there hardly, because that must be so devastating to them. And then you had to start this incredibly hard recovery process. So could you walk us through that a little bit? And I want to— maybe I'll read this quote that I told you before we started that I wanted to share because I feel like it's so insightful. And you had said this, you said, my pathway was unpaved, littered with sticks and thistles, sleepless nights and tear-filled tear-filled days. It was an emotional gem, making my perspective stronger. When you are paralyzed, you see people for who they really are, but you also see God for who he has always been. And I, I love for, as you tell the story, especially on that inside about seeing people for who they really are and then seeing God for who he is, I'd love to hear more about that as Maybe you share that story, 'cause I find that to be such a profound line.

Yeah, so if I kind of bridge my way in there, I'm dead in the water, literally no heartbeat, no pulse, no body functions. They lay me on the beach, begin to do what they know of CPR, EMTs, defibrillators, helicopter, life flighted. And then I wake up in ICU sometime during the first week, have no idea where I was. And I'm totally quadriplegic, uh, pain, extreme pain, like is really indescribable, coursing through my veins. And I would be in the hospital for several months, um, and, and on life support. And just this crazy journey, um, ensued. And so I think to where you, you kind of landed there, the quote kind of bubbles up out of that. Like, I— my dreams were shattered and I had plans and hopes that were now all thrown out, but I'm dealing with spiritual, emotional, psychological, physical pain on a level that I did not know a human could experience. And you're just wrestling through all that and why and what's happening and will it end. And, and, and God in time began to take all that turmoil, all that pain, all that circumstance that seemed to be cluttered and seemed to be disconnected from, from a Godward path. It just, it seemed like a, a thousand puzzle pieces thrown across the floor. This is chaotic. This is— and he began to put the puzzle pieces together. He began to help bring awareness to me on a, on a deeper work he was doing. And one of those things he was doing was helping me reconnect to what he always wanted me to be connected to. The fact that, first of all, um, you know, Ecclesiastes 3:11 says God has made everything fit beautifully into its appropriate time and has placed ignorance in the human heart, that man should not know what he has foreordained from beginning to end of his life. So you have God is in control, he's got a plan and a purpose, we don't understand it and don't know it, but we're called to trust him. Um, so just leaning on him in a unique way, saying, God, I don't get it, but I trust you. I don't see the end of this and I want to die, but Lord, my life is yours. And then he also began to help connect me to not only the fact that he was trustworthy and I could lean on him, but there was a work that he wanted to do through me all along that I was to be yielded to. And in order to be more connected to that work, that work of coming alongside the hurting, coming alongside the broken, serving those that are poor and disenfranchised, that I needed some brokenness myself. And so those two things began to be very, very, you know, cast light on my path. Trust him, lean not on your own understandings. You can't make sense of this, but he's got it. And then let, let the experience he brings into your life Open you, open me up, open you up to better understanding of the hurts of others. And so to the person out there that is struggling, hurting, dealing with, you know, deep anxiety, depression, physical pain, it's— you have a God, Emmanuel, who is with you, but he also has community for you. And there are people that have navigated challenging things that he has equipped to come alongside you. And, and that became for me, hey, I want to trust him. And then I want to, I want to focus on instead of doing my thing, doing what he has for me to do effectively in the lives of the broken. And my brokenness helped, helped me have a context for that.

Wow, that's amazing. So I'm curious about from this perspective, as you're such a young person anyway at the time that was experiencing all this. You obviously couldn't see any of this coming, and it was just like, you know, the whole world probably collapsed, you know, in that moment. All your dreams probably of sports and things that you wanted to do in that way. As doctors would talk to you, and would come in and say, this is what to expect in the coming days. What kinds of things were they telling you? And then what were you in your mind? Was there like a different path that you still saw for yourself from maybe what the doctors were saying or what you were seeing through therapy of— because it seems like, you know, you don't just go from being a quadriplegic to probably where you are now very often. You know, I wouldn't, I wouldn't think, you know, we don't all— we don't see that very often anyway.

At least I don't.

Yeah, so the, the doctors, um, were, um, broad in their prognosis. Um, what I was physically experiencing, you know, shattered 4 vertebrae, totally quadriplegic, couldn't even breathe on my own. Um, tubes in my nose and my throat, on life support. So that was the state, the reality of it. Um, and they'd put me in a halo vest, so I had 4 screws drilled into my head and I was in traction for basically 6 months. So what they knew in front of me was, hey, this is, uh, this is bad. And the cervical cord was swelled intensely. And there's so many unknowns when you have that kind of trauma in there. So they, they didn't give, um, they didn't give, hey, he's forever never gonna move. And they also were careful not to paint too hopeful of a picture. So, but, but the, the prognosis wasn't good. Like, hey, look, you know, and they basically said Um, in the first 3 months, um, whatever he gets back will probably be his, his biggest progress. And then after the first year, you know, really he's going to be where he's going to be more than likely. And we really can't predict that, you know, but, um, and so, so yeah, I think for me personally, the, the phases that I was walking through, I'm consuming that information, I'm experiencing what I'm experiencing, and it was a mixed bag. So it there were times, especially the first portion of ICU, where I just wanted to be relieved of this earthly vessel, this body, right? It's just death was what I wanted. The pain was extreme. And then it began to pivot, so I just wanted to go back. So I would dream about, you know, playing ball. I would dream about lifting my arms above my head, you know, because I couldn't touch my face. I couldn't take care of myself. And so I dream about getting mobility back. And then there would be times where it's just like, man, I'm stuck in this and I'm going to be bound forever. And then that would want to take me back to, I just don't want to be here. And then there would be times where I'd say, you know what, hey, I'm going to overcome this. So it was just a real mix. In time, just begin to lean on God, you can do all things, and I want to pair my faith with your ability. But at the same time, come what may, if you leave this thorn in my flesh, flesh. Paul saw miracles, Paul had miracles come through him. And yet God allowed a lingering thorn in his own flesh that he knew God could fully heal for his good and for God's glory. And so eventually, I came to that spot where I don't want my faith in any way, or lack thereof, to limit your flow in and through me. You're capable of all things. You spoke and seas separated, right? You can You can resurrect me, but at the same time, I want to submit myself to your plan, your purpose, in a way I hadn't before. And it was just beautiful, the way that the Spirit began to come alongside and heal my heart, calm my mind, guide my steps, and begin to touch my body. And I do have some paralysis today, but man, he's brought me so far, and he's given us purpose, and he's given me a wife that doesn't care about my skinny arms and deals with my my, my, uh, my physical flaws. And, and then we're rocking and rolling, and so thankful.

So if, if you don't mind me asking, how much functionality do you have today? That, like, I, I, I just, just out of curiosity, because I know you've come a long way. I mean, I know a lot of it was through hard work, a lot of it was through prayers being answered. Um, so, so where, where did you go from the time when you were in that hospital to where you are today?

Yeah, great question. So, um, I was in rehab for the better part of 2 years. As I said, I was in traction for about 6 months, in a wheelchair for a while, uh, intense, um, physical, psychological, uh, occupational therapy. So there's just a whole rigmarole, um, and so that was a very intense period. First thing I could move on my body was my right big toe, um, and then I would get a little bit back, a little bit back. And so over the, over the years, um, God has brought more and more back. And so today, um, it would be hard for you to tell if you just saw me walking somewhere, but if you look close, I can— I have about 30% of my left arm. So if you saw me with my shirt off, which you probably wouldn't want to do, you know, there's not a lot of muscles around my shoulder. And I do have about 40% of my right arm, about 30% of my left arm. I do have some internal paralysis and a lack of feeling in some places, but man, I'm telling you, like like I can work out, I can— I played 4 years of college soccer, I played soccer in Africa, you know, can get around with my kids and friends. And so there's— the way I look at it is, is yes, there's some limitations, but at the same time, I feel like there's nothing I can't find some way to do. It just kind of looks a little bit funny.

Wow. You know, as I, as I hear you talking, even the phrases— you've even just used a few words that you know, I'm sure no one would have even thought at the time, soccer, kids, you know, Africa. I mean, even, even the prospect of maybe even visiting Africa would have been out of the realm of possibility at that point. So there's so much to your story that we don't even have time to get into today that I know people need to read the book to find out more in Dying for Purpose. But I do want to ask you about a phrase that, that actually keeps coming up. Tell us a little bit about this phrase that you use, God-led trouble, and, and talk to us a little bit about that.

Yeah, I think when we find ourselves in, in challenging circumstances, there's definitely— as we look at the Bible and we think about our life experience, there's a few different ways we get there. And, and we must all acknowledge that, like, some of it is just because of our poor decisions. So sometimes we are in an environment or in a situation because of our sin or just unwise decisions. Like, you, you choose to engage in drugs and then you become addicted and you are trapped in that and experiencing negative consequences. God can still rescue, save you, but there's also reality that you're making decisions that get you into trouble. But there's other times in God's word where it's, it's not necessarily connected with any fault of the individual. That God is actually leading us into things that would appear to us to be negative. We wouldn't want them for ourselves. That would be— it would not— we wouldn't associate with blessing. And yet we don't see the big picture, and we don't see what's on the other side of that. And in God's economy, he's, uh, he is a magician at taking things that either the evil one meant for evil and turning them to good, or taking us through valleys for our good on the backside. And, and we see a variety of different testimonies in scripture. And so I think the big idea here is, is, look, um, we find ourselves in challenging circumstances— sickness, um, could be divorce, could be physical pain or suffering, an accident. We find ourselves at times questioning, and instead of getting lost in where is God, who is God, is he good, why am I exactly here, We just have to— we have to lean in and trust that Emmanuel is real. God is with us. He's not just sovereign, high above the world, but he sent his Son and his Spirit and dwells with us, and he is in it. And sometimes he's actually leading us into things that we would not choose for ourselves because he has bigger perspective, and he will work it out for our good. And so I think we just have to be in a spot where we continue to acknowledge He is God, we are not. Um, he will lead, I will follow, and I know he has my best interest at mind. He promises us blessing, but blessing does not always come to us in the ways that we would define blessing, but he will work it out.

Wow, that's, that's some really good insight for us. I so appreciate it. Well, yeah, I have a couple of more questions for you, and we might go over the 30 minutes that that I had allotted, if that's okay with you.

Yes, sir.

There's just a couple of things that I still want to ask, and I know a lot of these were— people were just going to have to read the book for sure to find out more information. And what people aren't going to be able to see because they're listening to this podcast right now, but you and I are on Zoom, I can see in your background right now there's some pictures of some beautiful people that I assume is in Africa. It looks like there's some of them are praying and worshiping, and then there's these beautiful children that I can see, uh, in the background. And I know that that is part of your story and part of your ministry as well. And I would regret it deeply if we didn't get into some of that today and some of the ministry that you have going on there. So could you tell us about some of that and Vapor Ministries and what you have going on with that?

Yeah, who knew that God would, uh, break a stubborn young man's heart, uh, in order to heal it and then show him that that brokenness was designed to help him better connect with people who are experiencing brokenness on a scale I never imagined. And so God birthed the ministry we now call Vapor Ministries, really based off of this idea that life is short, it's like a vapor, and we're going to spend it, uh, or we're going to invest it. We're going to waste it, or we're going to use it on things that matter forever. And so we just began to see in God's Word His heart for the lost, His heart for the poor, and I became convinced that I was to live my life meeting needs, right, caring for the poor, feeding souls, advancing the gospel, and doing it in a way that elevates God. And Vapor Ministries is an expression of that, and amazing partners and donors have entrusted us with stewardship of finances and resources, and we now have a team of over 530 people around the globe serving hundreds of thousands of people, the poorest on planet Earth, serving water, food, education, health services, disciple-making through sports, and then small business creation. So it's a social, spiritual, and economic impact model that is literally transforming some of the poorest communities in the world. And the vision he has given us is one that we believe over the next 10 years, as God brings more partners, that we will touch millions for the Gospel of Jesus. So So yeah, we're— and I look back and that God-led trouble was worth it. I don't want to break my neck again. I hope that he can teach me in ways that I'm less hard-headed in the future, but I wouldn't trade October 9th, 1996 for anything. It's in the top 3 best days of my life now, even though it was the worst day of my life. The day I died, I actually came alive, and that is bringing life to others, and I'm thankful for that.

What a powerful testimony. Thank you for sharing that with us. And I do want listeners to know, and by the way, if it's okay with you, I did take a screenshot of—

Come on, no problem.

Go for it. I do want to, if I can, I'm going to try to put that on the webpage whenever I release this podcast, because I'd love for people to be able to see the pictures in the background that you have there. And we see your book, but we also see some of those beautiful pictures that I was telling about. And I also will make sure that in the show notes for today and on our website that we'll put links to your website and to your ministry in different places. But could you tell people— and I do have one more question after this, but I want you to make sure and tell people the best way that if they want to find out more about your ministry, or say if they want to partner with you in your ministry— as you just said, in the next 10 years you're hoping that more partners will come on to to continue to see what God is birthing in you. Um, tell them the best way, uh, that they will be able to, uh, come on and be a part, or to find out more about you and what you're doing, and, and just to learn more about your ministry.

Absolutely. So vaporministries.org, vapor, vaporministries.org. Um, there's ways to partner on there to donate. You can click the donate button. We are actively praying that God would bring more monthly donors, people that say, hey, I'll commit my $50 a month to drive the mission. So So that's a great way to be involved. As far as getting to know more about myself and/or the ministry, you obviously have the webpage there, but you can get the book at Amazon, Dying for Purpose. And the great thing is, is all proceeds go to the ministry. So I don't make any money off the book. The whole goal is to encourage people, to get people connected to their purpose. And then some people will want to learn more about the ministry because of it, and we want the ministry to win in that regard.

Terrific. Well, great. And I, I know we have, we have some great listeners that, that a lot of them do all that they can whenever they hear of opportunities like this. So, uh, so the To the Voices in My Head community, um, please check this out and, and do all you can if God's laying this on your heart for, uh, to, to be a part of maybe in 2022 something you want to come on board with. This might be something that could really be an opportunity for for you. And I know that everybody, especially in the last couple years we've come through, people have maybe had less chance to connect in person in ways in their local churches that they would have liked to. And they may be looking for ways to find that are at a distance a little bit more, you know, maybe with ministries like yours that are helping in places far away. So maybe this is an opportunity for them to be able to expand their outreach, you know, in that way. So I'm glad to be able to share about that.

Well, we tell our team members like, hey, we help people effectuate themselves into extreme poverty and make a difference. So if someone feels the Lord leading in that way, we'd be honored to partner with you and help you make a difference through us.

Terrific. And well, let's pray for more help that way through this episode, and definitely. Well, I do have one more question, and it's a little bit of a selfish question because as I told you before we started, I'm in training for medical chaplaincy right now. And part of that training that they keep trying to drill into our heads is when you walk into that room with people and they're in that moment of suffering, oftentimes getting some of the worst news that they've ever had in their life, you walk into that room and as a chaplain, it's not about you when you walk in, it's about that person when you walk into that place. And so my question that I have for you this morning is, as you look back and you think about those moments when, when you, um, were really— were dependent upon others, when you just received this very difficult, very heartbreaking, shattering news, you know, in many ways— as you look back now, is there anything that you wish you would have gotten from others that you didn't get at that time? Or was there anything specifically that you did get from others that you, that you could say, hey, if you know someone suffering, it's going through this, this is the best thing in the world you could do for them? I just love to, you know, as, as a way of maybe in the, the thinking about how to serve best in the future.

Yeah, I would say 3 things. I'd say empathy, sympathy, and levity. So coming alongside, if you have had a shared experience, and empathizing is meaningful. So people that would come in that had broken their neck and would sit down with me and say, "Hey, I don't know what the future is, but look, you are not forever going to be in this bed." Sympathy, like you don't have to go through the same trial in order to encourage someone in theirs. And lastly, levity. The Bible says, "The joy of the Lord is our strength." And when somebody is like, uh, submersed in or immersed in their own personal trial, like, they just need to get out of their head sometimes. And so having people come in that were just like, hey, look, the joy of the Lord is our strength, I'm gonna bring joy, I'm gonna— like, we don't have to talk about all the struggles all the time. Like, you know, buddies coming in and like, hey, remember those ballpark cards you clicked? Guess what, I got a Michael Jordan new, new White Sox card. And just getting your mind off of. So those would be the 3 things I would encourage. Come alongside somebody with empathy, sympathy, and levity. Like, it's even in challenge, we— it's good to be distracted by good things that he has made, that we can just remember that there's, there's goodness around us even in trouble.

Great.

Those, those are such good things for us to have today. Micah, this has been a real pleasure. Thank you for taking some time to visit today and for being a the guests on Voices in My Head. I say this to my guests each time, and, and I'll say it to you, Micah McElveen, thank you for being one of the voices in my head this week.

Thank you.

Thank you for joining me here this week on Voices in My Head. I hope you'll visit me on my website at rickleejames.com where you can find out more about me, get my music on vinyl and CD, follow my blog and even schedule me for a concert or speaking engagement. Better yet, even a book signing in your neighborhood. You can find all that and more at rickleejames.com. Also, it would mean a great deal to me if you could write a review of this podcast on iTunes. The more positive reviews that we receive, the more visible this podcast will be online. And now for the benediction: May the God of hope May hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. God bless you, and thank you for listening to Voices in My Head.