Speaker 1: Hey guys, it's Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks.
Speaker 1: Let's now continue with part two of our conversation with
Speaker 1: Tianni Shoemaker Clyde from Little Miracles. Right after these brief
Speaker 1: messages from our general sponsors, we returned asking Tianni what's
Speaker 1: the payoff for all of her effort with Little Miracles.
Speaker 2: Gosh, you know, when I went into it, I was
Speaker 2: really hoping the families were going to be my focus.
Speaker 2: Like this Julie Warner, I really hope this makes a
Speaker 2: difference for her family and that she really likes her
Speaker 2: house and her cute stuff we got. I mean, this
Speaker 2: is nice stuff, you know, and these kids feel special
Speaker 2: because people took time to learn about them and made
Speaker 2: Really there's talented people, and a lot of people know
Speaker 2: how to do stuff, and I would paint murals and
Speaker 2: do all kinds of cool things and get experiences for
Speaker 2: the family to look forward to later we'd have this
Speaker 2: and I thought, Wow, that's that's going to be amazing
Speaker 2: to help families. But what I realized very quickly was
Speaker 2: the real people's lives that were changed through this were
Speaker 2: the volunteers.
Speaker 1: So I have said a thousand times that giving is
Speaker 1: so much more food for the soul, for the giver
Speaker 1: than the receiver. And it is such and it is
Speaker 1: imperative to me that over the course of the life
Speaker 1: of our podcast here and as we gain more and
Speaker 1: more listeners and people hear us that they understand that
Speaker 1: the payoff is you get a thousand times someone out
Speaker 1: of it, then you put into it.
Speaker 2: Oh and you hear that, you hear that that's a cliche.
Speaker 1: It is cliche. I guess that was just cliche's crap.
Speaker 1: So true, No, but.
Speaker 2: You get it. But I thought I knew that, but
Speaker 2: until I experienced it, and I and I watched what
Speaker 2: was happening to people, and I heard them tell me things, Hey,
Speaker 2: this gave me purpose. I didn't know about this, but
Speaker 2: it saved my life.
Speaker 1: So when you were walking through the lobby of the
Speaker 1: Things to Do place, you picked up a pamphlet and
Speaker 1: you said, oh, here's something we can do. Right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was just right there. It was all spelled out
Speaker 1: for you. Everybody told you how you did it, and
Speaker 1: there were the rules. And I mean, obviously I'm being facetious,
Speaker 1: but the point is, so many people say to me, Bill,
Speaker 1: I'd love to help, but I don't know how well
Speaker 1: I want to be. I'm just a normal guy or
Speaker 1: a normal lady, and I want to go do something
Speaker 1: nice for people, and I don't know how. And they're
Speaker 1: looking for a pamphlet in the lobby that tells them
Speaker 1: how to get there, and that pamphlet doesn't exist.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's why that song so powerful, because there's
Speaker 2: a line in there where David Archiletta says, and you
Speaker 2: will know how to let it ring out, and people
Speaker 2: around you will start to wake up too. And it's
Speaker 2: so powerful because I felt that I didn't know what
Speaker 2: I was doing, but I felt something, and I'm just
Speaker 2: going this direction and I figured it out as I went,
Speaker 2: and then everyone else around me started figuring it out,
Speaker 2: and it was a little different. And that line in
Speaker 2: that song is so powerful because you know, how do
Speaker 2: I not book that camera, I'd probably still be talking
Speaker 2: about doing it someday, pois.
Speaker 1: Down to this. You saw and felt the need, and
Speaker 1: you got off her and you filled it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I didn't. I mean, most of the time
Speaker 2: I thought, what am I doing? I'm not qualified for that.
Speaker 2: I don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1: Qualifications are you supposed to I mean there, I don't
Speaker 1: think there's a certification for going and helping another human vision.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, there's not. I just, you know, you think
Speaker 2: I should know more about how nonprofits work? Is this
Speaker 2: okay to I don't know what I'm doing, but it
Speaker 2: was just start and you'll figure it out.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna say it again. Eighteen twenty seven volunteers,
Speaker 1: eighty six family served, twenty seven community serves, ninety eight
Speaker 1: one hundred and forty four volunteer hours since twenty thirteen,
Speaker 1: four families a year served for nine straight years from
Speaker 1: someone who doesn't have the first clue what she's doing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, perfect, nor a dime of money to go hof of. Really,
Speaker 2: I mean, you're.
Speaker 1: Just a normal person doing something good for their community.
Speaker 1: And the premise that started this entire podcast is that
Speaker 1: I don't think that our society's problems will ever be
Speaker 1: solved by the people in DC and New York and
Speaker 1: LA on Fox and on CNN talking big words with
Speaker 1: lots of syllables that I can't pronounce or understand. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't think our problems will ever be solved by them,
Speaker 1: but rather just an army of normal folks seeing a
Speaker 1: need in their communities and saying hey, I think I
Speaker 1: want to try to help fill that and then just
Speaker 1: figuring it out and go on and do it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And you know what, We're all in this together.
Speaker 2: And that's the powerful part about this too, is community.
Speaker 2: A lot of people are longing to be a part
Speaker 2: of something and to feel like they can make a difference.
Speaker 1: Speaking of which, what did that first mom that you
Speaker 1: did something for? What did she do? On the ensuing? Well,
Speaker 1: what we call them projects? What do you call these things?
Speaker 2: Yeah? We call them little miracle projects?
Speaker 1: Okay, yep, what did she do as the other little
Speaker 1: miracle project started?
Speaker 2: Guess what she has probably been? She's been to almost
Speaker 2: not every almost every single project as a volunteer. As
Speaker 2: a volunteer, how.
Speaker 1: Many of your volunteers have been once served? Well, I
Speaker 1: mean not in every single one of them, but.
Speaker 2: Almost almost every family at some point. We don't always
Speaker 2: we have the big projects, and we do smaller things
Speaker 2: at Thanksgiving and Christmas. And I never want people to feel, oh,
Speaker 2: it's one more thing you it's part of the.
Speaker 1: You have to I'm just curious.
Speaker 2: They all most of our army is now the community
Speaker 2: of one had been served and you know what's been
Speaker 2: amazing about that for the kids we've had kids. I
Speaker 2: have it on video somewhere. I have one of these
Speaker 2: beautiful girls. Her father was played football, had head injuries.
Speaker 2: Was he committed suicide, he'd had some very traumatic.
Speaker 1: Brain probably but some of the stuff.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but very loving wife and family and just had
Speaker 2: a horrible moment there. And we did a little project
Speaker 2: for this family and they couldn't wait to do it
Speaker 2: for other families. And one time a news guy showed up.
Speaker 2: It was snowing, and he said, what are all these
Speaker 2: kids doing here? I said, go talk to one and
Speaker 2: he happened to grab one of the girls who we
Speaker 2: had done a project for when her dad committed suicide,
Speaker 2: and he said, what are you doing here on a
Speaker 2: cold day? White goes out here work, She goes, well,
Speaker 2: because my dad died, and a bunch of people came
Speaker 2: and helped me, and it felt so good. We just
Speaker 2: want to come and do this for other kids. And
Speaker 2: you know, we've had other kids whose dads have committed suicide,
Speaker 2: and you see these kids being little mentors, little friends,
Speaker 2: support like, hey, I've been there, you know, And I
Speaker 2: never imagined all of that. I never imagined what it
Speaker 2: could do for that type of situation, because I was
Speaker 2: hoping that moms would know, hey, we get it, we're
Speaker 2: here for you. But to have these kids in such
Speaker 2: traumatic situation then find purpose in their pain and their
Speaker 2: struggle to say hey, it's okay, We've been there and
Speaker 2: I know what that's like, and.
Speaker 1: It's happening really is a serious little miracle.
Speaker 2: It is. It's a trickle effect. It's a ripple effect.
Speaker 2: I can't comprehend how many lives it's touched because of
Speaker 2: that aspect of it.
Speaker 1: So the mom and the kids are off on their
Speaker 1: special day and you just send on their house and
Speaker 1: you're saying that there's seventy to one hundred people, right,
Speaker 1: I'm just wondering if I'm you know, Fred nextdoor neighbor
Speaker 1: and all these people show up, people got to come
Speaker 1: out and going, what in God's name are you people
Speaker 1: doing here? Right? I mean yes, because it's not like
Speaker 1: it's a kind of a surprise. I guess what's happening,
Speaker 1: So you're not what happens in the neighbors.
Speaker 2: Okay, that's actually such a cool part of this whole
Speaker 2: thing that, again I didn't picture going in. I didn't
Speaker 2: even think about that going in. We learned pretty quick.
Speaker 2: We got to let the neighbors know because we want
Speaker 2: this to be a good, happy thing, right, and they're
Speaker 2: going to be annoyed if cars are parking on their
Speaker 2: yard and doing all this.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and you got a paint or dj going
Speaker 1: to be pretty.
Speaker 2: So we learned real quick. And we have all these
Speaker 2: kids showing up. We also realize, you know, there's a
Speaker 2: quote of like the happiest person at the end of
Speaker 2: the day is the tiredist or something like that. Like
Speaker 2: you don't want people coming and just standing around, right.
Speaker 2: We're very organized about what we have, you know, for volunteers.
Speaker 2: You know, some people have assignments ahead of time, but
Speaker 2: there's a lot of people that show up. We need
Speaker 2: things for them to do. We got to keep them busy.
Speaker 2: We got to keep kids busy. So one thing is
Speaker 2: we do have little flyers that go out prior to
Speaker 2: a few days before telling the neighbors what's going on,
Speaker 2: and we tell them we welcome them to come to
Speaker 2: the Welcome Home and come welcome their neighbors back, whether
Speaker 2: they know them or not. Five o'clock on Saturday, come
Speaker 2: on over, wear red and welcome your neighbors home. And
Speaker 2: then the day of we also have a whole committee
Speaker 2: where we have these old jars. We call them change
Speaker 2: for change and partly just to get the kids out
Speaker 2: of the way but have them being involved. Sure, they're
Speaker 2: going around the neighborhood and we let them talk, so
Speaker 2: they're getting the experience of like ring the doorbell. You know,
Speaker 2: we got people who are fun with kids. No, we're
Speaker 2: talent it. This is what we're doing. And actually they
Speaker 2: beg a little probably, well, they have the jar there,
Speaker 2: do you want to contribute it? What about you know,
Speaker 2: can we shovel your drive or can we pull some weeds?
Speaker 2: We just make up something that they can do for
Speaker 2: a neighbor, right, really yeah, because it's it's for the
Speaker 2: whole neighbor. And then we'll say we'll come to the
Speaker 2: come meet your neighbors. Now. That's pretty cool because it
Speaker 2: lets the kids get involved, be doing things, and also
Speaker 2: helps the neighbors kind of gain this momentum feeling what
Speaker 2: are you guys doing? Like, it's kind of fun. It's
Speaker 2: cool to see what happens because a lot of people
Speaker 2: don't know their neighbors.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's so true.
Speaker 2: And you know what, it's been amazing.
Speaker 1: That's interesting. It gets them out of the house and
Speaker 1: then they have something common to talk about that nobody
Speaker 1: can disagree about. Doing something kind for your neighbor.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know what to say, Hey, did you
Speaker 2: know this is a single mom she has cancer? Oh,
Speaker 2: I had no idea. I see her out she seems
Speaker 2: you know, but I don't really know where will come
Speaker 2: meet her, you know. And then they get to see
Speaker 2: the process. You know, maybe they a lot of have
Speaker 2: never been in the house, but they see what it's
Speaker 2: like in the beginning of the day and they see
Speaker 2: this miracle unfold and they want to be a part
Speaker 2: of it. You know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just a really a good fel That's a
Speaker 1: feel good scene. I mean, I'm going into all the
Speaker 1: Every story has conflict, every story has resolution, every story
Speaker 1: has meet and it's not always you know, fairy tales,
Speaker 1: and we've talked about some of that today, But that
Speaker 1: really is a beautiful scene.
Speaker 2: Oh the neighbors out there, because then we say, okay,
Speaker 2: you know, we're passing the torch, you know, like we
Speaker 2: want to be there for but it's neighbors, you know,
Speaker 2: look out for each other. No your neighbor has cancer.
Speaker 1: So the neighbors end up meeting each other through this
Speaker 1: process too.
Speaker 2: A lot of times that's crazy. And one day it
Speaker 2: was so cool because we had been there. No one
Speaker 2: knew this woman she did have cancer. They they she's
Speaker 2: nice and way, but she's quiet and didn't tell anybody.
Speaker 2: She didn't want the pity. In fact, one of the
Speaker 2: cool things. I've had to talk a lot of people
Speaker 2: into letting us do this for them because it's it's uncomfortable, loud.
Speaker 1: They don't want to fill recipients of service.
Speaker 2: They don't want to feel like the pity right, or
Speaker 2: let people know their vulnerabilities or whatever.
Speaker 1: The vulnerability. Yeah, that's what it's pride and vulnerabilities.
Speaker 2: So that's a big part of it too. I wasn't
Speaker 2: expecting and that's where it's so beautiful. When someone else
Speaker 2: has been served, they sometimes come along if I'm having
Speaker 2: a hard time, you know, getting them to if I
Speaker 2: feel really strong about doing you know, and I'll say,
Speaker 2: you know, can people are just begging for it? Will
Speaker 2: you just get them off my back? Can we just
Speaker 2: do this for well, you know, okay, you know, And
Speaker 2: then having someone else say they did it for me to.
Speaker 2: I know, it's kind of funco but it's so awesome.
Speaker 2: And then you get to come do this and they're
Speaker 2: like more excited about that, you know, and that's who
Speaker 2: you want to serve, right, It's not as fun when
Speaker 2: someone's like, I need this, I need It's there's a
Speaker 2: lot of people out there who need help, but they
Speaker 2: don't want to say that. And we don't want them
Speaker 2: to feel like we just got you don't.
Speaker 1: Want them to feel beholden. No, I don't want them
Speaker 1: to feel ashamed.
Speaker 2: No, And we and we are little phrase we say, hey,
Speaker 2: it's just your turn. It's because they'll say, but no,
Speaker 2: someone else needs it more than me. Oh I know,
Speaker 2: Oh no, no, not us. We're okay, We're okay. No,
Speaker 2: I know you're okay, but it's just your turn. It's
Speaker 2: just your That's how it is. That's what And so yeah,
Speaker 2: that part is awesome. This particular woman, she it took
Speaker 2: me a little while to convince her to let us
Speaker 2: do it, but you know what, she's this mom warrior. Amazing.
Speaker 2: They had like raw subfloor, oh gosh, and they didn't
Speaker 2: have a couch and she, oh, we're fine, we're floor sitters.
Speaker 2: We like the floor. We're fine, We're fine, That's what
Speaker 2: she told me. But of course we got our couch,
Speaker 2: got her new flooring, and she messaged me one day
Speaker 2: after coming home from chemo, I thought, we liked the floor,
Speaker 2: but this couch is so amazing. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: How many kids did she She had three kids and
Speaker 1: she was going through cancer cancer. What were kids ages?
Speaker 2: Well, she had there were two that were like, oh, fourteen,
Speaker 2: fifteen ish, real close, and then she had a younger
Speaker 2: like three.
Speaker 1: Or four years old, has cancer cancer.
Speaker 2: Neighbors didn't know. But that one was a cool one too,
Speaker 2: because this one particular family with little kids. They were
Speaker 2: there all day. They were so excited for them, but
Speaker 2: they didn't really know her. They said, we didn't. They
Speaker 2: lived across the street, and they were there all day, helping, helping, helping,
Speaker 2: working hard. They were so excited to meet them and
Speaker 2: show them everything. And then it was so cool about that.
Speaker 2: The next day, it was a Sunday, I was at
Speaker 2: the amusement park in town. It was my daughter's birthday.
Speaker 2: I was exhausted from this whole thing. But I'm at
Speaker 2: this lagoon, this big giant amusement park and this little
Speaker 2: girl comes running over to me. She goes, I saw
Speaker 2: you went the miracle yesterday. And I was like, she
Speaker 2: called it the miracle. It was the little girl across
Speaker 2: the street. And I was like, oh, yeah, you know,
Speaker 2: I said high And her mom came over and she goes, oh,
Speaker 2: we were at Jessica's this morning. We moved all that stuff.
Speaker 1: Oh now it's Jessica.
Speaker 2: Anyway out there one o'clock. I said, you've already You
Speaker 2: didn't know her yesterday and you were there helping her
Speaker 2: move the last of the garbage that was out, like
Speaker 2: calling that away for her this morning. But before noon.
Speaker 2: That was like a moment for me, like I was like,
Speaker 2: just man, one more, the long list of little little
Speaker 2: miracles that there. I was like, Wow, that's that is
Speaker 2: what it's all about. That it's all about neighbors just
Speaker 2: helping each other out.
Speaker 1: That's what an army of normal folks is supposed to
Speaker 1: look like. And it doesn't matter if you're sixty or five. Yes, exactly,
Speaker 1: We'll be right back. We return now to Tianni and
Speaker 1: my question of whether she's proud of what they've accomplished.
Speaker 2: I'm thankful. I'm so thankful.
Speaker 1: Well, I feel.
Speaker 2: Here's why I feel I'm sometimes the mouthpiece. There are
Speaker 2: people who the minute List, the childers. The minute I
Speaker 2: told her about this, I didn't even know she's all in.
Speaker 2: There have been people that are there that there's so
Speaker 2: many more that I feel like I don't. I don't
Speaker 2: like to be always the mouthpiece for it, because even
Speaker 2: though I always say I'm never gonna it's why I'm like,
Speaker 2: hopefully you're not a serial killer inviting me out here,
Speaker 2: but like, this is my love language. I'll talk to anybody,
Speaker 2: if youth group, somebody in Memphis, what do you want
Speaker 2: to talk? I don't ever want to turn it down.
Speaker 2: But I also it's so much bigger.
Speaker 1: For real, my husband, he's a producer. It's worse than
Speaker 1: a serial killer to come out here. I'm coming. I
Speaker 1: was going with it. If you just put your headset
Speaker 1: back on and shut up is not a sal shut
Speaker 1: up up. Well, so, so there's one more little miracle
Speaker 1: we got to discuss, yeah, which is, uh, somebody made
Speaker 1: an honest woman of you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, imagine that how that happened? Well, you know, it's
Speaker 2: funny because I have found so much purpose through little miracles.
Speaker 2: I remember saying to people.
Speaker 1: And you're still doing I mean, this is a side gig.
Speaker 1: You're still raising your kids, run running the real estate
Speaker 1: gig and all that. And so you said earlier, you know,
Speaker 1: I just really wanting time for some dude to come
Speaker 1: and complete your life and have the family that you
Speaker 1: really wanted.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and let me also say this about little miracles
Speaker 2: because I felt it's important to share with people.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: When I rally groups, I make sure people know you're
Speaker 2: gonna want to back out, You're gonna have something come up,
Speaker 2: and you're going to not think that you have time
Speaker 2: for this or this is too chaotic. Something I'm telling
Speaker 2: you now because almost every time I have told myself
Speaker 2: this is too much. It's taken a toll I really
Speaker 2: identified with. I watched your documentary with the your role
Speaker 2: as this coach helping these kids. Man, you have no
Speaker 2: idea how many times I was in tears. A couple
Speaker 2: of times I missed things with my kids because I
Speaker 2: was doing this, and I wondered, am I are my
Speaker 2: priorities messed up here?
Speaker 1: This is really this is really hard. What I'm going
Speaker 1: to say, what I'm going to ask you, but I
Speaker 1: want you to be painfully honest, because I think I
Speaker 1: know the answer. Has it occurred that you felt someone
Speaker 1: in the process was ungrateful and it bothered you?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. The reason I'm asking that is I don't
Speaker 1: want that story because we don't want to embarrass anybody.
Speaker 1: But the point is, if you're going to have the
Speaker 1: temerity and the gumption and the courage and the kindness
Speaker 1: to actually get off your do something for someone in
Speaker 1: your community, you're typically going to go in places that
Speaker 1: the world is not hunky dory because that's where the
Speaker 1: help is needed. And often times in those places you
Speaker 1: will find people who aren't always as thankful and gracious
Speaker 1: for the work that you're doing as you would hope,
Speaker 1: and you can't worry about them. It's the ninety percent
Speaker 1: of people that are positively affected that matter. And you
Speaker 1: have to understand there's going to be little bumps and
Speaker 1: failures along the way. It is not all peaches and cream,
Speaker 1: but ultimately it's worth it. And so I can imagine
Speaker 1: there have been times where you have been frustrated with
Speaker 1: the whole thing, and those are the times where the
Speaker 1: devil pops in your head and says, just quit, just
Speaker 1: lay it down. Why are you doing this. You don't
Speaker 1: have to do this. You've got your own kids, you've
Speaker 1: got your own family, you've got your own work you
Speaker 1: got to do, and then you're going to sit here
Speaker 1: and do this for a bunch of in grades. You
Speaker 1: can't help these folks. That happens. And but what you
Speaker 1: have to do is you have to put that aside
Speaker 1: and understand that the small percentage of people that are
Speaker 1: not necessarily appreciative as you would hope, they are pale
Speaker 1: in comparison. The numbers of people's lives do change.
Speaker 2: Well, and what what what happened more times than maybe
Speaker 2: the recipient not being grateful a couple of times, you know,
Speaker 2: not often, but sometimes someone else would try to tell
Speaker 2: me this wasn't they weren't worth Why did you pick
Speaker 2: this family? Like there was one time during a project,
Speaker 2: the neighbor kept coming to tell me, and I finally
Speaker 2: I said.
Speaker 1: The neighbor kept saying, you should be doing this for
Speaker 1: these people. They're not worth it.
Speaker 2: Basically like these chips are problem. They just never do it.
Speaker 1: We've tried out, don't these divorced kids without a father
Speaker 1: at home, who were sad and lonely and lost and oppressed.
Speaker 2: They're not grateful, they're they're they're wild kids. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: I said, I stopped him the second time and he
Speaker 2: came over. We had like the BYU football players, the
Speaker 2: U top football player. We were it was a huge project.
Speaker 2: And I stopped. I said, can I tell you something.
Speaker 2: Look at all these people. Not one of them cares
Speaker 2: at all. They are here gaining from this experience, just
Speaker 2: from serving. They don't even ask anything about the specifics.
Speaker 2: This is a mom who needs help. That's all we
Speaker 2: need to eat. You just look around. You can tell
Speaker 2: how is she living in this disaster. That's all we needed. So, yeah,
Speaker 2: you need to zip it. For all these other people here.
Speaker 2: You are ruining it for them and they don't care. YEA,
Speaker 2: take a lesson from them.
Speaker 1: The point is, if you have the guts to get
Speaker 1: out and do something, there's gonna be problems. It's hard.
Speaker 1: But again, the payoff is not just not The payoff
Speaker 1: really isn't for you. The lives that you are riches.
Speaker 1: It's how enrich your life becomes, which I'm trying to
Speaker 1: segue to. And would you please answer the question, Okay,
Speaker 1: where did this dude come from?
Speaker 2: Oh? The dude, Well, after gosh over ten years. At
Speaker 2: this point, I felt like I had met everyone in Utah. Really,
Speaker 2: I really had. I was like, I've been around forever.
Speaker 2: Everybody looked good on the dating apps. To me, it
Speaker 2: was like, I mean, you know, great, pedjure, you say
Speaker 2: all these great I don't know I did. It didn't
Speaker 2: work for me to meet people that way. And then
Speaker 2: I kind of felt like either me or a friend
Speaker 2: of data. I just you know, I really was very fulfilled.
Speaker 2: This had brought a lot of purpose. I still wanted
Speaker 2: to get married, but I was at a point where
Speaker 2: I was like, I'm okay if I don't, because I
Speaker 2: you know, I can take my kids to do things,
Speaker 2: you know, vacation. Now I'm enjoying my job. This is
Speaker 2: bringing me a lot of fulfillment.
Speaker 1: No longer need.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I wasn't in a place I was before. What
Speaker 2: I needed, right, I get it is someone to rescue me.
Speaker 2: I didn't need to be rested.
Speaker 1: Isn't an interesting one. We no longer need what happens. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're not nearly as desperate, not as.
Speaker 2: Desperate, and and it's like, if there's someone who's going
Speaker 2: to add to my life that I feel is already great,
Speaker 2: then bring it on. If not, it's okay. So yeah,
Speaker 2: it was just a project one day. A lot of
Speaker 2: people come and go in these things, and you know,
Speaker 2: you meet a lot of people. But there was this
Speaker 2: one particular January.
Speaker 1: Black, a little Miracles project.
Speaker 2: Add a little Miracle project.
Speaker 1: And he was he was he was playing the drums. No, no,
Speaker 1: he was, he was the he was not the DJ painter.
Speaker 2: No, he actually did paint though, So maybe that's how you.
Speaker 1: Got used to I have no idea. Was a roofer.
Speaker 2: Oh oh oh, he used to paint used So he
Speaker 2: had heard about this through a friend and he had
Speaker 2: two teenage boys that he was trying. He'd been divorced
Speaker 2: for quite a while, and he said, I'd heard about
Speaker 2: this from my friend, and I thought, well, I used
Speaker 2: to do painting for a living, so my boys know
Speaker 2: how to do it. This would be good for us.
Speaker 1: So he brought his sons.
Speaker 2: He brought his teenage sons.
Speaker 1: Okay, now that's pretty awesome.
Speaker 2: That got my attention. Well he's very handsome too, so
Speaker 2: I was like who. I had to make sure it
Speaker 2: wasn't one of my friend's boyfriends or someone I got.
Speaker 2: I was asking everybody in the morning. Who's this Joe?
Speaker 2: What's his name? He's cute? Is this somebody's not? Okay? No,
Speaker 2: he's all right, good good. And I had to leave
Speaker 2: for a little bit in that project. I remember thinking
Speaker 2: he'll probably be gone, because the cute guys that would
Speaker 2: pop in sometimes they got that apparently there was you know,
Speaker 2: I had a lot of cute single mom friends, and
Speaker 2: there would be these guys that would show up sometimes
Speaker 2: and they didn't know how to work, or the minute
Speaker 2: you put him to work, they were out, you know.
Speaker 2: So we would be like, are they just here for
Speaker 2: a picture? Are they really gonna work?
Speaker 1: We'll be right back now. Let's return to Tianni on
Speaker 1: this male volunteer that piqued her interest.
Speaker 2: So when I got back and he was still there
Speaker 2: and it was a blizzard that day, I really was like,
Speaker 2: I gotta go talk to I got to see who
Speaker 2: this is, you know, and I was just kind of
Speaker 2: eavesdropping and they were just making jokes with each other.
Speaker 2: I just could you know you've been a single mom
Speaker 2: this long. I mean, people can fake anything online, but
Speaker 2: it's it's pretty hard to fake it when you're in
Speaker 2: a blizzard doing service all day with your teenage sons.
Speaker 2: I could tell this is a legit, good, good guy
Speaker 2: and these are cool kids and they respect him. And
Speaker 2: I mean I started the thing and I couldn't get
Speaker 2: my teenage boys there very much, you know, so this
Speaker 2: was all day. So I just started kind of trying
Speaker 2: to talk to him. Towards the end of that project
Speaker 2: a little bit. I just was like, Wow, where are
Speaker 2: you guys from? And now, well, the funny thing he
Speaker 2: came to tell me by before the party, he said,
Speaker 2: and people make fun of me, but I'm chaotic. I
Speaker 2: was looking for something in my car and he touched
Speaker 2: my left arm and I kind of just got really calm,
Speaker 2: and he goes, hey, I just wanted to say thank you.
Speaker 2: This was great. And I'm like, why are you leaving?
Speaker 2: The family's just coming back the party, you know. He's like,
Speaker 2: oh no, we just wanted to We just were here
Speaker 2: for that. He's kind of quiet my manner, not okay
Speaker 2: crazy like me.
Speaker 1: And he just left.
Speaker 2: Someone had tagged him on Facebook in a picture and
Speaker 2: that's how I found him. And I messaged him later
Speaker 2: that night and just say, hey, thank you so much
Speaker 2: for coming. And that was great, and we started talking,
Speaker 2: you know, and now and now here we are are.
Speaker 1: He's on every Little Miracles project with you. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's crazy.
Speaker 2: He's the quiet guy in the back. He doesn't like.
Speaker 2: We're very different. I didn't think his personality would even
Speaker 2: work with like. He's he's more of an introvert, kind
Speaker 2: of the quiet guy. But he knows how to do stuff,
Speaker 2: and he's a hard worker and he says, just give.
Speaker 1: Me a job, and he well, Unfortunately, we can't promise
Speaker 1: that everybody that does get out of their comfort zone
Speaker 1: and go do something will find their spouse right.
Speaker 2: Actually, there's been a couple, though I'm not the only one.
Speaker 2: It's been kind of cool.
Speaker 1: It's a cool to me.
Speaker 2: You know, who would have known? I never would have.
Speaker 1: It's these things that are little Miracles mixers.
Speaker 2: We should start that. We probably have even better attended.
Speaker 1: That is funny, pretty amazing that you know, you got
Speaker 1: a husband out of Little Miracle deals too. But what's
Speaker 1: his name? What's his name is? Joe? Joe Clay, Joe
Speaker 1: so understanding. Joe swung and missed.
Speaker 2: At well, I guess you could call it a miss.
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't swing very often on those platforms.
Speaker 2: Are you talking about the dating app?
Speaker 1: Yeah, when Joe swung and missed, he actually had reached
Speaker 1: out to you one time before.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the ironic thing. I didn't realize it at
Speaker 2: the time, but I had been on. A friend talked
Speaker 2: to me into trying the apps out again. I tried
Speaker 2: him before, just like a dating app. It was like
Speaker 2: a Tender. You probably heard a Tender bumble. You know,
Speaker 2: your swipe really really well, good for you. When we
Speaker 2: would argue sometimes I would say to him, do you
Speaker 2: really want to get back on Tender? I don't think so.
Speaker 2: I guess not a good life.
Speaker 1: Okay, so Tender is a dating app. It's a dating
Speaker 1: He reached out to you on this thing. Well, this
Speaker 1: is how and you basically just missed him this Joe
Speaker 1: got dismissed.
Speaker 2: Well, he actually didn't, because this is how these dating
Speaker 2: apps work. A lot of depth goes into these. You
Speaker 2: think they're cute, you swipe this way. If you don't,
Speaker 2: you swipe the other. So we both thought each other
Speaker 2: is cute, we swiped on each other. We matched. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you both think you're cute. Message for a minute, and
Speaker 2: it seemed nice. I just nothing ever came of it.
Speaker 2: I just I think I got off the app pretty
Speaker 2: quick after that. I just lost.
Speaker 1: So the point is you meet this guy, end up
Speaker 1: marrying them, and lo and behold, you'd actually quote cyber
Speaker 1: matched at one point before that.
Speaker 2: Huh Yeah, but I never I never would have nothing
Speaker 2: would have ever materialized from that. What What what happened
Speaker 2: was I got to see who he really was on a.
Speaker 1: Day, Yeah, which is match in and of itself is
Speaker 1: the problem with these apps exactly, which is for a
Speaker 1: whole other show.
Speaker 2: And that's why I didn't have time, because you have
Speaker 2: to take a lot of time before you see that.
Speaker 1: That point is here, you met this dude at a
Speaker 1: little miracle, you got married. He's on every little miracle,
Speaker 1: you finally got that family and the person you were
Speaker 1: looking for when you weren't looking for it. And the
Speaker 1: irony of it is he'd actually and you'd actually seen
Speaker 1: each other before at one time. Crazy, that's crazy.
Speaker 2: He has to remind me, He's like, you know, I
Speaker 2: think we matched. I'm like, I am. I kind of
Speaker 2: thought you because I you know, and then I went
Speaker 2: back and sure enough, there it is. Yeah. Kind of crazy,
Speaker 2: kind of crazy.
Speaker 1: I am beyond inspired by by single moms one because
Speaker 1: my mother was one, and I know how hard it is,
Speaker 1: but I'm beyond inspired by your heart and you're willing
Speaker 1: to serve and that you even without a lot of
Speaker 1: with no money and no backing and no sponsors, she's
Speaker 1: just saw a need and filled it. And that's really
Speaker 1: what this is all about, is trying to motivate and
Speaker 1: and and and show stories that people listening to us
Speaker 1: really can if they'll just say I want to help,
Speaker 1: they can find a way to help in their communities
Speaker 1: and change lives and change their own life in doing it.
Speaker 1: And you're an inspiration because you're one of those people.
Speaker 1: And I am just so so proud to have met
Speaker 1: you and wish you the very very best. And I
Speaker 1: assume we're going to keep going right.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, we're we're hooked now.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, so here's here's the deal. We all
Speaker 1: the people involved in an army of normal folks. Part
Speaker 1: of it is to pass along knowledge, whatever knowledge we have.
Speaker 1: And so I'm reachable. Nobody wants to talk to out,
Speaker 1: but he's reachable. And then how if people, if someone's
Speaker 1: listened to it says I really want to do that
Speaker 1: in my town of Kansas City or Topeka or Birmingham
Speaker 1: or wherever can they reach you and and get ideas
Speaker 1: from you and how to reach out to you.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I like that you asked that because right before
Speaker 2: the pandemic we had put together a little kind of
Speaker 2: a little blueprint. So little Miracles Utah dot org.
Speaker 1: Little say that again.
Speaker 2: Little Miracles Utah dot org.
Speaker 1: Little Miracles Utah dot org, and that will.
Speaker 2: Go to your website and there's contact information on there.
Speaker 2: I think there is a link that says for more
Speaker 2: information on how to do this in your town. I
Speaker 2: can't go out there and show you, but we've got
Speaker 2: as best of a blueprint.
Speaker 1: That how we do ask questions and all that.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, people have called me. There's a bunch of
Speaker 2: us on the board. We love to talk about it.
Speaker 2: We know what has done for us. So there's a
Speaker 2: lot of great people that are so willing to talk.
Speaker 2: And it's you know what, it doesn't have to look
Speaker 2: a certain way every that's all our projects are a
Speaker 2: little different, you know, and everyone has a different gift,
Speaker 2: but everyone has something. And you know what, I've watched
Speaker 2: sixty year old men find their gift doing this on
Speaker 2: a Saturday didn't know before, but they found it. You
Speaker 2: just just where you have a genuine desire, just put
Speaker 2: it out there and maybe another idea of what you
Speaker 2: can do will come up while we're chatting. We're happy
Speaker 2: to talk to people, give them ideas, tell them what
Speaker 2: we did and whether they do something like this in
Speaker 2: their town, or just get an idea of what they
Speaker 2: can do a little different that fits their gift a
Speaker 2: little better than awesome. That's just what we're all about
Speaker 2: because it's made life so much more meaningful. I mean,
Speaker 2: it just gives purpose to everything and such a feeling
Speaker 2: of community. You know, with all the things in the
Speaker 2: world and all the reasons people are different, no one
Speaker 2: cares at the end of the day about all those things.
Speaker 2: We just all want the same things out of life.
Speaker 2: We let the media and all these people think we're
Speaker 2: all on different teams. We're not. We're all in a
Speaker 2: moment like that on a Saturday. It's so cool to
Speaker 2: see people from all walks of life on the same
Speaker 2: team getting along. You know. I love seeing the real
Speaker 2: church going girl with the tattooed guy like best friends.
Speaker 2: By the end of the day. It's like the greatest
Speaker 2: thing about it is we're all community, We're all in
Speaker 2: this together, and it feels so much better to come
Speaker 2: together and help each other out, and what comes from
Speaker 2: that is indescribable. So we're yeah. I hope we can
Speaker 2: do this forever.
Speaker 1: From her mouth to your ears, a new member of
Speaker 1: the Army of Normal Folks. Thanks for being with you.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you for having me such an honor.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you for joining us this week. If
Speaker 1: Tiani or another guest has inspired you to take action
Speaker 1: in your community, please let us know. I'd really like
Speaker 1: to hear about it. You can write me anytime at
Speaker 1: Bill at normalfolks dot us, and I get those emails
Speaker 1: and I personally will respond. If you enjoyed this episode,
Speaker 1: subscribe to the podcast, rate it, review it, share it
Speaker 1: with friends that are on social help us do all
Speaker 1: the things we can that will grow an army of
Speaker 1: normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney. I'll see you next week.