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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, my daughter got me a Batman Wooble for Christmas, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living.
Today is Monday Mailbag day and we have contribution from John. Here’s John’s submission.
Well, hey there Darrell and everyone in the Stuff I Learned Yesterday community. it is John P McGrail, a.k.a the Silver Vox, one time former co-host of the Maid of Steel podcast here on the Golden Spiral Media podcast network, and I’m thankful to say that I’m a that I’m a friend of Darrell Darnell. You know those people in your life that there’s there’s nothing you can get them, like somebody who has everything? That is Darrell Darnell. Can I just say, I do hope it was a wonderful Christmas celebration for the Darnell family. All my best to all of the the Oklahoma Darnell’s.
So it is Monday mailbag, It is December 30th, and I am calling in because as you play this, it’s my 54th birthday today on December 30th. So there are a couple of big things that I’m that I’m thinking about that I wanted to share with you and with this audience especially. The first is that December 30th also will mark my eighth year going through the Bible cover to cover either chronologically or a mixture of Old Testament plus Psalms and Proverbs plus New Testament. I try and do a different version of the scriptures every year because I don’t ever want to get into a routine and thinking that I know what’s coming. So I always try to do a different version every year. And like I said, this is my finishing the eighth year. And that’s not to be meant as a boast or brag or anything else.
Why I bring it up here is because while I feel like I know scripture better than I ever have, I just want to reach out and tell Darrell, you specifically, that the gift that you have to to explain the scriptures and to give such a meaningful… I wish I had a better word, an explanation, that you have the ability to bring people into the scriptures with such ease and comfort. And I know, I know what you put into these episodes and I know that you probably sit and not agonize, and probably go over every single word very carefully because I know that’s who you are. You do everything with careful intention and deliberateness, and that’s one of the things that I so appreciate about you.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that especially this latest round of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, episodes I have so appreciated and have and have used the techniques that you have brought up in terms of how to explain different things that are scripture related. For that I wanted to say thank you. And as I turn the corner January 1st and start my ninth year in a row, it will be with you and so many others who have encouraged me along that path around me that that I rely on for, for comfort, for fellowship, for encouragement, to keep going and to know the scriptures better, know my God, better know my Savior better, and hopefully makes a better impact on me.
The second major reason that I wanted to reach out is about the specific episode that you had about your your tree and and specifically your podcasting tree. For those of you who might remember way back in the I guess it was the first, the original, the OG iteration of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, you might remember that I was a somewhat of a contributor for a while there. Darrell would have some of us write and produce episodes to go along with him because doing this on a daily basis got to be got to be a lot. Hopefully we were able to come in and and help do that. And I’ve told you this before, but it it retrained my brain to think about my life differently and to observe it differently. Not so I could tell stories and and form them into lessons the way you do, but to be observant to say, is there something teachable in this season, in my life, in this particular set of circumstances that I’m going into, is it something that I need to hold on to because somebody else can get encouragement from that. I can learn from that.
Anyway, I just again, want to thank you for that. And not only that, not only was I a contributor on Stuff I Learned Yesterday, but then I went on to do co-hosting duties with with Cory on Triplecast. And then, of course, that led me over to Maid of Steel. And now I’m working with another one of our co-hosts here on the network, Justina and we’re we’re doing our own thing called Dive into DC, where we go into all the different projects and mediums and everything that DC Comics has to offer: film, TV, movies, everything, comics, you name it.
Anyway, you have taught me so much. You, specifically Cory, specifically Geoff, specifically about quality audio production and what it means to produce a show of value. And I just want you to know. I know you know, but I want to tell you how much value I have as being a part of your tree. As I come around on my birthday, as we come around to a new year, as we think about these different milestones that we go through in our lives, you have been an invaluable, a rock on the side of my River Jordan.
Here’s what I’ve learned.
If we’re open to it, it takes so many people in our lives to make us who we are. And I love that Stuff I Learned Yesterday has been a part of that path for me and continues to be. I’m so excited that episodes are ongoing and that you have found a new and continuing life in in these episodes, in this in this partial purpose that I think you have to share the gift that you have. I look forward to not only future episodes, but future interactions that you and I will have, and that I will get to have through other members of this community. It’s it’s going to be a good year.
I have become a grandfather here in 2024, and I will have my second grandchild, God willing all is healthy and well, here sometime in January. When I started with you in this journey back in 2015 compared to where I am now, it has been transformative. And I just want to thank you for your part. God’s blessings on you, this community, and everything that you’re about. I just so look forward to seeing what he has in store for all of us. Thank you Stuff I Learned Yesterday.
Awesome, John. I made a lot of notes. Let me step through these.
First, happy birthday! And you wrapped it up by saying you became a grandfather this year. You’re about to become a grandfather for the second time in January. That’s awesome. I’m not a grandfather yet. I’m not ready to be a grandfather. I was actually just thinking about this earlier this week because my grandma was over for Christmas. I’m 48 and she’s 98. I’m almost 49. So she was technically 49 when I was born if my math is right, but about half of the year she’s exactly 50 years older than me. And so I thought, well, I was born when she was 49. My brother’s two years older. So the fact that she was a grandmother at my age is what was going through my mind. I don’t know if I’m ready to be a grandfather yet, but I’m getting a little closer every day. So anyway, congratulations to you and I hope nothing but the best for your family.
Christmas for us was pretty good. I mentioned one gift that Addi got me for Christmas. I got her a telescope, and I think that’s going to end up turning into a SILY episode later this year. We had the family over and we’re pretty low key around here.
You also talked about the faith based episodes. Those are the hardest for me to do because I am so meticulous on wanting to get things right. I don’t want to make the mistake again like I pointed out in the episode where I miss taught the passage from Isaiah about those who wait on the Lord. You know, I just don’t ever want that to happen again. And I know I’m imperfect and I have an imperfect knowledge of scripture, right? Everybody does. There’s no way for all of us to fully understand every part of it. And so I do pour over those a lot. I hope that I get them right. I very much want to get those episodes right because I’m teaching the Word of God. I’m very humbled and grateful that those are resonating with you. My hope is that they’ll resonate with believers and nonbelievers, and I know that that’s tricky, but I hope that I’m I’m doing that. So they hear that they’re resonating with you and helping you grow in your faith. It’s an answer to prayer. So thank you for sharing that with me.
Congratulations on your completing your eighth year reading the Bible through the year. It’s funny you talk about how that’s nothing to boast about. Next Monday’s episode is called Daily Bread for Daily Needs. I wrote it a few months ago. I recorded it and published it about a month ago. And so it’s been kind of sitting there waiting to get published. It’ll be published next Monday. And I talk about some of those same things about my history of reading the Bible through in a year, how it’s nothing to brag about, and kind of illustrating what that pattern looks like in my own life. And then I share a whole bunch of resources for all of you who maybe want to read the Bible, but don’t know how to get into the Bible, don’t know where to start, or are looking for resources to help you accomplish that. So next week’s episode will have a whole bunch of that stuff. If if that sounds interesting to you, I hope you’ll tune in for next week.
You are very much a part of my podcast tree and I’m very honored to have you as a part of it. I loved having you on SILY. I think you did somewhere around two dozen episodes during that first run. And all of you who were part of that mean so much to me. The value that you added to Stuff I Learned Yesterday will always be appreciated. You did a great job, and I’m just grateful to have you as part of the Golden Spiral Media family. You also did Triplecast, which was a passion project of mine. I loved Triplecast. In some ways, I wish it was still around, but it’s just one of those things. Something had to go, and eventually that one was it. Maid of Steel is another that you did. I don’t guess I knew that you and Justina were doing Dive Into DC. You’ve probably told me, and I didn’t remember, but that’s awesome. You know I’m a DC fan. I love Batman, which is obvious. I feel like I should’ve known that but didn’t. So thanks for sharing that.
I love the encouragement in your message. I need that. We all need that. And your encouragement is very much appreciated. It’s a great way to wrap up the year for me and get me motivated for the upcoming year. I’m a little bit overwhelmed right now as we are sitting here at the end of December. I mentioned how far in advance I wrote next week’s episode, but what started out as a 13 week buffer is now down to about 2 or 3 weeks of buffer from when I write an episode to when it publishes. So I’m feeling the pressure of having that two week buffer. My Fringe podcast will be taking a hiatus here in about a month and I’ll use that hiatus to rebuild my buffer and take that stress off.
I’m looking forward to having that and I’m looking forward to the year ahead with Stuff I Learned Yesterday. I feel like I’ve got some good episode ideas and I’ll be using that hiatus from Fringe to to think about and brainstorm some new ideas. And you know, God willing, I’ll continue to provide content that helps me before helps you. You know, because it’s something that that I’m ingesting and thinking about, writing, processing. So it very much helps me and I write them in a way that I hope helps all of you as well. So to hear that’s working is awesome. I needed that. So thank you, John, for that.
So that’s going to wrap up the mailbag for this this quarter. The next Monday Mailbag is coming up on March 31st and I would love to have you as a part of it.
Monday Mailbag is your opportunity to Share what YOU’VE learned, so that other listeners and I can learn from YOU. It can be a message as short as 30 seconds or several minutes long. It really doesn’t matter just as long as it’s something that will benefit others. You can send in questions or responses to my SILY episodes, and I’ll respond to them via Monday Mailbag episodes. You can participate in Monday Mailbags by visiting the Golden Spiral Media listener feedback page.