0:17

Well , welcome back everybody to

0:19

a very special

0:21

kind of brief and really

0:24

going to be an interesting episode

0:26

today of addiction

0:29

from every angle . I am

0:31

back in Carrollton , georgia , on

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a Valentine's Day with

0:37

one of my favorite valentines of

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all time and

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I'm excited for today . This is

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going to be kind of a mid episode

0:46

, kind of cutting in between a couple of other ones

0:48

, and you'll probably

0:50

hear some cars in the background because

0:52

we're right here off the highway in

0:54

2027 . But if

0:57

you know what I'm talking about

0:59

, you know that I'm here today

1:01

with a very special lady

1:03

to me . No , you're

1:05

not an old lady . Come on now

1:08

my one of my very special ladies in my

1:10

life , my

1:12

sweet , dear mama June Maxwell

1:14

. Welcome , mama

1:16

June . We're glad to have you on the show . She's

1:20

already holding my hand just getting started

1:24

. Mama June , how are you today ? I'm

1:27

good , you look good .

1:28

I really am good , much better

1:31

than I was .

1:31

Yeah , I wanted to get you

1:33

on the show around the holidays

1:36

, but that's when you got pretty sick and

1:38

we had to come visit you through the holidays

1:41

. And now you're back

1:43

home and you've got somebody living here with you

1:45

and somebody who's really taking great care

1:47

of you .

1:47

Yes , they are . She does

1:49

a good job .

1:50

She does a phenomenal job . She fixes all

1:52

my food she's one

1:54

of the best . And

1:57

we're here with you today and

1:59

I think you've probably had a good couple

2:01

of days , people dropping by bringing you some good

2:04

flowers and some

2:06

puzzles and some different things . And

2:11

for those who don't know mama June

2:13

, if you're in Carroll County you probably know of

2:15

mama June . But those that don't , my

2:18

mama June is my

2:20

91 year old grandmother , who

2:23

lives out here in Carroll Town , and she

2:25

has played a pivotal role in my recovery

2:28

, my spiritual walk , my

2:31

growth as a man and

2:33

being able to be able to

2:35

see how she serves

2:37

and loves people . And today

2:39

we're going to get a chance to just have a good conversation

2:42

and I'm excited

2:44

to get to sit here with you . We're

2:46

sitting at her kitchen table . This

2:49

if I've always told people , so when people

2:51

ask about my family growing up , I

2:54

say I wish that kitchen table could talk

2:58

. I wish this kitchen table could talk

3:00

, and of the stories and the people that have

3:03

sat here and shared

3:06

and conversation with all of us . I

3:08

think it would be a good story . Yeah

3:12

, so , mama June , so you're

3:14

let's see . Yeah

3:18

, it looks good . She'll be

3:20

feeling when some things the table is full of stuff right

3:23

now . So , but

3:25

, but I wanted to . So you're

3:27

, you're born and raised uh root

3:29

rootville . Is that correct ? Rootville

3:32

, georgia , carrollton area

3:34

.

3:34

Well , yeah .

3:36

Okay , so it was in Rootville predominantly

3:39

. What year were you born ?

3:42

I was born in uh , Was

3:47

it 31 , so I think so

3:49

somewhere in there .

3:52

So you , you , you've made it to this

3:54

far and and I'm excited that

3:57

you hear with us , and so I

3:59

wanted to talk a little bit Today

4:02

. So one I want to kind of Give

4:05

y'all the listeners , a little bit of background

4:07

about Mama June . So yes , born

4:09

and raised Carrollton , rootville

4:11

area where you grew up . One

4:13

story I think that tends to live on In

4:16

infamy is the lightning strike story

4:19

About how you got struck by

4:21

lightning when you were . Do you remember how old

4:23

you were when that happened ? You

4:26

were five . You were coming home from school

4:28

, do you remember ?

4:30

No , it was , though . We

4:32

come up from my house to

4:35

Mama B okay and

4:38

we were going Going

4:40

up there because the cloud was so

4:43

bad . Yeah and so

4:45

we went into the Dining

4:48

room , between the kitchen and

4:51

stove , and

4:53

that's where the light , the thunder

4:56

and lightning came in on me

4:58

. Oh , wow and anyway

5:01

, mama B , she

5:04

looked after me and the next one

5:07

they took me to the doctor .

5:09

Because didn't they ? Didn't they think that you were

5:11

dead ? They thought you had passed away .

5:13

Is that right ? Wow

5:15

, and she said

5:17

no , she is not there yet

5:20

. I'm gonna keep running her

5:22

with water Until

5:25

she comes to yeah so

5:27

the next morning when I got up

5:29

, I was away yeah and

5:32

they took me to the doctor

5:34

and and he thought

5:36

it was gonna be alright . So

5:41

, anyway , I'm still here

5:43

.

5:46

You've lived one heck of a life

5:48

? Yes

5:54

, you have , and

5:58

I think you know , for for

6:00

me , I know the story

6:02

with you . I

6:05

think a lot of this really has

6:07

to you know who you are and

6:09

kind of who you feel to be . I think all your

6:11

story includes , especially for me , with

6:13

Papa Billy In the story

6:16

, your husband of you , remember how long y'all were

6:18

married . Good

6:21

Wow . Long

6:24

time because he was in the military

6:26

For a good while

6:28

and y'all had five and then six

6:31

kids all in

6:33

all , and Then

6:35

what ? It's ? A 14

6:38

, 14 or 16 grandchildren

6:40

. Yeah

6:43

and then we've got some great

6:45

grandkids now .

6:48

I .

6:52

Right , we had the pool fix so we

6:54

, all of us learned how to swim at your pool as

6:57

we kind of grew up and so so

7:00

I wanted to kind of talk a little bit because I think

7:02

it's good for for the people

7:04

to hear their grandmother's viewpoint

7:07

on addiction and recovery and

7:11

to kind of fall into that . So , just

7:13

so the listeners know , I

7:15

made a lot of bad decisions right in my

7:17

, in my time and in addiction . I

7:20

think anybody who's anybody and she's

7:22

already hold my hand again because she knows that

7:25

was not me right , the decisions

7:27

and bad choices that I made , even

7:30

towards my great , my great and

7:32

amazing grandmother . But

7:34

Do you

7:37

like , was there ever a A

7:39

time ? So when you talk about with me

7:41

, right , we talk about how you began

7:44

praying when I was in my addiction .

7:46

Yeah , I did , I pray

7:48

you start with . And

7:50

I got it on my knees and I said

7:52

Lord , you

7:54

know what I need and

7:57

you know how to send it , and

8:01

you will send it in time

8:03

. You told me you would yeah . And

8:06

I said we've got to go through a lot of

8:08

things , but we go on through them

8:10

and we come and throw them . Yeah and

8:13

uh , you're who that

8:16

I want to Just

8:19

, who pray that God will take

8:21

care of you and Dan , and and

8:24

that's

8:27

all I want .

8:27

Yeah , do you remember him talking

8:30

back to you and what he said ?

8:31

Well , he only said . He only

8:34

said that , june

8:39

, I said I'd answer your prayer

8:41

and I will answer in time

8:44

and it's about time and

8:46

I will . I will answer it and

8:49

no .

8:50

He said he would answer you . Remember you telling me

8:52

that he said he would answer it in his

8:54

time , not your time . Yeah

8:59

, and , and I think For

9:02

anyone out there like it , it

9:04

took a while . It took ten , ten

9:07

years after that prayer yeah

9:09

, ten years after that prayer

9:11

that God really created

9:13

a miracle and

9:16

continue to Allow

9:19

me to be a grandson for

9:21

you . I think we've

9:23

spoken the past about those that have lost

9:25

, you know , grandkids and and

9:27

children , and you

9:30

continue to be a prayer warrior

9:32

.

9:37

Yes , he does and and

9:39

he .

9:39

You have stayed True

9:42

to that time and time again . I think

9:44

, a big Story for me . If you

9:46

ever want to see how you use the Bible

9:48

, you should come see Mama June's Bible

9:50

. It looks like it's been run over about

9:53

about ten times . I

9:58

think it's in your room , if I'm not mistaken

10:00

, probably in the hallway , and

10:03

I'll have to check it again . Maybe I'll take a picture

10:05

and post it up for our viewers . But

10:09

you know , for for me I think a lot

10:11

of my life was built in and growing

10:14

up here . We , you

10:16

know , every summer we stayed here almost all

10:18

summer . It felt like you

10:20

lived right next to the school that I grew up at

10:22

and me and my cousins

10:25

played here all summer and all winter

10:27

and fall and spring , and we

10:30

all wanted to come here and we had Sunday

10:32

lunch that we ate at

10:34

all the time . And I

10:37

think that that God really used

10:40

your conversations

10:43

with him , your pursuit to

10:45

Consistently work on

10:48

myself , and I think

10:50

God was really working you . You always said

10:52

you knew that I should have been a pastor . And

10:58

then I became one and

11:00

then God really let me Pursue

11:03

that and come closer . I

11:09

know , and now I get to use it to work at the courthouse

11:11

With some other dear friends

11:13

and one , one thing , I think , two

11:15

listeners , and I know we're kind of all over the

11:18

place today , but I think that's

11:20

very intentional and I think

11:22

if you know Mama June's heart for servanthood

11:24

and loving on

11:27

people , so you could

11:29

not only for the football team , the

11:31

pregame mill out here in Carrollton

11:33

people didn't want to go to check for go

11:35

to KFC . They wanted Mama June's fried

11:38

chicken and they wanted

11:40

your green beans and they wanted your

11:42

cream corn and everything else you

11:44

could . But you

11:46

not only serve those people , you were also

11:48

serving other people in

11:50

our community when

11:52

you were able to .

11:55

Remember that man that come in here

11:57

that broke off a job . He

12:01

had everything on white hmm

12:04

, and he

12:06

slept down in the woods . Yeah

12:08

and he come out there

12:11

. Oh , you see what I

12:13

could give him to eat , and I feed

12:15

him .

12:16

Yeah .

12:17

Like I feed everybody else .

12:18

Yeah .

12:19

I feed everybody .

12:20

Yeah , back in , yeah , back in even , and I'm

12:22

so thankful . Yeah , yeah

12:24

. I think

12:26

I let me do and pay all of that

12:29

, yeah , and I think , another memory

12:31

really for me that lives out . So when I

12:33

got home from rehab

12:35

, when I was living back in Carrollton , you remember , I was living

12:38

with Matt , my buddy , matt Mobley .

12:39

Yeah .

12:41

And we went one day it was either after

12:43

Thanksgiving or after Christmas

12:46

and you and I went to deliver food

12:49

to just whoever you

12:51

thought I was supposed to deliver food to . And

12:54

I got to talking with you and you were talking

12:56

about , you know , you got to love

13:00

, love everyone . And I said you

13:02

know what about people that don't have such a good

13:04

heart , right ? And you said

13:07

you just love until it changes . I

13:09

don't know if you remember that , but I always remember that I

13:11

do remember that , because God said

13:13

love everybody if you love

13:15

your single , that's right . That's

13:17

right .

13:19

And I have tried to love everybody

13:22

and I'm trying to give everybody food

13:24

. It might not have been much , but

13:26

they got food .

13:27

They got fed here . Most people

13:29

, if they ever stopped in here , they left full , and

13:33

I know there are countless people

13:35

who are listening that

13:37

are probably beyond thankful for

13:40

your service , not only with

13:42

the food , but you also taught Sunday school

13:44

for 67 years

13:46

, 67 years teaching

13:49

us all how to pray . And

13:52

now you know , when you just retired from it

13:54

, you had grandkids

13:56

of those people that you started out helping

13:59

that are , you know , are great grandkids

14:01

that are coming in there , and

14:03

so , mama Jean , we are beyond

14:06

grateful for your service and love and

14:09

hey , her and your job is good

14:11

.

14:11

Yeah , they do , they

14:13

do .

14:15

And I would just say that

14:17

I wish

14:20

I could try to

14:22

say it all . I am so

14:25

grateful for you . I

14:30

pray that I get a chance to be a spouse

14:33

and a parent like

14:35

yourself and love people

14:37

like you did , and

14:40

love people unconditionally Well

14:42

.

14:42

I've never seen nobody in love .

14:49

That's a great way to put it , and

14:53

so I'm beyond

14:55

just madly deeply

14:57

, as a grandson , just love you and

15:01

care so much

15:03

about you .

15:04

I do you and I care

15:07

for you , Mother and Daddy .

15:09

Yeah , and you know

15:11

we , like I said this would kind

15:13

of be a short episode , but I kind of wanted to jump

15:15

in and just get you on here just to let

15:18

people hear you and

15:20

know that like hey , these angels

15:23

people used to say when

15:25

your name would come up , they would say you know , angels walk

15:27

among us , and your grandmother's one of them

15:29

.

15:30

And the fact is that when I

15:32

prayed in church that Sunday , I

15:34

never prayed in church , yeah , I

15:37

didn't go high , yeah , but

15:39

I prayed . And

15:41

God , let me pray

15:45

also to

15:47

let the children know

15:50

that they're supposed to

15:52

sit out in a circle

15:54

and say a prayer

15:56

.

15:57

Amen .

15:58

And whatever prayer they want to say

16:00

for their parents or

16:02

whoever they might want to

16:04

do , but I was hoping to be their parent

16:07

, yeah , and thank them for them

16:09

. Yeah , and that's

16:11

what I wanted to do .

16:12

Well , and what you may not understand and

16:15

maybe you do , but I think one of the biggest

16:17

things that we try to do with Macy , you

16:20

were really teaching kids how to talk to Jesus

16:22

, yeah , and teaching them

16:24

to just have a conversation with

16:27

them , yeah , and that is so pivotal

16:29

in our Christian walk , and I

16:31

can't tell you how thankful I am that I learned

16:33

how to pray in your class

16:35

, along with all my other friends

16:38

, and I think the biggest thing out of that

16:40

is that you were forever

16:42

and ever have taught so many people how to just talk

16:44

to Jesus and that's what he wants

16:46

from us , right . So

16:48

again , I am thankful , remember , hey

16:51

, you know , always used to tell you I said , you

16:53

told me once you're gonna live to be a hundred

16:55

and you still got a garden

16:58

out back , yeah , that you still love

17:00

to work in . I do , and

17:02

we got a long way to go , don't we

17:05

? Yeah ? So I love you and listeners

17:07

. Thank you all for joining us in on this special episode

17:09

. We look forward to hearing from you next

17:12

time . And remember there

17:14

are people out there that love and care for you no

17:16

matter what , and we're just so grateful

17:18

that y'all decided to listen today and remember

17:21

there is no better time to get sober

17:23

than today . See you next time you

17:51

.